‘Tidal Wave’ of Lunar Data Coming

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) started sharing what it sees on March 15.
‘Tidal Wave’ of Lunar Data Coming
In this handout photo provided by NASA, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, onboard an Atlas V rocket, lifts off June 18, 2009 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)
Mary Silver
3/15/2010
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/lunar88566100.jpg" alt="In this handout photo provided by NASA, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, onboard an Atlas V rocket, lifts off June 18, 2009 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.  (Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)" title="In this handout photo provided by NASA, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, onboard an Atlas V rocket, lifts off June 18, 2009 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.  (Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1822062"/></a>
In this handout photo provided by NASA, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, onboard an Atlas V rocket, lifts off June 18, 2009 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.  (Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) started sharing what it sees on March 15. Members of the public can follow information and pictures from the seven instruments on the Orbiter.

Dr. John Keller is LRO deputy project scientist from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. He said the agency intended to let anyone benefit from “the fruits of NASA funded research and to allow advanced research on solar system science.”

The amount of data is enormous.

“We’re able to take advantage of the close proximity of the moon, compared to other objects in the solar system, to transmit data from LRO back to Earth at a very high rate,” said Keller. “The first data release is 55 terabytes. The one year exploration mission will deliver 130 terabytes of data, enabling a more detailed study our nearest celestial neighbor. We expect LRO to provide more data than all of the previous planetary missions combined.”

Some of the information is low level, meaning unprocessed or not interpreted. Some will be higher level, such as maps and pictures. Anyone with curiosity and an Internet connection will be able to learn more about the moon.

The Orbiter’s exploration mission is to last a year. It will orbit about 31 miles above the lunar surface. It took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 18, 2009. After a period of calibration and preparation, it officially started surveying the moon in September 2009. It sent hundreds of images and readings to scientists so they could begin work before the “tidal wave of data was unleashed,” said the NASA news release.

According to the news release, some of the first results were “new looks at the Apollo landing sites; indications that permanently shadowed and nearby regions may harbor water and hydrogen; observations that large areas in the permanently shadowed regions are colder than Pluto; and detailed information on lunar terrain.”

One of the results of the mission will be a highly detailed map of the moon.
Mary Silver writes columns, grows herbs, hikes, and admires the sky. She likes critters, and thinks the best part of being a journalist is learning new stuff all the time. She has a Masters from Emory University, serves on the board of the Georgia chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and belongs to the Association of Health Care Journalists.
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