More on the Moon: NASA's GRAIL Mission

Maybe you think that we know enough by now about the Moon and should focus on greater things that are still a mystery in our universe but there is much more to understand about Earth's massive natural satellite.  Being the biggest moon, relative to the size of its planet, this orbiting wonder is quite magnificent and needs to be studied more.

I find this mission personally interesting considering that the spacecrafts will attempt to understand the Moon's gravitational field and I have always found the force of gravity to be quite intriguing.

The Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) Mission was designed to study the moon outside AND inside.  The GRAIL Mission consists of two spacecraft, initially named GRAIL-A and GRAIL-B, that will orbit the Moon to measure the gravitational field all around, including the side facing away from Earth.  From this information, scientists hope to better understand the structure and thermodynamics of the Moon.  The data gathered from this mission will also be applied to learning more about the terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars).  The spacecrafts will work together using the same instruments to obtain this data.

Below is a picture illustrating the mission at the moon:

(Picture from http://moon.mit.edu/overview.html)

Each spacecraft is about 440 pounds and have a Lunar Gravity Ranging System (LGRS) attached to it.  This device consists of four sub instruments that are used to measure the position of each spacecraft relative to the moon and one another and also transmits this data back to Earth. 

This mission was launched not just to learn more about the moon but also to get the public involved as well.  Each spacecraft is equipped with a few cameras for educational purposes only.  Schools and students can sign up to study the spacecrafts movement and also get pictures taken from the the spacecrafts.

The GRAIL Mission is just one of many missions made to study more about our own solar system.  There are also many other missions launched to learn more about the universe.  All of these missions are important to better understand this huge space that we humans occupy and how it came to be.  I hope that missions like the GRAIL Mission will forever continue to help answer our curious questions.

This is merely a summary of this great venture.  For more information on the GRAIL Mission click on the following links and enjoy:  http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/grail/overview/index.html, http://moon.mit.edu/overview.html

Science Friday

For those of you who are interested; I have recently came across a podcast called "SciFri".  It has recent science stories including those of astronomy.  You can download the app on your phone or listen online:
http://www.facebook.com/scifri

What do astronomers do?

This is a question that has virtually infinite answers.

To me astronomers attempt to understand what else is beyond our own planet and how the universe works.  From the near by celestial bodies such as Earth's neighboring planets to the farthest stars we have yet to see, astronomers have much work ahead of them.

By using telescopes astronomers can study many objects that are very distant from Earth.  And by using satellites and spacecrafts, they can get even closer to the heavenly bodies floating above our heads.

There are so many questions not yet answered:

Is there life outside of our own planet?
How did the universe come to be?
How important is the balance of all the Milky Way planets?
What is the future of the universe?

Through increases in technology humans have become closer to answering questions such as the ones listed.  Just recently the Kepler Mission (launched by NASA) found celestial bodies similar to the size of earth.

These bodies are said to be in the "Goldielocks Zone" cleverly named since the temperature in the region is not too hot and not too cold.  It is topics such as this, that astronomers strive to find more about.

For more information on these new planets click on the link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/nasa-finds-new-planet-kepler-22b-outside-solar-system-with-temperature-right-for-life/2011/12/07/gIQAPfzFdO_story.html

 It is amazing what is so far beyond our vision!  There is so much we humans do not know of and astronomers are working on discovering what else is in the deep space that is so mysterious.