Surface of the Moon Lab

Introduction

In this lab, the surface of the Moon was studied in detail, including the craters, maria, and the landing sites of the lunar missions done by both NASA and the Soviet Lunar program. The differences between the two sides of the moon were noted, as well as a comparison of the Moon and Mercury.

Procedures

To carry out this lab, a large National Geographic map of the Moon,  Sky & Telescope’s Moon Map,  were used, as well as a few web resources, which are listed as follows:

• https://www.google.com/moon/
• http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/visit-the-moon-withoutleaving-your-desk/
• http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sim3316
• https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/revisited/

Results and Discussion

A)

1. Which of these features (maria, mountains and craters) are found mainly in the lunar lowlands and which are found mainly in the lunar highlands?

• The maria and mountains are found mainly in the highlands craters are found mainly in the lowlands.

2. Which of these features frequently act as borders between the lowlands and the highlands?

• Maria

3. As reckoned on the moon, in which quadrant of the side facing us are the maria mostly found?

• The northwest quadrant.

B)

1. If you restrict your view to the craters Plato, Archimedes, Wallace and Cassini in Mare Imbrium and to the craters Flamsteed, Leotroone, Marius, Prinz and Herodotus in Oceanus Procellarum, which would you say came first, these craters or the mare? Explain your reasoning.

• The craters, because the mare filled in the craters to about the same elevation as the rest of the mare.

2. Now look at the craters Kepler and Copernicus located in Mare Insularum, next to Oceanus Procellarum, and explain which came first, these craters or the mare? Explain your reasoning.

• The mare, because the craters have a different elevation than the rest of the mare.

3. Which other maria and craters could be used as examples of the scenarios depicted in questions 1 and 2?

• In Mare Vaporum, Manilius is a crater that was formed after the mare.
• In Mare Tranquillitatis, Maskelyne is a crater that formed before the mare.

4. Comment on the history of the lava flows that produced the lunar maria related to when crater production occurred.

• If the lava flowed after the crater was formed, then the lava will fill in the crater, making it about the same elevation as the mare.

C)

1. Do most large craters have central peaks? Do most small ones?

• Most large craters have central peaks, however smaller ones do not.

2. When overlapping occurs, do the larger or the smaller craters appear to be younger? why?

• The smaller craters appear to be younger because their surfaces are smoother.

3. Based on the evidence you see on the maps, what do you suspect the origin of lunar craters to be? Explain your reasoning.

• The craters were probably caused by meteors impacting the moon, because they are all so circular in shape, and that would make sense if something impacted in the center of the crater.

D)

1. What is the highest mountain or mountain range on the Moon? What is the approximate elevation?

• The highest mountain is next to Korolev, and its elevation is 10.79km.

2. In general, do the mountain ranges extend in straight or curved lines? Based on the evidence you see on the maps, what do you suspect the origin of lunar mountain ranges to be? Explain your reasoning.

• The mountain ranges extend in curved lines. I think that the origin is volcanoes, because they go around the craters.

E)

1. What seems to be the major differences between the two sides?

• The far side has far less and smaller mare.

2. What are the main similarities?

• They both have craters.

3. What would you say is the most prominent feature on the far side of the Moon? What kind of feature is it? Speculate on how it may be formed.

• Mare Ingenii, which is a mare. It may have been formed by a volcanic eruption.

4. Do the numbers of large and small craters appear to be the same on both sides

of the moon? If not, what differences do you note? (do not count the maria as craters)

• There seems to be more craters on the far side, because there are way more maria on the near side.

5. Do the shape and detail of the craters on each side seem to be the same? Explain.

• Yes, they are all circular in shape and somewhat smooth.

F)

1. What similarities do you find between the surface of the Moon and Mercury?

• They are both spherical, and have craters.

2. What major differences do you note?

• Mercury has less craters, and has more color variance.

3. Suggest a reason for any differences or similarities

• Mercury is a different distance away from the sun.

G)

Briefly comment on the following question for each Apollo landing site:

  What is the general appearance of each landing site, which lunar features did the astronauts learn most about, and what reasons can you see for picking each particular spot?

1. The Apollo 11 landing site looks like a very mountainous area, and it’s kind of situated between Mare Tranquillitatis, they probably learned the most about the makeup of the moon.

2. The Apollo 12 landing site has a couple of craters, and they probably landed her so they could explore around them.

3. The Apollo 14 landing site has a bunch of really small craters

4. The Apollo 15 landing site is more in the highlands

5. The Apollo 16 landing site is nowhere near a mare

6. The Apollo 17 landing site is between two maria

H)

Briefly comment on the following question for each Luna landing site:

  What is the general appearance of each landing site, which lunar features did the astronauts learn most about, and what reasons can you see for picking each particular spot?

1. The Luna 16 landed in a spot in the Mare Fecunditatis where there are not really any craters at all.

2. The Luna 17 landed close to a mountain range

3. Luna 21 landed on what looks like it could be a very small mountain.