Not so long ago, we believed that the Moon was much like our planet. To earth-bound observers, lunar features appeared as great seas and even vegetation-covered plains. Today, of course, we know that quite the opposite is true and that the lunar landscape is not like Earth’s at all.
From Earth, the major features of the Moon’s surface appear simply as lighter and darker regions, but these features are anything but simple. They represent vast basins, sprawling lava plains, and even a few mountain ranges.
Luna’s brighter highlands are riddled with ancient impact craters that can be seen even today. In the darker mares, those impact sites are not so apparent - likely due to flows from hot material during early lunar existence.
One of the most prominent lunar features is Tycho Crater. Visible as a bright ridged circular region near the Moon’s lower limb, and believed to have been formed by a relatively recent impact, this crater has been a target for many telescopes and the subject of much scientific study.
The following slidecast, the first in a series of several featuring the lunar surface, offers a more in-depth look at this fascinating lunar feature.
After a flawless dock on February 9th, the Shuttle Atlantis crew installed the European-made, 10-ton Columbus laboratory. Columbus is the first ISS addition not made in the United States or Russia. The lab cost $2 billion, paid mostly by Germany, Italy and France - all members of the European Space Agency (ESA).
On February 11, 2008 astronauts Rex Walheim and Stanley Love installed Columbus during the first spacewalk of the STS-122 mission. At the end of the working day on February 14th, all of Columbus’ core systems were successfully activated.
This past Friday, astronauts successfully completed a spacewalk to install the Columbus external experiment facilities, SOLAR and the European Technology Exposure Facility (EuTEF). Of particular interest to astronomers, SOLAR contains three instruments for Sun observation that allow measurements through the whole electromagnetic spectrum. The observatory features a movable frame to keep the instruments pointed at the Sun for 15 minutes at a time while the ISS rapidly orbits our planet. EuTEF houses nine different experiments requiring exposure to the space environment – including a micrometeoroid/orbital debris detector & Earth viewing camera.
Both the ISS & Atlantis crews spent Saturday transferring supplies and equipment to the new orbiting lab. The shuttle is scheduled to leave the space station on Monday at 4:26 AM EST and is due to return to Earth on Wednesday. Tune in to Slooh Radio for a mission wrap-up and the Lunar Eclipse!
