Lunar landing module reflectivity model
Lunar landing module reflectivity model based on Surveyor and Orbiter photographs of lunar craters, hills, and boulders
SEARCH · Search NASA
Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Lunar landing module reflectivity model based on Surveyor and Orbiter photographs of lunar craters, hills, and boulders
Reconstructed and reassembled photographs taken by Lunar Orbiter I
Errors in estimates of lunar crater slope angles and surface roughness in Ranger VII and Ranger VIII pictures due to interpretation of dark areas as shadows
Photographic and backscattering instrumental data from Surveyor V soft touchdown on lunar surface on mechanical, magnetic, and chemical properties of surface
Selenographic error analysis of photographs on Lunar Orbiter missions
Ranger vii photograph of moon has dark stripe which is evidence of recent volcanism
Hypothesis that Luna IX rocket exhaust during soft landing caused formation of shallow crater visible in Ranger VII lunar probe photographs
Surveyor I spacecraft photographs evaluated for lunar surface topography
This paper presents observational evidence, based on Viking Orbiter and Lunar Orbiter photographs, for the morphological similarity between grooved features found in the Memnonia and Phaethontis quandrangles of Mars and the lunar Imbrium Sculpture materials. The grooved structures radiate from a source area at the approximate center of Daedalia Planum. These features are indicative of an ancient impact basin. Geologic materials, volcanolike massifs, and earth-based radar data confirm the existence of a 4500-km-diam impact basin centered in Daedalia Planum. Ages determined by geologic mappers for associated basin materials suggest that the basin was formed in the early Noachian, making the Daedalia basin one of the oldest identified basins on Mars.
The Google Moon Apollo Lunar Sample Data Integration project is a continuation of the Apollo 15 Google Moon Add-On project, which provides a scientific and educational tool for the study of the Moon and its geologic features. The main goal of this project is to provide a user-friendly interface for an interactive and educational outreach and learning tool for the Apollo missions. Specifically, this project?s focus is the dissemination of information about the lunar samples collected during the Apollo missions by providing any additional information needed to enhance the Apollo mission data on Google Moon. Apollo missions 15 and 16 were chosen to be completed first due to the availability of digitized lunar sample photographs and the amount of media associated with these missions. The user will be able to learn about the lunar samples collected in these Apollo missions, as well as see videos, pictures, and 360 degree panoramas of the lunar surface depicting the lunar samples in their natural state, following collection and during processing at NASA. Once completed, these interactive data layers will be submitted for inclusion into the Apollo 15 and 16 missions on Google Moon.
Morphological classification of lunar materials in Mare Tranquillitatis from high resolution Ranger VIII photographs
Boulder tracks from 19 different locations on the Moon, observable in Lunar Orbiter photographs, have been examined. Measurements of the track width indicate that some of the boulders sank considerably deeper than others. It is suggested that lunar surface materials vary from place to place; the state of compaction (density of lunar soil) is probably one of the significant variables. Using bearing capacity theory, modified to be applicable to the rolling boulder problem by theoretical studies and extensive testing, the friction angle of the lunar soil was estimated. Most of the results were between 24 and 47 degrees with an arithmetic average of 37 degrees.
Photogrammetric reduction of Ranger Block III STEREOSCOPIC lunar surface photographs
An analysis of the lunar samples returned by Apollo 17 was conducted to determine the petrographic characteristics. A table listing all the rocks returned by Apollo 17 by sample number, weight, and rock type is presented. Photographs of lunar samples are included to show the variety of rocks returned. Lunar soils were collected to aid in characterizing the four major photogeologic units determined by preflight studies. Tables are developed to show grain size and grain type for the lunar soils. Radiographs of the drive tubes are interpreted to show the formations existing at various depths below the lunar surface.
In November of 1973 the Mariner 10 spacecraft acquired high resolution images of both the Earth and the Moon as it began its voyage to Venus and then Mercury. The best images had a resolution of approximately l km and were taken from an unusual viewpoint, above the lunar North Pole. At this time the Moon was illuminated such that the eastern limb, including approximately 30 degrees of the farside, was visible. Two high resolution mosaics were acquired during this period which provide excellent views of regions of the Moon poorly seen from the Earth. These include the Frigoris, Humboldtianum, Marginis, and Smythii regions. These images also covered expanses of highlands not visible from the Earth. These data were unique in that they were the only useful robotic spacecraft images of the Moon; and they remained so until December of 1990 when the Galileo spacecraft made its first encounter with the Moon. These Mariner 10 lunar images were acquired and are currently being used in conjunction with Earth-based telescopic spectra as well as Apollo and Lunar Orbiter photographic data to investigate the nature of deposits comprising the Northeast Nearside of the Moon. These Mariner 10 frames have proved useful for photogeologic, photometric, and photoclinometric analyses; they were also used in support of the second Galileo lunar encounter of December 1992.
The laser altimeter measures precise altitudes of the command and service module above the lunar surface and can function either with the metric (mapping) camera or independently. In the camera mode, the laser altimeter ranges at each exposure time, which varies between 20 and 28 sec (i.e., 30 to 43 km on the lunar surface). In the independent mode, the laser altimeter ranges every 20 sec. These altitude data and the spacecraft attitudes that are derived from simultaneous stellar photography are used to constrain the photogrammetric reduction of the lunar surface photographs when cartographic products are generated. In addition, the altimeter measurements alone provide broad-scale topographic relief around the entire circumference of the moon. These data are useful in investigating the selenodetic figure of the moon and may provide information regarding gravitational anomalies on the lunar far side.
Over 300 previously unrecognized volcanic domes were identified on Lunar Orbiter photographs using the following criteria: (1) the recognition of land forms on the Moon similar in morphology to terrestrial volcanic domes, (2) structural control, (3) geomorphic discordance, and (4) the recognition of land forms modified by dome-like swellings. Many terrestrial volcanic domes are similar in morphology to lunar domes. This analogy suggests that some lunar hills are in fact extrusive volcanic domes. Many of the domes identified in this paper seem to be related to basins and craters, and with the exception of local tectonic grid control few domes are related to any observable Moon-wide pattern.
Partially and completely buried craters on planetary surfaces are used as probes to determine the thickness and extent of the overlying material as well as the composition of underlying terrain units. Rims of craters protruding through mare basalts on the Moon have been used extensively by DeHon (1977, 1979) to develop isopach maps of both the circular and irregular maria. Such estimates are possible because of Apollo topographic data and the extensive coverage by Lunar Orbiter photographs at various sun angles. On planetary surfaces without such data, however, shadow measurements can only be made by pixel listings with appropriate assumptions concerning support data. In addition, high resolution geochemical data is not available to determine whether the exposed crater rim is composed of material dissimilar from the lavas. Because of the need for lava thickness data, flooding of lunar mare and highland craters was simulated in order to determine empirical relationships between dimensions observed in orbital images and the thickness of the lava.