lab 

Photogeology of the Moon – 1

PHOTOGEOLOGY OF THE MOON LAB

Purpose: To study photographs of the moon and see how they connect to the moon
sample gathered by the astronauts.

Introduction:

The Moon is the closest astronomical object and the object of fascination of
people around the world for ages. The original thoughts were the Moon was a god
that dominated the night. Many cultures made sacrifices to the Moon so it would rise
each night. It was the Greeks that understood the Moon to be another celestial body.
Aristarchus of Samos correctly guessed the Moon orbited around the Earth and
received light from the Sun. But this information was lost when the Great Library at
Alexandria was destroyed due to a fire. It took another 1,100 years from the time of
the Greeks to show the orbit of the Moon. This was done in the models produced by
Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler. Even with this knowledge, there existed jokes and
stories about Moon creatures and the moon being made of cheese.

In the 1950s through the 1970s, probes and manned lunar missions were sent
to the Moon. The Russians were the first to land an unmanned probe in 1957 called
Lunas 1, 2, and 3. The probes took pictures from orbit and then surveyed the
surrounding material. Both were sent back to Baikanour, the Russian Cosmodrome.
The United States followed suit by sending the Explorer series of probes from around
1960 to 1965. Both sets of probes were trying to find a suitable landing site for a
manned lunar mission. In 1966, the Russians developed the Zond missions to take
three people to the moon and land one person on the Moon. The rocket, the N1 that
would take the Cosmonauts, the Russian astronauts, ultimately failed to launch. Thus
in 1969, a Saturn V rocket, a rocket standing 35 stories tall, launched three U.S.
astronauts (Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Micheal Collins) to the moon. They landed
at the Sea of Tranquility on July 20, 1969. They imaged the moon from orbit and took
samples of the area around the Lunar Module.

Lunar geologists had to take the data from the astronauts and the probes and
piece together a complete picture of the Moon. Geology is the study of rocks and how
they form. Lunar geologists study the geology of the Moon. The lunar geologist has
two sources of data from which to study the Moon; samples gathered by astronauts
and the images from lunar manned and unmanned missions. In this lab, we are going
to study more in depth the lunar samples and the images of the Moon.

Photogeology of the Moon – 2

Part 1: The Three Main Rocks

1) Take a look at the moon rock sample images at

http://astro.browardcentralscience.org/moonrx.html . Look up basalt, breccia,
and anorthrosite on Wikipedia. Look at the samples indicated and identify which
one is basalt, breccia, and anorthrosite and complete Table 1:

2) Now use the Wikipedia pages for each rock and summarize the
Components/Appearance and the Goetetic Environment/Occurrence of each rock
in Table 2.

Part II: The Moon Map

1) Open up

https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mapcatalog/LunarEarthsideChart/LEC-
1A/LEC-1A_1Ed_1268_150 . Using Wikipedia locate the landing sites of Luna
2 and Apollo 11 using the coordinates for each lander on the map. Answer the
end of lab questions about the two different sites.

2) Now locate an example of each type of feature of the moon on the map. Describe
as accurately as one can the feature and then measure the object in one orientation
on the screen in mm. Then using the scale on the bottom of map (the scale
depends on latitude) convert the mm to miles and kilometers. Determine if
breccia, basalt, and anorthosite exist at each feature in Table 3.

Part III: The Sizes and Depths of Lunar Features

1) Look at the picture below. Note the three different craters that are circled.

Measure each feature in mm horizontally. Next measure the whole Moon
horizontally. Divide each measurement of each object by the whole Moon
measurement. Multiply each of these measurements by 3,476 km to obtain the
real life size of each crater (Equation 1).

???? = �
????
????

� 3,476 ????

Equation 1 Real Size of Craters

2) Now measure the distance, in mm, between the terminator, the line separating
the light and dark parts of the moon, and the lip of the crater producing the
shadow. Measure the length of the shadow in mm. Multiply these two
measurements for each crater. Then divide each by the square of half of the
measurement of the whole Moon to obtain the scale height of each crater. Then
multiply each scale height by 1,738 km to obtain the real height of each crater
(Equation 2). Enter this into Table 4.

???? =
????
????2

; ???? = ????(1,738????)

Equation 2 The Heights of Craters

http://astro.browardcentralscience.org/moonrx.html

https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mapcatalog/LunarEarthsideChart/LEC-1A/LEC-1A_1Ed_1268_150

https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mapcatalog/LunarEarthsideChart/LEC-1A/LEC-1A_1Ed_1268_150

Photogeology of the Moon – 3

Table 1 The Moon Rocks

Sample
Number

Name Type

4, 5
3
1

Table 2 The Properties and Context of Moon Rocks

Type Components / Appearance Geotechtic Environment/
Occurrence

Basalt

Breccia

Anorthosite

Photogeology of the Moon – 4

Table 3 Features of the Moon

Feature
Name

Description Inches Miles Kilometers Types of
Rocks

Mare

Mountain

Crater

Rille

Scarp

Table 4 Sizes and Heights of Moon Craters

Crater
Name

Measured
Size
(MS)

Real
Size

(RS)

Shadow
Length
(S)

Terminator
Distance
(T)

Scale
Height
(SH)

Real Height
(RH)

Crater 1

Crater 2

Crater 3

Measured Diameter (MD): Measured Radius (MR):

Photogeology of the Moon – 5

Questions:

1. List three differences and three similarities of each landing site.

2. Why do you think they used each site for the landing?

3. Does this compare with the sizes obtained in Part II with the map?

4. Compare each height to Earth objects.

5. Why do you think we have not landed in a crater?

6. Would it be advisable to land in a crater for future lunar missions?

Photogeology of the Moon – 6

Crater 1 Crater 2 Crater 3

Data Sheet Laboratory 4