Scope Turns to Moon and Sees Possible Oxygen
The New York Times
October 20, 2005
Hubble Telescope Turns to Moon and Sees Possible Oxygen Source
By WARREN E. LEARY
WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 - The Hubble Space Telescope, which normally surveys the edges of the universe, has turned its attention to our nearby Moon and found mineral concentrations that might prove to be sources of oxygen for human visitors, researchers said Wednesday.
In an unusual use of the Hubble, astronomers trained the large Earth-orbiting telescope on the Moon in August to take the first high-resolution ultraviolet images of certain geologically interesting areas.
The images allow scientists to see areas of mineral variation within the crust and could help identify the most valuable sites for sending robotic and human missions.
"This allowed us to look at the Moon with new eyes," James Garvin, chief scientist at the Goddard Space Flight Center of NASA and principal investigator for the project, said at a news conference. "We haven't had ultraviolet vision before to do this."
The Hubble Advanced Camera for Surveys took ultraviolet and visible-light images of geologically diverse areas on the side of the Moon nearest Earth, including the Aristarchus impact crater and the adjacent Schroter's Valley rille.
The camera also photographed the Apollo 15 and 17 landing sites, where astronauts collected rock and soil samples in 1971 and 1972.
The Aristarchus plateau has long been of interest to geologists because of its volcanic vents, collapsed lava tubes called rilles, ejected volcanic material and recent impact craters. The Aristarchus crater, 26 miles wide and two miles deep, could be as young as 100 million years old and has a sharp rim and other fresh features that reveal the varied geology of the area, said Mark Robinson, a planetary geologist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.
The crater slices into the side of the plateau, exposing its interior layers and features.
The telescope's images showed a diversity of materials in the crater, including basalt, olivine, anorthosite and ilmenite. Researchers said ilmenite, a glassy mineral made up of titanium, iron and oxygen, was particularly interesting because it could be an oxygen source for visitors. Oxygen can be extracted by heating or chemical processes. High concentrations of ilmenite were found at the Aristarchus site, scientists said.
Ilmenite was identified in samples returned from the Apollo 17 site. Having those samples lets scientists know the exact composition of the sites, and that can be used to calibrate the Hubble mineral readings in other areas, the scientists said.
The telescope's findings, which continue to be evaluated, will give researchers a head start at interpreting similar but more detailed information expected from future satellite Moon surveys, including the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission planned for 2008. The efforts are preludes to plans to send people back to the Moon by 2018.
A Hubble program scientist, Jennifer Wiseman, said there were no plans to use it for further lunar observations.
* Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/20/national/20moon.html?pagewanted=print
October 20, 2005
Hubble Telescope Turns to Moon and Sees Possible Oxygen Source
By WARREN E. LEARY
WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 - The Hubble Space Telescope, which normally surveys the edges of the universe, has turned its attention to our nearby Moon and found mineral concentrations that might prove to be sources of oxygen for human visitors, researchers said Wednesday.
In an unusual use of the Hubble, astronomers trained the large Earth-orbiting telescope on the Moon in August to take the first high-resolution ultraviolet images of certain geologically interesting areas.
The images allow scientists to see areas of mineral variation within the crust and could help identify the most valuable sites for sending robotic and human missions.
"This allowed us to look at the Moon with new eyes," James Garvin, chief scientist at the Goddard Space Flight Center of NASA and principal investigator for the project, said at a news conference. "We haven't had ultraviolet vision before to do this."
The Hubble Advanced Camera for Surveys took ultraviolet and visible-light images of geologically diverse areas on the side of the Moon nearest Earth, including the Aristarchus impact crater and the adjacent Schroter's Valley rille.
The camera also photographed the Apollo 15 and 17 landing sites, where astronauts collected rock and soil samples in 1971 and 1972.
The Aristarchus plateau has long been of interest to geologists because of its volcanic vents, collapsed lava tubes called rilles, ejected volcanic material and recent impact craters. The Aristarchus crater, 26 miles wide and two miles deep, could be as young as 100 million years old and has a sharp rim and other fresh features that reveal the varied geology of the area, said Mark Robinson, a planetary geologist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.
The crater slices into the side of the plateau, exposing its interior layers and features.
The telescope's images showed a diversity of materials in the crater, including basalt, olivine, anorthosite and ilmenite. Researchers said ilmenite, a glassy mineral made up of titanium, iron and oxygen, was particularly interesting because it could be an oxygen source for visitors. Oxygen can be extracted by heating or chemical processes. High concentrations of ilmenite were found at the Aristarchus site, scientists said.
Ilmenite was identified in samples returned from the Apollo 17 site. Having those samples lets scientists know the exact composition of the sites, and that can be used to calibrate the Hubble mineral readings in other areas, the scientists said.
The telescope's findings, which continue to be evaluated, will give researchers a head start at interpreting similar but more detailed information expected from future satellite Moon surveys, including the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission planned for 2008. The efforts are preludes to plans to send people back to the Moon by 2018.
A Hubble program scientist, Jennifer Wiseman, said there were no plans to use it for further lunar observations.
* Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/20/national/20moon.html?pagewanted=print
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