Moon not a nuclear-free zone
2 Jul 2009
Using data from the now-defunct Japanese Kaguya lunar orbiter, have found uranium signatures in the data, an element not seen in previous Moon-mapping efforts.
Robert C. Reedy, a senior scientist at the Tucson-based Planetary Science Institute, is mapping the Moon's surface elements using data gathered by an advanced gamma-ray spectrometer (GRS) that rode aboard Kaguya.
The data promise to show chemical elements on the Moon that have never been identified before.
The uranium results were recently announced at the 40th Lunar and Planetary Conference and at the Proceedings of the International Workshop Advances in Cosmic Ray Science. The lead authors on those papers are Prof. Naoyuki Yamashita and Prof. Nobuyuki Hasebe respectively. Both are from Japan's Waseda University.
< An artist's impression of the Kaguya spacecraft in lunar orbit.
Earlier maps from the Apollo and Lunar Prospector missions show a few of the Moon's chemical elements. But the maps constructed by Reedy and the Kaguya GRS team—using data gathered by state-of-the-art, high-energy-resolution detectors—are extending the earlier results and improving our understanding of the Moon's surface composition.
In addition to uranium, the Kaguya GRS data also is showing clear signatures for thorium, potassium, oxygen, magnesium, silicon, calcium, titanium and iron.
Kaguya was launched in September 2007 and crashed into the Moon at the end of its mission on June 10 of this year.
"All of the work being funded is considerably improving our knowledge of the Moon's composition and its origin and evolution," Reedy said. "It also will help scientists locate lunar resources and help with planning for future lunar missions."
Related story: Last images from Japan's lunar mission
Adapted from information issued by the Planetary Science Institute.
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