WASHINGTON, July 16 (SocialNews.XYZ) NASA has selected a new scientific payload to establish the age and composition of volcanic terrain on the near side of the Moon.
Dating the Ina Irregular Mare Patch Discovered in 1971 by Apollo 15 orbital images Dimple Instrument Suite Abbreviation for Ina Irregular Mare Patch.
Although NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has found about 70 irregular mar patches, Ina is the largest identified so far.
The agency said that learning more about the mound would solve great questions about the moon’s evolution, which could provide clues to the history of the entire solar system.
Dimple is part of PRISM (Payloads and Research Investigations on the Moon), a NASA initiative that sends scientific probes to the Moon through CLPS, or Commercial Lunar Payload Services. The CLPS initiative is an important part of NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration efforts.
“This commercial payload delivery initiative is helping to deliver a burst of lunar science and exploration,” Nicola Fox, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in a statement.
“Dimple will add a wealth of knowledge about the Moon that helps us understand the origins of Earth and other planets in the Solar System. And, as we learn more about our closest neighbor, we can support long-term human exploration of the Moon and, one day, Mars,” he added.
Dimples can help identify irregular mar patches formed from recent or ancient volcanic processes. The mission will use the rover, the Collection Gripping Instrument, and the spectrometer provided by CLPS to help determine the composition of lunar materials, to analyze the age and composition of samples collected from the object’s surface.
Dimple can collect and analyze anywhere from three to more than 25 samples to learn more about the timing of the volcanic activity that formed the feature.
“By picking out the dimple, we aim to settle the debate about how recently the Moon was volcanically active,” said Joel Keynes, deputy associate administrator for exploration in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.
“This is not only a scientifically intriguing puzzle that will fundamentally change our understanding of lunar thermal evolution, but it is also a demonstration of an exciting technology that can be used to measure the absolute ages of various geological terrains throughout the Solar System.” He added.
NASA said the cost of the payload suite is $50 million and the delivery date is in the second quarter of 2027. The space agency is expected to work to issue a CLPS task order in 2024 to determine the launch services to supply Dimple. the moon
Source: IANS
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