In order to truly understand these puzzling features, we need to visit the domes, explore them from the ground, and analyze rock samples. The real mystery is how such silicic magmas could form on the Moon. “Based on early telescopic and spacecraft observations, these domes have long been suspected to be formed by a magma rich in silica, similar in composition to granite. “We’ve got a lunar mystery on our hands! The Gruithuisen Domes are a geologic enigma,” writes NASA’s Caroline Capone. (NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University)Īnnounced June 2 as part of a “Priority Artemis Science” mission, the data also will help inform future robotic and human missions to the Moon. The Gruithuisen Domes on the lunar surface. By analyzing the lunar regolith at the top of one of these domes, the data collected and returned by Lunar-VISE’s instruments will help scientists answer fundamental open questions regarding how these formations came to be. Over the course of ten Earth days (one lunar day), Lunar-VISE will explore the summit of one of the Gruithuisen Domes. Two of them will be mounted on a stationary lander and three mounted on a mobile rover to be provided as a service by a Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative vendor. The Lunar Vulkan Imaging and Spectroscopy Explorer (Lunar-VISE) investigation, slated for 2025, will consist of a suite of five instruments. On Earth, however, formations like these need oceans of liquid water and plate tectonics to form, but without these key ingredients on the Moon, lunar scientists have been left to wonder how these domes formed and evolved over time. The domes are suspected to have been formed by a sticky magma rich in silica, similar in composition to granite. The space agency announced a rover will visit the Gruithuisen Domes, a geological feature that has baffled scientists.
WASHINGTON - NASA is to launch a “priority” mission to explore mysterious domes on the moon.
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