Chapter 11: The Sun-Earth-Moon System Section 3: Exploring Earth’s Moon

A. Missions to the Moon

1. Early exploration a. The first Luna spacecraft, launched by the Soviet Union in 1959, enabled close study of the Moon.

b. The Ranger spacecraft and the Lunar Orbiters of the U. S b. The Ranger spacecraft and the Lunar Orbiters of the U.S. took detailed photographs of the Moon in the 1960s. Ranger Lunar Orbiter

c. Five Surveyor U.S. spacecrafts landed on the Moon.

d. Astronauts of Apollo 11 landed on the Moon in 1969. Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin

Neil Armstrong made this famous quote after stepping onto the moon: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Buzz Aldrin made this statement: “In this one moment, the world came together in peace for all mankind.”

2. The Clementine spacecraft was placed in lunar orbit in 1994 to survey the moon’s surface. Collected data on the mineral content of Moon rocks.

b. Mapped features of the Moon’s surface c. Impact basins, or craters, are depressions left by objects striking the Moon.

d. Identified South Pole-Aitken Basin, the largest and deepest impact crater in solar system.

B. Mapping the Moon Data from Clementine yielded a map of the Moon showing its composition.

a. The Moon’s crust is thinnest under its impact basins. The crust on the side of the Moon facing Earth is thinner than on the far side.

2. The Lunar Prospector was launched in 1998 to look for clues about the Moon’s origin and makeup.

a. Small, iron-rich core of the Moon supports the impact theory of the Moon’s origin.

b. Findings confirmed that ice was present in deep craters at poles.