Robotic exploration missions provide vast amounts of data to help NASA prepare for future human exploration and learn more about the universe. Research Objective: The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) images robotic and human sample sites on the moon. Description: Newly discovered cliffs in the lunar crust indicate the moon shrank globally in the geologically recent past and might still be shrinking today. As the lunar interior cooled and contracted the entire moon shrank by about 100 meters. As a result its brittle crust ruptured and thrust faults (compression) formed distinctive landforms known as lobate scarps. The moon formed in a chaotic environment of intense bombardment by asteroids and meteors. These collisions, along with the decay of radioactive elements, made the moon hot. The moon cooled off as it aged, and scientists have long thought the moon shrank over time as it cooled, especially in its early history. The new research reveals relatively recent tectonic activity connected to the long-lived cooling and associated contraction of the lunar interior. Time Frame: The image was acquired during LRO's exploration mission in 2010. Application: By mapping the distribution and determining the size of all lobate scarps, the tectonic and thermal history of the moon can be reconstructed over the past billion years, providing important clues to the moon's recent geologic and tectonic evolution. Learn more: www.nasa.gov/lro http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/shrinking-moon.html Download Powerpoint file
