(ORDO NEWS) — NASA is preparing to launch a “priority” mission to explore the mysterious domes on the moon. The space agency has announced that the rover will study the Grutheusen domes, a geological feature that baffles many scientists.
Scientists still do not know how the mysterious domes formed on the moon. Perhaps future NASA missions will provide answers
The space agency has announced two missions to the moon: NASA will send the Lunar Vulkan Imaging and Spectroscopy Explorer (Lunar-VISE) to the satellite, as well as the Lunar Explorer Instrument science complex .
First mission
NASA plans to send the Lunar Vulkan Imaging and Spectroscopy Explorer (Lunar-VISE) to the Moon in 2025 , consisting of five instruments. Two of them will be installed on a stationary lander, and three on a small all-terrain vehicle.
For 10 days, Lunar-VISE will explore the top of one of the Grutheusen domes. The collected data should help scientists answer the question of how these domes formed.
Second mission
The Lunar Explorer Instrument (LEIA) is a small CubeSat-based device. It will conduct biological research on the Moon, delivering the fungus Saccharomyces cerevisiae to Earth‘s satellite and studying its response to radiation and lunar gravity.
The data will help researchers understand how partial gravity and real deep space radiation affect biological systems.
Why are the domes of Grutheusen so remarkable?
The domes of Grutheusen are two hills on the outskirts of the crater of the same name, which have the characteristic shape of a regular hemisphere, 20 kilometers in diameter and 1.5 kilometers high.
These domes are thought to be formed by a sticky, silica-rich magma similar in composition to granite. The most surprising thing is that such formations are formed only in the presence of water and tectonic activity, and this is not on the Moon.
How they formed remains a mystery. Perhaps subsequent studies of the Earth’s satellite will help researchers find answers.
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