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Researchers from the US Geological Survey (USGS), in collaboration with NASA and the Lunar Planetary Institute, have completed one of the fundamental tools for lunar exploration: the most comprehensive map of Earth’s natural satellite. After covering all available information and more than two decades of work, the Unified geological map of the moon, as the latest cartography is called, allows you to plan missions, select the best places for landings and settlements on the moon, identify future resource deposits, and have a unique guide to a celestial body that is a natural witness of origin of the Earth. “It’s a unique tool for science,” warns Jesus Martinez Frías, head of CSIC’s meteorite and planetary geosciences research group and head of the Lanzarote Geosciences Laboratory.
The map describes at a scale of 1: 5,000,000 the main lunar formations, the impact craters, caused by the collision of meteorites, and the seas, formed by the lava flows of the past.
On the moon there are four main types of rocks: gabbroic and basalts rich in aluminum oxide from high areas; the KREEP basalts, named for their main components: potassium (K), rare earth elements (rare earth elements, in English) and phosphorus (P); basalts rich in iron and titanium; and the so-called lunar regolith, formed by unconsolidated rocks and powders and particularly rich in ilmenite (oxide rich in iron and titanium).
Regoliths would allow the manufacture of radiation shields, road construction or crop development (Green Moon Project)
This composition is essential for the exploitation of the Moon, mainly due to its potential use on the surface of the satellite for the construction of elements that avoid the costly transport of materials from Earth. Martínez Frías is already testing in Lanzarote the use of regolith for the manufacture of radiation shields generated by protons from solar emissions and heavy ions from galactic cosmic radiation, for the construction of roads or for the development of crops (Green Moon Project ).
In addition, the map details the areas of the Moon that can be a source of rare earths (15 lanthanide elements from the periodic table, scandium and yttrium), considered the gold of the 21st century to be fundamental in the production of computers, mobile phones, ceramics. advanced, electric cars, microwaves, fiber optics, lighting systems, lasers, missiles or satellites, among other applications. Finding them in the right concentration that makes their extraction profitable has become a global problem.
The map is essential for determining and planning the most appropriate locations for exploration, moon landings or settlements
The map is also essential for determining and planning the most appropriate locations for exploration, moon landings or settlements, accurately specifying the geological configuration of the surface. “It is wonderful to see the USGS create a resource that can help NASA plan future missions,” current director of geological survey and former astronaut Jim Reilly said at the map presentation.
“The key thing about the new map is that they have managed to combine all the existing information by constantly overlapping layers of data. When you go looking, you need to bring a geological map. It is a fundamental roadmap ”, underlines Martínez Frías.
The researcher points out that, according to the information provided by the cartography, the south pole is the area most susceptible to future settlements, not only for the presence of comet ice but also for its mineral composition, rich in iron and titanium, and for brightness.
To obtain oxygen it is also possible to have igneous materials (such as ilmenite, anorthite and olivine) which contain between 40% and 50% of this element in the form of oxides.
Establishing, exploiting and using the Moon as an intermediate base for other space exploration are the main objectives that this map will facilitate in the near future. Without forgetting the opportunity to observe on the satellite how the Earth was originally.
For the elaboration of the Unified geological map of the moon the six regional maps produced during the missions were used Apollo, in addition to updated information provided by the most recent observations of the Moon, such as that collected by SELENE (the JAXA rover, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) or by NASA’s orbiter laser altimeter.
The unification of the initial and recent data was accompanied by the work of the USGS researchers to determine the stratigraphy (rock layers) of the Moon and the resolution of the inconsistencies found in types, ages and descriptions. “This map is the culmination of a decades-long project and provides vital information for new scientific studies linking site-specific exploration with the rest of the surface,” explains Corey Fortezzo, geologist and lead author of the USGS.
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