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NASA’s GRAIL Mission
June 11 , 2025
13 hrs 0 min
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- The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission aimed to map the Moon’s gravitational field.
- It was launched in 2011.
- It consisted of two robotic spacecraft named Ebb and Flow.
- NASA’s GRAIL mission has revealed the very differences between the Moon’s two hemispheres.
- The side facing Earth - the nearside - is warmer and more geologically active deep down than the farside.
- Billions of years ago, intense volcanic activity on the nearside led to the formation of vast plains of basaltic rock.
- In contrast, the farside is covered with lighter and older crust that has remained largely untouched by large-scale volcanic processes.
- The near side’s mantle is 100 to 200°C hotter than the farside.
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