Departure from: Moon

Shamelessly copied from today’s LPOD (Lunar Photo of the Day), this is the Customs and Immigration form signed by Apollo 11 astronauts after returning from the Moon. Yes – even the first lunar visitors had to go through customs on the way back!

My favourite bit:

“Any other condition on board which may lead to the spread of disease:
TO BE DETERMINED”

Moon Zoo Science Goals

Here’s a reminder the Moon Zoo science goals- and what our clicks are being used for.

 Crater Survey

1. To improve our knowledge of the production of small lunar craters by gathering information about their numbers and dimensions. This can be used to improve lunar maps and coordinates.

2. To calculate the age of different lunar surfaces (e.g., mare, impact melt sheets, highland crust) by comparing the number and sizes of impact craters. The more cratered a region is the older it is. Knowing the age of different surfaces allows us to build up a history of the geological processes on the Moon, in particular its temporal thermal and magmatic history. What we learn about these processes on the Moon we can then apply to other small rocky planetary bodies.

3. Results from Moon Zoo could also assist in the development of automated computer crater counting systems, and to help understand how image viewing geometries influences crater counting studies.

4. To determine variations in lunar regolith thickness by assessing the presence of boulders around crater rims.

5. To identify unique and unusual morphological features that help us to better understand the geological diversity of the Moon. Recording these featured will help to develop a database of interesting morphological features (for example, boulder tracks, fresh white and dark haloed craters, crater chains, elongate craters and pits etc) for the lunar science community to use.

Boulder Wars

To produce a boulder density hazard map to assist in identifying suitable landing sites for future human or robotic lunar missions.

Additionally

1. To produce peer-reviewed science.
2. To promote lunar and planetary science through using Moon Zoo as an educational and public outreach tool.
3. To identify small, highly elliptical craters that may have preserved meteoritic material.
4. To assess degraded craters according to variations in user measurements and produce maps of crater degradation states.