Pasadena Sun
While Mars rovers garner a steady stream of public attention, scientists from NASA and Jet Propulsion Laboratory have set their sights back on the moon, preparing for the launch of a new project next month.
The Gravitational Recovery and Interior Laboratory project aims to fill in the blanks on the formation of the moon by sending two satellites to measure the varying levels of gravitational pull on the moon’s mountainous dark side.
“The moon only shows us one side,” said Sami Asmar, deputy project scientist for the GRAIL program. “We’ve only seen pictures of the far side, which looks very different, and has been puzzling scientists for decades. … This will open up Pandora’s Box of scientific treasure.”
On Thursday NASA and JPL officials announced the launch window for the two GRAIL satellites begins Sept. 8 and will last for 42 days. It will take between three and four months for the craft to reach their destination, then a couple of months for the two to get in sync, and then three months to gather data.
