Browsing: GRAIL Mission

The GRAIL mission, short for Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory, was a NASA lunar exploration project that aimed to provide detailed mapping of the moon’s gravitational field. Launched in September 2011, the mission consisted of two spacecraft, GRAIL-A and GRAIL-B, which flew in tandem orbits around the moon to measure its gravitational anomalies with high precision. This data helped scientists to make significant advancements in understanding the moon’s internal structure and composition, as well as its thermal evolution. By mapping variations in the gravitational pull, GRAIL provided insights into the moon’s subsurface structures and gave clues about the processes that have shaped the lunar crust and mantle. The mission concluded in December 2012 when both spacecraft were deliberately crashed into the moon’s surface after completing their research objectives, significantly enhancing our knowledge of Earth’s closest celestial neighbor.