PIA12229: Mineral Mapping the Moon


Mineral Mapping the Moon

Caption:

This is an early mineral map derived from the different reflected light, or spectral, signatures, measured by NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper on board the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft. The green, purple and blue areas are covered with iron-rich lava flows. These are similar to the lava flows of Hawaii. The red and pink regions contain the mineral plagioclase. Plagioclase is one of the minerals found in granite rocks on Earth, such as the granite of Yosemite National Park.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Moon
System Earth
Target Type Satellite
Mission Chandrayaan-1
Instrument Host Chandrayaan-1
Host Type
Instrument Moon Mineralogy Mapper
Detector
Extra Keywords Color, Map
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2009-09-24
Date in Caption
Image Credit ISRO/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Brown Univ.
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA12229
Identifier PIA12229