{ "count": 14, "next": null, "previous": null, "results": [ { "id": 11292, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11292/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2013-06-03T11:00:00-04:00", "title": "Water on the Moon", "description": "Since the 1960’s, scientists have suspected that frozen water could survive in cold, dark craters at the Moon’s poles. While previous lunar missions have detected hints of water on the Moon, new data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) pinpoints areas near the south pole where water is likely to exist. The key to this discovery is hydrogen, the main ingredient in water: LRO uses its Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector, or LEND, to measure how much hydrogen is trapped within the lunar soil. By combining years of LEND data, scientists see mounting evidence of hydrogen-rich areas near the Moon’s south pole, strongly suggesting the presence of frozen water. || ", "hits": 180 }, { "id": 4057, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4057/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2013-03-25T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "LEND Looks for Water at the South Pole", "description": "Since Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) entered lunar orbit in 2009, its neutron detector, LEND, has been counting the neutrons coming from the Moon's surface.Neutrons are created when galactic cosmic rays strike atoms in the lunar regolith. These neutrons bounce from atom to atom like billiard balls, losing energy with each collision. Along the way, some of these neutrons escape into space, where LEND can detect them.The presence of hydrogen in the lunar soil reduces the number of neutrons that escape. To map out likely deposits of water ice, LEND scientists look for this deficit of neutrons in the epithermal (medium) energy range.If the deficit were simply due to random fluctuations, the hydrogen map would never coalesce into a sharp image, but as this animation shows, the map of epithermal neutron deficit at the south pole of the Moon improves over time and converges on particular spots. These include especially strong signals in the permanently shadowed parts of Cabeus and Shoemaker craters, where ice would be completely shielded from the sun. But LEND and other missions have found signs of water in places that aren't permanently shadowed while apparently excluding some places that are, both of which are surprising and exciting discoveries. || ", "hits": 241 }, { "id": 4043, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4043/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2013-03-06T11:00:00-05:00", "title": "LRO Peers into Permanent Shadows", "description": "The Moon's permanently shadowed regions, or PSRs, are places on the Moon that haven't seen the Sun in millions, or even billions, of years. The Earth's tilted axis allows sunlight to fall everywhere on its surface, even at the poles, for at least part of the year. But the Moon's tilt relative to the Sun is only 1.6°, not enough to get sunlight into some deep craters near the lunar north and south poles. PSRs are therefore some of the coldest, darkest places in the solar system.Because of that, PSRs are expected to be excellent traps for volatiles, chemicals that would normally vaporize and escape into space, and this includes water. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) includes several instruments designed to peer into the PSR darkness and measure temperature, reflectivity, and neutron absorption, all of which are clues to what chemicals might be hiding there. This animation shows where the PSRs are and in what ways LRO can see inside them. || ", "hits": 517 }, { "id": 11218, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11218/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2013-03-06T11:00:00-05:00", "title": "The Moon's Permanently Shadowed Regions", "description": "As you watch the Moon over the course of a month, you'll notice that different features are illuminated by the Sun at different times. However, there are some parts of the Moon that never see sunlight. These areas are called permanently shadowed regions, and they appear dark because unlike on the Earth, the axis of the Moon is nearly perpendicular to the direction of the sun's light. The result is that the bottoms of certain craters are never pointed toward the Sun, with some remaining dark for over two billion years. However, thanks to new data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, we can now see into these dark craters in incredible detail. || ", "hits": 630 }, { "id": 10935, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10935/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2012-03-21T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Visions of Goddard", "description": "Excerpts of 14 short films about the NASA's Goddadrd Space Flight Center. || ", "hits": 52 }, { "id": 10743, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10743/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2011-03-31T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "LEND: The Lunar Neutron Counter", "description": "How would you find out where to look for water on the Moon? NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has a unique answer: Count the neutrons coming from the Moon! By measuring the relative amounts of slow and fast neutrons coming from soil on the Moon, scientists think they can estimate the amount of hydrogen. And it's believed that where there's hydrogen, there might also be water! Find out more about LEND by watching this video. || ", "hits": 71 }, { "id": 3760, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3760/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2010-10-21T13:55:00-04:00", "title": "LRO Supports LCROSS", "description": "Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) were launched together on the same Atlas V rocket on June 18, 2009. Months later, after following very different paths to the moon, LRO and LCROSS met once more. LCROSS struck the floor of Cabeus crater, near the south pole of the moon, at 11:31 UT on October 9, 2009. LRO witnessed the impact from its orbit 50 kilometers (30 miles) above the surface.The purpose of the crash was to create a plume of debris that could be examined for the presence of water and other chemicals in the lunar regolith. LRO's early reconnaissance of the moon gave LCROSS mission planners valuable data in the months before LCROSS arrived, allowing them to choose an impact site with a high probability of producing interesting findings. LRO was also there for the event itself, using its array of instruments to gather data in the aftermath of the impact.This animation shows LRO and LCROSS from 5 minutes before to 5 minutes after the impact. Data gathered before the impact is represented by early results from LRO's Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND). LEND can sense hydrogen, and therefore possible water, in the lunar soil. The area of high hydrogen concentration in Cabeus (purple) is like a bullseye for LCROSS.Data gathered by LRO after the impact is represented by Diviner temperature measurements taken seconds after the crash. Diviner detected the heat from lunar soil melted and vaporized by the enormous energy of the impact. || ", "hits": 56 }, { "id": 10684, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10684/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2010-10-21T13:55:00-04:00", "title": "LRO Supports LCROSS - Quicktime and Windows Media versions", "description": "This video shows how the LEND instrument was used to help locate an ideal impact site for the LCROSS spacecraft. It also shows the DIVINER instrument taking measurements after the LCROSS impact. || lro_over_lcross_ipod_lg.00252_print.jpg (1024x576) [129.9 KB] || lro_over_lcross_ipod_lg_web.png (320x180) [241.8 KB] || lro_over_lcross_ipod_lg_thm.png (80x40) [14.5 KB] || lro_over_lcross_appletv.m4v (960x540) [17.3 MB] || lro_over_lcross_prores.mov (1280x720) [251.4 MB] || lro_over_lcross_wmv.wmv (1280x720) [16.3 MB] || lro_over_lcross_youtube_hq.mov (1280x720) [18.5 MB] || lro_over_lcross_appletv.webmhd.webm (960x540) [6.5 MB] || lro_over_lcross_ipod_lg.m4v (640x360) [5.5 MB] || lro_over_lcross_nasaportal.mov (640x360) [13.5 MB] || lro_over_lcross_nasacast.mp4 (320x240) [2.7 MB] || lro_over_lcross_svs.mpg (512x288) [4.1 MB] || ", "hits": 31 }, { "id": 10686, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10686/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2010-10-21T13:55:00-04:00", "title": "LRO Observes the LCROSS Impact", "description": "NASA scientists have revealed the lunar soil inside shadowy craters is rich in useful materials, that the moon is chemically active, and that it also has a water cycle. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, by observing the impact of the LCROSS spacecraft, helped contribute to these new findings. || ", "hits": 78 }, { "id": 3690, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3690/", "result_type": "Visualization", "release_date": "2010-03-28T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Releases Data to the Planetary Data System", "description": "On March 15, 2010, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) released its first installment of scientific data to NASA's public archive for planetary data, the Planetary Data System (PDS). This animation highlights several of the datasets made available through the PDS by the LOLA, LEND, and Diviner instruments on LRO. || ", "hits": 97 }, { "id": 10483, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10483/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2009-10-17T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "LRO Early Results Press Conference Visuals", "description": "These are the visuals used to support the LRO Press Conference \"NASA's LRO Mission Mapping Lunar South Pole in Uprecedented Detail\" held on September 17, 2009 at Goddard Space Flight Center. || ", "hits": 92 }, { "id": 10479, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10479/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2009-09-11T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "A Tour of the LRO Instrument Suite", "description": "Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Project Scientist Rich Vondrak explains the LRO suite of instruments and how each will greatly benefit our understanding of the Moon.For complete transcript, click here. || LRO_vondrak_ipod.02402_print.jpg (1024x576) [90.1 KB] || LRO_vondrak_ipod_web.png (320x180) [177.9 KB] || LRO_vondrak_ipod_thm.png (80x40) [16.3 KB] || LRO_vondrak_ipod.webmhd.webm (960x540) [46.3 MB] || LRO_vondrak_ipod.m4v (640x360) [70.8 MB] || LRO_vondrak.wmv (320x236) [37.5 MB] || LRO_vondrak_nasacast.mp4 (320x176) [21.6 MB] || ", "hits": 31 }, { "id": 10334, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10334/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2008-08-15T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "LRO/LCROSS Launch, Deploy, and Mission Animation", "description": "The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter or LRO will give scientists more information about the structure of the Moon's interior; the types of rock found there, events that shaped it, and the conditions that exist at the surface. LRO will spend one year in a polar orbit collecting this information. LRO's instrument suite will provide the highest resolution and the most comprehensive data set and the most detailed maps ever returned from the moon. It will carry an additional payload called LCROSS. The identification of water is very important to the future of human activities on the Moon. LCROSS will excavate the permanently dark floor of one of the Moon's polar craters with two heavy impactors to test the theory that ancient ice lies buried there. The impact will eject material from the crater's surface to create a plume that specialized instruments will be able to analyze for the presence of water (ice and vapor), hydrocarbons and hydrated material. || ", "hits": 98 }, { "id": 10201, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10201/", "result_type": "Produced Video", "release_date": "2008-04-14T00:00:00-04:00", "title": "LRO Instrument Integrations", "description": "The LRO payload, comprised of six instruments and one technology demonstration, will provide key data sets to enable a human return to the moon. Though built at a variety of partner institutions, all of LRO's instruments were integrated onto the spacecraft at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. || ", "hits": 68 } ] }