WEBVTT FILE 1 00:00:00.667 --> 00:00:10.444 [music] 2 00:00:10.444 --> 00:00:13.313 In the time before the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, most 3 00:00:13.313 --> 00:00:16.216 lunar orbiting missions had a lifespan of one to two years. 4 00:00:16.216 --> 00:00:20.621 But now, LRO has shattered all records and been at the Moon for 5 00:00:20.621 --> 00:00:24.791 one hundred lunar days – that’s eight years of data collection. 6 00:00:24.791 --> 00:00:27.928 This mission has truly ushered in a new era of lunar and 7 00:00:27.928 --> 00:00:31.698 planetary science. One of the biggest accomplishments is that 8 00:00:31.698 --> 00:00:35.202 LRO’s high-resolution camera has been able to image almost the 9 00:00:35.202 --> 00:00:38.739 entire lunar surface, down to one meter of resolution. This 10 00:00:38.739 --> 00:00:42.175 has opened a treasure trove of new data about geological 11 00:00:42.175 --> 00:00:45.345 processes and areas that may be best suited for future 12 00:00:45.345 --> 00:00:49.349 exploration. One hundred lunar days has also given us more time 13 00:00:49.349 --> 00:00:53.253 study the Moon’s far side in more detail than ever before. We 14 00:00:53.253 --> 00:00:56.223 now know, for example, that the Compton-Belkovich volcanic 15 00:00:56.223 --> 00:01:00.560 complex formed from a rare type of lava about 3.7 billion years 16 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:05.032 ago. This helps paint a new picture of the Moon’s history. 17 00:01:05.032 --> 00:01:08.001 The Moon has not only had a wide range of complex geologic 18 00:01:08.001 --> 00:01:13.340 processes, but its volcanism may have also changed over time. LRO 19 00:01:13.340 --> 00:01:15.909 has also been able to measure something you may not have heard 20 00:01:15.909 --> 00:01:19.513 about: the lunar tide – or how much the Moon’s surface actually 21 00:01:19.513 --> 00:01:23.583 flexes and cracks due to the gravitational pull of the Earth. 22 00:01:23.583 --> 00:01:26.053 There’s still a lot to learn about this ongoing process, 23 00:01:26.053 --> 00:01:29.122 making our Moon an important case study when thinking about 24 00:01:29.122 --> 00:01:34.127 other planets and moons. Over its lifetime of 4 1/2 billion 25 00:01:34.127 --> 00:01:37.331 years, the Moon has also been bombarded by all sorts of 26 00:01:37.331 --> 00:01:40.867 asteroids and comets. This has left millions of impact craters 27 00:01:40.867 --> 00:01:45.272 on the surface. For planetary scientists, however, there had 28 00:01:45.272 --> 00:01:49.543 been no way to identify newly formed craters. But when LRO 29 00:01:49.543 --> 00:01:53.447 arrived, all this changed. By comparing pictures taken earlier 30 00:01:53.447 --> 00:01:56.750 in the mission with more recent images, NASA scientists have 31 00:01:56.750 --> 00:02:00.420 discovered more than sixty new impact craters, like this one 32 00:02:00.420 --> 00:02:04.491 from 2013. And that’s not all. LRO’s instruments are able to 33 00:02:04.491 --> 00:02:08.595 study both new and old craters in ways we never have before. 34 00:02:08.595 --> 00:02:12.299 LOLA, for example, helps create topographic 3-D maps, and 35 00:02:12.299 --> 00:02:16.570 Mini-RF has detected evidence of water ice inside deep craters at 36 00:02:16.570 --> 00:02:20.107 the lunar poles. All of this is important for space science as a 37 00:02:20.107 --> 00:02:23.510 whole. Craters are used to help determine the age of a surface, 38 00:02:23.510 --> 00:02:27.214 how hot or cold a planet is, and how thick a planet’s atmosphere 39 00:02:27.214 --> 00:02:31.518 might be. Observing new impact craters also gives us better 40 00:02:31.518 --> 00:02:34.788 insight into what happens when a meteorite strikes a planetary 41 00:02:34.788 --> 00:02:39.626 surface. And this touches upon a key point - our Moon is more 42 00:02:39.626 --> 00:02:42.329 than just a rock. It’s the cornerstone for understanding 43 00:02:42.329 --> 00:02:46.333 our solar system and beyond. It has a dynamic history that we 44 00:02:46.333 --> 00:02:49.503 are still learning about and features we are still 45 00:02:49.503 --> 00:02:52.205 discovering. By being at the Moon for one hundred lunar days 46 00:02:52.205 --> 00:02:55.308 and counting, we continue to expand our knowledge of our 47 00:02:55.308 --> 00:02:57.244 nearest neighbor in space, and with that, 48 00:02:57.244 --> 00:03:00.614 the rest of the universe. 49 00:03:02.015 --> 00:03:08.455 [beeping]