Digital Maps Of Moonscape Could Reveal Safe Landing Spots And Traversable Terrain
NASA’s high-resolution 3-D maps of the moon’s pockmarked terrain the most precise topographic measurements to date—bring us one giant leap closer to a return mission. To create the map, the laser altimeter LOLA on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter bounced five laser beams off the surface of the moon 28 times per second and measured the duration of their return flight to gauge elevation. NASA operators calculated the distortion, or spread, of the beam to find what scientists call roughness; the more distortion there was in the beam, the bumpier the landscape.