Model for Orientale lunar basin formation published in Science

10-31-2016

A research team including two EAPS professors and two EAPS graduate students has published two articles in Science detailing new discoveries about the moon.

Distinguished Professor of EAPS Jay Melosh and Professor Andrew Freed were co-authors on the articles, as well as graduate students Brandon Johnson and David Blair. The study recorded the most detailed measurements of the moon’s gravity and used that data to make a model for the formation of a major lunar impact basin, the first of its kind. An image from one of these studies was also selected for the issue’s front cover. This research is also part of NASA GRAIL (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory) mission, which aims to attain a greater understanding of the moon’s gravity and thermal history. 

To read a Purdue University press release on the articles, click here.

To read the first Science article in its entirety, click here.

The read the second Science article in its entirety, click here.