Dec 16 1974
From The Space Library
The first map of gravity forces on the moon's far side indicated that the strong gravitational tug of mascons (mass concentrations) on the lunar face was caused by lava flooding rather than by buried meteorites as previously thought, California Institute of Technology planetary scientist Dr. Alfred J. Ferrari reported in a press release based on a paper to be published in Science. The map was developed from measurements of the orbits of two small subsatellites left orbiting the moon by Apollo 15 and 16 in July 1971 and April 1972 and of Lunar Orbiter 5 (launched 1 Aug. 1967) . Basins on the moon's far side, not lava-filled, exerted only weak gravitational forces on orbiting spacecraft, while lava-flooded basins on the front side exerted a strong pull. (Miles, LA Times, 17 Dec 74; Ferrari interview, 20 Nov 75; Ferrari, Science, 27 June 75, 1927-1300)
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