%0 Journal Article
%T Peering into Past: What Happened to the Moon 3.6 Billion Years Ago?
%A Diamar Pechersky
%A Lev Eppelbaum
%J Positioning
%P 73-78
%@ 2150-8526
%D 2018
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/pos.2018.93005
%X Invaluable data can at
times be overlooked or not fully exploited when first collected. Striking
conclusions can often be drawn on the basis of a specific analysis many years
later. The Apollo 11</span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\"> </span><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">-</span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\"> </span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\"><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">17 missions (1961-1972)
provided detailed information on lunar basalts which make it possible to
measure the iron grains in basalts from microphotographs of thin sections.
Analysis of the average size of these grains (</span><i><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">D</span></i><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">) differed as a function
of the age of these basalts dated between 3.9 and 3.4 billion years ago,
revealed that </span><i><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">D</span></i><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\"> increased 1.5 fold, therefore the gravity acceleration </span><i><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">g</span></i><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\"> decreased 1.5 fold. The intriguing conclusion can only be that the size of the
Moon increased, its mass decreased, or both these factors have changed.
%K Apollo 11 - 17 Missions
%K Lunar Basalts
%K ˇ°Iron Particlesˇ±
%K Moon Parameters
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=86994