NASA spacecrafts observe moon’s erosion due to solar wind

October 27th 2010

NASA on Wednesday announced that two of its spacecrafts have begun making observations this week to study how solar wind electrifies, alters and erodes the moon's surface.

The new mission is called Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of Moon's Interaction with the Sun (ARTEMIS), and uses two of five in-orbit spacecraft from NASA's Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms mission, which was initially launched in 2007.

Data from these missions could reveal valuable information for future explorers and give planetary scientists a hint of what's happening on other worlds around the solar system.

"Using two repurposed satellites for the ARTEMIS mission highlights NASA's efficient use of the nation's space assets," said Dick Fisher, director of the Heliophysics Division in NASA's Science Mission Directorate at the agency's headquarters in Washington.

ARTEMIS will measure solar wind turbulence on scales never sampled by previous missions. Solar wind is a stream of charged particles emitted from the upper atmosphere of the sun.

"ARTEMIS will provide a unique two-point view of the moon's under-explored space environment," said Vassilis Angelopoulos of the University of California in Los Angeles, principal investigator of the THEMIS mission. "These two spacecraft are headed for an incredible new adventure."