New Views of the Moon 2
Details
Much has happened in the world in the 17 years since the first New Views of the Moon (NVM) was published as volume 60 of the Mineralogical Society of America Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry series. The original New Views of the Moon (published in 2006) was motivated by new results that came from two new missions to the Moon, Clementine (1994) and Lunar Prospector (1998), along with some 30 years of sample analyses and recognition of lunar meteorites. Since then, there have been over fifteen new missions to the Moon and counting! These new missions have provided a wealth of new information, mostly orbital, but culminating in a new look at Apollo samples 50 years after they were collected, and the release of previously unexamined Apollo samples (noting that a new generation of lunar scientists participated in this initiative), as well as a new robotic sample return mission from one of the Moon's youngest volcanic terrains as part of the highly successful Chang'e-5 mission. An exciting new era of lunar exploration has begun, including the promise of resuming human lunar exploration, exploring the lunar Poles, and missions to many other high-priority science targets. It is fitting, therefore, to now summarize the current state of knowledge to the degree possible at a time when advancements in knowledge of the Moon are proceeding at a breakneck pace. Therefore, during this period of unprecedented lunar exploration activity, and as we continue to rebound from a global pandemic, we now happily announce this New Views of the Moon 2 (hereafter, NVM-2) volume summarizing the advances in lunar science and exploration since 2006. The Steering Committee is eternally grateful to all contributors and especially the chapter leads, and to Professor Makiko Ohtake (University of Aizu, Japan) and Dr. David Blewett (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, U.S.A.) for organizing the New Views of the Moon 2 Electronic Annex. We deeply appreciate the hard work and dedication of everyone involved in the production of this volume, especially Rachel Russell and Ian Swainson at the Mineralogical Society of America.
Details
Much has happened in the world in the 17 years since the first New Views of the Moon (NVM) was published as volume 60 of the Mineralogical Society of America Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry series. The original New Views of the Moon (published in 2006) was motivated by new results that came from two new missions to the Moon, Clementine (1994) and Lunar Prospector (1998), along with some 30 years of sample analyses and recognition of lunar meteorites. Since then, there have been over fifteen new missions to the Moon and counting! These new missions have provided a wealth of new information, mostly orbital, but culminating in a new look at Apollo samples 50 years after they were collected, and the release of previously unexamined Apollo samples (noting that a new generation of lunar scientists participated in this initiative), as well as a new robotic sample return mission from one of the Moon's youngest volcanic terrains as part of the highly successful Chang'e-5 mission. An exciting new era of lunar exploration has begun, including the promise of resuming human lunar exploration, exploring the lunar Poles, and missions to many other high-priority science targets. It is fitting, therefore, to now summarize the current state of knowledge to the degree possible at a time when advancements in knowledge of the Moon are proceeding at a breakneck pace. Therefore, during this period of unprecedented lunar exploration activity, and as we continue to rebound from a global pandemic, we now happily announce this New Views of the Moon 2 (hereafter, NVM-2) volume summarizing the advances in lunar science and exploration since 2006. The Steering Committee is eternally grateful to all contributors and especially the chapter leads, and to Professor Makiko Ohtake (University of Aizu, Japan) and Dr. David Blewett (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, U.S.A.) for organizing the New Views of the Moon 2 Electronic Annex. We deeply appreciate the hard work and dedication of everyone involved in the production of this volume, especially Rachel Russell and Ian Swainson at the Mineralogical Society of America.