Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: Discoveries stemming from the Apollo 11 mission solved many problems that had vexed scientists for hundreds of years. Research and discoveries over the preceding 360 years identified many critical questions and led to a variety of answers: How did the Moon form, how old is its surface, what is the origin of lunar craters, does the Moon have an atmosphere, how did the Moon change over time, is the Moon geologically active today, and did life play any role in lunar evolution? In general, scientists could not convincingly answer most of these questions because they had too little data and too little understanding of astronomy and geology, and were forced to rely on reasoning and speculation, in some cases wasting hundreds of years of effort. Surprisingly, by 1969, most of the questions had been correctly answered, but a paucity of data made it uncertain which answers were correct.
Source: Geosciences
Author: Charles A. Wood
Institution: Planetary Science Institute
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,172
OpenAlex ID: W2905665750