The Gassendi View
or Why are these dudes digging up the moon?
It could be argued that someone or something is mining the moon. Most people can understand new white impact craters. See.... there are two of them right there in that large, old, almost submerged crater, named Gassendi. The crater in the right center is called Clarkson and was formed later than the original Gassendi crater.
Question: So what are the white angular raised objects in the center of the crater plain?
Answer: Impact shock lift, right?
Question: Then why aren't they the same shade of dark gray as the boulders on the left side of the crater?
Answer: Well, maybe there was a subsequent impact that turned them bright from ejecta.
Hum, that is possible from the closer of the two craters in the lower left quadrant.
Question: But where are the ejecta rays from those new craters?
Gassendi is an interesting crater but not a mining camp. However, I personally, would like to get some closeup shots of the complex of "pathways", assumed to be cracks in the crater floor.
Talking to yourself like this will make anybody loony.
The Support Data:
The image has been flipped so that the surface appears normal.
PDS_VERSION_ID = PDS3 /*** FILE FORMAT ***/ RECORD_TYPE = UNDEFINED /*** POINTERS TO START BYTE OFFSET OF OBJECTS IN FILE ***/ ^IMAGE_HISTOGRAM = 4789 <BYTES> ^BROWSE_IMAGE = 5813 <BYTES> ^IMAGE = 7541 <BYTES> /*** GENERAL DATA DESCRIPTION PARAMETERS ***/ MISSION_NAME = "DEEP SPACE PROGRAM SCIENCE EXPERIMENT" SPACECRAFT_NAME = "CLEMENTINE 1" DATA_SET_ID = "CLEM1-L/E/Y-A/B/U/H/L/N-2-EDR-V1.0" PRODUCT_ID = "LUE0117H.314" ORIGINAL_PRODUCT_ID = "LUE10102.314" PRODUCER_INSTITUTION_NAME = "NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY" PRODUCT_TYPE = EDR EDR_SOFTWARE_NAME = "NRL-ACT-MGRAB V1.2" MISSION_PHASE_NAME = "LUNAR MAPPING" DATA_QUALITY_ID = "N/A" TARGET_NAME = "MOON" REVOLUTION_NUMBER = 314 FRAME_SEQUENCE_NUMBER = 0117 /*** TIME PARAMETERS ***/ START_TIME = 1994-04-26T10:47:03.098Z STOP_TIME = "N/A" UNCORRECTED_START_TIME = 1994-04-26T10:47:03.102Z SPACECRAFT_CLOCK_START_COUNT = "N/A" SPACECRAFT_CLOCK_STOP_COUNT = "N/A" PRODUCT_CREATION_TIME = 1995-01-11T17:35:05 /*** CAMERA RELATED PARAMETERS ***/ INSTRUMENT_NAME = "ULTRAVIOLET/VISIBLE CAMERA" INSTRUMENT_ID = "UVVIS" FILTER_NAME = "E" CENTER_FILTER_WAVELENGTH = 1000 <nm> BANDWIDTH = 30 <nm> GAIN_MODE_ID = "2" MCP_GAIN_MODE_ID = "N/A" OFFSET_MODE_ID = "9" EXPOSURE_DURATION = 13.6880 <ms> LENS_TEMPERATURE = 257.62 <K> FOCAL_PLANE_TEMPERATURE = 267.799 <K> CRYOCOOLER_TEMPERATURE = "N/A" CRYOCOOLER_DURATION = "N/A" /*** J2000 (ALSO CALLED EME2000) IS THE INERTIAL REFERENCE SYSTEM ***/ /*** USED TO SPECIFY OBSERVATIONAL GEOMETRY. LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE ***/ /*** COORDINATES OF TARGET ARE PLANETOCENTRIC. GEOMETRIC PARAMETERS ***/ /*** ARE BASED ON BEST AVAILABLE DATA AT TIME OF PRODUCT CREATION. ***/ /*** REFER TO CLEMENTINE SPICE DATA BASE FOR THE MOST CURRENT ***/ /*** OBSERVATIONAL GEOMETRY DATA. ***/ /*** LINE-OF-SITE ON CELESTIAL SPHERE: Angles in <deg> ***/ RIGHT_ASCENSION = 257.41 <deg> DECLINATION = 63.93 <deg> TWIST_ANGLE = 288.73 <deg> RETICLE_POINT_RA = ( 250.38, 255.20, 263.52, 260.22) RETICLE_POINT_DECLINATION = ( 65.75, 60.59, 61.82, 67.23) /*** OBSERVATIONAL SEQUENCE INFORMATION ***/ SEQUENCE_TABLE_ID = "KEQ_11" /*** TARGET PARAMETERS: Position <km>, Velocity <km/s> ***/ SC_TARGET_POSITION_VECTOR = ( -1783.5, -999.4, 1726.3) SC_TARGET_VELOCITY_VECTOR = ( -0.7246, 0.4618, -1.2209) TARGET_CENTER_DISTANCE = 2675.8 <km> /*** TARGET WITHIN SENSOR FOV: Angles in <deg> ***/ SLANT_DISTANCE = 1456.0 <km> CENTER_LATITUDE = -16.71 <deg> CENTER_LONGITUDE = 322.28 <deg> HORIZONTAL_PIXEL_SCALE = 0.372 <km> VERTICAL_PIXEL_SCALE = 0.929 <km> SMEAR_MAGNITUDE = 0.02 <pixels> SMEAR_AZIMUTH = 69.86 <deg> NORTH_AZIMUTH = 267.06 <deg> RETICLE_POINT_LATITUDE = ( -20.53, -20.31, -10.76, -11.26) RETICLE_POINT_LONGITUDE = ( 324.59, 319.93, 319.61, 324.92) /*** SPACECRAFT POSITION WITH RESPECT TO CENTRAL BODY ***/ SUB_SPACECRAFT_LATITUDE = -46.63 <deg> SUB_SPACECRAFT_LONGITUDE = 322.70 <deg> SPACECRAFT_ALTITUDE = 938.4 <km> SUB_SPACECRAFT_AZIMUTH = 91.69 <deg> /*** SPACECRAFT LOCATION: Position <km>, Velocity <km/s> ***/ SPACECRAFT_SOLAR_DISTANCE = 150892320.8 SC_SUN_POSITION_VECTOR = (-121952829.0, -81523705.1, -35353719.3) SC_SUN_VELOCITY_VECTOR = ( 18.5266,-23.4121, -8.6223) /*** VIEWING AND LIGHTING GEOMETRY (SUN ON TARGET) ***/ SOLAR_DISTANCE = 150893899.2 <km> SUB_SOLAR_AZIMUTH = 174.95 <deg> SUB_SOLAR_LATITUDE = 0.51 <deg> SUB_SOLAR_LONGITUDE = 352.50 <deg> INCIDENCE_ANGLE = 34.41 <deg> PHASE_ANGLE = 84.34 <deg> EMISSION_ANGLE = 66.45 <deg> LOCAL_HOUR_ANGLE = 151.46 <deg> /*** LIGHTING GEOMETRY FROM SECONDARY SOURCE ***/ LIGHT_SOURCE_NAME = "EARTH" LIGHT_SOURCE_DISTANCE = 357462.7 <km> SUB_LIGHT_SOURCE_AZIMUTH = 168.62 <deg> SUB_LIGHT_SOURCE_LATITUDE = 1.10 <deg> SUB_LIGHT_SOURCE_LONGITUDE = 1.42 <deg> LIGHT_SOURCE_INCIDENCE_ANGLE = 42.70 <deg> LIGHT_SOURCE_PHASE_ANGLE = 85.56 <deg> /*** DESCRIPTION OF OBJECTS CONTAINED IN THE FILE ***/ OBJECT = IMAGE_HISTOGRAM ITEMS = 256 DATA_TYPE = LSB_INTEGER ITEM_BYTES = 4 END_OBJECT OBJECT = BROWSE_IMAGE LINES = 36 LINE_SAMPLES = 48 SAMPLING_FACTOR = 8 SAMPLE_TYPE = UNSIGNED_INTEGER SAMPLE_BITS = 8 END_OBJECT OBJECT = IMAGE ENCODING_TYPE = "CLEM-JPEG-1" ENCODING_COMPRESSION_RATIO = 4.57 LINES = 288 LINE_SAMPLES = 384 SAMPLE_TYPE = UNSIGNED_INTEGER SAMPLE_BITS = 8 MAXIMUM = 255 MINIMUM = 4 MEAN = 102.568 STANDARD_DEVIATION = 33.096 CHECKSUM = 3329848 END_OBJECT
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