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NASA Mission Returns First Video from Moon's Far Side

Pasadena, California - A camera aboard one of NASA's twin GRAIL lunar spacecraft has returned its first unique view of the far side of the moon.

In the 30-second video, the north pole of the moon is visible at the top of the screen as the spacecraft flies toward the lunar south pole. One of the first prominent geological features seen on the lower third of the moon is the Mare Orientale, a 900-kilometer-wide impact basin that straddles the moon's near and far sides.

The clip ends with rugged terrain just short of the lunar south pole. To the left of center, near the bottom of the screen, is the 149-kilometer-wide Drygalski crater with a distinctive star-shaped formation in the middle. The formation is a central peak, created many billions of years ago by a comet or asteroid impact.

To view the 30-second video clip, visit: http://go.nasa.gov/zZXAPs.

The video was captured by a MoonKAM, or Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle school students, which be used by students nationwide to select lunar images for study. The Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission consists of two identical spacecraft, recently named Ebb and Flow, each of which is equipped with a MoonKAM.

"The quality of the video is excellent and should energize our MoonKAM students as they prepare to explore the moon," said Maria Zuber, GRAIL principal investigator from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The twin spacecraft successfully achieved lunar orbit December 31 and January 1. Previously named GRAIL-A and GRAIL-B, the washing machine-sized spacecraft received their new names from fourth graders at the Emily Dickinson Elementary School in Bozeman, Montana, following a nationwide student naming contest.

Thousands of fourth- to eighth-grade students will select target areas on the lunar surface and send requests to the GRAIL MoonKAM Mission Operations Center in San Diego. Photos of the target areas will be sent back by the satellites for students to study.

The MoonKAM program is led by Sally Ride, the first U.S. woman in space. GRAIL is NASA's first planetary mission carrying instruments fully dedicated to education and public outreach.

"We have had great response from schools around the country; more than 2,500 signed up to participate so far," Ride said. "In mid-March, the first pictures of the moon will be taken by students using MoonKAM. I expect this will excite many students about possible careers in science and engineering."

Launched in September 2011, Ebb and Flow periodically perform trajectory correction maneuvers that, over time, will lower their orbits to near-circular ones with an altitude of about 55 kilometers. During their science mission, the duo will answer longstanding questions about the moon and give scientists a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed.

For more information about GRAIL, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/grail.

Information about MoonKAM is available at: https://moonkam.ucsd.edu/.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.)