The Iron Moon
In March and April of 1994 the
unmanned Clementine spacecraft demonstrated
the technique of
prospecting on the Moon from lunar orbit.
To accomplish this, Clementine turned
an array of cameras
sensitive to ultraviolet-visible and
near-infrared light toward the lunar surface, producing
the first broad-spectrum global imaging of the moon. Using this
data, scientists were able to create the above map showing
the concentration of iron in the lunar soils. The striking difference
between the near (left) and farside (right)
hemisphere's offers clues about
the Moon's early history.