Gravity Probes Unlock Deep Lunar Secrets

[Deano]

Ebb and Flow, the twin Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft launched by NASA in September 2011, have revealed unexpected details about the Moon's interior.

Only a moment's gaze at the Moon through a small telescope tells you pretty much everything you need to know about its history. The bleak lunar surface was heavily battered by collisions large and small soon after it formed. Some crash sites fractured the crust so deeply that torrents of magma gushed from the interior, creating the Moon's distinctive dark lava "seas." And nothing much else has happened there in the past 3 billion years.
Over the past 50 years, a few dozen robotic spacecraft (and of course the rock collecting of a dozen Apollo astronauts) have refined many details of lunar history. For example, scientists know the near and far sides look very different, and they now have a much better handle on how the Moon formed (most likely involving the titanic impact of a planet-size body with early Earth). Yet our basic understanding lunar surface geology has remained unchanged for decades.
Against this backdrop, yesterday a team of planetary scientists unveiled new findings about the Moon that not only were unexpected but will also alter some long-held notions about our satellite's early history. Apparently the lunar exterior has been cracked and pulverized so violently and completely that it's a total jumble of rubble at least to a few miles down.

Full story here http://www.skyandtelescope.com/community/skyblog/newsblog/Gravity-Probes-Unlock-Deep-Lunar-Secrets-182480561.html

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[Weather Display]

from what I understand, there is more mass on the side of the moon facing earth...because it was attracted to the earth side by gravity, not long after it formed
and so that is why the dark side never gets seen

[Suezy]

Thank you Deano for that excellent  information which is very much appreciated. It won't be long before I catch up with my son - with all the info that is being supplied.  I have been interested in the solar system since he used to bring his smaller one out here to use - but when he built his larger one I have learnt a lot more,  This subject really interests me and look forward to the time when I am able to see properly again and carry on with what knowledge I gained prior. Have you got the app for iPhone and iPad called Sky SafariPro? As use this quite frequently and far better than the other version I used to use..