NASA divulga imagem mais precisa já feita da Lua até hoje
Autor: Conhecimentos e Interatividades | Publicado: 2011-06-23T11:59:00-03:00

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A NASA apresentou esta semana a imagem mais completa que se tem até agora da Lua, graças aos dados transmitidos pela sonda Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO, na sigla em inglês). A LRO mudou para sempre a visão que temos da Lua, já que com os 192 terabytes de dados, imagens e mapas, recolhido pelos seus sete instrumentos conseguiu configurar a imagem mais precisa do satélite natural da Terra.&nbsp;

- Trata-se de um grande feito - disse Douglas Cooke, diretor adjunto do Diretório de Missões de Sistemas de Exploração (ESMD) da Nasa, numa coletiva de imprensa, em Washington.&nbsp;
Foram reveladas imagens detalhadas de quase 5,7 milhões de quilômetros quadrados da superfície da Lua durante a fase de exploração. Apesar de as missões anteriores também terem feito imagens do satélite, a nitidez das imagens transmitidas pela sonda permitem distinguir detalhes nunca antes vistos.&nbsp;
A título de curiosidade, a Nasa disse que essa quantidade de informação equivale a cerca de 41 mil DVDs que as pessoas costumam usar para armazenar dados. A sonda foi lançada ao espaço em junho de 2009 e, desde que começou a enviar as primeiras imagens, permitiu aos homens conhecer melhor a Lua e desenhar um mapa completo de suas crateras.&nbsp;
- E isso foi só o começo - garantiu Cooke. O principal objetivo da missão era buscar possíveis locais de aterrissagem para as naves tripuladas que poderiam viajar para o satélite no futuro e permitir uma exploração da Lua "segura" e "eficiente", mas essa missão "mudou nossa compreensão científica da Lua", de acordo com Michael Wargo, cientista-chefe de pesquisa da Lua no ESMD.&nbsp;
Foram realizadas mais de quatro bilhões de medições, cem vezes mais que todos os dados enviados até agora por todos os artefatos usados para analisar a Lua e que "abrem um mundo de possibilidades para o futuro da exploração e para a ciência".&nbsp;
Fonte: globo.com