[Rockhounds] USGS releases first-ever comprehensive geologic map of the Moon

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

Have you ever wondered what kind of rocks make up those bright and dark
splotches on the moon? Well, the USGS has just released a new authoritative
map to help explain the 4.5-billion-year-old history of our nearest
neighbor in space.

For the first time, the entire lunar surface has been completely mapped and
uniformly classified by scientists from the USGS, in collaboration with
NASA and the Lunar Planetary Institute.

The lunar map, called the "Unified Geologic Map of the Moon," will serve as
the definitive blueprint of the moon's surface geology for future human
missions and will be invaluable for the international scientific community,
educators and the public-at-large. The digital map is available online now
and shows the moon's geology in incredible detail (1:5,000,000 scale).

"People have always been fascinated by the moon and when we might return,"
said current USGS Director and former NASA astronaut Jim Reilly. "So, it's
wonderful to see USGS create a resource that can help NASA with their
planning for future missions."

https://phys.org/news/2020-04-usgs-first-ever-comprehensive-geologic-moon.html