The Hubble Space Telescope, which normally surveys the edges of the universe, has turned its attention to the Moon and found mineral concentrations that might prove to be sources of oxygen for human visitors, researchers said on Wednesday.
In an unusual use of the Hubble, astronomers in August trained the large Earth-orbiting telescope on the Moon to take the first high-resolution ultraviolet images of certain geologically interesting areas.
The images allow scientists to see areas of mineral variation within the crust and could help identify the most valuable sites for sending robotic and human missions.
"This allowed us to look at the Moon with new eyes," James Garvin, chief scientist at the Goddard Space Flight Center of NASA and principal investigator for the project, said at a news conference. "We haven't had ultraviolet vision before to do this."
The Hubble Advanced Camera for Surveys took ultraviolet and visible-light images of geologically diverse areas on the side of the Moon nearest Earth, including the Aristarchus impact crater and the adjacent Schroter's Valley rille.
The camera also photographed the Apollo 15 and 17 landing sites, where astronauts collected rock and soil samples in 1971 and 1972.
The Aristarchus plateau has long been of interest to geologists because of its volcanic vents, collapsed lava tubes called rilles, ejected volcanic material and recent impact craters.
The Aristarchus crater, 26 miles (42 kilometers) wide and two miles (3.2 kilometers) deep, could be as young as 100 million years old and has a sharp rim and other fresh features that reveal the varied geology of the area, said Mark Robinson, a planetary geologist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
There are no plans to use Hubble for further lunar observations.
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