US scientists have put together the first comprehensive geologic map of the moon. NASA
Over 400 years ago, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei painted a set of six watercolors of the moon in its various phases based on his observation through telescopes. Now, with the help of modern technology and scientists from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), NASA and the Lunar and Planetary Institute, we have the first-ever comprehensive geologic map of the moon. And it’s quite colorful, too.
四百多年前，意大利天文学家伽利略·伽利雷根据其通过望远镜对月亮的观察，画下了六张月亮不同位相的水彩画。如今，在美国地质勘探局、美国宇航局与月球行星研究所的现代技术与科学家们的帮助下，我们拥有了首张月球综合地质图，色彩也极其丰富。
Named the “Unified Geologic Map of the Moon”, it consists of 43 geologic units across the entire lunar surface, which can be classified into six categories including basins and volcanic units. Different geological structures and different age periods of the moon are marked with different colors. For example, the bright pink that covers a large area of the map indicates the craters caused by asteroid impacts, which gave the moon its rough surface, according to Science Daily.
这张“月球统一地质图”包含了整个月球表面的43个地质单元，并将其分成盆地、火山单元等六大类。月球上不同的地质结构、不同的地质时期都会用不同的颜色标注出来。比如，据《每日科学》报道，地质图上的一大片亮粉色区域指的是小行星撞击所产生的坑，这也是月球表面凹凸不平的原因。
The new map was put together by combining six other geologic maps of different sides of the moon – including the ones developed as a result of US’ Apollo mission during the 1960s and 1970s, as well as more recent satellite images. However, the Apollo-era lunar maps were in paper format and early digitized versions did not match updated and more accurate images, making the project challenging.
这张新地质图是将六张月球不同面的地质图合并制作而成 —— 包括了上世纪六七十年代美国阿波罗任务中绘制的地质图，以及近期的卫星影像。但阿波罗时代的月球图是纸质的，早期的数字化版本与如今更精准的影像并不匹配，这些情况令该项目充满挑战。
“Much of the historical mapping was performed by various groups and at regional scales,” Justin Hagerty, Astrogeology Director at USGS, told Science Alert. “It was a huge effort for our team to complete this new map and make it seamless.”
“许多历史地图都是由不同的团队以区域的度量绘制，”美国地质勘探局太空地质学主管贾斯汀·哈格蒂在接受《科学警报》采访时如此表示。“我们团队做了大量工作才完成这张全新地图，让其无缝结合。”
Scientists believe that the new map will serve as a “blueprint of the moon’s surface geology for future human missions”, according to the website of USGS. This would be especially beneficial as NASA is planning to land astronauts on the moon by 2024 as part of the Artemis 3 mission.
美国地质勘探局官网称，科学家们认为，这张全新的月球图将会成为“用于未来人类探月的月球表面地质情况蓝图”。在美国宇航局规划2024年在一次“阿耳特弥斯3号”任务中将宇航员送往月球之际，这份地质图更是大有可用之处。
Indeed, centuries have passed since the time of Galilei, but the moon has never stopped being an attraction for us humans. Now we have created the most detailed map yet and are ready to explore.
伽利略的时代的确已经过去数百年，但人类依然对月球深深着迷。如今我们已经绘制出了最详细的地图，准备一探究竟。
