KSC-2011-6769

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – – A Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission science briefing is held in the NASA Press Site auditorium at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left are DC Agle, NASA Public Affairs; Robert Fogel, NASA’s GRAIL program scientist; Maria Zuber, GRAIL principal investigator with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Sami Asmar, GRAIL deputy project scientist, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory; and Leesa Hubbard, teacher in residence, Sally Ride Science, San Diego. GRAIL is scheduled to launch Sept. 8 aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. GRAIL will fly twin spacecraft in tandem around the moon to precisely measure and map variations in the moon's gravitational field. The mission will provide the most accurate global gravity field to date for any planet, including Earth. This detailed information will reveal differences in the density of the moon's crust and mantle and will help answer fundamental questions about the moon's internal structure, thermal evolution, and history of collisions with asteroids. The aim is to map the moon's gravity field so completely that future moon vehicles can safely navigate anywhere on the moon’s surface. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/grail. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett