NASA has granted an extension of the GRAIL moon mission until December, allowing scientists to complete a more definitive map of the lunar gravity field from a lower orbit, according to agency officials and researchers. Artist's concept of the GRAIL satellites in orbit around the moon. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech The $496 million mission was due to end in June. The extension was confirmed by Jim Green, head of NASA's planetary science division, and Maria Zuber, the GRAIL mission's principal investigator from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The twin GRAIL satellites entered orbit around the moon Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, then began taking science observations in early March. GRAIL's...
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