Selenology: An Earthlike Moon

"One of the greatest scientific achievements of the civilization of man," exulted NASA Planetologist Donald Gault last week. By means of the Surveyor 5 spacecraft, man had reached across a void of some 240,000 miles, studied the surface of the moon, and analyzed its chemical composition. That analysis, scientists reported last week, indicated that part of the lunar surface is strikingly similar to the earth's.

The most plentiful substance identified by Surveyor's alpha particle "jewel box" (TIME, Sept. 22) is virtually the same as the basaltic rock that forms the ocean floors and is found in such widely scattered locations as...

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