The first of two gravity-mapping NASA spacecraft, GRAIL-A, entered into orbit around the moon December 31st with a second, GRAIL-B, coming into a similar orbit on New Year's Day 2012 to begin an extensive mapping of the Moon's gravity field with extensive detail.
The data from the mission will help scientists better understand the formation of the Moon, theorized to have occured from a crash of a Mars-like planet into Earth 4.5 billion years ago.
More than 100 scientific missions have targeted the moon since 1959.
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