NASA reveals Moon's rugged south pole

[Rick]

NASA has revealed "the highest resolution terrain mapping to date" of the Moon's south pole, revealing that it's "much more rugged than previously understood".

Scientists at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena used* the Goldstone Solar System Radar in the Mojave Desert to capture the 20 metres per pixel data - 50 times the resolution of the previous best of one kilometre per pixel returned by the Clementine spacecraft.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/28/monn_south_pole/

[Rick]

Mound near lunar south pole formed by unique volcanic process

Within a giant impact basin near the Moon's south pole, there sits a large mound of mysterious origin. Research by Brown University geologists suggests that the mound was formed by unique volcanic processes set in motion by the impact that formed the basin.

The formation, known as Mafic Mound, stands about 800 meters tall and 75 kilometers across, smack in the middle of a giant impact crater known as the South Pole-Aitken Basin. This new study suggests that the mound is the result of a unique kind of volcanic activity set in motion by the colossal impact that formed the basin.

"If the scenarios that we lay out for its formation are correct, it could represent a totally new volcanic process that's never been seen before," said Daniel Moriarty, a Ph.D. student in Brown's Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences and the study's lead author.

More: https://news.brown.edu/articles/2015/10/mound