Lunar mascons warp the orbits of low Moon satellites
Mass concentrations — mascons — under large lunar basins tug harder than surrounding crust. Early Apollo-era orbiters drifted unpredictably until planners mapped those gravity bumps.
Modern gravity missions like GRAIL charted the bumps in detail so low lunar orbits can be timed and corrected. Without that map, satellites skim chaos.
The Moon’s gravity is lumpy, not smooth. Mascons turn “simple” lunar orbits into a careful dance around buried mass.
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