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I came across this page - http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/alsjcoords.html that mentions the various landing coordinates of of NASA missions on the Earth's moon. The cordinates are given in the same way as that of the Earth N/S & E/W.

I understand that the moon does not have a molten core and therefore cannot have a magnetic North or South. So how is the coordinate system created?

Lord Loh.
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1 Answers1

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They used selenographic coordinates. A small yet well-preserved crater called Mösting is used as a fundamental reference point, and given these coordinates:

Latitude:   3° 12' 43.2" South
Longitude:  5° 12' 39.6" West

All coordinates are defined relative to this location, so there's no need to rely on a magnetic field, although the Moon does have one. For more information, please read this RAND corporation report of 1987, and the fundamental IAU/IAG paper.

Deer Hunter
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Stu
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