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Glite Dictionary
GRAIL

GRAIL

1 8.3
A NASA mission with two spacecraft that mapped the Moon's gravity to study its interior
  • proper noun
  • /ɡreɪl/
  • Specialized
: GRAIL
  • The GRAIL spacecraft provided invaluable information about lunar geology.

Examples

  • Well, he who finds the Grail must face the final challenge.

    Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

  • There it was: the Grail, on the hardwood living-room floor.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • In the Arthurian legends, this quest for the Grail was considered the highest spiritual pursuit.

    Academic text (2005)

  • The race for the Holy Grail was cantering toward the finishing post, and the U.S. Treasury was distinctly worried.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • The NASA mission GRAIL successfully mapped the Moon's gravity field.

  • Scientists use data from GRAIL to study the Moon's internal structure.

Compounds

Holy Grail
32 7.2

A thing people try hard to find or achieve as the main goal

Holy Grail
  • Literature
17 8.6

A cup Jesus used at the Last Supper that knights later sought

Surface Forms

GRAIL main

Etymology

GRAIL is made from the first letters of Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory, the NASA name for two spacecraft that mapped the Moon's gravity. The name also brings to mind the old word 'grail' meaning 'a precious goal', so you can remember the mission as a search for the Moon's hidden inside.