Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Overview: The Instrument Suite and Mission |
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| Authors: | Gordon Chin Scott Brylow Marc Foote James Garvin Justin Kasper John Keller Maxim Litvak Igor Mitrofanov David Paige Keith Raney Mark Robinson Anton Sanin David Smith Harlan Spence Paul Spudis S Alan Stern Maria Zuber |
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| Institution: | (1) Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA;(2) Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, CA 92121, USA;(3) Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA;(4) Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, MA 02139, USA;(5) Russian Federal Space Agency Institute for Space Research, Moscow, 117997, Russia;(6) Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 20723, USA;(7) Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA;(8) Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA;(9) Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA;(10) University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA |
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| Abstract: | NASA’s Lunar Precursor Robotic Program (LPRP), formulated in response to the President’s Vision for Space Exploration, will
execute a series of robotic missions that will pave the way for eventual permanent human presence on the Moon. The Lunar Reconnaissance
Orbiter (LRO) is first in this series of LPRP missions, and plans to launch in October of 2008 for at least one year of operation.
LRO will employ six individual instruments to produce accurate maps and high-resolution images of future landing sites, to
assess potential lunar resources, and to characterize the radiation environment. LRO will also test the feasibility of one
advanced technology demonstration package. The LRO payload includes: Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) which will determine
the global topography of the lunar surface at high resolution, measure landing site slopes, surface roughness, and search
for possible polar surface ice in shadowed regions, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) which will acquire targeted
narrow angle images of the lunar surface capable of resolving meter-scale features to support landing site selection, as well
as wide-angle images to characterize polar illumination conditions and to identify potential resources, Lunar Exploration
Neutron Detector (LEND) which will map the flux of neutrons from the lunar surface to search for evidence of water ice, and
will provide space radiation environment measurements that may be useful for future human exploration, Diviner Lunar Radiometer
Experiment (DLRE) which will chart the temperature of the entire lunar surface at approximately 300 meter horizontal resolution
to identify cold-traps and potential ice deposits, Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) which will map the entire lunar surface
in the far ultraviolet. LAMP will search for surface ice and frost in the polar regions and provide images of permanently
shadowed regions illuminated only by starlight. Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER), which will investigate
the effect of galactic cosmic rays on tissue-equivalent plastics as a constraint on models of biological response to background
space radiation. The technology demonstration is an advanced radar (mini-RF) that will demonstrate X- and S-band radar imaging
and interferometry using light weight synthetic aperture radar. This paper will give an introduction to each of these instruments
and an overview of their objectives. |
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| Keywords: | Moon Lunar Vision for Space Exploration NASA Spacecraft Space instrumentation Remote observation |
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