LunarScience

During the first decades of the Moon's exploration, the Moon race, the largest part of scientific payloads and instruments were used to assess if the lunar environment could support humans and under which conditions. Most instruments were cameras, video of photographic, mapping the surface of the Moon from distance to find suitable landing sites, taking close-up imagery just before crashing on the Moon, or landers taking photographs of the lunar dust. Sample returns were also the most efficient way of studying the lunar regolith. In the past two decades, real science was conducted on the moon or around it, and this page lists the experiments that have taken place since 1950.

Soon, the first Google Lunax X-Prize (GLXP) teams shall land on the Moon and will probably increase this list a lot. One of the teams, Part-time Scientists from Germany, has made a call for payloads, cubesat-sized science packages that will land on the moon and return data to earth. The first goal of this page is to have a rough idea of what can be done with minor monetary investment, while still being useful, and possibly answer the call for payload.

Science with direct measurements taken of or from the surface of the Moon

From lunar orbit or intersecting trajectory

Gamma-ray spectrometry can be used from orbit to map the surface distribution of an element. The surface is continuously bombarded by cosmic rays, which make it emit gamma rays, then measured by the spectrometer.

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Micrometeroid characterisation and detection by first orbiters.

Chang'e 1 and 2 had stereo cameras, laser altimeter, imaging spectrometer in visible and near-IR spectrum, Gamma and X-ray spectrometers, microwave radiometer for ground penetration up to 30m, and high energy particle and solar wind detectors. That was the first microwave (radar) mapping of the Moon.

From the surface, of the surface

X-ray spectrometers provide data very easy to interpret to obtain qualitative information about the elemental composition of a material. Matching data with well-known sample measurements or even standard spectra can lead to quantitative results. The main issue with such devices is producing X-rays, or other sources of energy that will make target elements radiate at X-ray levels of energy.

Infrared spectrometry can similarly inform about molecular composition.

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In 2013, the YuTu rover from the Chinese mission Chang'e 3 carried three instruments: an alpha particle X-ray spectrometer (APXS) described in this paper (PDF) and an infrared spectrometer, both used to analyse the composition of soil or rocks on the surface; a couple of stereo cameras for collision avoidance and trajectory planning. The APXS sensor was the only instrument at the end of the robotic arm. The sensor's head was quite small and had a mass of only 752g. It also comprised a radio-isotope heater unit, to survive the lunar night, adding 390g. The APXS could also be used as a range sensor, measuring the X-ray count rate. The first two spectra can be found in the PDF linked above.

From the surface, of the rest of the universe

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In 2013, the Chinese lander Chang'e 3 had a 150mm telescope onboard and looked at the universe in near ultraviolet wavelengths. It allows for long term monitoring of a target, because the moon has a low rotation rate, and with no UV filtering from Earth atmosphere.

In 2013, the Chinese lander Chang'e 3 had an extreme ultraviolet camera whose purpose was to study the plasmasphere of the Earth and its variation with solar activity.

What we know about the lunar environment

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Topography of the Moon

Magnetic field

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