Lunar Prospector
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NASA mission designed for a low polar orbit investigation of the Moon
Key facts
- Mission type
- Lunar orbiter
- Operator
- NASA
- Cospar id
- 1998-001A
- Mission duration
- 570 days
- Bus
- LM-100
- Manufacturer
- Lockheed Martin
- Launch mass
- 296.4 kilograms (653 lb)
- Dry mass
- 126 kilograms (278 lb)
- Power
- 202.0 W
- Launch date
- January 7, 1998, 02:28:44 ( 1998-01-07UTC02:28:44Z ) UTC
- Rocket
- Athena II
- Launch site
- Cape Canaveral SLC-46
- Contractor
- Lockheed Martin Space Systems
- Disposal
- Deorbited (Moon impact)
- Decay date
- July 31, 1999, 09:52:02 ( 1999-07-31UTC09:52:03Z ) UTC
- Reference system
- Selenocentric
- Periselene altitude
- 99.45 kilometers (61.80 mi)
- Aposelene altitude
- 101.2 kilometers (62.9 mi)
via Wikipedia infobox
~22 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Lunar Prospector was a spacecraft that orbited the Moon for 19 months in 1998-99. From a low polar orbit, it mapped surface composition including lunar hydrogen deposits, measured magnetic and gravity fields, and studied lunar outgassing events. The mission ended July 31, 1999, when the orbiter was deliberately crashed into a crater near the lunar south pole.
Data from the mission provided detailed mapping of the surface composition of the Moon, and helped to improve understanding of the origin, evolution, current state, and resources of the Moon. The mission identified the presence of hydrogen, implying deposits of ice on the Moon. Several articles on the scientific results were published in the journal Science.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Lunar Prospector” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.