Overview Instruments Lunar Atlas Lunar Geology Phases of the Moon Lunar Eclipses Ice on the Moon Previous Results Latest Results Science Main Page

NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California held a press conference on March 5, 1998 at 10:00 a.m. (PST) announcing Lunar Prospector's first science results. Lunar Prospector's five science instruments have been collecting data continuously since the spacecraft entered lunar orbit just over seven weeks ago. According to mission scientists, all instruments are outperforming prior expectations and yielding extremely high quality data. Thus far, Lunar Prospector has already accomplished a number of scientific firsts. Among these are the following:     Lunar Ice - Prospector's neutron spectrometer measures the amount of hydrogen on the lunar surface. It will determine hydrogen abundance and location to within 50 parts-per-million. From this, Prospector's scientists can map the distribution of hydrogen over the entire lunar surface. This will permit them to directly infer the presence or absence of ice in the critical polar regions. What have they found? Gravity Experiment - The Doppler Gravity Experiment aboard Prospector sought out to provide the first operational gravity map of the Moon. This data will allow more accurate planning of future lunar missions. What have they found?     This table gives estimations on the amount of time it is expected for mapping to take for each of the following elements: Element range mapping time Hydrogen (Regolith) 10 to 100 ppm 6 months Uranium 0.2 to 3.6 ppm 1 to 2 months Thorium 1 to 14 ppm 1 to 2 months Potassium 400 to 4600 ppm 1 to 2 months Titanium 0 to 7% 3 months Iron 3 to 13% 6 months Aluminum 6 to 13% 6 months Oxygen 41 to 46% 9 months Silicon 18 to 23% 1 year Magnesium 2 to 6% 1.2 years Calcium 8 to 13% 1.8 years The elements mapped, their typical concentration ranges in the regolith and the time required to collect a minimum data set per 150 km resolution element increases with the secant of the latitude, the same quality of data obtained at the equator in 1 year is obtained in 8.5 months, 6 months and 10 days at 45 ° , 60 ° , and 90 ° latitude, respectively.