PSI SEMINAR SERIES: Wednesday, 20 April 2005, 4:00PM
Searching for Ice at the Lunar Poles:
The LAMP Investigation on NASA's 2008 Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
S. Alan Stern
The Lyman Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) is one of the six instruments selected for NASA's 2008 Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission. LAMP is a UV spectrometer designed to map the lunar surface at far UV wavelengths using astrophysical light sources to illuminate the so-called "permanently shadowed" regions of the moon. The goals of the LAMP investigation are to map the Permanently Shadowed Regions (PSRs) of the lunar poles, to search for exposed water frost in these regions, and to demonstrate "Lyman Alpha Assisted Vision" (LAVA) as a technology demonstration for future landed missions operating in the PSRs. I will describe the LRO mission and the LAMP investigation, the LAMP instrument itself, and the measurement techniques to be used to accomplish the objectives of the investigation.
