Abstract
The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission observed the Moon during the spacecraft's Earth gravity assist in 2017. From the spacecraft view, the lunar phase was 42°, and the in-view hemisphere was dominated by anorthositic highlands terrain. Lunar spectra obtained by the OSIRIS-REx Visible and InfraRed Spectrometer show evidence of several candidate absorption features. We observe the 2.8-μm hydration band, confirming the spectral results from other missions, but detected in full-disk spectra. We also tentatively identify weak spectral features near 0.9 and 1.3 μm, consistent with lunar regolith containing a mixture of plagioclase and orthopyroxene minerals, as expected for highlands terrain.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 6322-6326 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Geophysical Research Letters |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 28 2019 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- (101955) Bennu
- Moon
- OSIRIS-REx
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Geophysics
- General Earth and Planetary Sciences