Open AccessNew findings expand Apollo observations of lunar atmosphere
Author(s) -
Schultz Colin
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/2012eo350013
Subject(s) - astrobiology , orbiter , lunar orbit , atmosphere (unit) , apollo , spectrograph , moon landing , environmental science , remote sensing , spectrometer , atmospheric composition , astronomy , physics , geology , meteorology , optics , spacecraft , spectral line , zoology , biology
In December 1972 the astronauts of Apollo 17—the last manned mission to the moon—deployed the Lunar Atmospheric Composition Experiment (LACE), a spectrometer designed to measure and characterize the thin lunar atmosphere. Forty years later, Stern et al built upon those initial measurements, providing the first remotely sensed measurement of the Moon's gaseous environment from lunar orbit. Using the Lyman Alpha Mapping Project's (LAMP) far ultraviolet spectrograph aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, the authors determined the atmospheric concentration of helium.