CRaTER on LRO

About LRO and CRaTER

LRO Science Payload

The CRaTER Team



NEW! An Exhibit about
CRaTER and LRO
at
the McAuliffe-Shepard
Discovery Ctr., Concord, NH.
More information...



LRO Quick Facts

• Launched June 18, 2009
• 4-day trip to the moon, then
   into commissioning orbit
• Science payload of 7
   instruments

• Data relayed in real-time to
   LRO satellite and teams
• LRO Mission Operations:
   NASA-Goddard SFC
• LRO Dimensions:
   79"(2m) x 103"(2.6m)
• LRO Mass: 1664 lb. (891 kg)
• Duration: 1yr. exploration;
   Possible 3yr. science mission

Where is LRO Now?

Historical Exploration of
the Moon …


Related Links
NASA LRO Mission
   - CRaTER Instrument
   - Diviner Instrument
   - LAMP Instrument
   - LEND Instrument
   - LOLA Instrument
   - LROC Instrument
   - Mini-RF Instrument


nasa logo

About LRO

NASA's 21st century Vision for Space Exploration included a return to the moon and beyond, with an eye for safe landing sites, potential resources, and characterizing the environment. A first step in this lunar endeavor was the launch of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) on June 18, 2009.

For its primary mission, LRO orbits the Moon at about 50km (31 mi.) for one year, returning imagery and data used to characterize the environment.

CRaTER on LRO

LRO's science payload of seven instruments gathers data useful to further exploration of the moon. Among those instruments is CRaTER Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation. CRaTER characterizes the global lunar radiation environment and its biological impacts by measuring galactic and solar cosmic ray radiation behind a "human tissue-equivalent" plastic.

CRaTER investigation goals:

  1. Measure and characterize the deep space radiation environment in terms of LET spectra of galactic and solar cosmic rays (particularly above 10 MeV).
  2. Develop a novel instrument, steeped in flight heritage, that is simple, compact, and comparatively low-cost, but with sufficiently large geometric factor to measure LET spectra and its time variation in the lunar orbit.
  3. Investigate the effects of shielding by measuring LET spectra behind tissue-equivalent plastic.
  4. Test models of radiation effects and shielding by verifying/validating model predictions of LET spectra with LRO measurements.

CRaTER on LRO
Above, an artist's illustration of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
(Rollover the illustration to identify CRaTER.)
Illustration by Chris Meaney/NASA.