Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 7, 2026
Simulating Imaging of Large Scale Radio Arrays on the Lunar Surface
Published on: July 30, 2020
Diviner Lunar Radiometer observations of the LCROSS impact
Paul O Hayne1, Benjamin T Greenhagen, Marc C Foote
1Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. phayne@ucla.edu
Abstract:
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Diviner instrument detected a thermal emission signature 90 seconds after the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) Centaur impact and on two subsequent orbits. The impact heated a region of 30 to 200 square meters to at least 950 kelvin, providing a sustained heat source for the sublimation of up to ~300 kilograms of water ice during the 4 minutes of LCROSS post-impact observations. Diviner visible observations constrain the mass of the sunlit ejecta column to be ~10(-6) to 10(-5) kilograms per square meter, which is consistent with LCROSS estimates used to derive the relative abundance of the ice within the regolith.
