The LCROSS Impact Crater as Seen by ShadowCam and Mini-RF: Size, Context, and Excavation of Copernican Volatiles

C. I. Fassett; M. S. Robinson; G. W. Patterson; B. W. Denevi; Prasun Mahanti; E. Mazarico; E. G. Rivera-Valentín; F. S. Turner; M. R. Manheim; A. Colaprete

doi:10.1029/2024GL110355

The LCROSS Impact Crater as Seen by ShadowCam and Mini-RF: Size, Context, and Excavation of Copernican Volatiles

C. I. Fassett, M. S. Robinson, G. W. Patterson, B. W. Denevi, Prasun Mahanti, E. Mazarico, E. G. Rivera-Valentín, F. S. Turner, M. R. Manheim, A. Colaprete

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The Lunar CRater Observations and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) impacted a Centaur rocket stage into a permanently shadowed region (PSR) in Cabeus crater, excavating water ice and other volatiles. We used the Miniature Radio Frequency (Mini-RF) instrument on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the ShadowCam instrument on the Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter to detect the probable 22-m diameter crater that resulted from the LCROSS impact. The crater formed superposed upon a dense small crater population along a crater ray from a larger pre-existing crater. From its geologic context, the ice and regolith excavated by LCROSS were likely modified within the last 0.1–0.5 Gyr. An upper limit for the excavated volatiles is ~0.9 Gyr, as the location was not a PSR prior to that time. A young age for the LCROSS-detected volatiles supports the idea that they were mostly emplaced by an exogenic mechanism, such as from comets or the solar wind.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	e2024GL110355
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	51
Issue number	18
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL110355
State	Published - Sep 28 2024
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

crater
LCROSS
Moon
volatiles

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Geophysics
General Earth and Planetary Sciences

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10.1029/2024GL110355

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Fassett, C. I., Robinson, M. S., Patterson, G. W., Denevi, B. W., Mahanti, P., Mazarico, E., Rivera-Valentín, E. G., Turner, F. S., Manheim, M. R., & Colaprete, A. (2024). The LCROSS Impact Crater as Seen by ShadowCam and Mini-RF: Size, Context, and Excavation of Copernican Volatiles. Geophysical Research Letters, 51(18), Article e2024GL110355. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL110355

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abstract = "The Lunar CRater Observations and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) impacted a Centaur rocket stage into a permanently shadowed region (PSR) in Cabeus crater, excavating water ice and other volatiles. We used the Miniature Radio Frequency (Mini-RF) instrument on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the ShadowCam instrument on the Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter to detect the probable 22-m diameter crater that resulted from the LCROSS impact. The crater formed superposed upon a dense small crater population along a crater ray from a larger pre-existing crater. From its geologic context, the ice and regolith excavated by LCROSS were likely modified within the last 0.1–0.5 Gyr. An upper limit for the excavated volatiles is ~0.9 Gyr, as the location was not a PSR prior to that time. A young age for the LCROSS-detected volatiles supports the idea that they were mostly emplaced by an exogenic mechanism, such as from comets or the solar wind.",

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AU - Denevi, B. W.

AU - Mahanti, Prasun

AU - Mazarico, E.

AU - Rivera-Valentín, E. G.

AU - Turner, F. S.

AU - Manheim, M. R.

AU - Colaprete, A.

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N2 - The Lunar CRater Observations and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) impacted a Centaur rocket stage into a permanently shadowed region (PSR) in Cabeus crater, excavating water ice and other volatiles. We used the Miniature Radio Frequency (Mini-RF) instrument on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the ShadowCam instrument on the Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter to detect the probable 22-m diameter crater that resulted from the LCROSS impact. The crater formed superposed upon a dense small crater population along a crater ray from a larger pre-existing crater. From its geologic context, the ice and regolith excavated by LCROSS were likely modified within the last 0.1–0.5 Gyr. An upper limit for the excavated volatiles is ~0.9 Gyr, as the location was not a PSR prior to that time. A young age for the LCROSS-detected volatiles supports the idea that they were mostly emplaced by an exogenic mechanism, such as from comets or the solar wind.

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The LCROSS Impact Crater as Seen by ShadowCam and Mini-RF: Size, Context, and Excavation of Copernican Volatiles

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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