The Lunar Orbital Prospector

The establishment of lunar bases will not end the need for remote sensing of the lunar surface by orbiting platforms. Human and robotic surface exploration will necessarily be limited to some proximate distance from the support base. Near real-time, high-resolution, global characterization of the lunar surface by orbiting sensing systems will continue to be essential to the understanding of the Moon's geophysical structure and the location of exploitable minerals and deposits of raw materials. The Lunar Orbital Prospector (LOP) is an orbiting sensing platform capable of supporting a variety of modular sensing packages. Serviced by a lunar-based shuttle, the LOP will permit the exchange of instrument packages to meet evolving mission needs. The ability to recover, modify, and rotate sensing packages allows their reuse in varying combinations. Combining this flexibility with robust orbit modification capabilities and near real-time telemetry links provides considerable system responsiveness. Maintenance and modification of the LOP orbit are accomplished through use of an onboard propulsion system that burns lunar-supplied oxygen and aluminum. The relatively low performance of such a system is more than compensated for by the elimination of the need for Earth-supplied propellants. The LOP concept envisions a continuous expansion of capability through the incorporation of new instrument technologies and the addition of platforms.