T213 Planetary Exploration through Remote Compositional Analysis: The G.K. Gilbert Award Session

Tuesday, 2 November 2010
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Mile High Ballroom Prefunction

THE LUNAR ROCK AND MINERAL CHARACTERIZATION CONSORTIUM (LRMCC): NEW RESULTS FROM THE RELAB

Paper number: T213-5
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 2:45 PM – 3:00 PM

Authors

Abstract

Laboratory reflectance spectroscopy has been a cornerstone of remote compositional analysis for decades. The comparison of remotely-acquired reflectance spectra to ground truth spectra (and theoretical constraints based on such spectra) of samples measured in the lab has enabled the extraordinary advances in the compositional and mineralogical mapping of planetary surfaces over the past 30+ years. As the capabilities of orbital reflectance spectrometers and other remote sensing instruments continue to improve, the importance of fundamental laboratory spectroscopy grows as well. The high-quality reflectance spectra collected in the RELAB at Brown University have made major contributions as ground truth for planetary exploration. As remotely-sensed data become capable of measuring ever more subtle diagnostic features, the need for a solid foundation of such high-quality ground truth laboratory data with which to interpret these features becomes ever more important. The Lunar Rock and Mineral Characterization Consortium (LRMCC) seeks to provide some of the best ground truth spectroscopy data for the current and future eras of lunar and planetary exploration.

The LRMCC, a collaboration between the University of Tennessee and Brown University, has analyzed four lunar mare basalt samples, two each of low-Ti and high-Ti varieties. The LRMCC conducted integrated mineralogy/petrography/spectroscopy analyses of the bulk samples, prepared mineral separates, and polished thin sections. The result is a set of samples fully characterized in support of ongoing lunar research. The dataset includes well-characterized bulk samples and mineral separates prepared from the same samples, eliminating many uncertainties inherent in using analogs rather than returned samples as ground truth. Results from these integrated analyses by the LRMCC and some of their implications for lunar and planetary exploration will be presented.