OSIRIS‐REx Visible and Near‐Infrared Observations of the Moon

Abstract

The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission observed the Moon during the spacecraft's Earth gravity assist in 2017. From the spacecraft view, the lunar phase was 42 degrees, and the in-view hemisphere was dominated by anorthositic highlands terrain. Lunar spectra obtained by the OSIRIS-REx Visible and InfraRed Spectrometer show evidence of several candidate absorption features. We observe the 2.8-mu m hydration band, confirming the spectral results from other missions, but detected in full-disk spectra. We also tentatively identify weak spectral features near 0.9 and 1.3 mu m, consistent with lunar regolith containing a mixture of plagioclase and orthopyroxene minerals, as expected for highlands terrain.