{
"id": 4054,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4054/",
"page_type": "Visualization",
"title": "LAMP Observes GRAIL Impact",
"description": "The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission comprised a pair of satellites that together measured the gravity field of the Moon. GRAIL ended its mission with a planned impact into the side of a lunar mountain on December 17, 2012. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) maneuvered into an orbit that would allow it to observe the impact. One of LRO's instruments, the Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP), looked for the chemical signatures of a number of elements, including hydrogen and mercury, in the dust plume kicked up by the impact.This animation shows the relative positions of GRAIL and LRO at the time of the impact, as well as the view from LAMP as it scanned for the dust plume. The LAMP sensor is a 6.0° x 0.3° slit that was positioned to look over the limb of the Moon, so that it would be pointed into the tenuous dust plume with only the sky in the background. This observation was possible, in part, because GRAIL impacted on the night side of the Moon, where there was no concern that LAMP's sensitive detector could be blinded by sunlit terrain. From Earth, the Moon was a waxing crescent at the time of the impact. || ",
"release_date": "2013-03-19T13:00:00-04:00",
"update_date": "2023-05-03T13:52:18.096992-04:00",
"main_image": {
"id": 467303,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004054/grail.0519.jpg",
"filename": "grail.0519.jpg",
"media_type": "Image",
"alt_text": "LRO flies over the north pole of the Moon, where it has a very good view of the GRAIL impact. The second part is the view from LRO through LAMP's slit, showing the impact and the resulting plume. The orbits, impact locations, terrain, LAMP field of view, and starfield are accurately rendered.",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"pixels": 2073600
},
"main_video": null,
"main_credits": {
"Visualizations by": [
{
"name": "Ernie Wright",
"employer": "USRA"
}
]
},
"progress": "Complete",
"media_groups": [
{
"id": 346378,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4054/#media_group_346378",
"widget": "Basic text with HTML",
"title": "",
"caption": "",
"description": "The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission comprised a pair of satellites that together measured the gravity field of the Moon. GRAIL ended its mission with a planned impact into the side of a lunar mountain on December 17, 2012. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) maneuvered into an orbit that would allow it to observe the impact. One of LRO's instruments, the Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP), looked for the chemical signatures of a number of elements, including hydrogen and mercury, in the dust plume kicked up by the impact.
This animation shows the relative positions of GRAIL and LRO at the time of the impact, as well as the view from LAMP as it scanned for the dust plume. The LAMP sensor is a 6.0° x 0.3° slit that was positioned to look over the limb of the Moon, so that it would be pointed into the tenuous dust plume with only the sky in the background. This observation was possible, in part, because GRAIL impacted on the night side of the Moon, where there was no concern that LAMP's sensitive detector could be blinded by sunlit terrain. From Earth, the Moon was a waxing crescent at the time of the impact.",
"items": [],
"extra_data": {}
},
{
"id": 346379,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4054/#media_group_346379",
"widget": "Video player",
"title": "",
"caption": "",
"description": "LRO flies over the north pole of the Moon, where it has a very good view of the GRAIL impact. The second part is the view from LRO through LAMP's slit, showing the impact and the resulting plume. The orbits, impact locations, terrain, LAMP field of view, and starfield are accurately rendered.",
"items": [
{
"id": 310829,
"type": "media",
"extra_data": null,
"title": null,
"caption": null,
"instance": {
"id": 467303,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004054/grail.0519.jpg",
"filename": "grail.0519.jpg",
"media_type": "Image",
"alt_text": "LRO flies over the north pole of the Moon, where it has a very good view of the GRAIL impact. The second part is the view from LRO through LAMP's slit, showing the impact and the resulting plume. The orbits, impact locations, terrain, LAMP field of view, and starfield are accurately rendered.",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"pixels": 2073600
}
},
{
"id": 310826,
"type": "media",
"extra_data": null,
"title": null,
"caption": null,
"instance": {
"id": 467301,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004054/grail.0519_web.png",
"filename": "grail.0519_web.png",
"media_type": "Image",
"alt_text": "LRO flies over the north pole of the Moon, where it has a very good view of the GRAIL impact. The second part is the view from LRO through LAMP's slit, showing the impact and the resulting plume. The orbits, impact locations, terrain, LAMP field of view, and starfield are accurately rendered.",
"width": 320,
"height": 180,
"pixels": 57600
}
},
{
"id": 310827,
"type": "media",
"extra_data": null,
"title": null,
"caption": null,
"instance": {
"id": 467302,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004054/grail.0519_thm.png",
"filename": "grail.0519_thm.png",
"media_type": "Image",
"alt_text": "LRO flies over the north pole of the Moon, where it has a very good view of the GRAIL impact. The second part is the view from LRO through LAMP's slit, showing the impact and the resulting plume. The orbits, impact locations, terrain, LAMP field of view, and starfield are accurately rendered.",
"width": 80,
"height": 40,
"pixels": 3200
}
},
{
"id": 310819,
"type": "media",
"extra_data": null,
"title": null,
"caption": null,
"instance": {
"id": 467299,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004054/lamp_grail_1080p30.mov",
"filename": "lamp_grail_1080p30.mov",
"media_type": "Movie",
"alt_text": "LRO flies over the north pole of the Moon, where it has a very good view of the GRAIL impact. The second part is the view from LRO through LAMP's slit, showing the impact and the resulting plume. The orbits, impact locations, terrain, LAMP field of view, and starfield are accurately rendered.",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"pixels": 2073600
}
},
{
"id": 310820,
"type": "media",
"extra_data": null,
"title": null,
"caption": null,
"instance": {
"id": 467294,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004054/lamp_grail_1080p30.mp4",
"filename": "lamp_grail_1080p30.mp4",
"media_type": "Movie",
"alt_text": "LRO flies over the north pole of the Moon, where it has a very good view of the GRAIL impact. The second part is the view from LRO through LAMP's slit, showing the impact and the resulting plume. The orbits, impact locations, terrain, LAMP field of view, and starfield are accurately rendered.",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"pixels": 2073600
}
},
{
"id": 310821,
"type": "media",
"extra_data": null,
"title": null,
"caption": null,
"instance": {
"id": 467298,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004054/lamp_grail_720p30.mov",
"filename": "lamp_grail_720p30.mov",
"media_type": "Movie",
"alt_text": "LRO flies over the north pole of the Moon, where it has a very good view of the GRAIL impact. The second part is the view from LRO through LAMP's slit, showing the impact and the resulting plume. The orbits, impact locations, terrain, LAMP field of view, and starfield are accurately rendered.",
"width": 1280,
"height": 720,
"pixels": 921600
}
},
{
"id": 310822,
"type": "media",
"extra_data": null,
"title": null,
"caption": null,
"instance": {
"id": 467295,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004054/lamp_grail_720p30.mp4",
"filename": "lamp_grail_720p30.mp4",
"media_type": "Movie",
"alt_text": "LRO flies over the north pole of the Moon, where it has a very good view of the GRAIL impact. The second part is the view from LRO through LAMP's slit, showing the impact and the resulting plume. The orbits, impact locations, terrain, LAMP field of view, and starfield are accurately rendered.",
"width": 1280,
"height": 720,
"pixels": 921600
}
},
{
"id": 310825,
"type": "media",
"extra_data": null,
"title": null,
"caption": null,
"instance": {
"id": 467300,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004054/frames/1920x1080_16x9_30p/comp/",
"filename": "comp",
"media_type": "Frames",
"alt_text": "LRO flies over the north pole of the Moon, where it has a very good view of the GRAIL impact. The second part is the view from LRO through LAMP's slit, showing the impact and the resulting plume. The orbits, impact locations, terrain, LAMP field of view, and starfield are accurately rendered.",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"pixels": 2073600
}
},
{
"id": 310828,
"type": "media",
"extra_data": null,
"title": null,
"caption": null,
"instance": {
"id": 467304,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004054/lamp_grail_1080p30.webmhd.webm",
"filename": "lamp_grail_1080p30.webmhd.webm",
"media_type": "Movie",
"alt_text": "LRO flies over the north pole of the Moon, where it has a very good view of the GRAIL impact. The second part is the view from LRO through LAMP's slit, showing the impact and the resulting plume. The orbits, impact locations, terrain, LAMP field of view, and starfield are accurately rendered.",
"width": 960,
"height": 540,
"pixels": 518400
}
},
{
"id": 310823,
"type": "media",
"extra_data": null,
"title": null,
"caption": null,
"instance": {
"id": 467296,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004054/lamp_grail_360p30.mov",
"filename": "lamp_grail_360p30.mov",
"media_type": "Movie",
"alt_text": "LRO flies over the north pole of the Moon, where it has a very good view of the GRAIL impact. The second part is the view from LRO through LAMP's slit, showing the impact and the resulting plume. The orbits, impact locations, terrain, LAMP field of view, and starfield are accurately rendered.",
"width": 640,
"height": 360,
"pixels": 230400
}
},
{
"id": 310824,
"type": "media",
"extra_data": null,
"title": null,
"caption": null,
"instance": {
"id": 467297,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004054/lamp_grail_360p30.mp4",
"filename": "lamp_grail_360p30.mp4",
"media_type": "Movie",
"alt_text": "LRO flies over the north pole of the Moon, where it has a very good view of the GRAIL impact. The second part is the view from LRO through LAMP's slit, showing the impact and the resulting plume. The orbits, impact locations, terrain, LAMP field of view, and starfield are accurately rendered.",
"width": 640,
"height": 360,
"pixels": 230400
}
}
],
"extra_data": {}
},
{
"id": 346380,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4054/#media_group_346380",
"widget": "Video player",
"title": "",
"caption": "",
"description": "This is the raw footage of the previous entry. It lacks the clock, slit, and starfield. Includes an alpha channel.",
"items": [
{
"id": 310832,
"type": "media",
"extra_data": null,
"title": null,
"caption": null,
"instance": {
"id": 467307,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004054/grail.0520_print.jpg",
"filename": "grail.0520_print.jpg",
"media_type": "Image",
"alt_text": "This is the raw footage of the previous entry. It lacks the clock, slit, and starfield. Includes an alpha channel.",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"pixels": 2073600
}
},
{
"id": 310831,
"type": "media",
"extra_data": null,
"title": null,
"caption": null,
"instance": {
"id": 467306,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004054/grail.0520_web.png",
"filename": "grail.0520_web.png",
"media_type": "Image",
"alt_text": "This is the raw footage of the previous entry. It lacks the clock, slit, and starfield. Includes an alpha channel.",
"width": 320,
"height": 180,
"pixels": 57600
}
},
{
"id": 310830,
"type": "media",
"extra_data": null,
"title": null,
"caption": null,
"instance": {
"id": 467305,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004054/frames/1920x1080_16x9_30p/raw/",
"filename": "raw",
"media_type": "Frames",
"alt_text": "This is the raw footage of the previous entry. It lacks the clock, slit, and starfield. Includes an alpha channel.",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"pixels": 2073600
}
},
{
"id": 310833,
"type": "media",
"extra_data": null,
"title": null,
"caption": null,
"instance": {
"id": 467308,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004054/grail.mp4",
"filename": "grail.mp4",
"media_type": "Movie",
"alt_text": "This is the raw footage of the previous entry. It lacks the clock, slit, and starfield. Includes an alpha channel.",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"pixels": 2073600
}
},
{
"id": 310834,
"type": "media",
"extra_data": null,
"title": null,
"caption": null,
"instance": {
"id": 467309,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004054/grail.webm",
"filename": "grail.webm",
"media_type": "Movie",
"alt_text": "This is the raw footage of the previous entry. It lacks the clock, slit, and starfield. Includes an alpha channel.",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"pixels": 2073600
}
}
],
"extra_data": {}
},
{
"id": 346381,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4054/#media_group_346381",
"widget": "Video player",
"title": "",
"caption": "",
"description": "The starfield frames. LAMP was looking in the direction of the constellation Orion at the time of the GRAIL impact.",
"items": [
{
"id": 310837,
"type": "media",
"extra_data": null,
"title": null,
"caption": null,
"instance": {
"id": 467312,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004054/stars.0519_print.jpg",
"filename": "stars.0519_print.jpg",
"media_type": "Image",
"alt_text": "The starfield frames. LAMP was looking in the direction of the constellation Orion at the time of the GRAIL impact.",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"pixels": 2073600
}
},
{
"id": 310836,
"type": "media",
"extra_data": null,
"title": null,
"caption": null,
"instance": {
"id": 467311,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004054/stars.0519_web.png",
"filename": "stars.0519_web.png",
"media_type": "Image",
"alt_text": "The starfield frames. LAMP was looking in the direction of the constellation Orion at the time of the GRAIL impact.",
"width": 320,
"height": 180,
"pixels": 57600
}
},
{
"id": 310835,
"type": "media",
"extra_data": null,
"title": null,
"caption": null,
"instance": {
"id": 467310,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004054/frames/1920x1080_16x9_30p/stars/",
"filename": "stars",
"media_type": "Frames",
"alt_text": "The starfield frames. LAMP was looking in the direction of the constellation Orion at the time of the GRAIL impact.",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"pixels": 2073600
}
},
{
"id": 310838,
"type": "media",
"extra_data": null,
"title": null,
"caption": null,
"instance": {
"id": 467313,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004054/stars.mp4",
"filename": "stars.mp4",
"media_type": "Movie",
"alt_text": "The starfield frames. LAMP was looking in the direction of the constellation Orion at the time of the GRAIL impact.",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"pixels": 2073600
}
},
{
"id": 310839,
"type": "media",
"extra_data": null,
"title": null,
"caption": null,
"instance": {
"id": 467314,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004054/stars.webm",
"filename": "stars.webm",
"media_type": "Movie",
"alt_text": "The starfield frames. LAMP was looking in the direction of the constellation Orion at the time of the GRAIL impact.",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"pixels": 2073600
}
}
],
"extra_data": {}
}
],
"studio": "svs",
"funding_sources": [
"LRO"
],
"credits": [
{
"role": "Animator",
"people": [
{
"name": "Ernie Wright",
"employer": "USRA"
}
]
},
{
"role": "Producer",
"people": [
{
"name": "Dan Gallagher",
"employer": "USRA"
}
]
},
{
"role": "Scientist",
"people": [
{
"name": "John Keller",
"employer": "NASA/GSFC"
},
{
"name": "Kurt Retherford",
"employer": "SwRI"
}
]
}
],
"missions": [
"GRAIL",
"LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter)"
],
"series": [
"LRO - Animations",
"The Moon"
],
"tapes": [],
"papers": [],
"datasets": [
{
"name": "Digital Elevation Map",
"common_name": "DEM",
"platform": "LRO",
"sensor": "LOLA",
"type": "Other",
"organizations": [],
"description": "",
"credit": "",
"url": "",
"date_range": null
},
{
"name": "Catalog",
"common_name": "UCAC3",
"platform": "U.S. Naval Observatory",
"sensor": "Third CCD Astrograph",
"type": "Database",
"organizations": [
"USNO"
],
"description": "",
"credit": "",
"url": "",
"date_range": null
},
{
"name": "SPICE Ephemerides",
"common_name": "SPICE Ephemerides",
"platform": null,
"sensor": null,
"type": "Ephemeris",
"organizations": [
"NASA/JPL"
],
"description": "Satellite and planetary ephemerides",
"credit": "",
"url": "",
"date_range": null
}
],
"nasa_science_categories": [
"Planets & Moons"
],
"keywords": [
"Elevation data",
"GRAIL",
"Gravity",
"Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory",
"HDTV",
"LAMP",
"Laser Altimeter",
"LOLA",
"LRO",
"Lunar",
"Lunar Elevation Map",
"Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter",
"Lunar Surface",
"Lunar Topography",
"Moon",
"Solar System"
],
"recommended_pages": [],
"related": [
{
"id": 4023,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4023/",
"page_type": "Visualization",
"title": "GRAIL Impacts the Moon",
"description": "The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission comprises a pair of satellites launched in September, 2011 and placed in orbit around the Moon in January, 2012. The two satellites, named Ebb and Flow, used radio signals to precisely measure their separation as they flew in formation, one following the other in the same nearly circular polar orbit. These measurements allowed mission scientists to build up an accurate and detailed gravity map of the Moon.GRAIL ends its successful mission by impacting the Moon on December 17, 2012 at approximately 5:27 p.m. EST (22:27 UT). The two spacecraft were placed in an orbit that takes them within a kilometer of the surface, so low that they will hit the side of an unnamed mountain that lies between Mouchez and Philolaus craters, near the north pole at 75°45'N, 26°11'W. Ebb strikes first, followed 24 seconds later by Flow.This animation shows the last three orbits of the two spacecraft, with views of the impact site. The impact occurs on the night side of a waxing crescent Moon, so the view shifts from a natural color Moon to a false-color elevation map. || ",
"release_date": "2012-12-17T09:00:00-05:00",
"update_date": "2025-01-05T22:18:52.416447-05:00",
"main_image": {
"id": 469813,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004023/grail.0850.jpg",
"filename": "grail.0850.jpg",
"media_type": "Image",
"alt_text": "GRAIL's final three orbits, with close-ups of the impact site.",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"pixels": 2073600
}
},
{
"id": 3785,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3785/",
"page_type": "Visualization",
"title": "LAMP Observes the LCROSS Impact",
"description": "A two-ton Atlas Centaur rocket body, part of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), struck the floor of Cabeus crater, near the south pole of the moon, at 11:31 UT on October 9, 2009. The purpose of the crash was to create a plume of debris that could be examined for the presence of water and other chemicals in the lunar regolith.The Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) instrument aboard Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) observed the tenuous vapor cloud created by the LCROSS impact. LAMP is LRO's \"night vision.\" Most of the time, it uses the ultraviolet light in starlight to peer into deep shadows on the moon's surface. For the LCROSS impact, LAMP was pointed just above the lunar horizon to watch for the arrival of a rapidly expanding cloud of vaporized debris from the crash.In this animation, the viewer looks down the LAMP boresight and through its narrow window. The LAMP sensor lights up as the leading edge of the expanding vapor cloud passes through its field of view. What's shown here is actually the difference between the data recorded after the LCROSS impact and that recorded on LRO's previous orbit. See this entry for more about the process of subtracting the background to enhance the LAMP signal. || ",
"release_date": "2010-10-21T13:55:00-04:00",
"update_date": "2023-05-03T13:54:00.108770-04:00",
"main_image": {
"id": 489301,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003700/a003785/lcross_lamp_date.0512.jpg",
"filename": "lcross_lamp_date.0512.jpg",
"media_type": "Image",
"alt_text": "The LAMP sensor slit scans the lunar horizon, lighting up as it encounters the vapor cloud created by the LCROSS impact. This version includes a date/time overlay.",
"width": 1280,
"height": 720,
"pixels": 921600
}
}
],
"sources": [],
"products": [],
"newer_versions": [],
"older_versions": [],
"alternate_versions": []
}