Construction and assembly of the NASA Lunar Prospector spacecraft has been completed by Lockheed Martin in preparation for its launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 24 September, on a mission to obtain the first complete compositional and gravity maps of the moon. The $63 million, low-cost, Discovery mission will carry five science instruments, including a neutron spectrometer, which will be able to locate as little as the equivalent of a cup of water in a cubic metre of lunar soil. This potential has been made all the more tantalising by the recent discovery of possible water ice in the lunar South Pole (Flight International, 15 - 21 January).
Source: Flight International
