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H.U. Keller, U. Mall, A. Nathues (Max-Planck-Institut fur Sonnensystemforschung), SIR Science Team
SIR is a highly compact grating, near-infrared spectrometer, which covers the wavelength range between 0.9 and 2.4 \mum, with a spectral resolution of \Delta\lambdapixel = 6 nm. SIR is operating on board the European mission SMART-1. SIR serves as a technology demonstration ex-periment for a new series of instruments. SIR's scientific goal is to determine the Moon's mineralogical surface composition by means of reflectance spectra. SIR has already collected first data during several lunar scans and is expected during the sec-ond half of 2005 to be pointed towards targets of special interest, for expample, large craters, swirls, pyroclastic deposits, areas of very young mare volcanism, and permanently shadowed depressions at the lunar poles. We report about the instrument itself and on the first spectral results obtained during the initial phase of the SMART-1 mission.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #3
© 2004. The American Astronomical Soceity.