Lunar Prospector Program

NASA’s Lunar Prospector program orbited the Moon for nearly 19 months to produce global compositional and gravity maps and investigate polar volatiles. Launched on 6 January 1998, it found evidence suggesting water ice at both lunar poles, mapped major rock types, detected localized magnetic fields and a large iron-rich core, and ended with a controlled lunar impact on 31 July 1999.

Identity

Aliases: Lunar ProspectorLunar Prospector MissionProspector
Domains: spaceflight
Name: Lunar Prospector Program
Status: completed
Types: explorationscienceresearchoperations

Details

Description: NASA’s Lunar Prospector program orbited the Moon for nearly 19 months to produce global compositional and gravity maps and investigate polar volatiles. Launched on 6 January 1998, it found evidence suggesting water ice at both lunar poles, mapped major rock types, detected localized magnetic fields and a large iron-rich core, and ended with a controlled lunar impact on 31 July 1999.
End Date: 1999-07-31
Leads
Participants: -
Start Date: 1998-01-06

Assets & Meta

Creation Time: August 13, 2026 at 14:32:43 UTC
Updated Time: August 13, 2026 at 14:32:43 UTC

Other

Official Urls: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/lunar-prospector/https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/moon/creative-impact-experiment-to-mark-end-of-lunar-prospector/https://lpo-mager.gsfc.nasa.gov/overview.htmlhttps://www.nasa.gov/pdf/200173main_Lunar_Nautics_Guide.pdf