Lunar Surface Magnetometer
part of the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP)
The Lunar Surface Magnetometer (LSM) was a lunar science experiment with the aim of providing insights into the interior of the Moon and how its latent magnetic field interacts with the solar wind. It was deployed on the Moon as part of Apollo 12, Apollo 14 and Apollo 16 missions.
Background
Two lunar orbital satellites, Luna 10 and Explorer 35, laid much of the groundwork for a working understanding of the Moon's magnetic field. They established that the Moon has at best little more than a remnant field, and at worst no intrinsic magnetic field at all. Those spacecraft's instruments were not sensitive enough, and too far from the Moon's surface to distinguish between these two possibilities. In addition to these two missions, analysis had been conducted on regolith samples brought back from the Moon by Apollo 11. This analysis established some of the surface materials' magnetic properties.
Instrument
A lunar magnetometer experiment had a number of requirements that shaped its capabilities. The instrument needed to be able to operate during the lunar night since it was believed the collection of data from a full lunar rotation would be required. The instrument also needed to be able to perform its own self-calibrations on a regular cadence to account for wide temperature ranges experienced over a long period of time.
“Lunar Surface Magnetometer” enters the record as part of the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Lunar, Surface and Magnetometer can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Lunar Surface Magnetometer” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.