Rotating Gravity Gradiometer Study

Abstract

The application of a Rotating Gravity Gradiometer (RGG) system on board a Lunar Polar Orbiter (LPO) for the measurement of the Lunar gravity field was investigated. A data collection simulation study shows that a gradiometer will give significantly better gravity data than a doppler tracking system for the altitudes under consideration for the LOP, that the present demonstrated sensitivity of the RGG is adequate for measurement of the Lunar gravity gradient field, and that a single RGG instrument will provide almost as much data for geophysical interpretation as an orthogonal three axis RGG system. An engineering study of the RGG sensor/LPO spacecraft interface characteristics shows that the RGG systems under consideration are compatible with the present models of the LPO spacecraft.