Abstract
Future missions to the Moon should include a detailed high-resolution global gravity survey from a low (15–30 km) polar orbiting spacecraft. The use of gravity gradiometer instruments on board the spacecraft will give higher-resolution data at lower total mission cost that the present Doppler tracking technique. Simulations show that although a three axis gradiometer system is preferred, and can even be used to estimate spacecraft attitude and altitude variation, a properly oriented single rotating gravity gradiometer can be used to resolve closely spaced mascons in both the along-track and cross-track directions.
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Forward, R.L. Future lunar gravity measurements. The Moon and the Planets 22, 419–433 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00897287
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00897287