The Moon mineralogy mapper (M³) on Chandrayaan-1

The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M³) is a NASA-supported guest instrument on ISRO's remote sensing mission to Moon, Chandrayaan-1. The M³ is an imaging spectrometer that operates from the visible into the near-infrared (0.42-3.0 ??m) where highly diagnostic mineral absorption bands occur. Over the course of the mission M³ will provide low resolution spectroscopic data for the entire lunar surface at 140 m/pixel (86 spectral channels) to be used as a base-map and high spectral resolution science data (80 m/pixel; 260 spectral channels) for 25-50% of the surface. The detailed mineral assessment of different lunar terrains provided by M³ is principal information needed for understanding the geologic evolution of the lunar crust and lays the foundation for focused future in-depth exploration of the Moon.