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Peering into lunar permanently shadowed regions with deep learning.


ABSTRACT: The lunar permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) are expected to host large quantities of water-ice, which are key for sustainable exploration of the Moon and beyond. In the near future, NASA and other entities plan to send rovers and humans to characterize water-ice within PSRs. However, there exists only limited information about the small-scale geomorphology and distribution of ice within PSRs because the orbital imagery captured to date lacks sufficient resolution and/or signal. In this paper, we develop and validate a new method of post-processing LRO NAC images of PSRs. We show that our method is able to reveal previously unseen geomorphological features such as boulders and craters down to 3 meters in size, whilst not finding evidence for surface frost or near-surface ice. Our post-processed images significantly facilitate the exploration of PSRs by reducing the uncertainty of target selection and traverse/mission planning.

SUBMITTER: Bickel VT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8460740 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Peering into lunar permanently shadowed regions with deep learning.

Bickel V T VT   Moseley B B   Lopez-Francos I I   Shirley M M  

Nature communications 20210923 1


The lunar permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) are expected to host large quantities of water-ice, which are key for sustainable exploration of the Moon and beyond. In the near future, NASA and other entities plan to send rovers and humans to characterize water-ice within PSRs. However, there exists only limited information about the small-scale geomorphology and distribution of ice within PSRs because the orbital imagery captured to date lacks sufficient resolution and/or signal. In this paper,  ...[more]

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