Free access to the lunar surface

For the first time an open-source software that gives scientists access to a free tool that creates science-ready products from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) to study the composition of the lunar surface

The new open source software MoonIndex was tested on surface areas of the moon — pictured here. Javier Eduardo Suarez Valencia

With MoonIndex, researchers from Constructor University and the National Institute of Astrophysics in Italy have developed an open-source software that for the first time gives scientists access to a free tool that creates science-ready products from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) to study the composition of the lunar surface. At the same time, it enables a wide range of applications.

An article now published in the specialist journal ‘Earth and Space Science’ describes the research success.

‘Spectral indices are a key product to understanding and mapping planetary surfaces,’

said Javier Eduardo Suárez Valencia, PhD student at Constructor University and first author of the article.

Each surface has a very special, individual reflectance pattern, a kind of spectral fingerprint. It provides information about the presence of certain minerals in rocks or about the physical properties of the surface. For example, the researchers have identified minerals…