The astrochemistry of CO2 ice analogues has been a topic of intensive investigation due to the prevalence of CO2 throughout the interstellar medium and the Solar System, as well as the possibility of it acting as a carbon feedstock for the synthesis of larger, more complex organic molecules. In order to accurately discern the physicochemical processes in which CO2 plays a role, it is necessary to have laboratory-generated spectra to compare against observational data acquired by ground-and space-based telescopes. A key factor which is known to influence the appearance of such spectra is temperature, especially when the spectra are acquired in the infrared and ultraviolet. In this present study, we describe the results of a systematic investigation looking into: (i) the influence of thermal annealing on the mid-IR and VUV absorption spectra of pure, unirradiated CO2 astrophysical ice analogues prepared at various temperatures, and (ii) the influence of temperature on the chemical products of electron irradiation of similar ices. Our results indicate that both mid-IR and VUV spectra of pure CO2 ices are sensitive to the structural and chemical changes induced by thermal annealing. Furthermore, using mid-IR spectroscopy, we have successfully identified the production of radiolytic daughter molecules as a result of 1 keV electron irradiation and the influence of temperature over this chemistry. Such results are directly applicable to studies on the chemistry of interstellar ices, comets, and icy lunar objects and may also be useful as reference data for forthcoming observational missions.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's (LRO) Lyman Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) is a lightweight (6.1 kg), low-power (4.5 W), ultraviolet spectrograph based on the Alice instruments aboard the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft and NASA's New Horizons spacecraft. Its primary job is to identify and localize exposed water frost in permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) near the Moon's poles, and to characterize landforms and albedos in PSRs. LRO launched on June 18, 2009 and reached lunar orbit four days later. LAMP operated with its failsafe door closed for its first seven years in flight. The failsafe door was opened in October 2016 to increase light throughput during dayside operations at the expense of no longer having the capacity to take further dark observations and slightly more operational complexity to avoid saturating the instrument. This one-time irreversible operation was approved after extensive review, and was conducted flawlessly. The increased throughput allows measurement of dayside hydration in one orbit, instead of averaging multiple orbits together to reach enough signal-to-noise. The new measurement mode allows greater time resolution of dayside water migration for improved investigations into the source and loss processes on the lunar surface. LAMP performance and optical characteristics after the failsafe door opening are described herein, including the new effective area, wavelength solution, and resolution.

We utilize surface temperature measurements and ultraviolet albedo spectra from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to test the hypothesis that exposed water frost exists within the Moon's shadowed polar craters, and that temperature controls its concentration and spatial distribution. For locations with annual maximum temperatures T-max, greater than the H2O sublimation temperature of similar to 110 K, we find no evidence for exposed water frost, based on the LAMP UV spectra. However, we observe a strong change in spectral behavior at locations perennially below similar to 110 K, consistent with cold-trapped ice on the surface. In addition to the temperature association, spectral evidence for water frost comes from the following spectral features: (a) decreasing Lyman-alpha. albedo, (b) decreasing on-band (129.57-155.57 nm) albedo, and (c) increasing off-band (155.57-189.57 nm) albedo. All of these features are consistent with the UV spectrum of water ice, and are expected for water ice layers >similar to 100 nm in thickness. High regolith porosity, which would darken the surface at all wavelengths, cannot alone explain the observed spectral changes at low temperatures. Given the observed LAMP off-band/on-band albedo ratios at a spatial scale of 250 m, the range of water ice concentrations within the cold traps with T-max < 110 K is similar to 0.1-2.0% by mass, if the ice is intimately mixed with dry regolith. If pure water ice is exposed instead, then up to similar to 10% of the surface area on the 250-m scale of the measurements may be ice-covered. The observed distribution of exposed water ice is highly heterogeneous, with some cold traps <110 K having little to no apparent water frost, and others with a significant amount of water frost. As noted by Gladstone et al. (Gladstone, G.R. et al. [2012]. J. Geophys. Res.: Planets 117(E12)), this heterogeneity may be a consequence of the fact that the net supply rate of H2O molecules to the lunar poles is very similar to the net destruction rate within the cold traps. However, an observed increase in apparent H2O abundance with decreasing temperature from similar to 110 K to 65 K suggests that destruction of surface frosts by impact gardening and space weathering is spatially heterogeneous. We find a loosely bimodal distribution of apparent ice concentrations with temperature, possibly due to competition between vertical mixing by impact gardening and resupply of H2O by vapor diffusion at sites -110 K. Finally, we cannot rule out the possibility that the colder population of ice deposits is in fact primarily carbon dioxide ice, although peak temperatures of similar to 65 K are slightly higher than the usual CO2 sublimation temperature of similar to 60 K. (c) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Lyman Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) is a lightweight (6.1 kg), low-power (4.5 W), ultraviolet spectrograph based on the Alice instruments now in flight aboard the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft and NASA's New Horizons spacecraft. Its primary job on NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is to identify and localize exposed water frost in permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) near the Moon's poles, and to characterize landforms and albedos in PSRs. In this paper we describe the in-flight radiometric performance and commissioning results and compare them to ground calibration measurements.