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Previous analysis of the lunar-polar lighting conditions has identified areas of illumination extremes. Many areas of permanent shadow exist, associated with the floors of impact craters. Conversely, several areas exits at both poles that receive sunlight far more often than the average. Quantitative illumination maps were made for both poles using Clementine UVVIS data. These showed the percentage of time that places on the lunar surface were illuminated during a lunar day. The data covered a summer day for the north pole and a winter day for the south pole. Key results were that no places (at the 1 km resolution of the Clementine data) near the south pole are constantly illuminated. Several regions on the rim of Peary crater near the north pole were illuminated throughout the summer day but it was not possible to determine using those data if they are permanently illuminated. Further analysis using AMIE data from SMART-1 provided some details on seasonal variations as these data were collected throughout a whole year, thus covering all possible illumination conditions.
Our goal is to use data from recent and upcoming missions to conduct a comprehensive illumination study of both polar regions. This will include analysis of Kaguya, Chadrayaan-1, and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter data.
Detailed illumination maps combined with other data showing surface conditions (e.g. roughness maps from Mini-RF radar data) will be used to help choose the best all round outpost site.
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