Building the Moon Mineralogy Mapper

This image shows the Moon Mineralogy Mapper imaging spectrometer during development at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The compact imaging spectrometer, which disperses white light into different wavelengths, weighs about 9 kilograms (20 pounds) and uses the energy of a 20 watt light bulb. In nine months of operation, the Moon Mineralogy Mapper was able to map about 90 percent of the surface of the moon.