LRO CRaTER: Raw Cosmic Ray Telescope Data from the Moon

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) collected raw binary data from the Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER) instrument. The data consists of unconverted primary science, secondary science, and housekeeping CCSDS-formatted data packets and headers. The dataset was last updated on March 13, 2026.

Use Cases

• Calibrate instrument readings based on raw primary and secondary science data packets
• Analyze cosmic radiation effects on lunar missions based on CRaTER instrument data
• Process spacecraft housekeeping telemetry for system health monitoring
• Decode CCSDS-formatted data packets for space data protocol research

Strengths

• Data originates from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, a primary source for lunar science
• Includes raw, unconverted data packets, which may be essential for calibration and validation
• Dataset is structured with CCSDS-formatted headers, a standard for space communications

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data gathered by the Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER) instrument on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 05:40:08.071467; freshness should be verified

Geography

Moon