Planetary Science

Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS)

Impactor · Competed · Agency-led · Launched on June 18, 2009 · Completed · LCC: $89M/$139M (2025 $)Life-cycle cost: NASA’s reported cost to build, launch, and operate a mission through its prime mission, plus documented partner contributions, in 2025 dollars. Extended missions are not included. Methods · Wikipedia

Scope Active Mission WindowActivePapers published from the first full month after science operations begin through two years after the mission ends. Citations are counted through the third calendar year after each paper appears. For LCROSS, papers published November 1, 2009 to November 1, 2011. Methods LifetimeLifetimeEvery tracked publication to date, with every citation to date. For LCROSS, papers published from 2010 to November 3, 2026. Methods
Tracked publicationsTracked publications: peer-reviewed papers we found that name the mission or its instruments in their titles, abstracts, or keywords. Papers that used the data without naming it are missed. Methods57
CitationsCitations: every citation these publications have drawn to date. Older missions have had longer to collect them. Methods2,984
Citation indices
h-indexh-index: the largest h such that h papers have at least h citations each. It only grows with time, so older missions score higher. Methods23
g-indexg-index: the largest g for which the g most-cited papers together hold at least g² citations. Like the h-index, but it lets the most-cited papers count for more. Methods54
m-indexm-index: a mission’s h-index divided by the years since its first peer-reviewed paper. It falls every 1 January even when nothing else changes; the figure shown is as of November 3, 2026. It also discounts the long operating life that larger missions paid for. Methods1.4
toritori (total research impact, from SciX): for every paper citing one of the mission’s papers, 1 divided by the citing paper’s reference count times the cited paper’s author count, summed, with self-citations removed. It favors citations from papers with short reference lists and from outside the mission’s own authors. Computed over the tracked citation graph, which can be slightly incomplete. Always over every tracked publication to date, whichever scope is chosen. Methods14
riqriq (research impact quotient): 1,000 times the square root of tori, divided by the years since the mission’s first paper. A rate, not a total, so it does not keep growing with age the way the h-index and tori do. Like tori, always over every tracked publication to date. Methods219

Publications and citations by year (lifetime)

Publications per yearCumulative citations

Institutional contributions (lifetime)The institutions SciX lists for each paper’s authors, as printed on the paper, located through the Research Organization Registry. A square counts a paper once, however many of its authors worked there. Methods

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Tracked publications over the lifetime (57)

All publications CSV · JSON

  1. Detection of Water in the LCROSS Ejecta Plume

    Colaprete, Anthony, 2010, Sci

    748 lifetime citations

  2. Diviner Lunar Radiometer Observations of Cold Traps in the Moon’s South Polar Region

    Paige, David A., 2010, Sci

    474 lifetime citations

  3. Hydrogen Mapping of the Lunar South Pole Using the LRO Neutron Detector Experiment LEND

    Mitrofanov, I. G., 2010, Sci

    312 lifetime citations

  4. The LCROSS Cratering Experiment

    Schultz, Peter H., 2010, Sci

    185 lifetime citations

  5. LRO-LAMP Observations of the LCROSS Impact Plume

    Gladstone, G. Randall, 2010, Sci

    153 lifetime citations

  6. Lunar Water: A Brief Review

    Anand, Mahesh, 2010, EM&P

    89 lifetime citations

  7. Diviner Lunar Radiometer Observations of the LCROSS Impact

    Hayne, Paul O., 2010, Sci

    75 lifetime citations

  8. Detection of Ocean Glint and Ozone Absorption Using LCROSS Earth Observations

    Robinson, Tyler D., 2014, ApJ

    69 lifetime citations

  9. New upper limits on numerous atmospheric species in the native lunar atmosphere

    Cook, Jason C., 2013, Icar

    65 lifetime citations

  10. Two-dimensional distribution of volatiles in the lunar regolith from space weathering simulations

    Hurley, Dana M., 2012, GeoRL

    63 lifetime citations

  11. Commercial lunar propellant architecture: A collaborative study of lunar propellant production

    Kornuta, David, 2019, Reach

    61 lifetime citations

  12. The nature of lunar volatiles as revealed by Mini-RF observations of the LCROSS impact site

    Neish, C. D., 2011, JGRE

    53 lifetime citations

  13. Remote laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for lunar exploration

    Lasue, J., 2012, JGRE

    51 lifetime citations

  14. Resource potential of lunar permanently shadowed regions

    Brown, H. M., 2022, Icar

    44 lifetime citations

  15. New results and questions of lunar exploration from SELENE, Chang'E-1, Chandrayaan-1 and LRO/LCROSS

    Jin, Shuanggen, 2013, AdSpR

    39 lifetime citations

  16. An Overview of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS)

    Colaprete, Anthony, 2012, SSRv

    37 lifetime citations

  17. Carbon Dioxide Cold Traps on the Moon

    Schorghofer, Norbert, 2021, GeoRL

    31 lifetime citations

  18. Scouring the surface: Ejecta dynamics and the LCROSS impact event

    Hermalyn, Brendan, 2012, Icar

    30 lifetime citations

  19. Proton flux and radiation dose from galactic cosmic rays in the lunar regolith and implications for organic synthesis at the poles of the Moon and Mercury

    Crites, S. T., 2013, Icar

    29 lifetime citations

  20. Exogenic origin for the volatiles sampled by the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite impact

    Mandt, K. E., 2022, NatCo

    28 lifetime citations

How we found these papers

We searched NASA’s Science Explorer (SciX) for peer-reviewed articles naming LCROSS in the title, abstract or keywords; standard filters drop articles that are not peer-reviewed and magazine pieces.

((=abs:"Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite" OR (abs:"LCROSS" AND (abs:"Moon" OR abs:"lunar" OR abs:"impact" OR abs:"crater")))) AND property:refereed AND doctype:article AND pubdate:[2009-11 TO 2040-01] AND NOT bibstem:("A&R" OR "ACPD" OR "AIASJ" OR "AMTD" OR "AeAm" OR "AirSp" OR "AsNow" OR "AsUAI" OR "AvWST" OR "BGD" OR "C&E" OR "C&T" OR "CAPJ" OR "CliPD" OR "E&S" OR "ENews" OR "ESDD" OR "ESSDD" OR "ESuDD" OR "GID" OR "GMDD" OR "GeCAS" OR "HESSD" OR "IrAJ" OR "JCos" OR "JRASC" OR "LAstr" OR "MNSSA" OR "Met" OR "NHESD" OR "NPGD" OR "NewSc" OR "OcScD" OR "Orion" OR "PhT" OR "PhTea" OR "PhuZ" OR "PhyOJ" OR "PhyW" OR "PlR" OR "SOILD" OR "SciAm" OR "SpFl" OR "TCD" OR "ZemVs")

Open in SciX

Removed after review (3)

  1. Foreword. The Lunar Crater Observation Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) Editorial foreword to a journal special issue; not a research paper. Decision 🤖
  2. Lunar Net—a proposal in response to an ESA M3 call in 2010 for a medium sized mission Mission proposal for Lunar Net, a different lunar mission; reports no LCROSS results. Decision 👨
  3. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO): Observations for Lunar Exploration and Science Overview of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission; LCROSS is mentioned only as its launch companion. Decision 🤖