On the Study of the Spatial Variability of the Composition of the Lunar Material in Experiments on Gamma Spectroscopy Onboard a Mobile Spacecraft Using the Tagged-Cosmic-Rays Method

Abstract—The article proposes a “tagged cosmic particle” method that uses the natural flux of high-energy particles of Galactic Cosmic Rays to study the composition of the near-surface soil layer of a celestial body by gamma spectrometry methods, with a high spatial resolution of the order of several tens of centimeters. The results of numerical modeling of the sensitivity of the instrument implementing the proposed method to the determination of the type of soil are considered. When working onboard a mobile spacecraft (lunar rover) on the surface of celestial bodies devoid of an atmosphere, for example, the Moon or an asteroid, such a scientific instrument will allow both the selection of individual objects with an elemental composition different from the surrounding surface, and the building of a profile or even a map of the local variability of the elemental composition of the soil.