5. Identify and evaluate concentrations of unusual or unexpected minerals.

These spectra of lunar samples were measured in Earth-based laboratories. M3 is likely to identify previously unknown components of the Moon's surface.

M³'s high spectral resolution will enable it to discern fine detail in readings of the Moon's surface, detail that would be lost to instruments with cruder spectral resolution. This and the instrument's high spatial resolution make it likely to reveal previously undetected materials on the Moon. Such findings resulted from similar improvements in spectral and spatial resolution in observations of Mars, Earth, and Saturn's moon, Phoebe.