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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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NASA NTRS2022

Mascon Basins

Large basins across the lunar surface have observable positive gravity anomalies within the interiors, referred to as mass concentrations, or “mascons.” Some near-side mascons can be explained by flexural support of the mare basalts within the basins, like Orientale, that have excessive mascons. There are also some basins that exhibit masons but lack mare basalts. Lunar gravity and topography data are most often used to determine the morphology and gravity anomalies of the mascons.

Caitlin Ahrens↗
NASA NTRS1981

Lunar floor-fractured craters - Evidence for viscous relaxation of crater topography

Viscous relaxation is evaluated quantitatively as a possible mechanism to account for the observed topographical modification of floor-fractured lunar craters. On the basis of a model of the moon as a viscous material of uniform Newtonian viscosity, the ultimate topographic profiles of fresh craters predicted taking into account viscous relaxation effects are compared with the observed profiles of floor-fractured craters of similar diameter. It is found that for a number of crater pairs, the agreement of the observations with the predictions of the simple viscous relaxation model is good, suggesting that isostatic adjustment of craters in areas of anomalously high temperatures at shallow depth may be a more important source of deformation than previously realized.

Hall, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Collaboration on SEP Missions to the Moon and Small Bodies

In response to the Discovery announcement of opportunity a team consisting of TRW Lewis Research Center, JPL and UCLA with scientific co-investigators from government and University laboratories have proposed to fly the first planetary solar electric propulsion (SEP) mission. Diana is designed to carry an X-ray and gamma ray spectrometer, and imaging spectrometer, a framing camera, a laser altimer an ion spectrometer and a magnetometer. In order to obtain lunar gravity data from the far side of the moon a relay satellite is placed into high polar orbit about the moon to relay the Doppler-shifted telemetry to Earth. Diana will spend two months in a 700 km polar orbit obtaining mineralogical data from a full spectral map of the lunar surface, and then spend a year in a 100 km (or below) polar orbit mapping the lunar elemental composition, its topography, gravity field, ions from its atmosphere and its permanent and induced magnetic fields. After the low altitude mapping phase the ion thrusters propel the spacecraft out of the lunar sphere of influence and onto a heloioscentric trajectory to rendezvous with dormant comet Wilson-Harrington. The ground truth provided by the returned lunar samples to validate the remote sensing instruments for lunar studies will also serve to validate the Wilson-Harrington observations since the same instruments will be used at both bodies.

Pieters, C. M.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA’s Moon Trek Portal: New Capabilities Supporting Mission Planning and Engagement

Introduction: NASA’s Moon Trek (https://trek.nasa.gov/moon/) is one of a growing number of interactive, browser-based, online portals for planetary data visualization and analysis produced by NASA’s Solar System Treks Project (SSTP). Moon Trek continues to be enhanced with new data and new capabilities enabling it to facilitate the planning and conducting of upcoming lunar missions by NASA, its commercial partners, and its international partners, as well as advancing its role as a valuable outreach tool. A Comprehensive Online Web Portal: Developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and managed as a project of NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) at NASA Ames Research Center, Moon Trek is a browser-based web portal. The portal provides easy-to-use tools for browsing, data layering, data product blending, and feature search among thousands of data products covering topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, geology, and much more. Visualizations are provided in var-ious map projections, interactive 3D viewing, and in virtual reality. Using an in-house stereo workflow, SSTP is able to produce new NAC-based high-resolution mosaics and DEMs. Diverse Applications for Lunar Exploration: Baseline analytic tools available to all users include dis-tance measurement, elevation profiling, sun angle calculation, and 3D print file generation. More advanced account-level tools allow users to perform more computationally intensive analyses. These include ray-traced lighting analysis for user-specified areas over user-specified time/date ranges and time intervals, electro-static surface potential analysis, subsetting of large data products, slope analysis, and Lunar Laser Ranging geometry calculation. Artificial intelligence (AI) and ma-chine learning (ML) based tools have been implemented for crater detection and hazard analysis, boulder detection and hazard analysis, and rockfall detection. New Tools Facilitating Exploration: Additional, new tools have recently been added and others are in development, offering even greater functionality in con-ducting analyses of potential landing sites and areas of surface operations. The new Line-of-Sight tool facilitates communications planning between locations on the lunar surface, between any given site on the lunar surface and a specified ground station on the Earth, and between a site on the lunar surface and a relay asset in lunar orbit, all taking into account local lunar topography. The new Data Plotter tool provides both tabular and graphical representations of pixel values along a user specified path for a growing number of data products. The new NAC Finder tool will identify and pro-vide access to NAC images that intersect a user-defined path or bounded area. The SSTP development team is looking to leverage the capabilities of its existing AI and ML crater, boulder, and rockfall detection and analysis tools, and extend that technology to a generalized feature detector that can be trained on instances of specific types of landforms and then search the lunar surface for more examples of such features. New traverse planning tools are being developed with use cases in generalized concept studies and specific mission planning in mind. These will facilitate finding optimal traverse paths based on constraints such as slope, lighting, hazard avoidance, and communications. These will be complemented by new traverse visualization capabilities. Users will be able to interactively ride along with a rover, examining 3D views of the terrain while adjusting camera height and viewing angle along with selecting different data layer overlays to drape across the terrain. Engaging the Public: The capabilities being developed for mission planning are being leveraged to further enhance Moon Trek’s proven utility as a valuable public outreach resource. This includes providing multiple lev-els of engagement with different points of entry. At its simplest level, promoting understanding through visualization, media and the public will be able to easily visualize and conduct their own exploration of lunar sites targeted by NASA and its partners. For a more in-depth experience, we are working with our stakeholders to promote understanding through interaction by extend-ing our current landing site and traverse analysis capabilities, making simplified access to these tools available to those who want to explore more deeply key factors in planning a mission through interactive and possibly even gamified experiences. The highest degree of public outreach, focusing on engagement through scientific participation, could be achieved through our work with missions and the NASA Office of the Chief Scientist on Moon Trek’s extension as a tool with specialized capabilities for facilitating citizen science. In such scenarios, participants become members of extended mis-sion science teams, using dedicated and integrated interfaces to analyze mission data to help answer questions key to lunar science and exploration. We are work-ing with NASA’s Office of Communications, museums, planetariums, and the media to help them easily integrate accurate, detailed visualizations of NASA’s lunar destinations and exploration into their content/productions and to engage diverse audiences in diverse venues.

Moon Trek↗
NASA NTRS1994

The Twenty-Fifth Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Part 3: P-Z

Various papers on lunar and planetary science are presented, covering such topics as: impact craters, tektites, lunar geology, lava flow, geodynamics, chondrites, planetary geology, planetary surfaces, volcanology, tectonics, topography, regolith, metamorphic rock, geomorphology, lunar soil, geochemistry, petrology, cometary collisions, geochronology, weathering, and meteoritic composition.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2008

Proceedings of the 39th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference

Sessions with oral presentations include: A SPECIAL SESSION: MESSENGER at Mercury, Mars: Pingos, Polygons, and Other Puzzles, Solar Wind and Genesis: Measurements and Interpretation, Asteroids, Comets, and Small Bodies, Mars: Ice On the Ground and In the Ground, SPECIAL SESSION: Results from Kaguya (SELENE) Mission to the Moon, Outer Planet Satellites: Not Titan, Not Enceladus, SPECIAL SESSION: Lunar Science: Past, Present, and Future, Mars: North Pole, South Pole - Structure and Evolution, Refractory Inclusions, Impact Events: Modeling, Experiments, and Observations, Mars Sedimentary Processes from Victoria Crater to the Columbia Hills, Formation and Alteration of Carbonaceous Chondrites, New Achondrite GRA 06128/GRA 06129 - Origins Unknown, The Science Behind Lunar Missions, Mars Volcanics and Tectonics, From Dust to Planets (Planetary Formation and Planetesimals):When, Where, and Kaboom! Astrobiology: Biosignatures, Impacts, Habitability, Excavating a Comet, Mars Interior Dynamics to Exterior Impacts, Achondrites, Lunar Remote Sensing, Mars Aeolian Processes and Gully Formation Mechanisms, Solar Nebula Shake and Bake: Mixing and Isotopes, Lunar Geophysics, Meteorites from Mars: Shergottite and Nakhlite Invasion, Mars Fluvial Geomorphology, Chondrules and Chondrule Formation, Lunar Samples: Chronology, Geochemistry, and Petrology, Enceladus, Venus: Resurfacing and Topography (with Pancakes!), Overview of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission, Mars Sulfates, Phyllosilicates, and Their Aqueous Sources, Ordinary and Enstatite Chondrites, Impact Calibration and Effects, Comparative Planetology, Analogs: Environments and Materials, Mars: The Orbital View of Sediments and Aqueous Mineralogy, Planetary Differentiation, Titan, Presolar Grains: Still More Isotopes Out of This World, Poster sessions include: Education and Public Outreach Programs, Early Solar System and Planet Formation, Solar Wind and Genesis, Asteroids, Comets, and Small Bodies, Carbonaceous Chondrites, Chondrules and Chondrule Formation, Chondrites, Refractory Inclusions, Organics in Chondrites, Meteorites: Techniques, Experiments, and Physical Properties, MESSENGER and Mercury, Lunar Science Present: Kaguya (SELENE) Results, Lunar Remote Sensing: Basins and Mapping of Geology and Geochemistry, Lunar Science: Dust and Ice, Lunar Science: Missions and Planning, Mars: Layered, Icy, and Polygonal, Mars Stratigraphy and Sedimentology, Mars (Peri)Glacial, Mars Polar (and Vast), Mars, You are Here: Landing Sites and Imagery, Mars Volcanics and Magmas, Mars Atmosphere, Impact Events: Modeling, Experiments, and Observation, Ice is Nice: Mostly Outer Planet Satellites, Galilean Satellites, The Big Giant Planets, Astrobiology, In Situ Instrumentation, Rocket Scientist's Toolbox: Mission Science and Operations, Spacecraft Missions, Presolar Grains, Micrometeorites, Condensation-Evaporation: Stardust Ties, Comet Dust, Comparative Planetology, Planetary Differentiation, Lunar Meteorites, Nonchondritic Meteorites, Martian Meteorites, Apollo Samples and Lunar Interior, Lunar Geophysics, Lunar Science: Geophysics, Surface Science, and Extralunar Components, Mars, Remotely, Mars Orbital Data - Methods and Interpretation, Mars Tectonics and Dynamics, Mars Craters: Tiny to Humongous, Mars Sedimentary Mineralogy, Martian Gullies and Slope Streaks, Mars Fluvial Geomorphology, Mars Aeolian Processes, Mars Data and Mission,s Venus Mapping, Modeling, and Data Analysis, Titan, Icy Dwarf Satellites, Rocket Scientist's Toolbox: In Situ Analysis, Remote Sensing Approaches, Advances, and Applications, Analogs: Sulfates - Earth and Lab to Mars, Analogs: Remote Sensing and Spectroscopy, Analogs: Methods and Instruments, Analogs: Weird Places!. Print Only Early Solar System, Solar Wind, IDPs, Presolar/Solar Grains, Stardust, Comets, Asteroids, and Phobos, Venus, Mercury, Moon, Meteorites, Mars, Astrobiology, Impacts, Outer Planets, Satellites, and Rings, Support for Mission Operations, Analog Education and Public Outreach.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2012

Limits on the Abundance and Burial Depth of Lunar Polar Ice

The Diviner imaging radiometer experiment aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed that surface temperatures in parts of the lunar polar regions are among the lowest in the solar system. Moreover, modeling of these Diviner data using realistic thermal conductivity profiles for lunar regolith and topography-based illumination has been done, with surprising results. Large expanses of circum-polar terrain appear to have near-subsurface temperatures well below 110K, despite receiving episodic low-angle solar illumination [Paige et al., 2010]. These subsurface cold traps could provide areally extensive reservoirs of volatiles. Here we examine the limits to abundance and burial depth of putative volatiles, based on the signature they would create for orbital thermal and epithermal neutrons. Epithermals alone are not sufficient to break the abundance-depth ambiguity, while thermal neutrons provide an independent constraint on the problem. The subsurface cold traps are so large that even modest abundances, well below that inferred from LCROSS observations, would produce readily detectable signatures in the Lunar Prospector neutron spectrometer data [Colaprete et al., 2010]. Specifically, we forward-model the thermal and epithermal neutron leakage flux that would be observed for various ice concentrations, given the depth at which ice stability begins. The LCROSS results point to a water-equivalent hydrogen abundance (WEH) in excess of 10 wt%, when all hydrogenous species are added together (except for H2, detected by LAMP on LRO [Gladstone et al., 2010]). When such an ice abundance is placed in a layer below the stability depth of Paige et al., the epithermal and thermal neutron leakage fluxes are vastly reduced and very much at odds with orbital observations. So clearly an environment that is conducive to cold trapping is necessary but not sufficient for the presence of volatiles such as water. We present the limits on the abundances that are indeed consistent with orbital data. At the LCROSS impact site itself, the data are consistent with very high ice abundances at 50-100 cm depth. However, radar results rule out these high abundances.

Elphic, Richard C.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Stratigraphy, Sequence, and Crater Populations of Lunar Impact Basins from Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) Data: Implications for the Late Heavy Bombardment

New measurements of the topography of the Moon from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA)[1] provide an excellent base-map for analyzing the large crater population (D.20 km)of the lunar surface [2, 3]. We have recently used this data to calculate crater size-frequency distributions (CSFD) for 30 lunar impact basins, which have implications for their stratigraphy and sequence. These data provide an avenue for assessing the timing of the transitions between distinct crater populations characteristic of ancient and young lunar terrains, which has been linked to the late heavy bombardment (LHB). We also use LOLA data to re-examine relative stratigraphic relationships between key lunar basins.

Fassett, C. I.↗
NASA NTRS2013

High-degree Gravity Models from GRAIL Primary Mission Data

We have analyzed Ka‒band range rate (KBRR) and Deep Space Network (DSN) data from the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) primary mission (1 March to 29 May 2012) to derive gravity models of the Moon to degree 420, 540, and 660 in spherical harmonics. For these models, GRGM420A, GRGM540A, and GRGM660PRIM, a Kaula constraint was applied only beyond degree 330. Variance‒component estimation (VCE) was used to adjust the a priori weights and obtain a calibrated error covariance. The global root‒mean‒square error in the gravity anomalies computed from the error covariance to 320×320 is 0.77 mGal, compared to 29.0 mGal with the pre‒GRAIL model derived with the SELENE mission data, SGM150J, only to 140×140. The global correlations with the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter‒derived topography are larger than 0.985 between l = 120 and 330. The free‒air gravity anomalies, especially over the lunar farside, display a dramatic increase in detail compared to the pre‒GRAIL models (SGM150J and LP150Q) and, through degree 320, are free of the orbit‒track‒related artifacts present in the earlier models. For GRAIL, we obtain an a posteriori fit to the S‒band DSN data of 0.13 mm/s. The a posteriori fits to the KBRR data range from 0.08 to 1.5 micrometers/s for GRGM420A and from 0.03 to 0.06 micrometers/s for GRGM660PRIM. Using the GRAIL data, we obtain solutions for the degree 2 Love numbers, k20=0.024615+/-0.0000914, k21=0.023915+/-0.0000132, and k22=0.024852+/-0.0000167, and a preliminary solution for the k30 Love number of k30=0.00734+/-0.0015, where the Love number error sigmas are those obtained with VCE.

Primary 1↗
NASA NTRS2017

GRAIL Gravity Observations of the Transition from Complex Crater to Peak-Ring Basin on the Moon: Implications for Crustal Structure and Impact Basin Formation

High-resolution gravity data from the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission provide the opportunity to analyze the detailed gravity and crustal structure of impact features in the morphological transition from complex craters to peak-ring basins on the Moon. We calculate average radial profiles for free-air anomalies and Bouguer anomalies for peak-ring basins, proto-basins, and the largest complex craters. Complex craters and proto-basins have free-air anomalies that are positively correlated with surface topography, unlike the prominent lunar mascons (positive free-air anomalies in areas of low elevation) associated with large basins. The Bouguer gravity anomaly profiles of complex craters are highly irregular, with central positive anomalies that are generally absent or not clearly tied to interior morphology. In contrast, gravity profiles for peak-ring basins (approx. 200 km to 580 km) are much more regular and are highly correlated with surface morphology. A central positive Bouguer anomaly is confined within the peak ring and a negative Bouguer anomaly annulus extends from the edge of the positive anomaly outward to about the rim crest. A number of degraded basins lacking interior peak rings have diameters and gravity patterns similar to those of well-preserved peak-ring basins. If these structures represent degraded peak-ring basins, the number of peak-ring basins on the Moon would increase by more than a factor of two to 34. The gravity anomalies within basins are interpreted to be due to uplift of the mantle confined within the peak ring and an annulus of thickened crust between the peak ring and rim crest. We hypothesize that mantle uplift is influenced by interaction between the transient cavity and the mantle. Further, mascon formation is generally disconnected from the number of basin rings formed and occurs over a wide range of basin sizes. These observations have important implications for models of basin and mascon formation on the Moon and other planetary bodies.

Baker, David M. H.↗
NASA NTRS1966

Surveyor I - A preliminary report

Surveyor I preliminary data on lunar surface mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties, topography, and geology

SURVEYOR PROJECT↗
NASA NTRS2012

Correlated Observations of Epithermal Neutrons and Polar Illumination for Orbital Neutron Detectors

We correlate Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter's (LRO) Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND) and the Lunar Prospector Neutron Spectrometer's (LPNS) orbital epithermal neutron maps of the Lunar high-latitudes with co-registered illumination maps derived from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) topography. Epithermal neutron count rate maps were derived from the LEND: 1) Collimated Sensor for Epithermal Neutrons, CSETNI-4 2) Uncollimated Sensor for Epithermal Neutrons, SETN and the Uncollimated Lunar Prospector: 3) Low-altitude and 4) High-altitude mapping phases. In this abstract we illustrate 1) and 3) and include 2) and 4) in our presentation. The correlative study provides unique perspectives on the regional epithermal neutron fluences from the Lunar polar regions under different detector and altitude configurations.

McClanahan, T. P.↗
NASA NTRS1993

The Los Alamos neutron spectrometer for the Lunar Scout-1 mission

We review the current status of the Los Alamos program to develop a neutron spectrometer for the Lunar Scout-1 mission, which is the first of two such missions to obtain global compositional, gravity, topography, and image maps of the lunar surface during nominal one-year missions. The neutron spectrometer will measure fast and slow (epithermal and thermal) neutrons in the ranges of 0.5 MeV to 25 MeV and 0.01 eV to more than 1 keV, respectively. The neutron spectrometer will consist of two independent instruments, a fast-neutron one, and a thermal and epithermal one. The measured neutron fluxes are very sensitive to hydrogen in the top meter of the lunar surface and provide additional information about lunar composition.

Auchampaugh, George↗
NASA NTRS1985

The evolution of impact basins - Cooling, subsidence, and thermal stress

The present study is concerned with an assessment of the contribution of thermal contraction and thermal stress to the topography and tectonics of large lunar impact basins. Exploratory models are developed, giving attention to the temperature structure following basin formation, the subsequent cooling of the basin region, and the resulting thermal displacements and stresses as functions of time. The subsidence and stress at the surface are compared with topography and tectonic features in the comparatively well-preserved Orientale basin. The results of the comparison are used as a basis to derive approximate constraints on the quantity and distribution of heat implanted during the basin-formation process.

Bratt, S. R.↗