Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Moon, exterior”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2001

Saturn's Spectacular Ring System

Saturn's beautiful rings have fascinated astronomers since they were first observed by Galileo in 1610. The main rings consist of solid particles mostly in the 1 cm - 10 m range, composed primarily of water ice. The ring disk is exceptionally thin - the typical local thickness of the bright rings is tens of meters, whereas the diameter of the main rings is 250,000 km! The main rings exhibit substantial radial variations "ringlets", many of which are actively maintained via gravitational perturbations from Saturn's moons. Exterior to the main rings lie tenuous dust rings, which have little mass but occupy a very large volume of space. This seminar will emphasize the physics of ring-moon interactions, recent advances in our understanding of various aspects of the rings obtained from observations taken during 1995 when the rings appeared edge-on to the Earth and then to the Sun, and observations in subsequent years from HST.

Lissauer, Jack J.↗
NASA NTRS2024

Exploration Systems Exterior Lighting Design Guidance

Humans are returning to the Moon — this time, to stay. NASA has selected a location that maximizes line-of-sight communication with Earth, solar visibility, and access to water ice: the Lunar South Pole (LSP). While the Sun is more consistently in the lunar sky at the poles, it never rises more than 7° above the horizon in the target landing regions. This harsh lighting environment--never experienced during the Apollo missions or in human spaceflight--presents an engineering challenge: Support and protect functional vision. The human vision system, which despite having a high-dynamic range, cannot see well into bright light and cannot adapt quickly from bright to dark or vice versa. The design of helmets, windows, and lighting solutions must work in a complementary fashion to achieve a system of lighting and functional vision support that enables crews to see into darkness while their eyes are light-adapted and see in bright light while still dark-adapted that protects their eyes from injury. This report brings together information and identifies gaps related to LSP Natural environment (topology, regolith, temperature, lighting, and so forth), NASA historical experience exploring the Moon, human vision capabilities and needs, exploration operations, simulation capabilities and needs (for design verification, training, mission planning, and so forth) and existing engineering, safety, medical and performance requirements related to support human exploration.

Simulation↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Can Reflector Panel Technologies Tame Terrible Lunar Lighting Environments?

This project investigated the usage of reflector panel technology to redirect collimated sunlight to make it more usable for the lunar surface EVAs. When astronauts travel to the Moon’s South Pole, they will find a terrible exterior work environment to carry out EVA tasks. The location creates a situation where collimated light from the Sun illuminates the surface at low inclination angles, and the problem that the crew will often shadow their own workspace. Artificial lighting countermeasures will be marginally beneficial because the Sun’s illumination level is orders of magnitude higher than intensities possible from battery driven lighting systems. These conditions will persist because the latitude of the polar worksite, and the Moon’s orbit around the Earth. Photographers, on Earth, battle similar problems in their studios and outdoor worksites. To solve this problem, they use large portable reflectors to redirect light towards the object they are imaging.

Toni Anne Clark↗
NASA NTRS1974

Observation of low energy protons in the geomagnetic tail at lunar distances

Three suprathermal ion detectors stationed on the moon were used to detect a region of plasma flowing antisunward along the ordered field lines of the geomagnetic tail, exterior to the plasma sheet. The particle flow displays an integral flux, a bulk velocity, temperatures, and number densities uniquely different from the other particle regimes traversed by the moon. No consistent deviation in the field was found to correspond with the occurrence of the events, which have an angular distribution extending between 50 and 100 deg and a spatial distribution over a wide region in both the Y sub sm and Z sub sm directions. The duration of observable particles varies widely between tail passages, with an apparent correlation between the number of hours of observation and the Kp index averages over these times. It is proposed that these particles may have entered through the cusp region.

Hardy, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS2026

Artemis Suit Material Optical Property Testing of Dust Exposed Fabrics

This paper highlights one aspect of NASA’s ongoing technology-infusion effort to design, fabricate, and test a next-generation outer shell fabric for a lunar Extravehicular Activity (EVA) space suit, a critical component of sustained lunar exploration. Managing thermal loads on the Moon is essential for astronaut safety and suit performance. The suit’s exterior fabric directly influences heat gain and loss through its optical properties: low solar absorptivity minimizes sunlight absorption, while high infrared emissivity aids radiative cooling. Lunar regolith complicates this balance. Its fine, abrasive particles possess unique optical behavior that can lower reflectivity and raise emissivity when embedded in or adhered to fabric surfaces, degrading thermal control and increasing the risk of overheating or cooling inefficiency. To quantify these effects, the Artemis Suit Materials (ASM) team measured solar absorptance and infrared emissivity of clean and dust-soiled Ortho Fabric, establishing beginning-of-life (BOL) and end-of-life (EOL) benchmarks. EOL conditions were simulated with a rotary tumbler abrasion process using lunar dust simulant and ceramic media to reproduce cumulative wear expected during surface operations. Tests also included unmodified fabrics and a fabric/film laminate system containing titanium dioxide to evaluate potential improvements in dust resistance and optical performance. Results from these evaluations provide critical insight into how lunar dust alters fabric thermal behavior and inform the design of bespoke suit materials that maintain required optical properties throughout mission life, supporting safe and effective long-duration EVA on the lunar surface.

space↗
NASA NTRS2026

Artemis Suit Material Optical Property Testing of Dust Exposed Fabrics

This paper highlights one aspect of NASA’s ongoing technology-infusion effort to design, fabricate, and test a next-generation outer shell fabric for a lunar Extravehicular Activity (EVA) space suit, a critical component of sustained lunar exploration. Managing thermal loads on the Moon is essential for astronaut safety and suit performance. The suit’s exterior fabric directly influences heat gain and loss through its optical properties: low solar absorptivity minimizes sunlight absorption, while high infrared emissivity aids radiative cooling. Lunar regolith complicates this balance. Its fine, abrasive particles possess unique optical behavior that can lower reflectivity and raise emissivity when embedded in or adhered to fabric surfaces, degrading thermal control and increasing the risk of overheating or cooling inefficiency. To quantify these effects, the Artemis Suit Materials (ASM) team measured solar absorptance and infrared emissivity of clean and dust-soiled Ortho Fabric, establishing beginning-of-life (BOL) and end-of-life (EOL) benchmarks. EOL conditions were simulated with a rotary tumbler abrasion process using lunar dust simulant and ceramic media to reproduce cumulative wear expected during surface operations. Tests also included unmodified fabrics and a fabric/film laminate system containing titanium dioxide to evaluate potential improvements in dust resistance and optical performance. Results from these evaluations provide critical insight into how lunar dust alters fabric thermal behavior and inform the design of bespoke suit materials that maintain required optical properties throughout mission life, supporting safe and effective long-duration EVA on the lunar surface.

Textile↗
NASA NTRS1971

Organic analyses of selected areas of Surveyor III recovered on the Apollo 12 mission.

Results of organic analyses of certain parts of the Surveyor 3 television camera retrieved from the moon by the Apollo 12 astronauts. Organic contamination of the mirror surface and camera exterior (shroud) is reported and is attributed to spacecraft outgassing, Lunar Module descent engine blasting, possible Surveyor 3 engine exhaust products, and unknown sources.

Simoneit, B. R.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Applications and Innovations for Use of High Definition and High Resolution Digital Motion Imagery in Space Operations

The first live High Definition Television (HDTV) from a spacecraft was in November, 2006, nearly ten years before the 2016 SpaceOps Conference. Much has changed since then. Now, live HDTV from the International Space Station (ISS) is routine. HDTV cameras stream live video views of the Earth from the exterior of the ISS every day on UStream, and HDTV has even flown around the Moon on a Japanese Space Agency spacecraft. A great deal has been learned about the operations applicability of HDTV and high resolution imagery since that first live broadcast. This paper will discuss the current state of real-time and file based HDTV and higher resolution video for space operations. A potential roadmap will be provided for further development and innovations of high-resolution digital motion imagery, including gaps in technology enablers, especially for deep space and unmanned missions. Specific topics to be covered in the paper will include: An update on radiation tolerance and performance of various camera types and sensors and ramifications on the future applicability of these types of cameras for space operations; Practical experience with downlinking very large imagery files with breaks in link coverage; Ramifications of larger camera resolutions like Ultra-High Definition, 6,000 [pixels] and 8,000 [pixels] in space applications; Enabling technologies such as the High Efficiency Video Codec, Bundle Streaming Delay Tolerant Networking, Optical Communications and Bayer Pattern Sensors and other similar innovations; Likely future operations scenarios for deep space missions with extreme latency and intermittent communications links.

Grubbs, Rodney↗
NASA NTRS2021

Effect of V-infinity Leveraging with Lunar-earth Gravity Assist on Interplanetary Trajectories

This work evaluates the effects of Lunar-Earth Gravity Assist on mission design and DV budget for interplanetary trajectories using Earth flybys and V1 Leveraging Maneuvers. The use of the Moon flyby, in combination to the Earth flyby, provides additional deviation of the hyperbolic excess velocity with respect to the Earth, also modifying its magnitude, and hence increases the overall flyby performance. The Lunar-Earth Gravity Assist has been evaluated for Exterior and Interior Leveraging, as well as for Short and Long transfers. A sample Jupiter mission is showcased, and the results suggest that the Moon effect during the flyby can reduce the total DVtot by 6.4% and the leveraging DVVILM by 21.06%.

Campagnola, Stefano↗
NASA NTRS1991

Remote sensing and geologic studies of the orientale basin region

Both visual and near-infrared spectral observations are combined with multispectral imaging to study the Orientale interior and exterior, the Cruger region, Grimaldi Region, the Schiller-Schickard Region, and the Humorum Region of the Moon. It was concluded that anorthosites occur in the Inner Rook Mountains of Orientale, the inner ring of Grimaldi, and the main ring of Humorum. Imaging spectroscopy shows that the entire eastern Inner Rook Mountains are composed of anorthosites. Orientale ejecta are strikingly like the surface materials in the region where Apollo 16 landed. This similarity indicates similar mineralogy, i.e., noritic anorthosite. Thus, Orientile ejecta is more mafic than the Inner Rook Mountains. This situation is also true for the Nectaris, Humorum, and Gramaldi basins. Isolated areas of the Orientale region show the presence of gabbroic rocks, but, in general, Orientale ejecta are noritic anorthosites, which contain much more low-Ca pyroxene than high-Ca pyroxene. Ancient (pre-Orientale) mare volcanism apparently occurred in several areas of the western limb.

Hawke, B. Ray↗
NASA NTRS1972

Origin, evolution and present thermal state of the moon

The relative absence of lunar volcanism in the last 3 b.y. and the Apollo 15 heat flow measurement suggest that present-day temperatures in the moon are approximately steady state to depths of 100 km. An exponential distribution of heat sources with depth is scaled by equating the surface heat flow to the integrated heat production of this exterior shell. Presumed present-day interior temperatures and the present-day surface heat flow of 30 ergs/cm2-sec are obtained. The estimated homogeneous concentrations of U, the chemistry of the lunar surface material and inferences to modest depth, and the short accretion time of the moon necessary to provide large-scale differentiation at 4.6 AE suggest that the moon had its origin in the rapid accretion of compounds first condensing from the protoplanetary nebula. The present thermal state of the moon may involve at least some partial melting through all the lunar interior deeper than 200 km. Such a thermal configuration is inconsistent neither with temperatures inferred from electrical conductivity studies nor with the nonhydrostatic shape of the moon.

Hanks, T. C.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Origin, evolution and present thermal state of the moon.

The relative absence of lunar volcanism in the last 3,000,000,000 years and the Apollo 15 heat flow measurement suggest that present-day temperatures in the moon are approximately steady-state to depths of about 100 km. An exponential distribution of heat sources with depth may then be scaled by equating the surface heat flow to the integrated heat production of this exterior shell. Presumed present-day interior temperatures, as well as the present-day surface heat flow of about 30 erg/sq cm-sec, may be obtained with an initial temperature roughly corresponding to the Apollo 11 basalt solidus and exponential scaling of heat sources. The concentrations of U for an originally homogeneous moon are estimated to be about 0.009 micrograms per gram, close to that measured for eucrites and inferred for primitive inclusions of the Allende meteorite. The estimated homogeneous concentrations of U, the chemistry of the lunar surface material and inferences to modest depth, and the short accretion time of the moon necessary to provide large-scale differentiation at 4.6 AE suggest that the moon had its origin in the rapid accretion of compounds first condensing from the protoplanetary nebula.

Hanks, T. C.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Rotation of solid bodies in the solar system

The effects of elastic distortion, nonprincipal axis rotation, precessing orbits, and internal dissipation on the rotation of a solid solar system body, which is in the gravitational field of an exterior body, are relatively easily analyzed by a Hamiltonian theory developed here. Examples of applications include the Chandler wobble, wobble of the moon, spin-orbit coupling, generalized Cassini laws, and tidal evolution.

Peale, S. J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

The use of automation and robotic systems to establish and maintain lunar base operations

Robotic systems provide a means of performing many of the operations required to establish and maintain a lunar base. They form a synergistic system when properly used in concert with human activities. This paper discusses the various areas where robotics and automation may be used to enhance lunar base operations. Robots are particularly well suited for surface operations (exterior to the base habitat modules) because they can be designed to operate in the extreme temperatures and vacuum conditions of the Moon (or Mars). In this environment, the capabilities of semi-autonomous robots would surpass that of humans in all but the most complex tasks. Robotic surface operations include such activities as long range geological and mineralogical surveys with sample return, materials movement in and around the base, construction of radiation barriers around habitats, transfer of materials over large distances, and construction of outposts. Most of the above operations could be performed with minor modifications to a single basic robotic rover. Within the lunar base habitats there are a few areas where robotic operations would be preferable to human operations. Such areas include routine inspections for leakage in the habitat and its systems, underground transfer of materials between habitats, and replacement of consumables. In these and many other activities, robotic systems will greatly enhance lunar base operations. The robotic systems described in this paper are based on what is realistically achievable with relatively near term technology. A lunar base can be built and maintained if we are willing.

Petrosky, Lyman J.↗
NASA NTRS2022

Thermal Stress Weathering of Boulders on Airless Bodies

Rock boulders are considerably typical of airless rocky bodies throughout the inner solar system, so their environments prove useful to understanding the rates of surface-modification processes and “survival times” of these boulders. On the Moon, there are meter-sized boulders on the rims of small lunar carters of some known age, so modeling the rock destruction is applied. Interior and exterior stresses must be considered, including thermal day-night cycling of the regolith and sub-regolith, and solar wind.

Caitlin Ahrens↗
NASA NTRS1979

Woodburning Heaters

On Apollo missions, the Lunar Module sewed as home and operating base for astronauts exploring the lunar surface. Since the moon has no layer of atmosphere to filter the sun's rays, the Lunar Module was exposed to extremely high daylight temperatures. To help cool the spacecraft, NASA employed a protective exterior coating capable of casting off, rather than absorbing, the sun's radiant energy. NASA selected an existing high temperature coating called Pyromark and asked the manufacturer to improve it to space-use specifications. Developed by Tempil Division of Big Three Industries, South Plainfield, New Jersey, Pyromark proved effective on the Lunar Module and it is similarly used on the Space Shuttle.

Source record↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Developing a Tool to Collect Microbiological Samples in Space

We developed and tested a tool to collect aseptic samples during extravehicular activity or space walks. This tool can withstand the extreme temperature (-92 – 90 ˚C) and pressure variations without compromising the sterility of the collection device or the integrity of the sample. Results from ground testing the tool demonstrate that external surfaces of space suits are not sterile and that a wide variety of human associated bacteria and some fungi can survive at least seven hours of exposure to vacuum. These bacteria include non-spore forming organisms like Staphylococcus that are not normally considered extremophiles We plan to use this tool to characterize the exterior of the International Space Station. We expect the results of this work to guide the planetary protection requirements and contamination control strategy for crewed missions to Mars. This tool could also be used to monitor contamination associated with the Artemis missions to the moon or collect aseptic samples robotically in environments that are not suitable for human exploration.

A B Regberg↗