Hevelius
Menu
Tracker

Southwest Research Institute

Lunar science and techISRU and regolithArtemis transportGatewaySubcontractor to 8
Lunar obligations
$129M
as prime
Lunar awards
37
as prime
Its subcontractors
37
$17M reported
Primes it works for
8
$9.2M in subawards

Who it subcontracts to

  1. Lockheed Martin Corp$4.0M

    LM TO PROVIDE SAMPLE HANDLING SUBSYSTEM AND SUPPORT FOR ARM MANIPULATION FOR SAMPLE COLLECTION AS OUTLINED IN THE SOW.

  2. Spacetek Technology Ag$3.1M

    TIME-OF-FLIGHT RESIDUAL GAS ANALYZER

  3. The Aerospace Corporation$1.7M

    AEROSPACE TO PROVIDE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT, QUALIFICATION, TESTING, DELIVERY AND OPERATIONAL SUPPORT FOR A LASER SUBSYSTEM.

  4. Honeybee Robotics, LTD.$1.5M

    SEE EXHIBIT A IN SUBAWARD

  5. Eos of North America, Inc.$1.1M

    PURCHASE OF M290 3D ADDITIVE PRINTING MACHINE FOR DIVISION 18.

  6. Fibertek, Inc.$1.0M

    TO MATURE A DEEP-UV AND VISIBLE LASER TO A TRL LEVEL 6.

  7. Teledyne Scientific & Imaging, LLC$511K

    VENDOR WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF FAR-IV SENSITIVE CMOS IMAGING SENSORS UNDER NASA'S PLANETARY INSTRUMENT CONCEPTS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SOLAR SYSTEM OBSERVATIONS (PICASSO) PROGRAM

  8. The Regents of the University of Colorado$488K

    THE PI AND GSA WILL IDENTIFY AND REQUEST SAMPLES FROM THE NASA LUNAR SAMPLE CURATOR.

  9. Purdue University$380K

    COI WILL GUIDE THE EXECUTION OF THE ISALE SIMULATIONS

  10. Big Head Endian LLC$345K

    BIG HEAD ENDIAN SHALL PROVIDE PERSONNEL, SOFTWARE, FACILITIES, ENGINEERING, AND EQUIPMENT NECESSARY TO DEVELOP THE GSE SOFTWARE TO OPERATE THE DIMPLE INSTRUMENT.

  11. Planetary Science Institute$327K

    SYNTHESIZE SUITE RESULTS, CONTRIBUTE TO INTERPRETATION OF CONDUCTIVITY PROFILE, ANALYZE LISTER DATA FOR LOCAL HEAT FLOW, SYNTHESIZE GLOBAL HEAT FLOW, ANALYZE LANDED IMAGERY AND REGOLITH FOR LOCAL GEOLOGICAL CONTEXT.

  12. Teledyne Digital Imaging Us, Inc.$243K

    COSMOS-42B; TELEDYNE: MISC, COSMOS 6KX6K SCMOS CAMERA / LF-2ND-CPY; MISC, LIGHTFIELD SOFTWARE, 2ND COPY

  13. Ideal Vacuum Products, LLC$241K

    IDEALV IDEAL VACUUM EXPLORAVAC

  14. Yale Univ$238K

    CO-I WILL DEVELOP A SERIES OF COMPUTER PROGRAMS TO CALCULATE TIDAL DISSIPATION IN A SOLIDIFYING MAGMA OCEAN.

  15. Southwest Sciences Inc$237K

    LAS VEGAS ON THE MOON; A HYPERTUNABLE IR LASER SPECTROMETER FOR THE ANALYSIS OF VOLATILE

Who it works for

  1. Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation$4.6M

    SERVICES

  2. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory LLC$3.4M

    BUILDING OF A SPECTROMETER

  3. The University of Central Florida Board of Trustees$390K

    ATTEND UCF/CLASS - SSERVI SCIENCE TEAM MEETINGS AT UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA AND ELSEWHERE AS CALLED UPON BY THE PI. WORK CLOSELY WITH UCF/CLASS SCIENCE TEAM MEMBERS AND PARTNERS TO CREATE, REVIEW, TEST, MODIFY AND DISTRIBUTE EPE CURRICULA AND ACTIVITIES ACCORDING TO THE TIMELINE IN THE PROPOSAL. FACILITATE THE INITIATION OF THE UCF/CLASS -SSERVI EPE PROGRAM AS OUTLINED. MANAGE THE UCF/CLASS EPE BUDGET AND REPORTING FACILITATE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE SSERVI CENTRAL EPE OFFICE AND THE REST OF THE CLASS TEAM. REPRESENT THE UCF/CLASS SSERVI EPE TEAM AT SSERVI MEETINGS, EPE EVENTS AND EDUCATOR WORKSHOPS AND ELSEWHERE. BE PRESENT AND ASSIST THE UCF/CLASS TEAM WITH EPE PRESENTATIONS AT MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES.

  4. University System of New Hampshire$307K

    SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE" SHALL SUPPORT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE IN THE DATA ANALYSIS OF AN INSTRUMENT FOR MEASURING THE LINEAR-ENERGY-TRANSFER OF SOLAR, GALACTIC, AND OTHER ENERGETIC SPACE RADIATION AT THE NASA LUNAR RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER (LRO) SPACECRAFT. THE COSMIC RAY TELESCOPE FOR THE EFFECTS OF RADIATION (CRATER) INSTRUMENT EMPLOYS SILICON SOLID-STATE DETECTOR AND ELECTRONICS DESIGNS THAT HAVE BEEN USED PREVIOUSLY FOR SPACEFLIGHT APPLICATIONS IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE EXPLORATION MISSION SYSTEMS DIRECTORATE PHASE. A NOVEL FEATURE OF THE INSTRUMENT IS THE INCORPORATION OF TISSUE-EQUIVALENT PLASTIC AS A MEANS OF SIMULATING THE ENERGY DEPOSIT WITHIN HUMAN TISSUE. (1) PARTICIPATE IN PLANNING FOR OPERATIONS OF THE CRATER INSTRUMENT FLYING ON NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER"™S LUNAR RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER (LRO) THROUGHOUT THE LRO"™S SCIENCE MISSION PHASE. PARTICIPATE IN PROJECT SCIENCE WORKING GROUP (PSWG) MEETINGS TO COORDINATE ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE PAYLOAD AND TO SHARE SCIENTIFIC FINDINGS. (2) PRESENT FINDINGS AT APPLICABLE CONFERENCES AND SUBMIT FINDINGS FOR PUBLICATION IN APPLICABLE PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS. (3) PROVIDE FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL STATUS TO THE PROJECT. SUPPORT CLOSEOUT ACTIVITIES. (4) IN THE PERFORMANCE OF THIS WORK, THE SUBCONTRACTOR SHALL: ATTEND, PARTICIPATE VIA TELECON, OR SUPPORT MEETINGS, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO PSWG MEETINGS AND CRATER SCIENCE TEAM MEETINGS; CONDUCT INVESTIGATIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH PROGRAM LEVEL REQUIREMENTS FOR LRO SCIENCE MISSION PROJECT (APPENDIX F TO THE LUNAR QUEST PROGRAM PLAN); CONDUCT SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS OF THE INSTRUMENT DATA; SUPPORT UNH"™S TECHNICAL REPORTING BY PROVIDING MONTHLY INPUTS TO UNH.

  5. University of Maryland, College Park$240K

    GEOPHYSICAL EXPLORATION OF THE DYNAMICS AND EVOLUTION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM (GEODES)

  6. Universities Space Research Association$117K

    SWRI WILL BE PRIMARILY RESPONSIBLE FOR CONDUCTING CRATER STATISTICAL ANALYSIS ON THE FLOORS OF THE 30 STUDIED CRATERS ON TETHYS, DIONE, AND RHEA. SWRI WILL AIDE IN THE INTERPRETATION OF THE MODELING RESULTS AND IN MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION. SWRI WILL WORK WITH OTHER SUBCONTRACTORS TO DEVELOP A LIST OF CRATERS WITH THE BEST DATA TO STUDY BOTH ICE PHASE DISTRIBUTION AND CRATERING STATISTICS.

  7. Cal State La University Auxiliary Services Inc$93K

    FOR THIS PROJECT, SUBAWARD WILL UNDERTAKE THREE TASKS. SUBAWARD WILL REDUCE AND CALIBRATE THE SPECTRA OF VENUS OBTAINED FROM THE IRTF/SPEX INSTRUMENT. SUBAWARD WILL IDENTIFY (LAT, LON) COORDINATES FOR EACH SPECTRAL DATA POINT AND ASSEMBLE THESE SPECTRA INTO IMAGE CUBES OF VENUS. SUBAWARD WILL PERFORM NON-LINEAR LEAST-SQUARES FITS USING THE SMART RADIATIVE TRANSFER CODE TO RETRIEVE OXYGEN AIRGLOW FLUXES AT 1.27 ΜM AND CLOUD OPACITIES IN THE CO2 WINDOW FROM 1.24 TO 1.27 ΜM.

  8. Regents of the University of Michigan$34K

    DR. JORG-MICHA JAHN WILL ANALYZE HERMES PARTICLE DATA FOR SOLAR WIND, SHEATH, AND EARTH'S MAGNETOTAIL, WITH FOCUS ON SCIENCE AND SCIENCE IMPACT DUE TO CONSTRAINTS ON THE PARTICLE PACKAGE CAUSED BY GATEWAY ACCOMMODATIONS. SUPPORT SCIENCE AND TEAM MEETINGS, SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS. DR. RUDY FRAHM WILL PERFORM HERMES FIELD-OF VIEW LIMITATION ANALYSIS DUE TO GATEWAY ACCOMMODATIONS. SUPPORT SCIENCE AND TEAM MEETINGS, SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS.

Lunar awards as prime

AwardDescriptionPeriodObligated
80NSSC24M0001DIMPLE: DATING AN IRREGULAR MARE PATCH WITH A LUNAR EXPLORER2023-09-01 → 2028-02-29$45M
NNG05EC87CLUNAR RECONNAISSANCE OBITER MEASUREMENT INVESTIGATION PHASES A/B AND BRIDGE PHASE2005-03-16 → 2028-09-30$39M
80NSSC22M0065WE PROPOSE TO PLACE FUNDAMENTAL CONSTRAINTS ON THE THERMAL HISTORY VERTICAL DIFFERENTIATION AND GEOGRAPHICAL VARIABILITY OF THE MOON BY MEASURING ITS HEAT FLOW AND SUBSURFACE ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY STRUCTURE AT SCHRODINGER BASIN. ELECTRICAL COND2022-01-05 → 2027-01-04$9.6M
80ARC017M0008MULTIPLE YEAR AWARD WITH INCREMENTAL FUNDING FOR YEARS ONE TO FIVE. THIS PROPOSAL IS ENTITLED "PROJECT ESPRESSO: EXPLORATION SCIENCE PATHFINDER RESEARCH FOR ENHANCING SOLAR SYSTEM OBSERVATIONS." THIS IS AWARDED IN RESPONSE TO COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT NOTICE_CAN_NO. NNH16ZDA009C NASA SOLAR SYSTEM EXPLORATION RESEARCH VIRTUAL INSTITUTE_SSERVI CYCLE THREE. THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR IS DR. ALEX H. PARKER WITH THE SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE_SWRI. PROJECT SUMMARY WE PROPOSE THE ESPRESSO PROJECT FOR SSERVI NODE THAT WILL PURSUE A BROAD RANGE OF PATHFINDING RESEARCH WITH SCIENCE AND OPERATIONS OBJECTIVES RELEVANT TO ENABLING AND ENHANCING EXPLORATION OF NEAR-EARTH ASTEROIDS_NEAS THE MOON AND THE MOONS OF MARS. THESE OBJECTIVES WILL BE ACHIEVED WITH A TIGHTLY INTEGRATED INTERDISCIPLINARY PROGRAM TO DEVELOP IMPLEMENT AND CHARACTERIZED A SUITE OF ENABLING FACILITIES ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES AND INSTRUMENTATION TECHNOLOGIES. THE ESPRESSO OBJECTIVES ARE GUIDED BY THE FOLLOWING THREE THEMES:1_ENHANCING OPERATIONAL SAFETY.2_ENHANCING TARGET SELECTION SAMPLE SELECTION AND IN-SITU RESOURCE UTILIZATION (ISRU) POTENTIAL.3_ENHANCING TARGET CHARACTERIZATION AND ANALYSIS CAPABILITIES.BY VIRTUE OF THE DISTRIBUTED INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM ENABLED BY THE VIRTUAL INSTITUTE MODEL ESPRESSO WILL SUPPORT A DIVERSE ENSEMBLE OF SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL INVESTIGATIONS GUIDED BY THESE THEMES. THE EIGHT ESPRESSO INVESTIGATIONS ARE:1_DEVELOPING INSTRUMENTED NANO-IMPACTORS FOR REMOTE GEOTECHNICAL HAZARD ASSESSMENTS.2_CHARACTERIZING GRAIN-SCALE THERMOMECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF TARGET BODY CONSTITUENTS.3_PREDICTING TARGET BODY LANDSLIDE HAZARDS BY ADAPTING TERRESTRIAL HAZARD ANALYSIS TOOLS.4_CHARACTERIZING IMPACT EJECTA DYNAMICS TO UNDERSTAND POTENTIAL SIZE- AND CHEMISTRY-DEPENDENT REGOLITH MOBILIZATION PROCESSES ON TARGET BODIES.5_EXPERIMENTALLY CHARACTERIZING TARGET BODY REGOLITH GARDENING AND CRATERING PROCESSES.6_MEASURING OPTICAL CONSTANTS OF TARGET BODY CONSTITUENT MATERIALS FOR QUANTITATIVE REMOTE COMPOSITIONAL ANALYSIS OF TARGET BODIES.7_CHARACTERIZING LASER INDUCED BREAKDOWN SPECTROSCOPY_LIBS RAMAN SCATTERING AND LASER-INDUCED FLUORESCENCE FOR IN SITU TARGET BODY COMPOSITION ANALYSIS.8_DETERMINING THE EXPLORATION ROLES OF FIELD LIBS AND RAMAN FOR SAMPLE SELECTION RESOURCE PROSPECTING AND HAZARD IDENTIFICATION.TO ENABLE INVESTIGATIONS 1 3 4 AND 5 SWRI HAS PARTNERED WITH INDUSTRY TO DEVELOP THE AIRBORNE SPACE ENVIRONMENT CHAMBER_ASEC A LARGE GENERAL-PURPOSE VACUUM CHAMBER FLOWN IN REDUCED GRAVITY AIRCRAFT TO PROVIDE ESPRESSO AND OTHER SSERVI TEAMS WITH ACCESS TO A SPACE-LIKE GRAVITY AND PRESSURE EXPERIMENT ENVIRONMENT. THERE ARE 12 PLANNED ASEC MICROGRAVITY FLIGHTS SCHEDULED UNDER THE SWRI INSTITUTIONAL CONTRIBUTION FOR ESPRESSO WITH ASED FLIGHT SPACE AVAILABLE FOR OTHER SSERVI EXPERIMENTAL PAYLOADS. EXPRESSO'S INVESTIGATIONS ARE DIRECTLY RELEVANT TO 20 OF THE SSERVI CAN SCIENCE AND EXPLORATION TOPICS AND ADDRESS AT LEAST SEVEN NASA STRATEGIC KNOWLEDGE GAPS_SKGS INCLUDING SMALL BODY SKGS II.D-2 II.D-2 III.A-1 III.A-2 III.D-1 IV.A-1 AND NASA LUNAR EXPLORATION SKG III.C-1. ESPRESSO WAS DESIGNED TO CONSTRUCTIVELY INTEGRATE INTO THE SSERVI NETWORK BY EXPANDING CAPABILITIES AND FACILITIES AVAILABLE TO SSERVI AND WE HAVE DEVELOPED KEY COLLABORATIONS WITH FIVE EXISTING TEAMS.2017-08-17 → 2024-05-31$5.6M
80MSFC20C0024THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PROVIDE MANAGEMENT OF THE DEFINITION PHASE EFFORT, MONITOR AND CONTROL TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE AND COST METRICS FOR THE LUNAR MAGNETOTELLURIC SOUNDER PROJECT.2019-11-26 → 2025-10-31$5.0M
80NSSC23M017622-SSERVI4_2-0017.CENTER FOR LUNAR ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION (CLOE)2023-09-28 → 2028-07-06$4.9M
80NSSC20K0770THIS PROPOSAL SEEKS TO ADAPT THE NOVEL LOW RESOURCE HIGH CAPABILITY LASER ABSORPTION SPECTROMETER FOR VOLATILES AND EVOLVED GAS (LASVEGAS) TO THE LUNAR SURFACE ENVIRONMENT.2020-03-09 → 2026-03-08$3.0M
80NSSC23K084222-DALI22_2-0042 LUNAR RAMAN DEEP-ULTRAVIOLET VISIBLE SPECTROGRAPH (LR-DUV-VIS)2023-05-01 → 2027-04-30$2.9M
80NSSC24K0696SYNTHETIC PULSE ARTEMIS RADAR FOR CRUSTAL IMAGING SPARCI2024-04-01 → 2027-03-31$2.0M
80NSSC17K0585SCIENCE GOALS UNDER PIDDP NSF AND INTERNAL FUNDING WE HAVE DEVELOPED AN INSTRUMENT CALLED CODEX (THE CHEMISTRY ORGANICS AND DATING EXPERIMENT) TO SEARCH FOR EVIDENCE OF PAST LIFE ON MARS REVEAL THE HISTORY OF HABITABILITY AND ASCERTAIN HOW THE LOCAL GEOLOGY EVOLVED; THESE ARE ALSO KEY SCIENTIFIC GOALS FOR THE MOON OTHER PLANETS AND ASTEROIDS. CODEX IS UNIQUELY ABLE TO ANALYZE THE MICROSCOPIC CHEMICAL AND ORGANIC MAKEUP OF A SAMPLE IN SPATIAL CONTEXT WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY DETERMINING ITS AGE. THE INSTRUMENT USES NANOSECOND LASER PULSES TO ABLATE IONS AND NEUTRALS WHICH CAN BE MEASURED DIRECTLY OR VIA SECONDARY IONIZATION. RECENTLY EXPERIMENTS USING ULTRASHORT PULSE LASER ABLATION HAVE DEMONSTRATED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN MEASUREMENT PRECISION AND ACCURACY AND NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS HAVE RESULTED IN SIGNIFICANT REDUCTIONS IN THE REQUIRED SIZE POWER AND MASS OF LASERS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING THESE ULTRASHORT PULSES. THESE IMPROVEMENTS PRIMARILY HAVE BEEN DEMONSTRATED WITH LASER ABLATION MASS SPECTROMETRY (LAMS) AND IN LASER DESORPTION INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA MASS SPECTROMETRY TECHNIQUES THAT RELY ON THE PRODUCTION OF IONS AND MICRO-PARTICULATES. BECAUSE CODEX USES LARIMS WHICH MEASURES NEUTRALS WE SUSPECT THAT USING ULTRASHORT PULSE ABLATION WOULD IMPROVE THE PRECISION AND ACCURACY OF OUR MEASUREMENTS. HOWEVER LITTLE IS YET KNOWN ABOUT THE PRODUCTION OF NEUTRALS USING ULTRASHORT PULSES; SOME WORK SUGGESTS THAT FRACTIONATION OF NEUTRALS IS REDUCED AS WELL. THUS IN THIS PROPOSAL WE WILL TEST AND ASSESS WHETHER ULTRASHORT PULSES CAN IMPROVE LARIMS DATING AS WELL. METHODOLOGY IN THIS PROPOSAL WE WILL RENT AND COMPARE SEVERAL FEMTO- AND PICO- SECOND LASERS FOR ION AND NEUTRAL PRODUCTION IN OUR PROTOTYPE INSTRUMENT AND IDENTIFY THE OPTIMAL PARAMETERS FOR IMPROVING THE ACCURACY OF CHEMICAL ORGANIC AND RADIOMETRIC MEASUREMENTS. WE WILL EXPLORE A PARAMETER SPACE INCLUDING WAVELENGTH PULSE-LENGTH PEAK POWER THE EFFECT OF MULTIPLE SHOTS FLUENCE SAMPLE/STANDARD COMPOSITION PRODUCTION OF LONG-LIVE EXCITATION STATES AND THE IMPACT OF PLASMA GENERATION. THE LASER SYSTEMS UNDER CONSIDERATION WILL INCLUDE SMALL SYSTEMS CONSISTENT WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF FUTURE DEVELOPMENT FOR SPACEFLIGHT. THE RESULTING CHEMISTRY ORGANICS AND DATING MEASUREMENTS ARE PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE FOR MISSIONS TO MARS THE MOON AND POSSIBLY VESTA. RELEVANCE OUR MEASUREMENTS ARE RELEVANT TO MULTIPLE NASA GOALS FOR MARS AND THE MOON SUCH AS: FOR MARS THE NRC DECADAL SURVEY (DS) SPECIFICALLY SUPPORTS: "LONG-TERM DEVELOPMENT OF INSTRUMENTS ... FOCUSING ON THE MOST IMPORTANT FUTURE IN SITU MEASUREMENTS... [INCLUDING] ... IN SITU GEOCHRONOLOGY EXPERIMENTS" [NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL 2012]; MEPAG GOALS III.A.3-10 BUT ESPECIALLY 3 SPECIFICALLY CALL FOR "CONSTRAIN[ING] THE ABSOLUTE AGES OF MAJOR MARTIAN CRUSTAL GEOLOGIC PROCESSES... AND THE CRATERING RATE. ... THIS INVESTIGATION COULD BE APPROACHED WITH BOTH IN SITU AND RETURNED SAMPLE ANALYSIS..."; FOR THE MOON THE NRC DS HAS A PRIMARY GOAL OF: "DETERMIN[ING] THE CHRONOLOGY OF BASIN-FORMING IMPACTS AND CONSTRAIN[ING] THE PERIOD OF LATE HEAVY BOMBARDMENT IN THE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM AND THUS ADDRESS[ING] FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS OF INNER SOLAR SYSTEM IMPACT PROCESSES AND CHRONOLOGY" [NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL 2012].2017-06-28 → 2021-06-27$1.0M
80NSSC18K0131SCIENCE GOALS WE HAVE DEVELOPED AN INSTRUMENT TO ASSESS AND REVISE THE HISTORY OF THE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM SEARCH FOR ORGANICS AND REVEAL THE HISTORY OF HABITABILITY CALLED THE CHEMISTRY AND DATING EXPERIMENT" (CDEX) INSTRUMENT. THE CDEX INSTRUMENT IS UNIQUELY ABLE TO MAP MICROSCOPIC CHEMICAL AND ORGANIC CONTEXT OF A SAMPLE WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY DETERMINING AGE. THE INSTRUMENT MEASURES RUBIDIUM-STRONTIUM (RB-SR) ISOTOPES USING LASER ABLATION RESONANCE IONIZATION MASS SPECTROMETRY (LA-RI-MS) FOR ISOBAR FREE ELEMENTAL SEPARATION. THE RI LASERS CAN BE TURNED OFF TO ASSESS CHEMISTRY IN LA-MS MODE OR ORGANICS IN TWO-STEP LASER MS MODE. THIS INSTRUMENT WAS THE BASIS FOR DISCOVERY AND MARS 2020 PROPOSALS AND PLANNING IS UNDERWAY FOR FUTURE DISCOVERY AND NEW FRONTIERS OPPORTUNITIES. THIS PROPOSAL SPECIFICALLY ADDRESSES INSTRUMENT TRL DEFICIENCIES IDENTIFIED UNDER THESE EARLIER FLIGHT PROPOSALS AND WILL IMPROVE THE TRL OF THE INTEGRATED INSTRUMENT FROM 4 TO 5-6. METHODOLOGY THIS PROPOSAL FOCUSES ON 1) DEVELOPMENT OF A RB FIBER LASER 2) DEVELOPMENT OF A SAMPLE GRIPPER AND GRINDER SUBSYSTEMS AND 3) INTEGRATION AND VALIDATION OF A COMPLETE TRL 5-6 CDEX INSTRUMENT. SPECIFICALLY BASED ON OUR SUCCESSFUL DEVELOPMENT OF SR AND ABLATION LASERS UNDER A 2014 NASA MATISSE WE WILL PRODUCE A RB RI FIBER LASER SUBSYSTEM RAISING THE LASER SUBSYSTEM TRL FROM 4 TO 5-6. THE FIBER LASER DESIGN BUILT IN PARTNERSHIP WITH AEROSPACE CORPORATION IMPROVES ON THE SOLID-STATE LASER SYSTEM WE BUILT EARLIER BY REDUCING INPUT POWER BY 50% INCREASING OUTPUT POWER BY 4X REDUCING MASS BY 3X AND REDUCING OPTICAL INTERFACES BY 10X. REDUCING THE NUMBER OF OPTICAL INTERFACES IS CRUCIAL TO REDUCING ALIGNMENT AND CONTAMINATION REQUIREMENTS. THE RB LASER WILL THEN BE TESTED AND INTEGRATED WITH THE EXISTING SR AND ABLATION LASERS SUBSYSTEMS ALONG WITH A CONTRIBUTED TRL 6-9 FLIGHT SPARE MASS SPECTROMETER FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF BERN. THE INTEGRATED CDEX WILL BE LIFETIME TESTED IN RELEVANT ENVIRONMENTS AT SWRI AND VALIDATED BY REPEATING EXISTING BENCHTOP MEASUREMENTS. SAMPLE HANDLING FOR THE INSTRUMENT WILL BE DEMONSTRATED INCLUDING DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING OF A SAMPLE GRIPPER AND GRINDER FOLLOWED BY VERIFICATION MEASUREMENT ON CDEX. THE GRIPPER AND GRINDER DEVELOPMENT ADAPTS EXISTING HIGH TRL TECHNOLOGIES FROM MDA AND HONEYBEE ROBOTICS TO THE CDEX INSTRUMENT. FINALLY WE WILL CONTINUE OUR ONGOING SAMPLE BENCHTOP MEASUREMENT CAMPAIGN EXPANDING THE SUITE OF SUCCESSFUL DEMONSTRATION MEASUREMENTS THEREBY RAISING THE MATURITY OF THE LARIMS DATING METHOD. PROPOSAL OBJECTIVES 1) DEFINE FLIGHT REQUIREMENTS ENVIRONMENTS AND INTERFACES; 2) DEVELOP BUILD ENVIRONMENTALLY TEST AND VALIDATE A RB FIBER-LASER SUBSYSTEM; 3) INTEGRATE ALL THREE LASERS (RB SR AND ABLATION) WITH A MINIATURE MASS SPECTROMETER; 4) VERIFY AND VALIDATE INSTRUMENT PERFORMANCE; 5) PERFORM LIFETIME AND LUNAR ENVIRONMENTAL TESTING; 6) VALIDATE SAMPLE HANDLING INCLUDING A GRIPPER GRINDER AND DOCKING INTERFACE; 7) BUILD SCIENTIFIC SUPPORT THROUGH ONGOING BENCH-TOP DATING MEASUREMENTS. RELEVANCE THESE MEASUREMENTS ARE RELEVANT FOR MISSIONS TO THE MOON AND MARS AS WELL AS OTHER INNER SOLAR SYSTEM TARGETS LIKE VESTA. SPECIFICALLY THE INSTRUMENT IS RELEVANT TO MULTIPLE NASA GOALS SUCH AS: A) FOR MARS THE NRC DECADAL SURVEY SPECIFICALLY SUPPORTS: DEVELOPMENT OF INSTRUMENTS [INCLUDING] ... IN SITU GEOCHRONOLOGY EXPERIMENTS ; B) MEPAG GOALS III.A.3-10 BUT ESPECIALLY 3 SPECIFICALLY CALL FOR CONSTRAIN[ING] THE ABSOLUTE AGES OF MAJOR MARTIAN CRUSTAL GEOLOGIC PROCESSES... AND THE CRATERING RATE. ... WITH BOTH IN SITU AND RETURNED SAMPLE ANALYSIS... ; C) FOR THE MOON THE NRC DS HAS A PRIMARY GOAL OF: DETERMIN[ING] THE CHRONOLOGY OF BASIN-FORMING IMPACTS AND CONSTRAIN[ING] THE PERIOD OF LATE HEAVY BOMBARDMENT IN THE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM AND THUS ADDRESS[ING] FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS OF INNER SOLAR SYSTEM IMPACT PROCESSES AND CHRONOLOGY.2017-11-16 → 2021-11-15$800K
80NSSC18K1574RECENT ADVANCES IN THE UV RESPONSIVITY OF SILICON-BASED IMAGING ARRAYS MOTIVATE US TO DEVELOP AND TEST A FULLY UV-OPTIMIZED CMOSDETECTOR FOCAL-PLANE ARRAY (FPA) PROTOTYPE. NOTABLE INNOVATIONS IN SILICON-BASED FPAS HAVE LED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF DETECTORS WITH QUANTUM EFFICIENCIES AT MID-UV WAVELENGTHS (200-300 NM) THAT ARE COMPETITIVE WITH STATE OF THE ART MICROCHANNEL PLATE (MCP) TECHNOLOGY (E.G. BAI ET AL. SPIE 2008; NIKZAD ET AL. 2011) WITH THE ADDED ADVANTAGE THAT UNLIKE MCPS THEY DO NOT REQUIRE HIGHVOLTAGE POWER SUPPLIES. HENCE THE UTILIZATION OF THESE INNOVATIVE DETECTORS IN FUTURE UV SPECTROGRAPHS OR IMAGERS WILL REDUCE THE POWER MASS AND COMPLEXITY OF SUCH INSTRUMENTS OVER THEIR CURRENT EQUIVALENTS MAKING THEM WELL-SUITED FOR FUTURE LOW-COST PLANETARY MISSIONS INCLUDING THOSE BASED ON CUBESATS AND OTHER SMALLSAT PLATFORMS. IN PREVIOUS STUDIES WE CHARACTERIZED THE FAR-UV (100-200 NM) PERFORMANCE OF UV-OPTIMIZED N-TYPE SILICON DEVICES AT SWRI (DAVIS ET AL SPIE 2012) AND BEGAN TO DEVELOP METHODS OF ENHANCING THE FAR-UV RESPONSE BY DOPING THINNED-SILICON WAFERS WITH ANTIMONY USING MOLECULAR BEAM EPITAXY (MBE) (RETHERFORD ET AL. JATIS 2015). THIS WORK DEMONSTRATED THAT THE MBE PROCESS IS FEASIBLE FOR SILICON WAFERS WITH THICKNESSES AS LITTLE AS 100 MICRONS; AN IMPORTANT RESULT GIVEN THE SHORT ABSORPTION DEPTH OF FAR-UV PHOTONS IN SILICON. METHODS OF CLEANING THE WAFERS PRIOR TO MBE WERE INVESTIGATED AT MIT LINCOLN LABORATORY AND THE MBE PROCESS WAS OPTIMIZED THROUGH A SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS IN WHICH THE TARGET DOPING CONCENTRATIONS GROWTH TEMPERATURES AND EPITAXIAL-SILICON THICKNESSES WERE VARIED. EXPLOITING THIS INITIAL SUCCESS WE INTEND TO (1) COMPLETE THE OPTIMIZATION OF THE MBE PROCESS FOR N-TYPE BACKSIDE-ILLUMINATED CMOS HYBRID ARRAYS FROM TELEDYNE (2) EXPAND THE ASSESSMENT TO INCLUDE MBE PROCESS ON STATE-OF-THE-ART P-TYPE CMOS MONOLITHIC ARRAYS MADE USING ~10-MICRON EPITAXIAL-WAFERS FROM TELEDYNE E2V AND INVESTIGATE OPTIONS FOR ANTI-REFLECTANCE COATINGS TO REJECT LONGER WAVELENGTH LIGHT AND (3) FABRICATE AND TEST UV-OPTIMIZED PHOTODIODES ANALYZING THEIR RESPONSE TO WAVELENGTHS FROM FAR UV TO THE VISIBLE. WE WILL ALSO DEVELOP A FULL PROTOTYPE FUV-OPTIMIZED CMOS FPA TAKING ADVANTAGE OF FLIGHT-HERITAGE ARRAY FORMATS SUCH AS HAWAII-1RG. FOR THE COMPONENT TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPED IN THIS PROGRAM THE ENTRANCE TRL OF 3 WILL BE RAISED TO TRL 4 OR HIGHER UPON EXITING THE PROGRAM. ONCE DEVELOPED THESE UV-OPTIMIZED DEVICES WILL ENABLE HIGHLY CAPABLE SMALLSAT INVESTIGATIONS OF LUNAR POLAR VOLATILES VENUSIAN UPPER ATMOSPHERE COMPOSITION AND DYNAMICS WATER VAPOR PLUMES AT ENCELADUS AND/OR EUROPA AND OTHER TARGETED SCIENCE MEASUREMENTS DETAILED WITHIN THE VISION AND VOYAGES PLANETARY DECADAL SURVEY.2018-09-01 → ?$713K
80NSSC25K7666EXECUTE A BALANCED SCIENCE PROGRAM BASED ON DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FROM THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE ADMINISTRATION PRIORITIES AND DIRECTION FROM CONGRESS. PARTICIPATE AS A KEY PARTNER AND ENABLER IN THE AGENCY S EXPLORATION INITIATIVE FOCUSING ON SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH OF ON AND FROM THE MOON LUNAR ORBIT MARS AND BEYOND. ADVANCE DISCOVERY IN EMERGING FIELDS BY IDENTIFYING AND EXPLOITING CROSS-DISCIPLINARY OPPORTUNITIES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL SCIENCE DISCIPLINES DEVELOP A DIRECTORATE-WIDE TARGET-USER FOCUSED APPROACH TO APPLIED PROGRAMS INCLUDING EARTH SCIENCE APPLICATIONS SPACE WEATHER PLANETARY DEFENSE AND SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS.2025-04-30 → 2028-04-29$696K
NNX17AL05GSCIENCE AND DATABASE BACKGROUND: IMPACT CRATERS ARE ARGUABLY THE MAIN EXOGENIC PROCESS THAT MAKES A SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION TO THE POST-FORMATION EVOLUTION OF SOLID BODIES IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM. CRATERS SPAN THE ENTIRE OBSERVABLE HISTORY OF THE MOON AND UNDERSTANDING THEIR POPULATIONS IS A MAJOR TOOL FOR UNRAVELING THE HISTORY OF ITS SURFACE THE IMPACTOR POPULATION THAT AFFECTED IT AND UNDERSTANDING HOW CRATERS FORM. THERE IS NO BROAD PUBLICLY AVAILABLE LUNAR CRATER DATABASE THAT EXISTS DOWN TO KILOMETER-SCALE FEATURES. THIS IS A CRITICAL DIAMETER RANGE THAT WOULD INFORM MANY POORLY UNDERSTOOD LUNAR PROCESSES AND EXISTING DATABASES AT LARGE DIAMETERS OMIT MORPHOMETRY AND MORPHOLOGY DATA THAT WOULD BE USEFUL FOR NUMEROUS SCIENCE INVESTIGATIONS. THE PI HAS BEEN IN THE PROCESS OF PRODUCING SUCH A CRATER DATABASE FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS AND THE BASIC INFORMATION (CRATER LATITUDE CRATER LONGITUDE AND CRATER DIAMETER) HAS BEEN COMPLETED FOR ALL CRATERS WITH DIAMETERS D 1 KM BY THE PDART STEP-2 SUBMISSION DEADLINE. WHILE THIS BASIC INFORMATION IS USEFUL INCLUDING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT EACH IMPACT CRATER WOULD VASTLY INCREASE THE UTILITY OF THIS DATABASE. SCIENTIFIC DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSAL: THIS 3-YEAR PROPOSAL IS TO DO THIS ADDITIONAL WORK TO MAKE THIS DATABASE SIGNIFICANTLY MORE USEFUL TO THE COMMUNITY. ROBBINS AND HOOVER WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ADDING THE MORPHOLOGY AND MORPHOMETRY DATA. THEY WOULD USE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE DATA PRIMARILY FROM THE LUNAR RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER'S CAMERA'S (LROC) WIDE-ANGLE CAMERA (WAC) AND LASER ALTIMETER (LOLA) IN CONJUNCTION WITH KAGUYA'S TERRAIN CAMERA (TC) MOSAICS AND DTMS. MORPHOLOGY: MORPHOLOGY CLASSIFICATION IS A TWO-STEP PROCESS. FIRST THE GLOBAL MOSAICS WOULD BE SYSTEMATICALLY SEARCHED AND FIELDS OF OBVIOUS SECONDARY IMPACT CRATERS WOULD BE IDENTIFIED. SECOND EACH IMPACT CRATER WOULD BE EXAMINED INDIVIDUALLY AND THE SECONDARY CRATER CLASSIFICATION VALIDATED AND THEN INTERIOR MORPHOLOGY (SIMPLE COMPLEX FEATURES) EJECTA PRESENCE AND RELATIVE ALBEDO PRESERVATION CLASS AND CONFIDENCE THE FEATURE IS AN IMPACT CRATER WOULD BE RECORDED. MORPHOMETRY: THE WAC LOLA AND KAGUYA DTMS WOULD BE USED TO ANALYZE EACH D 1 KM CRATER THAT IS RESOLVABLE IN THESE DATASETS TO DERIVE RIM HEIGHT APPROXIMATE SURROUNDING SURFACE ELEVATION AND FLOOR DEPTH. THE METHOD USES COMPUTER-ASSISTED CODE THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN WRITTEN AND VALIDATED ON 10S OF THOUSANDS OF MARTIAN IMPACT CRATERS (ROBBINS&HYNEK 2012 2013). DATA ARCHIVING AND DATA VALIDATION: THIS FINAL DATASET WOULD BE SUBMITTED TO PDS AND OTHER REPOSITORIES FOR ARCHIVING. WHILE THE PDS SUBMISSION PROCESS DOES A BASIC VALIDATION OF THE DATA (E.G. FLAG A CRATER AT +1200 N) IT DOES NOT CHECK EACH CRATER FOR VALIDITY OF THE PARAMETERS. BECAUSE WE WANT TO PRODUCE A REFERENCE DATABASE THAT THE COMMUNITY CAN CONFIDENTLY USE CO-IS CHAPMAN KIRCHOFF SINGER WOULD SPEND 2 WEEKS EACH YEAR TO CHECK 1000S OF CRATERS AND PROVIDE VALIDATION OF THE MEASUREMENTS. WE ANTICIPATE THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO CHECK 3-4% OF THE DATABASE WHICH VIA RANDOM SAMPLING WOULD PROVIDE A GOOD ESTIMATE FOR THE OVERALL RELIABILITY OF THE DATABASE. RELEVANCE: THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PDART PROGRAM IS "TO GENERATE HIGHER-ORDER DATA PRODUCTS " INCLUDING "GENERATE NEW REFERENCE INFORMATION" AND "REFERENCE DATABASE CREATION." THIS PROPOSAL IS TO CREATE A REFERENCE DATABASE ( 1.4 OF THE PDART CALL) A HIGHER-ORDER DATA PRODUCT FROM LUNAR IMAGERY AND TOPOGRAPHY DATA. SPECIFICALLY PDART SOLICITS "PROPOSALS TO CREATE REFERENCE DATABASES USEFUL FOR PLANETARY SCIENCE RESEARCH." THERE WILL ALSO BE NO HYPOTHESIS-BASED SCIENCE IN THIS PROPOSED WORK.2017-07-01 → 2024-08-31$641K
80NSSC20K1429HYDRATION OF LUNAR REGOLITH IN THE VICINITY OF APOLLO LANDING SITES IS CONSTRAINED BY FAR-ULTRAVIOLET (FUV) REFLECTANCE DATA FROM LYMAN ALPHA MAPPING PROJECT (LAMP) INSTRUMENT ONBOARD LUNAR RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER (LRO). HOWEVER REPORTED ACCURACY AND2020-11-15 → 2025-11-14$600K
80NSSC25K7747EXECUTE A BALANCED SCIENCE PROGRAM BASED ON DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FROM THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE ADMINISTRATION PRIORITIES AND DIRECTION FROM CONGRESS. PARTICIPATE AS A KEY PARTNER AND ENABLER IN THE AGENCY S EXPLORATION INITIATIVE FOCUSING ON SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH OF ON AND FROM THE MOON LUNAR ORBIT MARS AND BEYOND. ADVANCE DISCOVERY IN EMERGING FIELDS BY IDENTIFYING AND EXPLOITING CROSS-DISCIPLINARY OPPORTUNITIES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL SCIENCE DISCIPLINES DEVELOP A DIRECTORATE-WIDE TARGET-USER FOCUSED APPROACH TO APPLIED PROGRAMS INCLUDING EARTH SCIENCE APPLICATIONS SPACE WEATHER PLANETARY DEFENSE AND SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS2025-04-01 → 2028-03-31$545K
80NSSC18K0947THIS WORK WILL ANSWER THE FOLLOWING SCIENCE QUESTIONS: DOES ION IRRADIATION OF LUNAR GRAINS ACTIVATE THEIR SURFACES IN A MANNER THAT RECREATES THE ACTIVE SURFACES AND ARGON ADSORPTION BEHAVIOR UNDERSTOOD TO EXIST ON THE MOON? WHAT IS THE DISTRIBUTION OF ADSORPTION SITE ENERGIES FOR WATER AND ARGON MOLECULES ON ION-IRRADIATED LUNAR GRAIN SURFACES? DO THE MEASURED DISTRIBUTIONS OF ADSORPTION SITE ENERGIES SUPPORT OR REFUTE A DIURNAL CYCLE FOR LUNAR WATER ADSORPTION? WE ARE PRESENTLY IN AN ERA OF REEXAMINING THE BEHAVIOR AND ABUNDANCE OF VOLATILES ON THE MOON MERCURY CERES PHOBOS/DIEMOS AND SMALL BODIES. NEW LABORATORY MEASUREMENTS ARE NEEDED TO ANSWER OUTSTANDING QUESTIONS FROM RECENT MISSIONS AND TELESCOPIC OBSERVATIONS SUCH AS THE PROPOSED DIURNAL WATER CYCLE ON THE MOON. BERNATOWICZ AND PODOSEK (1991) DEMONSTRATED THE NEED TO ACTIVATE MINERAL SURFACES IMMEDIATELY BEFORE CONDUCTING MEASUREMENTS OF ARGON ADSORPTION BUT THEIR TECHNIQUE IS CHALLENGING DESTROYS THE LUNAR ROCK BEING ANALYZED AND WAS TOO SLOW TO ACCESS THE HIGHEST ENERGY ADSORPTION SITES. WE PROPOSED TO DEMONSTRATE AN IMPROVED TECHNIQUE THAT WOULD PROVIDE HIGHER FIDELITY MEASUREMENTS ACCESSING THE HIGHEST ENERGY ADSORPTION SITES AND REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF LUNAR SAMPLE REQUIRED TO PERFORM THE MEASUREMENT. ION-IRRADIATION EXPERIMENTS PERFORMED BY THE SPACE WEATHERING COMMUNITY HAVE SHOWN CREATION OF NANO-PHASE IRON AMORPHOUS RIMS AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SPACE WEATHERED EXTRATERRESTRIAL SAMPLES BUT NO WORK HAS BEEN PUBLISHED EXAMINING VOLATILE ADSORPTION BEHAVIOR TO SUCH AN ARTIFICIALLY-WEATHERED SURFACE. WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT ION IRRADIATION OF GRAIN SURFACES WILL ACTIVATE GRAIN SURFACES FOR LUNAR-LIKE VOLATILE ADSORPTION AND WE WILL PERFORM EXPERIMENTS TO TEST THIS HYPOTHESIS. SHOULD OUR HYPOTHESIS PROVE TRUE IT WILL OPEN UP A NEW AND WIDELY AVAILABLE TECHNIQUE FOR CREATING ACTIVE GRAIN SURFACES. SUCH A TECHNIQUE WOULD HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO REVOLUTIONIZE OUR ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND AND PREDICT THE BEHAVIOR OF VOLATILES ON ROCKY AIRLESS BODIES. WE WILL THEN USE OUR TECHNIQUE TO MEASURE THE ADSORPTION BEHAVIOR OF WATER ON ACTIVATED LUNAR GRAIN SURFACES AND APPLY OUR RESULTS TO THE CONTROVERSIAL DIURNAL WATER CYCLE THAT HAS POTENTIALLY BEEN OBSERVED ON THE MOON. THIS WORK IS RELEVANT TO SOLAR SYSTEM WORKINGS (SSW) AND IS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR ANY OTHER NASA SMD ROSES PROGRAM (SEE SEPARATE RELEVANCE SECTION IN THE COVER SHEETS).2018-06-04 → 2023-06-03$524K
80NSSC20K0112IMPROVEMENT OF CRYOGENIC FLUID STORAGE AND TRANSFER TECHNOLOGY FOR IN-SPACE PROPULSION AND STORAGE SYSTEMS IS REQUIRED FOR THE LONGTERM DEVELOPMENT OF CISLUNAR SPACE. CURRENT TECHNOLOGY RELIES ON THE CAPILLARY FORCE WITHIN SCREENED CHANNELS OF A LIQUID ACQUISITION DEVICE (LAD) TO DELIVER VAPOR-FREE CRYOGENIC LIQUID DURING ENGINE RESTART AND CRITICAL TRANSFER PROCESSES. HOWEVER DUE TO THE LOW TEMPERATURES ASSOCIATED WITH CRYOGENIC FLUIDS EXTERNAL HEATING ACTING ON THE TANK WHERE THIS FLUID IS STORED WILL CAUSE VAPOR BUBBLES TO FORM WITHIN THE LAD THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO REMOVE IN EXISTING DESIGNS. A MORE EFFICIENT DESIGN IS NEEDED TO RELIABLY REMOVE VAPOR BUBBLES WITHOUT COSTLY THRUSTING MANEUVERS OR ACTIVE SEPARATION SYSTEMS. A SMALL MODIFICATION TO A COMMONLY USED LAD IS PROPOSED: A TAPERED CHANNEL. THIS DESIGN PASSIVELY REMOVES OR PUMPS-OUT CRYOGENIC VAPOR BUBBLES THAT ARE INTERNALLY GENERATED USING SURFACE TENSION FORCES SUBSTANTIALLY IMPROVING TRANSFER OR DELIVERY OF CRYOGENIC FLUIDS. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO UTILIZE THE EXPERIENCE GAINED IN GROUND TESTS AND A PREVIOUS SUBORBITAL MICROGRAVITY TEST OF SMALL-SCALE TAPERED LADS TO FURTHER DEVELOP THE TECHNOLOGY AT LARGER SCALE IN A RELEVANT MICROGRAVITY ENVIRONMENT. THE TEST APPARATUS WILL INCLUDE LARGE-SCALE TAPERED SCREEN CHANNELS FILLED WITH LIQUID AND A GAS BUBBLE. A CAMERA WILL RECORD GAS BUBBLE MIGRATION UNDER VARIOUS ACCELERATIONS INCLUDING LONG-DURATION MICROGRAVITY. THESE DATA WILL BE USED TO FURTHER VALIDATE THE CONCEPT AND IMPROVE MODELS FOR DESIGNING TAPERED LADS.2019-11-01 → 2021-12-17$490K
80NSSC18K0570THE OBJECTIVE OF OUR PROPOSAL IS TO UNDERSTAND THE DYNAMICS OF THE EARTH S MAGNETOPAUSE IN THE PRESENCE OF FLOW SHEARS AND THE EFFECTS OF THESE DYNAMICS ON SOLAR WIND-MAGNETOSPHERE COUPLING AND THE GLOBAL FIELD-ALIGNED CURRENT SYSTEM. ALTHOUGH UBIQUITOUS IN THE GEOSPACE ENVIRONMENT THE VELOCITY SHEARS THAT TRIGGER THE ONSET OF THE KELVIN-HELMHOLTZ INSTABILITY (KHI) AND GENERATE FLOW VORTICITY ARE PARTICULARLY PROMINENT ON THE MAGNETOPAUSE AND ALONG THE INNER EDGE OF THE LOW-LATITUDE BOUNDARY LAYER. SIMULATIONS AND RECENT MULTI-SPACECRAFT OBSERVATIONS SUGGEST THAT THE KHI AND MAGNETIC RECONNECTION CAN OPERATE SIMULTANEOUSLY ON MAGNETOPAUSE AND ALSO THAT FLOW VORTICES CAN GENERATE FIELD-ALIGNED CURRENTS IN THE REGION-1 CURRENT SYSTEM SENSE. THESE STUDIES INDICATE THAT THE ROLES AND EFFECTS OF FLOW SHEARS AROUND THE MAGNETOPAUSE RANGE FROM THE MICROSCOPIC INTERACTIONS WITH RECONNECTION AND CONSEQUENT MODIFICATION OF RECONNECTION PROCESSES TO THE MACROSCOPIC ASPECTS SUCH AS MASS MOMENTUM ENERGY TRANSFER ACROSS THE MAGNETOPAUSE AND THE VORTEX-GENERATED FIELD-ALIGNED CURRENTS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE GLOBAL CURRENT SYSTEM. YET OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE ACTUAL INFLUENCE AND IMPORTANCE OF FLOW VELOCITY SHEAR IN SUCH MICRO-TO-MACROPHYSICAL PROCESSES REMAINS PRIMITIVE. VIA OUR PROJECT WE AIM TO ANSWER INFLUENCES OF FLOW SHEAR AND KINETIC-SCALE VORTICES ON RECONNECTION PROCESSES AND HOW KHI AND RECONNECTION INTERACT ON THE MICROAND MESO-SCALES (Q1) ION/ELECTRON VORTEX DYNAMICS IN TERMS OF THE ORIENTATION/MAGNITUDE OF FLOW VORTICIES (Q2) AND THEIR EFFECT ON THE REGION-1 CURRENT SYSTEM (Q3). THESE TOPICS ARE WELL INTEGRATED TO MAXIMIZE THE SCIENTIFIC RETURN FROM MMS ABILITY TO CALCULATE THE ION AND ELECTRON FLOW VORTICITIES USING ITS TETRAHEDRON FORMATION WITH VARYING INTER-SPACECRAFT SEPARATION DOWN TO THE ELECTRON SCALE. OUR AIM IN ANSWERING Q1-3 IS TO BRING THE MICRO-TO-MACROSCOPIC PIECES OF FLOW SHEAR PROCESSES TOGETHER TO CONSTRUCT A COMPREHENSIVE PICTURE OF THE ROLES AND IMPACTS OF FLOW VORTICES ON THE SOLAR WIND-MAGNETOSPHERE-IONOSPHERE COUPLING. WE WILL ADDRESS THESE QUESTIONS USING A COMBINATION OF METHODOLOGIES THAT INCORPORATE THE AMPLE MMS (FPI FGM EDP EPD HPCA ETC.) OBSERVATIONS OF RECONNECTION WITH/WITHOUT FLOW SHEAR KH VORTICES AND CONJUGATE GROUND MAGNETOGRAMS AND NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS. TO DETERMINE SOLAR WIND AND BOUNDARY CONDITIONS AND PLACE THE MMS OBSERVATIONS IN CONTEXT WE USE SIMULTANEOUS OBSERVATIONS FROM WIND ACE ARTEMIS CLUSTER AND GEOTAIL. WE WILL MAKE FULL USE OF HIGH PERFORMANCE SIMULATION TOOLS 3-D PIC SIMULATIONS. OUR PLAN IS VIA COMPARATIVE STUDIES TO INTEGRATE OUR PHYSICAL UNDERSTANDING GAINED FROM THE SIMULATIONS WITH IN-SITU MMS OBSERVATIONS. UNDERSTANDING THE IMPORTANCE AND EFFECTS OF ION AND ELECTRON FLOW VORTICES GENERATED ALONG THE MAGNETOPAUSE WILL IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE DYNAMICS AND COUPLING OF EARTH S MAGNETOSPHERE IONOSPHERE AND ATMOSPHERE AND THEIR RESPONSE TO SOLAR AND TERRESTRIAL INPUTS (DSG #2). IN PARTICULAR OUR STUDY WILL ADDRESS TWO OF THE MOST CRUCIAL PHYSICAL PROCESSES I.E. KHI AND MAGNETIC RECONNECTION THAT ARE FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES THAT OCCUR BOTH WITHIN THE HELIOSPHERE AND THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE (DSG #4). ALL THESE ASPECTS MANIFEST THE RELEVANCE OF OUR PROJECT TO THE FOUR GOALS IN THE HELIOPHYSICS DECADAL SURVEY. THIS PROJECT IS ALSO KEY TO MMS MISSION. THE PROPOSED INVESTIGATION IS DIRECTLY RELEVANT TO THE GOALS OF MMS MISSION: INVESTIGATION OF THE VELOCITY SHEAR EFFECTS ON THE SMALL-SCALE THREE-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF THE THIN CURRENT LAYERS AND FAST-MOVING ELECTRON DIFFUSION REGION.2018-03-02 → 2023-03-01$485K
80NSSC19K1614EVALUATING THE TUNGSTEN CONSTRAINT ON LUNAR ORIGIN2019-11-01 → 2024-10-31$480K
80NSSC18K1390PLUTO HAS 5 SATELLITES: MASSIVE CHARON PLUS 4 SMALL EXTERIOR MOONS STYX NIX KERBEROS AND HYDRA. THE SMALL MOON MASSES AND DENSITIES WERE EXTREMELY UNCERTAIN PRIOR TO NEW HORIZONS AND REMAIN POORLY CONSTRAINED EVEN AFTER THE ANALYSIS OF DATA BY THE NEW HORIZONS TEAM DETAILED IN WEAVER ET AL. (2016). THAT WORK REPORTED APPROXIMATE SIZES FOR THE MOONS BUT NOT THEIR MASSES OR DENSITIES DUE TO MASS UNCERTAINTIES AS HIGH AS 100%. BETTER DETERMINATION OF THE OUTER MOON PROPERTIES IS CRUCIAL TO INTERPRETING THE HISTORY OF THESE OBJECTS AND THE ENTIRE PLUTO SYSTEM. CHARON LIKELY FORMED BY A GIANT IMPACT WITH PLUTO. THE SMALL MOON ORBITS ARE NEARLY CO-PLANAR AND CIRCULAR SUGGESTING THEY FORMED FROM A DISK PRODUCED BY THE SAME IMPACT THAT FORMED CHARON. HOWEVER SUCCESSFUL DESCRIPTIONS OF THIS PROCESS HAVE PROVED ELUSIVE AND PRIOR MODELS HAVE BEEN UNDERMINED BY UNCERTAINTY IN THE SMALL MOON MASSES AND THE DISK PROPERTIES. ACCURATE MASS ESTIMATES ARE NEEDED TO DETERMINE HOW THE RADIAL SURFACE DENSITY PROFILE OF A DISK PRODUCED BY AN IMPACT RELATES TO THE INITIAL POSITIONS OF THE OUTER MOONS AND THEREFORE TO THE DEGREE OF RADIAL MIGRATION REQUIRED FOR THE MOONS TO REACH THEIR CURRENT LOCATIONS. WE WILL DETERMINE THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF PLUTO S SMALL MOONS THROUGH RE-ANALYSIS OF NEW HORIZONS DATA COMBINED WITH HST OBSERVATIONS (TASK 1) AND BASED ON THESE RESULTS WE WILL DEVELOP MUCH MORE ACCURATE MODELS OF A PLUTO-SYSTEM FORMING IMPACT (TASK 2). THE TWO TASKS ARE INTERCONNECTED: TASK 1 WILL PROVIDE THE SMALL MOON MASSES WHICH ARE CRITICAL INPUTS TO TASK 2 AND SUCCESSFUL TASK 2 RESULTS WILL CONSTRAIN THE ICE-ROCK CONTENT OF THE EXTENDED DISK WHICH WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO THE INTERPRETATION OF THE SMALL MOON DENSITIES IN TASK 1 THAT MAY BE INSUFFICIENTLY CONSTRAINED BY SHAPE MODELS ALONE FOR SOME OF THE MOONS. OUR COMBINED STUDY WILL PROVIDE NEEDED INITIAL CONDITIONS FOR MODELS OF THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF PLUTO S SMALL MOONS. MORE BROADLY IT WILL PROVIDE MUCH HIGHER FIDELITY AND BETTER CONSTRAINED MODELS OF THE PLUTO-SYSTEM FORMING IMPACT CENTRAL TO UNDERSTANDING PLUTO AND CHARON S THERMAL AND DYNAMICAL EVOLUTIONS. IN TASK 1 WE WILL ANALYZE NEW HORIZONS (NH) APPROACH DATA FROM THE LONG RANGE RECONNAISSANCE IMAGER (LORRI) FRAMING CAMERA (CONTAINED IN THE FIRST PDS DATA RELEASE) IN COMBINATION WITH ARCHIVAL HST OBSERVATIONS OF THE SMALL MOONS TIED TO THE GAIA CATALOG TO PROVIDE GREATLY IMPROVED ASTROMETRY RELATIVE TO THAT REPORTED PREVIOUSLY. THIS IN COMBINATION WITH MARKOV CHAIN MONTE CARLO DYNAMICAL SIMULATIONS WILL BE USED TO DETERMINE MASS ESTIMATES FOR THE SMALL MOONS. THE MASS ESTIMATES WILL BE COMBINED WITH SATELLITE SHAPE MODELS DEVELOPED FROM PUBLICALLY AVAILABLE NH IMAGES TO YIELD INITIAL DENSITY ESTIMATES. IN TASK 2 WE WILL PERFORM SMOOTHED PARTICLE HYDRODYNAMICS (SPH) SIMULATIONS OF GIANT IMPACTS WITH PLUTO WITH UP TO A FACTOR OF 100 TIMES FINER MASS RESOLUTION THAN NEARLY ALL PRIOR MODELS. THESE WILL ALLOW US TO DETERMINE 1) THE OUTER EDGE OF THE DISK AT THE MASS LEVEL OF OUTERMOST HYDRA AND 2) THE DISK ICE VS. ROCK COMPOSITION. WE WILL DETERMINE (1) AND (2) AS A FUNCTION OF IMPACT PARAMETERS AND THE BULK PROPERTIES OF PROTO-PLUTO AND THE IMPACTOR PRIOR TO THE IMPACT. WE WILL IDENTIFY THE SUBSET OF IMPACTS WHOSE OUTCOMES ARE CONSISTENT WITH CHARON S MASS AND DENSITY AND THE SMALL MOON MASSES DETERMINED IN TASK 1 FAVORING THOSE CASES THAT PRODUCE THE MOST EXTENDED DISKS THAT MINIMIZE THE NEEDED SMALL MOON ORBITAL MIGRATION. THE ICE-ROCK CONTENT OF THE EXTENDED DISKS PRODUCED IN THE MOST SUCCESSFUL CASES WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO TASK S 1 INTERPRETATION OF THE SMALL MOON DENSITIES.2018-07-12 → 2023-07-11$478K
80NSSC17K0153A CRITICAL ISSUE IN DEALING WITH NEAR-EARTH OBJECTS (NEO) ACCORDING TO NEOO PROGRAM GOALS AND THE PLANETARY DEFENSE COORDINATION OFFICE (PDCO) IS TO IDENTIFY POTENTIAL IMPACTORS THAT MAY STRIKE THE EARTH. GIVEN THIS PRIORITY IT IS DISTURBING THAT WE DO NOT YET HAVE AN ACCURATE MODEL OF THE ORBITS AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF NEO IMPACTORS. AT BEST WE HAVE VAGUE APPROXIMATIONS FOR IMPACTOR TRAJECTORIES VELOCITIES SIZES STRENGTHS AND COMPOSITIONS. WITH AN ACCURATE MODEL WE CAN POTENTIALLY OPTIMIZE OUR GROUND- AND SPACEBASED SEARCH STRATEGIES TO FIND IMPACTORS EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF STATE OF THE ART SURVEYS LIKE NEOCAM SENTINEL AND LSST AND DEVELOP COST EFFECTIVE EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS FOR CHELYBINSK-LIKE AND LARGER EVENTS. THE KEY PROBLEMS WITH COMPUTING AN ACCURATE IMPACTOR MODEL ARE AS FOLLOWS: 1. IMPACT PROBABILITY PROBLEMS: NEARLY ALL SYNTHETIC IMPACTORS ARE GENERATED BY RUNNING OBSERVED/MODEL NEOS THROUGH STATISTICAL OPIK -LIKE CODES WHERE IMPACT PROBABILITIES ARE DETERMINED USING GEOMETRICAL ARGUMENTS (E.G. OPIK 1951; BOTTKE ET AL. 1994; VERES ET AL. 2009). AS WE WILL SHOW HOWEVER OPIK CODES PRODUCE INACCURATE NEO IMPACTORS. THEY ASSUME THAT OVER ~1E4 YEARS THE SEMIMAJOR AXIS A ECCENTRICITY E AND INCLINATION I OF NEOS ARE UNCHANGING AND THEIR ORBIT ANGLES PRECESS UNIFORMLY. RECENT STUDIES HOWEVER SHOW THESE ASSUMPTIONS ARE FREQUENTLY VIOLATED; OVER THESE TIMESCALES PLANETARY PERTURBATIONS CAN PRODUCE NON-UNIFORM ORBIT ANGLES (E.G. JEONGAHN AND MALHOTRA 2014) AND BIG E I SWINGS (E.G. VOKROULICKY ET AL. 2012; POKORNY AND VOKROUHLICKY 2013). 2. MANY NEOS DISRUPT NEAR THE SUN. IN CONSTRUCTING A NEW NEO MODEL GRANVIK ET AL. (2016) SHOWED THAT PRIMITIVE OBJECTS BETWEEN ~100 M AND FEW KM DISRUPT WHEN THEY GET WITHIN ~0.05-0.2 AU OF THE SUN. WE ARGUE HERE THIS MAY BE TOO CONSERVATIVE; METER-SIZED BOLIDES AND LUNAR CRATERS INDICATE THAT MANY SMALL NEOS REGARDLESS OF COMPOSITION DISRUPT WITHIN ~0.17 AU OF THE SUN. NO IMPACTOR MODEL HAS YET ACCOUNTED FOR THIS EFFECT. 3. NO COLOR-ALBEDO-TAXONOMY MODEL FOR IMPACTORS. AT THIS TIME NO QUANTITATIVE MODEL OF THE LIKELY NATURE OF POTENTIAL IMPACTORS EXISTS. THIS LIMITS OUR ABILITY TO APPRAISE THE RANGE OF POTENTIAL EFFECTS PRODUCED BY THEIR BLASTS ANOTHER KEY GOAL OF NEOO AND THE PDCO. GIVEN THESE LIMITATIONS WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP THE MOST ACCURATE NEO IMPACTOR MODEL EVER USING DIRECT NUMERICAL INTEGRATION METHODS AS WELL AS THE INSIGHTS PROVIDED BY THE NEW NEO MODEL OF GRANVIK ET AL. (2016). OUR PROPOSED TASKS ARE AS FOLLOWS: TASK 1. USING SUPERCOMPUTERS AND INITIAL CONDITIONS FROM GRANVIK ET AL. (2016) WE WILL INITIATE A LARGE NUMERICAL CAMPAIGN TO GENERATE 5E4-5E5 SYNTHETIC IMPACTORS WITH WELL-DEFINED ORBITS OVER THE NEXT THREE YEARS. THIS WILL REQUIRE US TO INTEGRATE THE ORBITS OF ~5E5-5E6 ASTEROIDS FOR ~200 MYR. IN ADDITION USING NEW CODES WRITTEN FOR THIS PROPOSAL WE WILL ALSO COMPUTE THE LOCATION IMPACT TRAJECTORIES AND COLLISION VELOCITIES FOR THE IMPACTORS. TASK 2. THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE DENSITY AND STRENGTHS OF IMPACTORS CORRELATE WITH THEIR OBSERVABLE PROPERTIES (E.G. LOW ALBEDO CCOMPLEX ASTEROIDS LIKELY SIMILAR TO CARBONACEOUS CHONDRITES). ACCORDINGLY TO PREDICT IMPACTOR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES WE WILL DEVELOP AN ALBEDO-COLOR-TAXONOMY MODEL FOR IMPACTORS BASED ON THEIR ORBITS. HERE WE WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE METHODS AND MODEL OF GRANVIK ET AL. (2016) AS WELL AS SEVERAL RICH DATASETS CONTAINING MAIN BELT AND NEO ALBEDOS (WISE/NEOWISE) COLORS (SDSS) AND TAXONOMIC CLASSES (E.G. PDS NODE). TASK 3. USING AN ESTABLISHED NEO SURVEY SIMULATOR (VERES ET AL. 2009) WE WILL EXAMINE THE EFFICIENCY OF EXISTING AND PROSPECTIVE SURVEYS AT DETECTING OUR SYNTHETIC IMPACTORS. OUR WORK WILL DETERMINE WHAT SURVEY STRATEGIES/PROPERTIES ARE NEEDED TO MEET NEOO/PDCO GOALS.2017-08-07 → 2023-08-06$453K
80NSSC25K7401EXECUTE A BALANCED SCIENCE PROGRAM BASED ON DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FROM THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE ADMINISTRATION PRIORITIES AND DIRECTION FROM CONGRESS. PARTICIPATE AS A KEY PARTNER AND ENABLER IN THE AGENCY S EXPLORATION INITIATIVE FOCUSING ON SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH OF ON AND FROM THE MOON LUNAR ORBIT MARS AND BEYOND. ADVANCE DISCOVERY IN EMERGING FIELDS BY IDENTIFYING AND EXPLOITING CROSS-DISCIPLINARY OPPORTUNITIES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL SCIENCE DISCIPLINES DEVELOP A DIRECTORATE-WIDE TARGET-USER FOCUSED APPROACH TO APPLIED PROGRAMS INCLUDING EARTH SCIENCE APPLICATIONS SPACE WEATHER PLANETARY DEFENSE AND SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS.2025-07-01 → 2028-06-30$407K
80NSSC18K0186GIVEN THE FAR-REACHING SUCCESS OF THE CASSINI MISSION IT IS CURIOUS AND DISTURBING THAT WE STILL DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE BOMBARDMENT HISTORY OF SATURN S SATELLITES. THIS IS DESPITE THE FACT WE NOW HAVE EXCEPTIONAL IMAGERY OF SATURN S MOONS AND THAT MANY GROUPS HAVE REPORTED ON THEIR CRATER HISTORIES (E.G. KIRCHOFF ET AL. 2009). AS WE SHOW IN THIS PROPOSAL THESE CRATER DATA WHEN CONSIDERED AS A SYSTEM RATHER THAN MOON BY MOON REVEAL SEVERAL INTRIGUING PROBLEMS: 1. THE WAVY CRATER SIZE FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS (SFDS) FOUND ON MIMAS-SIZED BODIES FROM CALLISTO TO MIMAS-IAPETUS ARE REMARKABLY SIMILAR IN SHAPE TO ONE ANOTHER. SHOCKINGLY THIS SHAPE ALSO MATCHES THE SFD OF MAIN BELT ASTEROIDS. DYNAMICALLY ASTEROIDS ARE UNLIKELY TO BE A MAJOR SOURCE OF IMPACTORS FOR SATURN S MOONS SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? 2. MIMAS LOCATED DEEP INSIDE SATURN S GRAVITY WELL AT ~3 RSATURN HAS NEARLY THE SAME CRATER SIZE FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION PER KM+2 AS DISTANT IAPETUS AT ~60 RSATURN. THIS IS SURPRISING; NEITHER SHOWS SIGNS OF RESURFACING AND GRAVITATIONAL FOCUSING OF COMETS THROUGH SATURN S SYSTEM SHOULD CREATE 17 MORE IMPACTS PER KM+2 ON MIMAS THAN IAPETUS! ACCORDINGLY CRATER DATA ON SATURN S MOONS CHALLENGES OUR SATELLITE FORMATION-EVOLUTION MODELS. UNTIL INTERPRETED WE CANNOT EASILY ATTACK KEY DECADAL SURVEY GOALS (E.G. WHEN/HOW DID SATURN S MOONS FORM WERE THEY AFFECTED BY GAS GIANT MIGRATION WHEN WERE GEOLOGIC PROCESSES ACTIVE ON SATURN S MOONS AND DID IMPACTS HEAT UP OR DELIVER ORGANICS TO SATURN S MOONS?). HERE WE PROPOSE TO ATTACK THESE PROBLEMS BY MODELING IMPACTORS STRIKING THESE SATELLITES COMPARING OUR RESULTS TO PUBLISHED CRATER AND SATELLITE GRAVITY DATA AND THEN USING THE RESULTS TO CONSTRAIN UNEXPLORED ASPECTS OF THE NICE MODEL . IN THE NICE MODEL GIANT PLANET MIGRATION SCATTERED A DISK OF PLANETESIMALS ONCE LOCATED BEYOND NEPTUNE. THIS DISK WAS COLLISIONALLY-EVOLVED LIKE THE MAIN BELT WHICH GAVE IT A WAVY MAIN BELT-LIKE SFD. THIS PROCESS NOT ONLY SENT COMET-LIKE BODIES THROUGH SATURN S SYSTEM WHERE MANY HIT SATELLITES BUT IT ALSO CAPTURED COMETS INTO ORBIT AROUND SATURN VIA SATURN-GIANT PLANET ENCOUNTERS. WHILE SOME BECAME STABLE IRREGULAR SATELLITES (NESVORNY ET AL. 2007) MANY MORE SHOULD HAVE STRUCK THE OUTERMOST REGULAR SATELLITES. WE ARGUE THESE IRREGULAR SATELLITES REPRESENT A MISSING BOMBARDMENT POPULATION THAT CAN EXPLAIN WHY MIMAS TO IAPETUS HAVE SIMILAR CRATER SFDS (I.E. ALL PROJECTILES CAME FROM SAME SOURCE) AND WHY HIGH CRATER SPATIAL DENSITIES ARE FOUND ON HYPERION/IAPETUS (I.E. IRREGULARS PREFER HITTING DISTANT MOONS). BY MODELING THIS SCENARIO WE CAN INTERPRET THE HISTORIES OF SATURN S SATELLITES AS TOLD BY THEIR CRATERS AND ALSO DATE THEIR GEOLOGIC FEATURES. OUR TASKS ARE: TASK 1. USING PUBLISHED RESULTS FROM COI NESVORNY'S LATEST VERSION OF THE NICE MODEL WE WILL USE NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS TO TRACK THE ORBITAL HISTORIES IMPACT RATES AND COLLISION VELOCITIES FOR BOTH HELIOCENTRIC PROJECTILES AND CAPTURED IRREGULAR SATELLITES STRIKING SATURN S SATELLITES. TASK 2. APPLYING AN IMPROVED ESTIMATE OF THE PRIMORDIAL DISK SFD ONCE LOCATED BEYOND NEPTUNE TO OUR TASK 1 RESULTS WE WILL INTERPRET CASSINI-DERIVED CRATER RECORDS FROM MIMAS TO PHOEBE DURING THE LATE HEAVY BOMBARDMENT AND GENERATE A NEW CHRONOLOGY FOR GEOLOGIC PROCESSES ON THESE WORLDS. WE WILL ALSO EXPLORE (I) THE LEADING/TRAILING CRATER POPULATIONS FOUND ON RHEA/IAPETUS (II) WHETHER SPECIFIC CRATER SFDS ARE SATURATED (E.G. MIMAS HYPERION) AND (III) HOW COLLISIONAL EVOLUTION AMONG CAPTURED IRREGULARS AFFECTED CRATER PRODUCTION ON PHOEBE. TASK 3. LARGE PROJECTILES CAN DELIVER SUBSTANTIAL IMPACT ENERGY AND HEAT TO SATELLITES. THIS COULD AFFECT THEIR INTERNAL STRUCTURE PRODUCING AN IRREGULAR GRAVITY FIELD OR INDUCE/PRESERVE SUBSURFACE OCEANS. USING OUR IMPACT FLUX MODELS WITH GRAVITY DATA FROM CASSINI FLYBYS WE WILL PROBE THIS ISSUE FOR TETHYS/RHEA USING AN IMPACT-TRIGGERED SATELLITE DIFFERENTIATION MODEL.2018-01-03 → 2023-12-31$407K
NNX16AP97GUNDERSTANDING IMPACT PHYSICS THROUGH HIGH-RESOLUTION MAPPING OF EJECTA AND SECONDARY CRATERS ON THE MOON AND MERCURYINVESTIGATION GOALS: WE WILL USE2017-02-25 → 2024-07-03$405K
NNX14AN53GWE WILL MEASURE THE TRAPPING OF VOLATILES AND GASES IN LUNAR SOIL SIMULANT, SINGLE PHASE OXIDES AND LUNAR SAMPLES TO SIMULATE THE TRAPPING OF VOLATIL2014-07-14 → ?$396K
80NSSC25K7314EXECUTE A BALANCED SCIENCE PROGRAM BASED ON DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FROM THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE ADMINISTRATION PRIORITIES AND DIRECTION FROM CONGRESS. PARTICIPATE AS A KEY PARTNER AND ENABLER IN THE AGENCY S EXPLORATION INITIATIVE FOCUSING ON SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH OF ON AND FROM THE MOON LUNAR ORBIT MARS AND BEYOND. ADVANCE DISCOVERY IN EMERGING FIELDS BY IDENTIFYING AND EXPLOITING CROSS-DISCIPLINARY OPPORTUNITIES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL SCIENCE DISCIPLINES. DEVELOP A DIRECTORATE-WIDE TARGET-USER FOCUSED APPROACH TO APPLIED PROGRAMS INCLUDING EARTH SCIENCE APPLICATIONS SPACE WEATHER PLANETARY DEFENSE AND SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS.2025-02-01 → 2028-01-31$372K
NNX16AN52GTHE EFFECT OF TERRAIN STRENGTH AND LAYERING ON DETERMINING CRATER-RETENTION AGES OF LUNAR SURFACESTHE OBJECTIVES OF THE PROPOSED WORK ARE TO ASCERTAIN THE INFLUENCE THAT REGIONAL AND VERTICAL VARIATIONS OF TERRAIN MECHANICAL PROPERTIES HAVE ON CRATER SIZE-FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS (SFDS) AND ON COMPUTING CRATER-RETENTION AGES OF LUNAR SURFACES. ANALYZING CRATER SFDS AND USING THEM TO DETERMINE MODEL AGES OF SURFACES IS AN IMPORTANT TECHNIQUE IN UNDERSTANDING THE MOON'S GEOLOGIC HISTORY AND EVOLUTION. FURTHERMORE OUR MOON HAS BEEN THE PRIME PLACE TO DEVELOP THE CHRONOLOGIES USED FOR COMPUTING CRATERRETENTION AGES THROUGHOUT THE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM. HOWEVER ALTHOUGH THE EFFECTS OF TERRAIN MECHANICAL PROPERTIES ON CRATERING WAS RECOGNIZED SINCE LUNAR ORBITER IMAGING IMPLICATIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF LUNAR CRATER CHRONOLOGIES HAS SO FAR BEEN NEGLECTED. CRATER SFDS VARY IN SHAPE DEPENDING ON THE PROPERTIES OF THE TERRAINS ON WHICH THEY ARE RECORDED. THEREFORE WE CAN LEARN ABOUT THE EFFECTS OF TERRAIN PROPERTIES THROUGH FITTING OBSERVED CRATER SFDS WITH CRATER PRODUCTION FUNCTIONS GENERATED BY CONVERTING IMPACTOR FLUXES USING CRATER SCALING LAWS (E.G. THE MODEL PRODUCTION FUNCTION MPF). THE TASKS PROPOSED HERE TO ACHIEVE OUR OBJECTIVES WILL FIRST COMPILE CUMULATIVE CRATER SFDS FOR DOZENS OF TERRAINS WITH BROADLY DIFFERENT PROPERTIES (E.G. MARE VS. HIGHLANDS) ACROSS THE LUNAR SURFACE. WE WILL MEASURE CRATER DIAMETERS WITHIN THE RANGE ~10 M TO ~20 KM ON BOTH THE LUNAR RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER (LRO) WIDE ANGLE CAMERA GLOBAL MOSAIC (100 M/PIXEL) AND NARROW ANGLE CAMERA IMAGES (0.5-2 M/PIXEL) AVAILABLE CURRENTLY THROUGH THE PDS. BASIC GEOLOGICAL MAPS WILL ALSO BE GENERATED FOR EACH REGION TO PROVIDE CONTEXT FOR THE ANALYSIS OF THE CRATER SFDS. THEN IN THE SECOND TASK THE OBSERVED CRATER SFDS WILL BE FIT WITH SEVERAL VERSIONS OF THE MPF USING A VARIETY OF CRATER SCALING LAWS WHICH INCORPORATE DIFFERENT TERRAIN PROPERTIES. HERE WE WILL CONSIDER A RANGE FOR EACH CASE TAILORED USING OUR GEOLOGICAL MAPPING (E.G. MARE IS LIKELY TO BE MORE COMPETENT THAN HIGHLANDS). THIS WILL INFORM HOW TERRAIN PROPERTIES INFLUENCE THE CRATER SFDS AND THE MODEL AGES COMPUTED FOR THAT REGION. FURTHERMORE TO DERIVE NEW SCALING LAWS FOR LAYERED TERRAINS WE WILL USE CONSTRAINTS PROVIDED BY THE CRATER SFDS AND MPF FITS ALONG WITH HYDROCODE MODELING OF CRATER FORMATION IN A TERRAIN WITH VERTICAL VARIATION IN MECHANICAL PROPERTIES. RESULTS FROM THE PROPOSED WORK WILL CONSIDERABLY ENHANCE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW TERRAIN PROPERTIES AFFECT LUNAR CRATER SFDS AND COMPUTATION OF CRATER-RETENTION AGES OF LUNAR SURFACES. THESE IMPROVEMENTS WILL FURTHER RESULT IN BETTER INTERPRETATIONS OF THE GEOLOGICAL HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF THE MOON (AND BEYOND). THE WORK IS RELEVANT TO LUNAR DATA ANALYSIS PROGRAM BECAUSE: 1) IT WILL ENHANCE SCIENTIFIC RETURN OF THE LRO MISSION BY BOTH USING IMAGES FOR THIS ANALYSIS AND IMPROVING FUTURE INTERPRETATIONS OF DATA FROM ANY IMAGE AND 2) IMPROVING UNDERSTANDING OF THE EVOLUTION OF THE LUNAR SURFACE.2016-07-19 → 2022-08-31$355K
80NSSC25K7335THE ROSES FUNDING OPPORTUNITY GOALS ARE: EXECUTE A BALANCED SCIENCE PROGRAM BASED ON DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FROM THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE ADMINISTRATION PRIORITIES AND DIRECTION FROM CONGRESS. PARTICIPATE AS A KEY PARTNER AND ENABLER IN THE AGENCY S EXPLORATION INITIATIVE FOCUSING ON SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH OF ON AND FROM THE MOON LUNAR ORBIT MARS AND BEYOND. ADVANCE DISCOVERY IN EMERGING FIELDS BY IDENTIFYING AND EXPLOITING CROSS-DISCIPLINARY OPPORTUNITIES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL SCIENCE DISCIPLINES DEVELOP A DIRECTORATE-WIDE TARGET-USER FOCUSED APPROACH TO APPLIED PROGRAMS INCLUDING EARTH SCIENCE APPLICATIONS SPACE WEATHER PLANETARY DEFENSE AND SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS.2025-02-11 → 2028-02-10$338K
80NSSC25K7756EXECUTE A BALANCED SCIENCE PROGRAM BASED ON DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FROM THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE ADMINISTRATION PRIORITIES AND DIRECTION FROM CONGRESS. PARTICIPATE AS A KEY PARTNER AND ENABLER IN THE AGENCY S EXPLORATION INITIATIVE FOCUSING ON SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH OF ON AND FROM THE MOON LUNAR ORBIT MARS AND BEYOND. ADVANCE DISCOVERY IN EMERGING FIELDS BY IDENTIFYING AND EXPLOITING CROSS-DISCIPLINARY OPPORTUNITIES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL SCIENCE DISCIPLINES DEVELOP A DIRECTORATE-WIDE TARGET-USER FOCUSED APPROACH TO APPLIED PROGRAMS INCLUDING EARTH SCIENCE APPLICATIONS SPACE WEATHER PLANETARY DEFENSE AND SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS2025-02-21 → 2028-02-20$287K
NNX15AH97GTHE PLANETARY SCIENCE COMMUNITY DEPENDS ON ACCURATE SURFACE AGE ESTIMATES FOR A WIDE VARIETY OF STUDIES AND EXCEPT FOR EARTH IMPACT CRATER-BASED AGE MODELING IS THE ONLY WIDESPREAD METHOD AVAILABLE. TO ESTIMATE CRATER-BASED AGES NEARLY ALL RESEARCHERS USE ONE OF TWO FUNCTIONS THAT MODEL AN UNALTERED CRATER SIZE-FREQUENCY POPULATION: "XXX" (E.G. "XXX" ET AL. 2001) OR "XXX"(E.G. "XXX" 2005). IN APPLICATION THESE TWO MODELS ARE DIFFERENT AND AS SUCH THEY CAN LEAD TO MODEL AGES FOR THE SAME SURFACE THAT DIFFER BY OVER A FACTOR OF 2 FOR MID-SIZED (FEW-KM) CRATERS AND MORE FOR OTHER DIAMETERS. NEARLY A DECADE OF NEW ORBITAL OBSERVATIONS OF THE MOON MARS AND MERCURY HAVE PROVIDED A TREASURE TROVE OF HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGE DATA APPLICABLE TO THIS PROBLEM. HOWEVER NO NEW STUDY HAS BEEN UNDERTAKEN IN THE LAST DECADE AND NO INDEPENDENT ATTEMPT IN SEVERAL DECADES TO SYSTEMATICALLY MEASURE AND DERIVE AN OBSERVATIONAL MODEL OF THE CRATER SIZE-FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION ON THESE SURFACES.WE PROPOSE TO USE HUNDREDS OF THE LATEST IMAGES FROM THESE THREE BODIES TO DIRECTLY MEASURE THE CRATER PRODUCTION FUNCTION (PF) ON THESE SURFACES. WE EXPECT TO MEASURE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF IMPACT CRATERS ON NON-SATURATED VOLCANIC REGIONS AND USE THESE MEASUREMENTS TO DETERMINE A NEW MODEL CRATER PF FOR EACH OF THESE THREE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM BODIES. WE EXPECT THAT THE NEW PFS WILL BE MORE ACCURATE THAN EITHER OF THE EXISTING MODELS DUE IN PART TO IMPROVED IMAGE FIDELITY GREATER COMPLETENESS AND MORE CAREFUL EXCLUSION OF SECONDARY CRATERS. IT WILL INCLUDE CONFIDENCE INTERVALS BASED ON THE NUMBER STATISTICS UNLIKE WHAT IS CURRENTLY PUBLISHED. THE PI IS EXPERIENCED IN THESE MEASUREMENTS AND HAS ALREADY ASSEMBLED SOME OF THE DATA REQUIRED FOR THIS WORK AND HE HAS ALSO SHOWN THAT REVISITING BASIC CRATER POPULATIONS WITH NEW DATA CAN RESULT IN SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES TO VERY IMPORTANT CRATER-RELATED STUDIES ("XXX" 2014 THE LUNAR CRATER CHRONOLOGY). WE EXPECT THE RESULTING PFS WILL SERVE THE PLANETARY GEOLOGY COMMUNITY AS A NEW AND IMPROVED STANDARD FOR DATING SURFACES IN THE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM.2015-08-01 → 2023-07-31$260K
80NSSC25K7687EXECUTE A BALANCED SCIENCE PROGRAM BASED ON DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FROM THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE ADMINISTRATION PRIORITIES AND DIRECTION FROM CONGRESS. PARTICIPATE AS A KEY PARTNER AND ENABLER IN THE AGENCY S EXPLORATION INITIATIVE FOCUSING ON SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH OF ON AND FROM THE MOON LUNAR ORBIT MARS AND BEYOND. ADVANCE DISCOVERY IN EMERGING FIELDS BY IDENTIFYING AND EXPLOITING CROSS-DISCIPLINARY OPPORTUNITIES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL SCIENCE DISCIPLINES DEVELOP A DIRECTORATE-WIDE TARGET-USER FOCUSED APPROACH TO APPLIED PROGRAMS INCLUDING EARTH SCIENCE APPLICATIONS SPACE WEATHER PLANETARY DEFENSE AND SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS2025-04-01 → 2028-03-31$236K
NNX16AN54GCOLD-TRAPPING OF ARGON IN THE LUNAR PERMANENTLY SHADED REGIONSWE PROPOSE TO UNDERSTAND THE VARIABILITY SOURCES AND SINKS OF ARGON IN THE LUNAR EXOSPHERE AND STUDY ITS COLD-TRAPPING IN THE PERMANENTLY SHADED REGIONS (PSRS) OF THE MOON. THIS GOAL WILL BE ACHIEVED BY ANSWERING THE FOLLOWING SCIENCE QUESTIONS: WHERE DOES ARGON OUTGAS FROM? WHERE IS ARGON PREFERENTIALLY TRAPPED AND HOW MUCH OF IT IS STORED IN THE PSRS? WHAT ARE THE RELATIVE ROLES OF SCAVENGING VERSUS BURIAL OF SUCH ARGON DEPOSITS FROM MICRO-METEOROID IMPACT VAPORIZATION? WHAT IS THE ARGON INVENTORY IN THE PSRS? THESE QUESTIONS WILL BE ANSWERED BY A COMBINATION OF DATA ANALYSIS AND MODELING. DATA FROM LUNAR RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER (LRO) INSTRUMENTS LOLA (LUNAR ORBITER LASER ALTIMETER) AND DIVINER WILL BE USED TO IMPROVE OUR EXISTING EXOSPHERIC CODE WHILE DATA FROM THE NEUTRAL MASS SPECTROMETER (NMS) ON BOARD NASA'S LUNAR ATMOSPHERE AND DUST ENVIRONMENT EXPLORER (LADEE) WILL BE USED TO VALIDATE AND CONSTRAIN THE CODE. THE LUNAR VOLATILES ARE OF SPECIAL INTEREST FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF FASCINATING PROCESSES OCCURRING IN EXTREMELY COLD LUNAR ENVIRONMENTS WHERE THERE SEEM TO BE PUZZLINGLY LARGE AMOUNTS OF SURFICIAL WATER. IN ADDITION AS HIGHLIGHTED IN THE SCIENTIFIC CONTEXT FOR EXPLORATION OF THE MOON THE LUNAR "POLAR REGIONS MAY PROVIDE CRITICAL RESOURCES [...] FOR FUTURE EXPLORATIONS" (CONCEPT 4). AMONG THE LUNAR VOLATILES ARGON IS OF SPECIAL INTEREST SINCE IT COMES FROM THE RADIOACTIVE DECAY OF POTASSIUM WITHIN THE INTERIOR OF THE MOON SO IT IS TRULY AN ENDOGENIC ELEMENT WHICH IS ULTIMATELY RELEASED INTO THE EXOSPHERE FROM MICROPORES AND CRACKS AT THE SURFACE. MOREOVER ARGON MIMICS THE BEHAVIOR OF OTHER VOLATILES OF INTEREST NAMELY WATER IN ITS LATERAL MIGRATION UNTIL COLD-TRAPPING IN THE PSRS. RECENTLY OBSERVATIONS FROM LADEE/NMS HAVE POSITIVELY CONFIRMED THE DETECTION OF ARGON AFTER FOUR DECADES FROM THE FIRST MEASUREMENTS (FROM THE MASS SPECTROMETER LACE DEPLOYED AT THE LUNAR SURFACE DURING THE APOLLO 17 MISSION) DETECTING: 1) A PREVIOUSLY UNSEEN ENHANCEMENT IN EXOSPHERIC ARGON DENSITY ABOVE THE WESTERN MARIA A GEOLOGICALLY INTERESTING REGION RICH IN KREEP MATERIAL; AND 2) WHAT APPEARS TO BE A PERIODIC TREND IN THE EXOSPHERIC DISTRIBUTION OF ARGON PERHAPS DUE TO INCREASED ARGON DIFFUSION DUE TO TIDAL STRESSES. TO INVESTIGATE SUCH INTERESTING RESULTS WE WILL IMPROVE OUR CODE BY INCLUDING A SET OF TEMPERATURE MAPS FROM LRO/DIVINER TO SIMULATE THE DIURNAL TEMPERATURE PROFILE OF EACH POINT OF THE SURFACE AND A TOPOGRAPHY MAP FROM LRO/LOLA TO REPRODUCE CRATERS AND MOUNTAINS. WE WILL THEN START ANALYZING THE LADEE/NMS EXOSPHERIC ARGON DENSITIES TO UNDERSTAND THESE TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL VARIATIONS FOR EXAMPLE INVESTIGATING THE POSSIBILITY FOR LOCAL OUTGASSING AND THE CHANGE IN RESIDENCE TIME (AND HENCE IN ATMOSPHERIC DENSITY) WITH THE TYPE OF TERRAIN. FINALLY WE WILL FEED THE OUTPUT OF OUR EXOSPHERIC CODE NAMELY THE AMOUNT OF ARGON DELIVERED TO AND COLD TRAPPED IN THE PSRS TO A SPACE WEATHERING SIMULATION TO STUDY HOW MUCH OF SUCH DEPOSITS CAN SURVIVE THE MICROMETEOROIDS IMPACTS. AT THE END OF THE 3 YEARS WE WILL HAVE IDENTIFIED THE MAJOR SOURCES AND SINKS OF ARGON IN THE LUNAR EXOSPHERE AND WE WILL HAVE A PREDICTION FOR DISTRIBUTION OF ARGON IN THE PSRS. THE PROPOSED WORK WILL STUDY THE "DISTRIBUTION TRANSPORT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF VOLATILES IN AND ON THE MOON" THE "CHARACTERIZATION OF THE GLOBAL VARIABILITY AND STRUCTURE OF THE LUNAR EXOSPHERE" THE LUNAR "CHANGE DETECTION (I.E. DETECTION OF SURFACE OR ATMOSPHERIC CHANGES AS A FUNCTION OF TIME)" AND THE "IDENTIFICATION AND/OR CHARACTERIZATION OF POTENTIAL LANDING SITES OF HIGH LUNAR SCIENCE RETURN" AND AND IS THEREFORE RELEVANT TO THESE FOUR HIGH PRIORITY AREAS OF LUNAR RESEARCH OF NASA S ROSES LDAP PROGRAM CALL (PAGE C.8-2).2016-11-01 → 2022-10-31$214K
80NSSC25K7444EXECUTE A BALANCED SCIENCE PROGRAM BASED ON DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FROM THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE ADMINISTRATION PRIORITIES AND DIRECTION FROM CONGRESS. PARTICIPATE AS A KEY PARTNER AND ENABLER IN THE AGENCY S EXPLORATION INITIATIVE FOCUSING ON SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH OF ON AND FROM THE MOON LUNAR ORBIT MARS AND BEYOND. ADVANCE DISCOVERY IN EMERGING FIELDS BY IDENTIFYING AND EXPLOITING CROSS-DISCIPLINARY OPPORTUNITIES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL SCIENCE DISCIPLINES DEVELOP A DIRECTORATE-WIDE TARGET-USER FOCUSED APPROACH TO APPLIED PROGRAMS INCLUDING EARTH SCIENCE APPLICATIONS SPACE WEATHER PLANETARY DEFENSE AND SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS.2024-12-04 → 2026-12-03$189K
80NSSC22K1317EO14042 SCIENCE OPERATIONS AND ANALYSES SUPPORT OF THE MINIATURIZED ELECTRON AND ION TELESCOPE (MERIT) ON THE LUNAR GATEWAY2022-06-08 → 2023-12-08$150K
NNX14AG18ATHIS CAN SUPPORTS THE BROAD SPECTRUM OF LUNAR, NEA, AND MARTIAN MOON SCIENCES ENCOMPASSING INVESTIGATIONS OF THE SURFACE, INTERIOR, EXOSPHERE, AND TH2014-03-25 → ?$21K
80NSSC20K0373GEOCHRONOLOGY OR DETERMINATION OF ABSOLUTE AGES FOR GEOLOGIC EVENTS UNDERPINS MANY INQUIRIES INTO THE FORMATION AND EVOLUTION OF PLANETS AND OUR SOLAR SYSTEM. THE BOMBARDMENT CHRONOLOGY INFERRED FROM LUNAR SAMPLES HAS PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODELS OF EARLY SOLAR SYSTEM AND EXTRASOLAR PLANET DYNAMICS AS WELL AS THE TIMING OF VOLATILE ORGANIC AND SIDEROPHILE ELEMENT DELIVERY. ABSOLUTE AGES OF ANCIENT AND RECENT MAGMATIC PRODUCTS PROVIDE STRONG CONSTRAINTS ON THE DYNAMICS OF MAGMA OCEANS AND CRUSTAL FORMATION AND THE LONGEVITY AND EVOLUTION OF INTERIOR HEAT ENGINES AND DISTINCT MANTLE/CRUSTAL SOURCE REGIONS. ABSOLUTE DATING ALSO RELATES HABITABILITY MARKERS TO THE TIMESCALE OF EVOLUTION OF LIFE ON EARTH. MAJOR ADVANCES IN PLANETARY SCIENCE CAN THUS BE DRIVEN BY ABSOLUTE GEOCHRONOLOGY IN THE NEXT DECADE CALIBRATING BODY-SPECIFIC CHRONOLOGIES AND CREATING A FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING SOLAR SYSTEM FORMATION THE EFFECTS OF IMPACT BOMBARDMENT ON LIFE AND THE EVOLUTION OF PLANETS AND INTERIORS. ABSOLUTE AGES FOR MULTIPLE WORLDS ARE A DESIRE IN BOTH THE 2003 AND 2013 PLANETARY SCIENCE DECADAL SURVEYS BUT IN THESE TWO DECADES ONLY SAMPLE RETURN WAS CONSIDERED A VIABLE METHOD FOR GEO-CHRONOLOGY. THE DECADAL SURVEYS RECOMMENDED MISSION LISTS REFLECT THE REALITY FOR THOSE DECADES THAT SAMPLE RETURN IS THE ONLY WAY TO YIELD RELIABLE AND INTERPRETABLE GEOCHRONOLOGY. IN THE LAST TWO DECADES NASA HAS ALSO INVESTED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF IN SITU DATING TECHNIQUES INCREASING THE TECHNOLOGY READINESS LEVELS OF INSTRUMENTS USING COMPLEMENTARY RADIOGENIC ISOTOPIC SYSTEMS (K-AR AND RB-SR) TO TRL 6. THE TIME IS RIGHT TO CONSIDER HOW THE PRECISION ACHIEVABLE WITH IN SITU GEOCHRONOLOGY CAN ADVANCE IMPORTANT SCIENCE GOALS FOR THE NEXT DECADAL SURVEY THE MOST FRUITFUL WAY TO DEPLOY THEM IN MISSIONS TO KEY PLANETARY DESTINATIONS AND TO CONSIDER HOW THESE TECHNOLOGIES COMPLEMENT SAMPLE-RETURN EFFORTS FOR THE MOON AND MARS. FOR THIS PLANETARY MISSION CONCEPT STUDY WE WILL FORMULATE AND COST A MEDIUM- OR FLAG-SHIP-CLASS MISSION FOR SOLAR SYSTEM CHRONOLOGY. THE AIM OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO GIVE THE NEXT DECADAL SURVEY PANEL A VIABLE ALTERNATIVE OR ADDITION TO SAMPLE RETURN MISSIONS TO ACCOMPLISH LONGSTANDING GEOCHRONOLOGY GOALS WITHIN A NEW FRONTIERS ENVELOPE. OUR SCIENCE DEFINITION TEAM (SDT) HAS EXPERTISE ACROSS THE MOON MARS AND SMALL BODIES COMMUNITIES TO IDENTIFY THE MOST IMPORTANT SCIENCE QUESTIONS THAT CAN BE ANSWERED IN THE NEXT DECADE USING THE FIRST GENERATION OF IN SITU DATING TECHNIQUES AND EXAMINE MISSION-LEVEL REQUIREMENTS TRADES AND INSTRUMENTATION FOR ANSWERING THESE QUESTIONS. BY CONDUCTING THIS STUDY WE WILL PROVIDE THE NEXT DECADAL SURVEY PANEL WITH SEVERAL OPTIONS FOR HOW GEOCHRONOLOGY MIGHT BE ACCOMPLISHED IN THE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM WITHIN THE PLANETARY SCIENCE PORTFOLIO THE SYNERGIES THESE MEASUREMENTS HAVE WITH OTHER HIGH-PRIORITY SCIENCE GOALS AND THE TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENTS REQUIRED TO IMPLEMENT SUCH MISSIONS.2019-11-26 → ?$16K

Source: USAspending.gov prime award and subaward data (public domain), refreshed daily; last refreshed 2026-10-19 06:18 UTC.

Amounts are obligated to date, not contract ceilings. An award counts as lunar when its published description is about the Moon, and programs are tagged from that text; repeated or impossible subaward reports are shown but not summed. Subawards are only as complete as primes report them.