The Trustees of Princeton University

Lunar science and techSubcontractor to 2

Lunar obligations

$1.7M

as prime

Lunar awards

as prime

Its subcontractors

none reported

Primes it works for

$326K in subawards

Who it subcontracts to

No subawards reported under its lunar awards.

Who it works for

University of California San Diego$172K
MOD 002: $109519 6/29/2026 MOD 001: 15,289 09/29/2025 SUB: 46,767.00 07/14/2025 PRINCETON UNIVERSITY WILL COLLABORATE WITH UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO AND THE OTHER INSTITUTIONS INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT ON THE PROPOSAL ENTITLED “MECHANISTICALLY MODELING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF VERTICALLY MIGRATING ZOOPLANKTON AND FISHES TO THE OCEAN BIOLOGICAL PUMP”. PRINCETON IS RESPONSIBLE FOR RUNNING AND ANALYZING REGIONAL DOUBLE GYRE AND GLOBAL SIMULATIONS WITH MIGRATING ZOOPLANKTON. SPECIFIC TASKS ABOUT THE MODELING INCLUDE: 1) DEVELOP A NEW ZOOPLANKTON/MIGRATION PARAMETERIZATIONS INFORMED BY EXPORTS (AND OTHER BIOLOGICAL PUMP) OBSERVATIONS, 2) SENSITIVITY TESTS OF ZOOPLANKTON/MIGRATION MODULE WITH DOUBLE GYRE CONFIGURATION AND IMPACT ON CARBON PUMP, 3) HINDCAST GLOBAL SCALE SIMULATIONS INCLUDING MIGRATION, AND 4) COLLABORATE WITH UCSD AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS ON EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF ZOOPLANKTON/FISH MIGRATION ON LOCAL AND GLOBAL CARBON PUMP.
Southwest Research Institute$154K
PRINCETON WILL PROVIDE SUPPORT TO LASVEGAS BY DEVELOPING CONTROL METHODOLOGY AND THE RELATED SOFTWARE, AS WELL AS, CHARACTERIZING THE RESEARCH-GRADE INSTRUMENTS.

Lunar awards as prime

Award	Description	Period	Obligated
80NSSC25K7118	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.	2024-10-08 → 2027-10-07	$401K
FA95502510100	UNCERTAINTY REALISM, PROPAGATION, AND ESTIMATION FOR CISLUNAR SPACE DOMAIN AWARENESS	2025-09-01 → 2028-08-31	$300K
80NSSC17K0702	IMPACT EJECTA PRODUCTION FROM METEOROID BOMBARDMENT IS A UBIQUITOUS PROCESS OCCURRING ON ALL AIRLESS BODIES THROUGHOUT THE SOLAR SYSTEM. THE LUNAR DUST EXPERIMENT (LDEX) ABOARD THE LUNAR ATMOSPHERE AND DUST ENVIRONMENT EXPLORER (LADEE) MISSION REVEALED A RICH AND VARIABLE EJECTA CLOUD WHICH IS SENSITIVE TO CHANGES IN IMPACTING FLUXES OPENING THE DOOR TO NEW AND EXCITING AVENUES OF LUNAR RESEARCH. THE OVERALL GOAL OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO USE THE OBSERVED DUST DISTRIBUTION AT THE MOON GENERATED BY IMPACTING METEOROID POPULATIONS TO UNDERSTAND THE FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS OF IMPACT EJECTA PRODUCTION.	2017-09-20 → 2022-09-19	$289K
80NSSC25K7437	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	2025-01-01 → 2027-12-31	$239K
80NSSC19K0161	SCIENCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: UNMAGNETIZED PLANETS LIKE VENUS ARE ESPECIALLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO ATMOSPHERIC SCAVENGING BECAUSE THE SOLAR WIND INTERACTS DIRECTLY WITH THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE DUE TO THE LACK OF AN INTRINSIC DIPOLE MAGNETIC FIELD. RECENT VENUS EXPRESS (VEX) OBSERVATIONS CONFIRMED THE COMPLEXITY OF THE INDUCED VENUSIAN MAGNETOSPHERE ESPECIALLY GIVEN THE OBSERVED MAGNETIC RECONNECTION IN THE NEAR VENUSIAN MAGNETOTAIL. ON THE OTHER HAND PENETRATION OF THE INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELD (IMF) INTO AN INSULATING CRUST IS ROUTINELY SEEN AT THE MOON BUT THE IONOSPHERE OF VENUS PRESENTS AN INDUCED FIELD BARRIER WHOSE ABILITY TO SHIELD THE BODY VARIES WITH EXTERNAL PLASMA AND FIELD CONDITIONS. WE EXPECT VENUS TO BE INFLUENCED BY PENETRATING IMF IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES AND PLAN TO EXPLORE THE OBSERVATIONAL AND PHYSICAL CONSEQUENCES. THEREFORE IT IS CRUCIAL TO EXTEND THE PLASMA MODEL LOWER BOUNDARY TO THE PLANETARY INTERIOR. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED WORK IS TO STUDY SOLAR WIND INTERACTION WITH VENUS FOR THE FIRST TIME BY INCORPORATING THE PLANETARY INTERIOR IN A FULLY SELF-CONSISTENT MANNER. WE WILL MAINLY FOCUS ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE COUPLED PLANETARY INTERIOR (SUCH AS THE CONDUCTING CORE SIZE AND THE ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY PROFILES) ON 1) THE ATMOSPHERIC ION LOSS OF VENUS AND 2) THE VENUSIAN MAGNETIC TOPOLOGIES UNDER A VARIETY OF SOLAR WIND CONDITIONS (INCLUDING EXTREME SPACE WEATHER EVENTS). WITH THE KNOWLEDGE FROM 2) COMBINED WITH VEX OBSERVATIONS THE PROPOSED WORK WILL ENABLE FURTHER CONSTRAINING AND HELP DETERMINE THE VENUSIAN INTERIOR STRUCTURES AND PROPERTIES. THIS NEW MODEL IS CAPABLE OF REVEALING HOW EXTERNAL IMF PROPAGATES FROM INTERPLANETARY SPACE TO SATELLITE ALTITUDES AND ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE SURFACE AND PLANETARY INTERIOR IN A SELF-CONSISTENT WAY AND THUS ALLOW US TO INVESTIGATE THE TRANSITION TO MORE MOON-LIKE PLASMA INTERACTIONS. METHODOLOGY: WE WILL USE THE BATS-R-US MULTI-SPECIES MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC (MS-MHD) MODEL THAT HAS BEEN EXTENSIVELY VALIDATED AND APPLIED TO DIFFERENT SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS. WE WILL FIRST DEVELOP AND VALIDATE A CONDUCTING-CORE-SURFACE-TO-INTERPLANETARY-SPACE MS-MHD (CCSIS-MS-MHD) MODEL BY EXTENDING THE MODEL LOWER BOUNDARY INTO THE PLANETARY INTERIOR (THAT IS RIGHT UP TO THE SURFACE OF THE CONDUCTING CORE). THEREAFTER WE WILL STUDY SOLAR WIND INTERACTIONS WITH VENUS UNDER BOTH STEADY SOLAR WIND AND EXTREME SPACE WEATHER CONDITIONS. WE WILL CHOOSE ONE CASE OF PARTICULAR INTEREST (BASED ON VEX OBSERVATIONS) AND TRY TO LINK THE PLANETARY INTERIOR PROPERTIES (SUCH AS THE CONDUCTING CORE SIZE AND ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY PROFILES) TO EXTERNAL MAGNETIC FIELD OBSERVATIONS BY VEX. THIS WILL ENABLE US TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF THE INNER LAYER (WITH HIGH CONDUCTIVITY CORRESPONDING TO THE CONDUCTING CORE) AND THE OUTER LAYER (WITH LOW CONDUCTIVITY REPRESENTING THE MANTLE AND CRUST) ON BOTH THE ION LOSSES AND THE PLANET'S MAGNETIC TOPOLOGY (INCLUDING THE NEAR-PLANET MAGNETOTAIL RECONNECTION). WE WILL EVENTUALLY PUT FURTHER CONSTRAINTS AND HELP DETERMINE THE VENUSIAN INTERIOR STRUCTURES AND PROPERTIES. RELEVANCE: THE PROPOSAL IS HIGHLY RELEVANT TO THE ROSE SOLAR SYSTEM WORKINGS (SSW) PROGRAM SINCE THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THIS INNOVATIVE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH PROJECT RANGES FROM THE INTERIORS OF PLANETARY BODIES AND PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES TO THEIR MAGNETOSPHERES. ALL OF THESE ELEMENTS WHICH ARE ENCAPSULATED BY OUR WORK CONSTITUTE THE CENTRAL TARGETS AND PRIMARY OBJECTIVES OF THE SSW PROGRAM. THIS PROPOSED WORK WOULD LINK TWO SEEMINGLY INDEPENDENT RESEARCH FIELDS 'PLANETARY INTERIORS' AND 'PLANETARY MAGNETOSPHERES' AND IS THUS CAPABLE OF POTENTIALLY REVOLUTIONIZING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROCESSES INVOLVED IN THE INTERACTION OF SOLAR WIND WITH UNMAGNETIZED PLANETS.	2018-11-01 → ?	$201K
80NSSC24K1769	24-EPAOD24-0007 ANALYSIS OF CISLUNAR SPACE ENVIRONMENT SCENARIOS ENABLING DETERRENCE AND INCENTIVE-BASED POLICY	2024-09-01 → 2025-08-31	$108K
80NSSC18K1633	HOW BIG IS THE MARTIAN CORE? IF AS IS LIKELY THE CORE IS LIQUID WHAT QUANTITY OF LIGHT ELEMENTS MUST BE PRESENT TO HAVE INHIBITED CORE SOLIDIFICATION FOR BILLIONS OF YEARS? DOES MARS'S DEEPER MANTLE RESEMBLE EARTH'S MANTLE TRANSITION ZONE? IS THE EARTH UNIQUE AS A TERRESTRIAL PLANET OR DOES IT SHARE MUCH IN COMMON WITH OUR SMALLER PLANETARY SIBLING? EARTH-FOCUSED SEISMOLOGY HAS USED TWO COMPLEMENTARY TECHNIQUES BODY WAVES AND NORMAL MODES TO PROBE THE DEEPER INTERIOR OF OUR PLANET; EVEN WITHOUT MODERN SEISMIC PROCESSING REASONABLE MODELS OF EARTH'S STRUCTURE WERE DEVELOPED USING BODY WAVE RECORDS. LIKEWISE NOISIER LUNAR SEISMIC DATA HAVE BEEN LEVERAGED TO REVEAL THE SMALL LUNAR CORE AND PROPERTIES OF THE LUNAR DEEP MANTLE. THIS PROPOSAL HAS THE FOLLOWING AIMS: TO PREDICT BODY WAVE TRAVEL TIMES SEISMIC WAVEFORMS AND NORMAL MODE OSCILLATION CENTER FREQUENCIES FOR NEW AND EXISTING MINERALOGICALLY REASONABLE MODELS OF MARS'S INTERIOR AND COMPARE THEM TO VERY BROADBAND SEISMIC DATA FROM THE INSIGHT MISSION. IN THE EARTH WE EXPECT THAT MOST OF THE LIQUID OUTER CORE CAN BE DESCRIBED AS WELL-MIXED AND ADIABATIC. ON MARS INITIAL MODELS WILL ASSUME THAT THESE EXPECTATIONS HOLD TRUE ACROSS THE ENTIRE MARTIAN CORE WITH PARAMETERS OF AN ISENTROPIC EQUATION OF STATE (EOS) USED TO SPECIFY THE SEISMIC VELOCITY AND DENSITY. A RANGE OF EOS PARAMETERS WILL BE USED INFORMED BY PUBLISHED ESTIMATES. CORE MODELS WITH VARYING FRACTIONS OF LIGHT ELEMENTS WILL BE CONSIDERED. THUS MINERAL PHYSICS EOSS CAN PROVIDE INFORMATION TO CREATE REASONABLE MODELS OF DENSITY AND VELOCITY IN MARS'S CORE. MORE COMPLEX CORE MODELS CAN THEN BE PRESCRIBED BY ALLOWING DEVIATIONS FROM THE SIMPLER MODELS WHICH CORRESPOND TO FOR EXAMPLE THE POSSIBLE PRESENCE OF IRON "SNOW" IN THE CORE. MANTLE STRUCTURE CAN ALSO BE REPRESENTED USING REASONABLE MINERALOGY-BASED MODELS. PRELIMINARY MODELS FOR THE MANTLE CAN BE TAKEN OR ADAPTED FROM THOSE CURRENTLY IN THE LITERATURE. UPDATING MODELS OF MARS'S MANTLE MINERALOGY WILL ALSO PERMIT THE EXPLORATION OF DIFFERENT THERMAL PROFILES OR AREOTHERMS OF MARS. AS ESTIMATES OF MARS'S SHALLOWER STRUCTURE EVOLVE THEY CAN BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT TO BUILD MORE REASONABLE MODELS OF MARS'S DEEP INTERIOR CONSISTENT WITH BASIC GEOPHYSICAL OBSERVATIONS. BODY WAVE TRAVEL TIMES WILL BE CALCULATED USING RAY THEORY FOR A RANGE OF THESE 1D SEISMIC MODELS. WAVEFORM SIMULATIONS FOR SELECTED SEISMIC MODELS WILL BE CARRIED OUT USING AXISEM. NORMAL MODE CENTER FREQUENCY CALCULATIONS WILL BE CARRIED OUT USING AN ADAPTED VERSION OF THE MINEOS NORMAL MODE CODE. ALL THESE PREDICTIONS WILL BE COMPARED WITH OBSERVED SIGNALS FROM MARS. BODY WAVES WHICH INTERACT WITH THE DEEPER MARTIAN MANTLE WILL BE USED TO ASSESS WHICH MODELS OF THE MANTLE ARE APPROPRIATE; THIS WILL ALLOW THE REFINEMENT OF POSSIBLE THERMAL AND CORE MODELS. WAVES WHICH REFLECT FROM THE CORE OR TRAVEL THROUGH IT WILL PROVIDE STRONGER CONSTRAINTS. NORMAL MODES ARE LIKELY TO BE CHALLENGING TO OBSERVE HOWEVER MODES WITH FREQUENCIES ABOVE 5MHZ ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE OBSERVABLE THAN THOSE BELOW THAT THRESHOLD AND A NUMBER OF MODES ABOVE THIS FREQUENCY HAVE SENSITIVITY TO THE DEEP INTERIOR OF MARS. THIS PROPOSAL FITS INTO INSIGHT'S PRIMARY SCIENCE GOAL A AND WILL COMBINE TWO SEISMO-LOGICAL TECHNIQUES WITH MINERAL PHYSICS TO FURTHER OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE CORE MANTLE AND THERMAL PROPERTIES OF MARS; IT CORRESPONDS TO THE NRA'S "SPECIAL INVESTIGATION" CRITERIA 7 AND 8.	2018-08-31 → 2022-12-30	$106K
80NSSC24K0058	ANALYSIS OF POLICY OPPORTUNITIES FOR CISLUNAR AND LUNAR ORBIT DEBRIS MITIGATION AND SPACE SUSTAINABILITY	2023-10-18 → 2024-08-18	$71K