University of Arizona
Lunar obligations
$27Mas prime
Lunar awards
40as prime
Its subcontractors
16$5.7M reported
Primes it works for
6$4.1M in subawards
Who it subcontracts to
SEISMOMETER FOR A LUNAR NETWORK (SLN)
COLD-LIGHTWEIGHT IMAGERS FOR EUROPA (C-LIFE)
EMISSION IMAGER FOR LUNAR INFRARED ANALYSIS IN 3D (EMILIA-3D)
CHANNELED INFRARED POLARIMETER (CHIRP)
- SRI International$480K
COLD-LIGHTWEIGHT IMAGERS FOR EUROPA (C-LIFE)
SEISMOMETER FOR A LUNAR NETWORK (SLN)
COLD-LIGHTWEIGHT IMAGERS FOR EUROPA (C-LIFE)
IMPROVED CONSTRAINTS ON ATMOGENIC NOX- IN NATURAL WATERS ON PREBIOTIC EARTH
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT IN UV CORONAGRAPHY TO ENABLE CHARACTERIZATION OF EARTH-LIKE EXOPLANETS
IMPACT CRATERING PROCESSES CAN RESULT IN RAPID MELTING AND REDISTRIBUTION OF SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF TARGET MATERIAL, WHICH MAY BE SUPERHEATED TO TEMPERATURES FAR ABOVE THE NORMAL MELTING POINT OF SILICATE ROCKS. THE UNUSUAL THERMAL HISTORIES OF IMPACT MELT DEPOSITS MAKE THEM UNIQUE AMONG IGNEOUS ROCK TYPES, BUT THE OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY THESE MATERIALS ON EARTH IS LIMITED DUE TO THEIR POOR PRESERVATION. FORTUNATELY, LUNAR CRATERS PROVIDE WELL-PRESERVED EXAMPLES OF IMPACT MELT DEPOSITS, AND REMOTE-SENSING OBSERVATIONS OF THEIR MORPHOLOGY CAN PROVIDE INSIGHTS INTO THEIR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND EMPLACEMENT HISTORY. LUNAR MELT FLOWS AND SILICATE LAVA FLOWS CAN HAVE SIMILARITIES IN TERMS OF THEIR BULK COMPOSITION AND MORPHOLOGY (E.G., BOTH CAN EXHIBIT EVIDENCE OF CHANNELIZATION AND INFLATION), BUT HOW FAR DOES THIS ANALOGY EXTEND AND WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF SUPERHEATING ON MELT FLOW BEHAVIOR? TO ADDRESS THESE QUESTIONS, WE PROPOSE TO THREE INTERRELATED TASKS. FIRST, WE WILL CONDUCT DETAILED GEOLOGIC MAPPING OF LUNAR IMPACT MELT FLOWS USING A COMBINATION OF VISIBLE IMAGERY, RADAR MEASUREMENTS, AND TOPOGRAPHIC DATA ACQUIRED BY THE LUNAR RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER 9LRO). SECOND, WE WILL (A) CHARACTERIZE THE VISCOSITY-TEMPERATURE RELATIONSHIPS FOR HIGHLANDS AND MARIA LUNAR SIMULANT MATERIALS USING LABORATORY FACILITIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI; AND (B) SIMULATE IMPACT MELT FLOWS USING UNIQUE EXPERIMENTAL FACILITIES AT SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY, WHICH ENABLE LARGE (-350 KG) ANALOG FLOWS TO BE GENERATED BY MELTING SILICATE MATERIALS TO HIGH TEMPERATURES (UP TO 2000C) USING BRONZE FOUNDRY TECHNIQUES. THE LUNAR SIMULANTS WILL BE SYSTEMATICALLY HEATED TO TEMPERATURES ABOVE THEIR LIQUIDUS TO EXPLORE THE EFFECTS OF SUPER HEATING ON FLOW RHEOLOGY, COOLING HISTORY, AND MORPHOLOGY. FINALLY, WE WILL MODIFY, VALIDATE, AND APPLY A THERMO-RHEOLOGICAL MODEL (I.E., FLOWGO) TO INVESTIGATE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN IMPACT MELT FLOWS AND BASALTIC LAVA FLOWS. THESE MODELS WILL ALSO BE APPLIED TO THE LOCATIONS EXAMINED IN TASK 1 TO INFER IMPACT MELT PROPERTIES, SUCH AS COMPOSITION, INITIAL EMPLACEMENT TEMPERATURE, COOLING HISTORY AND RHEOLOGY. TOGETHER THESE TASKS WILL HELP TO ACHIEVE OUR OVERARCHING GOAL OF CHARACTERIZING IMPACT MELT FLOW PROPERTIES AND THE EFFECTS OF SUPERHEATING ON FLOW BEHAVIOR AND MORPHOLOGY. ADDITIONALLY, THIS WORK WILL ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF FUNDAMENTAL IGNEOUS PROCESSES, INTERPRETATIONS OF LUNAR GEOLOGY, AND FUTURE EXPLORATION STRATEGIES. THESE ACTIVATES ARE RELEVANT TO THE NASA SOLAR SYSTEM WORKINGS (SSW) PROGRAM IN THAT THEY ADDRESS: PLANETARY SURFACE EVOLUTION, GEOMORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF PLANETARY (I.E., LUNAR) SURFACES, AND IMPACT CRATERING PROCESSES.
SEISMOMETER FOR A LUNAR NETWORK (SLN)
HOW 'WET' IS THE MOON: INSIGHT FROM HYDROGEN PARTITIONING DURING LUNAR MAGMA OCEAN CRYSTALLIZATION
THE RESEARCH IN PROF. MACKAY'S RESEARCH GROUP AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE WILL CENTER ON PHYSICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF POLYMERIC SULFUR MATERIALS PRODUCED IN THE LABORATORY OF PROF. JEFFREY PYUN AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA. SPECIFICALLY, THE MATERIALS WILL BE RHEOLOGICALLY CHARACTERIZED TO DETERMINE THEIR MELT RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES WITH A SPECIALLY DESIGNED RHEOMETER ATTACHMENT. SINCE SULFUR REACTS WITH STAINLESS STEEL PLATES FOR THE RHEOMETER ATTACHMENTS WILL BE MADE FROM MICA THAT IS GLUED TO DISPOSABLE STAINLESS STEEL PLATES. THE EXISTING TA INSTRUMENTS AREWS G2 RHEOMETER WILL BE USED FOR THIS ASPECT OF THE PROJECT. IN ADDITION MECHANICAL TESTING WILL BEPERFORMED ON SOLID SAMPLES USING THE RHEOMETRICS RS III DYNAMIC MECHANICAL TESTER. THE TENSILE MODULUS UNDER STEADY STRAIN AND THE COMPLEX MODULI UNDER OSCILLATORY STRAIN WILL BE MEASURED.
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT IN UV CORONAGRAPHY TO ENABLE CHARACTERIZATION OF EARTH-LIKE EXOPLANETS
SEISMOMETER FOR A LUNAR NETWORK (SLN)
Who it works for
RELEVANCE: SEISMIC STUDIES PROVIDE COMPLETE OUR DEFINITIVE KNOWLEDGE OF INTERNAL LUNAR STRUCTURE. DESPITE SEVEN YEARS OF APOLLO SEISMIC EXPERIMENT OPERATION AND THE GRAIL AND OTHER LUNAR ORBITING MISSIONS, CURRENT KNOWLEDGE OF LUNAR INTERIOR IS STILL INFERRED AND UNCERTAIN WITH RESPECT TO CRUSTAL DEPTH, THE NATURE OF THE CORE AND POSSIBLE TECTONIC ACTIVITY. A MODERN LANDED LUNAR SEISMOLOGY EXPERIMENT CAN ADDRESS THESE QUESTIONS AND CONSTRAIN THEORIES ABOUT LUNAR AND PLANETARY FORMATION AND EVOLUTION, A PRIORITY GOAL FOR NASA'S ARTEMIS AND PRISM PROGRAMS. METHODOLOGY: WE PROPOSE TO DEPLOY TWO SEISMOMETERS ON THE LUNAR SURFACE DURING THE ARTEMIS III CREWED MISSION TO THE LUNAR SOUTH POLE. ONE WILL BE A SHORT PERIOD SEISMOMETER, THE OTHER A VERY BROAD BAND INSTRUMENT. THE SIGNALS FROM THESE INSTRUMENTS WILL BE PROCESSED AND DOWNLINKED TO EARTH BY THE LUNAR ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING SYSTEM (LEMS) PROVIDED BY GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER. LEMS WILL OPERATE FOR 90 EARTH DAYS ON THE LUNAR SURFACE AND PROVIDE THE FIRST SEISMIC DATA SINCE THE APOLLO PROGRAM AND THE FIRST SEISMIC STATION CITED AT THE LUNAR SOUTH POLE. GOALS: 1) DELIVER A FLIGHT EXPERIMENT TO NASA IN JULY 2025 2) OPERATE THE SEISMOMETER EXPERIMENT ON THE LUNAR SURFACE 3) PROCESS AND ARCHIVE LUNAR SEISMIC DATA DELIVERABLES: UA ON CONTRACT: T0 = 0 DELIVERY OF THE SENSOR MASS MODELS (2 SP + 2 VBB) FOR TRAINING UNITS TO GSFC T = T0+ 6 MONTHS DELIVERY OF ETU SENSORS TO GSFC (SP + VBB): T = T0+ 9.5 MONTHS DELIVERY OF FLT SENSORS TO GSFC (SP + VBB): T = T0+ 11.5 MONTHS
FFATA: GEOPHYSICAL EXPLORATION OF THE DYNAMICS AND EVOLUTION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM (GEODES)
PROVIDE NOBLE GAS ANALYSES AND, IN PARTICULAR, AR-AR ISOTOPE ANALYSIS, TO DETERMINE THE CHRONOLOGY OF LUNAR AND METEORITIC IMPACT LITHOLOGIES.
SHADOWCAM: SEEING IN THE DARK
FORWARD MODELING
- Seti Institute$89K
JWST OBSERVATIONS OF THE INNER WIND-LAUNCHING REGIONS OF PLANET-FORMING DISKS ARE BEGINNING TO REVOLUTIONIZE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION IN DISK EVOLUTION: WHAT DRIVES THE GLOBAL ACCRETION FLOW? THE WINDS BOTH ENABLE ACCRETION BY REMOVING THE DISK'S ORBITAL ANGULAR MOMENTUM AND DETERMINE THE SUPPLY OF MATERIAL AVAILABLE TO FORM PLANETS VERSUS LOCATION AND TIME. SPATIALLY RESOLVED OBSERVATIONS WITH JWST'S NIRSPEC AND MIRI-MRS OF KEY WIND TRACERS INCLUDING CO AND H2 ROVIBRATIONAL LINES AND IONIZED LINES OF NE AND AR ARE ALLOWING THE FIRST MAPPING OF CONDITIONS IN THE WINDS. HOWEVER, MODELING IS ESSENTIAL TO RELIABLY TURN THESE TRACERS INTO INFORMATION ABOUT THE MASS FLOWS DURING PLANET FORMATION. WE WILL CONNECT THE OBSERVED EMISSION TO LAUNCHING CONDITIONS IN THE DISK AND WIND MASS FLOW RATES. INTERPRETING JWST SPECTRO-IMAGING REQUIRES MODELS TREATING THE MAIN FACTORS THAT GOVERN THE LINE STRENGTHS: THE MAGNETICALLY DRIVEN FLOWS OF GAS THROUGH THE DISK ATMOSPHERE AND WIND, THE PHOTOCHEMICAL HEATING AND COOLING THAT SET TEMPERATURES, THE REACTIONS THAT ALTER THE EMITTING SPECIES' ABUNDANCES, AND THE EXCITATION CONTROLLING HOW STRONGLY EACH SPECIES EMITS. WE THEREFORE PROPOSE TO COMBINE MHD MODELING OF THE FLOWS IN THE DISKS AND THEIR WINDS WITH THERMAL AND PHOTOCHEMICAL MODELING OF THE HEATING, COOLING, AND REACTIONS AMONG THE CONSTITUENT SPECIES. PRELIMINARY RESULTS SHOW THAT MODELING THE WIND DYNAMICS ALONGSIDE THE THERMOCHEMISTRY ALTERS THE FLOW PATTERN COMPARED WITH TREATING THESE PROCESSES SEPARATELY. THE CHANGED WIND MORPHOLOGIES IMPACT DENSITIES, TEMPERATURES, EXCITATION STATES, AND THUS THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE LINE EMISSION. THE PROJECT CONSISTS OF THREE TASKS: (1) WE WILL FIRST CONSTRUCT SIMPLE PARAMETRIC MODELS AIMED AT SIMULATING OBSERVED JWST IMAGES; THESE MODELS WILL INVOLVE DETAILED CHEMISTRY AND EXCITATION WITH RADIATIVE TRANSFER BUT USE AN ASSUMED STREAMLINE GEOMETRY FOR THE WIND DYNAMICS. (2) GUIDED BY THE EXPLORATIONS IN TASK 1, WE WILL CONSTRUCT AXISYMMETRIC NON-IDEAL MHD CALCULATIONS SPANNING LIKELY DISK RADIAL STRUCTURE, MAGNETIC FIELD STRENGTH, DUST ABUNDANCE, AND STELLAR IONIZING LUMINOSITY, TO INFER WHAT PROCESSES OPERATE ACROSS DISKS TO DRIVE STRONG AND WEAK WINDS. (3) WE WILL INVESTIGATE HEATING BY MAGNETIC ACTIVITY, INCLUDING DIFFUSION AND RECONNECTION IN THE DISK ATMOSPHERE AND IN WINDS, ADD SUCH HEATING TO THE THERMO-CHEMICAL MODELING TO STUDY THE EFFECTS ON WIND CHEMISTRY, AND IDENTIFY POTENTIAL LINE EMISSION SIGNATURES OF THESE PROCESSES FOR FUTURE OBSERVATIONS. WE WILL MAKE THE SYNTHETIC SPECTRA FROM ALL THREE TASKS PUBLICLY AVAILABLE FOR INTERPRETING AND PLANNING JWST OBSERVATIONS OF LOW-MASS YOUNG STARS. THE THREE TASKS TOGETHER WILL TURN DATA FROM JWST AND OTHER TELESCOPES INTO AN UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THE WINDS ENABLE DISKS TO FEED MATERIAL ONTO YOUNG STARS AND TO EVOLVE THE CONDITIONS FOR PLANET FORMATION. THE PROPOSED WORK DIRECTLY SUPPORTS THE EXOPLANETS RESEARCH PROGRAM GOAL OF UNDERSTANDING THE FORMATION OF EXOPLANETS AND EXOPLANETARY SYSTEMS. SPECIFICALLY, THE WORK WILL IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW PROTOPLANETARY DISKS EVOLVE AND HOW MAGNETIC FIELDS MEDIATE MASS AND ANGULAR TRANSPORT THROUGH THE DISKS AS THEY FORM PLANETS.
Lunar awards as prime
| Award | Description | Period | Obligated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80MSFC26C0008 | EMILIA 3-D DEVELOPS A LUNAR SURFACE IMAGING PAYLOAD INTEGRATING THERMAL AND STEREO CAMERAS TO MAP REGOLITH PROPERTIES, SURFACE ROUGHNESS, HEAT FLOW, AND EXPLORATION IMPACTS FOR NASA SCIENCE. | 2026-07-13 → 2030-07-31 | $4.5M |
| 80NSSC25K7306 | 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. | 2024-11-07 → 2028-01-13 | $3.0M |
| 80NSSC19K0763 | SEISMIC STUDIES PROVIDE DEFINITIVE KNOWLEDGE OF INTERNAL PLANETARY STRUCTURE. REEXAMINATION OF SEISMIC DATA FROM THE MOON HAS PROVIDED AN IMPORTANT GLIMPSE OF ITS MANTLE AND CORE STRUCTURE WHICH HAS BEARING ON ITS THERMAL PETROLOGICAL AND ROTATIONAL HISTORY. DATA SUGGEST THE PRESENCE OF A FLUID-LIKE TRANSITION LAYER BETWEEN THE LUNAR CORE AND MANTLE. THE MOON MAY THEREFORE STILL BE UNDERGOING CHEMICAL SEGREGATION AND THERMAL LAYERING. THE SEISMOLOGIST S CHALLENGE IS SUBSTANTIATING THIS VIEW. FURTHER INVESTIGATION OF INTERNAL STRUCTURE HINGES ON INNOVATIVE DEVELOPMENT OF A LUNAR GEOPHYSICAL NETWORK (LGN) THAT INCLUDES ADVANCED SEISMIC SENSORS AND DEPLOYMENT METHODS. THIS NETWORK WILL NEED TO OVERCOME THE LIMITATIONS OF AN INITIALLY SPARSE GRID AND IMPROVE UPON THE QUALITY OF APOLLO-ERA SEISMOGRAMS. THE BEST DESIGN FOR SUCH INSTRUMENTS CONSIDERING THEY WILL LIKELY BE DELIVERED BY A NEW CLASS OF SMALL COMMERCIAL LANDERS IS CURRENTLY UNDERDEVELOPED. WE PROPOSE TO RAISE THE TRL OF A SILICON AUDIO COMMERCIAL-OFF-THE-SHELF GEOPHONE FROM 4 TO 6. THIS INSTRUMENT IS A NOVEL COMBINATION OF A CLASSIC SEISMIC GEOPHONE AND A LASER INTERFEROMETER. MICRON-SCALE MOVEMENTS OF AN INTERNAL MASS ARE RECORDED AS INDUCED CURRENT WHILE SUBMICRON-SCALE MOTIONS ARE RECORDED BY THE LASER SYSTEM. THIS ALLOWS FOR A SMALL (<300GM) SENSITIVE (1X10-8 M/S2/HZ1/2) BROADBAND (0.01-100HZ) SEISMIC INSTRUMENT THAT IS COMPETITIVE WITH STATE OF THE ART PLANETARY SEISMOMETERS. THE 3-AXIS INSTRUMENT IS INSENSITIVE TO TILT OVER 180. HERE WE PURSUE A REDESIGN OF THIS SYSTEM TO PARTITION THE ELECTRONICS REPLACE COMMERCIAL PARTS WITH FLIGHTWORTHY PARTS AND PERFORM ENVIRONMENTAL TESTS TO DEMONSTRATE A SENSOR SUITABLE FOR DEPLOYMENT ON THE MOON. IN PARTNERSHIP WITH HONEYBEE ROBOTICS WE WILL ALSO PURSUE SUBSURFACE DEPLOYMENT USING A PNEUMATIC DRILLING TECHNIQUE WHICH IS ENABLED BY THE SMALL SIZE OF THE SILICON AUDIO DEVICE. DRILLING IS ACCOMPLISHED BY COMPRESSED GAS JETTING THROUGH A CYLINDRICAL 3-AXIS SEISMIC PROBE STIRRING UP THE SOIL UNDERNEATH AND LOFTING THE REGOLITH OUT OF THE HOLE. BURIAL WILL ENABLE LOWER MASS AND POWER BY AUTOMATICALLY CREATING AN ISOTHERMAL ENVIRONMENT WILL IMPROVE SEISMIC COUPLING AND REDUCE NOISE FROM THE LANDER. THIS APPROACH WAS SUCCESSFULLY DEMONSTRATED IN A PREVIOUS SBIR PROJECT IN A VACUUM CHAMBER WITH COMPACTED (1.9 G/CC) LUNAR SOIL SIMULANT. IN THE PROPOSED EFFORT THE DEPLOYMENT SYSTEM WILL DEMONSTRATE SEISMIC SENSOR IMPLANTATION TO 50 CM DEPTH IN COMPACTED LUNAR SOIL SIMULANT UNDER VACUUM ADVANCED FROM ITS CURRENT TRL 4 TO TRL 5. GOALS: 1) RAISE THE TRL OF A REDESIGNED SILICON AUDIO OPTICAL THREE-AXIS SEISMOMETER FROM 4 TO 6. 2) DEMONSTRATE BURIAL WITH THE HONEYBEE SYSTEM RAISING THE TRL FROM 4 TO 5. METHODOLOGY. 1) REDESIGN THE EXISTING SEISMIC INSTRUMENT BY PARTITIONING ELECTRONICS FROM THE SENSOR-HEAD. REPLACE THE LASER AND PHOTODIODE WITH PARTS SUITABLE FOR DEPLOYMENT ON THE MOON. REDESIGN THE REMAINING ELECTRONICS TO BE HOUSED IN A SUPPORT ELECTRONICS BOX. TEST THE SENSOR PROTOTYPE IN A RELEVANT ENVIRONMENT. 2) DEMONSTRATE BURIAL OF THE SEISMIC SENSOR WITH THE GAS JET SYSTEM IN A SIMULATED LUNAR REGOLITH IN VACUUM. RELEVANCE: THE OBJECTIVES OF THE DALI PROGRAM ARE TO DEVELOP NEW TECHNOLOGIES THAT SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE INSTRUMENT MEASUREMENT CAPABILITIES FOR LUNAR SCIENCE MISSIONS. LGN IS IDENTIFIED AS A PRIORITY NEW FRONTIERS MISSION IN THE PLANETARY DECADAL SURVEY. DEMONSTRATION OF THE COMBINED SENSOR AND DEPLOYMENT SYSTEM WILL POSITION US FOR RAPID RESPONSE TO UPCOMING COMMERCIAL LAUNCH AND LANDING OPPORTUNITIES EXPECTED AS EARLY AS 2019. AN EARLY LANDED COMMERCIAL PAYLOAD COULD TEST THREE DEPLOYMENT SCENARIOS: BURIED IN THE REGOLITH SITTING ON THE SURFACE AND INTEGRATED INTO THE BODY OF THE LANDER. COMPARING THE QUALITY OF DATA FROM EACH SCENARIO WILL ALLOW US TO ASSESS THE LEVEL OF SCIENCE THAT CAN BE ACHIEVED WHICH IS DIRECTLY RELEVANT TO FUTURE LGN-LEVEL INSTRUMENTATION. | 2019-04-08 → 2025-04-07 | $2.7M |
| 80NSSC19K0683 | ANALYZING MATERIALS SOURCED FROM EUROPA S OCEAN FOR BIOSIGNATURES AND ASSESSING EUROPA S HABITABILITY OVERALL ARE AMONG THE GOALS OF THE UPCOMING EUROPA LANDER MISSION. SIMILARLY SUPPORTING FUTURE LANDED ACTIVITIES BY CHARACTERIZING SURFACE PROPERTIES IS A GOAL FOR ANY INITIAL LANDING ON A SOLAR SYSTEM BODY. IMAGING IS ESSENTIAL IN A MISSION SUCH AS THIS BOTH FOR SCIENCE AND TO SUPPORT ENGINEERING ACTIVITIES AND SAMPLE ACQUISITION. SMALL CAMERAS ON LANDED MISSIONS ARE A MATURE TECHNOLOGY AT MARS BUT NOT IN THE THERMAL AND RADIATION ENVIRONMENTS OF EUROPA ESPECIALLY GIVEN SEVERE MASS AND POWER LIMITATIONS. CAMERA COMPONENTS REQUIRE DEVELOPMENT TO MEET THESE CHALLENGING REQUIREMENTS. COLD-LIGHTWEIGHT IMAGERS FOR EUROPA (C-LIFE) IS AN INSTRUMENT SUITE CONTAINING A COLOR CONTEXT RECONNAISSANCE STEREOSCOPIC IMAGER (CRSI) AND A UNIOCULAR COLOR MICROSCOPIC IMAGER (MI) RESPONSIVE TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE EUROPA LANDER SDT. COLOR FILTERS ON THE CRSI INCLUDE THOSE OF THE EUROPA IMAGING SYSTEM (EIS) ON EUROPA CLIPPER. AN LED FLASHLIGHT PERMITS OPERATION OF THE CRSI AT NIGHT AND CAN ILLUMINATE SHADOWS WHERE BIOSIGNATURES MAY BE PREFERENTIALLY PRESERVED. LEDS AND FILTERS PERMIT A FLUORESCENCE INVESTIGATION TO IDENTIFY BIOGENIC MOLECULES BOTH ON EUROPA AND TERRESTRIAL CONTAMINATION ON THE SPACECRAFT. WE LEVERAGE PARALLEL DEVELOPMENT WORK ON THERMALLY QUALIFYING DETECTORS FOR C-LIFE (SUPPORTED BY COLDTECH) AND DEVELOPING OUR LANDER DESCENT CAMERA CONCEPT DIEHARD (SUPPORTED BY JPL). C-LIFE FULFILLS SDT REQUIREMENTS; YET RISKS REMAIN BEFORE TRL 6 CAN BE CLAIMED. IN THIS PROPOSAL WE IDENTIFY THE HIGHEST RISKS AND DESCRIBE DESIGN STUDIES THAT QUANTIFY AND REDUCE THEM. DESIGN OPTIMIZATION IN YEAR 1 WILL MAXIMIZE SCIENCE CAPABILITIES WHILE DEFINING THE RESOURCES TO INFORM THE ACCOMMODATION STUDY AT THE SPACECRAFT LEVEL. THESE STUDIES RESULT IN A TEST PLAN DURING YEAR 2 THAT REDUCES RISK ON IDENTIFIED COMPONENTS WHICH DESIGN CHOICES ALONE CANNOT RESOLVE. THEREFORE THE GOALS FOR C-LIFE UNDER THIS CONTRACT INCLUDE: 1. MATURE OUR ELECTRONICS DESIGN TO ACCOMMODATE THE AUTOMATION IMAGE PROCESSING AND COMPRESSION NEEDS OF THE RESCOPED MISSION WITH PARTNERS AT SPACE DYNAMICS LAB (SDL). 2. UNDERTAKE RADIATION MODELING WITH PARTNERS AT BALL AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION (BATC) TO REFINE OUR DESIGN AND IDENTIFY LOCATIONS WHERE SPOT SHIELDING IS REQUIRED. 3. RADIATION AND THERMAL TESTS OF KEY COMPONENTS IN THE RELEVANT ENVIRONMENT AS REQUIRED. 4. DESIGN TO PLANETARY-PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS ENSURING ALL COMPONENTS WILL SURVIVE DHMR. WE LEVERAGE OUR EXTENSIVE INSTRUMENT EXPERIENCE [PHOENIX SSI AND RAC CASSINI-HUYGENS DISR MARS PATHFINDER IMP OSIRIS-REX OCAMS] AND FACILITIES AT THE LUNAR AND PLANETARY LABORATORY (LPL) SRI SDL AND BATC TO ACCOMPLISH THESE TASKS. THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA (UA) IS COMMITTED TO THE SUCCESS OF C-LIFE WITH A FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION OF $209 955. THE C-LIFE MI IS NOT MATURED UNDER ICEE-2. THE CRSI MATURATION WE PROPOSE PRODUCES A VIABLE MI CONCEPTUAL DESIGN AT NO EXTRA COST. DURING ICEE-2 WE WILL DISCUSS CONTEXT MICROSCOPY WITH VAULT-INSTRUMENT TEAMS SINCE IT IS VALUABLE TO SAMPLE-ANALYSIS ENABLING US TO CONTRIBUTE THE MI TO A VAULT INSTRUMENT PROPOSAL. | 2019-03-18 → 2023-03-17 | $2.0M |
| 80NSSC25K7460 | 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 | 2024-12-05 → 2027-12-04 | $1.7M |
| NNX17AJ52G | THE RESEARCH UNDERTAKEN BY THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA IN SUPPORT OF THE LUNAR RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER'S LUNAR EXPLORATION NEUTRON DETECTOR (LEND) INSTRUMENT THROUGH DERIVED LEND DATA PRODUCTS CONSISTING OF CALIBRATED OBSERVATIONS THAT INCLUDE SPECIAL EPHEMERIS IN EACH RECORD AND AVERAGED LEND DATA PRODUCTS CONSISTING OF REGIONAL AVERAGES BASED ON LUNAR LATITUDE/LONGITUDE AND LOW RESOLUTION TIME AVERAGES IS USED BY THE INSTRUMENT TEAM AND OTHER SCIENTISTS AROUND THE WORLD IN DETERMINING THE NATURE OF VOLATILES DEPOSITED IN THE MOON'S POLAR REGION FOR WHICH LEND IS ONE OF THE PRIMARY INSTRUMENTS PROVIDING DATA. | 2017-03-16 → ? | $1.6M |
| 80NSSC25K7458 | 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 | 2024-12-05 → 2027-12-04 | $924K |
| 2214700 | MRI: ACQUISITION OF A MULTICOLLECTOR ? INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA ? MASS SPECTROMETER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA FOR EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE RESEARCH, EDUCATION AND OUTRE -THIS MRI AWARD PROVIDES FUNDING TO ACQUIRE A NEXT-GENERATION MULTICOLLECTOR ? INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA MASS SPECTROMETER (MC-ICPMS) EQUIPPED WITH A COLLISION/REACTION CELL AND MS/MS MASS FILTER. THE INSTRUMENT WILL BE HOUSED WITHIN THE ARIZONA LASERCHRON CENTER (ALC), AN NSF-SUPPORTED COMMUNITY FACILITY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA (UA) THAT SUPPORTS RESEARCH IN EARTH SCIENCES. IT WILL BE CO-MANAGED BETWEEN ALC AND THE ARIZONA HEAVY ISOTOPES LABORATORY (AHIL). SCIENCE QUESTIONS PURSUED BY ALC AND AHIL RESEARCHERS INCLUDE RECONSTRUCTING THE IGNEOUS EVOLUTION OF EARTH, MOON, MARS, AND OTHER PLANETARY MATERIALS; THE TIMING OF VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS; TECTONIC EVOLUTION AND UPLIFT OF MOUNTAIN RANGES; TRANSPORT AND ACCUMULATION OF SEDIMENTS; FORMATION OF BASE METAL DEPOSITS AND OTHER STRATEGIC AND ENERGY RESOURCES; RECONSTRUCTING THE HISTORY OF EARTH?S CLIMATE, INCLUDING PATTERNS OF ICE SHEETS AND TRACING OF AEOLIAN (LOESS) DEPOSITS. THE NEW INSTRUMENT WILL DIRECTLY SUPPORT THE RESEARCH EFFORTS OF ~350 FACULTY MEMBERS, PROFESSIONAL GEOLOGISTS, AND STUDENTS THAT VISIT THE ALC EACH YEAR, BY MAKING STATE-OF-THE-ART ANALYTICAL METHODS ACCESSIBLE TO THE BROADER EARTH SCIENCE COMMUNITY. FURTHERMORE, THE INSTRUMENT WILL PROVIDE NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS AND RESEARCHERS TO LEARN THE THEORY AND METHODS OF MASS SPECTROMETRY; DATA ACQUISITION AND PROCESSING; AND OFFER EDUCATIONAL AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES FOR A BROAD USER BASE INCLUDING PARTICIPANTS FROM UNDER-REPRESENTED MINORITY GROUPS IN STEM. THE NEW MC-ICPMS WILL COMPLEMENT OTHER ICPMS AND LASER-ABLATION SYSTEMS AVAILABLE AT ALC BY ENABLING IMPROVED ACCURACY/PRECISION USING EXISTING ANALYTICAL METHODS, DEVELOPMENT OF NEW TECHNIQUES ONLY ACHIEVABLE WITH THE PROPOSED INSTRUMENTATION, AS WELL AS INCREASING ANALYTICAL CAPACITY. IN PARTICULAR, RESEARCH IN ALC WILL EMPHASIZE: I) DEVELOPING NEW TECHNIQUES IN LASER-BASED MC-ICPMS GEOCHRONOLOGY THAT TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF THE NOVEL COLLISION/REACTION CELL AND MS/MS CAPABILITIES (E.G., RB-SR); AND II) PROVIDING GREATER CAPACITY TO MEET THE GROWING COMMUNITY DEMANDS FOR U-TH/PB GEOCHRONOLOGY AND COMPLEMENTARY LU-HF ISOTOPE ANALYSIS. WE ANTICIPATE THAT IN-SITU RB-SR METHODS APPLIED TO FELDSPAR AND MICA WILL TRANSFORM PETROCHRONOLOGY AND DETRITAL MINERAL STUDIES IN MUCH THE SAME WAY THAT ZIRCON U-PB HAS IMPACTED MANY DIFFERENT AREAS OF EARTH SCIENCE RESEARCH. AHIL RESEARCH WILL EMPHASIZE THE DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF EMERGING TECHNIQUES IN NON-TRADITIONAL STABLE ISOTOPES OF TI, ZR, AND HF IN BULK-ROCKS AND MINERALS TO STUDY HIGH-TEMPERATURE PETROLOGIC PROCESSES INFLUENCING MAGMATISM, FLUID FLOW, CRUST-MANTLE DIFFERENTIATION, AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF CRITICAL ELEMENTS. THROUGH CONNECTIONS WITH RESEARCHERS IN THE UA LUNAR AND PLANETARY LABORATORY, WE WILL LEVERAGE THESE NOVEL CAPABILITIES TO STUDY ASPECTS OF PLANETARY GEOCHEMISTRY/GEOCHRONOLOGY THAT BEAR ON EARTH?S ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION. THROUGH COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND RESEARCH TRAINING FOR UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS AND POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS, THE PI/CO-PIS WILL ENSURE THAT THE NEW MC-ICPMS TAKES ADVANTAGE OF UA?S POSITION AS AN R1 HISPANIC SERVING INSTITUTION AND AMERICAN INDIAN AND ALASKA NATIVE-SERVING INSTITUTION FOR ENHANCING DIVERSITY IN GEOSCIENCES, WHILE ADDRESSING EXCITING NEW QUESTIONS IN PETROLOGY, GEOCHEMISTRY, TECTONICS, AND PLANETARY SCIENCES. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA. | 2022-08-15 → 2024-07-31 | $810K |
| NNX17AF69G | EUROPA AND OTHER OCEAN WORLDS MAY POSSESS EXTANT LIFE; SENDING A LANDER HAS BECOME A HIGH PRIORITY. SEVERAL TYPES OF IMAGING ARE NEEDED TO ADVANCE THE SCIENCE AND OPERATIONS. COLD-LIGHTWEIGHT IMAGERS FOR EUROPA (C-LIFE) IS AN INSTRUMENT SUITE CONTAINING A STEREOSCOPIC COLOR IMAGER (SI) AND A UNIOCULAR MICROSCOPIC POLARIZING IMAGER (MI). THE SI ACHIEVES RESOLUTIONS OF 1 MM/PIXEL FROM A RANGE OF 3M IN 3 COLOR FILTERS WHILE THE MI ILLUMINATES SAMPLES WITH FILTERED LEDS AND CHARACTERIZES ICE GRAINS AND NON-ICE MATERIALS DOWN TO PLATE SCALES OF 10 MICRONS/PIXEL. C-LIFE OBJECTIVES ARE TO: (1) SEARCH FOR EVIDENCE OF BIOMARKERS AND/OR LIFE PARTICULARLY WITH THE MICROSCOPIC IMAGER; (2) CHARACTERIZE SURFACE PROPERTIES AND LOCAL GEOLOGIC CONTEXT; AND (3) GUIDE SURFACE ACTIVITIES FOR SAMPLE COLLECTION. SMALL CAMERAS ON LANDED MISSIONS REPRESENT A MATURE TECHNOLOGY FOR MISSIONS TO MARS BUT NOT IN THE THERMAL AND RADIATION ENVIRONMENTS OF EUROPA AND OTHER OCEAN WORLDS ESPECIALLY GIVEN SEVERE MASS AND POWER LIMITATIONS. FOR EXAMPLE MASS AND POWER LIMITATIONS DRIVE US TO USE SMALL PIXEL FORMAT CMOS DETECTORS THAT LACK ADEQUATE TESTING. WE EXPECT ELECTRONICS INSIDE THE SHIELDED LANDER WILL HAVE A HIGH TRL BUT THE EXTERNAL CAMERA COMPONENTS REQUIRE DEVELOPMENT TO MEET THE CHALLENGING REQUIREMENTS SUCH AS VERY LOW MASS AND POWER RADIATION TOLERANCE AND PLANETARY PROTECTION PROTOCOLS. THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA LUNAR AND PLANETARY LABORATORY (UA LPL) PLANS TO PROPOSE SUCH AN INSTRUMENT CONCEPT FOR A EUROPA LANDER AND OTHER OCEAN-WORLD LANDERS IN THE FUTURE. THE UA TEAM HAS EXTENSIVE RELEVANT EXPERIENCE INCLUDING PHOENIX SSI AND RAC CASSINI-HUYGENS DISR MARS PATHFINDER IMP AND MOST RECENTLY OSIRIS-REX OCAMS. IN THIS COLDTECH EFFORT WE ADVANCE THE QUALIFICATION OF SEVERAL KEY ELEMENTS OF C-LIFE IN READINESS FOR FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES TO OCEAN WORLDS BY: (1) DEVELOPING A DETECTOR TESTBED CAPABLE OF DOWN-SELECTING CANDIDATE CMOS DEVICES (2) TESTING CMOS DETECTORS FILTERS AND MICRO-POLARIZING ARRAYS IN RELEVANT ENVIRONMENTS (3) MEASURING THE REFRACTIVE INDICES OF RAD-HARD LENSES AT OCEANWORLD TEMPERATURES (4) FABRICATING AND TESTING A SAMPLE TRANSPORT MECHANISM TO DELIVER SAMPLES TO THE MI AND (5) CONSTRUCTING ENGINEERING MODELS OF THE MI AND SI AND TESTING IN RELEVANT ENVIRONMENTS. WE EXPECT THE KEY SUBSYSTEMS TO PROGRESS FROM TRL 3 OR 4 TO TRL 5 OR 6 VIA THIS PROPOSED EFFORT. TO ACHIEVE THESE GOALS WE ARE PARTNERING WITH THE SPACE DYNAMICS LABORATORY (SDL) WHICH PROVIDES SOME KEY CAPABILITIES AND FACILITIES TO COMPLEMENT THOSE AT UA. TOGETHER WITH OUR SDL PARTNERS WE WILL THERMAL AND RADIATION TEST A NUMBER OF PROMISING NEW COMMERCIAL OFF-THE-SHELF CMOS DETECTORS TO IDENTIFY THE BEST CANDIDATE FOR C-LIFE. WE WILL ALSO COLLABORATE WITH INDUSTRIAL PARTNERS SUCH AS E2V AND ONSEMI FOR DETECTORS 4D TECHNOLOGY FOR MICROPOLARIMETER ARRAYS AND PIXELTEQ FOR FILTERS. PROTOTYPES OF THE SUCCESSFUL SI AND MI DESIGN WILL BE FABRICATED AND TESTED UNDER RELEVANT ENVIRONMENTS AT UA TO ACHIEVE TRL 5/6. INCREASING THE TECHNICAL READINESS OF C-LIFE DIRECTLY ADDRESSES COLDTECH OBJECTIVES TO DEVELOP AND ADVANCE THE MATURITY OF SCIENCE INSTRUMENTS FOCUSED ON UNDERSTANDING HABITABILITY AND THE DETECTION OF EVIDENCE OF LIFE IN THE OCEAN WORLDS OF THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM. RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE UPCOMING EUROPA LANDER SCIENCE DEFINITION TEAM REPORT WILL BE FOLDED INTO OUR DESIGN TO THE EXTENT POSSIBLE WHEN THE REPORT BECOMES AVAILABLE. | 2017-02-02 → ? | $799K |
| 80NSSC22K1340 | 21-LDAP21_2-0025 A GRAIL GRAVITY INVESTIGATION OF LUNAR VOLCANISM AND MAGMATISM | 2022-09-01 → 2026-08-31 | $581K |
| 80NSSC24K0543 | HOW WET IS THE MOON INSIGHT FROM HYDROGEN PARTITIONING DURING LUNAR MAGMA OCEAN CRYSTALLIZATION | 2024-02-01 → 2027-01-31 | $549K |
| 80NSSC19K0817 | THE LONG-TERM SCIENTIFIC GOAL IS TO USE MACHINE LEARNING TO ENABLE SYSTEMATIC APPROACHES TOWARDS THE SOLUTION OF PROBLEMS SUCH AS EARTH-MOON SYSTEM FORMATION AND METAL-DOMINATED WORLDS LIKE MERCURY AND ASTEROID PSYCHE AND THE OVERALL DIVERSITY OF | 2019-04-15 → 2023-10-31 | $548K |
| 80NSSC25K7871 | 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. | 2025-07-01 → 2028-06-30 | $540K |
| NNX15AL60G | LUNAR IMPACT MELT FLOWS: GEOLOGICAL MAPPING, EXPERIMENTAL SIMULATION, AND NUMERICAL MODELING IMPACT CRATERING PROCESSES CAN RESULT IN RAPID MELTING A | 2015-10-01 → ? | $511K |
| 80NSSC21M0311 | ADVANCING SITE PREPARATION EXCAVATION AND MINING TECHNOLOGIES IN SUPPORT OF FUTURE LUNAR MISSIONS. | ? → ? | $495K |
| 80NSSC25K7433 | 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. | 2025-01-20 → 2029-01-19 | $483K |
| 80NSSC19K0803 | THE RELEASE OF SAMPLE 71036 PRESENTS A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY VOLATILES IN A BASALT THAT HAS BEEN FROZEN AND SPECIALLY PRESERVED SINCE ITS RETURN AND TO COMPARE THOSE RESULTS WITH BASALTS OF SIMILAR BULK CHEMISTRIES (71055 71035 &71037) THAT HAVE BEEN STORED AT ROOM TEMPERATURE. THIS EXCEPTIONAL SUITE OF BASALTS ALSO OFFERS A CHANCE TO UNRAVEL THE HISTORY OF VOLATILE LOSS ON THE MOON FROM THE ONSET OF MINERAL CRYSTALLIZATION THROUGH VESICLE FORMATION SAMPLING AND SUBSEQUENT CURATION. THIS IS A PROPOSAL REQUESTING THREE YEARS OF FUNDING TO CARRY OUT A DETAILED STUDY OF THE MAJOR MINOR AND VOLATILE ELEMENT CHEMISTRY (INCLUDING H ISOTOPES) OF HBEARING MINERALS AND MELT INCLUSIONS IN FOUR APOLLO 17 BASALTS TO DOCUMENT THE OCCURRENCE AND MINERALOGY OF VUGS AND VESICLES AND TO DETERMINE THE U-PB AGES OF THE BASALTS. THE PRIMARY GOALS OF THIS CONSORTIA STUDY ARE TO: 1) COMPARE FOR THE FIRST TIME THE ISOTOPIC COMPOSITION OF AND ABUNDANCE OF WATER IN H-BEARING MINERALS AND MELT INCLUSIONS OF LUNAR BASALTS CURATED AT ROOM TEMPERATURE AND A LUNAR BASALT THAT HAS BEEN FROZEN FOR MORE THAN 40 YEARS. THIS WILL ELUCIDATE THE EFFECTS (IF ANY) OF CURATION PREPARATION AND STORAGE METHODS ON THE EXCHANGE OF WATER BETWEEN SAMPLES AND THE TERRESTRIAL ATMOSPHERE; 2) COMPARE THE VOLATILE INVENTORIES (INCLUDING H ISOTOPES AND H CL AND S ABUNDANCES) OF LUNAR MINERALS AND GLASSES FROM SAMPLES PREPARED USING DIFFERENT SAMPLE PREPARATION TECHNIQUES TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT THAT SAMPLE PREPARATION HAS ON OUR ABILITY TO DIFFERENTIATE LUNAR VS TERRESTRIAL VOLATILE SIGNATURES; 3) DETERMINE THE ABUNDANCE FORM CHEMISTRY AND MINERALOGY OF VUGS AND VESICLES WHICH TOGETHER WITH H ABUNDANCE AND H ISOTOPE DATA (FROM GOALS 1+2) WILL BE USED TO EVALUATE CRITICALLY THE DEGASSING HISTORY OF LUNAR BASALTS AT THE APOLLO 17 SITE; AND 4) DEFINE THE ERUPTION AGE OF EACH OF THE FOUR BASALTS TO DETERMINE IF THEY ARE FROM THE SAME LAVA FLOW. AGE CONSTRAINTS WILL THEN ALLOW US TO PLACE OUR VOLATILE DATA INTO THE WIDER CONTEXT OF THE MAGMATIC SUITE. GOALS 1 AND 2 REQUIRE SAMPLES THAT HAVE BEEN PREPARED IN INDIUM METAL ALONG WITH EXISTING AND NEW EPOXY MOUNTED THIN SECTIONS. THOSE GOALS WILL INVOLVE CHEMICAL AND TEXTURAL ANALYSES OF PHASES BY SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE AND ELECTRON PROBE MICRO-ANALYZER AS WELL AS CHEMICAL (H ABUNDANCE) AND H ISOTOPES OF SUITABLE PHASES (APATITE OLIVINE PYROXENE MELT INCLUSIONS) BY SECONDARY ION MASS SPECTROMETRY (SIMS AND NANOSIMS). GOAL 3 WILL INVOLVE X-RAY COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY OF THE AMBIENT ROCK CHIPS TO DOCUMENT VESICLE DISTRIBUTION AND CHARACTERISTICS. GOAL 3 WILL ALSO UTILIZE FOCUSED ION BEAM TO MILL SECTIONS FROM VESICLES/VUGS FOR TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY OF CRYSTALS AND VAPOR DEPOSITS TO MAKE TEXTURAL CHEMICAL AND MINERALOGIC OBSERVATIONS. GOAL 4 CONSISTS OF U-PB DATING OF ZR-BEARING MINERALS AND PHOSPHATES IN EXISTING THIN SECTIONS AND A NEW THIN SECTION OF 71036 BY SIMS. RELEVANCE TO NASA AND APOLLO NEXT GENERATION SAMPLE ANALYSIS. WE WILL EXAMINE THE VOLATILE RECORD OF A COLD-CURATED APOLLO 17 BASALT AS WELL AS THREE OTHER BASALTS COLLECTED DURING THE SAME MISSION THAT WERE CURATED CONVENTIONALLY. THE USE OF FROZEN SAMPLE 71036 IS CRITICAL TO THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS STUDY AND WILL PERMIT QUANTIFICATION OF THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT CURATION METHODS AND SAMPLE PREPARATION TECHNIQUES ON THE INDIGENOUS H BUDGET OF THE SAMPLES AN IMPORTANT PROBLEM TO SOLVE IN PREPARATION FOR FUTURE LUNAR MISSIONS ANTICIPATED IN THE 2020S AND BEYOND. OUR DIVERSE CONSORTIA APPROACH IS REQUIRED TO FULLY UNDERSTAND THE INDIGENOUS VOLATILE HISTORY OF THIS SUITE OF BASALTS AND WILL MAXIMIZE THE SCIENCE DERIVED FROM SAMPLES RETURNED BY THE APOLLO MISSION ALMOST FIFTY YEARS AGO. | 2019-04-29 → 2026-04-09 | $466K |
| 80NSSC20K0334 | THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED WORK IS TO ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE EARLY EVOLUTION OF THE EARTH-MOON SYSTEM (EMS) DURING THE FIRST FEW TENS OF MYR OF SOLAR SYSTEM HISTORY. | 2020-02-01 → 2025-12-31 | $403K |
| NNX15AP93G | WE PROPOSE TO MAP AND ANALYZE THE EJECTA BLANKETS OF SMALL FRESH CRATERS USING LUNAR RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER LRO IMAGERY, RADAR AND TOPOGRAPHIC DATA, | 2015-07-10 → 2019-11-27 | $398K |
| NNX16AQ05G | TRUE POLAR WANDER OF TERRESTRIAL PLANETS AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE LONG-TERM STABILITY OF POLAR VOLATILESTHE COLD PERMANENTLY SHADOWED POLAR REGIONS OF THE MOON AND MERCURY POSSESS SUBSTANTIAL RESERVOIRS OF NEARSURFACEWATER ICE. DESPITE TWENTY YEARS OF STUDY FROM A COMBINATION OF SPACECRAFT (LUNAR PROSPECTOR LRO LCROSS MESSENGER ETC.) AND GROUND-BASED FACILITIES THE EXACT ORIGIN AND NATURE OF THESE POLAR DEPOSITS REMAIN UNKNOWN. IN PARTICULAR IT IS UNCERTAIN WHETHER THESE DEPOSITS REPRESENT ANCIENT POSSIBLY PRISTINE REMNANTS OF EARLY ASTEROIDAL AND COMETARY IMPACTS OR IF THEY ARE BEINGCONTINUALLY REPLENISHED THROUGH BOMBARDMENT OF WATER-RICH MICROMETEOROIDS AND IMPLANTATION OF HYDROGEN FROM THE SOLAR WIND. FOR THESE DEPOSITS TO BE ANCIENT THE PRESENT-DAY SPIN STATE OF THESE BODIES MUST NOT HAVE CHANGED SIGNIFICANTLY OTHERWISE PRESENT PERMANENTLY SHADOWED REGIONS WOULD BE EXPOSED TO SUNLIGHT AND SUBLIMATE ANY WATER. HOWEVER MANY GEOLOGIC PROCESSES CAN ALTER THESPIN STATES OF PLANETARY BODIES. THE FORMATION OF IMPACT BASINS FLOOD VOLCANISM AND MANTLE PLUMES CAN ALTER THE PLANETS MOMENTS OF INERTIA RESULTING IN TRUE POLAR WANDER (TPW; REORIENTATION OF THE SPIN AXIS RELATIVE TO SURFACE GEOGRAPHY). THESE PROCESSES CAN ALSO AFFECT THE OBLIQUITY EVOLUTION OF THESE BODIES WHICH HAS SIGNIFICANT IMPLICATIONS FOR STABILITY OF POLAR WATER. THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THIS PROPOSED WORK IS TO IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE SPIN STATE EVOLUTION OF THE MOON AND MERCURY AND TO DIRECTLY CONSTRAIN THE AGE (AND THUS NATURE) OF POLAR ICE ON THESE BODIES. | 2016-09-01 → 2023-04-30 | $379K |
| 80NSSC21K1478 | THE PROPOSED WORK FALLS WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE LUNAR DATA ANALYSIS PROGRAM BECAUSE IT WILL ENHANCE THE SCIENTIFIC RETURN FROM THE LUNAR PROSPECTOR KAGUYA AND APOLLO SUBSATELLITE ORBITAL MISSIONS. | 2021-09-01 → 2024-12-31 | $323K |
| 80NSSC18K0881 | WHISTLERS ARE BURSTS OF EXTREMELY LOW FREQUENCY (ELF) AND VERY LOW FREQUENCY (VLF) WAVES THAT TRAVEL THROUGH THE PLASMASPHERE. DISPERSION CAUSES THE HIGHER FREQUENCY PORTION OF THE EMISSION TO ARRIVE BEFORE THE LOWER FREQUENCY CAUSING WHISTLE SOUND. WHISTLERS CAN BE TRIGGERED BY LIGHTNING STRIKES ELECTRON TEMPERATURE ANISOTROPY AND OTHER WAVE-WAVE OR WAVE-PARTICLE-WAVE INTERACTIONS. THE WAVES TRAVEL ALONG MAGNETIC FIELDS AND THE CHANGES THE WAVE UNDERGOES PROVIDES INFORMATION ABOUT THE ELECTRON DENSITY PATH LENGTH AND IONIZATION IN THE OUTER ATMOSPHERE. ADDITIONALLY THESE WAVES CAN ENERGIZE PARTICLES CAUSING ELECTRON ACCELERATION AND AIDING IN THE ESCAPE OF IONS (E.G. HELLIWELL 1965; DAVIES 1990) . ENERGETIC ELECTRON FLUX VARIATIONS HAVE BEEN OBSERVED TO VARY BY THREE ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE AT EARTH (BAKER ET AL. 1986 1997 1998A 1998B) AND SATELLITES HAVE BEEN DAMAGED BY THESE VARIATIONS (E.G. BAKER ET AL. 1998C; BAKER 2001; HORNE 2003) HORNE ET AL. 2005 THREE CASES OF WHISTLERS IN MARS MAGNETOSPHERE CAUSED BY CYCLOTRON RESONANCE WITH ELECTRON ANISOTROPY HAVE BEEN PRESENTED (HARADA ET AL. 2016). WE PROPOSE AN EXTENSIVE SEARCH FOR AND CHARACTERIZATION OF WHISTLERS IN THE ENTIRE MARTIAN PLASMA ENVIRONMENT. A NEURAL NETWORK WILL BE DEVELOPED TO AID IN THE ANALYSIS OF THE OVER THREE YEARS OF MARS ATMOSPHERE AND VOLATILE EVOLUTION (MAVEN) MAGNETOMETER (MAG) AND LANGMUIR PROBE AND WAVES (LPW) DATA. WE WILL SEARCH FOR WHISTLERS IN THE MARTIAN MAGNETOSPHERE BOW SHOCK AND IONOSPHERE. AN ANALYSIS OF THE SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL DISTRIBUTION OF WHISTLERS WILL PROVIDE CLUES FOR THE VARIOUS PROCESSES THAT MAY BE CAUSING THE WHISTLERS INCLUDING ELECTRON TEMPERATURE ANISOTROPY AND LIGHTNING. A COMPARISON BETWEEN MARS AND EARTH WHISTLER ACTIVITY MAY ALSO REVEAL IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES IN BEHAVIOR CAUSED BY MARS LACK OF AN INTRINSIC GLOBAL MAGNETIC FIELD. WE WILL BE ABLE TO DETERMINE THE EXTENT TO WHICH WHISTLERS AID IN PARTICLE ACCELERATION AND ION ESCAPE ON MARS. THIS IS IMPORTANT FOR UNDERSTANDING THE MARTIAN PLASMA ENVIRONMENT AND POTENTIAL DANGERS TO PRESENT AND FUTURE MISSIONS. THIS WORK WILL BE A COLLABORATION BETWEEN TRACY ESMAN (UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA LUNAR AND PLANETARY LABORATORY) JOE GIACALONE (UA LPL) JARED ESPLEY (GSFC) AND JACOB GRUESBECK (GSFC). | 2018-05-21 → 2022-09-30 | $322K |
| 80NSSC23K0839 | EO14042 SESAR-LITE: PROBING THE LUNAR SUBSURFACE TO MEET ARTEMIS SCIENCE GOALS | 2023-03-31 → 2027-03-30 | $276K |
| NNX14AL54G | SINUOUS CHANNELS ARE COMMON ON THE SURFACE OF MANY PLANETS AND MOONS. IN SOME PLANETARY ENVIRONMENTS, SUCH AS VENUS, THE MOON, AND IO, THE VOLCANIC O | 2014-07-22 → ? | $269K |
| NNX15AH27G | THIS PROPOSAL AIMS TO INVESTIGATE THE LINK BETWEEN THE PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL EVOLUTION OF THE LUNAR SURFACE WITH AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH THAT C | 2015-07-01 → 2020-12-31 | $268K |
| NNX12AI98G | GLOBAL LUNAR FIGURE AND ITS INTERIOR, ORBIT, AND ROTATION THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED WORK IS TO ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE FORMATIO | 2013-04-19 → ? | $249K |
| NNX17AK53G | THE EARLIEST HISTORY OF THE MOON REMAINS POORLY UNDERSTOOD. THE GEOLOGICAL RECORD OF THE FIRST ~600 MYR OF LUNAR EVOLUTION HAS BEEN LARGELY ERASED AS A RESULT OF THE HEAVY BOMBARDMENT OF THE MOON WHICH HAS DESTROYED VIRTUALLY ALL SURFACE RECORD OF PRE-NECTARIAN PROCESSES ASIDE FROM A FEW OF THE LARGEST IMPACT BASINS FORMED DURING THAT TIME [WILHELMS 1987]. ON THE NEARSIDE OF THE MOON THE EARLY GEOLOGIC RECORD HAS BEEN FURTHER OBFUSCATED BY THE EXTENSIVE RESURFACING BY THE MARIA. HOWEVER THIS EARLY PERIOD WOULD HAVE BEEN CHARACTERIZED BY A HIGH HEAT FLUX AND ENHANCED RATE OF INTERNALLY DRIVEN GEODYNAMIC VOLCANIC AND TECTONIC ACTIVITY AND THUS IS A CRITICAL CHAPTER IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE MOON. FORTUNATELY A SUBSURFACE RECORD OF THE EARLY EVOLUTION OF THE MOON MAY PERSIST AND CAN BE PROBED WITH THE USE OF GRAVITY DATA. GRAVITY DATA IS USEFUL FOR STUDYING ANY PROCESS THAT LEAVES A SIGNATURE IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF DENSITY IN THE SUBSURFACE. ANCIENT INTRUSIVE ACTIVITY MAY HAVE GENERATED DISCRETE ZONES OF INCREASED DENSITY WITHIN THE CRUST VARIATIONS IN HEAT FLOW MAY HAVE AFFECTED CRUSTAL POROSITY TECTONIC AND IMPACT PROCESSES MAY HAVE UPLIFTED THE CRUST-MANTLE INTERFACE AND VOLCANIC PROCESSES MAY HAVE BURIED THE ANCIENT TOPOGRAPHY RESULTING IN VARIATIONS IN THE THICKNESS OF THE VOLCANIC FILL. INTERPRETATIONS OF LOW-RESOLUTION PRE-GRAIL GRAVITY DATASETS HAVE BEEN LARGELY LIMITED TO SIMPLE ASSUMPTIONS OF VARIATIONS IN THE THICKNESS AND ISOSTATIC STATE OF A UNIFORM DENSITY CRUST OVERLYING A UNIFORM DENSITY MANTLE [E.G. NEUMANN ET AL. 1996; WIECZOREK AND PHILLIPS 1998; 1999; ANDREWS-HANNA 2013]. GRAIL OBSERVATIONS HAVE SHOWN THESE ASSUMPTIONS TO BE INCORRECT AT ALL SCALES. LARGE-SCALE VARIATIONS IN CRUSTAL DENSITY HAVE BEEN MAPPED OUT USING THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE GRAVITY AND THE TOPOGRAPHY [WIECZOREK ET AL. 2013]. AT THE SAME TIME SMALLSCALE GRAVITY ANOMALIES CANNOT ARISE FROM CRUSTAL THICKNESS VARIATIONS BECAUSE OF THE EXTREME ATTENUATION OF SHORT WAVELENGTH ANOMALIES AS THEY ARE PROPAGATED FROM THE CRUST-MANTLE INTERFACE TO THE SURFACE AND THEREFORE THESE ANOMALIES MUST REFLECT SMALL-SCALE SHALLOW DENSITY VARIATIONS WITHIN THE CRUST. THE PROPOSED WORK WILL USE GRAIL GRAVITY DATA TO INVESTIGATE DENSITY ANOMALIES WITHIN THE LUNAR CRUST AT A RANGE OF SCALES AND IN A VARIETY OF GEODYNAMIC SETTINGS. | 2017-05-24 → 2021-05-23 | $209K |
| 80NSSC18K1602 | OBJECTIVES: TO PRODUCE IMPROVED LOW-ALTITUDE CRUSTAL MAGNETIC FIELD MAPS OF SELECTED LUNAR REGIONS AND APPLY THEM TO TWO UNRESOLVED PROBLEMS: (1) MODELING OF MAGNETIC ANOMALIES IN IMPACT BASINS TO DETERMINE MORE RELIABLE PALEOMAGNETIC POLE POSITIONS AND A BETTER EVALUATION OF EVIDENCE FOR TRUE POLAR WANDER [1-4]; AND (2) A CORRELATIVE STUDY OF CRUSTAL FIELDS WITH SURFACE GEOLOGY AND GRAIL GRAVITY DATA AROUND THE ORIENTALE IMPACT BASIN FOR THE PURPOSE OF DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN THE DIKE INTRUSION AND EJECTA DEPOSIT HYPOTHESES FOR THE ORIGIN OF MAGNETIC ANOMALIES IN THE LUNAR HIGHLANDS [5-8]. METHODS/TECHNIQUES: IN YEAR 1 WORK WILL FOCUS ON (A) PRODUCING IMPROVED REGIONAL MAPS OF THE LUNAR CRUSTAL MAGNETIC FIELD WITHIN 13 LUNAR IMPACT BASINS WHERE MAGNETIC SOURCES CAN BE RELIABLY ASSUMED TO HAVE FORMED BY SLOW COOLING IN THE FORMER CORE DYNAMO MAGNETIC FIELD; AND (B) BEGIN APPLYING PARKER'S METHOD [9 4] TO DETERMINE PALEOMAGNETIC POLE POSITIONS AS A FUNCTION OF BASIN RELATIVE AGE. THE FIELD MAPS WILL BE IMPROVED IN TWO MAIN WAYS [10]. FIRST ONLY THE BEST AVAILABLE MEASUREMENTS OVER A GIVEN REGION FROM EITHER THE LUNAR PROSPECTOR OR KAGUYA MISSIONS WILL BE CONSIDERED (LOWEST ALTITUDE AND LEAST EXTERNAL FIELD CONTAMINATION). SECOND A REFINED EQUIVALENT SOURCE DIPOLE TECHNIQUE WILL BE USED TOGETHER WITH THE OBSERVED RADIAL FIELD COMPONENT TO PRODUCE MAPS OF THE THREE VECTOR FIELD COMPONENTS AND THE FIELD MAGNITUDE AT A CONSTANT ALTITUDE. IN YEAR 2 THE MODELING/INVERSION OF ANOMALIES WITHIN IMPACT BASINS WILL BE COMPLETED AND RESULTS WILL BE SUBMITTED FOR PUBLICATION. IN YEAR 3 A MAGNETIC ANOMALY MAP WILL BE PRODUCED FOR THE REGION AROUND THE ORIENTALE BASIN WHERE HIGH-RESOLUTION GRAVITY GRADIOMETRY DATA FOR IDENTIFYING LIKELY DIKE INTRUSIONS ARE AVAILABLE AND WHERE THE DISTRIBUTION OF LIGHT PLAINS REPRESENTING OUTER EJECTA DEPOSITS OF THIS BASIN-FORMING IMPACT HAS RECENTLY BEEN MAPPED. CORRELATIVE STUDIES WILL THEN EVALUATE WHETHER MAGNETIC ANOMALIES ARE ASSOCIATED WITH LINEAR GRAVITY ANOMALIES (INDICATIVE OF SUBSURFACE DIKE INTRUSIONS) AND/OR WITH SURFACE GEOLOGIC UNITS INTERPRETED AS EJECTA FROM ORIENTALE. RESULTS WILL BE SUBMITTED FOR PUBLICATION. SIGNIFICANCE/RELEVANCE:THE WORK ADDRESSES TWO UNRESOLVED PROBLEMS IN LUNAR SCIENCE: THE OCCURRENCE AND HISTORY OF TRUE POLAR WANDER AND THE ORIGIN OF STRONG MAGNETIC ANOMALIES IN THE LUNAR HIGHLANDS. QUITE DIFFERENT HISTORIES OF TRUE POLAR WANDER HAVE BEEN INFERRED BY SEVERAL GROUPS [2 3] BASED ON ``MODELING THE LUNAR GRAVITATIONAL FIELD GLOBAL TOPOGRAPHY AND THE GLOBAL LUNAR FIGURE'' WHICH IS LISTED AS A HIGH PRIORITY AREA OF RESEARCH IN THE MOST RECENT DESCRIPTION OF LDAP (APPENDIX C.8 OF THE ROSES 2016 NRA). THE PLANNED WORK WILL USE MAGNETOMETER DATA FROM THE LDAP-SUPPORTED LUNAR PROSPECTOR AND KAGUYA MISSIONS TO DETERMINE MORE RELIABLE AND DATABLE PALEOMAGNETIC POLE POSITIONS WITH WHICH TO TEST THESE AND OTHER PROPOSED TRUE POLAR WANDER SCENARIOS. LINEAR GRAVITY ANOMALIES IMPLYING IGNEOUS DIKE INTRUSIONS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED IN GRAIL GRAVITY DATA. LINEAR MAGNETIC ANOMALIES HAVE ALSO BEEN SUGGESTED TO IMPLY IGNEOUS DIKE INTRUSION SOURCES [5 6]. THE PLANNED CORRELATIVE STUDY NEAR ORIENTALE WILL ESTABLISH WHETHER LINEAR MAGNETIC AND GRAVITY ANOMALIES ARE RELATED IN THIS REGION OR WHETHER ANOMALIES INSTEAD CORRELATE PRIMARILY WITH ORIENTALE EJECTA DEPOSITS. | 2018-09-01 → 2021-08-31 | $165K |
| 80NSSC23K1371 | COLLISIONAL DYNAMICS OF THE LATE VENEER AND HOW THE MOON SURVIVED | 2023-09-01 → 2026-08-31 | $150K |
| 80NSSC23K0530 | 22-SSW22-0010 UNDERSTANDING MAGMATIC VOLATILE LOSS AND ITS EFFECT ON THE PREVALENCE OF EFFUSIVE VS. EXPLOSIVE STYLES OF VOLCANISM ON THE MOON | 2023-03-02 → 2027-01-25 | $134K |
| 80NSSC25M7003 | THE 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. | 2025-09-01 → 2028-08-31 | $129K |
| 80NSSC24K0731 | THE ENIGMA OF EVOLVED LUNAR GRANITES A CONSORTIUM APPROACH TO SOLVING THEIR PETROGENESIS | 2024-02-21 → 2027-02-20 | $125K |
| NNX17AL53G | WE PROPOSE TO BUILD ON THESE PREVIOUS STUDIES TO IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE TECTONIC MECHANISMS ON MERCURY THE MOON AND MARS AND TO IMPROVE OUR ABILITY TO RELATE THE TECTONIC RECORD TO THE STRAIN HISTORY. THE PROPOSED WORK CONSISTS OF THREE TASKS AIMED AT TWO OBJECTIVES: OBJECTIVE 1: CONSTRAIN THE TECTONIC ARCHITECTURE OF LOBATE SCARPS WRINKLE RIDGES AND GRABEN ON MARS THE MOON AND MERCURY TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THEIR FORMATION AND THE ASSOCIATED STRAIN. OBJECTIVE 2: PROVIDE QUANTITATIVE INTERPRETATIONS OF THE STRAIN HISTORY OF MARS AND THE MOON CORRECTING FOR PREDICTED MEMBRANE-FLEXURAL STRESSES IN THE LITHOSPHERE. THESE OBJECTIVES WILL BE MET THROUGH A SET OF THREE TASKS: TASK 1: CHARACTERIZE THE TOPOGRAPHY OF LOBATE SCARPS WRINKLE RIDGES AND GRABEN ON MARS THE MOON AND MERCURY BY GENERATING STATISTICALLY REPRESENTATIVE AVERAGE TOPOGRAPHIC PROFILES PERPENDICULAR TO THE FEATURES TOGETHER WITH THE UNCERTAINTY ON THE AVERAGE PROFILES. TASK 2: INVERT THE TOPOGRAPHIC PROFILES ACROSS THE STRUCTURES FOR THE SUBSURFACE GEOMETRY OF FAULTS USING A MONTE CARLO ANALYSIS IN COMBINATION WITH A BOUNDARY ELEMENT MODEL TO ESTABLISH BEST-FIT VALUES AND CONFIDENCE INTERVALS FOR KEY PARAMETERS (E.G. DIP DISPLACEMENT). TASK 3: USE SPHERICAL HARMONIC MODELS OF MEMBRANE-FLEXURAL STRAINS IN THE LITHOSPHERES OF MARS AND THE MOON TO CORRECT THE INFERRED GLOBAL STRAIN HISTORY FOR COMPETING FLEXURAL EFFECTS. THE RESULTS OF THIS WORK WILL BETTER CONSTRAIN THE TECTONIC ARCHITECTURE OF LOBATE SCARPS WRINKLE RIDGES AND GRABEN AND PROVIDE QUANTITATIVE BOUNDS ON THE STRAIN HISTORIES OF MARS AND THE MOON INCLUDING A FORMAL UNCERTAINTY ANALYSIS. THIS OUTCOME IS OF SIGNIFICANT IMPORT TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THESE BODIES. THE TECTONIC RECORD IS THE MOST DIRECT EVIDENCE WE HAVE FOR THE THERMAL EVOLUTION OF THE PLANETS WHICH IN TURN HAS CLEAR IMPLICATIONS FOR OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE THEIR FORMATION AND EVOLUTION THE INVENTORY OF RADIOACTIVE ELEMENTS THEIR MAGNETIC FIELDS AND THEIR VOLCANIC EVOLUTION. THE RESULTS WILL ALSO IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE TECTONIC PROCESSES THEMSELVES AND THE ACCOMMODATION OF STRAIN IN THE LITHOSPHERES OF THE PLANETS. | 2017-06-09 → ? | $117K |
| 80NSSC24K1709 | INVESTIGATING THE URKREEP ORIGIN OF LUNAR SILICIC MAGMAS | 2024-08-01 → 2027-07-31 | $100K |
| 80NSSC18K0016 | ABSTRACT: WE PROPOSE TO CHARACTERIZE THE SURFACE AND SUBSURFACE STRUCTURE OF VOLCANIC DEPOSITS ON VENUS MOON AND EARTH USING RADAR REMOTE SENSING DATA IN ORDER TO PROVIDE CONSTRAINTS ON HOW THE VOLCANIC FEATURES WERE FORMED. IN TASK 1 WE PROPOSE TO PERFORM A HEMISPHERE-WIDE STUDY FOCUSED ON IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF PYROCLASTIC DEPOSITS ON VENUS USING RADAR POLARIMETRIC DATA. THE MAGNITUDE AND EXTENT OF EXPLOSIVE VOLCANISM ON VENUS IS CURRENTLY UNKNOWN AND UNCONSTRAINED BUT THIS INFORMATION IS IMPORTANT FOR DETERMINING HOW VOLCANISM CONTRIBUTED TO THE CURRENT VENUS CLIMATE. WE WILL REPROCESS PREVIOUSLY ACQUIRED GROUND-BASED VENUS DATA TO PRODUCE TOTAL POWER AND CIRCULAR POLARIZATION RATIO (CPR) IMAGES AT HIGHER RESOLUTION THAN IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE. WE WILL USE OUR NEWLY REPROCESSED HIGH-RESOLUTION CPR DATA WITH THE PREVIOUSLY DERIVED DEGREE OF LINEAR POLARIZATION DATA AND MAGELLAN CONTEXT IMAGES TO DETERMINE IF THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN VOLCANIC MORPHOLOGIC TEXTURES BETWEEN SHIELD FIELDS OF DIFFERENT SIZES AND IN PARTICULAR WHETHER ANY OF THE TEXTURES ARE INDICATIVE OF PYROCLASTIC VOLCANISM. THE REPROCESSED DATA WILL BE PUT INTO PDS FORMAT AND PUBLICLY RELEASED. IN TASK 2 WE WILL USE A COMBINATION OF RADAR AND OPTICAL DATA TO DETERMINE THE TEXTURES OF THE DOME DEPOSITS AND INVESTIGATE THE HYPOTHESIS THAT PYROCLASTIC VOLCANISM WAS ASSOCIATED WITH SOME OF THE DOMES. FOR EACH DOME FIELD IN OUR PROPOSED STUDY WE WILL MAP CHANGES IN RADAR PROPERTIES ACROSS THE DOMES CORRELATE WITH OPTICAL IMAGES AND COMPARE THE TYPES OF DEPOSITS (POSSIBLE PYROCLASTICS ROUGH FLOWS SMOOTH FLOWS) THAT OCCUR IN EACH FIELD TO DETERMINE THE RANGE OF VOLCANIC MORPHOLOGIC TEXTURES THAT OCCUR IN EACH LOCATION. IN TASK 3 WE WILL USE AIRBORNE RADAR DATA AND GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR (GPR) FIELD STUDIES TO DETERMINE THE TYPES OF GEOLOGIC SURFACES THAT PRODUCE DIFFERENT RADAR POLARIZATION SCATTERING SIGNATURES. THIS WORK WILL PROVIDE ANALOG EXAMPLES THAT WILL BE USED TO INTERPRET THE DATA IN TASKS 1 AND 2. THE PROPOSED WORK ADDRESSES THE PG&G PROGRAM GOALS OF ANALYSIS AND COMPARATIVE STUDY OF DATA THAT WILL IMPROVE THE UNDERSTANDING OF ...GEOLOGICAL PROCESSES. THIS WORK IS ALSO RELEVANT TO NASA S STRATEGIC GOAL TO ASCERTAIN THE CONTENT ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM. THE PROPOSED POLARIMETRIC CHARACTERIZATION OF VOLCANIC TERRAINS WILL PROVIDE NEW KNOWLEDGE OF THE HISTORY OF VOLCANIC PROCESS ON VENUS AND THE MOON TOPICS THAT ARE CALLED OUT IN THE PLANETARY DECADAL SURVEY INNER PLANETS CHAPTER. | 2017-10-03 → 2020-10-02 | $79K |
| 80NSSC25K7087 | 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. | 2024-11-01 → 2025-10-31 | $79K |
| 80NSSC25K7976 | 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 | 2025-07-01 → 2026-06-30 | $75K |
| 80NSSC25K7900 | 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 | 2025-03-05 → 2027-03-04 | $70K |
| NNX17AJ67A | THE PROPOSED RADAR SYSTEM WILL ALLOW HIGH-RESOLUTION MAPPING AND FULL POLARIMETRY OF PLANETARY TARGETS SUCH AS THE MOON AND MARS WHILE USING TECHNOLOGY THAT CAN BE OPTIMIZED TO PRODUCE THE BEST POSSIBLE DATA SET FOR THE INDIVIDUAL SCIENCE GOALS. IN PARTICULAR NO PLANETARY SCIENCE RADAR HAS FLOWN THAT CAN EASILY PROVIDE MULTIPLE INCIDENCE ANGLE FULL-POLARIMETRY COVERAGE OF TARGETS AS WELL AS SCATTEROMETRY. THIS WORK IS IMPORTANT NOW BECAUSE THERE ARE NEARFUTURE MISSIONS SUCH AS A MARS ORBITER OR HUMAN EXPLORATION LUNAR PRECURSOR ORBITER THAT WOULD BENEFIT FROM THIS TYPE OF RADAR. NO OTHER PLANETARY MISSIONS HAVE USED POLARIMETRIC DIGITAL BEAMFORMING AND EARTH SCIENCE RADARS HAVE ONLY RECENTLY BEGUN TO USE THIS TECHNOLOGY. THIS WORK WILL PROVIDE A NEXT GENERATION RADAR FOR PLANETARY SCIENCE DECADAL SURVEY GOALS. | 2017-05-01 → 2020-09-30 | $43K |
| 80NSSC23K0225 | 16-LDAP16_2-0027 THE DEEP LUNAR INTERIOR FROM MULTI-SATELLITE DATA ANALYSIS | 2022-12-01 → 2024-04-30 | $40K |