University of California Santa Cruz
Lunar obligations
$4.3Mas prime
Lunar awards
14as prime
Its subcontractors
2$214K reported
Primes it works for
1$59K in subawards
Who it subcontracts to
DR. ANTONIN BOUCHEZ WILL BE THE INSTITUTIONAL PI AT THE W. M. KECK OBSERVATORY FOR THE PROPOSAL TITLED “KECK OBSERVATORY AS AN HWO TESTBED: VALIDATING WAVEFRONT SENSING AND CONTROL SCHEMES ON A LARGE SEGMENTED APERTURE IN PARALLEL WITH HIGH-CONTRAST SCIENCE”. HE WILL COORDINATE THE WORK, WHICH WILL BE PERFORMED BY DR. MAHAWA CISSÉ. THE TASKS TO BE PERFORMED ARE AS FOLLOWS: • COORDINATE AND OPERATE DAYTIME TESTS ON THE KECK ADAPTIVE OPTICS BENCH • LEAD THE APPLICATIONS FOR ENGINEERING TIME DURING THE DAY OR AT NIGHT • SERVE AS AN EXPERT ON THE KECK ADAPTIVE OPTICS SYSTEMS, ERROR BUDGET, AND HIGH CONTRAST IMAGING OBSERVING • LEAD THE TRANSITION OF THE ZERNIKE WAVEFRONT SENSOR INTO AN OPERATIONAL PHASING TOOL TO BE USED FOR SCIENCE OPERATIONS • SUPPORT INVESTIGATIONS IN THE CURRENT AND FUTURE DESIGNS OF EDGE SENSORS FOR PHASING • HANDS-ON SUPPORT OF THE LASER TRUSS DESIGN, INCLUDING FEASIBILITY STUDIES, MEASUREMENTS, AND TESTS REQUIRED AT THE OBSERVATORY
ON THIS PROGRAM, STSCI WILL SUPPLEMENT THE EFFORT OF THE TEAM LED BY UCSC BY PROVIDING CONTROL ALGORITHMS AND DATA ANALYSIS TOOLS. THESE WILL BE USED TO SUPPORT THE MAJORITY OF THE MILESTONES DESCRIBED IN THE PROPOSAL.
Who it works for
CO-I WILL ASSESS THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE STATIC MAGNETIC FIELD AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE OVERALL GEOPHYSICAL INTERPRETATION. CO-I WILL ALSO PARTICIPATE IN LMS TEAM TELECONFERENCES, TEAM SCIENCE MEETINGS, AND PRODUCTION OF SCIENTIFIC TALKS, POSTERS, OR PAPERS AS REQUESTED BY THE PI, DPI, OR THEIR DESIGNEE.
Lunar awards as prime
| Award | Description | Period | Obligated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80NSSC25K7486 | 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. | 2024-12-16 → 2027-12-15 | $1.1M |
| 80NSSC19K0560 | SEVERAL DECADES OF LUNAR SAMPLE ANALYSIS AND REMOTE SENSING STUDIES HAVE ESTABLISHED THAT THE MOON ONCE POSSESSED A DYNAMO EXISTING FROM ~4.25 GA TO PERHAPS AS RECENTLY AS ~2.0 GA. TO DATE THERE HAS BEEN NO ANALYSIS OF HOW THIS DYNAMO FIELD WOULD HAVE INTERACTED WITH THE EARLY SOLAR WIND. ON GANYMEDE AND MERCURY DYNAMO FIELDS BLOCK INCIDENT PLASMA ACCESS TO PARTS OF THE SURFACE UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS. SIMILARLY THERE MUST HAVE ONCE BEEN SIGNIFICANT BLOCKING OF SOLAR WIND ACCESS TO THE LUNAR SURFACE GIVEN THAT LUNAR SURFACE FIELDS WERE POSSIBLY TEN TIMES HIGHER. HOWEVER UNLIKE GANYMEDE AND MERCURY THE HISTORY OF THIS INTERACTION CAN BE UNIQUELY ASSESSED THROUGH THE GEOCHEMISTRY AND PALEOMAGNETISM OF SAMPLES RETURNED DURING THE APOLLO PROGRAM. HERE WE PLAN TO USE HYBRID PLASMA SIMULATIONS AND PARTICLE TRACING ROUTINES TO STUDY FOUR DIFFERENT PROCESSES THAT WERE INFLUENCED BY THE MOON'S "PALEOMAGNETOSPHERE": 1) THE BLOCKING OR MASS FRACTIONATION OF SOLAR WIND SPECIES IMPLANTED INTO ANCIENT LUNAR SOILS WHICH COULD EXPLAIN LONG TERM CHANGES IN CERTAIN NOBLE GAS RATIOS 2) THE IMPLANTATION OF 40-AR AND 36-AR IONS WHICH ARE USED AS AN "ANTIQUITY INDICATOR" FOR ANCIENT LUNAR SOILS 3) THE ACCUMULATION AND WEATHERING OF VOLATILE SPECIES IN POLAR REGIONS AND 4) THE AMPLIFICATION AND DISTORTION OF THE NEAR-SURFACE DYNAMO FIELD DUE TO MORE FREQUENT EARLY CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS FROM THE YOUNG SUN WHICH COULD EXPLAIN HIGH PALEOINTENSITIES IN MAGNETIZED APOLLO SAMPLES AND SCATTERED MAGNETIZATION DIRECTIONS IN CRUSTAL MAGNETIC ANOMALIES. TOGETHER THESE RESULTS WILL ALSO INFORM SIMILAR PROCESSES OPERATING ON MERCURY GANYMEDE AND POSSIBLY THE ASTEROID 16 PSYCHE. | 2019-02-22 → 2024-02-21 | $432K |
| 80NSSC17K0217 | SCIENCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES. THE SURFACES OF ALL ATMOSPHERELESS PLANETARY BODIES INCLUDING MERCURY IS COVERED WITH A LAYER OF REGOLITH VERY SPECIFIC LOOSE HIGHLY HETEROGENEOUS MATERIAL. FORMATION MODIFICATION AND TRANSPORT OF THE REGOLITH OCCUR DUE TO COMBINATION OF METEORITIC AND MICROMETEORITIC IMPACTS AND OTHER PROCESSES. THE REGOLITH PROCESSES DEFINE SMALL SCALE INCLUDING LANDER-SCALE APPEARANCE AND PROPERTIES OF THE SURFACE. OUR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE REGOLITH ON MERCURY HAS BEEN LIMITED BY THE ABSENCE OF HIGH-RESOLUTION INFORMATION. THE PROPOSED PROJECT WILL USE NEW INFORMATION FROM MESSENGER MISSION TO OBTAIN ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE ABOUT REGOLITH ON MERCURY. IN PARTICULAR THE FOLLOWING SCIENTIFIC QUESTIONS WILL BE ADDRESSED: (1) HOW THICK IS REGOLITH ON MERCURY? IS IT INDEED THICKER THAN ON THE MOON (AS PREDICTED)? (2) ARE THERE REGIONAL VARIATIONS OF THE REGOLITH THICKNESS? IF YES HOW DO THEY CORRELATE WITH GEOLOGICAL SETTINGS? (3) IS REGOLITH GARDENING MORE INTENSIVE ON MERCURY THAN ON THE MOON (AS PREDICTED)? (4) IS DEGRADATION OF SMALL CRATERS QUICKER ON MERCURY THAN ON THE MOON? (5) HOW DOES THE EQUILIBRIUM POPULATION OF SMALL IMPACT CRATERS ON MERCURY DIFFER FROM THE LUNAR ONE? METHODOLOGY. SPECIFIC PROPERTIES OF REGOLITH ON MERCURY WILL BE ADDRESSED WITH THE FOLLOWING THREE INVESTIGATIONS ("TASKS"). TASK 1. STATISTICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF TOPOGRAPHY. THE SCALE-DEPENDENCE OF TOPOGRAPHIC ROUGHNESS WILL BE STUDIED WITH THE LASER ALTIMETER MLA DATA TO INFER THE CHARACTERISTIC SPATIAL SCALE RELATED TO SURFACE SMOOTHING BY REGOLITH GARDENING. THIS QUANTITY DEPENDS ON THE REGOLITH THICKNESS AND THE RATE OF REGOLITH GARDENING. TASK 2. MORPHOLOGIC ANALYSIS OF SMALL FRESH CRATERS. ALL MDIS IMAGES OF THE HIGHEST RESOLUTION WILL BE SYSTEMATICALLY SEARCHED FOR SMALL YOUNG IMPACT CRATERS WITH MORPHOLOGICAL SIGNS OF MECHANICALLY WEAK UPPER LAYER OF THE TARGET. REGOLITH THICKNESS AND ITS REGIONAL VARIATIONS WILL BE INFERRED FROM THESE OBSERVATIONS IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO THE CLASSIC WORKS. THE RESULTS WILL BE COMPARED WITH THE ANALOGOUS DATA ABOUT THE MOON. TASK 3. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF POPULATIONS OF SMALL CRATERS. THE HIGHEST RESOLUTION MDIS IMAGES WILL BE USED TO STUDY THE POPULATION OF SMALL CRATERS AND FIND THE EQUILIBRIUM CRATER DENSITY WHICH CONSTRAINTS THE RATES OF CRATER OBLITERATION DUE TO THE REGOLITH GARDENING PROCESSES. THE RESULTS WILL BE COMPARED WITH THE ANALOGOUS DATA ABOUT THE MOON. RELEVANCE. THE MAIN PART OF PROPOSED WORK IS PROCESSING AND DIRECT ANALYSIS OF PDS-RELEASED DATA FROM LASER ALTIMETER MLA AND CAMERA MDIS ONBOARD MESSENGER MISSION TO MERCURY A DISCOVERY MISSION EXPLICITLY LISTED IN THE DDAP CALL FOR PROPOSALS. ON THE OTHER HAND THE GOAL OF THE PROJECT IS SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE REGOLITH AND RELATED PROCESSES ON MERCURY THEREFORE THE PROJECT IS A SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION RATHER THAN PURE DATA PROCESSING. THESE DEFINE RELEVANCE OF THE PROPOSAL TO DDAP. | 2017-09-01 → 2022-08-31 | $369K |
| NNX16AQ06G | SCIENCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES. HEAVILY CRATERED SURFACES ARE COMMON ON THE MOON, MARS, MERCURY. THEY ARE OLD AND RECORD INTRIGUING EVENTS OF EARLY EPO | 2016-12-01 → 2020-11-30 | $329K |
| 80NSSC21K0707 | OBJECTIVES. THE SURFACE OF THE MOON IS COVERED WITH REGOLITH A LAYER OF VERY SPECIFIC LOOSE MATERIAL. POLARIZATION OF SOLAR LIGHT SCATTERED BY REGOLITH IS CONTROLLED BY OPTICAL (REFRACTION INDEX TRANSPARENCY) AND GEOMETRIC (PARTICLE SIZE SURFACE R | 2021-08-01 → 2025-07-31 | $305K |
| NNX14AN70G | THE ORIGIN OF THE LUNAR MAGNETIC FIELD IS A FIRST-ORDER PUZZLE; WE PROPOSE TO USE A 3D NUMERICAL MODEL TO TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT A MECHANICALLY-DRI | 2014-07-08 → ? | $294K |
| 80NSSC19K0721 | MAGNETISM AND DYNAMOS ARE COMMONLY FOUND THROUGHOUT OUR SOLAR SYSTEM. THERE IS SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE THAT THE MOON ONCE POSSESSED A DYNAMO UNTIL PERHAPS AS RECENTLY AS 2 BILLION YEARS AGO. HOWEVER THE EXACT DRIVING MECHANISM AND HISTORY OF THIS DYNAMO REMAINS UNCLEAR. MEASUREMENTS OF THE MOON'S CRUSTAL MAGNETIC ANOMALIES WITH REMOTE SENSING OBSERVATIONS ARE A KEY MEANS OF ASSESSING THIS HISTORY. ONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT MAGNETIC ANOMALIES IS REINER GAMMA AN ISOLATED FEATURE IN OCEANUS PROCELLARUM. DESPITE DECADES OF STUDY WE DO NOT KNOW HOW THIS FEATURE FORMED. IN FACT WE DO NOT KNOW THE GEOLOGIC ORIGIN OF ANY OF THE MOON'S MAGNETIC ANOMALIES. WITHOUT SUCH KNOWLEDGE IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO RELATE ANY SUCH FEATURES TO THE HISTORY AND ORIGINS OF THE LUNAR DYNAMO. THE GOAL OF THIS STUDY IS TO USE THE BEST AVAILABLE REMOTE SENSING DATA TO CONSTRAIN THE FORMATION MECHANISM OF REINER GAMMA. THE TWO PLAUSIBLE HYPOTHESES FOR ITS FORMATION INCLUDE A VOLCANIC INTRUSION OR AN EJECTA DEPOSIT. WE WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE HIGH-ALBEDO SURFACE MARKINGS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS FEATURE WHICH IN TURN ARE RELATED TO THE DISTRIBUTION OF MAGNETIC SOURCE BODIES AT DEPTH. OUR FIRST OBJECTIVE WILL BE TO BETTER CHARACTERIZE A NEWLY DISCOVERED TOPOGRAPHY CORRELATION WITH ALBEDO TO INFER THE POSSIBLE DEPTH AND GEOMETRY OF THE MAGNETIC SOURCE BODIES. OUR SECOND OBJECTIVE WILL BE TO MODEL PART OF REINER GAMMA AS AN ELLIPTICAL UNIFORMLY MAGNETIZED DISK. OUR THIRD OBJECTIVE WILL BE TO USE A NEWLY DISCOVERED ALBEDO-GRAVITY CORRELATION AT REINER GAMMA TO PRODUCE ITS FIRST GEOLOGIC CROSS SECTION. FINALLY WE WILL SYNTHESIZE OUR RESULTS AND ASSESS THEM IN THE CONTEXT OF SEVERAL FORMATION HYPOTHESES. SINCE REINER GAMMA IS A HIGH PRIORITY LANDING SITE THIS STUDY MAY HELP PLAN FUTURE ROBOTIC AND HUMAN MISSIONS. | 2019-03-25 → 2023-03-24 | $273K |
| 80NSSC20K1426 | OBJECTIVES: THE GRAIL MISSION PRODUCED A HIGH RESOLUTION GLOBAL LUNAR GRAVITY MODEL. TO DATE MOST INVESTIGATIONS HAVE FOCUSED ON THE SHORTEST WAVELENGTHS AT WHICH CRUSTAL FEATURES | 2020-12-01 → 2023-11-30 | $268K |
| 80NSSC24K1727 | 24-KPLOPSEM24-0005 ADVANCED STUDY OF LUNAR POLARIMETRIC ANOMALIES WITH POLCAM | 2024-10-01 → 2027-09-30 | $265K |
| 80NSSC24K1534 | 24-KPLOPSEM24-0008 ANALYSIS OF INDUCED LUNAR MAGNETIC FIELDS DURING THE KPLO EXTENDED MISSION | 2024-08-01 → 2027-07-31 | $250K |
| 80NSSC21K0754 | BACKGROUND: THE KPLO MAGNETOMETER (KMAG) WILL MEASURE MAGNETIC FIELDS AT 100 KM ALTITUDE ABOVE THE MOON. THESE FIELDS ARE THE SUM OF TWO COMPONENTS | 2021-08-01 → 2024-07-31 | $188K |
| 80NSSC17K0479 | OUR OBJECTIVE IS TO DEVELOP A SYSTEM OF CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL CRITERIA THAT WILL ALLOW US TO EVALUATE THE VIABILITY OF PLANETARY ACCRETION MODELS. THE SCOPE OF THIS PROJECT IS TWOFOLD: (1) USE A MODEL OF THE HF-W ISOTOPIC SYSTEM IN LATE-STAGE ACCRETION OF PLANETARY BODIES TO DETERMINE WHICH N-BODY SIMULATIONS ARE ABLE TO REPRODUCE MEASURED VALUES FOR PLANETS THUS PROVIDING A WAY TO EVALUATE THE MOST LIKELY INITIAL CONDITIONS OF THE LATE ACCRETION PERIOD THAT FORMED OUR SOLAR SYSTEM; (2) EXAMINE THE UNIQUE HF-W SYSTEM RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE EARTH AND THE MOON ALLOWING US TO REFINE THE CONDITIONS OF THE MOON-FORMING IMPACT. THE ANALYSIS WILL EXPLORE THE EVOLUTION OF THE ISOTOPIC SYSTEM IN MODEL ANALOGS OF EARTH MOON AND MARS AND RECORD THEIR CORE AND MANTLE HISTORY. FOLLOWING THE ISOTOPIC RESULTS OF ACCRETION WILL ALLOW US TO DETERMINE THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF LARGE STOCHASTIC IMPACT EVENTS IN THE FINAL MAKEUP OF PLANETS AND TO CATEGORIZE THE VARIOUS THEORIES OF PLANET FORMATION BY THEIR ABILITY TO PRODUCE BODIES THAT CAN MATCH SIGNATURES WE MEASURE TODAY. THE HF-W SYSTEM HAS BEEN USED TO RESEARCH CLASSICAL ACCRETION SCENARIOS WHICH ASSUME STATIONARY GIANT PLANET ORBITS ALLOWING TESTS OF RE-EQUILIBRATION LEVELS DURING COLLISIONS VIABILITY OF AVERAGE PLANET FORMATION TIMESCALES ISOTOPIC VARIABILITY IN LARGE AND SMALL SURVIVING OBJECTS AND THE INFLUENCE OF LATE GIANT IMPACTS ON THE FINAL ISOTOPIC MAKEUP OF A BODY. WE SEEK TO ANSWER THE QUESTION OF WHETHER RECENT PLANETARY FORMATION SCENARIOS CAN RE-CREATE THE PHYSICAL CONDITIONS NECESSARY TO FORM PLANETS WITH THE OBSERVED ISOTOPIC COMPOSITIONS. WE CAN USE OUR PROPOSED MODEL TO PROBE THE IMPACT RESULTS OF A RANGE OF POSSIBLE CORE/MANTLE EQUILIBRATION TYPES LEARNING HOW THE FAST ACCRETION OF THE GRAND TACK CREATES ISOTOPIC SIGNATURES DIFFERENT FROM THE SLOWER CLASSICAL MODEL. FURTHER BY LOOKING AT THE EQUILIBRATION HISTORY OF THE EARTH AND ITS PROTO-MOON IMPACTOR WE CAN SEEK CONDITIONS TO EXPLAIN THE GENERAL EARTH- MOON ISOTOPIC SIMILARITIES MEASURED IN THE PRESENT THUS IMPROVING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW BOTH BODIES FORMED. WE WILL INVESTIGATE THE FORMATION AND EVOLUTION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND PLANETARY BODIES AND SATELLITES BY MEANS OF HF-W ISOTOPIC ANALYSIS DURING LATE-STAGE ACCRETION OF THE TERRESTRIAL PLANETS. THIS PROJECT WILL SERVE THE SMD GOAL TO EXPLORE AND OBSERVE THE OBJECTS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM TO UNDERSTAND HOW THEY FORMED AND EVOLVE BY USING MODEL ANALYSIS OF NEW ACCRETION SIMULATIONS THAT TRACK THE DYNAMICAL AND CHEMICAL EVOLUTION OF TERRESTRIAL BODIES. OUR RESEARCH IN APPLYING ISOTOPICALLY EVOLVED PLANETARY ANALOGS TO RECENT MOON-FORMING IMPACT MODELS WILL ALSO IMPROVE UNDERSTANDING OF THE HISTORY BEHIND THE EARTH AND MOON. WE WILL ALSO ADVANCE THE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THE CHEMICAL PROCESSES IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM OPERATE INTERACT AND EVOLVE BY SIMULATING CORE AND MANTLE EQUILIBRATION DURING COLLISIONS ALLOWING US TO DETERMINE HOW METAL AND SILICATE EQUILIBRATION PLAYS A ROLE IN THE ISOTOPIC SYSTEMS OF PLANETARY ACCRETION. | 2017-09-01 → 2020-08-31 | $134K |
| 80NSSC18K0499 | WE WILL PERFORM A SERIES OF CALCULATIONS RELATING TO THE MOON-FORMING AND OTHER PLANETARY IMPACTS TO FOCUS ON TWO ISSUES. THE FIRST ISSUE IS THE EXTENT TO WHICH CONTAMINATION OF THE MOON BY THE EARTH S CRUST TOOK PLACE. THE SECOND IS THE AMOUNT OF WATER FROM TERRESTRIAL OCEANS THAT WAS INCORPORATED INTO THE PROTOLUNAR DISK OR WHICH ESCAPED DURING THE MOON-FORMING AND OTHER LARGE IMPACTS ON THE EARTH. WE WILL USE THE WELL-TESTED SPH/TREE-CODE OF FRYER AND WARREN (2004). SPH (SMOOTHED PARTICLE HYDRODYNAMICS) IS A LAGRANGIAN METHOD THAT REPRESENTS MATTER BY FREELY-MOVING PARTICLE ELEMENTS. IN COMBINATION WITH A TREE STRUCTURE FOR GRAVITY CALCULATION AND NEIGHBOR FINDING SPH/TREE-CODES ARE EXCEPTIONALLY WELL-SUITED FOR TRACKING MATERIAL PROVENANCE AND HAVE BEEN PARALLELIZED TO MAKE EFFICIENT USE OF MULTIPROCESSOR MACHINES WITH DISTRIBUTED MEMORY. THESE PROPERTIES MAKE THEM THE IDEAL CHOICE FOR THE CHALLENGE OF SIMULATING THE MOON-FORMING IMPACT. COMPLEMENTARY CALCULATIONS WILL BE PERFORMED USING THE EULERIAN CODE CTH FROM SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORY TO INVESTIGATE IMPACTS AND ESCAPE ON SMALLER SCALES AND TO ASSESS THE ROBUSTNESS OF THE SPH RESULTS. THE RESOLUTION OF THE PROPOSED SPH SIMULATIONS WILL FOR THE FIRST TIME MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO INCLUDE PLANETARY CRUSTS AND OCEANS SELFCONSISTENTLY FOR WHICH 20 KM RESOLUTION IS THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENT TO RESOLVE THE SHOCK AT THE PLANET'S SURFACE. BECAUSE THE EARTH S PROTO-CRUST WAS ENRICHED IN INCOMPATIBLE ELEMENTS ADDITION OF TOO MUCH CRUSTAL MATERIAL TO THE PROTOLUNAR DISK WOULD VIOLATE THE AVAILABLE CONSTRAINTS ON LUNAR TRACE ELEMENT BULK CONCENTRATIONS. THIS CRITERION PROVIDES A NOVEL ADDITIONAL TEST OF MOON-FORMING MODELS. ZIRCON EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THE PRESENCE OF LIQUID WATER AT THE SURFACE OF THE HADEAN EARTH. ALTHOUGH SURFACE OCEANS CAN NOT YET BE FULLY RESOLVED WE WILL CARRY OUT PRELIMINARY STUDIES TO INVESTIGATE HOW MUCH WATER IS TRANSFERRED FROM THE SURFACE TO THE PROTOLUNAR DISK. DOING SO IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE OF ABUNDANT RECENT EVIDENCE FOR AT LEAST LOCALLY HIGH WATER CONCENTRATIONS IN LUNAR MAGMA SOURCE REGIONS. THE SPH SIMULATIONS WILL USE 10^8 TO 10^9 PARTICLES AND ACHIEVE SPATIAL RESOLUTIONS ON THE ORDER OF 10 KM IN THE EARTH AND 100 KM IN THE MOON-FORMING DISK. THESE RESOLUTIONS ARE 10 TIMES FINER THAN THOSE IN STATE-OF-THE-ART SIMULATIONS PUBLISHED TO DATE WHICH TYPICALLY DEPLOY ONLY 10^5-10^6 PARTICLES. OUR SIMULATIONS WILL ALSO PROVIDE A QUALITATIVELY AND QUANTITATIVELY BETTER DESCRIPTION OF THE MOON-FORMING DISK BY VERTICALLY RESOLVING THE DISK AND REDUCING NUMERICAL VISCOSITY INTO THE ESTIMATED RANGE OF PHYSICAL VISCOSITIES. PRELIMINARY CALCULATIONS DONE BY US USING 10^8 PARTICLES HAVE SHOWN THAT THE PROPOSED RESEARCH USING HUNDRED-MILLION AND BILLION PARTICLE SIMULATIONS IS NOT ONLY TIMELY BUT CAN PROVIDE A QUANTITATIVE IMPROVEMENT IN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE ORIGIN OF THE MOON RELEVANCE TO THE EMERGING WORLDS PROGRAM: THIS PROPOSAL IS RELEVANT TO THE GOALS OF THE EMERGING WORLDS RESEARCH PROGRAM AS LAID OUT IN SECTION C.2 SECTION 2 OF THE ROSES 2017 DOCUMENT. SPECIFICALLY UNDER THE PROGRAM SCOPE OUR PROPOSAL ADDRESSES THEORETICAL AND MODELING INVESTIGATIONS OF FORMATION AND GLOBAL DIFFERENTIATION OF SOLAR SYSTEM BODIES AND PROCESSES THAT OCCUR DURING THAT EVENT. THE PROPOSED WORK IS CONCERNED WITH COLLISION PROCESSES THAT HAD SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON THE STRUCTURE OF THE TARGET BODIES (EARTH AND MOON) AND WILL ADDRESS KEY GEOCHEMICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL PROCESSES IN EARLY PLANETARY EVOLUTION AND TERRESTRIAL HISTORY IN TERMS OF GENERAL SOLAR SYSTEM PROCESSES. | 2018-02-08 → 2021-02-07 | $101K |
| 80NSSC25K0112 | 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 | 2025-06-01 → 2026-05-31 | $38K |