Transcript LADEE The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer

Viewing the Moon
On International Observe the Moon Night 2011
Brian Day
LADEE Mission E/PO Lead
NASA Lunar Science Institute Citizen Science Lead
[email protected]
The Moon with the Unaided Eye
A Binocular View of the Moon
Lunar Mare
Mare Imbrium
1,145 km
Lunar Mare
Mare Serenitatis
674 km
Lunar Mare
Mare Tranquillitatis
873 km
Lunar Mare
Mare Crisium
555 km
Lunar Mare
Mare Fecunditatis
840 km
Lunar Mare
Mare Nectaris
333 km
Lunar Mare
Mare Nubium
715 km
Lunar Mare
Mare Humorum
389 km
Lunar Mare
Oceanus Procellarum
2,592 km
Bright Rayed Craters
Tycho
85 km
Bright Rayed Craters
Copernicus
93 km
Bright Rayed Craters
Kepler
32 km
Gruithuisen
Domes
1630 m high
Prinz
46 km
Gruithuisen Domes – Silicic Volcanoes
Gassendi
110 km
Mare Humorum
389 km
Schiller
180 km
by 70 km
Schröter’s
Valley
160 km long
10 km wide
200 - 1000 m
deep.
Herodetus
34 km
Aristarchus
40 km
Marius Hills
~300 volcanic
cones and
domes with
associated
rilles
A new generation of post-Apollo robotic lunar explorers has
revolutionized our understanding of the Moon.
USA
Clementine
Lunar Prospector
LCROSS
LRO
Artemis
GRAIL
Europe SMART 1
China
Chang’e 1
Chang’e 2
Japan
Kaguya
India
Chandrayaan 1
Our new view of the Moon includes:
•Water ice at the poles
•The coldest places we have yet measured in the solar system
•Places with nearly constant sunlight
•A very thin atmosphere
•More complex geology than we had thought
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
• LROC – image and map the lunar
surface in unprecedented detail
• LOLA – provide precise global
lunar topographic data through
laser altimetry
• LAMP – remotely probe the
Moon’s permanently shadowed
regions
• CRaTER - characterize the global
lunar radiation environment
• DIVINER – measure lunar surface
temperatures & map
compositional variations
• LEND – measure neutron flux to
study hydrogen concentrations in
lunar soil
Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics
of Moon's Interaction with the Sun
•Mission will study how solar wind electrifies, alters and erodes the Moon's
surface.
•ARTEMIS will collect important data about the Moon's core, its surface
composition, and whether it contains pockets of magnetism.
•Mission consists of two spacecraft, Artemis P1 and Artemis P2.
•Spacecraft were originally part of the 5-spacecraft THEMIS
mission studying space weather from Earth orbit.
•The ARTEMIS mission allowed NASA to repurpose two in-orbit spacecraft
to extend their useful science mission.
Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory
GRAIL
• Launched Sept 10, 2011.
• Microwave ranging system will precisely measure the distance between the two
satellites.
• Use high-quality gravity field mapping to determine the Moon's interior structure.
• Determine the structure of the lunar interior, from crust to core and to advance
understanding of the thermal evolution of the Moon.
LADEE
The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer
•Determine the global density,
composition, and time variability of the
fragile lunar atmosphere before it is
perturbed by further human activity.
•Determine the size, charge, and spatial
distribution of electrostatically
transported dust grains.
•Test laser communication capabilities.
•Demonstrate a low-cost lunar mission:
• Simple multi-mission modular bus
design
• Low-cost launch vehicle
Observe the Moon and the Draconid Meteors Too!
•Fragments from Comet Giacobini-Zinner
•Earth predicted to pass through cloud of dust ejected in 1900
•Maximum rates estimated to be as high as 600-750/hour
•An outburst lasting about 3 hours is expected to peak around 20:00 UT
•Observers in Europe and North Africa favored.
•Possibility of observable lunar impacts, but Moon phase is very bright.
•More info at http://draconids.seti.org/
Questions