Human and Robotic Missions: To the Moon Again and Beyond

AbstractThe Moon is the only planetary body other than the Earth for which samples have been collected in situ by humans and robotic missions and returned to Earth. Scientific investigations of the first lunar samples returned by the Apollo 11 astronauts 50 years ago transformed the way we think most planetary bodies form and evolve. Identification of anorthositic clasts in Apollo 11 samples led to the formulation of the magma ocean concept, and by extension the idea that the Moon experienced large-scale melting and differentiation. This concept of magma oceans would soon be applied to other terrestrial planets and large asteroidal bodies. Dating of basaltic fragments returned from the Moon also showed that a relatively small planetary body could sustain volcanic activity for more than a billion years after its formation. Finally, studies of the lunar regolith showed that in addition to containing a treasure trove of the Moon’s history, it also provided us with a rich archive of the past 4.5 billion years of evolution of the inner Solar System. Further investigations of samples returned from the Moon over the past five decades led to many additional discoveries, but also raised new and fundamental questions that are difficult to address with currently available samples, such as those related to the age of the Moon, duration of lunar volcanism, the lunar paleomagnetic field and its intensity, and the record on the Moon of the bombardment history during the first billion years of evolution of the Solar System. In this contribution, we review the information we currently have on some of the key science questions related to the Moon and discuss how future sample-return missions could help address important knowledge gaps.

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German Aerospace Center's advanced robotic technology for future lunar scientific missions

Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences ◽

10.1098/rsta.2019.0574 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 379 (2188) ◽

pp. 20190574 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Armin Wedler ◽

Martin J. Schuster ◽

Marcus G. Müller ◽

Bernhard Vodermayer ◽

Lukas Meyer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar System ◽

Autonomous Systems ◽

Single Agent ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Limiting Factor ◽

The Moon ◽

Planetary Bodies ◽

Mt Etna ◽

German Aerospace ◽

Robotic Missions

The Earth's moon is currently an object of interest of many space agencies for unmanned robotic missions within this decade. Besides future prospects for building lunar gateways as support to human space flight, the Moon is an attractive location for scientific purposes. Not only will its study give insight on the foundations of the Solar System but also its location, uncontaminated by the Earth's ionosphere, represents a vantage point for the observation of the Sun and planetary bodies outside the Solar System. Lunar exploration has been traditionally conducted by means of single-agent robotic assets, which is a limiting factor for the return of scientific missions. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) is developing fundamental technologies towards increased autonomy of robotic explorers to fulfil more complex mission tasks through cooperation. This paper presents an overview of past, present and future activities of DLR towards highly autonomous systems for scientific missions targeting the Moon and other planetary bodies. The heritage from the Mobile Asteroid Scout (MASCOT), developed jointly by DLR and CNES and deployed on asteroid Ryugu on 3 October 2018 from JAXA's Hayabusa2 spacecraft, inspired the development of novel core technologies towards higher efficiency in planetary exploration. Together with the lessons learnt from the ROBEX project (2012–2017), where a mobile robot autonomously deployed seismic sensors at a Moon analogue site, this experience is shaping the future steps towards more complex space missions. They include the development of a mobile rover for JAXA's Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) in 2024 as well as demonstrations of novel multi-robot technologies at a Moon analogue site on the volcano Mt Etna in the ARCHES project. Within ARCHES, a demonstration mission is planned from the 14 June to 10 July 2021, 1 during which heterogeneous teams of robots will autonomously conduct geological and mineralogical analysis experiments and deploy an array of low-frequency antennas to measure Jovian and solar bursts. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Astronomy from the Moon: the next decades'.

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Meteorites – The Significance of Collection and Curation and Future Developments

Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s1743921314005055 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 10 (H16) ◽

pp. 147-147

Author(s):

Caroline Smith

Keyword(s):

Solar System ◽

Scientific Study ◽

The Moon ◽

Sample Return ◽

System Science ◽

Future Developments ◽

History Of ◽

Robotic Missions ◽

Future Sample

AbstractMeteorites are some of the most important and valuable rocks available for scientific study. Approximately 43,000 meteorites are known on Earth and are egeologicalf samples of extraterrestrial bodies - meteorites are known to originate from asteroids, the Moon, Mars and possibly comets. With expanding exploration of our Solar System, meteorites provide the eground truthf to compare data collected by robotic missions with results gained from a variety of more accurate and precise techniques using laboratories on Earth. This talk will give an introduction to the history of meteorite science and the importance of meteorite collections to the field of meteoritics, planetary and solar system science. Curation of extraterrestrial samples is a particularly pertinent issue, especially with regards to particularly rare samples such as those from Mars like the recent Tissint meteorite. Future sample return missions to asteroids and Mars also pose siginificant challenges around the curation of these precious materials. Issues surrounding the curation of samples and how curation and curatorial actions can influence scientific studies will also be discussed.

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The Origin of the Moon

Symposium - International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s0074180900178209 ◽

1962 ◽

Vol 14 ◽

pp. 149-155 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

E. L. Ruskol

Keyword(s):

Chemical Composition ◽

Solar System ◽

The Moon ◽

The Earth ◽

The Difference ◽

Origin Of The Moon

The difference between average densities of the Moon and Earth was interpreted in the preceding report by Professor H. Urey as indicating a difference in their chemical composition. Therefore, Urey assumes the Moon's formation to have taken place far away from the Earth, under conditions differing substantially from the conditions of Earth's formation. In such a case, the Earth should have captured the Moon. As is admitted by Professor Urey himself, such a capture is a very improbable event. In addition, an assumption that the “lunar” dimensions were representative of protoplanetary bodies in the entire solar system encounters great difficulties.

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The Origin of the Moon and its Relationship to the Origin of the Solar System

Symposium - International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s0074180900178192 ◽

1962 ◽

Vol 14 ◽

pp. 133-148 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Harold C. Urey

Keyword(s):

Solar System ◽

The Moon ◽

The Past ◽

The Earth ◽

Short Period ◽

Origin Of The Moon

During the last 10 years, the writer has presented evidence indicating that the Moon was captured by the Earth and that the large collisions with its surface occurred within a surprisingly short period of time. These observations have been a continuous preoccupation during the past years and some explanation that seemed physically possible and reasonably probable has been sought.

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Exploring the Solar System

10.1093/oso/9780198799894.003.0003 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Karel Schrijver

Keyword(s):

Solar System ◽

Planetary Systems ◽

Interplanetary Dust ◽

Terrestrial Planets ◽

The Moon ◽

System P ◽

Asteroids And Comets

In this chapter, the author summarizes the properties of the Solar System, and how these were uncovered. Over centuries, the arrangement and properties of the Solar System were determined. The distinctions between the terrestrial planets, the gas and ice giants, and their various moons are discussed. Whereas humans have walked only on the Moon, probes have visited all the planets and several moons, asteroids, and comets; samples have been returned to Earth only from our moon, a comet, and from interplanetary dust. For Earth and Moon, seismographs probed their interior, whereas for other planets insights come from spacecraft and meteorites. We learned that elements separated between planet cores and mantels because larger bodies in the Solar System were once liquid, and many still are. How water ended up where it is presents a complex puzzle. Will the characteristics of our Solar System hold true for planetary systems in general?

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Isotopic evidence for the formation of the Moon in a canonical giant impact

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-22155-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Sune G. Nielsen ◽

David V. Bekaert ◽

Maureen Auro

Keyword(s):

Solar System ◽

Isotope Fractionation ◽

Main Stage ◽

The Moon ◽

Giant Impact ◽

Bulk Silicate Earth ◽

The Earth ◽

The Standard Model ◽

Isotopic Measurements ◽

Origin Of The Moon

AbstractIsotopic measurements of lunar and terrestrial rocks have revealed that, unlike any other body in the solar system, the Moon is indistinguishable from the Earth for nearly every isotopic system. This observation, however, contradicts predictions by the standard model for the origin of the Moon, the canonical giant impact. Here we show that the vanadium isotopic composition of the Moon is offset from that of the bulk silicate Earth by 0.18 ± 0.04 parts per thousand towards the chondritic value. This offset most likely results from isotope fractionation on proto-Earth during the main stage of terrestrial core formation (pre-giant impact), followed by a canonical giant impact where ~80% of the Moon originates from the impactor of chondritic composition. Our data refute the possibility of post-giant impact equilibration between the Earth and Moon, and implies that the impactor and proto-Earth mainly accreted from a common isotopic reservoir in the inner solar system.

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Bayesian constraints on the origin and geology of exo-planetary material using a population of externally polluted white dwarfs

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ◽

10.1093/mnras/stab736 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

John H D Harrison ◽

Amy Bonsor ◽

Mihkel Kama ◽

Andrew M Buchan ◽

Simon Blouin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar System ◽

White Dwarf ◽

Bayesian Model ◽

Total Mass ◽

White Dwarfs ◽

Bulk Composition ◽

Planetary Systems ◽

The Moon ◽

Planetary Bodies ◽

Nearby Stars

Abstract White dwarfs that have accreted planetary bodies are a powerful probe of the bulk composition of exoplanetary material. In this paper, we present a Bayesian model to explain the abundances observed in the atmospheres of 202 DZ white dwarfs by considering the heating, geochemical differentiation, and collisional processes experienced by the planetary bodies accreted, as well as gravitational sinking. The majority (>60%) of systems are consistent with the accretion of primitive material. We attribute the small spread in refractory abundances observed to a similar spread in the initial planet-forming material, as seen in the compositions of nearby stars. A range in Na abundances in the pollutant material is attributed to a range in formation temperatures from below 1,000 K to higher than 1,400 K, suggesting that pollutant material arrives in white dwarf atmospheres from a variety of radial locations. We also find that Solar System-like differentiation is common place in exo-planetary systems. Extreme siderophile (Fe, Ni or Cr) abundances in 8 systems require the accretion of a core-rich fragment of a larger differentiated body to at least a 3σ significance, whilst one system shows evidence that it accreted a crust-rich fragment. In systems where the abundances suggest that accretion has finished (13/202), the total mass accreted can be calculated. The 13 systems are estimated to have accreted masses ranging from the mass of the Moon to half that of Vesta. Our analysis suggests that accretion continues for 11Myrs on average.

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