GENERAL METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES, PROVISIONS AND PRINCIPLES OF CREATING THE HOUSING MODULE LUNAR BASE

Problem statement. Today, the world's leading researchers are working on the creation of objects on the surface of the Moon. One of the urgent tasks is to develop living modules that provide the necessary protection for the crew of the lunar missions. Analysis of existing research has shown that in order to support long-term surface missions, the lunar infrastructure must provide the necessary functionality of the housing base, such as extraction and processing of raw materials, construction, construction of buildings and structures, life support. Purpose of the article. Analysis of the current state of scientific and applied problems and setting goals and objectives of the further study. The subject of the study is to establish the patterns of lunar bases design and operation in the human civilization interests. Conclusions. The solution of the objectives of the study using the proposed systematic approach of creating an innovative dual-use product, namely, the development of building materials, products and structures by additive technologies (3D-printing) and recommendations for their production will allow the creation of high-security building projects that can be used for development of the Moon and the Earth, which will contribute to the development of domestic territorial and industrial infrastructure. The earth and lunar rocks are extremely similar, so the earth rock processing technologies can be applied to the lunar rocks. The development of the residential module and the structures design must take into account the complete life cycle of the lunar base facilities, as well as the physiological needs of the lunar base crew.

Asteroid May Be a Chip off the Old Moon

Spectral data suggest that Kamo‘oalewa, a near-Earth asteroid, has a composition similar to lunar rocks.

NanoSIMS and EPMA dating of lunar zirconolite

Zirconolite is a common Zr-rich accessary mineral in mafic rocks. It is also an ideal U–Pb/Pb–Pb chronometer because it commonly contains high U content (mostly 0.1–10 wt%) and negligible initial Pb. However, zirconolite is usually very small (e.g., ~ 1 μm in width) in lunar rocks, requiring a high spatial resolution analysis. We analyzed a single, large (25 μm × 20 μm) grain of zirconolite in lunar meteorite NWA 4485 using Pb–Pb dating by NanoSIMS and U–Th–Pb dating by EPMA. The resultant U–Th–Pb age is 4540 ± 340 Ma (2σ) with a spatial resolution of 1.3 μm. The Pb–Pb age by NanoSIMS is 4348.5 ± 4.8 Ma (2σ) with a spatial resolution of ~ 2 μm, consistent with the age of 4352 ± 10 Ma and 4344 ± 14 Ma reported in the same meteorite and its paired meteorite NWA 4472. Although U–Th–Pb age is somewhat older, it still includes the NanoSIMS results within the analytical uncertainty. This work demonstrates the potential application of the combined EPMA dating and REE analysis of lunar zirconolite, with the benefits of high spatial resolution, non-destructive, and readily accessibility of the instrument. The precision of the EPMA dating (7.6%, 2σ) can be improved by increasing the counting time for Pb, U and Th. We expect to apply this EPMA technique for a quick and non-destructive age survey and geochemical study of zirconolite grains from the lunar mare basalts newly returned by Chang’E-5 mission which landed on a very young (1.2–2.0 Ga by crater-counting chronology) basalt unit in Procellarum KREEP Terrain.

POSSIBILITIES OF STUDYING THE LUNAR SOIL AND COMPARING THE COMPOSITIONS OF LUNAR AND TERRESTRIAL CLINOPYROXENES

The problem of compositional analysis of extraterrestrial crystalline rocks in the study of celestial bodies is considered. Since most of the bodies, terrestrial planets and their surrounding objects may contain clinopyroxenes, it is possible to study the temperature and pressure of rock formation in certain areas according to the state of these minerals, and the studies can be carried out identically to the geothermobarometry of Earth rocks. The paper presents the results of experimental studies of clinopyroxene compositions of the basic model system CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 in the pressure range of 12...30 kbar and temperatures of 1325...1650 °C, which can be assumed as conditions for the formation of lunar rocks. The development of the necessary experimental data obtained in terrestrial conditions will help in the future to conduct remote studies of the Moon and other celestial bodies without the need to deliver soil to Earth. The revealed clinopyroxenes can be analyzed with existing geothermometers and geobarometers obtained for different ranges of P-T conditions. The possibility of creating a new geothermobarometer based on the distribution of minals or cations in clinopyroxene specifically for lunar rocks is not excluded. The main features and possible instrumentation of the apparatus intended for the study of the lunar surface are described. The study of different areas of the lunar surface will determine where the country rocks are located most closely to the surface. Analysis of silicate components of the lunar rocks will make it possible to get closer to the solution to the problem of initial composition of the lunar mantle