The Lunar Geophysical Network Mission
Session: InSight Seismology on Mars: Results From the First (Earth) Year of Data and Prospects for the Futur
Type: Oral
Date: 4/28/2020
Time: 11:45 AM
Room: 115
Description:
The National Academies designated an understanding of the structure and composition of the lunar interior (to provide fundamental information on the evolution of a differentiated planetary body) as the second highest priority lunar science concept that needs to be addressed in the current decade (2013-2022). Here we present the status of the planned Lunar Geophysical Network (LGN) mission.
The Moon represents an end-member in the differentiation of rocky planetary bodies. Its small size and heat budget caused the early stages of differentiation to be frozen in time. Despite the success of the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package (ALSEP), general models of the processes that contributed to the formation of the present-day lunar interior are currently being challenged. While reinterpretation of the Apollo seismic data led to the identification of a lunar core, it also produced a thinning of the nearside lunar crust from 60-65 km in 1974, to 45 km in 2002, to 30-38 km today. Also, analyses of Apollo seismic data have inferred the presence of garnet below ~500 km, but other analyses identified Mg-rich olivine instead.
A global 4-node Lunar Geophysical Network (each node comprised of a seismometer, heat flow probe, electric/magnetic field instrument, and laser retro-reflector) is essential to defining the nature of the lunar interior and exploring the early stages of terrestrial planet evolution. Identification of lateral and vertical heterogeneities within the Moon, if present, will yield important information about the early presence of a lunar magma ocean (LMO) as well as investigating stratification in the mantle from LMO cumulate overturn. LGN would also provide new constraints on seismicity, including shallow moonquakes that have been linked to young thrust fault scarps, suggesting current tectonic activity. Advancing our understanding of the Moon’s interior is critical for addressing these and many other important Solar System science and exploration questions.
Presenting Author: Renee C. Weber
Authors
Renee C Weber renee.c.weber@nasa.gov NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama, United States Presenting Author
Corresponding Author
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Clive Neal cneal@nd.edu University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, United States |
William B Banerdt william.b.banerdt@jpl.nasa.gov Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, Pasadena, California, United States |
Caroline Beghein cbeghein@ucla.edu University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States |
Peter Chi pchi@igpp.ucla.edu University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States |
Douglas Currie currie@umd.edu University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States |
Simone Dell’Agnello simone.dellagnello@lnf.infn.it Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Rome, , Italy |
Raphael Garcia raphael.garcia@isae.fr Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace, Toulouse, , France |
Ian Garrick-Bethell igarrick@ucsc.edu University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, United States |
Robert E Grimm grimm@boulder.swri.edu Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado, United States |
Matthias Grott matthias.grott@dlr.de Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Berlin, , Germany |
Heidi Haviland heidi.haviland@nasa.gov NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama, United States |
Catherine L Johnson cjohnson@eoas.ubc.ca University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
Taichi Kawamura kawamura@ipgp.fr Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Paris, , France |
Sharon Kedar sharon.kedar@jpl.nasa.gov Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, Pasadena, California, United States |
Philippe Lognonne lognonne@ipgp.fr Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Paris, , France |
Seiichi Nagihara seiichi.nagihara@ttu.edu Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, United States |
Yosio Nakamura yosio@ig.utexas.edu University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, United States |
Ceri Nunn ceri.nunn@jpl.nasa.gov Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, Pasadena, California, United States |
Lillian R Ostrach lostrach@usgs.gov U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Arizona, United States |
Noah Petro noah.e.petro@nasa.gov NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, United States |
Nicholas C Schmerr nschmerr@umd.edu University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States |
Matthew Siegler msiegler@psi.edu Planetary Science Institute, Tuscon, Arizona, United States |
Thomas Watters watterst@si.edu Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia, United States |
Mark Wieczorek mark.wieczorek@oca.eu Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, Nice, , France |
James G Williams james.g.williams@jpl.caltech.edu Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, Pasadena, California, United States |
Kris Zacny zacny@honeybeerobotics.com Honeybee Robotics, Pasadena, California, United States |
The Lunar Geophysical Network Mission
Category
Insight Seismology on Mars: Results From the First (Earth) Year of Data and Prospects for the Future