Posters

Poster Categories

Shankar, Bhairavi - Exploring the North West Quadrant of the SPA basin

Poster Topic: 

The South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin is a top site for human and robotic lunar exploration as it can address questions including the solar system bombardment history, the effects of impact cratering, and the differentiation of planetary interiors. Several observations from orbit of diverse mineral assemblages derived from depth at SPA (including pure anorthosite, Mg-Spinel, and olivine-rich materials) has further fueled the interest to better SPA. 

Takako, Kuroyunagi - Lunar Impact Monitoring Event (LIME), an education and outreach program designed to inform Japanese astronomy organizations

Poster Topic: 

Japan has a large and active amateur astronomy community. Amateur astronomy societies in Japan offer the potential to be excellent resources for NASA citizen science as well as pathways for furthering understanding of planetary science and exploration among students and the general public in Japan.

NASA's 2014 Exploration Science Forum

The Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute is a virtual institute comprised of competitively selected teams across the U.S., a growing number of international partnerships around the world, and a small central office located at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California. SSERVI is jointly funded through the NASA Science Mission Directorate and the NASA Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate with the goal of bridging science and exploration.  

Standart, Douglas - Magmatic Lunar Hydroxly and Water: Redefining the KREEP Terrane Boundary

Poster Topic: 

Early in the evolution of the Moon, towards the late stages of differentiation of the early lunar magma ocean, a relatively thin layer of melt would have remained and been enriched with thorium, water, hydroxyl, and other incompatible materials as a result of fractional crystallization of the lunar crust and mantle. This layer is known as KREEP (potassium, rare earth elements, phosphorus). Lunar crust that shows high concentrations of thorium and hydroxyl/water may indicate interaction with the KREEP layer.

Rivkin, Andrew - Spectral Characterization and Mathematical Removal of Adsorbed Water

Poster Topic: 

"Water and OH have strong absorptions in the 3-µm spectral region. However, the exact band centers shift with type of water/OH (adsorbed vs. structural, for instance) and with host material. The details of these relationships are poorly-known, primarily due to a dearth of measurements under appropriate conditions.

Livengood, Timothy - Neutron Remote-Sensing at the Moon: Modeling the Empirical Variation with Altitude of Neutron Flux for the Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND)

Poster Topic: 

The Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND) instrument on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) employs a collimator to improve the spatial resolution for neutron remote-sensing of hydrogen-rich volatile deposits on the Moon, with the primary goal of mapping deposits of water at the Moon’s cold high latitudes. The collimator reduces the flux of lunar neutrons reaching the detector element from off-nadir directions so that neutrons reaching the detector through the narrow acceptance angle of the collimator opening contribute the primary signal.

Blevins, Sandra - Snow line localization in classical protoplanetary disks

Poster Topic: 

Protoplanetary disks are volatile-rich environments capable of producing the essential conditions that make planet formation viable. Establishing a molecular inventory of dominant volatile species in the planet-forming zones surrounding young, solar-type stars elevates our understanding of the chemistry involved with planet formation, composition and disk evolution.

Bauer, James - NEOWISE Observations of Comets : CO/CO2 Gas Emission

Poster Topic: 

"NEOWISE is the planetary-funded mission that utilizes data from the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft to detect and characterize moving objects. NEOWISE has provided a large statistical sampling of comets in various states of activity, containing a variety of types of comets. This data set provides a unique opportunity to discern the trends in their observable properties and compare the mean properties between classification schemes, and may provide a basis for understanding the differences between the underlying populations of comet subtypes.

Romero-Wolf, Andrew - Lunar Atmosphere Probe Station: A Proof-of-Concept Instrument Package for Monitoring the Lunar Atmosphere

Poster Topic: 

"The lunar exosphere is the exemplar of a plasma near the surface of an airless body. Exposed to both the solar and interstellar radiation fields, the lunar exosphere is mostly ionized, and enduring questions regarding its properties include its density and vertical extent, the extent of contributions from volatile outgassing from the Moon, and its behavior over time, including response to the solar wind and modification by landers.

Zacny, Kris - IceBreaker Drill

Poster Topic: 

"One of the main goals of the Icebreaker Mission to Mars is to search for evidence of life on the planet. To enable the search, a sample of ground ice needs to be acquired and transferred into a life detection instrument. Samples need to be acquired from depths greater than approximately one meter; that is below the range of harmful radiation that reaches the surface of Mars.

Wingo, Dennis - Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project

Poster Topic: 

The Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP) was founded in 2007 to recover Lunar Orbiter mission imagery from original analog data tapes recorded as the images first arrived on Earth between 1966-1967. Funded with a mix of private and NASA money, we were able to rebuild original 50 year old FR-900 tape drives, build a modern version of the original demodulator, and recover imagery at previously unachieved resolution and dynamic range. We recovered our first image in November 2008, e enow-iconic "Earthrise" image taken by Lunar Orbiter 1 in August 1966.

Wingo, Dennis - ISEE-3 Reboot Project

Poster Topic: 

"The Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Packages (ALSEPs) on Apollo 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 returned data from the lunar surface until September 1977. These long-term in-situ data, along with data from Apollo surface and orbital experiments, still comprise some of the best information on the Moon's environment. Much of these data were archived at the National Space Science Data Center (now the NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive, NSSDCA) in the 1970's and 1980's, but a large portion of the data were never submitted.

Winglee, Robert - Sample Return using High Velocity Penetrators

Poster Topic: 

There have only been a few sample return missions since the start of the space age. Their limited number reflects their high cost, with the most recent missions taking only small surface samples. This paper reports results from the development of a high velocity (150-600 m/s) penetrator that is able to take a core sample down to a few meters, and requires simpler orbital maneuvers to reduce the mass and cost requirements of a sample return mission.

Williams, David - .Lunar Data Project/Lunar Data Node: Apollo Data Restoration Update

Poster Topic: 

"The Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Packages (ALSEPs) on Apollo 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 returned data from the lunar surface until September 1977. These long-term in-situ data, along with data from Apollo surface and orbital experiments, still comprise some of the best information on the Moon's environment. Much of these data were archived at the National Space Science Data Center (now the NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive, NSSDCA) in the 1970's and 1980's, but a large portion of the data were never submitted.

Stickle, Angela - Illumination Simulations for Long Duration Landed Missions to the Lunar Poles

Poster Topic: 

"Recent missions to the Moon acquired global high-resolution topography data of the lunar surface. These data are of sufficient quality that they can be used to simulate illumination conditions on the lunar surface for any sun location with confidence and thus can be used to create detailed simulations of illumination conditions during future missions. We have developed a software tool, LunarShader, which precisely simulates lunar illumination conditions through the use of a fixed sun position and a gridded topographic image file.

Roush, Ted - Exploring in the Dark

Poster Topic: 

In low light level environments (LLEs) on Earth, humans typically provide sufficient, if not excessive, illumination via abundant energy sources. Planetary surface rovers have extensively explored exclusively in the sunlight. However, robotic exploration in LLEs of interest to resource potential, e.g. permanently shadowed regions at lunar poles, or biologically protective environments, e.g. lava tubes and other caves, share a common characteristic; abundant energy is seldom, if at all, available.

Robinson, Mark - Arne - Exploring the Mare Tranquillitatis Pit

Poster Topic: 

"Lunar mare “pits” are key science and exploration targets. The first three pits were discovered within Selene obser-vations [1,2] and were proposed to represent collapses into lava tubes. Subsequent LROC images revealed 5 new mare pits and showed that the Mare Tranquillitatis pit (MTP; 8.335°N, 33.222°E) opens into a sublunarean void at least 20-meters in extent [3,4]. Additionally more than 200 pits were discovered in impact melt deposits [4]. A key remaining task is determining pit subsurface extents, and thus fully understanding their exploration and scientific value.

Reid, Robert - Surface Operations Concepts: A Rover Demonstration of Sample Acquisition and Radio Antenna Deployment

Poster Topic: 

"A lander carrying a rover has an expanded mission potential. For sample return missions, a rover enables the acquisition of a range of spatially distributed samples. For radio antenna deployment, most likely applicable to missions using the lunar surface as a platform for heliophysics or astrophysics observations, a rover enables the deployment of an array of antennas.

Radley, Charles - A Roadmap for the Development of the Lunar Space Elevator

Poster Topic: 

A Lunar Space Elevator (LSE) could be constructed with existing materials, considerably accelerating the exploration and economic development of the solar system. The LSE would be an extremely long tether extending from the Lunar Surface, through the Earth-Moon L1 Lagrange point (EML 1) and into CisLunar space. Requiring a relatively modest capital investment, the LSE will reduce the cost of lunar soft landing sixfold and cost of lunar sample return is by about one thousand times, as compared to chemical rockets.

Pavone, Marco - Optimizing Decadal And Precursor Science At Phobos With Spacecraft/Rover Hybrids

Poster Topic: 

"We present a mission architecture to address both high-priority science identified for Marsʼ moons and strategic knowledge gaps for the future Human exploration in the Martian system. The basic architecture involves a mother spacecraft and one or several minimalistic in-situ mobility platforms, called spacecraft/rover hybrids, first studied under the 2011 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program.

Murchie, Scott - MERLIN: A Science and Exploration Mission to the Moons of Mars

Poster Topic: 

"Mars' moons Phobos and Deimos are low-albedo, D-type bodies. Their compositions have been interpreted as highly space-weathered material like that forming bulk Mars or Mars's crust, or alternatively primitive carbonaceous material, possibly sampling material that contributed organics and volatiles to the accreting terrestrial planets. The moons' origins, as well as their potential for in situ resources for future explorers, depend on their composition.

Murbach, Marcus - Atromos: A Cubesat-Derived Mission for the Exploration of the Martian System Using M-PODs

Poster Topic: 

A companion mission is proposed that could provide an enhanced capability of exploring scientifically provocative sites on the surface of Mars and related moons. Options are discussed for a 'companion' mission which could be deployed from the cruise-stage of larger dedicated Mars missions. While the precedence is the DS-2 mission attempted in 1998, the intent would be to 'soft' land payloads on the surface of the planet or moons.

Miller, Richard - The Lunar Occultation Explorer

Poster Topic: 

The Lunar Occultation Explorer (LOX) is a new γ-ray astrophysics mission concept being developed to enhance our knowledge of the Cosmos in the nuclear regime. LOX will orbit the Moon and use the Lunar Occultation Technique to address science goals that include a deep all-sky survey and continuous monitoring of nuclear transients, exploration of galactic nucleosynthesis and the life cycle of matter in our Galaxy, compact objects such as black holes, and key questions related to solar flare dynamics.

Lee, Pascal - Phobos And Deimos & Mars Environment (PADME): A Proposed Discovery Mission

Poster Topic: 

"Ever the since their discovery in 1877 by American astronomer Asaph Hall, the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, have been mysteries. Spacecraft missions have revealed that they are irregular-shaped small bodies with a long collisional history and complex geology, but their origin remains unknown. Three very different hypotheses have been proposed for their origin: 1) They are captured asteroids, possibly primitive D-type asteroids from the outer part of the main asteroid belt; 2) They are remnants of Mars’s own formation; 3) They are reaccreted impact ejecta from Mars.

Jones, Dayton - Low Frequency Deployable Antennas for Space

Poster Topic: 

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has been developing several deployable low frequency antenna concepts for use in space, particular in the lunar environment. These include antennas on spacecraft in lunar orbit and antennas for use on the lunar surface. In all cases the goal is to find low mass, low risk concepts for antennas that are physically large enough to be effective at frequencies below approximately 100 MHz.

Guven, Ugur - The Utilization of Robotic Space Probes in Deep Space Missions: Case Study of Nuclear Power Requirements

Poster Topic: 

The exploration of space is a driving force for mankind for understanding the universe. However, due to limitations in exploration and due to requirements for prolonged life support, it has become only possible to explore deep reaches of space through the use of robotic space probes. Through the efforts of NASA and ESA many robotic space probes have been launched to explore nearby asteroids’ and comets. However, for these types of deep space missions, the robotic space probe is often far from Earth.

Guven, Ugur - ANALYTICAL EXPLORATION OF MANNED SPACE MISSION TO HELIOPAUSE

Poster Topic: 

One of the most important things for the development of mankind is the various advancements in space technology. This is essential, as advancements in space technology have also opened up new frontiers in the development of our modern world as well. Everything that we learn from our universe has been utilized in some way of advancing our technology in our everyday lives as well. Each step in space exploration, takes humanity closer to the brink of significant advancement. Hence, the next logical step in space exploration would be to start exploring the outer fringes of our solar system.

Glass, Brian - Exploration Electropulse Drill

Poster Topic: 

Deep drilling to >km depths is easy on Earth, but an extreme challenge on other Solar System bodies. A new plasma drilling technology, operated with an automated coiled-tubing drill, will enable deep subsurface access, exploration, and sampling within payload mass and power requirement constraints that are feasible for 2020s planetary missions. This light weight, energy efficient concept will enable low-force asteroidal and lunar drilling, potential liquid water access on Mars, as well as the capability of reaching through the Europan ice cover.

Eubanks, Thomas - The Solar Scout: A Solar Sail Asteroid Prospector

Poster Topic: 

"Asteroid mining will require the direct, in situ, prospecting of Near Earth Objects (NEO). An ideal asteroid prospector would be able to visit a number of mining candidates in sequence, each requiring a substantial velocity change, typically several km / second for each new NEO. A Solar Sail, which requires little or no expendable propulsion, is the natural choice for an asteroid prospector, as fuel constraints would severely limit the number of asteroid candidate visits possible using chemical or ion propulsion.

Datta, Abhirup - Measuring Cosmic Dawn from the Farside of the Moon – DARE approach

Poster Topic: 

"The lunar far side is shielded from the Earth-based radio frequency interference (RFI) and is free of the limiting ionospheric effects on Earth. Thus, it is a promising site for precision radio astronomical observations even from an orbit above the Moon, as concluded by the recent NASA Astrophysics Roadmap. The Dark Ages Radio Explorer (DARE) is designed to measure the redshifted, sky-averaged 21-cm signal which is perhaps the most promising near-term probe of the end of the Dark Ages and Cosmic Dawn, when the first stars and galaxies began to heat and ionize the Universe.

Currie, Douglas - A LUNAR LASER RANGING RETROREFLECTOR ARRAY FOR THE 21ST CENTURY: STATUS AND SIMULATIONS OF APOLLO ARRAYS AND FUTURE SCIENCE

Poster Topic: 

"Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) to the Apollo Retroreflector arrays has produced detailed information concerning the crust and interior of the moon (e.g., the discovery 15 years ago of the liquid core). It has also produced some of the best tests of General Relativity (i.e., the Strong Equivalence Principal, the Inertial Properties of Gravitational Energy, the Constancy of the Gravitational Constant G, etc.). This analysis continues to the present. However, the combination of the design of the Apollo arrays and the lunar librations now the limit the accuracy of the range measurements.

Cox, Russell - The International Lunar Geophysical Year: 2017-2018

Poster Topic: 

"The Lunar Renaissance 2007 - 2020: Starting n 2007 eleven spacecraft from many countries transformed our understanding of the Moon reveling a dynamic destination rich with new scientific and commercial opportunities that can unlock the entire solar system for all mankind. In 2017 - 2018, Russia, China, Korea and the US all plan to have active national missions in cislunar space. There are as many as twenty or more private missions being planed and there will be many secondary payloads and LunarCube missions riding along.

Cox, Russell - LunarCube Based Transient Asteriod and Planetesimals (TAPs) Observatory

Poster Topic: 

"Resent calculations by Bill Bottke of Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSRVI) suggest that there may be as many as ten to twenty, one to two meter sized asteroids entering the Earth - Moon system each year. Many of these bodies may be temporarily captured for several weeks or months in chaotic trajectories that are likely to be energetically close to the Earth-Moon Lagrange points affording an opportunity for rendezvous and interaction several times each year with a previously unobserved population of Near Earth Objects (NEOs).

Clark, Pamela - LunarCubes: Progress on LWaDi orbiter

Poster Topic: 

"We are in the process of developing a payload and bus concept for high priority science-driven missions of lunar exploration using an architecture known as LunarCube, with focus on resolving the challenges of using a standardized platform and existing cubesat hardware and maintaining a cubesat form factor for CubeSats missions to operate near or on the Moon.

Clark, Pamela - Compact and/or Cryogenic Lunar Surface Packages

Poster Topic: 

"Much smaller bodies orbit most stars, thus planets and not stars are the most common bodies in the universe. Solid body formation and modification processes are a key to understanding cosmic processes: the new cosmology. Volatiles, including water and simple organics and their ices, are unexpectedly ubiquitous on the surfaces of Mercury and the Moon, especially at their poles, as well as asteroids.

Castillo-Rogez, Julie - Decadal Survey and Strategic Knowledge Gap Science Goals with Next Generation Low Cost Small Platforms

Poster Topic: 

"Most of the key science priorities of the planetary science decadal survey rely on observations that involve sampling or close proximity observations of a variety of bodies. These observations address chemistry responsive to origin science and habitability as well as observational strategies for deep interior probing via internal or field geophysics.

Bennett, Keith - ACCESSING PDS DATA IN PIPELINE PROCESSING AND WEB SITES THROUGH PDS GEOSCIENCES ORBITAL DATA EXPLORER’S WEB-BASED API (REST) INTERFACE

Poster Topic: 

"ODE Overview: The Orbital Data Explorer (ODE) is a web-based search tool (http://ode.rsl.wustl.edu) developed at NASA’s Planetary Data System’s (PDS) Geosciences Node (http://pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/). Through ODE, users can search, browse, and down-load a wide range of PDS Mars, Moon, Mercury, and Venus data (A detailed list of current ODE holdings can be found at http://wufs.wustl.edu/ode/odeholdings/index.html).

Young, Kelsey - Incorporating Handheld Technology into Planetary Surface Exploration: Ongoing Testing and Further Studies

Poster Topic: 

"The next generation of planetary surface exploration will include the need for collecting valuable and diverse samples for return to Earth. While advanced traverse planning is crucial to mission success, the community must also work to develop a suite of in situ geochemical technologies for use in real-time sample high grading. One such instrument is the handheld x-ray fluorescence spectrometer (hXRF).

Schwadron, Nathan - Understanding Tissue Equivalents Radiation Interactions in a Worsening Radiation Environment

Poster Topic: 

The Sun and its solar wind are currently exhibiting extremely low densities and magnetic field strengths, representing states that have never been observed during the space age. As a result of the remarkably weak solar activity, we have also observed the highest fluxes of galactic cosmic rays in the space age, and relatively small solar energetic particle events. We examine the implications of these highly unusual solar conditions for human space exploration.

Race, Margaret - Lunar Environmental Management: What’s Needed to Guide Future

Poster Topic: 

"With increased interest in exploration and use of outer space beyond LEO, it is clear that the international community will soon need to address questions about the future activities of multiple stakeholders on the surfaces of the Moon and other celestial bodies and the potential conflicts of uses that may arise—some of which are very different than experiences on Earth and in Earth orbit.

Neal, Clive - Developing the “Lunar Vicinity” Scenario of the Global Exploration Roadmap

Poster Topic: 

"The Global Exploration Roadmap (GER, [1]) has been developed by the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG – comprised of 14 space agencies) to define various pathways to get humans beyond low Earth orbit and eventually to Mars. Such pathways include visiting asteroids or the Moon before going on to Mars. This document has been written at a very high level and many details are still to be determined. In this presentation, we develop the GER “Lunar Vicinity” scenario by mapping a number of relevant reports/documents into the GER.

Lawrence, Samuel - High-Priority Destinations for Lunar Exploration

Poster Topic: 

"A systematic program of human and robotic lunar exploration will greatly advance all planetary science and exploration objectives [1]. Precursor campaigns should include rovers, sample return, and ISRU demonstrations preparing for human missions[2]. LRO produces data essential for scientific exploration [3-6] and informing mission design [7-9]. Site assessment is critical to determine optimal precursor mission strategies, particularly sample returns.

Jackson, Telana - Astronaut Charging On an Asteroid

Poster Topic: 

The plasma environment about a small near-Earth object is very complex, ranging from an electron-rich photoelectric sheath on the dayside to a very low density plasma wake region on the nightside. As a consequence, the surface potential can range from a few volts positive on the dayside to large negative values in shadowed regions. An astronaut as an isolated object in the solar wind plasma will also have his/her own electrical potential.

Hurtado, Jose - Geologic Activities During Microgravity EVAs: Lessons Learned from DRATS 2011 and RATS 2012

Poster Topic: 

The 2011 Desert RATS and the 2012 RATS tests investigated exploration of a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA). We report lessons learned regarding geologic activities performed during analog microgravity extravehicular activities (EVAs). The 2011 test in the San Francisco Volcanic Field, AZ, examined field geology operations in two EVA modes using: 1) “Super” SAFER (Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue), a notional, self-contained propulsive backpack; and 2) Astronaut Positioning System (APS), a passive “robotic” arm attached to a Space Exploration Vehicle (SEV).

Hurley, Dana - Water as a resource for science and exploration on the Moon

Poster Topic: 

"Water ice has been mapped in the polar regions of the Moon and appears to have a heterogeneous distribution. Remote sensing data at IR and FUV wavelengths are consistent with frost covering up to a few percent of the surface. Meanwhile, neutron and radar data that probe greater depths are consistent with localized areas with higher bulk concentrations of water.

Heldmann, Jennifer - FINESSE: Field Investigations to Enable Solar System Science and Exploration

Poster Topic: 

"The FINESSE (Field Investigations to Enable Solar System Science and Exploration) team is focused on a science and exploration field-based research program aimed at generating strategic knowledge in preparation for the human and robotic exploration of the Moon, near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) and Phobos & Deimos. We infuse our science program with leading edge exploration concepts since “science enables exploration and exploration enables science.”

Glotch, Timothy - Science and Exploration enabled by the RIS4E SSERVI Team

Poster Topic: 

The Remote, In Situ, and Synchrotron Studies for Science and Exploration (RIS4E) team will address key aspects of the science and exploration of the Moon, near Earth asteroids (NEAs), Phobos, and Deimos. The RIS4E team consists of leading researchers at a variety of institutions, each of which brings unique capabilities and talents to the team, ranging from laboratory analysis to field studies. The five-year RIS4E effort is divided into four main research themes. These themes are:1.Preparation for Exploration: Enabling Quantitative Remote Geochemical Analysis of Airless Bodies.

Castillo-Rogez, Julie - Overview of a Preliminary Destination Mission Concept for a Human Orbital Mission to the Martian Moons

Poster Topic: 

"Introduction: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Human Spaceflight Architecture Team (HAT) has been developing a preliminary Destination Mission Concept (DMC) to assess how a human orbital mission to one or both of the Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos, might be conducted as a followon to a human mission to a near-Earth asteroid (NEA) and as a possible preliminary step prior to a human landing on Mars. The HAT Mars-Phobos-Deimos (MPD) mission also permits the teleoperation of robotic systems by the crew while in the Mars system.

Smith, David - Are Density Variations on the Lunar Mantle Detectable with GRAIL Gravity Data?

Poster Topic: 

When the lunar topographic contribution is removed from a lunar gravity model it provides a Bouguer disturbance that indicates mass excesses and deficiencies in the crust and possibly the upper mantle. Identifying gravity signals that originate at greater depth is a challenge. We try to determine if some of the larger lunar Bouguer disturbances are below the lunar crust and what affect that might have on the global Bouguer signal.

Shirley, Katherine - Photometric Correction of the Diviner Thermal Channels

Poster Topic: 

"The Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment on board the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is currently mapping multispectral thermal emission from the lunar surface [1]. Lunar surface composition is derived from the three narrow channels (channels 3-5) centered near 8 µm that determine the location of the Christiansen Feature (CF), which changes position as a function of silicate composition [2,3]. Diviner also maps the lunar surface at longer thermal wavelengths (12.5-400 µm; channels 6-9) that have not generally been used in mineralogical analyses.

Jögi, Per - A BALLISTIC MODEL FOR ANTIPODAL IMPACT MELT DEPOSITS ON THE MOON

Poster Topic: 

"Data from infrared and visual LRO observations have revealed an anomalous area of ponded smooth deposits covering > 3000km2 at 41˚N, 167˚E (farside) of the Moon. This region of smooth deposits is the result of a momentary impact melt event around 100Ma and its origin is tied to the creation of the 85km diameter Tycho crater (43˚S, 349˚E). The location of the smooth deposits region is very close to the antipode of the Tycho crater.

Greenhagen, Benjamin - The Extreme Thermal, Thermophysical, and Compositional Nature of the Moon Revealed by the Diviner Lunar Radiometer

Poster Topic: 

"After nearly five years in operation, and well into its extended science mission, the Diviner Lunar Radiometer has revealed the extreme nature of the Moon’s thermal environments, thermophysical properties, and surface composition. This presentation will highlight contributions from members of the Diviner Science Team addressing a diverse range of scientific questions from the extended science mission.

Chi, Peter - A Revisit to Magnetic Sounding of the Lunar Electrical Conductivity Profile with Apollo 15 Data

Poster Topic: 

In the 1970s and 80s, studies using the Apollo surface and orbital magnetic field observations have estimated the size of the metallic core and the deep lunar electrical conductivity profile of the Moon. In these early magnetic sounding studies, the Apollo Lunar Surface Magnetometer (LSM) data were limited to those collected by the Apollo 12 mission. In recent years, the Apollo magnetic field data have been restored from their original, obsolete forms.

Baker, David - The Origin of Peak-Ring Basins on the Moon: Working Hypothesis and Path Forward in Using Observations to Constrain Models of Impact Basin Formation

Poster Topic: 

"Impact basins provide windows into the Moon’s crustal structure and stratigraphy; however, interpreting the origin of impact basin materials requires constraints on the processes controlling basin formation and morphology. Peak-ring basins (exhibiting a rim crest and single interior ring of peaks) provide important insight into the basin-formation process, as they are transitional between complex craters with central peaks and multi-ring basins.

Wiseman, Sandra - Aristarchus Olivine in Context With Circum-Imbrium Olivine-Bearing Deposits

Poster Topic: 

"The Aristarchus region contains geologically diverse deposits and the Aristarchus impact crater, located on the SE margin of the plateau near the contact between plateau materials and western Procellarum basalts, has exposed materials with diverse compositions. Of particular interest is the origin of olivine-bearing deposits that occur on the SE portion of the crater rim and ejecta. NW portions of the rim and ejecta expose plateau materials and are spectrally dominated by pyroxene in the VNIR.

Wagner, Robert - Distribution, age, and formation mechanisms of lunar pits

Poster Topic: 

"Introduction: The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) images the Moon with pixel scales of 0.5-2m. We systematically searched NAC images acquired with low incidence angles (0-50°) for vertical-walled collapse features using a semi-automated process. We located 231 pits, primarily in impact melts of Copernican craters [1].

Sears, Derek - Thermoluminescence Dating of Volcanism on Hawaii: Present Status and Future Prospects

Poster Topic: 

"Volcanism on the Big Island of Hawaii covers a timespan from the present to over a million years. Historic records and radiocarbon methods date the younger periods of activity, and K-Ar derived methods are especially effective for the older periods of activity. Between these limits, which includes much of the activity for Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, thermoluminescence dating has often been proposed.

Rogers, Deanne - Using a volcanic analog site to understand causes of spectral and thermophysical variability over extraterrestrial volcanic terrains

Poster Topic: 

"It is well documented that individual lava flows of differing age can be distinguished in infrared spectral imagery due to variations in oxidation coatings, depositional silica, glassy rinds and spallation, and texture. Aside from spectral variability due to geochemical processes, however, there are other factors, such as volcaniclastic sediment cover, microscale surface texture (vesicularity), and macroscale surface texture (flow morphology), which affect the spectral and thermophysical variability observed from orbit.

Ramsley, Kenneth - Impact ejecta from Mars to Phobos: Regolith bulk concentration and distribution, and the sufficiency of Mars ejecta to produce grooves as secondary impacts

Poster Topic: 

"The surface of the martian moon Phobos is characterized by parallel and intersecting grooves that bear resemblance to secondary crater chains observed on planetary surfaces. Some researchers have hypothesized that Phobos grooves are produced by ejecta from martian primary crater impacts that intersects Phobos to produce parallel chains of secondary craters. To test this hypothesis we plot Keplerian trajectories of ejecta from Mars to Phobos.

Ostrach, Lillian - Detection of Non-Obvious Secondary Craters Through Measures of Crater Density

Poster Topic: 

"Interpretation of crater size-frequency distributions (SFDs) assumes that impact cratering is a random process and that the accumulation of craters over time on a surface reflects age. SFDs should only consider primary craters within a region assumed to consist of one geologic unit of uniform age [e.g.,1]; obvious secondary craters occurring in chains or clusters (including herringbone pattern ejecta) and the areas containing them must be excluded.

Morse, Zachary - Analysis of Orientale Basin Ejecta and Evidence for Multistage Emplacement

Poster Topic: 

"Orientale Basin is a multi-ring impact structure centered at (266.5º E, -19.5º N) on the western edge of the nearside of the Moon. It is arguably the best-preserved multi-ring basin in the Solar System. The main crater rings (Inner Rook, Outer Rook, and Cordillera) extend approximately 300 km radially from the center of the basin, with ejecta extending an additional 800 km across the lunar surface. Our focus is on the Hevelius formation, or ejecta deposits of Orientale that extend out beyond the Cordillera Ring.

Matiella Novak, Alexandra - Compositional Characterization of Lunar Impact Melt Flows Using Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3)

Poster Topic: 

"Numerous impact melt flow deposits have been identified exterior to impact crater rims on the Moon [e.g., Hawke and Head, 1977; Denevi et al., 2012; Stopar et al., 2014; Neish et al. 2014]. We focus our attention upon examination of a portion of the 146 impact melt flows exterior to crater rim crests identified and described by Neish et al. [2014]. While many of these craters were initially discovered with optical imagery, Neish et al. [2014] identified many additional impact-melt flows using Mini-RF data.

Kerrigan, Mary - The West Clearwater Lake impact structure as a planetary analogue.

Poster Topic: 

"Impact cratering is the dominant geological process on the Moon, asteroids, and moons of Mars. The exploration and study of terrestrial craters is essential therefore to understand the origin and emplacement of impactites, the history of impact bombardment in the inner Solar System, the formation of complex impact craters, and the effects of shock on planetary materials.

Ivanov, Mikhail - Boguslawsky Crater: Analysis of a High-Latitude Impact Crater Sampling Pre-South Pole-Aitken Basin Crust as a Candidate Landing Site

Poster Topic: 

"Boguslawsky Crater (73oS, 43oE, ~100 km in diameter) is an ancient high southern latitude crater that is in the region that might contian polar volatiles. Neither Boguslawsky itself, however, nor its close surroundings show evidence for the suppression of the neutron flux from the surface. This means that in this region possible accumulation of hydrogen-bearing phases in upper regolith is below the level of detection by the LEND instrument, ~100 ppm, and analysis of volatiles in near-surface regolith is less likely.

Hughes, Scott - Combined Geomorphic and Petrologic Models of Lava Flow Surfaces, Pyroclastic Ejecta and Volcanic Stratigraphy as Planetary Analogs

Poster Topic: 

"Geomorphology of volcanic features, widely used to interpret eruptive history and magma generation, often lead to extended evaluations of planetary body evolution. Investigations typically based on close field observations and/or remote sensing imagery, are used in conjunction with geochemical and petrographic information to make such broad interpretations.

Donaldson Hanna, Kerri - Thermal Infrared Studies of Lunar Soils: Characterizing Spectral Effects due to Simulated Lunar Conditions and Packing

Poster Topic: 

"Apollo soils [e.g. 1-3] as well as basaltic rocks [4] have been well-characterized across the visible- to near-infrared wavelengths including the effects of particle size, mineralogy, mineral chemistries, ilmenite content and space weathering on their spectra. These laboratory analyses provided ground truth to remote sensing observations from Earth-based telescopic observations and spacecraft observations like those from Clementine, Galileo, Lunar Prospector, SELENE, and Chandrayaan-1 as well as providing key insights into the composition and evolution of the lunar surface.

Cahill, Joshua - SURVEYING THE SOUTH POLE-AITKEN BASIN MAGNETIC ANOMALY FOR REMNANT IMPACTOR METALLIC IRON

Poster Topic: 

"For decades it has been known that portions of the lunar crust are strongly magnetized [1-4]; yet the origin of magnetization is not understood. Difficulties discerning a source for these anomalies begin with most of them having no consistent association with geologic structures. Impact basins and ejecta, and antipodes are geologic structures that sometimes associate with magnetic anomalies [5], but most are weak relative to the global dynamic range. Further, many of these same structures do not show magnetic anomalies.

Bleacher, Jacob - Remote, In Situ, and Synchrotron Studies for Science and Exploration (RIS4E) Field Campaigns

Poster Topic: 

"The RIS4E team will conduct yearly geologic field campaigns as a means of evaluating instrument design and best practices for their use during future HEOMD exploration of Target Bodies. The design and use of portable instruments that provide real-time analytical data to astronauts and a science team have been largely unexplored despite a heritage of useful analog tests.

Bennett, Kristen - Inferred Variable FeO Content in Medium-Sized Lunar Pyroclastic Deposits from LRO Diviner Data

Poster Topic: 

"Lunar pyroclastic deposits (LPDs) are low albedo features that mantle underlying terrain (Gaddis et al. 1985). They are high priority targets for science and exploration as they are believed to originate from and therefore reflect the composition of the deep lunar interior (NRC, 2011). They are also the best potential resource of oxygen out of any Apollo samples (Allen et al. 1996).

Basilevsky, Alexander - Survival times of meter-sized rock boulders on the surface of bodies without atmospheres

Poster Topic: 

"We consider the issue of the survival times of meter-sized rock boulders on the surface of bodies without atmospheres. The approach we use was tested in our recent work1 and it is based on thee consideration of the spatial density of boulders on the rims of small lunar craters of known absolute age. In that study1 it was assumed that major factor and process involved in boulder destruction is catastrophic disruption by meteorite impacts. The potential role of diurnal temperature cycling2 was mentioned but not studied.

Thieme, Juergen - X-ray spectroscopy with high spatial resolution – the SRX beamline at NSLS-II

Poster Topic: 

X-ray spectromicroscopy is a very useful way of combining high spectral with high spatial resolution. The smallest structures visible in an X-ray microscope at present are below 10 nm size. X-ray microscopy is capable of imaging specimens directly, even in aqueous media; there is no need for fixation or staining. Due to the refractive index of matter being close to unity, clear images without scattering background are obtained even when studying thick and inhomogeneous samples. Therefore, X-ray microscopy images can be used for tomographic reconstructions of thick samples.

Rucks, Melinda - MID IR Optical Constants of Orthopyroxenes

Poster Topic: 

"Orthopyroxenes are common rock forming minerals that are present on many planetary bodies as well as meteorites and cosmic dust. The presence of these minerals can give implications to the petrogenic history of these planetary bodies. Optical constants, n and k, are essential inputs into radiative transfer models which are used in remote sensing techniques. [1,2] While optical constants have been determined for orthopyroxenes with high Mg content, Fe rich orthopyroxenes have not been studied as extensively.

Port, Sara - Quantifying hydroxyl radical production from pulverized olivine with Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) spectroscopy

Poster Topic: 

"Recent research has demonstrated that when several different types of minerals, such as olivine, augite, and quartz, are pulverised in the laboratory, reactive oxygen species, or “ROS”, are produced, including hydrogen peroxide, superoxide, and hydroxyl radicals. These reactive compounds can be hazardous to humans, as they are highly reactive with organic matter.

Lanzirotti, Antonio - Synchrotron-based microXAFS for probing the oxidation state of extraterrestrial igneous systems

Poster Topic: 

For the vast majority of small extraterrestrial samples that would available from planned sample return missions, traditional macroscopic geochemical techniques are poorly suited. However, advanced synchrotron-based techniques such as microXAFS can be useful to characterize the geochemistry of such small samples, particularly for probing the oxidation state of igneous materials. These measurements can be used to evaluate the degree of oxidation of a planetary magma source region and, possibly, the additional effects of magma interaction with the near surface environment.

Kim, Kyeong - Elemental Analysis Using a Portable X-Ray Spectrometer for Planetary Surface Exploration Applications

Poster Topic: 

Active X-ray spectroscopy is commonly used to investigate the elemental composition of planetary surfaces. This technique could be used on a small rover (~20 kg), which is proposed for the prospective Korean lunar mission in 2020. As a first step toward an active X-ray spectrometer (AXS), we have conducted a preliminary scientific investigation using an X-ray spectrometer and an X-ray generator (XRG), which were commercially available from Amptek Inc., to carry out elemental analyses of standard samples and of various rock types.

Carey, CJ - Machine Learning Tools for Remote-Sensed Spectra from Airless Bodies

Poster Topic: 

"Interpretation of remote-sensed spectroscopic data from surfaces of airless bodies relies on a combination of crystal field models and empirical fitting routines to produce estimates of mineralogy, rock types, and space weathering. Current methods for these analyses tend to be computationally cumbersome, sensitive to noise and other factors, and poorly constrained with confidence limits. For problems of unmixing spectral signatures of mixtures of minerals, machine learning methods can yield a more accurate alternative to physical mixing models such as the Modified Gaussian Model.

Cahill, Joshua - Determination of synthetic olivine near-infrared optical constants

Poster Topic: 

"Mineral optical constants (n, k) are critical for radiative transfer spectral modeling techniques pioneered by Bruce Hapke. Building upon [1, 2], Trang et al. [3] published optical constant regression coefficients for natural and synthetic pyroxenes and natural olivines. The samples used include synthetic pyroxene samples created [4, 5] and natural olivine samples previously characterized by [6-8]. Trang et al. [3]’s analysis suggested the most reliable optical constant measurements were determined using spectra collected by RELAB.

Sarantos, Menelaos - Constraining refractory elements of the Moon's exosphere from LADEE measurements

Poster Topic: 

We updated our previously published model of transport of refractories in the lunar exosphere (e.g, Mg, Ti, Fe) to infer source and loss mechanisms for these species. New features of this model include: 1) the incorporation of inhomogeneities in surface composition for these elements using Lunar Prospector maps; and 2) the adoption of sputtering maps that describe the exclusion of the solar wind from certain portions of the lunar surface because of magnetic anomalies.

Poppe, Andrew - Martian planetary heavy ion sputtering of Phobos and Deimos: implications for the production of neutral tori

Poster Topic: 

The Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos, have long been suspected to be the sources of tenuous neutral gas and dust tori encircling Mars. The neutral tori, first suggested in order to explain observations of interplanetary magnetic field perturbations by the Phobos-2 spacecraft near the orbit of Phobos, have been attributed to many sources, including direct outgassing from Phobos, micrometeoroid impact vaporization, and charged particle sputtering.

McLain, Jason - ENAs Backscattering from Lunar Regolith

Poster Topic: 

When solar wind ions interact with the regolith of airless bodies, some fraction neutralizes and backscatters as energetic neutral atoms (ENAs). ENA imagers onboard Chandrayaan and IBEX observed that ~20% of the solar wind protons are reflected as energetic neutral hydrogen atoms. Lab experiments were performed to simulate solar wind conditions to measure the yield and angular distribution of backscattered neutral hydrogen and helium from Apollo 17 breccia dust.

Sinclair, Amalie - Treaty Making for Global Exploration

Poster Topic: 

"The 1967 Treaty on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space was formulated more 50 years ago. Since that time many significant technological developments and the emergence of leading potentials propose the requirement for a revisionary basis and for extension of the original treaty consensus into further productivity. This discussion outlines the primary topics of interest, and lines of approach with objectives towards the stable international backgrounds and the enhancement of the Global Space Exploration agenda.

Shaner, Andrew - Center for Lunar Science and Exploration E/PO

Poster Topic: 

"The Center for Lunar Science and Exploration (CLSE) E/PO integrates its well-established solar system education programs into the SSERVI portfolio. CLSE E/PO is leading a suite of exciting programs that strengthen the future science workforce, attract and retain students in STEM disciplines, and develop advocates for the exploration of the Moon and asteroids.

Runyon, Cassandra - The art and science of small bodies in our solar system.

Poster Topic: 

"To prepare students for a highly visual and tactile workforce, it is imperative that today’s classrooms keep up with instructional and informational technologies that are the media of modern life. Engaging students with authentic data sets, real world questions and investigations through a variety of learning strategies offers students and teachers a seamless and coordinated curriculum that is immediately usable in most classrooms across America, particularly those serving at-risk Title I populations.

Mahoney, Bret - To Boldly Grow: Popular Culture and Exploration Science in the Optimal Generation

Poster Topic: 

A recent national concentration on STEM education has led to an increase in science aptitude while literary works in space fiction are motivating young readers to look to the stars. The stage has been set for exploration science to move from the realm of science fiction to science reality.

Jones, Andrea - FINESSE Education and Public Outreach Program

Poster Topic: 

"The Field Investigations to Enable Solar System Science and Exploration (FINESSE) team will conduct a science and exploration field-based research program aimed at generating strategic knowledge in preparation for the human and robotic exploration of the Moon, near-Earth asteroids, and the martian moons Phobos and Deimos. Field investigations in the analog environments of Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve in Idaho and at the West Clearwater Lake Impact Structure in northern Canada will address scientific questions pertaining to volcanism and impact science.

Hsu, Brooke - Remote, In Situ and Synchrotron Studies for Science and Exploration Education and Public Outreach

Poster Topic: 

"Through a partnership with the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University, the RIS4E Education and Public Outreach (EPO) team will create a sophomore-level undergraduate science journalism Special Topics course. The RIS4E Special Topics course is being developed in response to a need to create journalists with an understanding of the scientific process. Over the course of a semester, students enrolled in the RIS4E Special Topics course will be exposed to the breadth of scientific investigations being undertaken by the team.

Cowing, Keith - Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project Education and Public Outreach

Poster Topic: 

The Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP) was founded in 2007 to recover Lunar Orbiter mission imagery from original analog data tapes recorded as the images first arrived on Earth between 1966-1967. A large part of our effort was generating public visibility for our efforts so as to inform people what were doing but also to generate support for the continued funding of our project. We will discuss the origin of the project, how we engaged the public from the onset, how we translated public interest into support, and how we intend to preserve the output of our project for posterity.

Bleacher, Lora - DREAM2 Education and Public Outreach

Poster Topic: 

"The Dynamic Response of Environments at Asteroids, the Moon and moons of Mars (DREAM2) team builds on the work of its predecessor (DREAM), which was established under the auspices of the former NASA Lunar Science Institute, by taking a system-level integrated approach to examining environmentally- driven surface processes common to all airless bodies. The DREAM2 education and public outreach (E/PO) plan builds upon the successful DREAM E/PO program while also bringing DREAM2 and SSERVI content to new and expanded audiences.

Billings, Linda - Astrobiology in a changing world: communicating about complex science in a complex cultural environment

Poster Topic: 

Since the turn of this century, NASA’s Astrobiology Program has focused increasing attention on communicating with external audiences – scientists, decision makers, the media, students and teachers, and other interested citizens. This focus has led to a number of new and innovative communication, public education, and public outreach activities. As a result, astrobiology has become a “household word.” At the same time, though, astrobiology research has grown more complex and thus more challenging to explain to non-experts.

Wooden, Diane - LADEE UVS Observations of Solar Occultation: Exospheric Dust along lines-of-sight above the Dawn Terminator

Poster Topic: 

"Introduction: The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is a lunar orbiter launched in September 2012 that investigates the composition and temporal variation of the tenuous lunar exosphere and dust environment. A primary science goal of the LADEE mission is to characterize the dust lunar exosphere prior to future lunar exploration activities, which may alter the lunar environment. To address this goal, the LADEE instrument suite includes an Ultraviolet/Visible Spectrometer (UVS) that has two sets of optics: a limb-viewing telescope, and a solar viewing telescope.

Wang, Xu - Interactions of a plasma flow with a magnetic dipole field: Implications for large positive lunar surface potentials

Poster Topic: 

Recent in-situ observations, as well as computer simulations, indicate that the lunar surface may be charged to potentials from +150 up to +300 V in magnetic anomaly regions. This is much higher than the generally expected value of ~ +10 V on the dayside surface due to the photoemission. We present new laboratory experiments studying the interaction of flowing plasmas with magnetic dipole fields to address these unexpected observations and modeling results.

Simolka, Jonas - Development of a Gas Impact Chamber for Laboratory Studies of Meteoric Ablation

Poster Topic: 

A gaseous target for hypervelocity dust particles is developed for the laboratory study of micrometeoroid ablation in the Earth’s and planetary atmospheres. The dust accelerator facility at LASP, University of Colorado at Boulder is used to accelerate micron and submicron sized dust particles to relevant velocities, > 10 km/s. The gas impact chamber is 40 cm long and is pressurized to 0.02 – 0.5 Torr using dry nitrogen or other gases. At the low end of the pressure range the particles will undergo deceleration due to air drag, and at high end they will completely ablate.

Shu, Anthony - Cratering Studies in Thin Plastic Films

Poster Topic: 

Thin plastic films, such as Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF), have been used as protective coatings or dust detectors on a number of missions including the Dust Counter and Mass Analyzer (DUCMA) instrument on Vega 1 and 2, the High Rate Detector (HRD) on the Cassini Mission, and the Student Dust Counter (SDC) on New Horizons. These types of detectors can be used on the lunar surface or in lunar orbit to detect dust grain size distributions and velocities. Due to their low power requirements and light weight, large surface area detectors can be built for observing low dust fluxes.

Munsat, Tobin - Ice Target and Gas Target Experiments in the IMPACT Dust Accelerator

Poster Topic: 

The dust accelerator facility at the SSERVI Institute for Modeling Plasma, Atmospheres, and Cosmic Dust (IMPACT) is presently implementing two major target upgrades: a cryogenic ice target and a high-pressure gas target. The ice target consists of a LN2 cryogenic system connected to both a water-ice deposition system as well as a movable freezer/holder for a pre-mixed liquid cartridge.

Molaro, Jamie - Thermoelastic grain-scale stresses on airless bodies and implications for rock breakdown

Poster Topic: 

"Most studies on the thermomechanical breakdown of rocks focus on arid, terrestrial environments where other weathering processes are slow. Propagation of microfractures in rocks occurs due to expansion and contraction caused by changes in temperature, and by mismatches in thermal expansion behavior of adjacent mineral grains. Airless bodies may provide an environment uniquely suited to this process, as many experience large diurnal temperature ranges, rapid changes in temperature during sunrise and sunset, and/or high thermal cycling rates due to rapid rotation.

Kyoung Sim, Chae - Multi-Band Polarimetric Observations of the Lunar Surface

Poster Topic: 

We carried out multi-band (U, B, V, R, and I passbands) polarimetric observations of the whole near side of the moon from the Lick observatory using a 15-cm reflecting telescope. Polarization of the light scattered by the lunar surface contains information on the mean particle size of the lunar regolith, which gradually decreases by continued micro-meteoroid impact over a long period and thus is an age indicator of the surface. We present a map of the mean particle size for the whole near side of the moon.

Kempf, Sascha - Properties of the Lunar Dust Exposphere as seen by LDEX

Poster Topic: 

Impacts of fast interplanetary meteoroids with the Lu-nar surfaces produce ejecta particles which populate tenuous, approximately isotropic clouds around the moons. This process is very efficient: a typical inter-planetary 10-8 kg micrometeoroid impacting the Earth' Moon produces a large number of dust particles, whose total mass is about 650 times that of the impactor.

Kehoe, Thomas - Understanding Asteroid Regolith Properties from the Post-Disruption Evolution of Dust Bands

Poster Topic: 

"We have performed dynamical modeling of the structure of a faint dust band observed in carefully co-added IRAS data at an ecliptic latitude of 17º that convincingly demonstrates that it is the result of an extremely recent (significantly less than 1 Ma ago) disruption of an asteroid and is still in the process of forming. Our detailed modeling of the 17º partial dust band has led to a new understanding of the information that is preserved in these young structures about the original source body and the disruption process.

Jordan, Andrew - Dielectric breakdown weathering of the lunar polar regolith

Poster Topic: 

Solar energetic particles (SEPs) can penetrate into the lunar regolith, causing deep dielectric charging. The regolith discharges with a timescale that depends on temperature. In permanently shadowed regions, for example, this timescale is ~20 days. If at least 10^10 particles/cm^2 are deposited during the discharging timescale, then dielectric breakdown is expected to occur.

Ito, Gen - Calculating the Scattering Properties of Fine-grained Particulates of Planetary Surfaces

Poster Topic: 

Determining the compositions of fine particulates, such as the regoliths of the Moon and near Earth asteroids, has been a problematic task in infrared remote sensing. Difficulty in modeling the scattering properties arises due to the multiple scattering, absorption, and transmission of light that occurs when regolith particles have diameters equal to or smaller than the wavelength of light being used by an instrument.

Gharib, Nima - Dust cleaning, transportation and sampling in lunar environment using traveling electric field

Poster Topic: 

"Unlike Earth, moon does not have a magnetic field to protect it from high energy particles emitting from the Sun. Once they reach the surface of the moon, they penetrate into the dust particles and remove their electrons leaving them positively charge on the day side. On the dark side electron plasma makes the surface negatively charged in the order of thousands of volts. Since the materials composing regolith have low conductivity and there is no atmosphere on the moon, the dust particles tend to keep their electrical charge.

Devaud, Genevieve - Engineering surfaces to shed particles: A solution to a dusty problem?

Poster Topic: 

"Tenacious adhesion of dust to surfaces in the vacuum environment of space is viewed as one of the biggest obstacles to exploration and scientific discovery on the Moon, Mars and asteroids. Mitigating particle adhesion is also costly and difficult during semiconductor or optics processing on earth. Particle adhesion on surfaces is a complex, poorly understood phenomenon in spite of many years of study. On the surface of an airless body, adhesion is mediated predominantly through van der Waals and Coulombic interactions due to charging by the solar wind, and highly reactive, clean surfaces.

Devaud, Genevieve - Asteroid Regolith Mechanical Properties: Laboratory Experiments with Cohesive Powders

Poster Topic: 

"We are conducting laboratory experiments to investigate the role of cohesion in governing regolith processes and geomorphological expression on small solar system bodies. Our goals are to develop an improved understanding of the geomorphological expression of granular media in the microgravity environments of regoliths on small asteroids and to quantify the range of expected mechanical properties of such regoliths.

De Gregorio, Bradley - Aberration Corrected STEM Characterization of Glass Analogs for Regolith Grains on Airless Bodies

Poster Topic: 

Space weathering of regolith particles on airless bodies leads to formation of nanophase Fe metal and amorphization of silicate minerals in the top ~100 nm of the grain surfaces (Keller and McKay, 1997, GCA 61, 2331-2341). Such changes can have a drastic effect on the optical properties of these bodies, in effect masking their true mineralogy and composition. Making a quantitative link between the atomic-to-nanoscale effects on the particles, and the macroscale properties is essential for maximizing the science return from exploration of airless bodies and returned samples.

Day, Brian - Ground-Based Lunar Meteoroid Impact Observations and the LADEE Mission

Poster Topic: 

"What was once thought a spurious phenomenon with little scientific evidence - a form of Transient Lunar Phenomena, point flashes from lunar meteoroid impacts are now a relatively commonly observed phenomenon as shown by the many confirmed observations by both professional and amateur groups. In addition to the natural phenomena, several artificial impacts of spacecraft on the moon over the last fifteen years have yielded valuable information on the physics of impacts as well as evidence of sub-surface water ice.

Cox, Russell - Peroxy as a Marker for Ancient Water, a Biohazard, and Dynamic Terminator Processes

Poster Topic: 

"Water ice, condensed over time out of the vapor phase into permanently shadowed craters, is present on the moon. What about ""ancient water""? It was there when the moon formed 4+ GYrs ago, at least in form of hydroxyl, such as O3Si-OH, in nominally anhydrous minerals. However, decades of studying lunar rocks from the Apollo era have led experts to believe that the moon is “dry” (where “dryness” is defined as absence or near-absence of O3Si-OH and the absence or near-absence of H). We challenge this view.

Cox, Russell - Lunar Lightning : The Need for Multi-Physics Modeling of the Impact Process

Poster Topic: 

"Up until now, the process of impacts on the Lunar surface has largely been considered as a kinematic process. We believe that it is time to consider the role of electromagnetic forces in the evolution of the impact as well as the novel chemical and physical processes that may evolve as the result of large currents in the ground and ejecta.

Chin, Gordon - Determining the Magnitude of Neutron and Galactic Cosmic Ray (GCR) Fluxes at the Moon using the Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND) during the Historic Space-Age Era of High GCR Flux

Poster Topic: 

"The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) was launched June 18, 2009 during an historic space age era of minimum solar activity. The lack of solar sunspot activity signaled a complex set of heliospheric phenomena that also gave rise to a period of unprecedentedly high Galactic Cosmic Ray (GCR) flux. These events coincided with the primary mission of the Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND), onboard LRO in a nominal 50-km circular orbit of the Moon.

Blewett, David - Lunar crustal magnetic anomalies: Natural laboratories for space plasmas and geology

Poster Topic: 

"The Moon does not possess a global internally generated magnetic field. However the lunar crust contains areas of magnetized rock, tens to a few hundred kilometers in size. Many of the magnetic anomalies are located at the antipodes of major impact basins. The magnetic anomalies are also associated with highly unusual bright surficial markings known as lunar swirls. The origin of the magnetic anomalies and the bright swirl features is uncertain, though the observed correlation is very strong. There are several hypotheses for the origin of the swirls.

Voropaev, Sergey - Comparative analysis of the space environment near-Earth asteroids using mineralogical data of micrograins from asteroid 25143 (Itokawa) and Chelyabinsk meteorite

Poster Topic: 

Now, we have a lot of variety data concerning dust particles delivered by the Hayabusa spacecraft from the surface of near-Earth asteroid 25143 (Itokawa). It concerns chemical, mineral, isotope and a number of other analyses provided from japans’ scientists, mainly. It turned out that Itokawa dust particles are identical to thermally metamorphosed LL chondrites and connect theirs with S type asteroids.

Russell, Christopher - The Mass and Speed of Interplanetary Field Enhancements

Poster Topic: 

Multispacecraft observations of IFEs enable us to determine the speed and dimensions of these magnetic disturbances and determine the magnetic forces on the charged dust. The magnetic field configuration is that of a draped magnetic field pulling the charged dust cloud outward from the Sun. The speed of the disturbance is close to that of the solar wind so that the force balance is between the gravitational force of the Sun on the dust and the magnetic force of the IFE pulling and pushing outward. This enables us to weigh the charged dust cloud.

Ranjan, Sukrit - How Many Low Delta-v Near-Earth Objects Remain Undiscovered?

Poster Topic: 

"The past decade has witnessed considerable growth of interest in missions to Near-Earth Objects (NEOs). NEOs are considered prime targets for human spaceflight initiatives (c.f. the Augustine report), and NASA has recently issued a Broad Agency Announcement soliciting proposals regarding developing technologies for asteroid retrieval.

Lawrence, Samuel - Mineralogical Determinations of Meteorites and Asteroids Using Hapke Models

Poster Topic: 

"Asteroid surfaces spectral properties are controlled by asteroid regolith characteristics, including mineralogy, particle size, impact-produced glass, and the degree of space weathering. We updated an existing model designed to facilitate convenient spectral interpretation of V- and S-type asteroids [1,2]. Our model is based upon the works of Hapke [3–5], which demonstrated how visible/near-infrared spectra of mineral mixtures could be computed from optical constants at arbitrary grain sizes and abundances.

Kochemasov, Gennady - Orbital energy and self-breaking asteroids

Poster Topic: 

"The classical planetology considers impacts as a main source of energy reworking celestial bodies. However a region or regions of impacting objects affecting all planetary bodies in the Solar system is poorly understood. But now planetologists have several tens of images of full discs of these bodies. Distribution patterns of “impact traces” – craters in many of them are surprisingly regular. They show alignments, regular grids not related to random hits expected from impacts but rather require more regular and ubiquitous structuring force.

Eubanks, Thomas - Asteroid Radio Tomography : Looking Inside Small Bodies at 10 meter wavelengths

Poster Topic: 

"Asteroid mining will require evaluation not only of the surface geology of a candidate asteroid, but ideally also a view of the interior of the body. This ability is important for either mission concept currently under consideration for the NASA Asteroid Retrieval Mission (ARM), and also for asteroid prospecting (the evaluation of asteroids as mining candidates).

NASA's 2014 Exploration Science Forum

The Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute is a virtual institute comprised of competitively selected teams across the U.S., a growing number of international partnerships around the world, and a small central office located at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California. SSERVI is jointly funded through the NASA Science Mission Directorate and the NASA Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate with the goal of bridging science and exploration.

About SSERVI

The Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute is a virtual institute comprised of competitively selected teams across the U.S., a growing number of international partnerships around the world, and a small central office located at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California. SSERVI is jointly funded through the NASA Science Mission Directorate and the NASA Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate with the goal of bridging science and exploration.

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