P084-05
Building a lunar network using a flexible, long-lived Lunar Geophysical Package (LGP)

Wednesday, 16 December 2020: 07:12
Virtual
Mark P Panning1, Renee C Weber2, Sharon Kedar3, David Bugby1, Simon B Calcutt4, Douglas G Currie5, John O Elliott6, Robert E Grimm7, Yutao He8, Taichi Kawamura9, Philippe Henri Lognonné10, Seiichi Nagihara11, Clive Robert Neal12, Ceri Nunn3,13, William T Pike14, Ian M Standley15 and William Walsh1, (1)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, (2)NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, United States, (3)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (4)University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, (5)University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD, United States, (6)JPL/NASA/Caltech, Pasadena, CA, United States, (7)Southwest Research Institute Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States, (8)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (9)Université de Paris, Institut de physique du globe de Paris, Paris, France, (10)Université de Paris, Institut de physique du globe de Paris, CNRS, Paris, France, (11)Texas Tech Univ, Lubbock, TX, United States, (12)Univ Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, United States, (13)University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, (14)Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom, (15)Kinemetrics Inc, Pasadena, CA, United States
Abstract:
The Lunar Geophysical Package (LGP) is a long-lived surface package deployable by astronauts or by commercial landers, combining seismic, electromagnetic, heat flow and laser ranging measurements. The LGP would be a ready-to-go package that can be networked with other geophysical packages delivered by astronauts, and landers.

The importance of geophysical measurements was recognized in the Apollo era, and deployed as part of the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP). Re-examination of Apollo data and sample analyses combined with a wealth of new data from later missions have led to a general understanding of a crust (Lognonné et al., 2003, EPSL 211, 27-44), mantle, and core (Weber et al., 2011, Science 331, 309-312; Garcia et al., 2011, PEPI 188, 96-113). Despite recent advances, though, many questions remain. In particular, the core model remains poorly constrained and varies among seismic models, and whether it could have supported an early global dynamo (e.g., Weiss & Tikoo, 2014, Science 346). Questions also remain about discontinuities within the mantle, as well as the nature, depth extent, and thermal characteristics of the Procellarum KREEP Terrain (PKT, e.g. Jolliff et al., 2000, JGR 105, 41974926).

LGP will address these questions by constraining the current seismic state and internal structure of the Moon, measuring its heat flow to characterize the temperature structure (Zacny et al., 2013, EMP 111, 47-77), installing a next-generation laser ranging capability to further constrain deep structure (Currie et al., 2020, LPSC51, #3003), and measuring the electrical conductivity of the lunar interior (Grimm & Delory, 2012, ASR 50, 1687-1701). While the InSight mission has shown that some objectives can be met with a single lander (e.g. Lognonné et al., 2020, Nature Geo. 13, 213-220), the lunar science community recognizes that a network is required to fully address these objectives, prioritizing a Lunar Geophysical Network (LGN) as a New Frontiers Mission (NAS Planetary Science Decadal Survey, 2011; NAS-CAPS, 2020). A long-lived node with multiple geophysical instruments like the LGP can begin reaching science goals in advance of a New Frontiers-level LGN by progressively building a network of nodes with overlapping lifetimes as well as complementing a New Frontiers-level LGN.

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