P060-04
Polar Science with the Lunar Compact Infrared Imaging System
Monday, 14 December 2020: 16:12
Virtual
Paul Ottinger Hayne, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States, David Peter Osterman, Ball Aerospace, Boulder, CO, United States, Kerri Donaldson Hanna, University of Central Florida, Orlando, United States, David A Paige, University of California Los Angeles, Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, Los Angeles, CA, United States, Benjamin T Greenhagen, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, United States, Matthew Siegler, Planetary Science Institute Tucson, Tucson, AZ, United States, Tyler Horvath, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Aurora, CO, United States, Elisha Jhoti, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, Neil White, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Boulder, United States, Jose Martinez-Camacho, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, United States and Lunar Compact Infrared Imaging System (L-CIRiS)
Abstract:
The Lunar Compact Infrared Imaging System (L-CIRiS) is an imaging radiometer selected by NASA to be deployed on the surface of the Moon as part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. The currently unnamed mission (‘19C’) is planned to land within 6° of the lunar south pole in 2022. L-CIRiS will measure surface temperatures and IR emissivity through multi-band panoramic imaging in order to accomplish three science objectives: 1) Determine the Moon’s surface composition; 2) Determine thermophysical properties; and 3) Determine the polar volatile cold-trapping potential. Large uncertainties exist in the temperature, composition, and volatile cold-trapping at spatial scales that have not been resolved from lunar orbit. By addressing this gap, L-CIRiS will yield new insights into the Moon’s geologic history and volatile processes common on airless bodies.
Here, we focus on the science that can be done with L-CIRiS at a polar location. Such sites share common features, including: 1) grazing sun angles, 2) low mean-annual temperatures, 3) prevalent shadows on various scales, and 4) proximity to large permanently shadowed regions. Operations will occur in sunlight, such that the maximum operational lifetime will be ~15 hr. During operations, L-CIRiS will scan between about ±120° in azimuth, with a vertical field of view of 15.6° spanning from ~3.6 m all the way to the horizon. Using four spectral filters, L-CIRiS will measure emissivity at 7.5, 7.8, and 8.3 µm, as well as temperatures from < 100 K to >400 K with a broadband filter ~7 - 14 µm.
One of the primary goals of the 19C mission is to determine the presence and abundance of water ice and other volatiles on the surface and subsurface. L-CIRiS will contribute to this goal by determining the thermal stability of volatiles based on temperature measurements. Subsurface stability can also be determined from L-CIRiS surface temperatures coupled with models. Compositional measurements at scales down to ~1 cm will complement these thermal measurements to understand the crustal evolution at the site, including regolith gardening and potential burial of ice. Lastly, L-CIRiS will improve understanding of rover and astronaut trafficability and thermal requirements by deriving thermophysical properties such as regolith porosity, rock abundance, and surface roughness.
