P054-0009
Magnetospheric Shielding of Energetic Particles at the Moon

Monday, 14 December 2020
Poster
Anthony W Case1, Harlan E. Spence2, Jody Keith Wilson3, Andrew Jordan3, Justin Christophe Kasper4, J Bernard Blake5, Mark Dixon Looper6, Joseph E Mazur7, Lawrence Townsend8 and Cary Zeitlin9, (1)Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA, United States, (2)University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, United States, (3)University of New Hampshire Main Campus, Space Science Center, Durham, NH, United States, (4)University of Michigan, Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, Ann Arbor, MI, United States, (5)The Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, CA, United States, (6)The Aerospace Corp, Los Angeles, CA, United States, (7)The Aerospace Corporation, Chantilly, VA, United States, (8)University of Tennessee, Nuclear Engineering, Knoxville, TN, United States, (9)Southwest Research Institute Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States
Abstract:
Energetic particle radiation is known to cause degradation or failure in electronics, and damage to biological systems. Thus, it may be desirable to locate future lunar outposts (be they robotic or crewed) in particular locations on the Moon that receive a relatively lower dose of radiation. The Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER) has been measuring energetic particles aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) since 2009. Its position in lunar polar orbit allows it to sample the energetic particle environment on all sides of the Moon and at different points in the Moon's orbit around the Earth. Previous studies used data from LRO`s first 5 magnetotail crossings to show that the Earth's magnetosphere has little to no effect on the flux of particles (with incident energies between 14-30 MeV) when averaged over the entire surface of the Moon. This paper provides an extension of the previous study using data from 2009-2020. With the greatly increased statistics, effects can be isolated to particular regions on the lunar surface, and to specific locations of the Moon with respect to the magnetotail.
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