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Hayne, Paul O.

Publications and source records attributed to Hayne, Paul O..

Diurnally Migrating Lunar Water: Evidence from Ultraviolet Data

Data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Lyman Alpha Mapping Project and Diviner are consistent with surface water on the Moon varying in abundance with both terrain type and local time/temperature. A thermal desorption model including latitudinally varying desorption activation energy reproduces the observations. We interpret the observed variability in spectral slopes as water molecules in the uppermost lunar regolith (<1% of a monolayer) thermally adsorbing and desorbing from grains depending upon the local temperature and availability of chemisorption sites. The Lyman Alpha Mapping Project data also demonstrate that in the Earth's magnetotail, where the solar wind source of protons is absent, a decrease in H2O on the surface is not observed. This rules out a steady state process involving aprompt solar wind source and favors a migration mechanism for the distribution of adsorbed water onthe Moon.

Diurnally

The Lunar Flashlight CubeSat Instrument: A Compact SWIR Laser Reflectometer to Quantify and Map Water Ice on the Surface of the Moon

The Lunar Flashlight (LF) mission will send a CubeSat to lunar orbit via NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) test flight. The LF spacecraft will carry a novel instrument to quantify and map water ice harbored in the permanently shadowed craters of the lunar South Pole. The LF instrument, an active multi-band reflectometer which employs four high power diode lasers in the 1-2 μm infrared band, will measure the reflectance of the lunar surface near water ice absorption peaks. We present the detailed instrument design and system engineering required to deploy this instrument within very demanding CubeSat resource allocations.

Shelton, Jacob

Optical and Mechanical Designs of the Multi-band SWIR Receiver for the Lunar Flashlight CubeSat Mission

Mapping and quantifying lunar water ice addresses one of NASA’s Strategic Knowledge Gaps to understand the lunar resource potential for future human exploration of the Moon. Lunar Flashlight is an innovative NASA CubeSat mission dedicated to mapping water ice in the permanently-shadowed and occasionally-sunlit regions in the vicinity of the lunar South Pole. Lunar Flashlight will acquire these measurements from lunar orbit using a multi-band laser reflectometer composed of an optical receiver aligned with four lasers emitting different wavelengths in the shortwave infrared spectral region between 1 µm and 2 µm. The receiver measures the laser radiance reflected from the lunar surface in each spectral band and continuum/absorption reflectance band ratios are then analyzed to quantify water ice concentration in the illuminated spot. The receiver utilizes a 70×70-mm, aluminum, off-axis paraboloidal mirror with a focal length of 70 mm, which collects the incoming light onto a single, 2 mm diameter InGaAs detector with a cutoff wavelength of 2.4 µm. We present the optical and mechanical designs of the receiver, including its optimization for rejection of solar stray-light from outside its intended field of view. This highly mass- and volume-constrained instrument payload will demonstrate several firsts, including being one of the first instruments onboard a CubeSat performing science measurements beyond low Earth orbit and the first planetary mission to use multi-band active reflectometry from orbit.

Sellar, R. Glenn

Design and characterization of a low cost CubeSat multi-band optical receiver to map water ice on the lunar surface for the Lunar Flashlight mission

Lunar Flashlight is an innovative NASA CubeSat mission dedicated to mapping water ice in the permanently shadowed regions of the Moon, which may act as cold traps for volatiles. To this end, a multi-band reflectometer will be sent to orbit the Moon. This instrument consists of an optical receiver aligned with four lasers, each of which emits sequentially at a different wavelength in the near-infrared between 1 μm and 2 μm. The receiver measures the laser light reflected from the lunar surface; continuum/absorption band ratios are then analyzed to quantify water ice in the illuminated spot. Here, we present the current state of the optical receiver design. To optimize the optical signal-to-noise ratio, we have designed the receiver so as to maximize the laser signal collected, while minimizing the stray light reaching the detector from solar-illuminated areas of the lunar surface outside the field-of-view, taking into account the complex lunar topography. Characterization plans are also discussed. This highly mass- and volume-constrained mission will demonstrate several firsts, including being one of the first CubeSats performing science measurements beyond low Earth orbit.

Sellar, Glenn R.

Origin of the Anomalously Rocky Appearance of Tsiolkovskiy Crater

Rock abundance maps derived from the Diviner Lunar Radiometer instrument on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) show Tsiolkovskiy crater to have high surface rock abundance and relatively low regolith thickness. The location of the enhanced rock abundance to the southeast of the crater is consistent with a massive, well-preserved impact melt deposit apparent in LRO Miniature Radio Frequency instrument circular polarization ratio data. A new model crater age using LRO Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera imagery suggests that while it originated in the Late Imbrian, Tsiolkovskiy may be the youngest lunar crater of its size ( approximately 180 km diameter). Together these data show that Tsiolkovskiy has a unique surface rock population and regolith properties for a crater of its size and age. Explanation of these observations requires mechanisms that produce more large blocks, preserve boulders and large blocks from degradation to regolith, and/or uncover buried rocks. These processes have important implications for formation of regolith on the Moon.

Greenhagen, Benjamin T.

Observations of Lunar Swirls by the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment

The presence of anomalous, high albedo markings on the lunar surface has been known since the Apollo era. These features, collectively known as lunar swirls, occur on both the mare and highlands. Some swirls are associated with the antipodes of major impact basins, while all are associated with magnetic field anomalies of varying strength. Three mechanisms have been proposed for the formation of the swirls: (1) solar wind standoff due to the presence of magnetic fields, (2) micrometeoroid or comet swarms impacting and disturbing the lunar surface, revealing unweathered regolith, and (3) transport and deposition of fine-grained feldspathic material. Diviner s unique capabilities to determine silicate composition and degree of space weathering of the lunar surface, in addition to its capabilities to determine thermophysical properties from night-time temperature measurements, make it an ideal instrument to examine the swirls and help differentiate among the three proposed formation mechanisms.

Glotch, T. D.