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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2022

Ultraviolet Photooxidation of Smectite-Bound Fe(II) and Implications for the Origin of Martian Nontronites

Clay minerals detected with orbital and in situ instruments in ancient Martian terrains constrain Mars' climate and aqueous alteration history. Early in its history, Mars experienced an atmospheric redox change and iron-bearing clay minerals may preserve the effects of that transition. Ferrous smectites, the thermodynamically predicted product of chemical weathering of basalts under anoxic conditions, may have undergone oxidation by exposure to chemical oxidants in the atmosphere or regolith, or by direct photooxidation at the surface. To assess these potential oxidation pathways, ferrous trioctahedral smectites of varying initial iron content were synthesized and subjected to oxidation by ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. Experimental UV irradiation under an anoxic atmosphere equivalent to approximately 7 years of flux on the Martian surface caused partial oxidation of smectite-bound Fe (Fe3+/ΣFe = 16–18%) and octahedral sheet contraction. Metal-OH vibrational bands in visible/near infrared (VNIR) reflectance spectra of oxidized smectites changed in band depth and asymmetry with higher iron content. X-ray diffraction patterns of UV irradiated samples indicate the formation of a mixed di- and trioctahedral smectite or a secondary nontronite phase, possibly on the surfaces of higher iron content smectites. These experiments suggest that UV irradiation is able to oxidize structurally bound iron in smectites without the presence of other chemical oxidants. Photooxidation may have influenced the mineralogy, both syndepositionally and postdepositionally, of Martian alteration assemblages formed near the surface and this process needs not be limited to one part of their formation history. Plain Language Summary: Martian mineral assemblages observed with orbiters and rover instruments allow us to understand the planet's past climate and aqueous activity. Hydrated minerals that contain Fe(II) are of particular interest as they would have been affected by the early atmosphere becoming more oxidizing overtime, changing the structural iron into Fe(III). In this study, we synthesized Fe(II) smectites with varying iron content and irradiated them with an ultraviolet (UV) light source to test whether they could be photooxidized. Iron in the smectite minerals was incompletely oxidized by UV radiation after being exposed for the equivalent of approximately 7 years of exposure on the early Mars surface. The smectites with higher iron content showed more changes with photooxidation in their visible/near infrared spectra as well as in their X-ray diffraction patterns, two datasets collected by instruments on currently active Martian missions. These results suggest that UV photooxidation is a plausible contributor to the mineralogy and redox state of clay mineral assemblages observed at the Martian surface.

V. B. Rivera Banuchi↗
NASA NTRS1993

Discrete ordinates solutions of nongray radiative transfer with diffusely reflecting walls

Nongray gas radiation in a plane parallel slab bounded by gray, diffusely reflecting walls is studied using the discrete ordinates method. The spectral equation of transfer is averaged over a narrow wavenumber interval preserving the spectral correlation effect. The governing equations are derived by considering the history of multiple reflections between two reflecting wails. A closure approximation is applied so that only a finite number of reflections have to be explicitly included. The closure solutions express the physics of the problem to a very high degree and show relatively little error. Numerical solutions are obtained by applying a statistical narrow-band model for gas properties and a discrete ordinates code. The net radiative wail heat fluxes and the radiative source distributions are obtained for different temperature profiles. A zeroth-degree formulation, where no wall reflection is handled explicitly, is sufficient to predict the radiative transfer accurately for most cases considered, when compared with increasingly accurate solutions based on explicitly tracing a larger number of wail reflections without any closure approximation applied.

Menart, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Microfossils from oolites and pisolites of the Upper Proterozoic Eleonore Bay Group, Central East Greenland

Silicified oolites and pisolites from Bed 18 of the Upper Proterozoic (about 700-800 Ma) Limestone-Dolomite "Series" of the Eleonore Bay Group, central East Greenland, contain a diverse suite of organically preserved microfossils that is, for the most part. [Of the] assemblages previously described from Proterozoic cherts and shales. Three principal assemblages occur in these rocks: 1) a class bound assemblage found in detrital carbonate grains (now silicified) that served as nuclei for ooid and pisoid growth, as well as in uncoated mud and mat clasts that were carried into the zone of ooid and pisoid deposition; 2) an epilithic and interstitial assemblage consisting of microorganisms that occurred on top of and between grains; and 3) a euendolithic assemblage composed of microbes that actively bored into coated grains. The Upper Proterozoic euendolithic assemblage closely resembles a community of euendolithic cyanobacteria found today in shallow marine ooid sands of the Bahama Banks. Thirteen species are described, of which eight are new, five representing new genera: Eohyella dichotoma n. sp., Eohyella endoatracta n. sp., Eohyella rectoclada n. sp., Thylacocausticus globorum n. gen. and sp., Cunicularius halleri n. gen. and sp., Graviglomus incrustus n. gen. and sp., Perulagranum obovatum n. gen. and sp., and Parenchymodiscus endolithicus n. gen. and sp.

NASA Discipline Exobiology↗
NASA NTRS2005

Exhumation of Basement-cored Uplifts: Example of the Kyrgyz Range Quantified with Apatite Fission-track Thermochronology

The Kyrgyz Range, the northernmost portion of the Kyrgyzstan Tien Shan, displays topographic evidence for lateral propagation of surface uplift and exhumation. The highest and most deeply dissected segment lies in the center of the range. To the east, topography and relief decrease, and preserved remnants of a Cretaceous regional erosion surface imply minimal amounts of bedrock exhumation. The timing of exhumation of range segments defines the lateral propagation rate of the range-bounding reverse fault and quantifies the time and erosion depth needed to transform a mountain range from a juvenile to a mature morphology. New apatite fission-track (AFT) data from three transects from the eastern Kyrgyz Range, combined with published AFT data, demonstrate that the range has propagated over 110 km eastwards over the last 7-11 Myr. Based on the thermal and topographic evolutionary history, we present a model for a time-varying exhumation rate driven by rock uplift and changes in erodability and the time scale of geomorphic adjustment to surface uplift. Easily eroded, Cenozoic sedimentary rocks overlying resistant basement control early, rapid exhumation and slow surface upliftrates. As increasing amounts of resistant basement are exposed, exhumation rates decrease while surface uplift rates are sustained or increase, thereby growing topography. As the range becomes high enough to cause ice accumulation and develop steep river valleys, fluvial and glacial erosion become more powerful and exhumation rates once again increase. Independently determined range-noma1 shortening rates have also varied over time, suggesting a feedback between erosional efficiency and shortening rate.

Sobel, Edward R.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Optimization and guidance of abort landing trajectories in a windshear

The abort landing problem for flight trajectories in the presence of windshear is considered with reference to flight in a vertical plane. The optimal trajectory (OT) problem is a minimax problem or Chebyshev problem of optimal control which can be converted into a Bolza problem through suitable transformations. Numerical results for several combinations of windshear intensities and initial altitudes are presented. A guidance trajectory (GT) law is implemented in feedback control form, subject to prescribed bounds on the angle of attack and its time derivative. Simplified guidance trajectories (SGT) are then considered, leading to a safe target altitude guidance. Conclusions derived for strong-to-severe windshear conditions include GT and SGT preserving the basic properties of OT, and the peak altitude drop of GT and SGT being less than that of the constant pitch trajectory and the maximum angle-of-attack trajectory.

Miele, A.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Part 1: Aspects of lithospheric evolution on Venus. Part 2: Thermal and collisional histories of chondrite parent bodies

The geological evolution of distinctly different kinds of solar system objects is addressed. Venus has been observed over the past decade by orbital radars on both American and Soviet spacecraft. These surface measurements provide clues to the structure and evolution of the lithosphere. The parent bodies of chondritic meteorites, thought to resemble asteroids, represent the other end of the size spectrum of terrestrial objects. Their early thermal and collisional histories may be constrained by the chemical and textural record preserved in meteorite samples. Impact craters on Venus have been observed by the Soviet Venera 15/16 spacecraft. A formalism is presented by which the size-frequency distribution of impact craters may be used to estimate upper bounds on the mean global rates of volcanic resurfacing and lithospheric recycling on that planet over the past several hundred million years. The impact crater density reported from Venera observations, if valid for the entire Venus surface, indicates a mean volcanic flux no greater than 2 cu km/y, corresponding to a maximum average rate of resurfacing of about 4 km/b.y. For the lowest estimated mean crater retention age of the surface of Venus imaged by Venera 15/16, the rate of lithospheric recycling on Venus does not exceed 1.5 sq km/y. Ordinary chondrite meteorites show textural and chemical patterns indicative of varying intensities of thermal metamorphism. The conventional onion-shell model, which envisions highly metamorphosed material in the core and less intensely heated rocks near the surface, predicts an inverse relation between peak temperature and cooking rate, but none has been observed. A metamorphosed-planetesimal model is devised to explain this discrepancy, whereby heating occurs in planetesimals a few kilometers in radius which then accrete to form 100-km-radius parent bodies. Cooling rates are then randomly controlled by burial depth. Thermal and collisional constraints are examined, and the model is found to be applicable only to highly insulating Al-26-rich planetesimals that remain closely aggregated upon accretion. An alternative model is presented, in which onion-shell parent bodies are collisionally fragmented during metamorphism and then gravitationally reassembled. If reassembly times are short, then cooling rates would be determined by burial depth in the reaccreted parent body. This model, unlike previous ones, can explain both coherent and incoherent cooling of Breccia clasts by collisions during or after metamorphism, respectively.

Grimm, Robert E.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Interstellar and Solar System Organic Matter Preserved in Interplanetary Dust

Interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) collected in the Earth's stratosphere derive from collisions among asteroids and by the disruption and outgassing of short‐period comets. Chondritic porous (CP) IDPs are among the most primitive Solar System materials. CP‐IDPs have been linked to cometary parent bodies by their mineralogy, textures, C‐content, and dynamical histories. CP‐IDPs are fragile, fine‐grained (less than um) assemblages of anhydrous amorphous and crystalline silicates, oxides and sulfides bound together by abundant carbonaceous material. Ancient silicate, oxide, and SiC stardust grains exhibiting highly anomalous isotopic compositions are abundant in CP‐IDPs, constituting 0.01 - 1 % of the mass of the particles. The organic matter in CP‐IDPs is isotopically anomalous, with enrichments in D/H reaching 50x the terrestrial SMOW value and 15N/14N ratios up to 3x terrestrial standard compositions. These anomalies are indicative of low T (10‐100 K) mass fractionation in cold molecular cloud or the outermost reaches of the protosolar disk. The organic matter shows distinct morphologies, including sub‐um globules, bubbly textures, featureless, and with mineral inclusions. Infrared spectroscopy and mass spectrometry studies of organic matter in IDPs reveals diverse species including aliphatic and aromatic compounds. The organic matter with the highest isotopic anomalies appears to be richer in aliphatic compounds. These materials also bear similarities and differences with primitive, isotopically anomalous organic matter in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites. The diversity of the organic chemistry, morphology, and isotopic properties in IDPs and meteorites reflects variable preservation of interstellar/primordial components and Solar System processing. One unifying feature is the presence of sub‐um isotopically anomalous organic globules among all primitive materials, including IDPs, meteorites, and comet Wild‐2 samples returned by the Stardust mission.

Messenger, Scott↗
NASA NTRS1991

Model order reduction applied to a hot-bench simulation of an aeroelastic wind-tunnel model

Simulations of an aeroelastically scaled wind-tunnel model were developed for hot-bench testing of a digital controller. The digital controller provided active flutter-suppression, rolling-maneuver-load alleviation, and plant estimation. To achieve an acceptable time scale for the hot-bench application, the mathematical model of the wind-tunnel model was reduced from 220 states to approximately 130 states while assuring that the required accuracy was preserved for all combinations of 10 inputs and 56 outputs. The reduction was achieved by focussing on a linear, aeroelastic submodel of the full mathematical model and by applying a method based on the internally balanced realization of a dynamic system. The error-bound properties of the internally balanced realization significantly contribute to its utility in the model reduction process. The reduction method and the results achieved are described.

Buttrill, Carey S.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Color visualization for fluid flow prediction

High-resolution raster scan color graphics allow variables to be presented as a continuum, in a color-coded picture that is referenced to a geometry such as a flow field grid or a boundary surface. Software is used to map a scalar variable such as pressure or temperature, defined on a two-dimensional slice of a flow field. The geometric shape is preserved in the resulting picture, and the relative magnitude of the variable is color-coded onto the geometric shape. The primary numerical process for color coding is an efficient search along a raster scan line to locate the quadrilteral block in the grid that bounds each pixel on the line. Tension spline interpolation is performed relative to the grid for specific values of the scalar variable, which is then color coded. When all pixels for the field of view are color-defined, a picture is played back from a memory device onto a television screen.

Smith, R. E.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Integrated approaches to terminal Proterozoic stratigraphy: an example from the Olenek Uplift, northeastern Siberia

In the Olenek Uplift of northeastern Siberia, the Khorbusuonka Group and overlying Kessyusa and Erkeket formations preserve a significant record of terminal Proterozoic and basal Cambrian Earth history. A composite section more than 350 m thick is reconstructed from numerous exposures along the Khorbusuonka River. The Khorbusuonka Group comprises three principal sedimentary sequences: peritidal dolomites of the Mastakh Formation, which are bounded above and below by red beds; the Khatyspyt and most of the overlying Turkut formations, which shallow upward from relatively deep-water carbonaceous micrites to cross-bedded dolomitic grainstones and stromatolites; and a thin upper Turkut sequence bounded by karst surfaces. The overlying Kessyusa Formation is bounded above and below by erosional surfaces and contains additional parasequence boundaries internally. Ediacaran metazoans, simple trace fossils, and vendotaenids occur in the Khatyspyt Formation; small shelly fossils, more complex trace fossils, and acritarchs all appear near the base of the Kessyusa Formation and diversify upward. The carbon-isotopic composition of carbonates varies stratigraphically in a pattern comparable to that determined for other terminal Proterozoic and basal Cambrian successions. In concert, litho-, bio-, and chemostratigraphic data indicate the importance of the Khorbusuonka Group in the global correlation of terminal Proterozoic sedimentary rocks. Stratigraphic data and a recently determined radiometric date on basal Kessyusa volcanic breccias further underscore the significance of the Olenek region in investigations of the Proterozoic-cambrian boundary.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS1985

Collisional history of asteroids - Evidence from Vesta and the Hirayama families

Numerical simulations of the collisional evolution of hypothetical initial asteroid populations have been run which are subject to three constraints: they must evolve to the current asteroid size distribution, preserve Vesta's basaltic crust, and produce at least the observed number of major Hirayama families. A 'runaway growth' initial asteroid population distribution is found to best satisfy these constraints, and a model is developed for the calculation of fragment size distribution in the disruption of large, gravitationally bound bodies in which the material strength is enhanced by hydrostatic self-compression. This model predicts that large asteroids behave as intrinsically strong bodies despite histories of collisional fracture.

Davis, D. R.↗
NASA NTRS2002

A microarray immunoassay for simultaneous detection of proteins and bacteria

We report the development and characterization of an antibody microarray biosensor for the rapid detection of both protein and bacterial analytes under flow conditions. Using a noncontact microarray printer, biotinylated capture antibodies were immobilized at discrete locations on the surface of an avidin-coated glass microscope slide. Preservation of capture antibody function during the deposition process was accomplished with the use of a low-salt buffer containing sucrose and bovine serum albumin. The slide was fitted with a six-channel flow module that conducted analyte-containing solutions over the array of capture antibody microspots. Detection of bound analyte was subsequently achieved using fluorescent tracer antibodies. The pattern of fluorescent complexes was interrogated using a scanning confocal microscope equipped with a 635-nm laser. This microarray system was employed to detect protein and bacterial analytes both individually and in samples containing mixtures of analytes. Assays were completed in 15 min, and detection of cholera toxin, staphylococcal enterotoxin B, ricin, and Bacillus globigii was demonstrated at levels as low as 8 ng/mL, 4 ng/mL, 10 ng/mL, and 6.2 x 10(4) cfu/mL, respectively. The assays presented here are very fast, as compared to previously published methods for measuring antibody-antigen interactions using microarrays (minutes versus hours).

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS1981

Role of coherent structures in turbulent shear flows

A definition for the large-scale coherent structure is presented, and the nature and role of coherent structures in turbulent shear flows are examined. The equations governing the coherent motions and the experimental considerations as well as constraints in the investigations of coherent structures in wall-bounded and free turbulent shear flows are discussed. Results from a few of our recent and on-going studies of coherent structures in excited and unexcited free turbulent shear flows are reviewed. These results show that coherent structures are dominant in transport in the early stages of their formation, but not in the self-preserving regions of turbulent shear flows.

Fazle Hussain, A. K. M.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Conditionally-averaged structures in wall-bounded turbulent flows

The quadrant-splitting and the wall-shear detection techniques were used to obtain ensemble-averaged wall layer structures. The two techniques give similar results for Q4 events, but the wall-shear method leads to smearing of Q2 events. Events were found to maintain their identity for very long times. The ensemble-averaged structures scale with outer variables. Turbulence producing events were associated with one dominant vortical structure rather than a pair of counter-rotating structures. An asymmetry-preserving averaging scheme was devised that allowed a picture of the average structure which more closely resembles the instantaneous one, to be obtained.

Guezennec, Yann G.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Interstellar and Solar Nebula Materials in Cometary Dust

Laboratory studies of cometary dust collected in the stratosphere and returned from comet 81P/Wild 2 by the Stardust spacecraft have revealed ancient interstellar grains and molecular cloud organic matter that record a range of astrophysical processes and the first steps of planetary formation. Presolar materials are rarer meteorites owing to high temperature processing in the solar nebula and hydrothermal alteration on their asteroidal parent bodies. The greater preservation of presolar materials in comets is attributed to their low accretion temperatures and limited planetary processing. Yet, comets also contain a large complement of high temperature materials from the inner Solar System. Owing to the limited and biased sampling of comets to date, the proportions of interstellar and Solar System materials within them remains highly uncertain. Interstellar materials are identified by coordinated isotopic, mineralogical, and chemical measurements at the scale of individual grains. Chondritic porous interplanetary dust particles (CP IDPs) that likely derive from comets are made up of 0.1 - 10 micron-sized silicates, Fe-Ni-sulfides, oxides, and other phases bound by organic material. As much as 1% of the silicates are interstellar grains that have exotic isotopic compositions imparted by nucleosynthetic processes in their parent stars. Crystalline silicates in CP IDPs dominantly have normal isotopic compositions and probably formed in the Solar System. 81P samples include isotopically normal refractory minerals that resemble Ca-Al rich inclusions and chondrules common in meteorites. The origins of sub-micron amorphous silicates in IDPs are not certain, but at least a few % of them are interstellar grains. The remainder have isotopic compositions consistent with Solar System origins and elemental compositions that are inconsistent with interstellar grain properties, thus favoring formation in the solar nebula [4]. The organic component in comets and primitive meteorites has large enrichments in D/H and N-15/N-14 relative to terrestrial materials. These isotopic signatures are probably due to low temperature chemical processes in cold molecular clouds or the outermost reaches of the protoplanetary disk. The greatest isotopic anomalies are found in sub-micron organic nanoglobules that show chemical signatures of interstellar chemistry. The observation that cometary dust is mostly composed of isotopically normal minerals within isotopically anomalous organic matter is difficult to reconcile with the formation models of each component. The mineral component likely formed in high temperature processes in the inner Solar System, while the organic fraction shows isotopic and chemical signatures of formation near 10 K. Studying more primitive remnants of the Solar System starting materials would help in resolving this paradox. Comets formed across a vast expanse of the outer disk under differing thermal and collisional regimes, and some are likely to be better preserved than others. Finding truly pristine aggregates of presolar materials may require return of a pristine sample of comet nucleus material.

Messenger, Scott↗
NASA NTRS2017

NASA's EOSDIS, Trust and Certification

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) has been in operation since August 1994, managing most of NASA's Earth science data from satellites, airborne sensors, filed campaigns and other activities. Having been designated by the Federal Government as a project responsible for production, archiving and distribution of these data through its Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs), the Earth Science Data and Information System Project (ESDIS) is responsible for EOSDIS, and is legally bound by the Office of Management and Budgets circular A-130, the Federal Records Act. It must follow the regulations of the National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST) and National Archive and Records Administration (NARA). It must also follow the NASA Procedural Requirement 7120.5 (NASA Space Flight Program and Project Management). All these ensure that the data centers managed by ESDIS are trustworthy from the point of view of efficient and effective operations as well as preservation of valuable data from NASA's missions. Additional factors contributing to this trust are an extensive set of internal and external reviews throughout the history of EOSDIS starting in the early 1990s. Many of these reviews have involved external groups of scientific and technological experts. Also, independent annual surveys of user satisfaction that measure and publish the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), where EOSDIS has scored consistently high marks since 2004, provide an additional measure of trustworthiness. In addition, through an effort initiated in 2012 at the request of NASA HQ, the ESDIS Project and 10 of 12 DAACs have been certified by the International Council for Science (ICSU) World Data System (WDS) and are members of the ICSUWDS. This presentation addresses questions such as pros and cons of the certification process, key outcomes and next steps regarding certification. Recently, the ICSUWDS and Data Seal of Approval (DSA) organizations merged their Core Trustworthy Data Repositories Requirements and require that members be recertified every three years. Given the rigor with which NASA manages the ESDIS Project and the DAACs, the recertification through WDSDSA, while involving some additional work, is a relatively simple process.

Certification↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Indigenous Organic Matter Associated with Unusual Low Temperature Aqueous Secondary Phases in the Mars Meteorite Nakhla

In freshly fractured chips of the Mars meteorite Nakhla, we found carbonaceous phases intimately associated with secondary aqueous alteration phases, both mineral and amorphous, interpreted to have formed through the low-temperature, mineral-water dissolution of the host Martian basalt.We have characterized the nature of carbonaceous matter and spatially associated secondary phases within Nakhla using a multidisciplinary suite of optical and electron beam instrumentation(Thomas-Keprta et al., 2022). Secondary Phases: The preserved secondary mineral phases are best described as ‘juvenile’ hydrated amorphous silica formed when water interacts with mafic rocks. Although amorphous silica on Earth rarely persists through geologic time due to alteration into other phases, e.g.,microcrystalline opal-CT and eventually quartz, the lack of maturation of primarily amorphous silica with embedded nano phase ferrihydrite in Nakhla infers these phases formed in a limited water environment by low temperature, circumneutral pH fluids stabilized by the presence of coexisting amorphous silica.Additionally, we report the presence of the ferrous hydroxycarbonate mineral chukanovite (Fe2(OH)2CO3)within some of the secondary mineral aggregates studied. Organic Matter:Indigenous Nakhla carbonaceous matter is present both in condensed phases and in a dispersed state spatially associated with secondary alteration phases. In the former, discrete refractory micron to submicron assemblages were identified that appear macromolecular in nature and, in several cases, associated with F and, in one case, significant N. While organically bound Fhas yet to be detected remotely on Mars, the identification of organic N within one of the carbonaceous phases is considered a prerequisite for Martian astrobiological potential. Summary: Neither the intimate association of carbonaceous matter with secondary phases nor the identification of chukanovite have been previously reported in any of the Martian meteorites.A variety of habitability-related metastable solid-phase, oxidation-reduction, and organic-molecular sample attributes in Nakhla formed hundreds of millions of years ago near Mars’ surface; these alteration products persisted on Mars until very recentlyand resemble the amorphous materials observed at Gale crater by Mars Science Laboratory CuriosityRover (Rampe et al., 2020).Similar phases may be expected to occur elsewhere on Mars (e.g., Jezerocrater). References: Rampe E. B. et al.(2020) Mineralogy and geochemistry of sedimentary rocks and eolian sediments in Gale crater, Mars: A review after six Earth years of exploration with Curiosity.Geochemistry80, 125605; Thomas-Keprta K.L. et al. (2022) Indigenous carbon-rich matter associated with unusual aqueous alteration features in Nakhla: Complex formation and preservation history. Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta320, 41-78 (online).

Mars meteorite↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Unbounded Learning Environments as an Approach to Preserving Design Flexibility Demonstrated With Nasa Stem Enhancement in Earth Science (SEES) Students

The Artemis Lunar program is providing opportunity for young scientists and engineers to contribute towards leading edge design concepts regarding early on-surface work areas that are aligned with major national initiatives. Therefore, it is imperative in any discovery process that those young scientists and engineers be provided the bandwidth or operating in a ‘greenfield’ technology environment that encourages new ideas, and perhaps the discovery of ideas that would not be realized within typical structured engineering constraints. To facilitate this concept, the use of unbounded teaching methods was utilized to provide a low-constraint environment from which students can design and discover the requirements that are bounded by the natural environment of the lunar surface, and then build up design requirements un-hindered by budgetary and/or logistics realizations of the moment funding capabilities. Specifically, this design exercise provided the students to operate with unlimited budgets, and unlimited up-mass lifts to the lunar surface to develop a preliminary feasible process for establishing a working lunar research based upon the near-area permanently shadowed regions within the lunar surface. In concept, working near PSRs will be advantageous as they receive near eternal shielding from solar radiation and may potentially host numerous volatile substances such as water ice, methane, hydrogen sulfide and helium-3 that will be the target of scientific investigation and in-situ resource utilization ISRU. The advantage of an upstream working area is that the quality of return materials could potentially be exponential when including an upstream analysis prior to earth-return missions. Furthermore, it’s well known within the scientific and engineering community that working with the base materials in front of human eyes elucidates new features and observations that may not survive when stored and shipped to Earth. Finally, it is theorized that these methods and techniques developing on the lunar surface would be applicable to other planets or cometary surfaces.

Education↗