Electrostatic potential distribution of the sunlit lunar surface

Global Modeling of the Electrostatic Lunar Surface Potential

Introduction: The surface of the Moon, like any object in a plasma, charges to an electrostatic potential that minimizes the total incident current [1]. The charging currents come from four main sources: photoemission of electrons (Jph), plasma electrons (Je), plasma ions (Ji), and secondary electrons (Jsec). (Jsec arises primarily from surface ionization by plasma electrons.) The lunar dayside...

The Composition of the Lunar Surface Relative to Lunar Samples

Introduction: The non-mare pristine samples are divided into two major suites, the ferroan anorthosites (FAN) and the Mg-suite [1]. FAN is typically characterized by high values of plagiophile interelement ratios, for example, the calcium content of plagioclase, and very high plagioclase content (though more mafic members exist). FAN is well separated from the Mgsuite on a plot of Mg-number vs....

The Lunar Surface Gravimeter as a Lunar Seismograph

Lunar Surface Mechanical Properties

The surface material at the Surveyor 5 site is granular and slightly cohesive. Spacecraft footpads plowed trenches in this material as the spacecraft slid during landing. For a compressible soil model, a static bearing capacity of 2.7 newtons/cm •' gave best agreement with the observations. Static firing of the vernier engines against the surface moved surface particles; a crater 20 cm in diame...

Physical Properties of the Lunar Surface

This chapter discusses the physical properties of the lunar surface, determined at depths varying from a few micrometers to a few tens of meters. The properties considered include geotechnical properties (those properties of a planetary surface needed to evaluate engineering problems, including the mechanical properties of soil and rock), electrical and electromagnetic properties, and the refle...