A diffusion model for the propagation of gases in the lunar atmosphere contamination by the lunar module exhaust

Milford, S. N.; Pomilla, Frank R.

doi:10.1029/jz072i017p04533

Cited by 7 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…The fact that lunar landings are often active volatile release experiments has been well recognized since the Apollo era. Milford and Pomilla (1967) and Aronowitz et al (1968) developed the first models to investigate the propagation of Lunar Module exhaust gases and the contamination of surface samples by exhaust species, respectively. Early in the Apollo program, Chang (1969) discussed the detectability of exhaust gases by surface instrumentation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Evolution of a Spacecraft‐Generated Lunar Exosphere

et al. 2020

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Understanding how spacecraft alter planetary environments can offer important insights into key physical processes, as well as being critical to planning mission operations and observations. In this context, it is important to recognize that almost any powered lunar landing will be an active volatile release experiment, due to the release of exhaust gases during descent. This presents both an opportunity to study the interaction of volatiles with the lunar surface and a need to predict how nonindigenous gases are dispersed, and how long they persist in the lunar environment. This work investigates these questions through numerical simulations of the transport of water vapor during a nominal lunar landing and for two lunar days afterward. Simulation results indicate that the water vapor component of spacecraft exhaust is globally redistributed, with a significant amount reaching permanently shadowed regions (cold traps) near the closest pole, where temperatures are sufficiently low that volatiles may remain stable over geological timescales. Exospheric evolution and surface deposition patterns are highly sensitive to desorption activation energy, providing a means to constrain this critical parameter through landed or orbital measurements during future missions. Contamination of cold traps by exhaust gases is likely to scale with exhaust mass and proximity of the landing site to the poles. Exhaust propagation is perhaps the most widespread and long‐lived impact of spacecraft operations on a nominally airless solar system body and should be a key consideration in mission planning and in interpreting measurements made by landed lunar missions, particularly at near‐polar regions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%