Leto Mission Concept for Green Reconnaissance of the Marius Hills Lunar Pit

Abstract

Lava tubes are potentially important sites for the long-term human presence on the Moon because they provide shelter from surface hazards, including micrometeorites, radiation, extreme temperatures, and dust. The discovery of a lava tube opening or pit at Marius Hills in Oceanus Procellarum is compelling motivation for robotic and eventually human exploration missions to these sites for in situ investigations and site assessments to determine viability for habitation and utilization of lunar resources. We make the case for Marius Hills to be a high-priority landing site and present elements of lunar data analysis, instrument/payload concepts, science justification for robotic missions, and thematic geologic reconnaissance and remote sensing that should be conducted prior to any construction or emplacement of infrastructure. This is described as a “green reconnaissance” approach to lunar exploration and exploitation, which seeks to address such contamination factors as sprayed rocket exhaust and sublimating water in order to preserve science fidelity. We are developing a concept of operations called the Leto mission for a green reconnaissance approach to robotically access the Marius Hills sublunarean void.

Thermal Environments and Volatile Stability Within Lunar Pits and Caves

“…One type of environment that has been suggested as a target for missions investigating lunar volatiles is collapse pits, particularly those that may be connected to subsurface void spaces (Avent & Lee, 2021; Hooper et al., 2021; Lee et al., 2020; Schörghofer, 2022). Lunar pits are formed by the collapse of the surface into a subsurface void, and are generally found in regions formed from molten rock such as volcanic flows and impact melts (Wagner & Robinson, 2014).…”

Radar Observation of the Lava Tubes on the Moon and Mars

“…Miaja et al [113] designed a crane model that can deploy detection robots into the interior of a cave; Kalita et al [114] proposed a small spherical robot platform called SphereX, with a volume of only a few liters and a mass of a few kilograms, which is capable of jumping and rolling, and which can be used for detecting lava tubes. In addition, Hooper et al [115] proposed a new concept called "green reconnaissance". This method aims to solve the pollution caused by the rocket exhaust and water sublimation to ensure the accuracy of scientific research.…”