The Damage to Lunar Orbiting Spacecraft Caused by the Ejecta of Lunar Landers

Metzger, Philip T.; Mantovani, J. G.

doi:10.1061/9780784483374.014

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…As several space archaeologists have already discussed (e.g., Capelotti, 2010Capelotti, , 2015Staski & Gerke, 2009), the impact of anthropogenic sedimentation produced by landing apparatus was perhaps first realized during the successful landing of Apollo 12's lunar lander. As discussed by Metzger and Mantovani (2021), the exhaust plume from the lander's descent engines created a highvelocity spray that removed dust from the nearby Surveyor 3 probe which had coated itself with dust during its own landing (also see Immer et al, 2011;Lane et al, 2012). During the Apollo landing, sandblasting crushed the surface of the paint, mixed dust into the crushed paint pigment, and punctured the paint with individual sand grains (P. Metzger, personal communication, April 11, 2023).…”

Section: Anthropogenic Surface Disturbancementioning

confidence: 99%

Planetary geoarchaeology as a new frontier in archaeological science: Evaluating site formation processes on Earth's Moon

et al. 2023

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On October 4, 1957, Homo sapiens crossed a new threshold of technological innovation after constructing an artifact capable of entering Low Earth Orbit and effectively paving the way for a future of space exploration. This artifact was Sputnik 1, launched by the Soviet space program which triggered the "space race" of the mid-20th century. Over the past 65 years, we have continued to explore and populate our solar system with rockets and spacecraft including satellites, probes, landers, and rovers. This expansion into our solar system has left traces of our presence on several planets including the Earth, Mars, Mercury, and Venus along with Earth's Moon, Titan, and several galaxy travelers in the form of asteroids and comets. Today, we have entered the realm of a new privatized and global space race, effectively a "new space race" or "new Space Age." As we expand our material footprint into new extraterrestrial environments, there is a growing need to understand the types of unique site formation processes capable of altering, destroying, or preserving this rapidly increasing archaeological record known as space heritage. Such understandings are germane to the subdiscipline of geoarchaeology, that part of archaeology dedicated to studying the interaction between humans, cultural heritage, and environmental systems from a geoscience perspective. Closely aligned and partially overlapping with the subdisciplines of space archaeology, archaeological science, and planetary geology, we introduce a new subfield we call planetary geoarchaeology to open discussion about how geoarchaeologists can play a role in addressing current and future issues surrounding the preservation and management of space heritage. To demonstrate the potential of the subdiscipline, we focus on the current archaeological record of the Moon, describe lunar site formation processes, and discuss the implications for the current and future preservation of space heritage in the lunar setting. Planetary geoarchaeology can be applied to practically every type of extraterrestrial environment, provided humans have left behind a measurable record. We hope this paper will spur more research studying human-environment interaction in space.

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Section: Anthropogenic Surface Disturbancementioning

confidence: 99%

Planetary geoarchaeology as a new frontier in archaeological science: Evaluating site formation processes on Earth's Moon

et al. 2023

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“…Here, we focus on construction of basic infrastructure like landing pads and roads. Landing at unprepared sites on the Moon blasts regolith at high speed out from under the landing rockets, which would potentially damage not only nearby structures but also infrastructure in lunar orbit (Metzger and Mantovani, 2021;Metzger and Autry, 2022). Apollo 12's lunar lander, Intrepid, sandblasted the Surveyor 3 robotic lander when it landed within 200 meters (700 feet) of it.…”

Section: Optical Maturity (Age)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of lunar resource exploration in 2022

Keszthelyi¹,

Coyan²,

Bennett³

et al. 2023

Circular

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The idea of mining the Moon, once purely science-fiction, is now on the verge of becoming reality. Taking advantage of the resources on the Moon is part of the plans of many nations and some enterprising commercial entities; demonstrating in-situ (in place) resource utilization near the lunar south pole is an explicit goal of the United States' Artemis program. Economic extraction and sustainable management of these resources require understanding the nature, quantity, and quality of each resource. This publication aims to provide a relatively simple, but technically rigorous, assessment of the status of lunar resource exploration in 2022.Building on the experience of the U.S. Geological Survey in conducting resource assessments for Earth, we propose a general methodology for quantitative lunar resources assessments. Lunar resources can be categorized as energy, mineral, and water and classified with respect to their certainty and their recoverability. The portion of the technically recoverable resource that can be converted to a commodity within budgetary and other mission constraints can be classified as a "reserve."For energy resources, solar energy is known to be especially abundant along some high ridges near the lunar poles and the technology to exploit it is mature. Mineral resources, largely in the form of loose rock powder that covers the surface of the Moon, are also widely accessible in large quantities. Many different technologies to convert this material into useful commodities (such as landing pads and oxygen) are currently being developed and are likely to be available for industrial-scale application within 30 years. Water ice almost certainly exists in the polar regions of the Moon but there are fundamental unanswered questions about when and how the ice formed-leaving us without knowledge of the form, quantity, quality, and distribution of lunar ice. Until rover missions bring new ground truth data, lunar ice will remain a highly speculative resource that may be both limited and non-renewable.

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“…This article discusses the on-going development of an instrument, the particle impact event (PIE) sensor, in collaboration between the University of Michigan (U-M) and the particle impact event (PIE) sensor team at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC). PIE is one of various tools and instruments that have been recently developed to further advance PSI understanding [3][4][5][6]. The PIE instrument is being developed under the Game Changing Development (GCD) Program of NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate.…”

Section: Introduction 1overview Of Psi and Its Importancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ejecta dynamics modify the environment, creating dust clouds that reduce visibility and interfere with radars and navigation systems during landings. PSI can eject regolith particles with velocities exceeding the lunar escape velocity (2.38 km/s), making it possible for ejected particles to affect spacecraft traveling around the Moon [8]. Thus, ejecta dynamics can cause long-term dust deposition on the lunar surface.…”

Section: Introduction 1overview Of Psi and Its Importancementioning

confidence: 99%

Instrument to Study Plume Surface Interactions (PSI) on the Lunar Surface: Science Motivation, Requirements, Instrument Overview, and Test Plans

Bueno,

Krasowski,

Prokop

et al. 2024

Aerospace

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Safe landings are imperative to accomplish NASA’s Artemis goal to enable human exploration on the Moon, including sample collection missions. However, a process known as plume surface interaction (PSI) presents a significant hazard to lunar landings. PSI occurs when the engine exhaust of a lander interacts with the surface ejecting large amounts of regolith particles at high velocities that can interfere with the landing, disturb the surface, and damage hardware. To better understand PSI, the particle impact event (PIE) sensor is being developed to measure the kinetic energy and the flux of ejecta during landings, to quantify the potential damage, and to quantify the ejecta displaced. Multiple parameters were estimated to define the PIE instrument requirements. These estimates demonstrate that ejecta can travel at velocities of up to 800 m/s and impact the surrounding area with energies of up to 400 µJ. A significant amount of ejecta can be deposited several 10 s of meters away from the landing site, modifying the surface and causing dust-related challenges. The PIE sensor will be launched for the first time in an upcoming lunar lander. Then, PIE measurements will be used to improve PSI prediction capabilities and develop mitigation strategies to ensure safe landings.

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The Damage to Lunar Orbiting Spacecraft Caused by the Ejecta of Lunar Landers

Cited by 6 publications

References 10 publications

Planetary geoarchaeology as a new frontier in archaeological science: Evaluating site formation processes on Earth's Moon

Planetary geoarchaeology as a new frontier in archaeological science: Evaluating site formation processes on Earth's Moon

Assessment of lunar resource exploration in 2022

Instrument to Study Plume Surface Interactions (PSI) on the Lunar Surface: Science Motivation, Requirements, Instrument Overview, and Test Plans

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