Second Conference on the Lunar Highlands Crust : July 13-5, 2012, Bozeman, Montana

Unimagined new data have become available, notably in orbital remote sensing of mineralogy, chemistry, topography, and gravity; geochronology; and geochemistry, especially isotopic constraints and the abundances and natures of lunar volatiles. These new data are paralleled by new concepts of solar system science, including the importance and timing of impact events (including the one that formed the Moon) and the nature of the early solar system disk and its dynamical instabilities. In light of these advances in the last 34 years, the time seems right for a synoptic reexamination of the lunar highlands crust.National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Universities Space Research Association, Lunar and Planetary Institute, NASA Lunar Science Institute, The Meteoritical Societysponsors National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Universities Space Research Association, Lunar and Planetary Institute, NASA Lunar Science Institute, The Meteoritical Society ; converers Allan Treiman, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Charles Shearer (LEAG), University of New Mexico, Meenakshi Wadhwa (CAPTEM), Arizona State University.PARTIAL CONTENTS: Lunar Highland Analog Rocks in Southern Peninsular India / S. Arivazhagan and S. Anbazhagan -- The Effect of Initial Compensation State on Retention of Superisostasy in Lunar Impact Basins / J. A. Balcerski, S. A. Hauck, and A. J. Dombard -- Chronologic Confusion in the Lunar Highlands / L. E. Borg, A. M. Gaffney, and C. K. Shearer -- Studying Spectral Variability of an Igneous Stratified Complex as a Tool to Map Lunar Highlands / C. Carli, M. Sgavetti, F. Capaccioni, and G. Serventi -- The Distribution and Mineralogy of Anorthosite in the Orientale Basin: New Perspectives from M3 Data / L. C. Cheek, K. L. Donaldson Hanna, C. M. Pieters, J. W. Head, and J. L. Whitten -- Modal Analyses of Apollo Soils by X-Ray Diffraction and Microscopic Spectral Imaging / S. T. Crites, G. J. Taylor, L. M. V. Martel, P. G. Lucey, and D. F. Blake -- Compositional Diversity of Crystalline Plagioclase in the Lunar Highlands / K. L. Donaldson Hanna, C. M. Pieters, B. T. Greenhagen, and L. C. Cheeks -- Reopening a Can of Wormy Intergrowths: A New Look at Chromite Symplectites in Mg-Suite Troctolite 76535 / S. M. Elardo, F. M. McCubbin, and C. K. Shearer -- Lunar Feldspathic Meteorites: Constraints on the Geology of the Lunar Farside Highlands, and the Origin of the Lunar Crust / J. Gross, A. H. Treiman, and C. N. Mercer

SSERVI Annual Report: Year 4

The SSERVI Central Office forms the organizational, administrative and collaborative hub for the domestic and international teams, and is responsible for advocacy and ensuring the long-term health and relevance of the Institute. SSERVI has increased the cross-talk between NASAs space and human exploration programs, which is one of our primary goals. We bring multidisciplinary teams together to address fundamental and strategic questions pertinent to future human space exploration, and the results from that research are the primary products of the institute. The team and international partnership reports contain summaries of 2017 research accomplishments. Here we present the 2017 accomplishments by the SSERVI Central Office that focus on: 1) Supporting Our Teams, 2) Community Building, 3) Managing the Solar System Treks Portal (SSTP), and 4) Public Engagement

Visible and Near Infrared imaging spectroscopy and the exploration of small scale hydrothermally altered and hydrated environments on Earth and Mars

The use of Visible and Near Infrared (VNIR) imaging spectroscopy is a cornerstone of planetary exploration. This work shall present an investigation into the limitations of scale, both spectral and spatial, in the utility of VNIR images for identifying small scale hydrothermal and potential hydrated environments on Mars, and regions of the Earth that can serve as martian analogues. Such settings represent possible habitable environments; important locations for astrobiological research. The ESA/Roscosmos ExoMars rover PanCam captures spectrally coarse but spatially high resolution VNIR images. This instrument is still in development and the first field trial of an emulator fitted with the final set of geological filters is presented here. Efficient image analysis techniques are explored and the ability to accurately characterise a hydrothermally altered region using PanCam data products is established. The CRISM orbital instrument has been returning hyperspectral VNIR images with an 18 m2 pixel resolution since 2006. The extraction of sub-pixel information from CRISM pixels using Spectral Mixture Analysis (SMA) algorithms is explored. Using synthetic datasets a full SMA pipeline consisting of publically available Matlab algorithms and optimised for investigation of mineralogically complex hydrothermal suites is developed for the first time. This is validated using data from Námafjall in Iceland, the region used to field trial the PanCam prototype. The pipeline is applied to CRISM images covering four regions on Mars identified as having potentially undergone hydrothermal alteration in their past. A second novel use of SMA to extract a unique spectral signature for the potentially hydrated Recurring Slope Lineae features on Mars is presented. The specific methodology presented shows promise and future improvements are suggested. The importance of combining different scales of data and recognising their limitations is discussed based on the results presented and ways in which to take the results presented in this thesis forward are given

Workshop on New Views of the Moon: Integrated Remotely Sensed, Geophysical, and Sample Datasets

It has been more than 25 years since Apollo 17 returned the last of the Apollo lunar samples. Since then, a vast amount of data has been obtained from the study of rocks and soils from the Apollo and Luna sample collections and, more recently, on a set of about a dozen lunar meteorites collected on Earth. Based on direct studies of the samples, many constraints have been established for the age, early differentiation, crust and mantle structure, and subsequent impact modification of the Moon. In addition, geophysical experiments at the surface, as well as remote sensing from orbit and Earth-based telescopic studies, have provided additional datasets about the Moon that constrain the nature of its surface and internal structure. Some might be tempted to say that we know all there is to know about the Moon and that it is time to move on from this simple satellite to more complex objects. However, the ongoing Lunar Prospector mission and the highly successful Clementine mission have provided important clues to the real geological complexity of the Moon, and have shown us that we still do not yet adequately understand the geologic history of Earth's companion. These missions, like Galileo during its lunar flyby, are providing global information viewed through new kinds of windows, and providing a fresh context for models of lunar origin, evolution, and resources, and perhaps even some grist for new questions and new hypotheses. The probable detection and characterization of water ice at the poles, the extreme concentration of Th and other radioactive elements in the Procellarum-Imbrium-Frigon's resurfaced areas of the nearside of the Moon, and the high-resolution gravity modeling enabled by these missions are examples of the kinds of exciting new results that must be integrated with the extant body of knowledge based on sample studies, in situ experiments, and remote-sensing missions to bring about the best possible understanding of the Moon and its history

Forty-first Lunar and Planetary Science Conference

Special sessions were: A New Moon: Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Results ; Water in the Solar System: Incorporation into Primitive Bodies and Evolution ; A New Moon: LCROSS, Chandrayaan, and Chang-E-1 ; Water in the Solar System: Moon ; A New Moon: Spectral Constraints on Lunar Crustal Composition ; Characterizing Near-Earth Objects ; A New Moon: Lunar Volcanism and Impact. This CD-ROM contains the contents, program, abstracts, and author indexes for the 41st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.by Lunar and Planetary Institute, NASA Johnson Space Centerconference co-chairs, Stephen Mackwell, Lunar and Planetary Institute [and] Eileen Stansbery, NASA Johnson Space Center.PARTIAL CONTENTS: Roughness and Radar Polarimetry of Lunar Polar Craters: Testing for Ice Deposits / B.J. Thomson, P.D. Spudis, D.B.J. Bussey, L. Carter, R.L. Kirk, C. Neish, G. Patterson, R.K. Raney, H. Winters, and the Mini-RF Team--Formation of Jupiter's Atmosphere from a Supernova-Contaminated Molecular Cloud / H.B. Throop--Ancient Lunar Dynamo: Absence of Evidence is Not the Evidence of Absence / S.M. Tikoo, B.P. Weiss, J. Buz, I. Garrick-Bethell, T.L. Grove, and J. Gattaccaea--Dark Dunes in Ka'u Desert (Hawaii) as Terrestrial Analogs to Dark Dunes on Mars / D. Tirsch, R.A. Craddock, and R. Jaumann--Mars Ice Condensation and Density Orbiter / T.N. Titus, T. Prettyman, A. Brown, T.I. Michaels, and A. Colaprete--The Atacama Desert Cave Shredder: A Case for Conduction Thermodynamics / T.N. Titus, J.J. Wynne, D. Ruby, and N. Cabrol

Reports of Planetary Geology and Geophysics Program, 1990

Abstracts of reports from NASA's Planetary Geology and Geophysics Program are presented. Research is documented in summary form of the work conducted. Each report reflects significant accomplishments within the area of the author's funded grant or contract

Twenty-Fourth Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Part 3: N-Z

Papers from the conference are presented, and the topics covered include the following: planetary geology, meteorites, planetary composition, meteoritic composition, planetary craters, lunar craters, meteorite craters, petrology, petrography, volcanology, planetary crusts, geochronology, geomorphism, mineralogy, lithology, planetary atmospheres, impact melts, K-T Boundary Layer, volcanoes, planetary evolution, tectonics, planetary mapping, asteroids, comets, lunar soil, lunar rocks, lunar geology, metamorphism, chemical composition, meteorite craters, planetary mantles, and space exploration

Space Weathering of Airless Bodies

In preparation for missions to primitive asteroids and to better interpret recent remote sensing datasets from Mercury, the Moon, and other objects, we need a better understanding of how the space environment alters the surfaces of airless bodies from a remote sensing perspective, how analysis of returned samples provides ground truth for interpreting the spectral data, and how laboratory experiments provide quantitative constraints on the processes involved.Organizer Universities Space Research Association ; Conveners Lindsay Keller, NASA Johnson Space Center, Ed Cloutis, University of Winnipeg, Paul Lucey, University of Hawaii, Tim Glotch, Stony Brook University ; Scientific Organizing Committee Lindsay Keller, NASA Johnson Space Center [and 9 others]PARTIAL CONTENTS: The Many Forms of Space Weathering -- Latitudinal Variation in Spectral Properties of the Lunar Maria and Implications for Space Weathering -- Latitude-Dependence of Median Grain Size in the Lunar Regolith -- Space Weathering Effects in the Thermal Infrared: Lessons from LRO Diviner -- Effects of Space Weathering on Thermal Infrared Emissivity Spectra of Bulk Lunar Soils Measured Under Simulated Lunar Conditions -- The Maturely, Immature Orientale Impact Basin -- Estimating the Degree of Space Weathering at the Chang'E-3 Landing Site: Radiative-Transfer Modeling of Nanophase Iron Abundance -- The Microstructure of a Micrometeorite Impact into Lunar Olivine--Simulation of Micrometeorite Impacts Through In Situ Dynamic Heating of Lunar Soil--Problems at the Leading Edge of Space Weathering as Revealed by TEM Combined with Surface Science Techniques--Rates of Space Weathering in Lunar Soils--Space Weathering: From Itokawa to Mercury via the Moon--Space Weathering on Itokawa Surface Deduced from Shape and Surface Features of Hayabusa Regolith Particles--Surface Exposure Ages of Space-Weathered Grains from Asteroid 25143 Itokawa

On Martian Surface Exploration: Development of Automated 3D Reconstruction and Super-Resolution Restoration Techniques for Mars Orbital Images

Very high spatial resolution imaging and topographic (3D) data play an important role in modern Mars science research and engineering applications. This work describes a set of image processing and machine learning methods to produce the “best possible” high-resolution and high-quality 3D and imaging products from existing Mars orbital imaging datasets. The research work is described in nine chapters of which seven are based on separate published journal papers. These include a) a hybrid photogrammetric processing chain that combines the advantages of different stereo matching algorithms to compute stereo disparity with optimal completeness, fine-scale details, and minimised matching artefacts; b) image and 3D co-registration methods that correct a target image and/or 3D data to a reference image and/or 3D data to achieve robust cross-instrument multi-resolution 3D and image co-alignment; c) a deep learning network and processing chain to estimate pixel-scale surface topography from single-view imagery that outperforms traditional photogrammetric methods in terms of product quality and processing speed; d) a deep learning-based single-image super-resolution restoration (SRR) method to enhance the quality and effective resolution of Mars orbital imagery; e) a subpixel-scale 3D processing system using a combination of photogrammetric 3D reconstruction, SRR, and photoclinometric 3D refinement; and f) an optimised subpixel-scale 3D processing system using coupled deep learning based single-view SRR and deep learning based 3D estimation to derive the best possible (in terms of visual quality, effective resolution, and accuracy) 3D products out of present epoch Mars orbital images. The resultant 3D imaging products from the above listed new developments are qualitatively and quantitatively evaluated either in comparison with products from the official NASA planetary data system (PDS) and/or ESA planetary science archive (PSA) releases, and/or in comparison with products generated with different open-source systems. Examples of the scientific application of these novel 3D imaging products are discussed