Related papers: Earth wind as a possible source of lunar surface h…

Solar system bodies that lack a significant atmosphere and significant internal magnetic fields, such as the Moon and asteroids, have been considered as passive absorbers of the solar wind. However, ion observations near the Moon by the…

Given the renewed scientific interest in lunar exploration missions, complete understanding of lunar near surface environment and its exosphere under different conditions is of paramount importance. Lunar exosphere has been extensively…

Multiple nations are planning activity on the Moon's surface, and to deconflict lunar operations we must understand the sandblasting damage from rocket exhaust blowing soil. Prior research disagreed over the scaling of the erosion rate,…

This paper addresses the fundamental science question: "How does solar wind energy flow through the Earth's magnetosphere, how is it converted and distributed?". We need to understand how the Sun creates the heliosphere, and how the planets…

Three principal concepts regarding lunar formation have been examined: the accretion hypothesis, the mega-impact theory, and the multi-impact model. The multi-impact model amalgamates the salient facets of the mega-impact theory and the…

We use Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN observations of the upstream solar wind, and Mars Express observations of ionospheric electron densities and magnetic fields, to study how the topside ionosphere ($>$ 320 km) of Mars is affected…

When the solar wind interacts with the ionosphere of an unmagnetized planet, it induces currents that form an induced magnetosphere. These currents and their associated magnetic fields play a pivotal role in controlling the movement of…

We calculate the flux of neutral solar wind observed on the lunar surface at the terminator due to solar wind protons penetrating exospheric dust grains with (1) radii greater than 0.1 microns and (2) radii greater than 0.01 microns. For…

The complex interplay between the Solar Wind and the lunar surface serves as a quintessential example of space weathering. However, uncertainties persist regarding the influence of plasma originating from Earth's ionosphere, necessitating a…

The angular momentum of the Earth-Moon system was initially dominated by Earth's rotation with a short solar day of around 5 hours duration. Since then, Earth gradually transferred angular momentum through tidal friction to the orbit of the…

Lunar dust particles are generated by hypervelocity impacts of interplanetary micron-meteoroids onto the surface of the Moon, which seriously threatens the security of explorations. Studying the lunar dust dynamics helps to understand the…

Mars is believed to have had a substantial atmosphere in the past. Atmospheric loss led to depressurization and cooling, and is thought to be the primary driving force responsible for the loss of liquid water from its surface. Recently,…

While the floors of deep lunar craters are largely shielded from solar radiation and thus provide an ideal thermal environment for water ice accumulation, meteoroids on highly inclined orbits can easily access permanently shadowed regions…

The solar wind originates from regions of open magnetic fields on the Sun, but the relevant processes remain unsolved. We present a self-consistent numerical model of the source region of the wind, in which jets similar to those observed on…

Sputtering by solar wind ions is a key process driving the ejection of high-energy particles into the exospheres of airless bodies like asteroids, Mercury and the Moon. In view of upcoming missions which will deliver new in-situ data on…

The aim of this paper is to study the plasma flows on the Mercury surface for different interplanetary magnetic field orientations on the day side of the planet. We use a single fluid MHD model in spherical coordinates to simulate the…

Context. Airless planetary bodies are directly exposed to solar wind ions, which can scatter or become implanted upon impact with the regolith-covered surface, while also sputtering surface atoms. Aims. We construct a semi-analytical model…

Ever since the Apollo era, a question has remained as to the origin of the lunar swirls (high albedo regions coincident with the regions of surface magnetization). Different processes have been proposed for their origin. In this work we…

In this paper we present in-situ satellite data, theory and laboratory validation that show how small scale collisionless shocks and mini-magnetospheres can form on the electron inertial scale length. The resulting retardation and…

This work investigates a hybrid photovoltaic-wind-battery power system designed to sustain a Mars base under varying seasonal and climatic conditions. The Mars Climate Database was utilized to simulate the effects of seasonal changes,…