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Moons orbiting extrasolar planets are the next class of object to be observed and characterized for possible habitability. Like the host-planets to their host-star, exomoons have a limiting radius at which they may be gravitationally bound,…
Aims. An asymmetric dust cloud was detected around the Moon by the Lunar Dust Experiment on board the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer mission. We investigate the dynamics of the grains that escape the Moon and their…
Kick-starting the space economy requires identification of critical resources that can lower the cost of space transport, sustain logistic bases and communication relay networks between major nodes in the network. One important challenge…
The extent to which a magnetosphere protects its planetary atmosphere from stellar wind ablation depends upon how well it prevents energy and momentum exchange with the atmosphere and how well it traps otherwise escaping plasma. We focus on…
Exoplanets with masses similar to that of Earth have recently been discovered in extrasolar systems. A first order question for understanding their dynamics is to know whether they possess Earth like liquid metallic cores. However, the iron…
The mechanical response, serviceability, and load bearing capacity of materials and structural components can be adversely affected due to external stimuli, which include exposure to a corrosive chemical species, high temperatures,…
In blasting engineering, borehole utilization is a key metric for evaluating blasting performance. While previous studies have examined the effects of expansion space, cutting design, in-situ stress conditions, and rock properties on…
Energetic events on the Sun, particularly coronal mass ejections and high speed streams, regulate the near Earth space environment and give rise to space weather. A major terrestrial manifestation of such events are geomagnetic storms. A…
Thermomechanical processes such as fatigue and shock have been suggested to cause and contribute to rock breakdown on Earth, and on other planetary bodies, particularly airless bodies in the inner solar system. In this study, we modeled…
When launching or landing a spacecraft on the regolith of a terrestrial surface, special attention needs to be paid to the rocket exhaust cratering effects. If the effects are not controlled, the rocket cratering could damage the spacecraft…
In the pursuit of lunar exploration and the investigation of water presence on the lunar surface, a comprehensive understanding of plasma-surface interactions is crucial since the regolith's space weathering can create H$_2$O. However, the…
In this work we present laboratory measurements on the reduction of the threshold friction velocity necessary for lifting dust if the dust bed is illuminated. Insolation of a porous soil establishes a temperature gradient. At low ambient…
We investigate how the variation of the obliquity (the axial tilt) of a hypothetical exo-Earth is effected by the presence of a satellite, an exo-Moon. Namely, we study analytically and numerically how the range of obliquity of the…
Planetary impact events eject large volumes of surface material. Crater excavation processes are difficult to study, and in particular the details of individual ejecta fragments are not well understood. A related, enduring issue in…
Many exoplanets have been found in orbits close to their host stars and thus they are subject to the effects of photo-evaporation. Previous studies have shown that a large portion of exoplanets detected by the Kepler mission have been…
This 2020 Decadal Survey White Paper reviews what is known about lunar and martian lander Plume Surface Interactions (PSI) during powered descent. This includes an overview of the phenomenology and a description of the induced hardware and…
Based on general relativity, clock comparisons enable the determination of the gravity potential relative to a stable reference. Lunar surface clocks, owing to the Moon's low-noise conditions, high orbital stability, and broad Earth…
Lunar dust -- the sub-millimeter fraction of the regolith -- controls the optical, thermophysical, electrical, mechanical, and environmental behavior of the Moon's surface. These properties set the performance envelopes of remote-sensing…
We investigate satellite orbital drag effects at low-Earth orbit (LEO) associated with thermosphere heating during magnetic storms caused by coronal mass ejections. CHAllenge Mini-satellite Payload (CHAMP) and Gravity Recovery And Climate…
An exoplanet-exomoon system presents a superposition of phase curves to observers - the dominant component varies according to the planetary period, and the lesser varies according to both the planetary and the lunar period. If the spectra…