Related papers: Lunar Near-Surface Volatile Sample Return

The loss and gain of volatile elements during planet formation is key for setting their subsequent climate, geodynamics, and habitability. Two broad regimes of volatile element transport in and out of planetary building blocks have been…

The physical origins of the observed interannual variability of weather and climate on Mars are poorly understood. In this paper we introduce a deterministic physical mechanism that may account for much of the variability of the circulation…

Earth's volatile elements (H, C, and N) are essential to maintaining habitable conditions for metazoans and simpler life forms. However, identifying the sources (comets, meteorites, and trapped nebular gas) that supplied volatiles to Earth…

Direct measurements of the abundance of argon in the lunar atmosphere were made in 1973 by instruments placed on the Moon during the Apollo 17 mission, but the total daytime abundance is unknown due to instrument saturation effects; thus,…

We formulated tidal decay lifetimes for hypothetical moons orbiting extrasolar planets with both lunar and stellar tides. Previous work neglected the effect of lunar tides on planet rotation, and are therefore applicable only to systems in…

Recent studies have shown that large exomoons can form in the accretion disks around super-Jovian extrasolar planets. These planets are abundant at about 1 AU from Sun-like stars, which makes their putative moons interesting for studies of…

Simulations of the moon-forming impact suggest that most of the lunar material derives from the impactor rather than the Earth. Measurements of lunar samples, however, reveal an oxygen isotope composition that is indistinguishable from…

In this paper, the possibility that the moderately volatile element depletions observed in chondritic meteorites are the results of planetesimals accreting in a solar nebula that cooled from an initially hot state (temperatures > 1350 K out…

In the giant impact hypothesis for lunar origin, the Moon accreted from an equatorial circum-terrestrial disk; however the current lunar orbital inclination of 5 degrees requires a subsequent dynamical process that is still debated. In…

A small planet is not necessarily a terrestrial planet. Planets that form beyond the snow line with too little mass to seed rapid gas accretion (<~ 10 Earth masses) should be rich in volatile ices like water and ammonia. Some of these…

Polarization during a lunar eclipse is a forgotten mystery. Coyne & Pellicori (1970) reported the detection of significant polarization during the lunar eclipse on 1968 April 13. Multiple scattering during the first transmission through the…

In Part I we recount the history of observation and laboratory measurement culminating with the excavation of water from a permanently shadowed region near the lunar South Pole by the impact of the LCROSS mission in 2009. In this…

Venus's climatic history provides powerful constraint on the location of the inner-edge of the liquid-water habitable zone. However, two very different histories of water on Venus have been proposed: one where Venus had a temperate climate…

Accurate estimation of cratering asymmetry on the Moon is crucial for understanding Moon evolution history. Early studies of cratering asymmetry have omitted the contributions of high lunar obliquity and inclination. Here, we include lunar…

While the Earth and Moon are generally similar in composition, a notable difference between the two is the apparent depletion in moderately volatile elements in lunar samples. This is often attributed to the formation process of the Moon…

The Earth-Moon system is unusual in several respects. The Moon is roughly 1/4 the radius of the Earth - a larger satellite-to-planet size ratio than all known satellites other than Pluto's Charon. The Moon has a tiny core, perhaps with only…

Experimental studies of mantle petrology find that small concentrations of water and carbon dioxide have a large effect on the solidus temperature and distribution of melting in the upper mantle. However, it has remained unclear what effect…

This paper presents a navigation strategy to fly to the Moon along a Weak Stability Boundary transfer trajectory. A particular strategy is devised to ensure capture into an uncontrolled relatively stable orbit at the Moon. Both uncertainty…

Lower atmospheric global dust storms affect the small- and large-scale weather and variability of the whole Martian atmosphere. Analysis of the CO$_2$ density data from the Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer instrument (NGIMS) on board…

One of the striking features about Venus atmosphere is its temporal variability and dynamics, with a chaotic polar vortex, large-scale atmospheric waves, sheared features, and variable winds that depend on local time and possibly orographic…