Explanipedia

The Lunar Trailblazer Lunar Thermal Mapper Instrument Open

Neil E. Bowles, B. L. Ehlmann, Rory Evans, T. Warren, Henry Eshbaugh , et al. · 2025

Europa Clipper: The Final Countdown Open

H. Korth, R. T. Pappalardo, B. J. Buratti, K. L. Craft, I. J. Daubar , et al. · 2024

Introduction: In October 2024, NASA’s Europa Clipper will launch on a journey to explore the habitability of Jupiter’s moon Europa. At the beginning of the next decade, the spacecraft will orbit Jupiter, flying by Europa nearly…

Science Overview of the Europa Clipper Mission Open

R. T. Pappalardo, B. J. Buratti, H. Korth, D. A. Senske, D. L. Blaney , et al. · 2024

The goal of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission is to assess the habitability of Jupiter’s moon Europa. After entering Jupiter orbit in 2030, the flight system will collect science data while flying past Europa 49 times at typical closest approa…

The Europa Clipper Mission and its Final Stretch to Launch Open

K. L. Craft, R. T. Pappalardo, B. J. Buratti, H. Korth, I. J. Daubar , et al. · 2024

Scheduled to launch in October 2024, NASA’s Europa Clipper will set out on a journey to explore the habitability of Jupiter’s icy ocean world Europa. After a 5.5 yr cruise that includes gravity assists at Mars and Earth, the sp…

Endogenous Lunar Volatiles Open

F. M. McCubbin, Jessica Barnes, Peng Ni, Hejiu Hui, R. L. Klima , et al. · 2023

Despite all of the new data generated on endogenous lunar volatiles since the publication of New Views of the Moon, many important questions remain unanswered or only partially resolved. This abstract looks to the future and discusses seve…

Lunar Vertex: A PRISM Science Investigation of the Reiner Gamma Lunar Magnetic Anomaly and Swirl Open

S. K. Vines, G. C. Ho, D. T. Blewett, J. S. Halekas, B. T. Greenhagen , et al. · 2023

Lunar Vertex is a mission at the intersection of multiple science communities, from planetary geology to space plasma physics. As the first Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon (PRISM1) investigation, scheduled f…

Europa Clipper Mission Update Open

H. Korth, R. T. Pappalardo, B. J. Buratti, K. L. Craft, S. M. Howell , et al. · 2023

With a launch readiness date of late 2024, NASA’s Europa Clipper will set out on a journey to explore the habitability of Jupiter’s moon Europa. At the beginning of the next decade, the spacecraft will orbit Jupiter, flying by …

Europa Clipper: exploring Europa’s habitability Open

R. T. Pappalardo, B. J. Buratti, H. Korth, K. L. Craft, I. J. Daubar , et al. · 2022

Introduction: With a launch readiness date of late 2024, NASA’s Europa Clipper will set out on a journey to explore the habitability of Jupiter’s moon Europa. In the early 2030s, th…

Is Europa Active and Suitable for Life? - How Europa Clipper and its Habitability Assessment Board (HAB) are working to synthesize observations to characterize Europa and its potential activity. Open

K. L. Craft, R. T. Pappalardo, S. Vance, Wiliam McKinnon, H. Korth , et al. · 2022

Introduction: The habitability of Europa is a property within a system, with many interdependent physical and chemical parameters, among a number of processes, of which no single measurement or investi…

Europa Clipper Mission Update Open

H. Korth, R. T. Pappalardo, K. L. Craft, I. J. Daubar, Hamish Hay , et al. · 2022

With a launch readiness date of late 2024, NASA’s Europa Clipper will set out on a journey to explore the habitability of Jupiter’s moon Europa. At the beginning of the next decade, the spacecraft will orbit Ju…

Science Goals and Mission Concept for a Landed Investigation of Mercury Open

C. M. Ernst, N. L. Chabot, R. L. Klima, Sanae Kubota, Gabe Rogers , et al. · 2022

Mercury holds valuable clues to the distribution of elements at the birth of the solar system and how planets form and evolve in close proximity to their host stars. This Mercury Lander mission concept returns in situ measurements that add…

Exploring a Lunar Magnetic Anomaly: The Lunar Vertex PRISM Mission Open

D. T. Blewett, J. S. Halekas, G. C. Ho, B. T. Greenhagen, B. J. Anderson , et al. · 2021

Earth and Space Science Open Archive PosterOpen AccessYou are viewing the latest version by default [v2]Exploring a Lunar Magnetic Anomaly: The Lunar Vertex PRISM MissionAuthorsDavidBlewettiDJasperHalekasiDGeorgeHoiDBenjaminGreenhagenBrian…

Exploring a Lunar Magnetic Anomaly: The Lunar Vertex PRISM Mission Open

D. T. Blewett, J. S. Halekas, G. C. Ho, B. T. Greenhagen, B. J. Anderson , et al. · 2021

NASA designated Reiner Gamma (RG) as the landing site for the first Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon (PRISM) delivery (dubbed PRISM-1a). Reiner Gamma is home to a magnetic anomaly, a region of magnetized crus…

Recommendations for Addressing Priority Io Science in the Next Decade Open

J. T. Keane, A. A. Ahern, F. Bagenal, Amy C. Barr Mlinar, Ko Basu , et al. · 2021

Io is a priority destination for solar system exploration. The scope and importance of science questions at Io necessitates a broad portfolio of research and analysis, telescopic observations, and planetary missions - including a dedicated…

The Science Case for Io Exploration Open

J. T. Keane, A. A. Ahern, F. Bagenal, Amy C. Barr Mlinar, Ko Basu , et al. · 2021

Io is a priority destination for solar system exploration, as it is the best natural laboratory to study the intertwined processes of tidal heating, extreme volcanism, and atmosphere-magnetosphere interactions. Io exploration is relevant t…

The Need for a Well-defined Modeling Pipeline for Planetary Defense Open

A. M. Stickle, Brent W. Barbee, P. W. Chodas, Terik Daly, Mallory E. DeCoster , et al. · 2021

A concerted national effort to establish a modeling pipeline, with standardized, well-defined interfaces at every step, would make the USA better equipped to assess and mitigate global Near-Earth Object (NEO) impact threats, and having coh…

Europa Clipper: Mission Status and Update Open

C. B. Phillips, S. M. Howell, R. T. Pappalardo, D. A. Senske, H. Korth , et al. · 2020

Overview NASA’s Europa Clipper Mission [1] has as its top-level science goal: Explore Europa to Investigate its Habitability. Scheduled for launch in the next several years, the mission is now in Phase C, with construction begun on t…

This Week in Science Open

Andrew M. Sugden, Mattia Maroso, Jelena Stajic, Leslie K. Ferrarelli, Beverly A. Purnell , et al. · 2020

Strength In Diversity: Small Bodies as the Most Important Objects in\n Planetary Sciences Open

L. M. Woodney, A. S. Rivkin, Walter M. Harris, B. A. Cohen, Gal Sarid , et al. · 2020

Small bodies, the unaccreted leftovers of planetary formation, are often\nmistaken for the leftovers of planetary science in the sense that they are\neverything else after the planets and their satellites (or sometimes just their\nregular …

Can Formulas Derived From Pyroxenes and/or HEDs Be Used to Determine the Mineralogies of V‐Type Asteroids? Open

T. H. Burbine, P. C. Buchanan, R. L. Klima, Richard P. Binzel · 2018

We compare methods for determining the pyroxene mineralogies of V‐type near‐Earth asteroids from their reflectance spectra. We evaluate whether band centers derived from the spectra of synthetic pyroxenes can be used to achieve greater ana…

Global Distribution and Spectral Properties of Low‐Reflectance Material on Mercury Open

R. L. Klima, B. W. Denevi, C. M. Ernst, N. R. Izenberg, S. L. Murchie , et al. · 2018

We examine the global distribution and spectral properties of low‐reflectance material (LRM) across Mercury to estimate the relative carbon abundance of prominent exposures and to test hypotheses for the origin of carbon in LRM. Our mappin…

Remotely distinguishing and mapping endogenic water on the Moon Open

R. L. Klima, N. E. Petro · 2017

Water and/or hydroxyl detected remotely on the lunar surface originates from several sources: (i) comets and other exogenous debris; (ii) solar-wind implantation; (iii) the lunar interior. While each of these sources is interesting in its …

Evidence from MESSENGER for sulfur‐ and carbon‐driven explosive volcanism on Mercury Open

S. Z. Weider, L. R. Nittler, S. L. Murchie, P. N. Peplowski, T. J. McCoy , et al. · 2016

Targeted MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) X‐Ray Spectrometer measurements of Mercury's largest identified pyroclastic deposit are combined with neutron and reflectance spectroscopy data to constrain…

Identifying and Characterizing Impact Melt Outcrops in the Nectaris Basin Open

B. A. Cohen, S. J. Lawerence, N. E. Petro, G. D. Bart, R. N. Clegg-Watkins , et al. · 2016

The Nectaris Basin is an 820-km diameter, multi-ring impact basin located on the near side of the Moon. Nectaris is a defining stratigraphic horizon based on relationships between ejecta units, giving its name to the Nectarian epoch of lun…

Mineralogical indicators of Mercury's hollows composition in MESSENGER color observations Open

F. Vilas, D. L. Domingue, J. Helbert, Mario D’Amore, Alessandro Maturilli , et al. · 2016

Early during MErcury Surface Space ENvironment GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER)'s orbital mission, the Mercury Dual‐Imaging System imaged the landform called hollows on the two craters Dominici and Hopper, using its Wide‐Angle Camera …

Evidence from MESSENGER for sulfur‐ and carbon‐driven explosive volcanism on Mercury Open

S. Z. Weider, L. R. Nittler, S. L. Murchie, P. N. Peplowski, T. J. McCoy , et al. · 2016

Targeted MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) X‐Ray Spectrometer measurements of Mercury's largest identified pyroclastic deposit are combined with neutron and reflectance spectroscopy data to constrain…

Magmatic volatiles (H, C, N, F, S, Cl) in the lunar mantle, crust, and regolith: Abundances, distributions, processes, and reservoirs Open

F. M. McCubbin, K. E. Vander Kaaden, Romain Tartèse, R. L. Klima, Yang Liu , et al. · 2015

There have been many studies on magmatic volatiles (H, C, N, F, S, Cl) in and on the Moon within the last several years that have cast into question the post-Apollo view of lunar formation, the distribution and sources of volatiles in the …

Link between the potentially hazardous Asteroid (86039) 1999 NC43 and the Chelyabinsk meteoroid tenuous Open

V. Reddy, David Vokrouhlický, W. F. Bottke, Petr Pravec, Juan A. Sanchez , et al. · 2015

R. L. Klima YOU? Author Swipe