A review of all things Schrödinger

We end August with a long-running mystery: Why has the LRO LOLA "Image of the Week" not been updated since the middle of July? One answer may be that the LOLA topography of Schrödinger basin flagged on NASA center websites served as a reminder to complete the exacting new synergistic geological map of the far south, far side basin, released Monday, August 30:

Geologic map of Schrödinger basin, which formed when a huge object struck the moon, reveals a patchwork of lunar material, including the peak ring (inner brown ring), recent volcanic activity (red), cratering (yellow) and plains material (dark green and kelly green) [NASA/Scott Mest]." >Massive Image > Sensible Image

Elizabeth Zubritsky
NASA GSFC

Schrödinger is located near the moon's south pole, a region where pockets of permanent ice are thought to exist. The map will help researchers understand lunar geologic history and identify suitable landing sites for future exploration. Scott Mest, a research scientist with the Planetary Science Institute working at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and his colleagues created this geologic map -- the most detailed one to date -- by combining topographic data from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter, a Goddard instrument aboard the 2009 Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, with images and spectral data from the earlier Clementine and Lunar Prospector missions.

From August 31, 2010 -

Detail from the Schrödinger basin geologic map released by NASA GSFC, August 31, 2010 highlighting the roughly 10 x 20 kilometer area of the eastern interior occupied by the intriguing pyroclastic formation. [NASA/GSFC/Scott Mest].

Schrödinger is an example of an intriguing type of basin called a peak-ring. Like the basin rim (brown outer ring), the smaller and more fragmented peak ring (brown inner ring) is a mountainous region of crust that rose up after a huge object, probably measuring 35-40 kilometers, or about 21-25 miles, smacked into the moon here. These areas of raised crust are the oldest rocks in the basin and just about the only material that wasn't melted by the heat from the object's impact. The melted material was spewed in all directions and formed the plains. Patches of plains material can have slightly different textures and albedo (indicated by dark green and kelly green), probably because they cooled at different times. Fractures (black lines) formed in the basin floor as the material cooled.

The Clementine image of the Schrödinger basin with geological map (2010). The three landing sites and corresponding 10 km EVA radius (20 km return trip) are outlined in white. The yellow numbers correspond to following scientific points of interest: 1 – Schrödinger’s melt sheet, 2 – Schrödinger’s inner ring, 3 – basaltic units, 4 – explosive volcanic unit, 5 – deep crustal fractures, 6 – ghost craters, 7 – secondary craters, 8 – ridged terrain. - From Kohout, O’Sullivan & Kring, et.al., Scientific Opportunities for Human Exploration of the Moon’s Schrödinger Basin [LPSC 2009 #1572] The Schrödinger Basin provides a diverse suite of scientific opportunities because of the superposition of several geologic processes and because of its relatively young age. Three possible landing sites were evaluated for human exploration.

Schrödinger Basin is one of the few areas near the moon's south pole with evidence of recent volcanic activity. This includes lava flows from volcanic activity on the surface (beige areas) as well as explosive eruptions from a vent inside the red area; this vent has brought up dark material that mantles the plains (red area, which is newer than the beige regions). Older volcanic material is spread over a wider range (gray and lime green). More recent cratering by smaller objects has scattered material (yellow areas) near the top of the basin. Next to that (very light green beside yellow) is a region with a knobby texture that suggests loose material that could have come from cratering outside the basin or from a landslide on the basin's rim.

From July 16, 2010 -

LOLA Image of the Week (since July 16, 2010) Schrödinger (centered -75.0˚, 132.4˚ E), "located on the lunar far side and within South Pole-Aitken Basin, is not visible from the Earth. Crater counts suggest that the basin is less than one billion years old, making it the second youngest impact basin on the Moon (the youngest being Orientale)."

From April 23, 2010 -

Mosaic of Clementine UVVIS images (750-nm band) of the Schrödinger Basin (312 km diameter). In addition to the prominent, dark, cone-shaped feature (white arrow), Schrödinger has an inner ring of mountains partially encircling the basin floor (a ‘peak ring complex’) and a network of radial and concentric fractures. The cone is a likely volcanic vent situated on a north- east trending floor fracture, and it has a 4.5 km x 8.6 km vent surrounded by dark, explosively emplaced or pyroclastic material and a low rim. The Schrödinger volcanic vent is one of the most distinctive single-vent cones observed on the Moon and resembles ‘dark halo craters’ like those on the floor of Alphonsus. (Projection is polar stereographic, centered on the basin at -75.0°S, 132.0°E) [NASA/DOD/USGS/ASU].

From April 23, 2010 -

LROC Narrow-Angle Camera (NAC) closeup of clustered craters on the lip of the Schrödinger pyroclastic cone, a Constellation Region of Interest (ROI). Although believed to be relatively young, these craters have a subdued appearance, a texture smoothed by micrometeor 'gardening' typical of older lunar surfaces) because they formed in loose pyroclastic material. LROC NAC Frame M108313384R, this view is 785 meters across [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

"A particularly interesting and unusual feature was imaged by Mini-SAR almost by accident. Because of a timing error, we started a few mapping passes of the south pole early, before the scheduled start at 80° south latitude. Good thing we did! We covered the fresh, spectacular Schrödinger impact basin, on the lunar far side. Schrödinger shows an unusual, keyhole-shaped crater along a long fissure on the basin floor. This crater is surrounded by optically dark material, which has been interpreted as volcanic ash deposits. The new Mini-SAR image shows that this material is also dark in radar reflectivity, exactly what would be expected from a fine-grained, block-free deposit. Thus, our radar images confirm the geological interpretation first derived in 1994 from Clementine images."

- Paul Spudis
Smithsonian Air & Space
March 29, 2009

From February 21, 2008 -

Kaguya (SELENE-1) multi-band imager (MI) compositional and morphological study of the Schrödinger pyroclastic formation (75.3°S, 139.1°E) [JAXA/SELENE].


Clementine (1994) and Kaguya (2008-2009). Ultra-Violet & Visible light (750-nm) UVVIS image of Schrödinger basin. b) Schrödinger DMD image taken by SELENE MI 750 nm band. c) MI 1000 nm/1050 nm absorption depth ratio from 0.8 to 1.2. From Kobayashi & Ohtake, et.al., Estimating Composition of Dark Mantle Deposit in Schrödinger Basin Using SELENE Spectral Data [LPSC 2009 #1636] Dark Mantle Deposit (DMD) regions are considered to contain glassy or crystallized pyroclastic beads. We used the spectrum data acquired by SELENE Multi-band Imager to analyze a DMD in Schrödinger basin, and estimated the composition of the DMD.

From April 23, 2010 -

Moving north (top) in a polar orbit, Japan's Kaguya took extensive HDTV of the lunar far side, including this still showing the Schrödinger Basin interior. The low and relatively darker profile of the pyroclastic dome encircling the vent is right (east) of the image center [JAXA/SELENE].

From August 31, 2010 -

Earlier Kaguya (SELENE-1) image of the eastern interior of 312 km-wide Schrödinger. The subtle differences in geologic compositions are visible, in this very-close to true-color view from 2008, though in late morning illumination the darker Schrödinger pyroclastic formation (upper center right) is an unmistakable contrast with its surroundings, in color and cratering. [JAXA/NHK/SELENE].

Finally, with sincere appreciation for all the tireless efforts underway keeping the LRO mission working and healthy, in the words of the LROC team, we urge you not to hesitate to "explore the Schrödinger Constellation region of interest for yourself!"

Wieczorek: Moonface two-face

The man in the moon always presents us with the same mugshot, because the Earth's tides have locked the moon's spin to ours. But in a talk yesterday, Mark Wieczorek pointed out that not only did it not always have to be this way, but also that there is some evidence that the moon actually did swap its Earth-facing side at least once in the ancient past.

The work builds on a theoretical result in the 1970s from the University of Arizona's Jay Melosh, who showed that there were two equally stable ways in which the face of the moon could freeze toward Earth: the near side, and the far side. A glancing blow from a moderately big asteroid would be enough to do the job. Wieczorek, of the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, now shows that if that was the case, there would be a slight preponderance of big impacts on the moon's leading edge (marked 'apex' in the image here), since its orbiting velocity would be added to, rather than subtracted from, the impacting object. Lo and behold, he finds, the oldest impacts cluster around the moon's trailing face -- implying a flip-flop. "It's probably happened several times," he says. Most basin impacts would be big enough for the great switcheroo, but based on chronology, Wieczorek suggests that Smythii would be a likely candidate.

He says the process of a face switch could even start and stop temporary lunar dynamos -- which would be an interesting new mechanism for imprinting magnetic orientations onto lunar rocks.

Melosh was pleased that someone followed up on his theoretical idea, and says it needs to be tested on many of the Jovian and Saturnian satellites. "This suggests that this could be a common process with the other tidally locked satellites," he says.

LPS XL (2009)
Nature News

Understanding the Activation and Solution Properties of Lunar Dust for Future Lunar Habitation

W.T. Wallace and A.S. Jeevarajan, USRA/NASA Johnson Space Center - Lunar and Planetary Science Conference XL (2009), The Woodlands, Texas, March 2009

The decision to return humans to the moon by 2020 makes it imperative to understand the effects of lunar dust on human and mechanical systems.( Bush 2004; Gaier 2005; Mendell 2005) During the Apollo missions, dust was found to cause numerous problems for various instruments and systems.

Additionally, the dust may have caused health issues for some of the astronauts.(Gaier 2005; Rowe 2007) It is necessary, therefore, for studies to be carried out in a variety of disciplines in order to mitigate the effects of the dust as completely as possible.

Due to the lack of an atmosphere, there is nothing to protect the lunar soil from ultraviolet radiation, solar wind, and meteorite impacts.

These processes could all serve to "activate" the soil, or produce reactive surface species. In order to understand the possible toxic effects of the reactive dust, it is necessary to "reactivate" the dust, as samples returned during the Apollo missions were exposed to the atmosphere of the Earth.

We have used grinding and exposure to UV radiation in order to mimic some of the processes occurring on the lunar surface. To monitor the reactivity of the dust, we have measured the ability of the dust to produce hydroxyl radicals in solution. These radicals have been measured using a novel fluorescent technique developed in our laboratory,(Wallace et al. 2008) as well as using electronparamagnetic resonance (EPR).

We have measured the reactivity of ground lunar dust, lunar simulant, and quartz using a fluorescent assay. The ability of the ground lunar dust to produce hydroxyl radicals is much greater than ei-ther lunar simulant or quartz. These results are impor-tant, as grinding can act as a surrogate for meteorite impacts on the lunar surface. Additionally, we have studied the dissolution of lunar simulant in buffer solu-tions of different pH. Lower pH causes a number of different ions to be leached into solution at much higher concentrations, as does grinding of the materi-all. While these studies have not shown the presence of toxic materials or sufficient concentrations to be harmful, similar studies on lunar dust are necessary and will be performed soon.

LPSC XL (2009) #2483

Mini-SAR imaging radar on the Chandrayaan-1

In carefully threading through the much anticipated and voluminous abstracts and presentations listed on the program for next month's Lunar & Planetary Science Conference XL (2009), as one might expect, there is much new from investigators for Japan's Kaguya and India's Chandrayaan 1 lunar orbiter missions, and much else besides.

Veteran PI Paul Spudis is the natural lead author of Abstract 1098, The Mini-SAR imaging radar on the Chandrayaan-1 Mission to the Moon, a presentation listed on the first of two full sessions devoted to science from those two missions along with China's Chang'E 1.

Because the abstracts for the presentations, posters and "print-only" studies are now on-line, we proceed with our own presentation of selected highlights from the conference schedule, hoping to draw your attention to this, the 40th annual LPSC since 1969 alone with the good science we anticipate will be unveiled there.

Chandrayaan's Mini-SAR is primarily an American contribution to India's mission, with contributed oversight from the LPS Institute itself, Johns Hopkins' Applied Physics Laboratory, the National Radio Astronomical Observatory (NRAO) in Socorro, NASM in Washington, DC, the University of Hawaii at Honolulu, ISRO and JPL.

"The possible existence of ice in the polar cold traps of the Moon continues to be debated. Clementine conducted a bistatic radar experiment in 1994, which supported the idea of an ice deposit within Shackleton crater near the south pole. However this result generated controversy and there is still disagreement whether the observed polarization anomalies are due to ice."

"However there is little argument related to the discovery by Lunar Prospector of enhanced hydrogen levels in the polar regions. The question is whether this hydrogen is in the form of water ice (or hydrogen). By determining the backscatter properties inside the dark areas near the poles we will constrain the nature and occurrence of water ice deposits on the Moon."

"While no remote measurement can definitively answer the question of whether ice exists at the lunar poles, an orbiting SAR provides the most robust method of obtaining a positive indication of ice deposits. With an orbital SAR, ALL areas on the Moon can be seen. The 6° inclination of the Moon’s orbital plane around the Earth means that large areas of permanent shadow that might contain water ice can never be seen from Earth and all polar areas that can be seen from Earth are viewed at high incidence angles, which reduces the coherent backscatter predicted for ice deposits. However all permanently shadowed regions will be imaged multiple times by an orbiting radar with incidence angles favorable for determining their scattering properties."

"Mini-SAR uses S-band (2380 MHz), has an illumination incidence angle of 35°, and image strips have spatial resolution of 75 meters per pixel. During the observation opportunities given to the instrument, it will image in SAR mode both poles every 2-hr orbit, covering both polar regions in a single 28-day mapping window."

Read LPSC XL #1098 HERE.

Cryptomare tripled by combination analysis

Portion of the lunar farside at 15N, 205W. Color is stretched lunar crustal thickness using topographic data. Thin crust in blues, thick crust in reds. Contour interval 4 km. Basins identified by Don Wilhelms in the Geologic History of the Moon (1987) and also found in ULCN topography as detailed by Frey in LPSC XXXIX Abstract 1344 (2008) shown as solid black circles. Dashed black circles are new basins identified in the ULCN topography. Circular Thin Areas (CTAs) that may be additional new large basins.

Herbert Frey of the NASA Planetary Geodynamics Lab at Goddard has tripled the number of previously unidentified "cryptomare," relatively early basins on the Moon obliterated by subsequent bombardment, melt flow and secondary cratering.

"The total number of lunar basins greater than 300 kilometers in diameter may exceed 150, more than 3 times that determined by photogeologic mapping alone," and without the Unified Lunar Control Network 2005 (ULCN 2005) topography.

Frey's findings have been published ahead of a scheduled presentation at the 40th Annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference meeting in March (Abstract 1687).

Precise observation of uranium by Kaguya GRS

Color-coded map of the Uranium net counting rate over the entire lunar surface as measured by Kaguya's Gamma Ray Spectrometer. It was drawn using simple cylindrical projection at 15° per pixel resolution. With contour based on albedo data from Clementine (1994) roughly shows boundaries between maria and highlands, and Kaguya GRS data appears to show a relatively high spike in the Uranium signature centered near Copernicus and its ejecta blanket, northeast to Eratosthenes and along the mare buried boundary of Montes Carpatus separating Mare Imbrium and Oceanus Procellarum (Lunar and Planetary Science Conference XL, #1855- Fig. 3).

The Final Announcement heralding the Lunar and Planetary Science Institute's 40th Annual Conference (March 23-27 at The Woodlands, Texas) has been accompanied by a vast menu of presentations and abstracts fulfilling growing expectation of new and exciting revelations from the world of planetary sciences. The program does not disappoint, highlighted, but not limited to, new analysis from on-going experiments at Earth's Moon and Mars.

Two full sessions at the conference, for example, are devoted to China's Change'E 1, Japan's Kaguya (SELENE 1) and, surprisingly because it only arrived in lunar orbit only last November, India's Chandrayaan 1.

Based on a quick glance over those abstracts, the public are sure to be treated to headline-generating stories, some of which have very recently made ink. The report of the the oldest Zircon yet confirmed and of magnetism found in samples and lunar meteorites has been perhaps a bit overblown. Fossil and anomalous local magnetism on the Moon has been a matter of record since the Apollo Era, as was the age of the oldest lunar rocks, the theories of a Global Magma Ocean, etc.

Rumors had also been floating around, whispered in conspiratorial tones, that Japan's Kaguya orbiter has found the precise location of Uranium on the Moon. Abstract 1855 of the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference XL (2009) confirms this claim, though the map accompanying the article has the same resolution as the Apollo sub-satellites of 1972.

The introduction to the consortium of JAXA scientist-authored paper says, "The SELENE mission is the first to employ a germanium (Ge) detector to observe lunar gamma rays. With a superior energy resolution, the SELENE Gamma-Ray Spectrometer (GRS) has uniquely identified many elements that constitute the lunar surface such as (potassium, thorium, uranium, oxygen, magnesium, aluminium, silicon, calcium, titanium and iron) in the upper layer of (around 60 grams per square centimeter) with high precision. With the SELENE GRS, the global distribution of uranium on the lunar surface was revealed for the first time. Together with those of other radioactive nuclides, potassium and thorium," providing important information regarding the Moon’s thermal history."

Lunar and Planetary Science XL (2009)

Lunar and Planetary Science XL (2009)

Work has been underway since the close of the 39th annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference on LPS XL (2009). The Abstracts and studies have been submitted and accepted, and this year's venue reserved to host the swelling numbers of attendees and dizzying schedule of conferences, arising from humble beginnings in 1969. Thousands, last year, nearly burst the Houston hotel conference site where the conference has been held for many years.

The LPSI, a NASA chartered subdivision of the Universities Space Research Association (USRA), is charged as the repository of NASA's legacy of photography and the research inspired by the Apollo Era. With NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, LCROSS preparing soon for launch, and Japan, India and China each with Lunar Orbiters seeking out the Moon's many remaining mysteries, it is believed that a great many discoveries made since 2007 and not yet made public, from active investigation of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Earth's Moon, Mars, and Saturn all presently underway, it may well be awaiting this, the most well-attended of the larger conferences.

The blurred line of overlap between amateur and professional planetary scientist is nowhere more egalitarian then at the annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.

The public announcement can be read HERE.