KNOWLEDGE OF THE INTERIOR STRUCTURE OF A PLANET IS IMPORTANT IN UNDERSTANDING ITS FORMATION AND EVOLUTION. THE GRAVITY RECOVERY AND INTERIOR LABORATORY (GRAIL) MISSION WAS DESIGNED TO MAP THE MOON FROM CRUST TO CORE AND IT HAS RESULTED IN A WEALTH OF INFORMATION ABOUT THE MOON'S STRUCTURE FORMATION AND THERMAL HISTORY. IN ADDITION TO PRODUCING HIGH-RESOLUTION GRAVITY FIELD MODELS GRAIL SPECIFICALLY HELPED TO CONSTRAIN THE MOON'S MASS MOMENT OF INERTIA AND THE DEGREE 2 POTENTIAL LOVE NUMBERS (DIMENSIONLESS PARAMETERS DESCRIBING THE MOON'S RESPONSE TO TIDAL FORCES). IN TURN THESE PARAMETERS CONSTRAIN THE INTERIOR STRUCTURE PARAMETERS OF THE MOON SUCH AS THE CORE RADIUS AND THE RADII OF OTHER LAYERS USED IN THE MODELING. HOWEVER DESPITE GRAIL'S EXTRAORDINARY ACHIEVEMENTS CURRENT OBSERVATIONAL CONSTRAINTS ARE INSUFFICIENT TO FIRMLY DETERMINE SEVERAL PARAMETERS RELATED TO THE DEEP INTERIOR STRUCTURE OF THE MOON SUCH AS WHETHER OR NOT AN INNER CORE EXISTS AND WHETHER OR NOT THERE IS A TRANSITIONAL LAYER BETWEEN THE OUTER CORE AND MANTLE. DETERMINING THE FREQUENCY-DEPENDENCE OF PARAMETERS SUCH AS THE DEGREE 2 LOVE NUMBERS AND DISSIPATION FACTORS CAN RESOLVE SUCH ISSUES. CURRENTLY ONLY LUNAR LASER RANGING (LLR) INDICATES A WEAK DEPENDENCE ON FREQUENCY FOR DISSIPATION BUT WITH A SIGN THAT IS OPPOSITE TO WHAT IS EXPECTED. FREQUENCY-DEPENDENT LOVE NUMBERS HAVE NOT YET BEEN DETERMINED. HERE WE PROPOSE TO INVESTIGATE THE FREQUENCY-DEPENDENCE OF THE DEGREE 2 LOVE NUMBERS AND TIDAL DISSIPATION FACTOR Q BY USING TRACKING DATA FROM MULTIPLE SATELLITE MISSIONS: WE WILL COMBINE LOW-ALTITUDE TRACKING DATA FROM LUNAR PROSPECTOR (LP) AND TRACKING AND PRECISE LASER RANGING DATA FROM THE LUNAR RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER (LRO) AND THE GRAIL DATA TO DETERMINE FREQUENCY-DEPENDENT LOVE NUMBERS AND DISSIPATION USING RECENT GRAIL GRAVITY FIELD MODELS. BY INCLUDING MULTIPLE MISSIONS WE WILL GREATLY EXTEND THE TEMPORAL BASELINE (FROM 6 MONTHS TO MORE THAN A DECADE) FOR THE ESTIMATION OF PARAMETERS THAT ARE DETERMINED INHERENTLY FROM TIME-VARYING EFFECTS ON THE SATELLITE ORBITS. WE WILL LEVERAGE OUR EXPERIENCE IN PROCESSING LUNAR TRACKING DATA WITH OUR ANALYSIS SOFTWARE GEODYN II AS WELL AS OUR TEAM'S EXPERIENCE IN INTERPRETING THE GRAVITY DATA. WE WILL IMPLEMENT NEW PARAMETERS THAT DESCRIBE THE EFFECTS OF FREQUENCY-DEPENDENT LOVE NUMBERS AND DISSIPATION ON THE ACCELERATION EXERTED ON LUNAR ORBITERS. WE WILL PROCESS LOW-ALTITUDE LP DATA AND LRO DATA TOGETHER WITH THE GRAIL DATA USING THE MOST UP-TO-DATE GRAIL GRAVITY FIELD MODELS TO ESTIMATE THESE NEW PARAMETERS AND OTHER DEEP INTERIOR PARAMETERS. WE WILL USE THE RESULTS OF THIS ANALYSIS COMBINED WITH OTHER CONSTRAINTS IN A BAYESIAN INVERSION TO CONSTRAIN THE INTERIOR STRUCTURE OF THE MOON. OUR PROPOSAL IS HIGHLY RELEVANT TO THE LUNAR DATA ANALYSIS PROGRAM. WE USE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE TRACKING DATA FROM THREE MISSIONS: LP LRO AND GRAIL. OUR ANALYSIS WILL GREATLY ENHANCE THE SCIENCE RETURN OF ALL OF THESE MISSIONS AND MOREOVER OUR ANALYSIS WILL BE THE FIRST OF SUCH AN ANALYSIS ON THESE COMBINED DATA SETS. OUR PROPOSED RESEARCH ADDRESSES SEVERAL HIGH-PRIORITY AREAS OF LUNAR RESEARCH STATED IN THE PROGRAM NOTICE: DETERMINING THE SIZE AND STATE OF THE LUNAR CORE AND THE MODELING OF THE LUNAR GRAVITATIONAL FIELD. IN ADDITION OUR PROPOSED RESEARCH ADDRESSES ONE OF THE FUNDAMENTAL SCIENCE GOALS AS STATED IN NASA'S DECADAL SURVEY FOR PLANETARY SCIENCE NAMELY "UNDERSTANDING THE ORIGIN AND DIVERSITY OF TERRESTRIAL PLANETS" BY CHARACTERIZING "PLANETARY INTERIORS TO UNDERSTAND HOW THEY DIFFERENTIATE AND DYNAMICALLY EVOLVE FROM THEIR INITIAL STATE".
$163,729FY2020National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA
University Of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore MD