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Lunar Surface Potential Increases During Terrestrial Bow Shock Traversals

Posted May 15th, 2009 by mcollier
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Author Names and Affiliations
First Name: 
Michael
Last Name: 
Collier
Institution: 
NASA/GSFC and NASA’s Lunar Science Institute, Ames
Address: 
Building 21 Room 246 Greenbelt Maryland 20771
Country: 
United States
Email: 
michael.r.collier@nasa.gov
Co-authors: 
Timothy J. Stubbs, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771; GEST, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Maryland 21228; NASA’s Lunar Science Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, 94035
Co-authors: 
H. Kent Hills, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771; Adnet Systems, Inc., 7515 Mission Drive, Suite A100, Lanham, Maryland
Co-authors: 
Jasper Halekas, Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California; NASA’s Lunar Science Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, 94035
Co-authors: 
William M. Farrell, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771; NASA’s Lunar Science Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, 94035
Co-authors: 
Greg T. Delory, Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California; NASA’s Lunar Science Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, 94035
Co-authors: 
Jared Espley, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771
Co-authors: 
John W. Freeman, Department of Space Science, Rice University, Houston, Texas, 77001
Co-authors: 
Richard Vondrak, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771; NASA’s Lunar Science Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, 94035
Co-authors: 
Justin Kasper, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Perkins 138 MS 58, Cambridge, MA 02138; NASA’s Lunar Science Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, 94035

Since the Apollo era the electric potential of the Moon has been a subject of interest and debate. Deployed by three Apollo missions, Apollo 12, Apollo 14 and Apollo 15, the Suprathermal Ion Detector Experiment (SIDE) determined the sunlit lunar surface potential to be about +10 Volts using the energy spectra of lunar ionospheric thermal ions accelerated toward the Moon. We present an analysis of Apollo 14 SIDE “resonance” events that indicate the lunar surface potential increases when the Moon traverses the dawn bow shock. By analyzing Wind spacecraft crossings of the terrestrial bow shock at approximately this location and employing current balancing models of the lunar surface, we suggest causes for the increasing potential. Determining the origin of this phenomenon will improve our ability to predict the lunar surface potential in support of human exploration as well as provide models for the behavior of other airless bodies when they traverse similar features such as interplanetary shocks, both of which are goals of the NASA Lunar Science Institute’s Dynamic Response of the Environment At the Moon (DREAM) team.

Presenter Information
First Name: 
Michael
Middle Initial: 
R
Last Name: 
Collier
Job Title: 
Astrophysicist
Affiliation: 
NASA/GSFC
Contact Information
Email: 
michael.r.collier@nasa.gov
Abstract Information
Topic: 
On the Moon
EPO: 
Not an EPO
Student poster competition: 
Do not enroll.
Keywords: 
SIDE
Keywords: 
Lunar Prospector
Presentation Information
Committee Decision: 
Poster Presentation

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