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Volatile Analysis by Pyrolysis of Regolith (Vapor) on the Moon using Mass SpectrometryThe identification of lunar resources such as water is a fundamental component of the the NASA Vision for Space Exploration. The Lunar Prospector mission detected high concentrations of hydrogen at the lunar poles that may indicate the presence of water or other volatiles in the lunar regolith [1]. One explanation for the presence of enhanced hydrogen in permanently shadowed crater regions is long term trapping of water-ice delivered by comets, asteroids, and other meteoritic material that have bombarded the Moon over the last 4 billion years [2]. It is also possible that the hydrogen signal at the lunar poles is due to hydrogen implanted by the solar wind which is delayed from diffusing out of the regolith by the cold temperatures [3]. Previous measurements of the lunar atmosphere by the LACE experiment on Apollo 17, suggested the presence of cold trapped vola'tiles that were expelled by solar heating [4]. In situ composition and isotopic analyses of the lunar regolith will be required to establish the abundance, origin, and distribution of water-ice and other volatiles at the lunar poles. Volatile Analysis by Pyrolysis of Regolith (VAPoR) on the Moon using mass spectrometry is one technique that should be considered. The VAPoR pyrolysis-mass spectrometer (pyr-MS) instrument concept study was selected for funding in 2007 by the NASA Lunar Sortie Science Opportunities (LSSO) Program. VAPoR is a miniature version of the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite currently being developed at NASA Goddard for the 2009 Mars Science Laboratory mission (Fig. 1).
Document ID
20080023349
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Glavin, D. P. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Kate, I. L. ten (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Brinckerhoff, W. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Cardiff, E. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Dworkin, J. P. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Feng, S. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Getty, S. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Gorevan, S. (Honeybee Robotics Ltd. New York, NY, United States)
Harpold, D. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Jones, A. L. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
King, T. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Mahaffy, P. R. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Martin, D. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Moore, M. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Roberts, D. (Honeybee Robotics Ltd. New York, NY, United States)
Robman, P. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Simmons, C. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Stephenson, T. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Swindle, T. (Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
July 20, 2008
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: 06-LSSO06-0002
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.

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