ALBERT

Description: Tweestaarten Diplura behoren met de springstaarten Collembola en beentasters Protura tot de Entognatha. Dat zijn kleine ongevleugelde bodemdieren met zes poten, die zich onderscheiden van de insecten door hun verzonken monddelen. Tot nu toe waren twee soorten voor Nederland gemeld, maar voor België 13. Tijdens een onderzoek naar in mierennesten levende organismen werden twee soorten gevonden die nog niet uit Nederland bekend waren. Verder onderzoek zal zeker nog meer nieuwe tweestaarten kunnen opleveren.

Description: Larven van kriebelmuggen komen uitsluitend voor in stromend water, waar ze met hun waaiervormige monddelen deeltjes filteren uit het voorbij stromende water. Het zijn goede indicatoren voor zuurstofrijk water. Tot nu toe was niet duidelijk welke soorten precies voorkomen in Nederland en België en de determinatie van kriebelmuggen wordt vaak als lastig beschouwd. Om dit te verhelpen, presenteren we hier determinatietabellen voor alle in Nederland en België voorkomende soorten, zowel voor larven van het laatste stadium als voor poppen.

Description: De catalogus van de Nederlandse kevers uit 2010 geeft het meest recente overzicht van de Nederlandse kevers. Er staan 372 soorten loopkevers op deze lijst. Per soort wordt een overzicht gegeven van de provincies waaruit waarnemingen bekend zijn. Voor elk zogenaamd provincierecord is een collectie-exemplaar aangeduid als bewijsexemplaar. Sinds 2010 is er veel nieuwe informatie over loopkevers bekend geworden. In dit artikel worden de wijzigingen in de lijst toegelicht.

Description: Hoe een leek op het gebied van wespen en bijen toch een leuke vondst kan doen. Op zonnige dagen gaat de auteur regelmatig op ‘tuinsafari’. Een tuin waarin rekening wordt gehouden met vogels en insecten, door keuze van beplanting en het ophangen van insectenhotels. De inspanningen leverden op 23 juli 2014 een opvallende wesp op. In een bijna automatische reactie werden snel foto’s gemaakt, in de hoop ze later te kunnen determineren. De wesp vloog daarna weg en werd niet meer gezien. Na determinatie blijkt het reuzenertswesp Leucospis dorsigera te zijn, een nieuwe soort bronswesp voor Nederland.

Description: De gewone citroenzweefvlieg Xanthogramma pedissequum is een eenvoudig te herkennen zweefvlieg. Tenminste, dat dachten we tot voor kort. Nu blijkt dat de bijna identieke X. dives en X. stackelbergi ook in Nederland rondvliegen. Gelukkig zijn er enkele kenmerken waarmee deze drie soorten citroenzweefvlieg in het veld redelijk herkenbaar blijken. In dit artikel bespreken we deze kenmerken en geven we informatie over verspreiding en vliegtijden van de drie soorten.

Description: Wespblaaskoppen Leopoldius worden ondanks hun opvallende uiterlijk maar weinig waargenomen. De soorten zijn lastig van elkaar te onderscheiden en bovendien werden tot voor kort variabele kenmerken gebruikt, wat tot veel verwarring heeft geleid. Nu blijkt dat alleen vrouwtjes met zekerheid te herkennen zijn aan de vorm van het klampje. Dit is een lepelvormig uitsteeksel onder het vijfde achterlijfsegment. Het wordt gebruikt bij het afzetten van eieren op een gastheer. Waarschijnlijk zijn limonadewespen de belangrijkste gastheer van Leopoldius. In dit artikel wordt een nieuwe soort voor België en een nieuwe soort voor Luxemburg gemeld. Daarnaast wordt een overzicht geboden van waarnemingen in Nederland, België en Luxemburg en een sleutel tot de Noordwest-Europese soorten.

Description: Ondanks de fors toegenomen aandacht voor watermacrofauna sinds begin jaren 1980 is de schietmot Molanna albicans maar sporadisch aangetroffen. In dit artikel wordt de eerste larvenvondst van M. albicans buiten Drenthe beschreven. Samen met de vindplaatsen in Drenthe is de soort nu van vijf vennen in Nederland bekend. Aanvullend worden de determinatiekenmerken aan de hand van foto’s geïllustreerd.

Description: Caddisflies are a species rich insect order. The adults are moth-like, but their wings bear hairs instead of scales. The larvae are aquatic and live in self-constructed cases, made of plant material, sand or debris. The species are used as indicators of water quality, but much is still not known about their biology and ecology. In this paper the preferred substrates and phenology of the larvae of 13 species are described, using the data of a survey of two lowland streams in the east of the Netherlands.

Description: Slakkendodende vliegen danken hun naam aan hun roofzuchtige, parasitaire larven, die het op slakken gemunt hebben. Uit België en Nederland zijn circa 60 soorten uit deze familie bekend, maar er zijn er zeker meer te ontdekken. Dit artikel meldt een nieuwe soort voor de Nederlandse fauna uit het genus Psacadina, dat in beide landen drie soorten telt. De herkenning en het voorkomen van de drie soorten wordt uitgebreid besproken.

Description: Zwarte vliegen behoren tot de muggen, maar door hun korte antennen doen ze oppervlakkig aan vliegen denken. De mannetjes zien er met hun grote kop en grote ogen heel anders uit dan de vrouwtjes, die een kleine kop met kleine ogen hebben. In het voorjaar vormen sommige soorten opvallend grote zwermen op windluwe plekken. Aan de 17 soorten die reeds uit Nederland bekend waren, kan er nu één worden toegevoegd: Bibio venosus.

Description: Astrobunus laevipes is een hooiwagen die via het Rijnbekken recentelijk ons land is binnengekomen. Er waren al vondsten langs de Waal en Nederrijn in Gelderland en het meest oostelijke puntje van de provincie Utrecht. Door gerichte inventarisaties kunnen wij de hooiwagen nu nieuw voor de provincies Zuid-Holland en Noord-Brabant melden. Daarnaast is er van A. laevipes nu ook een waarneming langs de IJssel en enkele westelijker in de provincie Utrecht. Allerlei rivierbegeleidende biotopen langs (uitlopers van) de Nederrijn en Waal worden al door deze opmerkelijke hooiwagen bevolkt, maar de noordelijke uitbreiding via de IJsselvallei lijkt veel trager te verlopen. De Maas lijkt nog niet bereikt.

Description: De familie der sluipvliegen is één der soortenrijkste vliegenfamilies in ons land. De larven ontwikkelen zich inwendig in ongewervelden, veelal vlinderrupsen. De familie is in ons land relatief goed bestudeerd. In dit artikel wordt wederom een soort voor het eerst uit ons land vermeld. Hiermee komt het totaal aantal soorten dat in Nederland ooit vastgesteld is op 334.

Description: Mariene borstelwormen vormen een ecologisch belangrijke, soortenrijke groep. Van diverse families is niet veel bekend over het voorkomen in Nederland en de bamboewormen (familie Maldanidae) behoren tot de slechtst bekende groepen. Bamboewormen danken hun naam aan de lange en aan het uiteinde verdikte segmenten. In dit artikel wordt een nieuwe bamboeworm voor Nederland besproken en een opsomming gegeven van de nu bekende inheemse soorten.

Description: Slakkendodende vliegen zijn nog relatief slecht onderzocht in ons land, zeker de kleine soorten. De vertegenwoordigers van het genus Anticheta zijn kleine vliegjes, waarvan slechts twee soorten uit ons land bekend waren. Uitgebreider onderzoek, zowel in collecties als in het veld, heeft twee nieuwe soorten voor de fauna aan het licht gebracht: Anticheta nigra en A. obliviosa. Van de eerste soort waren wereldwijd slechts acht exemplaren bekend.

Description: Zelfs in een goed onderzochte insectengroep als de zweefvliegen zijn nog altijd nieuwe soorten voor de Nederlandse fauna te ontdekken. Ook in 2014 was het weer raak, dit keer in het fraaie natuurgebied rond de Drentsche Aa. Het lijkt niet toevallig dat deze aanvulling op de Nederlandse fauna juist hier werd gevonden. Deze vindplaats vult ecologische informatie uit het buitenland aan, waardoor langzamerhand een beeld begint te ontstaan van de levenswijze van deze zeldzame zweefvlieg, waarover tot voor kort weinig bekend was.

Description: De doornkaakzandbij ziet er in het voorjaar een beetje anders uit dan in de zomer. Daarom worden de voorjaarsdieren door sommigen tot een andere soort beschouwd dan de zomerdieren. Uit Nederland zijn slechts drie exemplaren bekend: twee uit het voorjaar en één uit de zomer. Toevallig komen alle exemplaren uit hetzelfde gebied. Of is dit geen toeval?

Description: Elfjes behoren tot de vroegste zweefvliegen die in het voorjaar uit de pop kruipen. Rond bloeiende wilgen wemelt het vaak van wilgenelfjes Melangyna lasiophthalma, waardoor het zoeken naar de zeldzamere soorten soms lastig is. Toch zijn de meeste soorten relatief makkelijk van elkaar te onderscheiden. Met de vondst van het Sachalinelfje M. pavlovskyi wordt het echter weer iets lastiger.

Description: Steltmuggen lijken op langpootmuggen en zijn daar nauw aan verwant. Veel soorten zijn groot en karakteristiek gekleurd, maar toch zijn ze in Nederland nog weinig bestudeerd. Dit artikel bewijst dat er nog veel te ontdekken valt: in één jaar tijd zijn drie soorten gevonden die nog niet uit ons land bekend waren: Atypophthalmus inustus, Molophilus niger en Arctoconopa melampodia. Hiermee komt het totaal aantal soorten voor Nederland op 149. De nieuwe meldingen sluiten goed aan op het bekende verspreidingsgebied.

Description: Jalla dumosa is een in Nederland zeer zeldzame pentatomide, die in 1969 voor het laatst was waargenomen op Terschelling. Na 45 jaren zonder waarnemingen werd ze in 2014 weer in klein aantal waargenomen in de Kooiduinen op Ameland. Rupsen van onder andere de duinparelmoervlinder en de sint-jansvlinder stonden daar op het menu. In deze bijdrage wordt informatie samengevat over de vondsten in Nederland, de biologie en de verspreiding van de soort.

Description: In August 2014 the exotic jellyfish Blackfordia virginica was captured in the harbour of Amsterdam. This is the first confirmed record of this species in the Netherlands, although in October 2013 a possible specimen was filmed and released. This indicates that the species might be established in the Amsterdam area, although repeated introduction with ballast water cannot be ruled out. In September 2014 hydrozoan polyp colonies closely resembling those of B. virginica were collected near IJmuiden in the Noordzeekanaal, a canal connecting Amsterdam with the North Sea at IJmuiden.

Description: Wie een steen of boomstronk omkeert en voor het eerst een Trogulus opmerkt, zal dit bizarre beest niet direct associëren met een hooiwagen. Met de korte, stevige poten, het afgeplatte achterlijf dat overdekt is met strooisel en zand, en een trage manier van voortbewegen is het een ongewone verschijning. De soorten van dit geslacht zijn bodembewoners die zich voornamelijk voeden met kleine huisjesslakken. Uit ons land waren tot nu toe twee soorten bekend. De identiteit van een van die twee was lang onzeker, maar door nieuwe inzichten is nu duidelijk om welke soort het werkelijk gaat. In Nederland blijkt bovendien nog een derde soort voor te komen, die hier voor het eerst gemeld wordt.

Description: Roofvliegen zijn met 40 Nederlandse soorten een vrij kleine groep, die behoorlijk goed is onderzocht. Het gebeurt dan ook niet vaak dat er een nieuwe soort voor de Nederlandse fauna kan worden opgetekend. De meeste roofvliegen zijn grijze vliegen, zo niet de stamjagers van het genus Choerades. Dit zijn juist vrij opvallend gekleurde vliegen. Zo heeft de rode dennenstamjager Choerades gilvus een rood gekleurd achterlijf. Opmerkelijk genoeg blijkt dat in Nederland juist onder deze opvallende verschijning twee soorten schuilgaan.

Description: Onlangs werd op een braakliggend terrein in Roermond de zaadkever Bruchus brachialis verzameld. Dit is de eerste Nederlandse vondst van deze zuidelijke soort. Een reeks recente waarnemingen uit de ons omringende landen laat zien dat deze soort al enige jaren in een noordwaartse areaaluitbreiding verwikkeld is. Met deze ontdekking komt het aantal Nederlandse Bruchus-soorten op zeven.

Description: Nieuw gevormd landschap, zoals jonge duinvalleien, opgespoten polders en bedrijventerreinen in ontwikkeling vormen de habitat van gespecialiseerde soorten. Je moet tegen een stootje kunnen om in een dergelijke zandige, schaars begroeide omgeving te overleven. Vooral langdurig warme, droge perioden vormen een probleem voor vochtminnende bodemdieren. De springstaartsoorten die hier overleven zijn warmteminnend en droogteresistent, een bijzondere combinatie voor bodemdieren. Dit geldt ook voor Entomobrya unostrigata, een nieuwe aanwinst voor de fauna van Noordwest-Europa. Er is een aantal populaties van deze soort op de Tweede Maasvlakte gevonden. De dieren zaten hier onder stenen en hout op opgespoten zand.

Description: De Polychaeta vormen een groep van vrijwel uitsluitend mariene wormen, gekenmerkt door een geleed lichaam met aan de meeste leden een tamelijk groot aantal borstels. Het is een soortenrijke groep; ze spelen een belangrijke rol in de ecologie en diversiteit van vooral zachte, maar ook harde zeebodems. In vergelijking met de kreeftachtigen en weekdieren, eveneens soortenrijke groepen in dezelfde biotoop, zijn borstelwormen minder goed onderzocht. In dit artikel wordt de zeerups Fimbriosthenelais minor nieuw voor ons land gemeld. Met name op stenige en schelprijke bodems zijn nog meer nieuwe borstelwormen voor ons land te verwachten.

Description: Het kalkdoorntje is een zeldzame sprinkhanensoort, die vooral bekend is uit Zuid-Limburg en van enkele locaties in het rivierengebied. Over het voorkomen van dit kleine sprinkhaantje binnen de Gelderse Poort was lange tijd weinig bekend. Pas vanaf 2007 worden regelmatig waarnemingen gedaan. Toevallige waarnemingen op, voor de auteur, onverwachte locaties vormden de aanleiding voor een grondige inventarisatie in de jaren 2011-2013. Hieruit komt naar voren dat het kalkdoorntje een ruime verspreiding heeft binnen de Gelderse Poort en een meer diverse biotoopkeuze heeft dan voorheen bekend was.

Description: The Human Exploration Science Office supports human spaceflight, conducts research, and develops technology in the areas of space orbital debris, hypervelocity impact technology, image science and analysis, remote sensing, imagery integration, and human and robotic exploration science. NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) resides in the Human Exploration Science Office. ODPO provides leadership in orbital debris research and the development of national and international space policy on orbital debris. The office is recognized internationally for its measurement and modeling of the debris environment. It takes the lead in developing technical consensus across U.S. agencies and other space agencies on debris mitigation measures to protect users of the orbital environment. The Hypervelocity Impact Technology (HVIT) project evaluates the risks to spacecraft posed by micrometeoroid and orbital debris (MMOD). HVIT facilities at JSC and White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) use light gas guns, diagnostic tools, and high-speed imagery to quantify the response of spacecraft materials to MMOD impacts. Impact tests, with debris environment data provided by ODPO, are used by HVIT to predict risks to NASA and commercial spacecraft. HVIT directly serves NASA crew safety with MMOD risk assessments for each crewed mission and research into advanced shielding design for future missions. The Image Science and Analysis Group (ISAG) supports the International Space Station (ISS) and commercial spaceflight through the design of imagery acquisition schemes (ground- and vehicle-based) and imagery analyses for vehicle performance assessments and mission anomaly resolution. ISAG assists the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) Program in the development of camera systems for the Orion spacecraft that will serve as data sources for flight test objectives that lead to crewed missions. The multi-center Imagery Integration Team is led by the Human Exploration Science Office and provides expertise in the application of engineering imagery to spaceflight. The team links NASA programs and private industry with imagery capabilities developed and honed through decades of human spaceflight, including imagery integration, imaging assets, imagery data management, and photogrammetric analysis. The team is currently supporting several NASA programs, including commercial demonstration missions. The Earth Science and Remote Sensing Team is responsible for integrating the scientific use of Earth-observation assets onboard the ISS, which consist of externally mounted sensors and crew photography capabilities. This team facilitates collaboration on remote sensing and participates in research with academic organizations and other Government agencies, not only in conjunction with ISS science, but also for planetary exploration and regional environmental/geological studies. Human exploration science focuses on science strategies for future human exploration missions to the Moon, Mars, asteroids, and beyond. This function provides communication and coordination between the science community and mission planners. ARES scientists support the operation of robotic missions (i.e., Mars Exploration Rovers and the Mars Science Laboratory), contribute to the interpretation of returned mission data, and translate robotic mission technologies and techniques to human spaceflight.

Description: The GeoLab glovebox was, until November 2012, fully integrated into NASA's Deep Space Habitat (DSH) Analog Testbed. The conceptual design for GeoLab came from several sources, including current research instruments (Microgravity Science Glovebox) used on the International Space Station, existing Astromaterials Curation Laboratory hardware and clean room procedures, and mission scenarios developed for earlier programs. GeoLab allowed NASA scientists to test science operations related to contained sample examination during simulated exploration missions. The team demonstrated science operations that enhance theThe GeoLab glovebox was, until November 2012, fully integrated into NASA's Deep Space Habitat (DSH) Analog Testbed. The conceptual design for GeoLab came from several sources, including current research instruments (Microgravity Science Glovebox) used on the International Space Station, existing Astromaterials Curation Laboratory hardware and clean room procedures, and mission scenarios developed for earlier programs. GeoLab allowed NASA scientists to test science operations related to contained sample examination during simulated exploration missions. The team demonstrated science operations that enhance the early scientific returns from future missions and ensure that the best samples are selected for Earth return. The facility was also designed to foster the development of instrument technology. Since 2009, when GeoLab design and construction began, the GeoLab team [a group of scientists from the Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office within the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Directorate at JSC] has progressively developed and reconfigured the GeoLab hardware and software interfaces and developed test objectives, which were to 1) determine requirements and strategies for sample handling and prioritization for geological operations on other planetary surfaces, 2) assess the scientific contribution of selective in-situ sample characterization for mission planning, operations, and sample prioritization, 3) evaluate analytical instruments and tools for providing efficient and meaningful data in advance of sample return and 4) identify science operations that leverage human presence with robotic tools. In the first year of tests (2010), GeoLab examined basic glovebox operations performed by one and two crewmembers and science operations performed by a remote science team. The 2010 tests also examined the efficacy of basic sample characterization [descriptions, microscopic imagery, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyses] and feedback to the science team. In year 2 (2011), the GeoLab team tested enhanced software and interfaces for the crew and science team (including Web-based and mobile device displays) and demonstrated laboratory configurability with a new diagnostic instrument (the Multispectral Microscopic Imager from the JPL and Arizona State University). In year 3 (2012), the GeoLab team installed and tested a robotic sample manipulator and evaluated robotic-human interfaces for science operations.

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Description: Our work has elucidated a new analog for the formation of giant polygons on Mars, involving fluid expulsion in a subaqueous environment. That work is based on three-dimensional (3D) seismic data on Earth that illustrate the mud volcanoes and giant polygons that result from sediment compaction in offshore settings. The description of this process has been published in the journal Icarus, where it will be part of a special volume on Martian analogs. These ideas have been carried further to suggest that giant polygons in the Martian lowlands may be the signature of an ancient ocean and, as such, could mark a region of enhanced habitability. A paper describing this hypothesis has been published in the journal Astrobiology.

Description: As of 2013, about 60 meteorites from the planet Mars have been found and are being studied. Each time a new Martian meteorite is found, a wealth of new information comes forward about the red planet. The most abundant type of Martian meteorite is a shergottite; its lithologies are broadly similar to those of Earth basalts and gabbros; i.e., crustal igneous rocks. The entire suite of shergottites is characterized by a range of trace element, isotopic ratio, and oxygen fugacity values that mainly reflect compositional variations of the Martian mantle from which these magmas came. A newly found shergottite, NWA 5298, was the focus of a study performed by scientists within the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Directorate at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in 2012. This sample was found in Morocco in 2008. Major element analyses were performed in the electron microprobe (EMP) laboratory of ARES at JSC, while the trace elements were measured at the University of Houston by laser inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS). A detailed analysis of this stone revealed that this meteorite is a crystallized magma that comes from the enriched end of the shergottite spectrum; i.e., trace element enriched and oxidized. Its oxidation comes in part from its mantle source and from oxidation during the magma ascent. It represents a pristine magma that did not mix with any other magma or see crystal accumulation or crustal contamination on its way up to the Martian surface. NWA 5298 is therefore a direct, albeit evolved, melt from the Martian mantle and, for its lithology (basaltic shergottite), it represents the oxidized end of the shergottite suite. It is thus a unique sample that has provided an end-member composition for Martian magmas.

Description: The Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office has the unique responsibility to curate NASA's extraterrestrial samples - from past and forthcoming missions - into the indefinite future. Currently, curation includes documentation, preservation, physical security, preparation, and distribution of samples from the Moon, asteroids, comets, the solar wind, and the planet Mars. Each of these sample sets has a unique history and comes from a unique environment. The curation laboratories and procedures developed over 40 years have proven both necessary and sufficient to serve the evolving needs of a worldwide research community. A new generation of sample return missions to destinations across the solar system is being planned and proposed. The curators are developing the tools and techniques to meet the challenges of these new samples. Extraterrestrial samples pose unique curation requirements. These samples were formed and exist under conditions strikingly different from those on the Earth's surface. Terrestrial contamination would destroy much of the scientific significance of extraterrestrial materials. To preserve the research value of these precious samples, contamination must be minimized, understood, and documented. In addition, the samples must be preserved - as far as possible - from physical and chemical alteration. The elaborate curation facilities at JSC were designed and constructed, and have been operated for many years, to keep sample contamination and alteration to a minimum. Currently, JSC curates seven collections of extraterrestrial samples: (a)) Lunar rocks and soils collected by the Apollo astronauts, (b) Meteorites collected on dedicated expeditions to Antarctica, (c) Cosmic dust collected by high-altitude NASA aircraft,t (d) Solar wind atoms collected by the Genesis spacecraft, (e) Comet particles collected by the Stardust spacecraft, (f) Interstellar dust particles collected by the Stardust spacecraft, and (g) Asteroid soil particles collected by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Hayabusa spacecraft Each of these sample sets has a unique history and comes from a unique environment. We have developed specialized laboratories and practices over many years to preserve and protect the samples, not only for current research but for studies that may be carried out in the indefinite future.

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Description: While comets are perhaps best known for their ability to put on spectacular celestial light shows, they are much more than that. Composed of an assortment of frozen gases mixed with a collection of dust and minerals, comets are considered to be very primitive bodies and, as such, they are thought to hold key information about the earliest chapters in the history of the solar system. (The dust and mineral grains are usually called the "refractory" component, indicating that they can survive much higher temperatures than the ices.) It has long been thought, and spacecraft photography has confirmed, that comets suffer the effects of impacts along with every other solar system body. Comets spend most of their lifetimes in the Kuiper Belt, a region of the solar system between 30 and 50 times the average distance of the Earth from the Sun, or the Oort Cloud, which extends to approximately 1 light year from the Sun. Those distances are so far from the Sun that water ice is the equivalent of rock, melting or vaporizing only through the action of strong, impact-generated shock waves.

Description: The 2012 Moon and Mars Analog Mission Activities (MMAMA) scientific investigations were completed on Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii in July 2012. The investigations were conducted on the southeast flank of the Mauna Kea volcano at an elevation of approximately 11,500 ft. This area is known as "Apollo Valley" and is in an adjacent valley to the Very Large Baseline Array dish antenna.

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Description: The purpose of NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) mission 16 in 2012 was to evaluate and compare the performance of a defined series of representative near-Earth asteroid (NEA) extravehicular activity (EVA) tasks under different conditions and combinations of work systems, constraints, and assumptions considered for future human NEA exploration missions. NEEMO 16 followed NASA's 2011 Desert Research and Technology Studies (D-RATS), the primary focus of which was understanding the implications of communication latency, crew size, and work system combinations with respect to scientific data quality, data management, crew workload, and crew/mission control interactions. The 1-g environment precluded meaningful evaluation of NEA EVA translation, worksite stabilization, sampling, or instrument deployment techniques. Thus, NEEMO missions were designed to provide an opportunity to perform a preliminary evaluation of these important factors for each of the conditions being considered. NEEMO 15 also took place in 2011 and provided a first look at many of the factors, but the mission was cut short due to a hurricane threat before all objectives were completed. ARES Directorate (KX) personnel consulted with JSC engineers to ensure that high-fidelity planetary science protocols were incorporated into NEEMO mission architectures. ARES has been collaborating with NEEMO mission planners since NEEMO 9 in 2006, successively building upon previous developments to refine science operations concepts within engineering constraints; it is expected to continue the collaboration as NASA's human exploration mission plans evolve.

Description: We present the analysis of Cassini spectral data from spectral mapping of Saturnian icy moons Dione and Rhea, to investigate possible effects of impact crater formation on the relative abundances of crystalline and amorphous water ice in the moons' ice crusts. Both moons display morphologically young ray craters as well as older craters. Possible changes in ice properties due to crater formation are conjectured to be more visible in younger craters, and as such Rhea's well imaged ray crater Inktomi is analysed, as are older craters for comparison. We used data from Cassini's Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS). For each pixel in the VIMS maps, spectral data were extracted in the near-infrared range (1.75 micrometers less than lambda less than 2.45 micrometers). Analysis was begun by fitting a single Gaussian to the peak in absorption at 2.0 micrometers, which was then subtracted from the data, leaving residuals with a minimum on either side of the original 2.0-micrometers band. The spectra of the individual spatial pixels were then clustered by the differences between these minima, which are sensitive to changes in both ice grain size and crystallinity. This yielded preliminary maps which approximated the physical characteristics of the landscape and were used to identify candidates for further analysis. Spectra were then clustered by the properties of the 1.5-micrometers band, to divide the map into regions based on inferred grain size. For each region, the predicted differences in minima from the Gaussian residuals, over a range of crystallinities, were calculated based on the found grain sizes. This model was used to find the crystallinity of each pixel via grain size and characteristics of the residual function. Preliminary results show a greater degree of crystallization of young crater interiors, particularly in Rhea's ray crater Inktomi, where ice showed crystalline ice abundances between 33 percent and 61 percent. These patterns in ice crystallization are possibly attributable to increased heat generated during crater formation.

Description: Isotopic dating is an essential tool to establish an absolute chronology for geological events, including crystallization history, magmatic evolution, and alteration events. The capability for in situ geochronology will open up the ability for geochronology to be accomplished as part of lander or rover complement, on multiple samples rather than just those returned. An in situ geochronology package can also complement sample return missions by identifying the most interesting rocks to cache or return to Earth. The K-Ar Laser Experiment (KArLE) brings together a novel combination of several flight-proven components to provide precise measurements of potassium (K) and argon (Ar) that will enable accurate isochron dating of planetary rocks. KArLE will ablate a rock sample, measure the K in the plasma state using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), measure the liberated Ar using mass spectrometry (MS), and relate the two by measuring the volume of the ablated pit by optical imaging. Our work indicates that the KArLE instrument is capable of determining the age of planetary samples with sufficient accuracy to address a wide range of geochronology problems in planetary science. Additional benefits derive from the fact that each KArLE component achieves analyses useful for most planetary surface missions.

Description: Plans to send humans to Mars are in work and the launch system is being built. Are we ready? Robotic missions have successfully demonstrated transportation, entry, landing and surface operations but for human missions there are significant, potentially show-stopping issues. These issues, called Strategic Knowledge Gaps (SKGs) are the unanswered questions concerning long-duration exploration beyond low-earth-orbit. The gaps represent a risk of loss of life or mission and because they require extended exposure to the weightless environment outside earth's protective geo-magnetic field they cannot be resolved on the earth or on the International Space Station (ISS). Placing a laboratory at the relatively close and stable lunar Distant Retrograde Orbit (DRO) provides an accessible location with the requisite environmental conditions for conducting SKG research and testing mitigation solutions. Configurations comprised of multiple 3 meter and 4.3 meter diameter modules have been studied but the most attractive solution uses elements of the human Mars launch vehicle or Space Launch System (SLS) for a Mars proving ground laboratory. A shortened version of an SLS hydrogen propellant tank creates a Skylab-like pressure vessel that flies fully outfitted on a single launch. This not only offers significant savings by incorporating SLS pressure vessel development costs but avoids the expensive ISS approach using many launches with substantial on-orbit assembly before becoming operational. One of the most challenging SKGs is crew radiation protection; this is why SKG laboratory research is combined with Mars transit Habitat systems development. Fundamentally, the two cannot be divorced because using the habitat systems for protection requires actual hardware geometry and material properties intended to contribute to shielding effectiveness. The SKGs are difficult problems, solutions are not obvious, and require integrated, iterative, and multi-disciplinary development. A lunar DRO lab built from the launch system elements enables an early and representative transit habitat test bed necessary for closing gaps before sending humans on a 1000 day Mars mission.

Description: We will summarize the in situ measurements of atmospheric composition and the isotopic ratios of D/H in water, C-13/C-12, O-18/O-16, O-17 / O-16, and C-13 O-18 / C-12 O-16 in carbon dioxide, and Ar-38 / Ar-36, Kr-x / Kr-84, and N-15 / N-14 made in the martian atmosphere at Gale Crater from the Curiosity Rover using the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM)'s Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer (QMS) and Tunable Laser Spectrometer (TLS). With data over 700 sols since the Curiosity landing, we will discuss evidence and implications for changes on seasonal and other timescales. We will also present results for continued methane and methane enrichment experiments over this time period. Comparison between our measurements in the modern atmosphere and those of martian meteorites like ALH 84001 implies that the martian reservoirs of CO2 and H2O were largely established approximately 4 billion years ago, but that atmospheric loss or surface interaction may be still ongoing.

Description: One of the key objectives of the Mars Science Laboratory rover and the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite is to determine the inventory of organic and inorganic volatiles in the atmosphere and surface regolith and rocks to help assess the habitability potential of Gale Crater. The SAM instrument on the Curiosity rover can detect volatile organic compounds thermally evolved from solid samples using a combination of evolved gas analysis (EGA) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS) (Mahaffy et al. 2012). The first solid samples analyzed by SAM, a scoop of windblown dust and sand at Rocknest, revealed several chloromethanes and a C4-chlorinated hydrocarbon derived primarily from reactions between a martian oxychlorine phase (e.g. perchlorate) and terrestrial carbon from N-methyl-N-(tertbutyldimethylsilyl)- trifluoroacetamide (MTBSTFA) vapor present in the SAM instrument background (Glavin et al. 2013). After the analyses at Rocknest, Curiosity traveled to Yellowknife Bay and drilled two separate holes in a fluvio-lacustrine sediment (the Sheepbed unit) designated John Klein and Cumberland. Analyses of the drilled materials by both SAM and the CheMin X-Ray Diffraction instrument revealed a mudstone consisting of ~20 wt% smectite clays (Ming et al. 2013; Vaniman et al. 2013), which on Earth are known to aid the concentration and preservation of organic matter. Oxychlorine compounds were also detected in the Sheepbed mudstone during pyrolysis; however, in contrast to Rocknest, much higher levels of chloromethanes were released from the Sheepbed materials, suggesting an additional, possibly martian source of organic carbon (Ming et al. 2013). In addition, elevated abundances of chlorobenzene and a more diverse suite of chlorinated alkanes including dichloropropane and dichlorobutane detected in Cumberland compared to Rocknest suggest that martian or meteoritic organic carbon sources may be preserved in the mudstone (Freissinet et al. 2013). Chloromethane and dichloromethane were also identified after thermal volatilization of the surface soils by the GCMS instruments at the Viking landing sites, although no other chlorinated hydrocarbons were reported (Biemann et al. 1977). Here we focus on the origin of the chlorinated hydrocarbons detected in the Sheepbed mudstone by SAM and the implications for the preservation of organic matter in near-surface materials on Mars.

Description: The decades-or-longer stability of the narrow F Ring core in a sea of orbital chaos appears to be due to an unusual combination of traditional corotation resonance and a novel kind of "antiresonance". At a series of specific locations in the F Ring region, apse precession between synodic encounters with Prometheus allows semimajor axis perturbations to promptly cancel before significant orbital period changes can occur. This cancellation fails for particles that encounter Prometheus when it is near its apoapse, especially during periods of antialignment of its apse with that of the F Ring. At these times, the strength of the semimajor axis perturbation is large (tens of km) and highly nonsinusoidal in encounter longitude, making it impossible to cancel promptly on a subsequent encounter and leading to chaotic orbital diffusion. Only particles that consistently encounter Prometheus away from its apoapse can use antiresonance to maintain stable orbits, implying that the true mean motion nF of the stable core must be defined by a corotational resonance of the form nF = nP(-kappa)P/m, where (nP, kappaP) are Prometheus' mean motion and epicycle frequency. To test this hypothesis we used the fact that Cassini RSS occultations only sporadically detect a "massive" F Ring core, composed of several-cm-and-larger particles. We regressed the inertial longitudes of 24 Cassini RSS (and VGR) detections and 43 nondetections to a common epoch, using a comb of candidate nP, and then folded them modulo the anticipated m-number of the corotational resonance (Prometheus m = 110 outer CER), to see if clustering appears. We find the "true F Ring core" is actually arranged in a series of short longitudinal arcs separated by nearly empty longitudes, orbiting at a well determined semimajor axis of 140222.4 km (from 2005-2012 at least). Small particles seen by imaging and stellar occultations spread quickly in azimuth and obscure this clumpy structure. Small chaotic variations in the mean motion and/or apse longitude of Prometheus quickly become manifest in the F Ring core, and we suggest that the core must adapt to these changes for the F Ring to maintain stability over timescales of decades and longer

Description: NASA is examining two options for the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM), which will return asteroid material to a Lunar Distant Retrograde Orbit (LDRO) using a robotic solar-electric-propulsion spacecraft, called the Asteroid Redirect Vehicle (ARV). Once the ARV places the asteroid material into the LDRO, a piloted mission will rendezvous and dock with the ARV. After docking, astronauts will conduct two extravehicular activities (EVAs) to inspect and sample the asteroid material before returning to Earth. One option involves capturing an entire small (approximately 4-10 m diameter) near-Earth asteroid (NEA) inside a large inflatable bag. However, NASA is examining another option that entails retrieving a boulder (approximately 1-5 m) via robotic manipulators from the surface of a larger (approximately 100+ m) pre-characterized NEA. This option can leverage robotic mission data to help ensure success by targeting previously (or soon to be) well-characterized NEAs. For example, the data from the Hayabusa mission has been utilized to develop detailed mission designs that assess options and risks associated with proximity and surface operations. Hayabusa's target NEA, Itokawa, has been identified as a valid target and is known to possess hundreds of appropriately sized boulders on its surface. Further robotic characterization of additional NEAs (e.g., Bennu and 1999 JU3) by NASA's OSIRIS REx and JAXA's Hayabusa 2 missions is planned to begin in 2018. The boulder option is an extremely large samplereturn mission with the prospect of bringing back many tons of wellcharacterized asteroid material to the EarthMoon system. The candidate boulder from the target NEA can be selected based on inputs from the worldwide science community, ensuring that the most scientifically interesting boulder be returned for subsequent sampling. This boulder option for NASA's ARM can leverage knowledge of previously characterized NEAs from prior robotic missions, which provides more certainty of the target NEA's physical characteristics and reduces mission risk. This increases the return on investment for NASA's future activities with respect to science, human exploration, resource utilization, and planetary defense

Description: Based on petrology, mineralogy, and bulk composition, the new NWA 8159 martian meteorite is distinct from all known samples from Mars. In particular, the augite compositional trends are unique, but most similar to those of nakhite intercumulus. Whether NWA 8159 represents a new lithology or is related to a known meteorite group remains to be determined. Sr and Nd isotopic analyses will allow comparison of source characteristics with SNC and other new ungrouped meteorites (e.g., NWA 7635). Here we report initial Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd isotopic results for NWA 8159 with the objective to determine its formation age and to potentially identify similarities and potential source affinities with other martian rocks.

Description: The rates of space weathering processes are poorly constrained for asteroid surfaces, with recent estimates ranging over 5 orders of magnitude. The return of the first surface samples from a space-weathered asteroid by the Hayabusa mission and their laboratory analysis provides "ground truth" to anchor the timescales for space weathering. We determine the rates of space weathering on Itokawa by measuring solar flare track densities and the widths of solar wind damaged rims on grains. These measurements are made possible through novel focused ion beam (FIB) sample preparation methods.

Description: The Diviner Lunar Radiometer, onboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, has produced the first global, high resolution, thermal infrared observations of an airless body. The Moon, which is the most accessible member of this most abundant class of solar system objects, is also the only body for which we have extraterrestrial samples with known spatial context. Here we present the results of a comprehensive study to reproduce an accurate simulated lunar environment, evaluate the most appropriate sample and measurement conditions, collect thermal infrared spectra of a representative suite of Apollo soils, and correlate them with Diviner observations of the lunar surface. We find that analyses of Diviner observations of individual sampling stations and SLE measurements of returned Apollo soils show good agreement, while comparisons to thermal infrared reflectance under terrestrial conditions do not agree well, which underscores the need for SLE measurements and validates the Diviner compositional dataset. Future work includes measurement of additional soils in SLE and cross comparisons with measurements in JPL Simulated Airless Body Emission Laboratory (SABEL).

Description: One of the fundamental aspects of any astromaterial is its shock history, since this factor elucidates critical historical events, and also because shock metamorphism can alter primary mineralogical and petrographic features, and reset chronologies.

Description: The main goal of the Japanese Aerospace Ex-ploration Agency (JAXA) Hayabusa-2 mission is to visit and return to Earth samples of a C-type asteroid (162173) 1999 JU3 in order to understand the origin and nature of organic materials in the Solar System. Life on Earth shows preference towards the set of organics with particular spatial arrangements, this 'selectivity' is a crucial criterion for life. With only rare exceptions, life 'determines' to use the left- (L-) form over the right- (D-) form of amino acids, resulting in a L-enantiomeric excess (ee). Recent studies have shown that L-ee is found within the alpha-methyl amino acids in meteorites [1, 2], which are amino acids with rare terrestrial occurrence, and thus point towards a plausible abiotic origin for ee. One of the proposed origins of chiral asymmetry of amino acids in meteorites is their formation with the presence of asymmetric catalysts [3]. The catalytic mineral grains acted as a surface at which nebular gases (CO, H2 and NH3) were allowed to condense and react through Fisher Tropsch type (FTT) syntheses to form the organics observed in meteorites [4]. Magnetite is shown to be an effective catalyst of the synthesis of amino acids that are commonly found in meteorites [5]. It has also taken the form as spiral magnetites (a.k.a. 'plaquettes'), which were found in various carbonaceous chondrites (CCs), including C2s Tagish Lake and Esseibi, CI Orgueil, and CR chondrites [e.g., 6, 7, 8]. In addition, L-ee for amino acids are common in the aqueously altered CCs, as opposed to the unaltered CCs [1]. It seems possible that the synthesis of amino acids with chiral preferences is correlated to the alteration process experienced by the asteroid parent body, and related to the configuration of spiral magnetite catalysts. Since C-type asteroids are considered to be enriched in organic matter, and the spectral data of 1999 JU3 indicates a certain de-gree of aqueous alteration [9], the Hayabusa-2 mission serves as a perfect chance to attest this argument. In order to understand the distribution of spiral magnetites among different meteorite classes, as well as to investigate their spiral configurations and correlation to molecular asymmetry, we observed polished thin sections of CCs using scanning electron microscope (SEM) imaging. Individual magnetite grains were picked, embedded in epoxy, thin-sectioned using an ultra-microtome, and studied with electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) in order to reconstruct the crystal orientation along the stack of magnetite disks.

Description: The focus of the present study is the compositional analysis of small-scale surface features within the Rheasil-Aa basin on asteroid Vesta. We are using data acquired by the Visible and InfraRed mapping Spectrometer (VIR) on the Dawn mission. Nominal spatial resolution of the data set considered in this study is 70m/px. The portion of Rheasil-Aa basin below 65degS has a howarditic composition, with the higher concentration of diogenitic versus eucritic material in the region between 45deg and 225degE-lon. However, there are several locations, such as craters Tarpeia and Severina and Parentatio Rupes, with lithologic characteristics different from the surroundings regions. Tarpeia crater has a eucritic patch in the west side of the crater, the bottom part ofthe wall and part of the floor. Severina, located in a region of Mg-rich pyroxene, has some diogenitic units on the walls of the crater. Also the Parentatio Rupes has an ob-AOUS diogenitic unit. These units extend for 10-20km, and their location, especially in the case of the two craters, suggests they formed before the cratering events and also before the Rheasil-Aa impact event. The origin of these units is still unclear; however, their characteristics and locations suggests heterogeneity in the composition of the ancient Vestan crust in this particular location of the surface.

Description: Some types of meteorites - most irons, stony irons, some achondrites - hail from asteroids that were heated to the point where magmatism occurred within a very few million years of the formation of the earliest solids in the solar system. The largest clan of achondrites, the howardite, eucrite and diogenite (HED) meteorites, represent the crust of their parent asteroid]. Diogenites are cumulate harzburgites and orthopyroxenites from the lower crust whilst eucrites are basalts, diabases and cumulate gabbros from the upper crust. Howardites are impact-engendered breccias mostly of diogenites and eucrites. There remains only one large asteroid with a basaltic crust, 4 Vesta, which is thought to be the source of the HED clan. Differentiation models for Vesta are based on HED compositions. Proto-Vesta consisted of chondritic materials containing Al-26, a potent, short-lived heat source. Inferences from compositional data are that Vesta was melted to high degree (50%) allowing homogenization of the silicate phase and separation of a metallic core. Convection of the silicate magma ocean allowed equilibrium crystallization, forming a harzburgitic mantle. After convective lockup occurred, melt collected between the mantle and the cool thermal boundary layer and underwent fractional crystallization forming an orthopyroxene-rich (diogenite) lower crust. The initial thermal boundary layer of chondritic material was replaced by a mafic upper crust through impact disruption and foundering. The mafic crust thickened over time as additional residual magma intrudes and penetrates the mafic crust forming plutons, dikes, sills and flows of cumulate and basaltic eucrite composition. This magmatic history may have taken only 2-3 Myr. This magma ocean scenario is at odds with a model of heat and magma transport that indicates that small degrees of melt would be rapidly expelled from source regions, precluding development of a magma ocean. Constraints from radiogenic Mg-26 distibutions suggest that the parent asteroid of HEDs was much smaller than Vesta. Thus, first-order questions regarding asteroid differentiation remain.

Description: Water ice and other volatiles may be located in the Moon's polar regions, with sufficient quantities for in situ extraction and utilization by future human and robotic missions. Evidence from orbiting spacecraft and the LCROSS impactor suggests the presence of surface and/or nearsurface volatiles, including water ice. These deposits are of interest to human exploration to understand their potential for use by astronauts. Understanding the composition, quantity, distribution, and form of water/H species and other volatiles associated with lunar cold traps is identified as a NASA Strategic Knowledge Gap (SKG) for Human Exploration. These polar volatile deposits could also reveal important information about the delivery of water to the Earth- Moon system, so are of scientific interest. The scientific exploration of the lunar polar regions was one of the key recommendations of the Planetary Science Decadal Survey. In order to address NASA's SKGs, the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) program selected three lowcost 6-U CubeSat missions for launch as secondary payloads on the first test flight (EM1) of the Space Launch System (SLS) scheduled for 2017. The Lunar Flashlight mission was selected as one of these missions, specifically to address the SKG associated with lunar volatiles. Development of the Lunar Flashlight CubeSat concept leverages JPL's Interplanetary Nano- Spacecraft Pathfinder In Relevant Environment (INSPIRE) mission, MSFC's intimate knowledge of the Space Launch System and EM-1 mission, small business development of solar sail and electric propulsion hardware, and JPL experience with specialized miniature sensors. The goal of Lunar Flashlight is to determine the presence or absence of exposed water ice and its physical state, and map its concentration at the kilometer scale within the permanently shadowed regions of the lunar south pole. After being ejected in cislunar space by SLS, Lunar Flashlight deploys its solar panels and solar sail and maneuvers into a low-energy transfer to lunar orbit. The solar sail and attitude control system work to bring the satellite into an elliptical polar orbit spiraling down to a perilune of 30-10 km above the south pole for data collection. Lunar Flashlight uses its solar sail to shine reflected sunlight into permanently shadowed regions, measuring surface albedo with a four-filter point spectrometer at 1.1, 1.5 1.9, and 2.0 microns. Water ice will be distinguished from dry regolith from these measurements in two ways: 1) spatial variations in absolute reflectance (water ice is much brighter in the continuum channels), and 2) reflectance ratios between absorption and continuum channels. Derived reflectance and reflectance ratios will be mapped onto the lunar surface in order to distinguish the composition of the PSRs from that of the sunlit terrain. Lunar Flashlight enables a low-cost path to in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) by identifying operationally useful deposits (if there are any), which is a game-changing capability for expanded human exploration.

Description: A fundamental goal of solar system exploration is to understand the origin of the solar sys-tem, the initial stages, conditions, and processes by which the solar system formed, how the formation pro-cess was initiated, and the nature of the interstellar seed material from which the solar system was born. Key to understanding solar system formation and subsequent dynamical and chemical evolution is the origin and evolution of the giant planets and their atmospheres. Several theories have been put forward to explain the process of solar system formation, and the origin and evolution of the giant planets and their atmospheres. Each theory offers quantifiable predictions of the abundances of noble gases He, Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe, and abundances of key isotopic ratios 4He3He, DH, 15N14N, 18O16O, and 13C12C. Detection of certain dis-equilibrium species, diagnostic of deeper internal pro-cesses and dynamics of the atmosphere, would also help discriminate between competing theories. Measurements of the critical abundance profiles of these key constituents into the deeper well-mixed at-mosphere must be complemented by measurements of the profiles of atmospheric structure and dynamics at high vertical resolution and also require in situ explora-tion. The atmospheres of the giant planets can also serve as laboratories to better understand the atmospheric chem-istries, dynamics, processes, and climates on all planets including Earth, and offer a context and provide a ground truth for exoplanets and exoplanetary systems. Additionally, Giant planets have long been thought to play a critical role in the development of potentially habitable planetary systems. In the context of giant planet science provided by the Galileo, Juno, and Cassini missions to Jupiter and Sat-urn, a small, relatively shallow Saturn probe capable of measuring abundances and isotopic ratios of key at-mospheric constituents, and atmospheric structure in-cluding pressures, temperatures, dynamics, and cloud locations and properties not accessible by remote sens-ing can serve to test competing theories of solar system and giant planet origin, chemical, and dynamical evolution.

Description: The Mars Global Reference Atmospheric Model (Mars-GRAM) is an engineering-level atmospheric model widely used for diverse mission and engineering applications. Applications of Mars-GRAM include systems design, performance analysis, and operations planning for aerobraking, entry, descent and landing, and aerocapture. Atmospheric influences on landing site selection and long-term mission conceptualization and development can also be addressed utilizing Mars-GRAM. Mars-GRAM's perturbation modeling capability is commonly used, in a Monte Carlo mode, to perform high-fidelity engineering end-to-end simulations for entry, descent, and landing. Mars-GRAM is an evolving software package resulting in improved accuracy and additional features. Mars-GRAM 2005 has been validated against Radio Science data, and both nadir and limb data from the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES). From the surface to 80 km altitude, Mars-GRAM is based on the NASA Ames Mars General Circulation Model (MGCM). Above 80 km, Mars-GRAM is based on the University of Michigan Mars Thermospheric General Circulation Model (MTGCM). The most recent release of Mars-GRAM 2010 includes an update to Fortran 90/95 and the addition of adjustment factors. These adjustment factors are applied to the input data from the MGCM and the MTGCM for the mapping year 0 user-controlled dust case. The adjustment factors are expressed as a function of height (z), latitude and areocentric solar longitude (Ls).

Description: Since early 2006, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center has observed over 300 impact flashes on the Moon, produced by meteoroids striking the lunar surface. On 17 March 2013 at 03:50:54.312 UTC, the brightest flash of an 8-year routine observing campaign was observed in two 0.35 m telescopes outfitted with Watec 902H2 Ultimate monochrome CCD cameras recording interleaved 30 fps video. Standard CCD photometric techniques, described in [1], were applied to the video after saturation correction, yielding a peak R magnitude of 3.0 +/- 0.4 in a 1/30 second video exposure. This corresponds to a luminous energy of 7.1 10(exp 6) J. Geographic Information System (GIS) tools were used to georeference the lunar impact imagery and yielded a crater location at 20.60 +/- 0.17deg N, 23.92 +/- 0.30deg W. The camera onboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a NASA spacecraft mapping the Moon from lunar orbit, discovered the fresh crater associated with this impact by comparing post-impact images from 28 July 2013 to pre-impact images on 12 Feb 2012. The images show fresh, bright ejecta around an 18 m diameter circular crater, with a 15 m inner diameter measured from the level of pre-existing terrain, at 20.7135deg N, 24.3302deg W. An asymmetrical ray pattern with both high and low reflectance ejecta zones extends 1-2 km beyond the crater, and a series of mostly low reflectance splotches can be seen within 30 km of the crater - likely due to secondary impacts [2]. The meteoroid impactor responsible for this event may have been part of a stream of large particles encountered by the Earth/Moon associated with the Virginid Meteor Complex, as evidenced by a cluster of 5 fireballs seen in Earth's atmosphere on the same night by the NASA All Sky Fireball Network [3] and the Southern Ontario Meteor Network [4]. Assuming a velocity-dependent luminous efficiency (ratio of luminous energy to kinetic energy) from [5] and an impact velocity of 25.6 km/s derived from fireball measurements, the impactor kinetic energy was 5.4 10(exp 9) J and the impactor mass was 16 kg. Assuming an impact angle of 56deg from horizontal (based on fireball orbit measurements), a regolith density of 1500 kg/m(exp 3), and impactor density between 1800 and 3000 kg/m(exp 3), the impact crater diameter was estimated to be 8-18 m at the pre-impact surface and 10-23 m rim-to-rim using the Holsapple [6] and Gault [7] models, a result consistent with the observed crater.

Description: Stardust, a NASA Discovery-class mission, was the first sample-return mission to return solid samples from beyond the Moon. Stardust was effectively two missions in one spacecraft: it returned the first materials from a known primitive solar system body, the Jupiter-family comet Wild 2; Stardust also returned a collector that was exposed to the contemporary interstellar dust stream for 200 days during the interplanetary cruise. Both collections present severe technical challenges in sample preparation and in analysis. By far the largest collection is the cometary one: approximately 300 micro g of material was returned from Wild 2, mostly consisting of approx. 1 ng particles embedded in aerogel or captured as residues in craters on aluminum foils. Because of their relatively large size, identification of the impacts of cometary particles in the collection media is straightforward. Reliable techniques have been developed for the extraction of these particles from aerogel. Coordinated analyses are also relatively straightforward, often beginning with synchrotron-based x-ray fluorescence (S-XRF), X-ray Absorption Near-Edge Spectoscopy (XANES) and x-ray diffraction (S-XRD) analyses of particles while still embedded in small extracted wedges of aerogel called ``keystones'', followed by ultramicrotomy and TEM, Scanning Transmission X-ray Microscopy (STXM) and ion microprobe analyses (e.g., Ogliore et al., 2010). Impacts in foils can be readily analyzed by SEM-EDX, and TEM analysis after FIB liftout sample preparation. In contrast, the interstellar dust collection is vastly more challenging. The sample size is approximately six orders of magnitude smaller in total mass. The largest particles are only a few pg in mass, of which there may be only approx.10 in the entire collection. The technical challenges, however, are matched by the scientific importance of the collection. We formed a consortium carry out the Stardust Interstellar Preliminary Examination (ISPE) to carry out an assessment of this collection, partly in order to characterize the collection in sufficient detail so that future investigators could make well-informed sample requests. The ISPE is the sixth PE on extraterrestrial collections carried out with NASA support. Some of the basic questions that we asked were: how many impacts are there in the collector, and what fraction of them have characteristics consistent with extraterrestrial materials? What is the elemental composition of the rock-forming elements? Is there crystalline material? Are there organics? Here we present coordinated microanalyses of particles captured in aerogel, using S-FTIR, S-XRF, STXM, S-XRD; and coordinated microanalyses of residues in aluminum foil, using SEMEDX, Auger spectroscopy, STEM, and ion microprobe. We discuss a novel approach that we employed for identification of tracks in aerogel, and new sample preparation techniques developed during the ISPE. We have identified seven particles - three in aerogel and four in foils - that are most consistent with an interstellar origin. The seven particles exhibit a large diversity in elemental composition. Dynamical evidence, supported supported by laboratory simulations of interstellar dust impacts in aerogel and foils, and numerical modeling of interstellar dust propagation in the heliosphere, suggests that at least some of the particles have high optical cross-section, perhaps due to an aggregate structure. However, the observations are most consistent with a variety of morphologies

Description: The martian meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 7034 and pairings represent the first brecciated hand sample available for study from the martian surface [1]. Detailed investigations of NWA 7034 have revealed substantial lithologic diversity among the clasts [2-3], making NWA 7034 a polymict breccia. NWA 7034 consists of igneous clasts, impact-melt clasts, and "sedimentary" clasts represented by prior generations of brecciated material. In the present study we conduct a detailed textural and geochemical analysis of the sedimentary clasts.

Description: Howardite, eucrite and diogenite meteorites likely come from asteroid 4 Vesta [1]. Howardites - physical mixtures of eucrites and diogenites - are of two subtypes: regolithic howardites were gardened in the true regolith; fragmental howardites are simple polymict breccias [2]. The Dawn spacecraft imaged the howarditic surface of Vesta with the visible and infrared mapping spectrometer (VIR) resulting in qualitative maps of the distributions of distinct diogenite-rich and eucrite-rich terranes [3, 4]. We are developing a robust basis for quantitative mapping of the distribution of lithologic types using spectra acquired on splits of well-characterized howardites [5, 6]. Spectra were measured on sample powders sieved to 〈75 m in the laboratories of the Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali and Brown University. Data reduction was done using the methods developed to process Dawn VIR spectra [4]. The band parameters for the ~1 and ~2 m pyroxene absorption features (hereafter BI and BII) can be directly compared to Dawn VIR results. Regolithic howardites have shallower BI and BII absorptions compared to fragmental howardites with similar compositions. However, there are statistically significant correlations between Al or Ca contents and BI or BII center wavelengths regardless of howardite subtype. Diogenites are poor in Al and Ca while eucrites are rich in these elements. The laboratory spectra can thus be directly correlated with the percentage of eucrite material contained in the howardites. We are using these correlations to quantitatively map Al and Ca distributions, and thus the percentage of eucritic material, in the current regolith of Vesta.

Description: Both primary (volcanic/impact glasses) and secondary (opal/silica, allophane, hisingerite, npOx, S-bearing) amorphous phases appear to be major components of martian surface materials based on orbital and in-situ measurements. A key observation is that whereas regional/global scale amorphous components include altered glass and npOx, local scale amorphous phases include hydrated silica/opal. This suggests widespread alteration at low water-to-rock ratios, perhaps due to snow/ice melt with variable pH, and localized alteration at high water-to-rock ratios. Orbital and in-situ measurements of the regional/global amorphous component on Mars suggests that it is made up of at least three phases: npOx, amorphous silicate (likely altered glass), and an amorphous S-bearing phase. Fundamental questions regarding the composition and the formation of the regional/global amorphous component(s) still remain: Do the phases form locally or have they been homogenized through aeolian activity and derived from the global dust? Is the parent glass volcanic, impact, or both? Are the phases separate or intimately mixed (e.g., as in palagonite)? When did the amorphous phases form? To address the question of source (local and/or global), we need to look for variations in the different phases within the amorphous component through continued modeling of the chemical composition of the amorphous phases in samples from Gale using CheMin and APXS data. If we find variations (e.g., a lack of or enrichment in amorphous silicate in some samples), this may imply a local source for some phases. Furthermore, the chemical composition of the weathering products may give insight into the formation mechanisms of the parent glass (e.g., impact glasses contain higher Al and lower Si [30], so we might expect allophane as a weathering product of impact glass). To address the question of whether these phases are separate or intimately mixed, we need to do laboratory studies of naturally altered samples made up of mixed phases (e.g., palagonite) and synthetic single phases to determine their short-range order structures and calculate their XRD patterns to use in models of CheMin data. Finally, to address the timing of the alteration, we need to study rocks on the martian surface of different ages that may contain glass (volcanic or impact) with MSL and future rovers to better understand how glass alters on the martian surface, if that alteration mechanism is universal, and if alteration spans across long periods of time or if there is a time past which unaltered glass remains.

Description: New simulation results for the sputtering of lunar soil surface by solar-wind protons and heavy ions will be presented. Previous simulation results showed that the sputtering process has significant effects and plays an important role in changing the surface chemical composition, setting the erosion rate and the sputtering process timescale. In this new work and in light of recent data, we briefly present some theoretical models which have been developed to describe the sputtering process and compare their results with recent calculation to investigate and differentiate the roles and the contributions of potential (or electrodynamic) sputtering from the standard (or kinetic) sputtering.

Description: This poster presentation will illustrate the use of NASA Lunar Sample Disks and resources to promote scientific inquiry and address the Next Generation Science Standards. The poster will present information on the Lunar Sample Disks, housed and managed by the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Directorate at the NASA Johnson Space Center. The poster will also present information on an inquirybased planetary sample and impact cratering unit designed to introduce students in grades 410 to the significance of studying the rocks, soils, and surfaces of a planetary world. The unit, consisting of many handson activities, provides context and background information to enhance the impact of the Lunar Sample Disks.

Description: The CheMin X-ray diffraction (XRD) instrument onboard the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity in Gale Crater, Mars, discovered smectite in drill fines of the Sheepbed mudstone at Yellowknife Bay (YNB). The mudstone has a basaltic composition, and the XRD powder diffraction pattern shows smectite 02l diffraction bands peaking at 4.59 A for targets John Klein and Cumberland, consistent with tri-octahedral smectites (saponite). From thermal analysis, the saponite abundance is ~20 wt. %. Among terrestrial analogues we have studied, ferrian saponite from Griffith Park (Los Angeles, CA) gives the best match to the position of the 02l diffraction band of YNB saponites. Here we describe iron-rich saponites from a terrestrial perspective, with a focus on Griffith saponite, and discuss their implications for the mineralogy of Sheepbed saponite and its formation pathways. Iron-rich saponite: Iron-rich saponite on the Earth is recognized as a low-temperature (〈100 C), authigenic alteration product of basalt [e.g., 4-16]. In the discussion that follows, we reference the position of the 02l band because it is a measure of the unit cell 'b' dimension of the octahedral layer and thus the cations (including Fe redox state) in the octahedral layer. Ordinarily, the 06l band near 1.5 A is used to determine the 'b' dimension of smectite, but this band is not accessible with MSL CheMin instrument. For reference, a ferrosaponite (i.e., Fe2+ saponite) studied by [15] has a 02l spacing of 4.72 A and Fe3+/Fe = 0.27 [15]. Samples of terrestrial ferrosaponite, however, are reported to oxidize on the timescale of days when removed from their natural environment and not protected from oxidation. The Griffith saponite is Mg-rich ferrian saponite, and sample AMNH 89172 has an 02l spacing of 4.59 A (same as the Sheepbed saponites) and Fe3+/Fe = 0.64 [3]. This similarity suggests that Sheepbed saponites are ferrian (incompletely oxidized ferrosaponite). More oxidized Griffith saponites (Fe3+/Fe 〉 0.90) have somewhat smaller 02l d-spacings and also show Mossbauer evidence for an XRD amorphous Fe-bearing phase (e.g., ferrihydrite, hisingerite, superparamagnetic ferric oxides, etc.). The Griffith saponite occurs as vesicle fills, as replacements of olivine, and as replacements of mesostasis (basaltic glass). Similar occurrence modes are reported elsewhere. Hisingerite has been proposed by [13] as the alteration product of ferrian saponite whose precursor by oxidation was ferrosaponite.

Description: Depletions of siderophile elements in mantles have placed constraints on the conditions on core segregation and differentiation in bodies such as Earth, Earth's Moon, Mars, and asteroid 4 Vesta. Among the siderophile elements there are a sub-set that are also volatile (volatile siderophile elements or VSE; Ga, Ge, In, As, Sb, Sn, Bi, Zn, Cu, Cd), and thus can help to constrain the origin of volatile elements in these bodies, and in particular the Earth and Moon. One of the fundamental observations of the geochemistry of the Moon is the overall depletion of volatile elements relative to the Earth, but a satisfactory explanation has remained elusive. Hypotheses for Earth include addition during accretion and core formation and mobilized into the metallic core, multiple stage origin, or addition after the core formed. Any explanation for volatile elements in the Earth's mantle must also be linked to an explanation of these elements in the lunar mantle. New metal-silicate partitioning data will be applied to the origin of volatile elements in both the Earth and Moon, and will evaluate theories for exogenous versus endogenous origin of volatile elements.

Description: Numerous geophysical and geochemical studies have suggested the existence of a small metallic lunar core, but the composition of that core is not known. Knowledge of the composition can have a large impact on the thermal evolution of the core, its possible early dynamo creation, and its overall size and fraction of solid and liquid. Thermal models predict that the current temperature at the core-mantle boundary of the Moon is near 1650 K. Re-evaluation of Apollo seismic data has highlighted the need for new data in a broader range of bulk core compositions in the PT range of the lunar core. Geochemical measurements have suggested a more volatile-rich Moon than previously thought. And GRAIL mission data may allow much better constraints on the physical nature of the lunar core. All of these factors have led us to determine new phase equilibria experimental studies in the Fe-Ni-S-C-Si system in the relevant PT range of the lunar core that will help constrain the composition of Moon's core.

Description: One of the important discoveries from the Stardust mission is the observation of crystalline silicate particles that resemble Ca, Al-rich inclusions (CAIs) and chondrules in carbonaceous chondrites], which suggests radial transport of high temperature solids from the inner to the outer solar nebula regions and capture by accreting cometary objects. The Al-Mg isotope analyses of CAI-like and type II chondrule-like particles revealed no excess of Mg-26 derived from in-situ decay of Al-26 (Tau)(sub 1/2) = 0.705Myr; ), suggesting late formation of these particles. However, the number of Wild 2 particles analyzed for Al-Mg isotopes is still limited (n = 3). In order to better understand the timing of the formation of Wild 2 particles and possible radial transport in the protoplanetary disk, we performed SIMS (Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer) Al-Mg isotope analyses of plagioclase in a FeO-poor ferromagnesian Wild 2 particle, which is the most abundant type among crystalline Wild 2 particles.

Description: Major occurrences of hydrous alteration minerals on Mars have been found in Noachian impact craters formed in basaltic targets and detected using visible/near infrared (VNIR) spectroscopy. Until recently phyllosilicates were detected only in craters in the southern hemisphere [1, 2]. However, it has been reported that at least nine craters in the northern plains apparently excavated thick layers of lava and sediment to expose phyllosilicates [3] as well. The MER (Mars Exploration Rovers) rovers previously reported results of in situ measurement indicating the presence of alteration minerals on Mars [4,5] and it was recently reported that the Mars Curiosity rover has detected alteration phases in situ at Yellowknife Bay in Gale crater as well [6,7]. An important discovery for Mars geochronology is that the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) x-ray diffraction (XRD) instrument on Curiosity detected phyllosilicates indicating that phyllosilicate formation on Mars extended beyond the Noachian Epoch [8]. These discoveries indicate that Mars was globally altered by water in the past but does not constrain formation conditions for alteration phase occurrences, which have important implications for the evolution of the surface and the biological potential on Mars. Understanding the alteration assemblages produced by a range of conditions is vital for the interpretation of phyllosilicate spectral signatures as well as in situ measurements and to decipher the environment and evolution of early Mars. The martian surface has been intensely altered by meteorite impacts whose effects include brecciation and melting of target materials as well as the initiation of hydrothermal circulation in a hydrous target [9,10,11,12]. Impact effects may facilitate aqueous alteration of a basaltic target because the rate of silicate dissolution is a function of the degree of crystallinity, surface area, and temperature. The resultant alteration mineralogies from shocked basaltic target material are a function of the original mineral assemblage in the parent rocks, the chemistry of fluids that interacted with the rocks, and physico-chemical conditions (pH, temperatures, and pressure) during the time of mineral formation. Understanding the alteration assemblages produced by a range of conditions is vital for the interpretation of phyllosilicate spectral signatures and to decipher the environment and evolution of early Mars, and especially for identifying habitable niches in which life could be initiated and sustained. No experimentally controlled and well characterized analog materials that simulate martian shock metamorphism and alteration conditions currently exist for calibrating either remote sensing or in situ measurements of Mars. A series of experiments was initiated to assess the effects of systematic changes in the physico-chemical conditions on Mars analog materials thereby providing samples to ground-truth Mars remote sensing observations from CRISM (Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars) and in situ measurements from Opportunity's Mssbauer and Curiosity's CHEMIN (Chemistry and Mineralogy X-Ray Diffraction/XRay Fluorescence) instruments. Results of initial experimental runs as analysed by SEM-EDS (Secondary Electron Microscopy -Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis are reported here and lay the foundation for comparison with shocked and altered samples that will be characterized in the next phase of this work.

Description: We present results on the formation of Titan aerosol analogs produced via far-UV irradiation of five aromatic precursors: benzene, naphthalene, pyridine, quinoline and isoquinoline. This is the first reported evidence of far-IR emission features observed below 200 per cm in laboratory-created Titan aerosols. These laboratory studies were motivated by recent analyses of Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) spectra that show a broad aerosol emission feature in the far-IR spectral region centered near 140 per cm, which is unique to Titan's photochemically-produced aerosol. We find that all three of the aerosol analogs formed from nitrogen-containing aromatics have similar broad emission features near that of the observed CIRS far-IR aerosol spectral feature. In addition, the inclusion of 1.5% methane to that of trace amounts of benzene also gives rise to an aerosol with a weak far-IR emission feature located below 200 per cm.

Description: The atmospheric composition and geologic structure of Venus have been identified by the US National Research Council's Decadal Survey for Planetary Science as priority targets for scientific exploration, however the high temperature and pressure at the surface, along with the highly corrosive chemistry of the Venus atmosphere, present significant obstacles to spacecraft design that have severely limited past and proposed landed missions. Following the methodology of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) proposal regime and the Collaborative Modeling and Parametric Assessment of Space Systems (COMPASS) design protocol, this paper presents a conceptual study and initial feasibility analysis for a Discovery-class Venus lander capable of an extended-duration mission at ambient temperature and pressure, incorporating emerging technologies within the field of high temperature electronics in combination with novel configurations of proven, high Technology Readiness Level (TRL) systems. Radioisotope Thermal Power (RTG) systems and silicon carbide (SiC) communications and data handling are examined in detail, and various high-temperature instruments are proposed, including a seismometer and an advanced photodiode imager. The study combines this technological analysis with proposals for a descent instrument package and a relay orbiter to demonstrate the viability of an integrated atmospheric and in-situ geologic exploratory mission that differs from previous proposals by greatly reducing the mass, power requirements, and cost, while achieving important scientific goals.

Description: No abstract available

Description: We produced a geologic map of the Av-9 Numisia quadrangle of asteroid Vesta using Dawn spacecraft data to serve as a tool to understand the geologic relations of surface features in this region. These features include the plateau Vestalia Terra, a hill named Brumalia Tholus, and an unusual "dark ribbon" material crossing the majority of the map area. Stratigraphic relations suggest that Vestalia Terra is one of the oldest features on Vesta, despite a model crater age date similar to that of much of the surface of the asteroid. Cornelia, Numisia and Drusilla craters reveal bright and dark material in their walls, and both Cornelia and Numisia have smooth and pitted terrains on their floors suggestive of the release of volatiles during or shortly after the impacts that formed these craters. Cornelia, Fabia and Teia craters have extensive bright ejecta lobes. While diogenitic material has been identified in association with the bright Teia and Fabia ejecta, hydroxyl has been detected in the dark material within Cornelia, Numisia and Drusilla. Three large pit crater chains appear in the map area, with an orientation similar to the equatorial troughs that cut the majority of Vesta. Analysis of these features has led to several interpretations of the geological history of the region. Vestalia Terra appears to be mechanically stronger than the rest of Vesta. Brumalia Tholus may be the surface representation of a dike-fed laccolith. The dark ribbon feature is proposed to represent a long-runout ejecta flow from Drusilla crater.

Description: Oppia Quadrangle Av-10 (288-360 deg E, +/- 22 deg) is a junction of key geologic features that preserve a rough history of Asteroid (4) Vesta and serves as a case study of using geologic mapping to define a relative geologic timescale. Clear filter images, stereo-derived topography, slope maps, and multispectral color-ratio images from the Framing Camera on NASA's Dawn spacecraft served as basemaps to create a geologic map and investigate the spatial and temporal relationships of the local stratigraphy. Geologic mapping reveals the oldest map unit within Av-10 is the cratered highlands terrain which possibly represents original crustal material on Vesta that was then excavated by one or more impacts to form the basin Feralia Planitia. Saturnalia Fossae and Divalia Fossae ridge and trough terrains intersect the wall of Feralia Planitia indicating that this impact basin is older than both the Veneneia and Rheasilvia impact structures, representing Pre-Veneneian crustal material. Two of the youngest geologic features in Av-10 are Lepida (approximately 45 km diameter) and Oppia (approximately 40 km diameter) impact craters that formed on the northern and southern wall of Feralia Planitia and each cross-cuts a trough terrain. The ejecta blanket of Oppia is mapped as 'dark mantle' material because it appears dark orange in the Framing Camera 'Clementine-type' colorratio image and has a diffuse, gradational contact distributed to the south across the rim of Rheasilvia. Mapping of surface material that appears light orange in color in the Framing Camera 'Clementine-type' color-ratio image as 'light mantle material' supports previous interpretations of an impact ejecta origin. Some light mantle deposits are easily traced to nearby source craters, but other deposits may represent distal ejecta deposits (emplaced greater than 5 crater radii away) in a microgravity environment.

Description: The Quadrangles Av-11 and Av-12 on Vesta are located at the northern rim of the giant Rheasilvia south polar impact basin. The primary geologic units in Av-11 and Av-12 include material from the Rheasilvia impact basin formation, smooth material and different types of impact crater structures (such as bimodal craters, dark and bright crater ray material and dark ejecta material). Av-11 and Av-12 exhibit almost the full range of mass wasting features observed on Vesta, such as slump blocks, spur-and-gully morphologies and landslides within craters. Processes of collapse, slope instability and seismically triggered events force material to slump down crater walls or scarps and produce landslides or rotational slump blocks. The spur-and-gully morphology that is known to form on Mars is also observed on Vesta; however, on Vesta this morphology formed under dry conditions.

Description: Photochemical self-shielding of CO has been proposed as a mechanism to produce solids observed in the modern, O-16 depleted solar system. This is distinct from the relatively O-16 enriched composition of the solar nebula, as demonstrated by the oxygen isotopic composition of the contemporary sun. While supporting the idea that self-shielding can produce local enhancements in O-16 depleted solids, we argue that complementary enhancements of O-16 enriched solids can also be produced via CO-16 based, Fischer-Tropsch type (FTT) catalytic processes that could produce much of the carbonaceous feedstock incorporated into accreting planetesimals. Local enhancements could explain observed O-16 enrichment in calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs), such as those from the meteorite, Isheyevo (CH/CHb), as well as in chondrules from the meteorite, Acfer 214 (CH3). CO selfshielding results in an overall increase in the O-17 and O-18 content of nebular solids only to the extent that there is a net loss of CO-16 from the solar nebula. In contrast, if CO-16 reacts in the nebula to produce organics and water then the net effect of the self-shielding process will be negligible for the average oxygen isotopic content of nebular solids and other mechanisms must be sought to produce the observed dichotomy between oxygen in the Sun and that in meteorites and the terrestrial planets. This illustrates that the formation and metamorphism of rocks and organics need to be considered in tandem rather than as isolated reaction networks.

Description: Quantitative sedimentologic analysis of gravel surfaces dominated by pebble-sized clasts has been employed in an effort to untangle aspects of the provenance of surface sediments on Mars using Curiosity's MARDI nadir-viewing camera operated at twilight Images have been systematically acquired since sol 310 providing a representative sample of gravel-covered surfaces since the rover departed the Shaler region. The MARDI Twilight imaging dataset offers approximately 1 millimeter spatial resolution (slightly out of focus) for patches beneath the rover that cover just under 1 m2 in area, under illumination that makes clast size and inter-clast spacing analysis relatively straightforward using semi- automated codes developed for use with nadir images. Twilight images are utilized for these analyses in order to reduce light scattering off dust deposited on the front MARDI lens element during the terminal stages of Curiosity's entry, descent and landing. Such scattering is worse when imaging bright, directly-illuminated surfaces; twilight imaging times yield diffusely-illuminated surfaces that improve the clarity of the resulting MARDI product. Twilight images are obtained between 10-30 minutes after local sunset, governed by the timing of the end of the no-heat window for the camera. Techniques were also utilized to examine data terrestrial locations (the Kau Desert in Hawaii and near Askja Caldera in Iceland). Methods employed include log hyperbolic size distribution (LHD) analysis and Delauney Triangulation (DT) inter-clast spacing analysis. This work extends the initial results reported in Yingst et al., that covered the initial landing zone, to the Rapid-Transit Route (RTR) towards Mount Sharp.

Description: Context: Constraining the gas and dust disk structure of transition disks, particularly in the inner dust cavity, is a crucial step toward understanding the link between them and planet formation. HD 135344B is an accreting (pre-)transition disk that displays the CO 4.7 micrometer emission extending tens of AU inside its 30 AU dust cavity. Aims: We constrain HD 135344B's disk structure from multi-instrument gas and dust observations. Methods: We used the dust radiative transfer code MCFOST and the thermochemical code ProDiMo to derive the disk structure from the simultaneous modeling of the spectral energy distribution (SED), VLT/CRIRES CO P(10) 4.75 Micrometers, Herschel/PACS [O(sub I)] 63 Micrometers, Spitzer/IRS, and JCMT CO-12 J = 32 spectra, VLTI/PIONIER H-band visibilities, and constraints from (sub-)mm continuum interferometry and near-IR imaging. Results: We found a disk model able to describe the current gas and dust observations simultaneously. This disk has the following structure. (1) To simultaneously reproduce the SED, the near-IR interferometry data, and the CO ro-vibrational emission, refractory grains (we suggest carbon) are present inside the silicate sublimation radius (0.08 is less than R less than 0.2 AU). (2) The dust cavity (R is less than 30 AU) is filled with gas, the surface density of the gas inside the cavity must increase with radius to fit the CO ro-vibrational line profile, a small gap of a few AU in the gas distribution is compatible with current data, and a large gap of tens of AU in the gas does not appear likely. (4) The gas-to-dust ratio inside the cavity is 〉100 to account for the 870 Micrometers continuum upper limit and the CO P(10) line flux. (5) The gas-to-dust ratio in the outer disk (30 is less than R less than 200 AU) is less than 10 to simultaneously describe the [O(sub I)] 63 Micrometers line flux and the CO P(10) line profile. (6) In the outer disk, most of the gas and dust mass should be located in the midplane, and a significant fraction of the dust should be in large grains. Conclusions: Simultaneous modeling of the gas and dust is required to break the model degeneracies and constrain the disk structure. An increasing gas surface density with radius in the inner cavity echoes the effect of a migrating Jovian planet in the disk structure. The low gas mass (a few Jupiter masses) throughout the HD 135344B disk supports the idea that it is an evolved disk that has already lost a large portion of its mass.

Description: The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity Rover detected both reduced and oxidized nitrogen-bearing compounds during the pyrolysis of surface materials at Yellowknife Bay in Gale Crater. Preliminary detections of nitrogen species include NO, HCN, ClCN, CH3CN, and TFMA (trifluoro-N-methyl-acetamide). Confirmation of indigenous Martian N-bearing compounds requires quantifying N contribution from the terrestrial derivatization reagents (e.g. N-methyl-N-tertbutyldimethylsilyltrifluoroacetamide, MTBSTFA and dimethylformamide, DMF) carried for SAM's wet chemistry experiment that contribute to the SAM background. Nitrogen species detected in the SAM solid sample analyses can also be produced during laboratory pyrolysis experiments where these reagents are heated in the presence of perchlorate, a compound that has also been identified by SAM in Mars solid samples.

Description: Pahoehoe lavas are recognized as an important landform on Earth, Mars and Io. Observations of such flows on Earth (e.g., Figure 1) indicate that the emplacement process is dominated by random effects. Existing models for lobate a`a lava flows that assume viscous fluid flow on an inclined plane are not appropriate for dealing with the numerous random factors present in pahoehoe emplacement. Thus, interpretation of emplacement conditions for pahoehoe lava flows on Mars requires fundamentally different models. A new model that implements a simulation approach has recently been developed that allows exploration of a variety of key influences on pahoehoe lobe emplacement (e.g., source shape, confinement, slope). One important factor that has an impact on the final topographic shape and morphology of a pahoehoe lobe is the volumetric flow rate of lava, where cooling of lava on the lobe surface influences the likelihood of subsequent breakouts.

Description: These first results demonstrate that LIBS spectra can be an interesting tool to estimate the ablated volume. When the ablated volume is bigger than 9.10(exp 6) cubic micrometers, this method has less than 10% of uncertainties. Far enough to be directly implemented in the KArLE experiment protocol. Nevertheless, depending on the samples and their mean grain size, the difficulty to have homogeneous spectra will increase with the ablated volume. Several K-Ar dating studies based on this approach will be implemented. After that, the results will be shown and discussed.

Description: No abstract available

Description: The OSIRIS-REx mission employs a methodical, phased approach to ensure success in meeting the missions science requirements. OSIRIS-REx launches in September 2016, with a backup launch period occurring one year later. Sampling occurs in 2019. The departure burn from Bennu occurs in March 2021. On September 24, 2023, the SRC lands at the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR). Stardust heritage procedures are followed to transport the SRC to Johnson Space Center, where the samples are removed and delivered to the OSIRIS-REx curation facility. After a six-month preliminary examination period the mission will produce a catalog of the returned sample, allowing the worldwide community to request samples for detailed analysis.Traveling and returning a sample from an Asteroid that has not been explored before requires unique operations consideration. The Design Reference Mission (DRM) ties together space craft, instrument and operations scenarios. The project implemented lessons learned from other small body missions: APLNEAR, JPLDAWN and ESARosetta. The key lesson learned was expected the unexpected and implement planning tools early in the lifecycle. In preparation to PDR, the project changed the asteroid arrival date, to arrive one year earlier and provided additional time margin. STK is used for Mission Design and STKScheduler for instrument coverage analysis.

Description: Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) was unique in that it was a dynamically new comet derived from the nearly isotropic Oort cloud reservoir of comets with a sun-grazing orbit. Infrared (IR) observations were executed on NASA's Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) by the FORCAST instrument on 2013 October 25 UT (r(sub h)=1.18 AU, Delta=1.5AU). Photometry was obtained in FORCAST filters centered at 11.1, 19.7, and 31.5 micron. The observations compliment a large world-wide effort to observe and characterize comet ISON.

Description: Mars Sample Return (MSR) is the highest priority science mission for the next decade as recommended by the recent Decadal Survey of Planetary Science. The objective of the study was to determine whether emerging commercial capabilities can be integrated into to such a mission. The premise of the study is that commercial capabilities can be more efficient than previously described systems, and by using fewer systems and fewer or less extensive launches, overall mission cost can be reduced. This presentation describes an EDL technique using planned upgrades to the Dragon capsule to perform a Supersonic Retropulsion Entry - Red Dragon concept. Landed Payload capability meets mission requirements for a MSR Architecture that reduces complexity.

Description: Cosmic collisions between terrestrial planets resemble somewhat the life cycle of the phoenix: worlds collide, are consumed in flame, and after the debris has cleared, shiny new worlds emerge aglow with possibilities. And glow they do, for they are molten. How brightly they glow, and for how long, is determined by their atmospheres and their moons. A reasonable initial condition on Earth after the Moon-forming impact is that it begins as a hot global magma ocean. We therefore begin our study with the mantle as a liquid ocean with a surface temperature on the order of 3000-4000 K at a time some 100-1000 years after the impact, by which point we can hope that early transients have settled down.

Description: Certain anorthositic rocks that are rare in the returned lunar samples have been identified among lunar meteorites. The variety of anorthosites in the Apollo collection also is more varied than is widely recognized. James eta. identified three lithologies in a composite clast o ferroan anorthosite (FAN)-suite rocks in lunar breccia 64435. They further divided all FANs into four subgroups: anorthositic ferroan (AF), mafic magnesian (MM), mafic ferroan (MF), and anorthositic sodic (AS, absent in the 64435 clast). Here we report Sm-Nd isotopic studies of the lithologies present in the 64435 composite clast and compare the new data to our previous data for lunar anorthosites incuding lunar anorthositic meteorites. Mineralogy-petrography, in situ trace element studies, Sr-isotope studies, and Ar-Ar chronology are included, but only the Nd-isotopic studies are currently complete.

Description: No abstract available

Description: Meteorites have amino acids and hydrated minerals which constrain the peak temperature ranges they have experienced. CMs in particular have a narrow range (273325K). Bulk fluid motion during hydration constrained to small scales (less than mm). Some asteroids are known to have hydrated minerals on their surfaces. It is presumed these two facts may be related. Problem: hydration only occurs (significantly) with liquid water; melting water only occurs early on in nebula (110 Myrs ANC); in nebula asteroid surface temperature very cold (approximately 150K). Can indigenous alteration produce CMs and/or surface hydration?

Description: Near-infrared spectroscopy of Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) connects diagnostic spectral features to specific surface mineralogies. The combination of spectroscopy with albedos and diameters derived from thermal infrared observations can increase the scientific return beyond that of the individual datasets. For instance, some taxonomic classes can be separated into distinct compositional groupings with albedo and different mineralogies with similar albedos can be distinguished with spectroscopy. To that end, we have completed a spectroscopic observing campaign to complement the ExploreNEOs Warm Spitzer program that obtained albedos and diameters of nearly 600 NEOs (Trilling et al., 2010). The spectroscopy campaign included visible and near-infrared observations of ExploreNEOs targets from various observatories. Here we present the results of observations using the low-resolution prism mode (approx. 0.7-2.5 microns) of the SpeX instrument on the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF). We also include near-infrared observations of Explore-NEOs targets from the MIT-UH-IRTF Joint Campaign for Spectral Reconnaissance. Our dataset includes near-infrared spectra of 187 ExploreNEOs targets (125 observations of 92 objects from our survey and 213 observations of 154 objects from the MIT survey). We identify a taxonomic class for each spectrum and use band parameter analysis to investigate the mineralogies for the S-, Q-, and V-complex objects. Our analysis suggests that for spectra that contain near-infrared data but lack the visible wavelength region, the Bus-DeMeo system misidentifies some S-types as Q-types. We find no correlation between spectral band parameters and ExploreNEOs albedos and diameters. We investigate the correlations of phase angle with band area ratio and near-infrared spectral slope. We find slightly negative Band Area Ratio (BAR) correlations with phase angle for Eros and Ivar, but a positive BAR correlation with phase angle for Ganymed.The results of our phase angle study are consistent with those of (Sanchez et al., 2012). We find evidence for spectral phase reddening for Eros, Ganymed, and Ivar. We identify the likely ordinary chondrite type analog for an appropriate subset of our sample. Our resulting proportions of H, L, and LL ordinary chondrites differ from those calculated for meteorite falls and in previous studies of ordinary chondrite-like NEOs.

Description: Tissint is a very fresh Martian meteorite that fell near the town of Tissint in Morocco on July 18, 2011. It contains abundant olivine megacrysts (~23%) in a fine-grained matrix of pyroxene (~55%), maskelynitized plagioclase (~15%), opaques (~4%) and melt pockets (~3%) and is petrographically similar to lithologies A and C of picritic shergottite EETA 79001 [1,2]. The presence of 2 types of shock-induced glasses and all 7 high-pressure mineral phases that were ever found in melt pockets of Martian meteorites suggests it underwent an intensive shock metamorphism of ~25 GPa and ~2000 C localized in melt pockets [2]. Mineral textures suggest that olivines, pyroxenes and plagioclases probably did not experience such hightemperature. Earlier determinations of its age yielded 596+/-23 Ma [3] and 616+/-67 Ma [4], respectively, for the Sm-Nd system and 583+/-86 Ma for the Lu-Hf system [4], in agreement with the 575+/-18 Ma age of the oldest olivine-phyric depleted shergottite Dho 019 [5]. However, the exposure ages of Tissint (~1 Ma [1, 6, 7]) and Dho 019 (~20 Ma [8]) are very different requiring two separate ejection events. These previously determined Sm-Nd and Lu-Hf ages are older than the Ar-Ar maskelynite plateau age of 524+/-15 Ma [9], reversing the pattern usually observed for Martian meteorites. In order to clarify these age issues and place models for Tissint's petrogenesis on a firm basis, we present new Rb-Sr and Sm- Nd isotopic results for Tissint, and discuss (a) the shock effects on them and the Ar-Ar chronometer, (b) correlation of the determined ages with those of other depleted shergottites, and (c) the petrogenesis of depleted shergottites. Since the meteorite is a recent fall, terrestrial contamination is expected to be minimal, but, the strong shock metamorphism might be expected to compromise the equilibrium of the isotopic systems.

Description: Some meteorites contain significant amounts of glass, which, in most cases, probably results from impact processes on parent bodies.. Yamato 82202 is an example of one of the unequilibrated eucrites that contains significant proportions of impact glass distributed as veins throughout the meteorite. In other cases, fragments of glass are distributed throughout polymict breccias. For example, the polymict eucrite EET 87509 contains rare angular fragments of devitrified glass. Proportions of glass in most of these meteorites and in lithic clasts within these meteorites may vary locally from small amounts (less than one percent) to much larger amounts (subequal proportions of glass and mineral material). For example, some fragments within the South African polymict eucrite Macibini contain approximately 50% glass. The presence of these variable proportions of meteorite glass confirm the increased recognition that impact processes played an important role in the histories of asteroidal bodies. This study attempts to quantify the effects of a glass component on reflectance spectra by analyzing in the laboratory mixtures of varying proportions of a well-characterized HED polymict breccia and glass derived by melting a bulk sample of that breccia.

Description: Space weathering alters the spectral properties of airless body surface materials by redden-ing and darkening their spectra and attenuating characteristic absorption bands, making it challenging to characterize them remotely [1,2]. It also causes a discrepency between laboratory analysis of meteorites and remotely sensed spectra from asteroids, making it difficult to associate meteorites with their parent bodies. The mechanisms driving space weathering include mi-crometeorite impacts and the interaction of surface materials with solar energetic ions, particularly the solar wind. These processes continuously alter the microchemical and structural characteristics of exposed grains on airless bodies. The change of these properties is caused predominantly by the vapor deposition of reduced Fe and FeS nanoparticles (npFe(sup 0) and npFeS respectively) onto the rims of surface grains [3]. Sample-based analysis of space weathering has tra-ditionally been limited to lunar soils and select asteroidal and lunar regolith breccias [3-5]. With the return of samples from the Hayabusa mission to asteroid Itoka-wa [6], for the first time we are able to compare space-weathering features on returned surface soils from a known asteroidal body. Analysis of these samples will contribute to a more comprehensive model for how space weathering varies across the inner solar system. Here we report detailed microchemical and microstructal analysis of surface grains from Itokawa.

Description: Recent sample return missions, such as NASA's Stardust mission to comet 81P/Wild 2 and JAXA's Hayabusa mission to asteroid 25143 Itokawa, have returned particulate samples (typically ~5-50 m) that pose tremendous challenges to coordinated analysis using a variety of nano- and micro-beam techniques. The ability to glean maximal information from individual particles has become increasingly important and depends critically on how the samples are prepared for analysis. This also holds true for other extraterrestrial materials, including interplanetary dust particles, micrometeorites and lunar regolith grains. Traditionally, particulate samples have been prepared using microtomy techniques (e.g., [1]). However, for hard mineral particles 20 m, microtome thin sections are compromised by severe chatter and sample loss. For these difficult samples, we have developed a hybrid technique that combines traditional ultramicrotomy with focused ion beam (FIB) techniques, allowing for the in situ investigation of grain surfaces and interiors. Using this method, we have increased the number of FIB-SEM prepared sections that can be recovered from a particle with dimensions on the order of tens of ms. These sections can be subsequently analyzed using a variety of electron beam techniques. Here, we demonstrate this sample preparation technique on individual lunar regolith grains in order to study their space-weathered surfaces. We plan to extend these efforts to analyses of individual Hayabusa samples.

Description: The recently described martian meteorite NWA 7034 has high water content compared to other SNC meteorites. Deuterium to hydrogen isotope ratio measurements indicates that there are two distinct delta-D components in NWA 7034, a low temperature (150-500degC) light component around -100per mille and a high temperature (300-1000degC) heavy component around +300per mille. NWA 7034 contains iron-rich phases that are likely secondary aqueous alteration products. They are commonly found as spheroidal objects of various sizes that are often rich in Fe-Ti oxides and possibly iron hydroxides. Iron oxides and oxyhydroxides are very common in weathered rocks and soils on Earth and Mars and they are important components of terrestrial and Martian dust. In NWA 7034 iron-rich phases are found throughout the fine-grained basaltic groundmass of the meteorite. The total amount of martian H2O in NWA 7034 is reported to be 6000 ppm, and in this study we attempt to determine the phase distribution of this H2O by texturally describing and characterizing hydrous phases in NWA 7034, using Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

Description: The martian basaltic breccia NWA 7034 is characterized by fine-grained groundmass containing several different types of mineral grains and lithologic clasts. The matrix composition closely resembles Martian crustal rock and soil composition measured by recent rover and orbiter missions. The first results of NWA 7034 suggest that the brecciation of this martian meteorite may have formed due to eruptive volcanic processes; however, impact related brecciation processes have been proposed for paired meteorites NWA 7533 and NWA 7475]. Due to the very fine grain size of matrix, its textural details are difficult to resolve by optical and microprobe observations. In order to examine the potential nature of brecciation, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies combined with focused ion-beam technique (FIB) has been undertaken. Here we present the preliminary observations of fine-grained groundmass of NWA 7034 from different matrix areas by describing its textural and mineralogical variations and micro-structural characteristics.

Description: Nondimensional scaling relationships are used to understand various cratering processes including final crater sizes and the excavation of material from a growing crater. The principal assumption behind these scaling relationships is that these processes depend on a combination of the projectile's characteristics, namely its diameter, density, and impact speed. This simplifies the impact event into a single pointsource. So long as the process of interest is beyond a few projectile radii from the impact point, the pointsource assumption holds. These assumptions can be tested through laboratory experiments in which the initial conditions of the impact are controlled and resulting processes measured directly. In this contribution, we continue our exploration of the congruence between cratersize scaling and ejectionspeed scaling relationships. In particular, we examine a series of experimental suites in which the projectile diameter and average grain size of the target are varied.

Description: The main-belt asteroid 4 Vesta is the putative parent body of the howardite, eucrite, and diogenite (HED) meteorites. Because these achondrites have similar petrology, geochemistry, chronology, and O-isotope compositions, it is thought that most HEDs originated from a single parent body. The connection to Vesta is supported by a close spectroscopic match between Vesta and the HEDs and a credible mechanism for their delivery to Earth. Studies of the HEDs show that Vesta underwent igneous differentiation, forming a Fe-rich core, ultramafic mantle, and basaltic crust. Here we present the results of peak analyses applied to a gamma ray difference spectrum to determine the absolute abundances of K and Th. Data are compared to meteorite whole-rock compositions and other inner solar system bodies. The results, while preliminary, represent our present best estimates for these elements. Because the element signatures are near detection limits and not fully resolved, further analysis (e.g. using spectral unmixing) will be required for improved accuracy and to characterize systematic errors.

Description: Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has been investigating the geology of Meridiani Planum since January 2004, and is currently approx. 3830% into its primary mission. Opportunity reached the rim of 22 km diameter Endeavor crater at Spirit Point on the south end of Cape York on sol 2681 and began exploring the geology of Endeavour rim. She left Cape York on sol 3316 and arrived at the next rim remnant to the south, Solander Point, on sol 3387 to begin geological investigations at the contact and up onto Murray Ridge. The Burns fm. of Meridiani Planum lies near the top of the plains-forming unit of western Sinus Meridiani and onlaps onto the Endeavour rim rocks (hereafter rim rocks). Endeavour crater would have excavated approx. 4 km into the existing stratigraphy. Thus, the ejecta that form the rim rocks offer windows into the deeper lithologies of Sinus Meridiani. Here we discuss the polymict breccias of the Shoemaker fm. on Cape York and the breccias from Murray Ridge, with a focus on compositions determined by the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS).