"For more than 50 years, scientists have used magnetotellurics on Earth for a wide variety of purposes, including to find oil, water, geothermal and mineral resources as well as to understand geologic processes such as the growth of continents," said Dr. Robert Grimm, principal investigator of LMS and a program director in SwRI's Solar System Science and Exploration Division. "Today, four sensors were deployed more than 60 feet away from the Blue Ghost lander at 90-degree angles - across an area about half the size of a football field - to characterize the lunar subsurface."
Magnetotelluric techniques rely on natural electric and magnetic field fluctuations to determine the conductivity of subsurface materials, offering insight into their composition and structure. The LMS instrument will investigate the lunar interior to depths of approximately 700 miles, nearly two-thirds of the Moon's radius. These findings will help researchers understand the Moon's material composition and its thermal history, key factors in unraveling the evolution of solid planetary bodies.
LMS was delivered to the Moon through NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative as part of a 14-day lander mission to explore an uncharted lunar region. Its deployment site, Mare Crisium, is a 340-mile-wide impact basin that was later filled with volcanic material, forming one of the dark patches visible from Earth.
"Mare Crisium stands apart from the large, connected areas of dark lava to the west where most of the Apollo missions landed," Grimm said. "These vast, linked lava plains are now thought to be compositionally and structurally anomalous with respect to the rest of the Moon. From this separate vantage point, LMS may provide the first geophysical measurements representative of most of the Moon."
The LMS payload was delivered under CLPS funding, with SwRI responsible for the instrument's design, electronics, and scientific analysis. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, provided the magnetometer to measure lunar magnetic fields, while Heliospace Corp. contributed the magnetometer mast and four electrodes for measuring electric fields.
Through CLPS, NASA is fostering commercial lunar delivery services to support industry growth and long-term lunar exploration. As a key CLPS customer, NASA is among multiple clients utilizing these missions. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, oversees the development of seven of the 10 CLPS payloads aboard Firefly's Blue Ghost lander.
Related Links
Southwest Research Institute
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
Lunar Dreams and more
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