An autonomous lunar geophysical experiment package (ALGEP) for future space missions In response to Call for White Papers for the Voyage 2050 long-term plan in the ESA Science Program

Taichi Kawamura (1) , Matthias Grott (2) , Raphael Garcia (3) , Mark Wieczorek (4) , Sébastien de Raucourt (1) , Philippe Lognonné (1) , Felix Bernauer (5) , Doris Breuer (2) , John Clinton (6) , Pierre Delage (7) , Mélanie Drilleau (3) , Luigi Ferraioli (6) , Nobuaki Fuji (1) , Anna Horleston (8) , Günther Kletetschka (9, 10) , Martin Knapmeyer (2) , Brigitte Knapmeyer-Endrun (11) , Sebastiano Padovan (2) , Ana-Catalina Plesa (2) , Attilio Rivoldini (12) , Johan Robertsson (6) , Sebastien Rodriguez (1) , Simon C Stähler (6) , Eleonore Stutzmann (1) , Nicholas A Teanby (8) , Nicola Tosi (2) , Christos Vrettos (13) , Bruce Banerdt (14) , Wenzhe Fa (15) , Qian Huang (16) , Jessica Irving (17) , Yoshiaki Ishihara (18) , Katarina Miljković (19) , Anna Mittelholz (20) , Seiichi Nagihara (21) , Clive Neal (22) , Shaobo Qu (23) , Nicholas Schmerr (24) , Takeshi Tsuji (25)

1 IPGP (UMR_7154) - Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris
2 DLR - German Aerospace Center
3 ISAE-SUPAERO - Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace
4 Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur
5 LMU - Ludwig Maximilian University [Munich] = Ludwig Maximilians Universität München
6 ETH Zürich - Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology [Zürich]
7 ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech
8 University of Bristol [Bristol]
9 UK - Univerzita Karlova [Praha, Česká republika] = Charles University [Prague, Czech Republic]
10 UAF - University of Alaska [Fairbanks]
11 University of Cologne
12 ROB - Royal Observatory of Belgium = Observatoire Royal de Belgique
13 TU Kaiserslautern - Technical University of Kaiserslautern
14 JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
15 Peking University [Beijing]
16 China University of Geosciences [Beijing]
17 Princeton University
18 JAXA - Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency [Tokyo]
19 Curtin University
20 Harvard University
21 TTU - Texas Tech University [Lubbock]
22 UND - University of Notre Dame [Indiana]
23 HUST - Huazhong University of Science and Technology [Wuhan]
24 University of Maryland [Baltimore]
25 Kyushu University

Geophysical observations will provide key information about the inner structure of the planets and satellites and understanding the internal structure is a strong constraint on the bulk composition and thermal evolution of these bodies. Thus, geophysical observations are a key to uncovering the origin and evolution of the Moon. In this article, we propose the development of an autonomous lunar geophysical experiment package, composed of a suite of instruments and a central station with standardized interface, which can be installed on various future lunar missions. By fixing the interface between instruments and the central station, it would be possible to easily configure an appropriate experiment package for different missions. We describe here a series of geophysical instruments that may be included as part of the geophysical package: a seismometer, a magnetometer, a heat flow probe, and a laser reflector. These instruments will provide mechanical, thermal, and geodetic parameters of the Moon that are strongly related to the internal structure. We discuss the functionality required for future geophysical observations of the Moon, including the development of the central station that will be used commonly by different payloads.

Mots clés: Moon; Geophysics; Lunar exploration

Domaines: Géophysique [physics.geo-ph]; Instrumentation et méthodes pour l'astrophysique [astro-ph.IM]

Taichi Kawamura, Matthias Grott, Raphael Garcia, Mark Wieczorek, Sébastien de Raucourt, et al.. An autonomous lunar geophysical experiment package (ALGEP) for future space missions In response to Call for White Papers for the Voyage 2050 long-term plan in the ESA Science Program. Experimental Astronomy, 2022, 54 (2-3), pp.617-640. ⟨10.1007/s10686-022-09857-6⟩. ⟨hal-04525966⟩