ISOCHRON (spacecraft)
| Names | Inner SOlar system CHRONogy |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Lunar sample-return |
| Operator | NASA |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 2025 (proposed)[1] |
| Moonlander | |
| Landing site | South ofAristarchus plateau[1][2] |
| Sample mass | 150 g (5.3 oz)[1] |
ISOCHRON(Inner SOlar system CHRONogy) is a proposed lunarsample-return missionthat would retrieve samples of the youngestlunar marebasalt.
This robotic mission was proposed in July 2019 toNASA'sDiscovery Program.[1][2]It was not shortlisted.
Overview[edit]
ISOCHRON would address fundamental questions about the composition of the lunar crust and the time-stratigraphy of lunar volcanic processes, with implications for all of the terrestrial planets.[2]There is a stretch of nearly 2 billion years of lunar history that planetary scientists have not been able to date because theApollo missionsdid not retrieve any young rocks.[1]Lunar mare basalts formed through partial melting of themantle,thus serve as probes of thestructure and composition of the interior.[2]The stated scientific objective of the mission is: "[To] make high-precisionradiometric age measurementson these relatively young basalts to fill the existing gap in age-correlated crater size-frequency distributions (CSFDs), thereby greatly improving this widely-used tool for estimating the ages of exposed surfaces on rocky bodies. "[2]
The proposed ISOCHRON mission concept would have a robotic lander land just south ofAristarchus plateauand retrieve about 150 g (5.3 oz) of abasaltsample estimated to be 1.5 to 2.0 billion years old.[2]The sample would be placed in a small container, launched to Earth, and it would be curated at NASA'sLunar Sample Laboratory Facility.
ThePrincipal Investigatoris Dave Draper, at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Texas.[1]
Location[edit]
The sample would be obtained from the Aristarchus plateau, located in the midst of theOceanus Procellarum,a large expanse of lunarmare.This is a tilted crustal block, about 200 km across, that rises to a maximum elevation of 2 km above the mare in the southeastern section.[3]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^abcdefMeghan Bartels (March 25, 2019)NASA Needs Fresh Moon Rocks. This Sample-Return Mission Could Get Them.Space.
- ^abcdefD. S. Draper, R. L. Klima, S. J. Lawrenc1, B. W. Denevi, and the ISOCHRON Team (2019)."The Inner Solar System Chronology (ISOCHRON) Discovery Mission: Returning Samples of the Youngest Lunar Mare Basalts"(PDF).50th Annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference(2132). 50th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference: 1110.Bibcode:2019LPI....50.1110D.
{{cite journal}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Poster - ^"Aristarchus Region: Multispectral Mosaic of the Aristarchus Crater and Plateau".Lunar and Planetary Institute.Retrieved2006-08-08.
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
 | This article about one or more spacecraft of the United States is astub.You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |