The LMS instrument will examine the electrical conductivity of the interior of the Moon. The Southwest Research Institute recently delivered the Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder (LMS) to Firefly Aerospace located in Cedar Park, Texas, for incorporation into the Blue Ghost lunar lander. The vehicle is
SwRI developed and delivered the LMS instrument for the Mare Crisium lander to determine the electrical conductivity of the interior of the Moon by measuring low-frequency electric and magnetic fields. LMS includes a magnetometer on an extendable mast, a central electronics box and four spring-launched electrodes. Credit: Southwest Research Instituterecently delivered the Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder to Firefly Aerospace located in Cedar Park, Texas, for incorporation into thelunar lander.
“For more than 50 years, scientists have used magnetotelluric techniques, which use natural characteristics of the Earth’s electromagnetic fields to determine the electrical resistivity of the subsurface for research and resource exploration,” said SwRI’s Bob Grimm, principal investigator of the instrument. “LMS will be the first extraterrestrial application of magnetotellurics.”
SwRI’s LMS instrument will be the first extraterrestrial application of magnetotellurics from aboard a lunar lander to Mare Crisium, an ancient, 350-mile-diameter impact basin that subsequently filled with lava. The basin is one of many large dark spots on the Moon’s surface visible to the naked eye. They were dubbed lunar maria, Latin for “seas,” by early astronomers who mistook them for actual seas.
These vast, linked lava plains are now thought to be compositionally and structurally anomalous to the rest of the Moon. From its vantage point at Mare Crisium, LMS may provide the first geophysical measurements representative of the overall Moon. Electromagnetic fields penetrate to greater depths with decreasing frequency, allowing LMS to probe the interior of the Moon to depths up to 700 miles or two-thirds of the lunar radius. The electrical conductivity depends on the temperature and composition of the materials traveling through the field. The measurements will shed light on the differentiation and thermal history of our Moon, a cornerstone to understanding the evolution of solid worlds.
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