• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.113-120
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• 2015

When humans explore the Moon, lunar caves will be an ideal base to provide a shelter from the hazards of radiation, meteorite impact, and extreme diurnal temperature differences. In order to ascertain the existence of caves on the Moon, it is best to visit the Moon in person. The Google Lunar X Prize(GLXP) competition started recently to attempt lunar exploration missions. Ones of those groups competing, plan to land on a pit of Lacus Mortis and determine the existence of a cave inside this pit. In this pit, there is a ramp from the entrance down to the inside of the pit, which enables a rover to approach the inner region of the pit. In this study, under the assumption of the existence of a cave in this pit, a 3D model was developed based on the optical image data. Since this model simulates the actual terrain, the rendering of the model agrees well with the image data. Furthermore, the 3D printing of this model will enable more rigorous investigations and also could be used to publicize lunar exploration missions with ease.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.131-139
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• 2016

Detailed knowledge on maskelynite, a glassy phase of plagioclase found in shocked meteorites and impact craters, is essential to understand a shock metamorphism. Here, we explore an inhomogeneous shock metamorphism in the lunar meteorite Mount DeWitt (DEW) 12007 with an aim to understand the formation mechanism of maskelynite. Most plagioclase grains in the DEW 12007 partially amorphized into maskelynite with a unidirectional orientation. Back-scattered electron (BSE) images of maskelynite show a remnant of planar deformation fracture possibly indicating that the maskelynite would be formed by solid-state transformation(i.e., diaplectic glass). Plagioclase with flow texture is also observed along the rim of maskelynite, which would be a result of recrystallization of melted plagioclase. Results of Raman experiments suggest that shock pressure for plagioclase and maskelynite in the DEW 12007 is approximately 5-32 GPa and 26-45 GPa, respectively. The difference in shock pressures between plagioclase and maskelynite can be originated from 1) external factors such as inhomogeneous shock pressure and/or 2) internal factors such as chemical composition and porosity of rock. Unfortunately, Raman spectroscopy has a limitation in revealing the detailed atomic structure of maskelynite such as development of six- or five-coordinated aluminum atom upon various shock pressure. Further studies using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy are necessary to understand the formation mechanism of maskelynite under high pressure.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.138.2-138.2
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• 2012

Cave on the Moon is considered as the most appropriate place for human to live during the frontier lunar exploration. While the lava flows, the outer crust gets cooled and solidified. Then, the empty space is remained inside after lava flow stops. Such empty space is called the lava caves. Those lava tubes on the Earth are formed mostly by volcanic activity. However, the lava tubes on satellite like Moon and planet like Mars without volcanic activity are mostly formed by the lava flow inside of the crater made by large meteorite impact. Some part of lava tube with collapsed ceiling appears as the entrance of the cave. Such area looks like a deep crater so called a pit crater. Four large pit craters with diameter of > 60 m and depth of > 40 m are found without difficulty from Kaguya and LRO mission image archives. However, those are too deep to use as easily accessible human frontier base. Therefore, now we are going to identify some smaller lunar caves with accessible entrances using LRO camera images of 0.5 m/pixel resolution. Earth's lava caves and their entrances are well photographed by surface and aerial camera in immense volume. Thus, if the image data are sorted and archived well, those images can be used in comparison with the less distinct lunar cave and entrance images due to its smaller size. Then, we can identify the regions on the Moon where there exist caves with accessible entrances. The database will be also useful in modeling geomorphology for lunar and Martian caves for future artificial intelligence investigation of the caves in any size.