Introduction: The early history of the Moon, namely the first ~700 My following its formation, was an era marked by the formation of 43 basins (impact craters >300 km in diameter) [1,2,3]. Basin formation during this period had significant effects on the entire lunar crust; material from depth was excavated and redistributed across the entire surface [4]. The material redistributed by basins ca...

In this paper, we consider the spatial lunar three-body problem in which one body is far-away from the other two. By applying a well-adapted version of KAM theorem to Lidov-Ziglin’s global study of the quadrupolar approximation of the spatial lunar three-body problem, we establish the existence of several families of quasi-periodic orbits in the spatial lunar three-body problem.

Lunar Prospector gamma-ray spectrometer spectra along with counting rate maps of thorium, potassium, and iron delineate large compositional variations over the lunar surface. Thorium and potassium are highly concentrated in and around the nearside western maria and less so in the South Pole-Aitken basin. Counting rate maps of iron gamma-rays show a surface iron distribution that is in general a...

This paper presented a method for navigation of lunar rover. This method used the real lunar data to model the virtual terrain. In addition, its path is planned using a knowledge based genetic algorithm accounting for uncertainty of modeling and sensor data. This method overcomes the invalid problem of past methods in complicated rough terrain to plan path. Simulation results show the feasibili...

Based on a study of high-energy epithermal (HEE) neutrons in data from the Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND) on NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), the background from HEE neutrons is larger than initially estimated. Claims by Mitrofanov et al. (Reports, 22 October 2010, p. 483) of enhanced hydrogen abundance in sunlit portions of the lunar south pole and quantitative hydrogen co...

A recent article by Chaput and colleagues (1) provides evidence that if a relationship exists between lunar cycle and sleep duration and physical activity in children, its association is rather weak and less-than-meaningful. Using an international sample of 9-to 11-year olds (n = 5812), monitored by accelerometers, Chaput and his team found no relationship between lunar cycle and physical activ...

The Moon, like the Earth, is made of rocks. To learn about the Moon and its history, one has to learn something about lunar rocks—what they are made of, how they are studied and classified, and how our experiences in interpreting rocks on the Earth have been applied to rocks on the Moon. The lunar samples have provided our only direct information about the Moon’s minerals, chemical composition,...

Monumenti, Musei e Gallerie Pontificie. This illustrates the state of planetary observation at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Most of the succeeding advances in this field have occurred in the past decade. Preface The technical triumph of manned landings on the Moon and the return of samples from the lunar surface has provided scientists with a unique opportunity to advance our unders...

Introduction: It has been known that the moon currently has no internally generated magnetic field. However, the palaeomagnetic data of the Apollo return samples [1] showed a rapid increase in intensity around 3.9-3.6 Ga to a value of ~100 μT [2,3]. Many speculations have been reported linking these data to the lunar dynamo theory [2,4,5]. [5] proposed that transient increase in core heat flux,...

We present a high-resolution lunar gravity field model (LGM2011) that provides gravity accelerations, free-air gravity anomalies, selenoid undulations and vertical deflections over the entire Moon’s surface. LGM2011 is based on the Japanese SELENE mission that provides the lowand medium-frequency constituents of the gravity field, down to spatial scales of ~78 km. At spatial scales between ~78 ...