Speaker
Description
The Lunar Surface, while exposed to different plasma and radiation regimes along its orbit around Earth, is also encountering time varying conditions when transitioning from quiet solar activity to solar storms, leading to CMEs crossing, EUV and X-rays fluxes changes or perturbed magnetospheric conditions. In addition, lunar surface topography and illumination changes lead to a variety of interactions between the surface and the local plasma, whereby local slopes, regolith coverage and shadowing effects strongly determine surface and volume potential gradients, as well as near surface electrons, ions, dust densities and temperatures.
In the current context of designing and implementing missions to the Moon, ESA requires to specify lunar surface conditions and their variabilities to both constrain design choices regarding environmental risk and allow for smooth operations of surface assets, vehicles and exploration systems, such as landers, rovers, astronauts and eventually lunar habitats.
In this context, the current study presents an assessment of different terrain models, when subject to varying illumination and plasma environments, including the occurrence of Space Weather events. Potential maps as well as plasma and dust populations densities and temperatures, and their variability range, will be presented for the sites of interest. In addition, implication for performing lunar science measurements
locally will be discussed.
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