Critical Insights in Geochemistry and Geophysics

Role of Geochemistry and Geophysics in Lunar Exploration and Habitation Planning

The United States and other space-faring nations have developed advanced programs to establish a long-term human presence on the Moon for science and exploration.

Research in geochemistry and geophysics will increasingly play a central role defining and solving key issues for this endeavor. Examples are identification and characterization of lunar resources including the regolith and its possible ice cargo, needed for building and sustaining a lunar infrastructure; definition and assessment of natural hazards for lunar explorers and inhabitants such as rockfalls, moonquakes, cosmic radiation and micrometeorites; and assessments of lunar base candidate site locations. Analytical instrumentation, data analysis tools and modelling algorithms developed and applied by geochemists and geophysicists will be essential for these lunar studies.

The goal of this thematic issue is to highlight some of the contributions and their significance that geochemists and geophysicists are making through instrument suites being deployed on the Moon; and advances in data analysis and modelling relevant to lunar studies that build on the growing capabilities of artificial intelligence and approaches based on visualizations or simulations