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Kerri L. Donaldson Hanna

Publications and source records attributed to Kerri L. Donaldson Hanna.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2026

Lunar-VISE landing site selection and characterization at Mons Gruithuisen Gamma

The Lunar Vulkan Imaging and Spectroscopy Explorer (Lunar-VISE) was selected for a Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) delivery to the Gruithuisen domes region of the Moon as part of NASA’s Payloads and Research Investigation on the Surface of the Moon (PRISM) program. The Gruithuisen domes are chemically and morphologically distinct from their surroundings with a thorium-rich, silicic composition. The Lunar-VISE instrument payload is designed to investigate the compositional and thermophysical properties of dome materials in order to understand how late-stage silicic volcanism occurred on the Moon. Selection of a landing site required balancing science and exploration goals with the safety requirements for landing and rover trafficability. Science required access to boulders, potential exposures of bedrock, and if possible, rover access to the dome edge to enable observations of the surrounding maria. Safety considerations included landing hazards, maintenance of line-of-sight communications between the lander and rover, and any early morning or late afternoon shadows that would limit the mission duration. After consideration of several candidate landing sites, a 100-meter diameter landing ellipse centered on 36.45715° N, 319.20398° E, was selected near the edge of a topographic step and blocky ejecta crater (recently named Mareta) near the summit of Mons Gruithuisen Gamma. This location enables access to a field of boulders excavated by a relatively fresh impact providing a diversity of boulders for investigations, as well as views to the surrounding mare and Mons Gruithuisen Delta dome off of the dome edge via only a short rover traverse outside the landing ellipse (traverse < 100 m) while meeting safety requirements in accord with the CLPS risk posture.

Planetary Science Journal↗
USGS2026

Morphometric properties of the CP-21 landing site on the Moon at Mons Gruithuisen Gamma

Characterizing terrain surface properties is an essential step in assessing the feasibility of landing successfully at a location on a planetary surface. Slopes and terrain ruggedness index (TRI) values derived from high-resolution (2 m pixel −1 ) digital terrain models provided important constraints in selecting the landing site for the upcoming Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon program as part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services task order CP-21 mission. The selected landing site needed to balance safety requirements with the ability to achieve the science and exploration goals of the Lunar Vulkan Imaging and Spectroscopy Explorer payload. In this study, we compare several morphometric parameters in the context of the CP-21 landing site on Mons Gruithuisen Gamma, or the Gamma dome, and quantify the information they convey about lunar surface properties to assess their utility for future landing site evaluation. TRI was found to be a useful metric for assessing landing site safety. Metrics that better decouple slope and surface roughness, the vector ruggedness measure and the standard deviation of slope, provided additional information about surface characteristics and textures such as the degree to which roughness is isotropic.

Planetary Science Journal↗
USGS2026

Lunar analog study using portable gamma-ray neutron detector: Radiochemical mapping of silicic-to-basaltic volcanic terrains in the San Francisco Volcanic Field, Arizona

Studying lunar silicic volcanism provides key insights into the Moon’s crustal evolution, magmatic processes, and volcanic history. The Lunar-VISE (Lunar Vulkan Imaging and Spectroscopy Explorer) mission will investigate the Gruithuisen domes, a unique lunar region hypothesized to have formed through silicic volcanism. Using instruments on a Firefly Aerospace lander and a Honeybee Robotics rover, Lunar-VISE will analyze mineralogy, geochemistry, and surface properties to determine the origin and evolution of the domes, with a gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer (LV-GRNS) among its payload instruments. In preparation for this mission, we conducted preliminary fieldwork using a handheld gamma-ray neutron detector with NaI(Tl) and Cs LiYCl :Ce (CLYC) scintillators. This study focuses on various rhyolitic and basaltic volcanic centers in the San Francisco Volcanic Field (SFVF) near Flagstaff, Arizona—specifically Sugarloaf Peak, Bonito Lava Flow, and Robinson Mountain, a region containing several well-characterized lunar analog sites. The SFVF was selected for this study due to its broad compositional diversity spanning basaltic to rhyolitic compositions, its well-preserved volcanic morphologies, and its extensive use in previous NASA field campaigns and astronaut training exercises, making it an ideal terrestrial laboratory for testing planetary exploration techniques. We measured natural radioactivity, specifically from potassium (K), thorium (Th), and uranium (U) and other elements in their decay chains, which serve as diagnostic tracers of magmatic differentiation and crustal evolution processes, to assess geochemical variability across compositionally diverse terrains. The detector’s sensitivity was assessed across varying concentration levels. Regionally averaged concentrations of radioisotopes were determined by gamma-ray spectroscopy at selected sites. Our measurements reveal significant compositional variations between sites, with Sugarloaf Peak (rhyolitic, silicic dome) exhibiting the highest average radioisotope concentrations (K: 3.29 ± 0.24 wt%, U: 14.35 ± 1.81 ppm, Th: 27.14 ± 2.43 ppm), while Bonito Lava Flow (K: 1.13 ± 0.08 wt%, U: 3.86 ± 0.52 ppm, Th: 7.52 ± 1.02 ppm), and Robinson Mountain (K: 1.46 ± 0.16 wt%, U: 5.59 ± 1.06 ppm, Th: 11.75 ± 1.98 ppm) show lower concentrations aligned with basaltic compositions. Gamma-ray fluxes were elevated by a factor of approximately three to four at Sugarloaf Peak relative to nearby basaltic terrains, consistent with expected geochemical differentiation patterns. Furthermore, at meter scales, proximity to geological features significantly affects measurements. Th concentrations adjacent to a cliff face at Sugarloaf’s base were 28% higher than values measured 3-5 meters away from the same feature, demonstrating localized compositional heterogeneity. Analysis of station-by-station measurements reveals that K, U, and Th concentrations show an elevation trend at Robinson Mountain and generally higher concentrations near Sugarloaf Peak’s summit, suggesting progressive magmatic differentiation and/or the presence of more evolved lithologies at higher elevations. By mapping these elements on Earth using GRNS, we aim to optimize measurement techniques for Lunar-VISE and similar rover-borne missions by demonstrating the applicability of portable GRNS instruments for planetary surface exploration in an analog environment.

Arizona↗
USGS2021

A Next Generation Lunar Orbiter mission

The Moon is the scientific foundation for our knowledge of the early evolution and impact history of the terrestrial planets. Over the last decades the lunar science community has made significant progress in addressing key lunar science and exploration goals, while defining many new high-priority scientific questions regarding the formation and evolution of the Moon. On a broad scale, the last Planetary Decadal Survey defined three scientific objectives to guide studies of the inner planets and Moon. These objectives address the origins and diversity of terrestrial planets, the evolution of life on terrestrial planets, and climate processes on Earth-like planets [1]. Many of these objectives carry forward into exploration goals of a renewed lunar human exploration program, and urgently addressing these objectives will enable the rapid development of exploration plans. A large (Flagship or New Frontiers class) Next Generation Lunar Orbiter (NGLO) mission would address the last Planetary Decadal Survey objective of understanding the origin and diversity of terrestrial planets by studying the geochemistry and geology of the Moon at an unparalleled resolution compared to other lunar mission datasets. Also, NGLO would address the objective of studying the evolution of life on terrestrial planets by furthering knowledge about the composition and distribution of volatile elements on the lunar surface and better characterizing the past and present-day impact rates in the inner Solar System in order to better understand the original delivery of water to Earth. Key exploration goals, including identifying the nature and distribution of lunar volatiles (i.e., water, ice), mapping and characterizing potentially valuable lunar resources, and establishing a human presence on the Moon, also would be addressed by NGLO.

Bulletin of the AAS↗