NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Solar Wind Access to Lunar Polar Craters: Feedback Between Surface Charging and Plasma ExpansionDetermining the plasma environment within permanently shadowed lunar craters is critical to understanding local processes such as surface charging, electrostatic dust transport, volatile sequestration, and space weathering. In order to investigate the nature of this plasma environment, the first two-dimensional kinetic simulations of solar wind expansion into a lunar crater with a self-consistent plasma-surface interaction have been undertaken. The present results reveal how the plasma expansion into a crater couples with the electrically-charged lunar surface to produce a quasi-steady wake structure. In particular, there is a negative feedback between surface charging and ambipolar wake potential that allows an equilibrium to be achieved, with secondary electron emission strongly moderating the process. A range of secondary electron yields is explored, and two distinct limits are highlighted in which either surface charging or ambipoiar expansion is responsible for determining the overall wake structure.
Document ID
20120002322
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Zimmerman, M. I.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Farrell, W. M.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Stubbs, T. J.
(Maryland Univ. Baltimore County Baltimore, MD, United States)
Halekas, J. S.
(California Univ. Berkeley, CA, United States)
Jackson, T. L.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
October 5, 2011
Publication Information
Publication: Geophysical Research Letters
Volume: 38
Issue: L19202
ISSN: 0094-8276
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Report/Patent Number
GSFC.JA.5536.2011
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX08AN76G
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX09AG78A
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available