Stratigraphy and Isotope Ages of Lunar Geologic Units: Chronological Standard for the Inner Solar System

The absolute ages of cratered surfaces in the inner solar system, including Mars, are derived by extrapolation from the impact flux curve for the Moon which has been calibrated on the basis of absolute ages of lunar samples. We reevaluate the lunar flux curve using isotope ages of lunar samples and the latest views on the lunar stratigraphy and the principles of relative and absolute age dating of geologic surface units of the Moon. The geological setting of the Apollo and Luna landing areas are described as far as they are relevant for this reevaluation. We derive the following best estimates for the ages of the multi-ring basins and their related ejecta blankets and present alternative ages for the basin events (in parentheses): 3.92 ± 0.03 Gyr (or 3.85 ± 0.05 Gyr) for Nectaris, 3.89 ± 0.02 Gyr (or 3.84 ± 0.04 Gyr) for Crisium, 3.89 ± 0.01 Gyr (or 3.87 ± 0.03 Gyr) for Serenitatis, and 3.85 ± 0.02 Gyr (or 3.77 ± 0.02 Gyr) for Imbrium. Our best estimates for the ages of the mare landing areas are: 3.80 ± 0.02 Gyr for Apollo 11 (old surface), 3.75 ± 0.01 Gyr for Apollo 17, 3.58 ± 0.01 Gyr for Apollo 11 (young surface), 3.41 ± 0.04 Gyr for Luna 16, 3.30 ± 0.02 Gyr for Apollo 15, 3.22 ± 0.02 Gyr for Luna 24, and 3.15 ± 0.04 Gyr for Apollo 12. The ages of Eratosthenian and Copernican craters remain: ～ 2.1 (?) Gyr (Autolycus), 800 ± 15 Myr (Copernicus), 109 ± 4 Myr (Tycho), 50.3 ± 0.8 (North Ray crater, Apollo 16), and 25.1 ± 1.2 (Cone crater, Apollo 14). When plotted against the crater densities of the relevant lunar surface units, these data result in a revised lunar impact flux curve which differs from the previously used flux curve in the following respects: (1) The ages of the stratigraphically most critical impact basins are notably younger, (2) the uncertainty of the calibration curve is decreased, especially in the age range from about 4.0 to 3.0 Gyr, (3) any curve for ages older than 3.95 Gyr (upper age limit of the Nectaris ejecta blanket) is abandoned because crater frequencies measured on such surface formations cannot be correlated with absolute ages obtained on lunar samples. Therefore, the impact flux curve for this pre-Nectarian time remains unknown. The new calibration curve for lunar crater retention ages less than about 3.9 Gyr provides an updated standard reference for the inner solar system bodies including Mars.     

Concepts for the curation,primary examination,and allocation of comet nucleus samples by a comet sample receiving laboratory

The Comet Nucleus Sample Return Mission ROSETTA, a cornerstone mission of ESA jointly planned with NASA, requires the implementation of a highly sophisticated curatorial facility for the returned samples. A concept for the instrumentation and the mode of operation of a Comet Sample Receiving Laboratory (CSRL) is proposed. The main elements of the facility are: (1) cryogenic evacuated cabinets with robotic manipulators, (2) devices for sample dissection, aliquotisation, phase separation, and thin section preparation, and (3) instrumentation for non-destructive chemical and physical analyses and facilities for destructive mineralogical, textural, and (micro)chemical analyses. It is recommended that a very detailed Primary Sample Examination and Analysis be performed on a small representative fraction of the samples at the P-T-conditions of the parent comet nucleus before sample aliquots are released to Principal Investigators. The CSRL should be staffed with top rank personnel and supervised by an international peer review panel which may also be responsible for the selection of investigators and the allocation of samples.     

Primordial matter in the outer solar system: A study of its chemical composition from remote spectroscopic analysis

Our knowledge of the primordial matter from the objects of the outer solar system has made a considerable progress over the past years, in spite of the lack of any in situ measurements of these objects at the present time. The recent progress of ground-based instrumentation and the launch of the two Voyager fly-by missions have provided a huge amount of new informations about the origin and the evolution of the primitive Solar System objects.The most significant discoveries concerning the atmospheres of the Giant Planets can be summarized as follows: (1) there does not seem to be any differentiation in the internal structure of Jupiter during the planet's history; thus, the H₂/He ratio measured on Jupiter seems to be representative of the H/He ratio of the Primordial Nebula; (2) there is some evidence for a helium differentiation, relative to hydrogen, in Saturn's interior; (3) there seems to be a carbon enrichment on both Jupiter and Saturn by a factor about 2; this result is consistent with a model in which the planetary core is formed first, and the atmosphere accreted by this core in a second stage; (4) the D/H ratio measured on Jupiter should be representative of the D/H value in the Primordial Nebula, 4.5 billion years ago; this value is 2 to 5 times larger than the mean value measured in the local interstellar medium now; (5) Titan's atmosphere is dominated by nitrogen and contains traces of organic and prebiotic molecules (HCN, C₂N₂, HC₃N); the chemical composition of Titan's atmosphere could be favorable for the early stages of life development.The small bodies of the Solar System — asteroïds and comets — are still very poorly known. However they contain a key information about the physical and chemical properties of dust in the Primordial Nebula and the interstellar medium. With the launch of expected fly-by missions towards Comet Halley and, possibly, towards asteroïds, we may hope to know a new development of our understanding of these objects, comparable to the progress we have known on the Giant Planets over the past ten years.     

On the origin of the grooves on Phobos

L-grooves are the consequence of layered structure of Phobos, which are made up of parallel layers of different composition or hardness.     

Dual spacecraft observations of energetic particles in the vicinity of the magnetopause,bow shock,and the interplanetary medium

This article presents some of the new and important particle features that have been detected in the energy range 1 keV to 290 keV by the ISEE-1 and -2 spacecraft near the magnetopause, bow shock, and the interplanetary space. Only examples of data from the first few orbits, when the spacecraft were on the front side, are shown.Paper presented at 13th ESLAB Symposium, Innsbruck, Austria (June 5, 1978).     

THE DIGITAL WAVE-PROCESSING EXPERIMENT ON CLUSTER

The wide variety of geophysical plasmas that will be investigated by the Cluster mission contain waves with a frequency range from DC to over 100 kHz with both magnetic and electric components. The characteristic duration of these waves extends from a few milliseconds to minutes and a dynamic range of over 90 dB is desired. All of these factors make it essential that the on-board control system for the Wave-Experiment Consortium (WEC) instruments be flexible so as to make effective use of the limited spacecraft resources of power and telemetry-information bandwidth. The Digital Wave Processing Experiment, (DWP), will be flown on Cluster satellites as a component of the WEC. DWP will coordinate WEC measurements as well as perform particle correlations in order to permit the direct study of wave/particle interactions. The DWP instrument employs a novel architecture based on the use of transputers with parallel processing and re-allocatable tasks to provide a high-reliability system. Members of the DWP team are also providing sophisticated electrical ground support equipment, for use during development and testing by the WEC. This is described further in Pedersen et al. (this issue).     

L'avion,plateforme d'observations scientifiques

Transition between high altitude manned observatories and unmanned balloon-borne or rocket-borne experiments is achieved with high flying aircrafts, at altitudes above tropopause (>12 km), which became readily available, at reasonable cost and reliability, in the past five or ten years.This paper reviews the development of scientific uses of aircrafts, especially for astronomy and geophysics, with some emphasis placed on infrared problems, closely related to the scale height of the chief infrared absorber, i.e. telluric water vapor.Absorbers distribution vs altitude and spectral characteristics are summarized (Figures 1, 2, 3).Capabilities of various available aircrafts are compared (Table I) and the various ways to consider modifications are discussed: structural modifications or design problems to fit telescopes or light collectors on board. Tables II and III list the advantages of airborne observations, compared to other spatial carriers, and also the specific problems connected with aircrafts. Adopted solutions to these problems are exposed (Figures 4, 5, 6, 7) and costs are briefly discussed.Finally, a few examples of scientific results, gathered in the few past years from aircraft, are given, both in astronomy and in geophysics.     

Cometary Dust

This review presents our understanding of cometary dust at the end of 2017. For decades, insight about the dust ejected by nuclei of comets had stemmed from remote observations from Earth or Earth’s orbit, and from flybys, including the samples of dust returned to Earth for laboratory studies by the Stardust return capsule. The long-duration Rosetta mission has recently provided a huge and unique amount of data, obtained using numerous instruments, including innovative dust instruments, over a wide range of distances from the Sun and from the nucleus. The diverse approaches available to study dust in comets, together with the related theoretical and experimental studies, provide evidence of the composition and physical properties of dust particles, e.g., the presence of a large fraction of carbon in macromolecules, and of aggregates on a wide range of scales. The results have opened vivid discussions on the variety of dust-release processes and on the diversity of dust properties in comets, as well as on the formation of cometary dust, and on its presence in the near-Earth interplanetary medium. These discussions stress the significance of future explorations as a way to decipher the formation and evolution of our Solar System.