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As ambitious surface exploration of the Moon commences in the 2020s, it is important to develop reliable and objective metrics for understanding the quality of future landing sites. A key prerequisite for any exploration and utilization of the lunar surface is a safe landing. One of the most important methods to provide understanding of potential metrics for landing site safety in the lunar context is the systematic comparison of candidate and historic landing sites. The goal of this project is to determine the morphometric parameters of the lunar surface at 16 successful lunar landing sites where adequate data exists to execute a quantitative comparison using various parameters. Quantitative analysis of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) data should inform mission planning activities by providing morphologic metrics for landing sites including slope, Terrain Ruggedness Index (TRI), and rock abundance. These comparisons will assist mission planners and exploration scientists by providing “calibration points” for using Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) data to successfully plan and execute lunar powered descents in the future. The metrics included in this analysis describe the form of the terrain and can be calculated for any potential future landing site. Another objective of this project is to determine how the derived morphologic parameters for the same landing site change between common pixel scales. In ideal lighting conditions, 2m/px Narrow Angle Camera Digital Terrain Models (NAC DTMs) can be assembled using stereoscopic imagery from two or more concentric orbits of the LRO. However, due to low light conditions near the lunar poles, the highest quality data for many potential lunar landing sites comes from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA). Therefore, we seek to assess how the derived slope and TRI values change as a function of changes in the DTM postings from 2m/px to 5m/px.

This work is a first step in constraining olivine alteration rates on Mars. By bounding dissolution rates of olivine, we can make inferences about the temporal extent of aqueous alteration on the surface. Several hypothesized low-temperature surface aqueous alteration processes include valley network formation from release of groundwater during impact or gully formation from snow melt, both of which may occur over a period of several thousand years. Outflow channels may have formed during brief floods lasting less than a year. If large bodies of water were present during a warm, wet period, large standing bodies of water may have been present for 104 to 109 years. High-temperature alteration processes include hydrothermal activity associated with impacts and magmatic features. These features may remain active for 104 to 106 years. Table 2 summarizes speculated duration times of these aqueous processes. For comparison, we have determined minimum olivine residence times (time until complete dissolution) for 1 mm diameter particles to range from much less than one year to approximately 5,000 years.