NEPOS / News
Dominik Strutz and Kai Löhr both presented work at the Committee on Space Research Scientific Assembly in Florence, Italy. Dominik focused on the theoretical underlyings of our multi-agent sequential optimal experimental design methodology for the detection of lunar ice. Kai showed impressions and early results from the lunar analog campaign on Lanzarote that we performed earlier this year.
Dmitriy Shutin presents the latest results of the NEPOS project at the Interplanetary Probe Workshop in Washington, D.C.. The presentation was on "Optimal Design of Adaptive Seismic Networks for Lunar Seismic Exploration" and showed the project's progress on methods that define seismic measurement positions that are both very good at finding lunar subsurface water ice as well as adhering to multi-agent system constrains.
Our team conducted seismic measurements above the La Corona lava tube on Lanzarote, deploying 14 seismic sensors at more than 350 locations. The goal was to investigate whether passive seismic methods can detect the large subsurface lava tube. Similar structures are assumed to exist on the Moon and the La Corona Lava Tube serves as a fitting lunar analog. Thank you to our friends from the Royal Observatory of Belgium for lending us the seismic sensors!
Together with colleagues from the Royal Observatory of Belgium, our team spent one week at the LUNA analog facility testing passive, active, and six-degree-of-freedom seismic methods in lunar regolith simulant. A key objective of future lunar missions is the exploration and potential use of water ice. The LUNA facility provides an ideal training ground for developing and evaluating seismic methods that could help locate this important resource on the Moon.
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Sabrina Keil presented the latest results of the NEPOS project at the European Lunar Symposium in Münster, Germany. The presentation was titled "Seismic Interferometry for Detecting Ice-Bearing Rocks on the Moon". The conference paper is available for download at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15474906. The conference focused on current lunar science and exploration, bringing together researchers from diverse disciplines and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration across a wide range of topics. One of the highlights of the conference was a public talk by German ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer, in which he shared his experiences as an astronaut and discussed the future of human space exploration.
Kai Löhr presented the latest results of the NEPOS project at the 56th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in The Woodlands, Texas. His poster was titled "Lunar Subsurface Exploration by Multi-Agent Systems Using Seismic Ambient Noise Interferometry".
Mid-October 2024, the NEPOS project team, along with other PhD students and staff from LMU's Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, visited The Exploration Company near Munich. We were eager to learn more about their work on reusable European space capsules and their plans for future lunar missions. During our visit, we had the opportunity to see their second subscale demonstrator "Mission Possible", which is being prepared for its 2025 launch. Seeing a real-world space capsule up close and learning about the engineering behind it was a fascinating experience. Overall, it was truly inspiring to witness the advancements in space transportation, especially as these efforts are essential for enabling more experiments on the Moon.
From June 12th to June 20th, members of our NEPOS Team had the exciting opportunity to attend the PETRAS 2024 (Planetology, Exploration Terrestrial analogs, Robotics, Astrobiology, Spectroscopy) summer school on Vulcano, one of the Aeolian Islands in Italy. This summer school promoted a multidisciplinary approach, involving volcanologists, geophysicists, astrobiologists, electronic/mechanical engineers and computer scientists to combine the different skills available in the planetary sciences community.
During the summer school, our team conducted passive seismic experiments utilizing broadband seismometers and a rotational motion sensor. We established two small seismic arrays and a larger network, collecting valuable data for subsequent analysis. Our approach includes seismic interferometry, array-derived rotational ground motion analysis, single-station six-component analysis, traditional array methods (FK, SPAC), and H/V spectral ratios.
The primary objective of this research is to map the shallow velocity structure around the La Fossa fumarole field, located at the volcano's crater, in order to identifying possible velocity variations caused by fumarole-induced alteration. This analog test site provides us with crucial experience in applying various passive seismic methods to detect velocity changes in scattering media - techniques we also plan to utilize in future lunar experiments.
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The first seismic experiment as part of the NEPOS project was conducted near Munich, Germany. The goal was to map a tunnel using a combination of passive and active seismic measurements. Geophones, broadband seismometers, and rotational motion sensors were strategically deployed to gather data. As part of the active source, hammer strokes were employed to generate seismic waves, while the nearby highway served as the primary passive source. The data will be analyzed using a variety of methods, including refraction seismics, H/V ratios, interferometry, and 6C inversion. The experiment will help gain valuable experience in mapping underground structures while testing imaging methods for cavity detection on the Moon.
Kai Löhr and Sabrina Keil presented the newest results of the NEPOS project at the EGU General Assembly 2024 in Vienna, Austria. Kai gave a presentation with the title "Probabilistic Approach toward Seismic Exploration with Autonomous Robotic Swarms" and Sabrina presented a poster with the title "The NEPOS Project: Near-Surface Seismic Exploration of Planetary Bodies with Adaptive Networks".
Sabrina Keil presented the newly funded NEPOS project at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting 2023 in San Francisco, USA. The poster presentation led to numerous fruitful discussions, which will contribute to advancing the project's results. The poster can be downloaded under "Publications".
