Wim van Westrenen

Toxicity of lunar dust

The formation, composition and physical properties of lunar dust are incompletely characterised with regard to human health. While the physical and chemical determinants of dust toxicity for materials such as asbestos, quartz, volcanic ashes and urban particulate matter have been the focus of substantial research efforts, lunar dust properties, and therefore lunar dust toxicity may differ substantially. In this contribution, past and ongoing work on dust toxicity is reviewed, and major knowledge gaps that prevent an accurate assessment of lunar dust toxicity are identified. Finally, a range of studies using ground-based, low-gravity, and in situ measurements is recommended to address the identified knowledge gaps. Because none of the curated lunar samples exist in a pristine state that preserves the surface reactive chemical aspects thought to be present on the lunar surface, studies using this material carry with them considerable uncertainty in terms of fidelity. As a consequence, in situ data on lunar dust properties will be required to provide ground truth for ground-based studies quantifying the toxicity of dust exposure and the associated health risks during future manned lunar missions.

Carbon as the dominant light element in the lunar core

Abstract Geophysical and geochemical observations point to the presence of a light element in the lunar core, but the exact abundance and type of light element are poorly constrained. Accurate constraints on lunar core composition are vital for models of lunar core dynamo onset and demise, core formation conditions (e.g., depth of the lunar magma ocean or LMO) and therefore formation conditions, as well as the volatile inventory of the Moon. A wide range of previous studies considered S as the dominant light element in the lunar core. Here, we present new constraints on the composition of the lunar core, using mass-balance calculations, combined with previously published models that predict the metal–silicate partitioning behavior of C, S, Ni, and recently proposed new bulk silicate Moon (BSM) abundances of S and C. We also use the bulk Moon abundance of C and S to assess the extent of their devolatilization. We observe that the Ni content of the lunar core becomes unrealistically high if shallow (<3 GPa) LMO scenarios are assumed, and therefore only deeper (>3 GPa) LMO scenarios are considered for S and C. The moderately siderophile metal–silicate partitioning behavior of S during lunar core formation, combined with the low BSM abundance of S, yields only <0.16 wt% S in the core, virtually independent of the pressure (P) and temperature (T) conditions during core formation. Instead, our analysis suggests that C is the dominant light element in the lunar core. The siderophile behavior of C during lunar core formation results in a core C content of ~0.6–4.8 wt%, with the exact amount depending on the core formation conditions. A C-rich lunar core could explain (1) the existence of a present-day molten outer core, (2) the estimated density of the lunar outer core, and (3) the existence of an early lunar core dynamo driven by compositional buoyancy due to core crystallization. Finally, our calculations suggest the C content of the bulk Moon is close to its estimated abundance in the bulk silicate Earth (BSE), suggesting more limited volatile loss during the Moon-forming event than previously thought.

Moon4You: a combined Raman/LIBS instrument for lunar exploration

Moon4You is a project led by the Dutch Organisation for Applied Scientific Research TNO, with partners from industry and universities in the Netherlands that aims to provide a combined Raman / LIBS instrument as scientific payload for lunar exploration missions. It is the first time that Raman spectroscopy and LIBS (Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy) are combined into one miniaturised instrument with minimum mass, volume and use of resources and can deliver data-products almost instantly. These characteristics make it the next-generation instrument for mineralogical and elemental (atomic) characterisation of lunar soil and rock samples, as well as for a host of other planetary exploration and terrestrial applications.

Solvation of Ti(IV) in aqueous solution under ambient and supercritical conditions

We examine the structure of the hydrated Ti(IV) complex under both ambient and supercritical conditions using first-principles molecular dynamics. We find that an unanticipated fivefold coordination of Ti(IV) is favoured under ambient conditions, with rapid interconversions between square pyramidal and trigonal bipyramidal structures. At supercritical conditions the Ti coordination increases from five to six, adopting both octahedral and trigonal prismatic geometries. At 1000 K, the magnitude of the increase in the Ti to oxygen coordination number with increasing water density is similar to that of Li-O under comparable conditions. We present a detailed picture of the bonding in the hydrated Ti(IV) complex under both ambient and supercritical conditions.