I. History of Lunar Exploration and the Planetary Perspective:

-What missions have gone to the Moon, why, and what types of things have we learned?
-How does the Moon serve to provide a perspective on the nature and evolution of the planets?

II. Geology of the Moon:

-Impact cratering processes and crater chronology:

-Impact cratering features and processes:

-Formation of major impact basins:

-Lunar chronology from samples and crater size frequency distributions.

-The lunar cataclysm (?).

-Morphology of volcanic landforms and implications for ascent and eruption.

-Chronology and flux of lunar volcanic deposits.

-Lunar pyroclastic eruptions and the sample paradox:

-Petrogenetic evolution of lunar volcanic deposits:

-Morphology of lunar tectonic features:

-Chronology of lunar tectonic features:

-Implications for thermal evolution:

III. The Nature and History of the Moon from the Lunar Sample Record:

-Crustal rocks and the formation and evolution of the crust and mantle.
-Impact cratering breccia and melt-rock products.
-Lunar volcanic and plutonic rocks.
-Soil and regolith formation.

IV. The Nature and History of the Moon from the Remote Sensing Record:

-Reflectance spectroscopy and mineralogy:
-Major and radioactive element distribution:
-Distribution of volatile species and the question of lunar polar ices.

V. Geophysics of the Moon:

-Lunar topography.
-Internal structure: Regolith to core.
-The lunar gravity field.
-The lunar magnetic field.
-Lunar heat flow.
-Mechanisms and history of heat loss.
-'Type locality' for a one-plate planet.

VI. The Geological and Thermal Evoution of the Moon:

-The stratigraphic record and the geological evolution of the Moon:
-The thermal evolution of the Moon:
-The geological and geodynamical evolution of the Moon: Current models:

VII. The Origin of the Moon:

-Fission, capture, collision.

VIII. Synthesis:

-Lunar evolution as a planetary paradigm: What are the lessons?:
-Major Outstanding Questions in the Formation and Evolution of the Moon: The Top Ten:

B. Special Sessions: Depending on class interest, we may have several informal discussion sessions on various aspects of lunar history and exploration. Some candidates include:

-The Apollo Exploraton of the Moon: Jack Schmitt, John Young and/or Dave Scott.
-Future Lunar Exploration Plans: Automated and Human: Jim Head and Carle Pieters.
-The proposed Lunar South Pole-Aitken Basin Mission: Carle Pieters.
-Apollo Site Selection, Astronaut Training and Mission Operations: Jim Head.
-The Soviet Lunar Human Exploration Program: Sergei Khrushchev.
-Soviet Lunakhod Surface Exploration and Operations: Sasha Basilevsky.

C. Resources: There is no textbook for this course. Much of the reading will be from the literature, although there are a large number of books the contain syntheses of lunar work. Among these are:

G. Heiken, D. Vaniman and B. French, The Lunar Sourcebook, Cambridge University Presw, Cambridge, 736 p., 1991.
P. Spudis, The Once and Future Moon, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, 308 p., 1996.
S. Ross Taylor, Lunar Science: A Post-Apollo View, Pergamon, New York, 372 p., 1975.
D. Wilhelms, The Geologic History of the Moon, USGS Professional Paper 1348, 1987.
S. Ross Taylor, Planetary Science: A Lunar Perspective, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, 481 p., 1982.

Furthermore, there is a project underway called New Views of the Moon which is designed to produce a book and synthesis data set which will update our knowledge of the Moon, much like The Lunar Sourcebook did in the early 1990's. We are active in the preparation of this book and there have been several conferences on these topics. Conference abstract volumes are available, as are drafts of some of the chapters which we will sometimes use for reference. There are a number of synthesis papers and special sections of journals that have been produced in conjunction with this project.

There is a host of geological maps of the Moon at different scales compiled both as part of a systemmatic lunar mapping program and for landing site certification and preparation. Furthermore, there is a significant collection of topographic maps at various scales compiled using various techniques. Some of the best are derived from stereo photogrammetry of data below the Apollo 15-17 groundtrakcks. This is an exceptional and underutilized data set. Keys (location maps) for both these data sets are on the USGS Web site and hard copies of these maps are available in the Data Center and the research collection.

Our laboratories, the NASA Regional Data Center, the web, all host a treasure of scientific and historical data on the Moon. Please feel free to utilize any or all of these sources.

Papers and books relevant to the course and course assignments will be placed in the small library off LF 105.

The class web site can be reached through our Planetary Geosciences Home Page under 'Teaching'.