NEPOS: Measurement Methods Under Moon-Like Conditions
Does the Moon contain water ice and cave-like structures that could be used as valuable resources for future lunar missions? A research team from LMU Munich and the DLR Institute of Communication and Navigation is addressing these questions as part of the NEPOS (Near-Surface Seismic Exploration of Planetary Bodies with Adaptive Networks) project. The goal of the project is to detect lava caves and water ice beneath the Moon’s surface in the future.
The project team conducted its first seismic tests in LUNA. There, the team tested seismic measurement methods and adaptive sensor networks to detect, for example, lava caves and water ice on the Moon in the future. The tests were then continued in the lava caves of Lanzarote.
Depending on the type of rock, seismic waves travel at different speeds. Seismic measurement methods analyze these differences to map the subsurface. In this way, it is possible, for example, to identify cavities or materials with characteristic physical or chemical properties beneath the Earth’s surface. In passive measurement methods, seismic data is collected using sensors that record natural, pre-existing vibrations in the subsurface.
NEPOS is supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and will run through 2027.