#PastelSketches of #ReinerGamma, one of several #LunarSwirls, magnetic anomalies that look like bright highland regions but they don't cast shadows. Left is under a lower Sun angle, right fully illuminated. Sketched from my own photos. The #LunarVertex mission will investigate them later this year #PastelDrawing #AstronomySketching #MoonSketch #LunarSketch #MoonDrawing

#ReinerGamma is one of several #LunarSwirls believed to be associated with magnetic anomalies. The #LunarVertex mission is going to investigate them later this year. Photos taken 26th Feb 2024 with a 70mm refractor + 3x or 5 x Barlow, #ASI120MC camera #Moon

Earlier this month, I staffed an overnight shift in Johns Hopkins APL’s Space Simulation Laboratory, where the rover for NASA’s Lunar Vertex investigation has been undergoing a campaign of environmental tests. These assessments ensure the rover will properly function while in the harsh environment of space, both on the way to the Moon and on the lunar surface.

The rover was in one of the thermal-vacuum chambers, seen here: the white tank on the hydraulic lift inside the plastic enclosure. The chamber was at a "cold plateau" that night with no specific tests being run, so my job was simple: Just monitor a few temperature and voltage read-outs!

The team from @LunarOutpost (who provided the rover vehicle) working together with our @JHUAPL engineers have been doing a fantastic job verifying operation of the rover's computers, power/battery system, radios, and the science instruments that it carries. I’m very proud to be working with them. #JHUAPL #LunarVertex #LunarOutpost #Artemis

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Assoc. Administrator Nicky Fox, and U.S. Senator (Md.) Ben Cardin visited APL on June 9 to see spacecraft test facilities. The Lunar Vertex rover had just completed vibration testing. Click the link, then scroll down and find a pic of me (in black fleece jacket) talking to the visitors about the science of Lunar Vertex.
https://www.jhuapl.edu/news/news-releases/230609-nasa-bill-nelson-ben-cardin-visit-apl

#APL #NASA #LunarVertex #Dragonfly

I am currently participating with the #InSight mission that is making seismic measurements on the surface of Mars, #BepiColombo that will arrive at Mercury in 2015, #LunarVertex that will make magnetic field measurements on the surface of the Moon, #Psyche that will arrive at an iron-rich asteroid in 2029, and #JUICE that will arrive at the Jupiter system in 2031. Previously, I worked with the #GRAIL mission that made a high-resolution gravity map of the Moon.

Members of our team are also involved in several ongoing and upcoming missions, such as #BepiColombo that is on its way to #Mercury, #JUICE that will launch soon for Jupiter, #Psyche that will visit a metal-rich asteroid, and #LunarVertex that will investigate the strongest magnetic anomalies on the surface of the Moon. Our research involves a mix of planetary geophysics, thermal evolution modeling, and remote sensing of the terrestrial planets, #asteroids, and moons.