Can Spacecraft‐Borne Contamination Compromise Our Understanding of Lunar Ice Chemistry?
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Recent detections of water ice in the permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) at the lunar poles have reignited scientific and commercial interest in the exploration of Earth's closest neighbor. The frigid temperatures in PSRs operate as cold traps for volatiles and may represent large reservoirs of materials, including water ice and prebiotic organic molecules, delivered to the Earth‐Moon system through meteorite or cometary impacts over billions of years (Crawford, 2006, https://doi.org/10.1017/s1473550406002990 ). Nonetheless, scientific investigations of lunar poles rely on the absence of extraneous volatiles introduced during lunar missions, which may hide pristine evidence of such materials. In the present work, we develop a numerical model for the transport of spacecraft exhaust volatiles on the Moon. Using ESA's Argonaut missions as a case study, featuring a descent at the lunar South Pole, we apply this model to assess the potential impact of organic contamination from lunar landers on scientific research of lunar ice chemistry by tracing the migration of methane molecules to the PSRs. Our simulation results suggest that approximately half of the released molecules end up trapped in PSRs at the South or North poles within 7 lunar days, with their distribution dictated by interactions with the lunar surface. Moreover, cross‐contamination between poles proves significant, as approximately of molecules become trapped in the north polar region, despite only a limited fraction of these falling within the latitude limit of defined for Category IIb in COSPAR Planetary Protection Policy.
DOI: 10.1029/2025je009132
Authors: Francisca S. Paiva, Silvio Sinibaldi
Institutions: KU Leuven, The Open University, European Space Agency
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,070
Funders: Open University, European Space Agency
OpenAlex ID: W4416187609