The leader center for space environments is a modeling-lab-data center of excellence that will answer the overarching question: how does the highly variable energy and matter in the inner…

The University of New Hampshire (a division of the University System of New Hampshire) received a cooperative agreement from NASA's Shared Services Center on November 22, 2018, with a ceiling value of $824,798 and an ultimate completion date of March 31, 2026. This award funds the LEADER Center for Space Environments, a modeling-lab-data center of excellence designed to investigate how highly variable energy and matter in the inner heliosphere affect volatile stability, plasma interactions, dust migration, and surface microstructure at the Moon. The research addresses critical environmental hazards for lunar colonization including radiation, surface charging, lunar dust, solar wind, and meteoroids, while also examining the inverse relationship—how human presence and activity contaminate and disturb the lunar environment.

The center's research is organized around four interconnected scientific themes: space environment-volatile interactions, plasma-surface-object interactions, dust electrostatics and chemistry, and radiation transport in materials. The study examines the lunar environment in two distinct regions—inside and outside Earth's magnetosphere—to account for variations across the lunar month. The research incorporates robust laboratory components to study the effects of various environmental drivers on lunar surface processes and human equipment performance. This cooperative agreement represents a competitive award with no set-aside designation and reflects NASA's investment in fundamental space environmental science to support sustained human lunar exploration and resource utilization.

The leader center for space environments is a modeling-lab-data center of excellence that will answer the overarching question: how does the highly variable energy and matter in the inner heliosphere affect volatile stability, plasma interactions, dust migration, and surface micro-structure at the moon, and how does the dynamic environment change with human presence?" as humankind begins to colonize the moon and utilize resources found there, we will need to be aware of the environmental challenges, both for the health of the astronauts but also for the long-term viability of their equipment. Hazards include radiation, surface charging, lunar dust, solar wind and meteoroids. However, in addition, the inverse process is an important unknown: the nature and extent of human contamination and disturbance of the lunar environment. In the leader integrated team study, we propose to take our previous research one step beyond our past accomplishments to determine not only the response of the moon to interplanetary conditions, but to study the response of the lunar environment to human activity. Conversely, we will study in-depth the effect of the lunar environment on humans and their equipment. Given that there are many unknowns, we have broken up our tasks into four broad inter-connected themes: (1) space environment-volatile interactions, (2) plasma-surface-object interactions, (3) dust electrostatics, cohesion, tribo-electricity, and chemistry, and (4) radiation transport in material. These themes in fact overlap in many areas. For example, plasmas sputter volatile material into the exosphere. The lunar environment includes the solar wind, plasma, radiation and dust. Given that these drivers vary over the course of a lunar month, in particular as the moon traverses the earth s magnetosphere, two regions will be targeted: the moon inside and outside of the earth's magnetosphere, respectively. We plan a robust laboratory component to our study. The effect of radiation on lunar simulants and lunar samples will be undertaken to determine space weathering effects including how water can be produced by proton bombardment. The cohesive and electrical properties of lunar dust will be studied with application to spacesuit materials and instruments that will be placed on the moon. To perform this integration across themes and across the team, leader will hold a set of focused studies called leader extreme environment projects' (leep) that will examine the environment in an integrated way. The first leep study will focus on the effects of a broad range of landed missions on the fragile lunar environment. We will study the effect of human activity on the exosphere and the plasma environment, and the effect of increased dust on human systems. The radiation team will determine the radiation environment limitations on the length of time astronauts can remain on the lunar surface and at the lunar gateway, and the amount of shielding required for human habitation under different solar wind, solar energetic particle, and solar cycle conditions. The second leep study will examine the effect of the earth s geomagnetic tail on the volatile and plasma environment, exospheric loss, and the radiation environment at the surface. These leep studies are designed to purposely integrate the team on a common subject with the similar conditions. Leader has over 25 published environmental models in its tool chest for use in the human-environment interaction studies. In these studies, we will continue to integrate interns from hbcus in the area around gsfc and continue our strong support of sservi-central s effort to integrate across all teams. Leader will directly address a number of heomd strategic knowledge gaps, including those addressing volatile prospecting and isru, the reactivity of lunar dust, plasma charging and grounding, radiation shielding and radiation effect on humans.