Model for Determining the Origin of Lunar Volatiles Based on Their Composition: Application to NASA’s VIPER and Other Landed Missions

Abstract Lunar volatiles provide a potentially pristine record of the history of the Earth–Moon system in terms of both geologic activity and delivery of volatiles from the outer solar system. Efforts to return humans to the Moon present an unprecedented opportunity to determine the origin of volatiles stored in the ice stability regions but also pose a threat to the scientific value of these volatiles and the lunar exosphere because of the irreversible modification that human exploration will have on the polar volatile ecosystem. We outline here a model for using lunar volatile composition measurements to determine constraints on the origin of lunar volatiles. When applied to results returned by future missions, the results can help trace the history of lunar volcanic activity, solar wind surface chemistry, and volatile delivery to the Earth and Moon through impacts of comets, asteroids, and micrometeoroids. Comprehensive measurements of lunar volatile composition, like those that could be collected by NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover mission, are urgently needed before anthropogenic activity permanently compromises the scientific value of lunar volatiles.