Planetary Crusts

Catalog description

What are planetary crusts? How do they form? What mineralogic, petrologic, and structural characteristics are shared among the terrestrial planets, moons and asteroids and what are unique to a single body? We will examine the characteristics of crusts of the terrestrial planets, the Moon, Vesta, Ceres and several satellites of the giant planets. We will explore questions such as when and how do planets and moons develop primary crusts? How have they been characterized (samples, remote sensing, geophysics and in-situ)? What are the major processes that affect planetary crusts and their formation,? We will consider data from spacecraft missions like MESSENGER to Mercury, orbiter and lander for data from Mars, and the Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres, as well as a host of other missions to bodies across the solar system.