ProjectPETRA
Revealing the magnetic secrets of Mars and the Moon
Deciphering the magnetic record of planetary rocks using spacecraft and laboratory measurements (PETRA)
"By studying the magnetic record of 3.7 billion year old lunar rocks collected and brought to Earth during the Apollo 17 mission, we provided further evidence to the hypothesis that the Moon once had a strong global magnetic field like that of the Earth nowadays." - Dr. Foteini Verveilidou
Project impact
Understanding how planets were formed and evolve is a complex task. One of the biggest clues lies in a planet’s magnetic field. A planet’s magnetic field helps to reveal its structure, composition, and core temperature, all key clues to its geological history. The PETRA project used spacecraft and laboratory measurements to examine this planetary history. The methodologies developed by the lead researcher, Dr. Foteini Vervelidou, can maximise the scientific benefits of space missions (e.g., the mission to planet Mercury, BepiColombo, and the program to send humans back to the Moon, Artemis). Another key aspect of the project was to build European expertise in measuring magnetic properties of materials at small scales, known as magnetic microscopy. As part of the project, Foteini studied Moon rock samples collected from the Apollo 17 mission. Her studies showed that the Moon’s magnetic field dropped over time, possibly reaching zero around 1.7 billion years ago. Foteini also developed a protocol to determine if a sample had been remagnetised, after discovering that a Martian meteorite with 4.4 billion-year-old crystals had been exposed to strong hand magnets, which destroyed its magnetic history.
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Coordinator
France
Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris
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Participating and partners countries
- USA
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- USA