Author(s): W. M. Farrell
Co-Author(s): Mihaly Horanyi
Panel Selection: Inner Planets: Mercury, Venus, and the Moon.
Institution: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center /University of Colorado
The Moon is an extreme type of atmosphere – a surface bounded exosphere – and may represent the final ‘ground state’ of any geologically dormant body. Neutral gas and dust are emitted from its surface via universal processes believed to be occurring at all near-airless bodies.