LISTEN FLASH · Lunar Impact’s Seismic and Telescopes European Network for Flash

Terrestrial Planetary Seismology aims to revolutionize our understanding of planetary interiors and seismic activity. After the Mars interior exploration by InSight seismometer, the next steps will be on the Moon, with three seismometer deployments planned for 2026/2027 : NASA's Far Side Seismic Suite (FSS) with a French spare InSight sensor, NASA's Artemis-3 Lunar Environment Monitoring Station, and the Chinese Chang'E-7 Lunar Seismometer. This ERC project hinges on detecting and locating lunar impacts, essential for constraining interior models, akin to seismic studies on Mars. It does this by deploying a network of three Earth-based telescopes to monitor Lunar Impact Flashes, complementing data from FSS and other lunar seismometers. This synergy enables precise impact location and timing, crucial for mapping lunar crustal and mantle structures of the lunar south hemisphere, including Schrödinger impact basin and South Pole shallow layers.Moreover, the project pioneers a multi-messenger approach in planetary science by combining seismic waveforms from impacts, high-resolution imaging of impact craters and impact digital twins to understand impact dynamics, lunar scattering and attenuation and lunar subsurface properties comprehensively. It aims to establish empirical relations between impact characteristics, seismic source parameters and seismic signals, enhancing our understanding of impact processes and enabling “natural” controlled seismology using impacts for future planetary exploration.With a robust implementation plan aligned with lunar mission timelines, this ERC project is based on partnership between IPGP and CNRS and promises to deliver groundbreaking insights into planetary seismology. It leverages expertise from planetary seismology, impact observations, and instrumentation, supported by international collaborations, to address fundamental questions about planetary interiors and enhance our understanding of planetary formation and impacts processes.