Return to the Moon: Findings from the Lunar Science for Landed Missions Workshop
Abstract
The Lunar Science for Landed Missions workshop was held at NASA Ames Research Center January 10-12, 2018. The meeting was attended by both lunar scientists and representatives from commercial companies, and was jointly sponsored and co-chaired by SSERVI and LEAG. The goals of the workshop were to produce a set of priority targets for near-term landed missions on the Moon, primarily, but not exclusively, from commercial exploration firms interested in pursuing science missions to the lunar surface, and to foster discussion between scientists and commercial companies about a path forward to meet current lunar science goals. Scientists were invited to submit abstracts detailing high-priority landing sites on the surface of the Moon to which landed lunar missions would fulfill community science goals. These contributed talks presented landing site options across the surface of the Moon that would meet scientific goals in a wide variety of areas, including cratering processes, age determinations, volatiles, volcanism, magnetism, geophysics, and astrophysics. Invited talks and panels from commercial attendees focused on new technologies to enable landed lunar missions and potential payloads of lunar landers. In addition, invited talks from international colleagues addressed space programs in Japan, and the European Space Agency. The workshop findings are presented in a summary report of prioritized landing sites on the lunar surface prepared for the NASA Science Mission Directorate. This talk will report on the findings (high-priority landing sites, overarching science themes) from the the workshop.The contributed science talks centered around 5 overarching themes:1. Impacts: Establish a precise impact chronology, and better understand impact processes2. Volatiles: Understand the source, form, and concentration of lunar volatiles3. Volcanism: Determine the origin and evolution of lunar volcanism through space and time4. Geophysics/Tectonism: Constrain the interior structure and evolution of the Moon5. Space Weathering/Astrophysics: Examine regolith formation and space weathering processes, including astrophysical and cosmological analysesEach proposed landing site within these themes works to meet science goals laid out by the 2007 National Research Council's (NRC) Scientific Context for the Exploration of the Moon (SCEM) report, and the Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science Decadal Survey. Each landing site also meets exploration goals established through Strategic Knowledge Gaps (SKGs) determined by NASA's Human Spaceflight Architecture Team and two LEAG Specific Action Teams.An emerging theme from the workshop was the need for advancements in technology in order to meet primary science goals. The necessary technological advancements included automated hazard avoidance, cryogenic sampling, caching, and transport, landers and rovers that can survive extreme cold and darkness, and permanent lunar infrastructure in the form of a communications relay. A dedicated communications relay is perhaps the most enabling of the above technologies, as over half of the landing sites discussed at the workshop have the potential for communication difficulties due to locations on the lunar limb or farside.
- Publication:
-
42nd COSPAR Scientific Assembly
- Pub Date:
- July 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018cosp...42E3490V