Signs of 'Life' on the Lunar Frontier

The lunar crater Bullialdus (20.7° S, 22.2° W; 60 km diameter), with water-bearing minerals identified in the central peaks.  Clementine false-color composite over LROC WAC monochrome mosaic base [NASA/DOD/GSFC/ASU].

Paul D. Spudis

The Once and Future Moon
Smithsonian Air & Space

Generally speaking, I hate “mop up” posts wherein stories, anecdotes, factoids and announcements are lumped together solely for the purpose of clearing the writer’s desk.  But that’s what I have here, so let’s get on with it.

Despite being written off by many as a dead letter topic, the Moon (an object of scientific and commercial interest and utility) continues to confound experts and frustrate naysayers.

You may have recently learned about yet another discovery of lunar water.  The “new” this time around is that we have apparently succeeded in identifying a form of hydration (i.e., the OH molecule) present in mineral structures in the central peak of the mid-latitude crater Bullialdus (20.7° S, 22.2° W; 60 km diameter).  Past identifications of lunar water involve either the polar dark regions or high-latitude, solar wind implanted OH and H2O molecules.

We’ve known about water-bearing minerals in the lunar samples for the past couple of years, but this is the first time we have identified them using remote sensing.  This water is present in extremely minute amounts (tens of parts per million); it has nothing to do with the possibility of extracting water for human use, but rather, is a clue to the hydration state of the deep interior, and ultimately, the origin of the Moon.

We are finding that the early Moon had its own indigenous water, not an obvious consequence of the giant impact origin model, and that this water participated in early melting events.  Water is an important compound in these processes by lowering the threshold temperatures of various significant reactions and creating an environment in which explosive, volatile-charged volcanic eruptions may occur.  Work continues on understanding the meaning and significance of this interior water to the geological processes of the Moon.

The latest edition of the Global Space Exploration Roadmap has been released and to the astonishment of the press and many other observers, human lunar return is still prominently featured (minus NASA) in the strategic pathways considered by the world’s space agencies.  This shouldn’t really surprise anyone – the international partners were taken aback (and angered) by the unilateral renunciation of lunar return by the U.S. in 2010.  They have remained firm and consistent in their belief and knowledge that the Moon is a critical step toward developing genuine space faring capability, a path which they have no intention of abandoning.  In this, our partners show more insight and sophistication than we do.  There are simply too many advantages in developing technology and practicing operational skills on the Moon, all applicable to future human missions beyond low Earth orbit.  In a sop to the reluctant Americans, human near-Earth asteroid missions are mentioned.  But in the minds of the international partners, the benefits of human lunar return will not be subsumed by a domestic political agenda.

I am an occasional member and contributor to the Lunar Exploration and Analysis Group (LEAG), an informal working group of lunar scientists, engineers and developers who have devised a “roadmap” (i.e., a sequenced, strategic plan) for lunar exploration.  This roadmap has been completed and we have developed a couple of ancillary products – an executive summary booklet (being readied for distribution), which will describe the major findings of the three-year road mapping exercise.  It will be illustrated by wonderful Technicolor artwork of missions and surface activities (the creation of pretty pictures and graphics we have down pat), and a one-page “fact sheet” describing the value and rationale for human lunar return. The compact fact sheet is particularly good.  It summarizes the main points about lunar return, its value to the nation and to science and society in general.  This roadmap follows a lot of the concepts about which I write.  If you visit Develop Cislunar Space Next, you will recognize many of the same themes and ideas.  I am very happy with this product; it is concise and well crafted.  I thank my LEAG colleagues for their scientific insight and technical acumen.

About 15 years ago, I wrote a reasonably well-received book published by the Smithsonian Institution Press titled The Once and Future Moon.  In it I described the then-recent findings from the Clementine and Galileo missions about the Moon’s processes and history, and summarized what we had learned about the Moon from the Apollo missions.  I also took the opportunity to make the case for a return to the Moon (some things never change) and how we might use it to create new capabilities in space.  That book is now out of print, as well as rendered somewhat antiquated by the explosion this last decade of new information from data returning from lunar robotic missions and subsequent studies.  Many have urged me to revise that book and I am considering writing an updated second edition.  Unfortunately, the Smithsonian Press terminated their “Library of the Solar System” series and is not interested in publishing a new edition (but will give me copyright to the material).  I am investigating the interest of other publishers and will keep you posted on what develops.

Next – an announcement.  For some time I have watched the progress of many of the Google Lunar XPRIZE competitors.  It’s a mixed bag, with some teams pretty much out of the running and some who have a decent chance to actually fly a mission.  I have been very impressed with the team and the approach of one company, Moon Express (MoonEx), located at NASA Ames Research Center in California.  Moon Express has plans for small and medium class lunar landers, using a soon-to-be-unveiled design that seems both robust and affordable.  I have agreed to be associated with them on a part-time basis as their Chief Scientist.  As such, I will evaluate possible mission scenarios and profiles, devise sample payloads, identify possible instruments and their investigators and vendors, and help define measurement requirements and operational scenarios.

I like working with small missions (my first mission experience was with Clementine (1994) a small DOD-NASA mission, and I was the Principal Investigator for the Mini-SAR radar experiment on India’s Chandrayaan-1 mission) and believe that these small missions deliver a lot of scientific and exploratory bang for a reasonably small amount of bucks.  I have worked previously on projects with some of the Moon Express personnel, including Principal Systems Engineer Steve Bailey on the world’s first private lunar lander project (Blastoff.com in the late 1990s) and with CEO Bob Richards, when we were both affiliated with Odyssey Moon a few years ago.  I am also happy that my longtime colleague and NASA Advisory Council member Jack Burns has joined the company on a similar part time basis as Chair of the Moon Express Science Advisory Board.  I look forward to helping Moon Express achieve their goal of winning the Google Lunar XPRIZE and developing a truly commercial system to deliver payloads to the Moon.

Look for an article on the origin of the Moon written by yours truly, coming soon to a special web-based edition of Astronomy magazine.  I’ll post the information when it appears.  My recent post here at Air & Space describes the call for small lunar lander missions.  The last of the (currently planned) NASA missions to the Moon (was launched Friday, September 6, 2013.  Here’s wishing LADEE a safe, successful and productive journey.

So I’m happy to report that there are signs of “life” about our future on the lunar frontier.

Related Posts:
More water at lunar equator, hints of water below (August 27, 2013)
GSFC releases LEND lunar water demonstration (June 3, 2013)
Earth and Moon share primal water source (May 10, 2013)
Water found in the Apollo 15 'Genesis Rock' (February 19, 2013)
Bullialdus central peak oblique (January 23, 2013)
Reflecting on the ice of Mercury and the Moon (December 3, 2012)
Water from the Sun (October 17, 2012)
Central peak of Bullialdus (May 12, 2010)

Originally published September 5, 2013 at his Smithsonian Air & Space blog The Once and Future Moon, Dr. Spudis is a senior staff scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute. The opinions expressed are those of the author but are better informed than average.  

LEAG 2010 abstract deadline extended

The abstract deadline for the annual meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG) 2010 has been extended to Wednesday, July 7, 2010, at 5:00 p.m. U.S. Central Daylight Time.

Clive Neal
University of Notre Dame

The 2010 Annual Meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group will be held September 14–16, 2010, at the Holiday Inn Capitol, 550 C Street, SW, Washington DC. The hotel is conveniently located near the L’Enfant Plaza Metro (6th and Maryland Street exits) and within a short walking distance to NASA Headquarters.

The focus of the meeting will be using the Moon as a target for solar system exploration, science, commerce, education, and technology development.

The three-day meeting will promote community discussion and provide input to the questions to be addressed. As in previous years the meeting sessions will be populated through a combination of invited and contributed talks, and will be a blend of science, exploration, resources, and commercial activities.

Questions that will be addressed include:

* How can data from lunar missions be used to develop future concepts for lunar and solar system exploration?

* What are the recent breakthroughs in lunar science and how do they influence future lunar and solar system robotic missions?

* How can commercial partnerships be fostered in the robotic exploration of the Moon?

* What are the main technology developments needed to enable a sustainable lunar and solar system exploration program?

* How can the Moon be used as a target for solar system exploration, science, commerce, education, and technology development?

Oral sessions, which will be held in Columbia Ballroom I, will be composed of both invited and contributed talks. Contributed abstracts are highly encouraged and should be centered on the key questions.

Contributed abstracts will also form poster sessions scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, September 15 and 16.

Catch up on the details, HERE.

LEAG Premium Presentations are now online

Ina ("D" Formation - (18.5°N, 5.3°E)), an enigmatic formation long the focus of study from the ground and from lunar orbit, was prominent in a presentation by Marc Robinson of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) team at Arizona State University, to the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG) in Houston, last month. While many poster and many of the submitted science presentations were made available before the meeting the much anticipated invited presentations were posted to the web just in the past few days.

Chief among these, of course, were up-to-date reports, not yet available anywhere else, from the investigating teams participating in both the LCROSS and LRO projects.

We will continue to look these over, and plan to post further comments about what they contain over the next few days. At this point, though, we 're happy to confirm that each whets the appetite for the expected release to the Planetary Data System of a large part of the data collected using LRO in February 2010 [NASA/GSFC/ASU/LEAG].

Those presentations, brought to our attention by LEAG chair Clive Neal of Notre Dame can be downloaded HERE. (A discussion of Ina, three kilometers across along the straight part of the "D" as seen above and what may be an extinct caldera, is worth reading at Charles A. Wood's LPOD, HERE).

Dana Mackenzie on the LEAG Annual Meeting

Hat tip to Marc Boucher at NASA Watch for pointing us to a another first person account of the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG).

Mackenzie's two part report Marc calls "worth a read" can be found HERE.

2009 Annual Meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group: An Official Report

Clive R. Neal
Notre Dame

The annual meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG) was held at the Lunar & Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas, over 3.5 days (November 16-19, 2009. The meeting brought together NASA officials, lunar scientists and engineers, and established commercial space companies and lunar entrepreneurial firms. The focus of the meeting was to discuss how to make the next phase of solar system exploration (robotic leading to human) sustainable and, to this end, included the first exciting results from the NASA LCROSS and LRO missions. In the broadest sense, space exploration encompasses:

– Learning to live and work successfully and productively off world.
– Expanding Earth’s economic sphere beyond Earth orbit.
– Strengthening existing and create new global partnerships.
– Engaging, inspiring, and educating the public.
Making it sustainable is one of the three themes in the draft Lunar Exploration Roadmap, developed by LEAG (http://www.lpi.usra.edu/leag/ler_draft.shtml), for the Science Committee of the NASA Advisory Council, which address why we are returning to the Moon through three themes:

– Pursue scientific activity to address fundamental questions about the solar. system, the universe and our place in them.
– Use the moon to prepare for future missions to Mars and other destinations.
– Extend sustained human presence on the moon to enable eventual settlement.
To be sustainable, lunar activity must consistently return value greater than the investment required to create that value. International and commercial partnerships are vitally important in achieving this result. The following high-level conclusions from the LEAG meeting will be incorporated into the next version of the Lunar Exploration Roadmap:

• A sustainable lunar enterprise requires the use of lunar resources to “live off the land.”
• A sustainable lunar enterprise begins with robotic missions as incremental steps to facilitate more productive human missions.
• A sustainable lunar enterprise provides a basis for long-term human presence on the Moon, enabling exploration of the solar system and a space-based economy.

Impressive results from NASA’s LCROSS-LRO, Japan’s Kaguya, and India’s Chandrayaan-1 indicate the presence of important lunar resources that are vital for sustainable human presence, and which could significantly reduce the cost of human space exploration. Furthermore, the scientific importance of the Moon is now clearer than ever, given strong evidence of its value for studying the solar system volatile flux history.
For more information, please contact the LEAG Chair, Clive R. Neal (neal.1@nd.edu).

LEAG 2009 DeBrief - Out of the Cradle

"Wow! That was a mind-bending conference. Clearly LRO is coming into full flower, its instruments providing solid and fascinating results."

With that hopeful statement, Ken Murphy of Out of the Cradle begins an excellent summary of the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG) in Houston.

Ken himself admits he was "on vacation." While his report is interesting, but not a headline-making report mostly about using his visit to Houston to fatten OTC's Lunar Library, including a visit to the area's Half-Price-Books.

I'm a HUGE fan of the Half-Price-Books stores, and spent an inordinate amount of time at the store the used to be on Camp Bowie in southwest Fort Worth, many years ago. But I sure would not have missed Anthony Coleprete's higher-order discussion of the LCROSS results.

As further debriefs come in, we will happy to post these.

Ken's trip to Houston HERE.

Novel methods of heat flow deployment for the International Lunar Network (ILN)

Artist rendering of a future node of the International Lunar Network, integrated into the NASA's Next Generation Robotic Lander, seen here arbitrarily situated several kilometers south of Mons La Hire, rising like Ayers Rock in Australia over the vast plains of Mare Imbrium. Current plans call for the NGRL platform to be adopted for a wide variety of other lunar programs also. [ILN/NSFC/Lunar Pioneer].

Kris Zacny, et.al. Honeybee Robotics Spacecraft Mechanism Corp., NASA JPL, Texas Tech & N. Arizona Universities and NASA Goddard

Introduction:

The heat-flow probe directly addresses the goal of the Lunar Geophysical Network, which is to understand the interior structure and composition of the Moon. The International Lunar Network (ILN) is a near-term mission that requires a heat-flow probe. ILN is a set of four small landers, scheduled for launch in the 2016-2018 time frame, that will deploy up to four instruments. The ILN payload is limited to ~25kg and its power will most likely be provided by a ASRGs.

To place 1kg on the surface of the Moon costs ~$50k to$100k. Thus, any scientific instruments must be efficient with respect to limited spacecraft resources such as mass, power, and volume without compromising on quality scientific measurements.

A key challenge for a heat-flow probe will be getting to a 3m depth at which the endogenic thermal gradient can be measured, i.e. below the depth of penetration of the annual thermal wave, within ILN Payload limitations. The Apollo 17 two heat flow probes reached 2.4m. A heat flow probe must create a minimal disturbance to the thermal environment.

Heat-Flow Probe Concepts:

We have been developing two highly innovative low mass and low power heat-flow probe systems (robotic, but can be also astronaut deployable). Each system consists of two parts: 1) a method of reaching 3m depth in lunar regolith, and 2) a method of deploying thermal sensors.

Percussive System: The first system uses a percussive (hammer-like) approach to drive a small diameter (20mm) cone penetrometer to >3 meter depth (Figure 1). Ring-like thermal sensors on the penetrometer rod (heaters and temperature sensors) are deployed into the regolith every 30 cm as the penetrometer goes down to 3 m. The penetration rate of the percussive penetrometer can be correlated to regolith density; this added measurement will help with thermal conductivity correlation.

The system leaves only small sensors in the borehole. The deployment rod is removed once depth is reached, maximizing measurement sensitivity by eliminating thermal path to lander except for the electrical tether.

Pneumatic-Proboscis System: The second system uses a pneumatic (gas) approach to lower the temperature and thermal conductivity sensors attached to a lenticular (bi-convex) tape to > 3 meters (Figure 2).The second system uses a pneumatic (gas) approach to lower the heat flow probe, a lenticular (bi-convex) tape, to > 3 meters (Figure 2). The system is a revolutionary innovation for ILN as it has extremely low mass, volume, and simple deployment. This system is dubbed the “Proboscis” because of its similarity to a butterfly proboscis. Helium gas, used for pressurizing liquid propellant, and is typically vented once on the surface, can be scavenged from the lander propulsion system, making the thermal probe system lighter.

Should spacecraft helium not be available, a simple gas delivery system may be added specifically for the heat flow probe. Honeybee demonstrated that 1 gram of N2 at 5 psia can lift 6000g of JSC-1a in lunar conditions (vacuum, 1/6g) Thus, a only a small amount of gas would be required to penetrate to 3 m.

The 2009 Annual Conference of the
Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG)
is underway in Houston

Conference Program

2009 Annual Meeting of LEAG

The 2009 Annual Conference of the

Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG)
is underway in Houston

Conference Program
Monday evening Poster Session
Monday afternoon, November 16, 2009:

INTRODUCTION TO THE MEETING THEME
AND THE LUNAR EXPLORATION ROADMAP

1:15 p.m. - Lecture Hall

Moderator: G. Jeffrey Taylor

How does a Sustainable Lunar Exploration Program Benefit Lunar Science and Solar System Exploration?

Spudis P. D.
A Sustainable Return to the Moon [#2013]

Blair B. R.
Quantitative Approaches to Lunar Economic Modeling [#2040]

Plescia J. B.
The Influence of Lunar Outpost Objectives on Outpost Capabilities [#2066]

Mitchell, Massa & Wheeler, et.al.
Energy-Efficient Plant-Growth Lighting: Key to Sustainability of the Lunar Base and Beyond [#2029]

Current and Future Missions: How Will the Results of Current and Future International Missions Facilitate a Sustainable Lunar Architecture?

Cohen B. A. * MSFC/APL ILN Team
Geohazards on the Moon and the Importance of the International Lunar Network (ILN) [#2022]

Pieters C.
Water, Water Everywhere? [#2077]

Elphic, Paige &. Siegler, et.al.
South Pole Hydrogen Distributions for Present Lunar Conditions [#2060]

Teodoro, et.al.
Lunar Hydrogen Distribution after Kaguya (SELENE) [#2053]

Bussey, McGovern & Spudis, et.al.
Lunar Polar Illumination Conditions Derived Using Kaguya Laser Data [#2027]

Why settle the Moon?

G. Jeffrey Taylor
Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology
University of Hawaii - Honolulu

The space program needs a viable long-term goal. I suggest that the central goal should be to learn to live and work in space by living and working in space. A sustained presence on the Moon, with a vibrant infrastructure in cis-lunar space, is an essential part of that goal. Achieving this goal requires extensive use of lunar resources, active roles by both government and the private sector, and a social contract that the venture is worthwhile and worth funding. But why do it? Here are some reasons for pursuing this goal.

Challenge ourselves. We need grand goals that bring out the best in us. As President John F. Kennedy said about the Apollo program, we go to the Moon not because it is easy, but because it is hard. Settling the Moon, learning to live and work in space, and eventually going to Mars and beyond is certainly hard, much harder than was going to the Moon during Apollo. It will test our educational system, research laboratories, and industries, making all more effective and innovative than they are now.

New perspectives on our world, our problems, and ourselves. Space exploration has already provided us with new perspectives on Earth and our place in the universe. The first full Earth pictures taken by Apollo astronauts during their Moon journeys showed us that we live on an isolated, fragile, and beautiful island in space. Seeing the pale blue dot, as Carl Sagan called it, made everyone realize that we ought to take care of it, which helped fuel the environmental movement during the 1970s and beyond. Lunar settlements far from home may give us new perspectives on addressing other pressing problems, such as energy, health care, and poverty. Perhaps most important, it expands our view of our place in the universe. We are part of something larger than ourselves, our towns, our nations, and even our world.

Inspire all of us to become part of something larger. Many of us have claimed that the Apollo program inspired a generation of students. Maybe. But a sustained human presence will not provide the thrill of a short Apollo mission. What is the equivalent of Apollo 8, its crew reading from Genesis on Christmas Eve, 1968, or of Apollo 11 making the first landing? Instead, the inspiration will come from the new opportunities in commerce, science, arts, and humanities. Students from K through college will see opportunities for them to contribute to culture and knowledge. The new perspectives our human perch on the Moon provides may inspire the creative people in our society to aim high, to see the world differently, to think outside the box.

National pride and prestige. We have a growing number of space-faring nations. Believe it or not, the leaders of those nations are not driven to understand the details of magma ocean crystallization or searching for life in the cold deserts of Mars. They want to show the world that their nations can accomplish great feats.

Establish global partnerships. A good way for nations to work together is to collaborate on ambitious projects of mutual benefit. This is the other side of nationalism. It is pleasant to think about a coordinated effort involving many nations to establish a permanent, international settlement on the Moon, a settlement where differences were set aside for the common good, where governments, NGOs, companies, universities, and other entities from many nations worked together to learn how to live and work in space for the benefit of the citizens of planet Earth. This long shot is not a driving reason for space settlement.

Create the capability to travel to Mars and other destinations. The only way to develop the technical capability to travel anywhere in the solar system at affordable cost is to have a robust infrastructure in cislunar space that supports commerce. We need routine access to space, not one-off stunts funded entirely by a government or even an alliance of governments.

It’s what humans do. Humans explore. If we did not, we would not find humans living in every nook and cranny of the world. Space is still a wide-open frontier, awaiting adventurous humans who want to become part of something bigger than themselves.

How to begin: Making travel throughout cis-lunar space and lunar settlement affordable requires the use of lunar resources. In turn, this requires a thorough knowledge of how to handle materials on the Moon to extract useful materials, and an understanding of how to protect humans and agricultural products from radiation and other space hazards. Addressing the questions can begin immediately with a series of robotic missions. Commercial ventures can join in this by providing payloads on government-funded landed missions. A rich set of robotic missions can be envisioned while we wait for a cost-effective transportation system to be developed.

The 2009 Annual Conference of the
Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG)
is underway in Houston

A Sustainable Return to the Moon

On Monday, the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group
begins its annual meeting in Houston.

Paul D. Spudis
Lunar and Planetary Institute
Annual Meeting of LEAG (2009)

Our ultimate goal in space is to be able to go anywhere, at any time with whatever capabilities to accomplish any task or job we choose to undertake. We are light-years away from achieving such a goal, largely because we must drag everything we need in space with us from the bottom of a very deep gravity well – the Earth’s surface. As long as this paradigm prevails, we will remain mass- and power-limited in space and thus, capability-limited as well.

The Vision for Space Exploration, outlined by President Bush in 2004 and endorsed by two Congresses, is the official space policy of the United States. The Vision is designed to serve national scientific, economic and security interests. It calls for extending human missions beyond low Earth orbit by learning how to use the material and energy resources of the Moon to create new capabilities in space. The VSE was envisioned from the beginning to be accomplished under existing and inflation-growth budgetary envelopes. Thus, our challenge is to design a program in which time (rather than money) is the free variable. We want to make steady, constant progress towards our goals. This requires an architecture that uses small, affordable steps (incremental) that occur at frequent intervals (paced program) and build upon each other with time (cumulative) to create new and lasting space faring capability.

The Moon is key to gaining this new capability. It has the material and energy resources needed to operate and live in space. It is over 45% by weight oxygen, extractable through a variety of well-known industrial chemical processes. Hydrogen is also present; at the equator it occurs in concentrations of up to 100 parts per million, extractable through simple solar thermal heating. But the real “pay dirt” on the Moon is at the poles, where concentrations of hydrogen have been confirmed (the current debate is over what form this hydrogen takes). Water ice likely exists in the permanently dark regions of the lunar poles. Moreover, we have documented areas at both poles that are in near-constant sunlight (a consequence of the low obliquity of the Moon’s spin axis). So the Moon’s poles contain both the material (water) and energy (sunlight) resources needed for sustainable human presence there.

An incremental architecture designed to take advantage of these possibilities is possible under current budgetary limitations. The key is to pre-emplace much of the assets we need on the Moon robotically, prior to the arrival of humans. Small robotic landers can survey resources and characterize the terrain for an outpost. Slightly larger landers can deliver equipment; rovers with earth-moving attachments can prepare a habitat site. Large solar arrays can be deployed to generate hundreds of kilowatts of electrical power. Small oxygen production equipment can experiment with different processing techniques, characterizing their yields and efficiencies. All of these robotic devices can be teleoperated from Earth (only a three second time delay); each landing incrementally increases our capability on the Moon and independence from terrestrial logistics. When humans finally arrive on the Moon, they move into a turn-key operation – a pre-emplaced outpost, operating and ready for use.

On the Moon, we will learn the skills needed and develop the technologies required to live and work productively on another world. Our objectives are to arrive, to survive and to thrive. Tasks include building a transportation system, preferably with maximum utility and reusability (arrive), closing the life support loop and extracting consumables from local materials (survive), and producing products for export that create new capability in space, such as rocket propellant (thrive). By establishing a space transportation system that can routinely access the lunar surface and return to low Earth orbit, we have created a system that can also routinely access all other points in cislunar space, where all of our commercial and national security assets – and more than 90% of our scientific assets – reside.

Such a strategy has significant implications for the lunar return architecture. The Orion CEV should be designed in a minimalist, Apollo-scale configuration; its function is only to transport crew to and from Earth’s surface to staging areas in orbit. Staging can be done from the ISS, making that program an asset in our lunar return. Cargo takes solar-electric “slow boat” routes to an Earth-Moon Lagrangian staging point while the crew arrives later using “fast” chemical transport. The Altair lander is more LM than behemoth; a 20-30 mT vehicle, its only job is to transport crew to and from the lunar surface. The crew lives on the lunar surface in habitats pre-emplaced and built through robotic teleoperation. Vehicles are designed to be reused in space and, eventually, re-fueled on the Moon and in cislunar space.

Creation of this new transportation system completely changes the paradigm of space flight; no longer are we limited to what we can bring up from Earth. Space systems become maintainable and extensible. Very large distributedaperture sensor systems can be built and upgraded. We will only launch high-information density payloads from Earth, such as complex machines, sensors and computers, and refuel stages in Earth orbit for placement in higher orbits (e.g., GEO) or into interplanetary space. Creating this cislunar transport infrastructure is analogous to building a “transcontinental railroad” in space – it will open up the space frontier to an ever increasing and varied customer base, not just academic science and government.

The Vision’s purpose was to break the tyranny of the rocket equation by learning how to use what we find in space to create new capability. It was to be undertaken under existing or modestly enhanced budgetary envelopes. We go to the Moon not touch the surface and blast off for Mars but to learn the skills needed to become a space faring civilization. Fulfilling this goal makes space relevant to many different customers, with a wide variety of interests and purposes. The intent of the Vision was to redirect the agency onto a path that creates new wealth, instead of merely consuming it.

Draft Lunar Exploration Roadmap

Google Moon looking eastward over the virtual landing site of Apollo 11, including laser altimeter relief from Japan's Kaguya and shading as seen days ago at local sunset by the Narrow Angle Camera on-board the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The presense of the Eagle Ascent Stage, and perhaps the upright flag too, betray this is only a computer generated Google "street view," but it is the place of a small beginning. The Lunar Exploration Analysus Group has released a summary of the reasons it cannot be the beginning of the end of the human story of the Moon.

The Lunar Exploration Analysis Group is pleased to announce that a draft of the first version of the Lunar Exploration Roadmap is available for community comment. As some of you know, this has been a very involved process that has attempted to be "inclusive". The LEAG and the team that put this together feel that this is a good start and view the roadmap as a living document, which will be revised and updated as new data/situations arise in order to keep it relevant. In other words, the roadmap should NOT be viewed as "complete".

The roadmap has been constructed because of a request from the NASA Advisory Council and has been sentto them for approval. Only when/if the NAC approves this roadmap and the Administrator blesses it will the term "draft" be removed.

The Roadmap information is presented in two forms - a PDF (descriptive) version and an Excel spreadsheet in order to see the linkages (i.e., the actual roadmapping of Objectives and Investigations) between the three main themes: Science, Feed Forward, and Sustainability. As you can see, this roadmap goes beyond Science, which we feel is needed in order to make lunar exploration sustainable and affordable.

The files containing the roadmap can be found at:
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/leag/ler_draft.shtml
Comments can be sent to:
leag@lpi.usra.edu
Best regards
Clive R. Neal(LEAG Chair)

ISECG to study three scenarios for international manned and unmanned lunar exploration

Representatives of ten international space agencies, operating together as the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) met in Yokohama March 10-12, and resolved to study three scenarios for coordinated robotic and human lunar exploration.

Chaired by JAXA, the meeting examined past progress of ISECG activities work "in the spirit of the Global Exploration Strategy (GES)."

The three lunar scenarios under study include short and extended duration missions and six months at the proposed Shackleton-Armstrong station at the lunar south pole. Scenarios cover development of infrastructure in space and on the lunar surface.

The ISECG conference discussed standardization of mission-critical system interfaces. Participants expect the scenarios discussed to ensure accomplishment of co-operative lunar exploration objectives while accomplishing individual national goals and expressed interest in building upon success to define an international architecture.

Meeting participants, claim reports, also made significant progress in other areas., including achieving GES objectives through cooperation, development of tools for sharing information on exploration capabilities and mission plans across agencies.

The ISECG issued its 2008 annual report describing world-wide exploration activities and a summary of the three scenarios.

The 3.0 Lunar Exploration Scenarios Workshop participants examined architectures for three major types of lunar exploration: (1.) establishment of a polar outpost (2.) sortie and (3.) extended-stay missions.

Each scenario requires provisions for crew and cargo transportation, ground communications from the Moon to Earth and support for extravehicular activity. Participants discussed key architecture elements.

3.1 Polar Lunar Outpost Scenario

A human lunar outpost at one of the poles can be described as the build up of capabilities and elements that enable the opportunity for continuous presence of astronauts on the Moon, with individual stays of up to 180 days. It is envisioned that a completed outpost can be accomplished with a relatively small number of missions. An outpost can begin satisfying science, public outreach and other objectives during its construction phase and upon completion. A major attribute of a lunar outpost is to allow the international community to develop the systems and capabilities with sufficient reliability to consider undertaking an international mission to Mars.

3.2 Lunar Sortie Mission Scenario

A lunar sortie mission can be described as one or more short duration flights to any location on the moon. These missions will satisfy a range of science objectives as well as public engagement and others. The main characteristic of this type of mission is that the crew lives out of the NASA Altair lander (or another human lunar lander) and can conduct up to seven days worth of scientific or other activities with the resources brought with them. Pre-deployment of resources is not necessarily precluded in this scenario.

3.3 Extended-Stay Mission Scenario

The participants recognized that significant enhancement of sortie mission scenarios can be achieved if elements in addition to a human lunar lander are in-place on the lunar surface. The participants characterized an extended-stay scenario by the pre-deployment of elements that may extend the sortie mission crew time, provide additional capability for crew habitation, science or demonstration of capabilities and technologies necessary for human missions to Mars.

Agencies involved in ISECG include ASI (Italy), BNSC (UK), CNES (France), CNSA (China), CSA (Canada), CSIRO (Australia), DLR (Germany), ESA (European Space Agency), JAXA (Japan), KARI (Republic of Korea), NASA (United States of America), NSAU (Ukraine), Roscosmos (Russia).

The Global Exploration Strategy, framework for Coordination (Framework document) was released on May 31, 2007 based upon the common interest of fourteen international space agencies to create a shared framework for space exploration to “enhance mutual understanding among partners and to identify areas for potential cooperation. To work collectively towards the further development and implementation of the global exploration strategy set out in the Framework document, the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) was established in Berlin, Germany on November 6, 2007.

ILEWG Summary of 2008

New Year Greetings from

Bernard Foing, ILEWG

Dr. Clive R. Neal of Notre Dame has fowarded the following message, including New Years Greetings from Bernard Foing, head of the International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG), who gathered for a joint Annual Meeting with the Space Science Roundtable and Lunar Exploration Analysis Group, last October:

Dear Lunar and Space Explorer,

2008 has been a great year for international lunar exploration. We saw exciting results from Kaguya and Chang'E1.

Chandrayaan-1 was successfully launched on 22 October and inserted in lunar orbit, providing first data.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and LCROSS missions are under intense preparation for launch next spring.

There was a remarkable progress on the Constellation programme (in particular on Orion Crew vehicle and Ares launcher).

The Google Lunar X Prize is inspiring entrepreneurs, the public and the youth.

All these achievements have been recognised by ILEWG awards 2008 announced last October.

ILEWG has supported a number of conferences (SPIE, EGU Vienna, COSPAR Montreal, NLSI Ames, Europlanet Muenster, IAC Glasgow, ILEWG/LEAG/SRR in Port Canaveral). The 10th ILEWG Conference on Exploration and Utilisation of the Moon was organised jointly with NASA Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG) and the Space Resources Roundtable (SRR), and included 200 participants, numbers of presentations (now posted on the LPI site), posters, discussions, recommendations and the Cape Canaveral Lunar Declaration 2008.

ILEWG has also enhanced the links with number of institutions (space agencies, IAF, COSPAR, IAA, Global Space Exploration, EGU, EuroPlanet, NLSI, Itaccus, GLXP, etc...).

COSPAR endorsed in July 2008 a recommendation to develop an "International Lunar Base" task group, and has asked ILEWG to organise a series of activities accordingly to report at COSPAR bureau in March 2009, and to the community at large during the COSPAR general assembly in Bremen on 18-25 July 2010.

The International Astronautical Federation has also asked ILEWG to co-sponsor a Global Lunar Conference in Beijing in early June 2010.

We want to enhance the activities of ILEWG task groups, with collaborations of institutes and experts.

1) Science of, on, and from the Moon;
2) Key technologies; Utilization of lunar resources; synergies with Mars and planetary exploration
3) Living and working on the Moon; Infrastructures for lunar bases; Surface operations and analogues; International Lunar Base
4) Society, law, policy, and commerce;
5) Public outreach, education, multicultural aspects; and Young Lunar Explorers.

Please contact me if you intend to support the ILEWG general events or to contribute to specific tasks groups.

Next year will be key to shape the future, and to make progress in space science, lunar and planetary exploration.

On behalf of ILEWG committee, I wish you (and your family) Happy holidays, and a very successful New Year 2009.

Prof Bernard H. Foing
ILEWG Executive Director

Links:
ILEWG website: http://sci.esa.int/ilewg
Cape Canaveral Lunar Declaration 2008
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=43654
ILEWG awards 2008
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=43707
Presentations ILEWG-LEAG2008
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/leagilewg2008/presentations/index.shtml

Cape Canaveral Lunar Declaration

10th ILEWG Conference on Exploration
and Utilization of the Moon
(ICEUM10)

31 October 2008

Approximately 200 International Lunar Explorers gathered at the 10th ILEWG Conference on Exploration and Utilization of the Moon (ICEUM10) co-sponsored by the International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG), NASA Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG), Space Resources Roundtable (SRR), and the Lunar and Planetary Institute, from 27 to 31 October, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA. The conference engaged scientists, engineers, industry, and organizations in the review of recent activities and the coordinated preparation of the next steps on the Moon.

The Japanese Kaguya and Chinese Chang’e-1 celebrated one year in lunar orbit, and have delivered a wealth of science data, discoveries and exploration findings. The SMART-1 team presented the latest data on polar peaks relevant for future landers and bases. The Indian ISRO Chandrayaan-1 mission (carrying six international instruments) has just been launched on 22 October toward the Moon. The NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) impactor are scheduled for joint launch in spring 2009. The participants appreciated the steady progress in technology development within the NASA Constellation program.

Read the Declaration HERE.