There have been 11 missions to the Moon this century, 10 of which have been orbital, from 5 different space agencies. China became the third country to successfully soft-land on the Moon in 2013, and the second to successfully remotely operate a rover on the lunar surface. We now have significant global datasets that, coupled with the 1990s Clementine and Lunar Prospector missions, show that the sample collection is not representative of the lithologies present on the Moon. The M3 data from the Indian Chandrayaan-1 mission have identified lithologies that are not present/under-represented in the sample collection. LRO datasets show that volcanism could be as young as 100 Ma and that significant felsic complexes exist within the lunar crust. A multi-decadal sample return campaign is the next logical step in advancing our understanding of lunar origin and evolution and Solar System processes.
Multi-Decadal Sample Return Campaign Will Advance Lunar and Solar System Science and Exploration by 2050
2017
2 pages
Report
No indication
English
Open Gateway: Lunar Exploration in 2050
NTIS | 2017
|The Open Gateway: Lunar Exploration in 2050
NTRS | 2017
|NTRS
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