Mission Concepts

"The Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Packages (ALSEPs) on Apollo 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 returned data from the lunar surface until September 1977. These long-term in-situ data, along with data from Apollo surface and orbital experiments, still comprise some of the best information on the Moon's environment. Much of these data were archived at the National Space Science Data Center (now the NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive, NSSDCA) in the 1970's and 1980's, but a large portion of the data were never submitted.

"Lunar mare “pits” are key science and exploration targets. The first three pits were discovered within Selene obser-vations [1,2] and were proposed to represent collapses into lava tubes. Subsequent LROC images revealed 5 new mare pits and showed that the Mare Tranquillitatis pit (MTP; 8.335°N, 33.222°E) opens into a sublunarean void at least 20-meters in extent [3,4]. Additionally more than 200 pits were discovered in impact melt deposits [4]. A key remaining task is determining pit subsurface extents, and thus fully understanding their exploration and scientific value.

"We present a mission architecture to address both high-priority science identified for Marsʼ moons and strategic knowledge gaps for the future Human exploration in the Martian system. The basic architecture involves a mother spacecraft and one or several minimalistic in-situ mobility platforms, called spacecraft/rover hybrids, first studied under the 2011 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program.

"Mars' moons Phobos and Deimos are low-albedo, D-type bodies. Their compositions have been interpreted as highly space-weathered material like that forming bulk Mars or Mars's crust, or alternatively primitive carbonaceous material, possibly sampling material that contributed organics and volatiles to the accreting terrestrial planets. The moons' origins, as well as their potential for in situ resources for future explorers, depend on their composition.

A companion mission is proposed that could provide an enhanced capability of exploring scientifically provocative sites on the surface of Mars and related moons. Options are discussed for a 'companion' mission which could be deployed from the cruise-stage of larger dedicated Mars missions. While the precedence is the DS-2 mission attempted in 1998, the intent would be to 'soft' land payloads on the surface of the planet or moons.

The Lunar Occultation Explorer (LOX) is a new γ-ray astrophysics mission concept being developed to enhance our knowledge of the Cosmos in the nuclear regime. LOX will orbit the Moon and use the Lunar Occultation Technique to address science goals that include a deep all-sky survey and continuous monitoring of nuclear transients, exploration of galactic nucleosynthesis and the life cycle of matter in our Galaxy, compact objects such as black holes, and key questions related to solar flare dynamics.