By National Research Council, Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences, Space Studies Board, Committee on the Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon
Due to the Moon's exact position within the evolution of rocky worlds, it's a top concentration of NASA's house exploration imaginative and prescient. at present NASA is defining and enforcing a sequence of robot orbital and landed missions to the Moon because the preliminary part of this imaginative and prescient. to gain the advantages of this job, NASA wishes a finished, well-validated, and prioritized set of medical learn goals. to assist determine these ambitions, NASA requested the NRC to supply information at the clinical demanding situations and possibilities enabled by way of sustained robot and human exploration of the Moon throughout the interval 2008-2023 and past. This ultimate document offers a overview of the present figuring out of the early earth and moon; the id of key technology recommendations and ambitions for moon exploration; an evaluation of implementation ideas; and a collection of prioritized lunar technology techniques, objectives, and suggestions. An intervening time document was once published in September 2006.
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Extra resources for The Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon: Final Report
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In this very simplified model, the composition of the crust has been thought of as generally homogeneous at any point on the Moon, modified only by thin, surface basalt flows or later impacts that scrambled the upper crust (regolith). 2). The traditional, dichotomous mare-highland classification developed from Apollo experience is inadequate in describing the structure and geologic evolution of the lunar crust. From the global remote sensing coverage of the Clementine and Lunar Prospector missions of the 1990s and the study of lunar meteorites, researchers now know that they have an incomplete sampling of the lunar crust.
Because the Moon’s geologic engine largely shut down long ago, its deep interior is a vault containing a treasure-trove of information about its initial composition, differentiation, crustal formation, and subsequent magmatic evolution. During and immediately after accretion, the Moon underwent primary differentiation involving the formation of 26 THE SCIENTIFIC CONTEXT FOR EXPLORATION OF THE MOON a (presumably) iron-rich core, a silicate mantle, and a light, primordial crust. The initial bulk composition, as well as the pressure and temperature conditions during this separation, will be reflected in its current chemistry, structure, and dynamics.
High spectral resolution is needed for mineral identification and abundance estimates, but high spatial resolution is needed to assess the geologic relations between diverse surface materials. By integrating global remote sensing, detailed regional geology, and precise sample studies, a predictive capability is gained that allows smarter choices about where to send future missions. In summary, understanding the complete range of lunar rock types, their formation, and their lateral and vertical distribution is critical to scientific understanding as well as to lunar exploration.
