With the recent success of Lunar Prospector and the possibility of both water-ice and ~3He at the lunar poles, NASA should follow up with further missions and data gathering. Clearly, there exists the need to directly confirm the existence of these important lunar resources. The 1999 Ames Astrobiology Academy feels this can be accomplished most effectively by sending a lander-rover combination to locally analyze the surface material. Our proposal will outline a "Discovery" type mission including information regarding appropriate landing sites, rocketry, instrumentation, navigation, power systems, and communications. In the "faster, better, cheaper" paradigm, we will mainly emphasize existing technology, but we will also suggest reasonable improvements to landers and rovers to achieve these goals.
展开▼
