Strategic Issues

These are candidate topics for discussion and input from the broader community.

  • What do we want to know and how do we find out?
    • What are the key questions to be answered? Scientific and resource related.
    • What hypotheses can be tested at the lunar surface to answer these questions?
    • What measurements could be applied to help formulate or test these hypotheses and support landing site selection for surface missions?
      • From orbit
      • From the lunar surface
      • Mobility
      • Drilling and sampling
      • PSR access
      • With sample return
    • What other science questions can be addressed at the poles and how does this affect landing site priority?
    • Which are the most significant regions of interest for making measurements?
      • Under which capability assumptions?
  • How can we lower the cost?
    • Are there low cost innovative approaches that could be considered? (e.g. impactors, penetrators, cubesats, S/C end of life)
    • How can the costs of access be reduced? E.g.
      • Ride share
      • Procuring key mission elements as commercial services
      • Using smallsat and nanosat technologies
      • Utilising common infrastructure/mission elements
      • Utilising existing assets
  • What if any new technologies / capabilities areĀ needed?
  • How can we coordinate?
    • Which is a better coordination approach to making measurements with several surface missions
      • All within a common region of interest?
      • Each to a different region of interest?
    • How can common measurements and calibration standards etc. be utilised between missions to allow comparison of results and add value to individual data sets?
    • What standards can be applied and what benefits would they bring? E.g.
      • Interfaces
      • propellants

THIS SITE IS FOR HISTORICAL PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NO LONGER UPDATED AS OF MARCH 2021