American Astronautical Society, 2015 Robert H. Goddard Memorial Symposium, http://astronautical.org/goddard/2015

1. Humans at the Moon:
Science and Experience Opportunities
What’s up with the Global Exploration Roadmap?
J. Plescia
The Johns Hopkins University – Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel MD
March 12, 2015
On the Cusp: What’s Next?
53rd Goddard Memorial Symposium

3. Mission Architectures
CIs-lunar Space
Lunar
Surface

4. Don’t We Already Know Everything About the Moon?
Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon: Final Report
Bombardment history of the inner solar system uniquely revealed on the Moon.
Structure and composition of the lunar interior provide fundamental information
on the evolution of a differentiated body.
Key planetary processes are manifested in diversity of lunar crustal rocks.
The lunar poles are special environments that may bear witness to the volatile
flux over the latter part of solar system history.
Lunar volcanism provides a window into the thermal and compositional evolution
of the Moon.
The Moon is an accessible laboratory for studying the impact process on
planetary scales.
The Moon is a natural laboratory for regolith processes and weathering on
anhydrous airless bodies.
Processes involved with the atmosphere and dust environment of the Moon are
accessible for scientific study while the environment remains in a pristine
state.

5. Apollo Surface Exploration
Apollo 11 Traverse
Apollo 17 Traverse

6. A16, John Young, Shadow Rock
A11, Neil Armstrong, Little West
A15, David Scott,
Seat belt rock –
vesicular basalt
A15, David Scott, Imbrium
ejecta block at Station 7
Humans – Unique - Observations Skills

7. Humans - Unique – Observational Skills
A17, Jack Schmitt, Source of
Station 6 boulder on North Massif
A17 Jack Schmitt, Orange soil at Shorty Crater

8. Humans - Unique – Sampling Dexterity
Camelot Crater
Orange soil
Shorty Crater
Regolith breccia
Van Serg Crater Tracy’s rock
Station 6

9. Humans - Unique – Manual Dexterity and Innovation
116:46:50 Bean: ...go get that hammer and bang on the side
of it.
116:48:41 Bean: They're not in now because I'm lining them
up. Just a damn minute. Now they are all the way in. They're
all the way...Not quite. That bottom one down there's...
(Pause) Now, my recommendation would be pound on the
casket, then ... you know.
[Pete begins hitting on the side of the cask with the flat of
the hammer.]
116:48:56 Bean: Hey, that's doing it! Give it a few more
pounds. (Pause) Got to beat harder than that. (Pause) Keep
going. It's coming out. It's coming out! (Pause) Pound
harder.
116:49:08 Conrad: Keep going.
116:49:10 Bean: (Laughs, cheering him on) Come on,
Conrad!
116:49:14 Conrad: Keep going, baby.
116:49:15 Bean: That hammer's a universal tool.
116:49:17 Conrad: You better believe it...
Alan Bean removing RTG cask from LM.

10. Humans - Unique – Manual Dexterity and Innovation
AS15-92-12407
AS17-137-2097
Drilling – heat flow probe insertion
Gene and Jack’s Body Shop

11. Humans - Non-Unique – Manual Labor
Buzz Aldrin deploying ALSEP
Jack Schmitt reading gravity meter

12. Cis-Lunar Space Opportunities
Lagrange point observatory
Earth – Near Side Moon - L1
Far Side Moon – L2
Deep Space - L2
Telerobotics – Lunar surface (direct
control, monitoring autonomous
systems)

13. Surface Opportunities
The Moon is big. Really
big. You just won't
believe how vastly,
hugely, mind-bogglingly
big it is.
I mean, you may think
it's a long way down
the road to the
chemist's, but that's
just peanuts to the
Moon.

14. Short Duration Surface Mission
Global access
Relatively short stay time
Limited mobility (tens of km)
Search for bedrock
Detailed sampling
Regolith study
History of the sun
Volatiles in the solar system
Vertical and horizontal variation

15. Science Objectives - Regolith Formation / Evolution
AS15-89-12115
Regolith Studies
Regolith develops due to meteoroid
bombardment (macro to micro).
Complex layered medium.
Vertical and lateral trenching.
Detailed understanding of the stratigraphy.
Delicate focused sampling.
AS17-142-21720 AS16-107-17458

16. Long Duration Surface Mission
Extended surface presence
Mobility 100’s km
Extended surface operations
Impact cratering history
Any sample will provide data relevant to a range
of questions

17. Science Objectives - Absolute Chronology
Sample numerous craters of different size
Melt material on the floor and rim
Glass lining
Extensively explore target crater(s)
Bombardment history of the inner solar system.
Early cataclysm?
Episodic variations over the last 0-3 Ga?
Oldest ferroan anorthosites ~4.42 Ga
Suggested cataclysm 4.0-3.7 Ga
Nectaris ~3.9 Ga
Crisium 3.89 Ga
Imbrium: 3.85 + 0.2 Ga
Mare lavas
Luna 16 3.4 Ga
Apollo 15 3.3 Ga
Luna 24 3.2 Ga
Apollo 12: 3.1 Ga
AS16-106-17242
A15-44512

18. Summary
Many major scientific questions remaining.
Environment, surface and interior
Pure science – applied science
Global access and samples are key.
Moon provides a test bed
Low gravity
Deep space environment
Dirty
Complex
Lunar science doesn’t end. Questions are addressed, understanding matures,
new problems are discovered, new techniques are developed, new samples
are acquired, analysis continues.
Scientia facultas explorationis Exploratio facultas scientiae

19. Progress is not a shot in the dark, but a series of logical steps.
There can be no thought of finishing, for aiming at the stars, both
literally and figuratively, is the work of generations, but no matter
how much progress one makes there is always the thrill of just
beginning.
Robert Goddard