MoonRise

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the astronomical phenomenon, see Moonrise and moonset.
MoonRise
Mission typeLunar sample return
OperatorNASA / Jet Propulsion Laboratory
 

MoonRise is a robotic mission concept to the south pole of the

impact basin on the Moon and provides a window into the deep crust of the Moon and its history as a result. The basin is also among the largest recognized impact structures in the Solar System.[1]

MoonRise was not selected for the third New Frontiers program mission 3, losing out to the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission,[2] and it lost again in the 2017 competition for New Frontiers program mission 4.[3]

Science objectives

Possible configuration of a lunar sample return craft for Aitken basin
South Pole–Aitken basin

MoonRise has the following objectives:[1]

  • Determine the impact chronology of the SPA basin
  • Investigate processes associated with the formation of large impact basins
  • Investigate the materials excavated from the deeper crust, and possibly the mantle, of the Moon within the SPA basin
  • Determine rock types, distribution of thorium, and implications for the Moon's thermal evolution
  • Sample and analyze basaltic rock and volcanic glass, which record the composition and chemical evolution of the Moon's far-side mantle beneath the SPA basin

Future prospects

MoonRise received Phase A funding out of the New Frontiers program.[4] The study was one of three concepts to get US$3.3 million funding in 2010 to further develop the mission for the final selection, which was a US$650 million mission to launch in the late 2010s.[5] The three semi-finalists were MoonRise, the OSIRIS-REx sample return mission, and the Venus In Situ Explorer mission.[5]

Although MoonRise was passed over in favor of OSIRIS-REx in the 2011 selection, a South Pole–Aitken basin sample return mission remains part of the 2013–2022 Planetary Science Decadal Survey's recommendation for potential New Frontiers missions,[6] and NASA's Planetary Science Division has expressed support for the Decadal Survey's recommendations.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "MoonRise" (PDF). NASA Facts. NASA. June 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 May 2011.
  2. ^ Clark, Stephen (25 May 2011). "NASA picks robotic asteroid voyager for liftoff in 2016". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  3. ^ Glowatz, Elana (20 December 2017). "NASA's New Frontier Mission Will Search For Alien Life Or Reveal The Solar System's History". International Business Times. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  4. ^ Alkalai, L.; Jolliff, B.; Papanastassiou, D. (2010). An Overview of the MoonRise Lunar Sample Return Mission from the South Pole-Aitken Basin (PDF). 7th International Planetary Probe Workshop. 14–18 June 2010. Barcelona, Spain. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2016.
  5. ^ a b "WUSTL-led Moon mission is finalist for NASA's next big space venture". Washington University in St. Louis. 31 December 2009.
  6. ISBN 978-0-309-22464-2
    .
  7. ^ Weiler, Edward J. (29 July 2011). "Archived copy" (PDF). Letter to Charles F. Kennel. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 January 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2016.{{cite press release}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MoonRise&oldid=1105906042"