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Lunar polar coring lander
| Content Provider | NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
|---|---|
| Author | Hudson, Raymond Benarroche, Patrice Henry, Alan Bealmear, David Angell, David Rivellini, Tommaso Tolmachoff, Alex |
| Copyright Year | 1990 |
| Description | Plans to build a lunar base are presently being studied with a number of considerations. One of the most important considerations is qualifying the presence of water on the Moon. The existence of water on the Moon implies that future lunar settlements may be able to use this resource to produce things such as drinking water and rocket fuel. Due to the very high cost of transporting these materials to the Moon, in situ production could save billions of dollars in operating costs of the lunar base. Scientists have suggested that the polar regions of the Moon may contain some amounts of water ice in the regolith. Six possible mission scenarios are suggested which would allow lunar polar soil samples to be collected for analysis. The options presented are: remote sensing satellite, two unmanned robotic lunar coring missions (one is a sample return and one is a data return only), two combined manned and robotic polar coring missions, and one fully manned core retrieval mission. One of the combined manned and robotic missions has been singled out for detailed analysis. This mission proposes sending at least three unmanned robotic landers to the lunar pole to take core samples as deep as 15 meters. Upon successful completion of the coring operations, a manned mission would be sent to retrieve the samples and perform extensive experiments of the polar region. Man's first step in returning to the Moon is recommended to investigate the issue of lunar polar water. The potential benefits of lunar water more than warrant sending either astronauts, robots or both to the Moon before any permanent facility is constructed. |
| File Size | 8340689 |
| Page Count | 160 |
| File Format | |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://archive.org/details/NASA_NTRS_Archive_19900016601 |
| Archival Resource Key | ark:/13960/t9x110r9k |
| Language | English |
| Publisher Date | 1990-05-04 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Lunar And Planetary Exploration Water Moon Satellite Observation Ice Regolith Manned Space Flight Robotics Remote Sensing Operating Costs Viking Lander Spacecraft Core Sampling Lunar Soil Astronauts Lunar Bases Robots Ntrs Nasa Technical Reports Server (ntrs) Nasa Technical Reports Server Aerodynamics Aircraft Aerospace Engineering Aerospace Aeronautic Space Science |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Technical Report |
