The Moon: Future Lunar Missions

Future Lunar Missions

Lunar Prospector Spacecraft

The next NASA mission to the Moon, Lunar Prospector, is scheduled for launch in June 1997. This mission is designed to collect information about surface compositon and other data that will complement the predominantly photographic information of the Clementine mission.

Lunar European Demo Approach (LEDA)

This is a proposed program of the European Space Agency (ESA). It is designed in phases, beginning with missions to further survey the Moon and going on to establish a lunar outpost.

LUNAR-A Mission

This mission is scheduled to be the first mission in the Japanese Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) Lunar Penetrator Program. LUNAR-A will carry and shoot three penetrators on the lunar surface. The penetrators will conduct lunar seismometry and several measurements of surface thermal properties to learn more about interrior structure of the moon.

Lunar Rover Initiative

The Lunar Rover Initiative (LRI) is a joint venture of CMU and LunaCorp with the objective of placing a robot, or robots, on the Moon by the year 2000.

The exploration of the Moon is by no means complete. The ultimate goal of many interested in the ongoing exploration of the Moon is to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon. Reasons for such a base range from mining on the Moon to using the base as a launching point for a manned mission to Mars.




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