Anand, M.

Bowles, N.

Burgess, R.

Cockell, C. S.

Crawford, I. A.

Grady, M. M.

Iron, D.

Joy, K. H.

Russell, S. S.

Sephton, M. A.

Sims, M. R.

Smith, D. J.

Woan, G.

Zarnecki, J. C.

English

The University of Manchester - Institutional Repository

The University of Manchester ResearchLunar Mission One: the first crowdfunded mission to theMoon presenting new opportunities for lunar scienceLink to publication record in Manchester Research ExplorerCitation for published version (APA):Joy, K. H., Anand, M., Crawford, I. A., Sims, M. R., Smith, D. J., Burgess, R., Cockell, C. S., Sephton, M. A.,Russell, S. S., Woan, G., Bowles, N., Grady, M. M., Zarnecki, J. C., & Iron, D. (2015). Lunar Mission One: the firstcrowdfunded mission to the Moon presenting new opportunities for lunar science. Poster session presented atLunar and Planetary Science XLVI.Citing this paperPlease note that where the full-text provided on Manchester Research Explorer is the Author Accepted Manuscriptor Proof version this may differ from the final Published version. If citing, it is advised that you check and use thepublisher's definitive version.General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the Research Explorer are retained by theauthors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise andabide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.Takedown policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright please refer to the University of Manchester’s TakedownProcedures [http://man.ac.uk/04Y6Bo] or contact uml.scholarlycommunications@manchester.ac.uk providingrelevant details, so we can investigate your claim.Download date:08. Jun. 2022LUNAR MISSION ONE: THE FIRST CROWDFUNDED MISSION TO THE MOON PRESENTING NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR LUNAR SCIENCE.  M. Anand1 , I. A. Crawford2, M. R. Sims3, A. Smith4, , R. Bur-gess5, K. H. Joy5, C. S. Cockell6, M. A. Sephton7, S. S. Russell8, C. L. Smith8, D. J. Smith9, G. Woan10, N. Bowles11, M. M. Grady1, J. C. Zarnecki1, and D. Iron12. 1The Open University, UK. 2Birkbeck College University of London, UK, 3University of Leicester, UK. 4UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory, UK. 5University of Manchester, UK. 6University of Edinburgh, UK. 7Imperial College, London, UK. 8The Natural History Museum, UK. 9British Geo-logical Survey, UK. 10University of Glasgow, UK. 11University of Oxford, UK. 12Lunar Missions Trust. (Mahesh.Anand@open.ac.uk)   Introduction: Lunar Mission One (LM1) is an ambitious project that has recently secured funding from the members of the public (7297 backers pledg-ing £672,447 (~1 million USD) as of Dec 2014) for the next phase of mission development via the crowdfund-ing platform, Kickstarter. Although unconventional in many respects, this mission concept presents tremen-dous opportunities for the global lunar science com-munity to contribute towards the development of ro-bust science goals that can be achieved through this mission, and, potentially with other follow on mis-sions. In addition to the scientific goals, the project has a strong educational element with respect to motivating and inspiring the next generation of scientists and en-gineers by promoting STEM subjects through its glob-al educational initiative. In this contribution, we main-ly describe the primary science drivers that were per-ceived realistic and achievable at the time of initial LM1 project concept development. We will continue refining the science objectives and goals through input from the global lunar science community and through liason with the strawman payload definition. Mission concept: Lunar Mission One is an explor-atory robotic mission that aims to use pioneering drill-ing technology to drill a borehole > 20 m deep in the south polar region of the Moon. Bringing together schools, academics and the general public from across the world, LM1 will provide the funds to create a pub-lically assembled, free to access digital archive of Life on Earth – of human history and civilisation, and a scientific description of the biosphere with a database of species. When the drilling experiments are com-plete, LM1 will bury the first edition of this public archive deep below the Moon’s surface in the 21st Cen-tury equivalent of a time capsule. This unprecedented educational resource will also be available online, ac-cessible to all, for ongoing contributions and develop-ment after the Mission. The public archive project will run alongside the LM1’s education programme, ensur-ing that schools, colleges and universities can all con-tribute to decisions and discussions about the content. Scientific Drivers: The remainder of this abstract summarizes the top-level science drivers for LM1 (as envisaged in Dec 2014). The original document which forms the basis of this abstract can be found at www.lunarmissionone.com. It is intended that the sci-ence goals will be prioritized, and instruments selected, as the mission becomes better defined.  Landing site and science planning assumptions: It is assumed that a south polar site will be selected in an area of long-duration sunlight - a few hundred days with eclipse durations of less than 50-70 hours. The specific landing locality will be defined after a full study of potential landing sites based on work already performed for previous mission studies (e.g. [1]). All the proposed landing sites (e.g. Shackleton crater and Mons Malapert) lie on, or just within, the rim of the giant South Pole-Aitken (SPA) impact basin [2]. Sci-entifically, these locations are of interest because the local regoliths may contain fragments of SPA impact melt (which could in principle be used to date the ba-sin, a key event in lunar geological history), and frag-ments of lower crustal and/or mantle materials exca-vated by the basin. In addition, the detection and char-acterisation of volatiles that may be retained in these cold polar regoliths is of both scientific, and possibly (in the longer term) practical, interest.  To a first approximation, the near-surface environ-ment of potential polar landing sites are likely to be similar, with several metres of unconsolidated regolith, probably containing blocks of more competent materi-als, overlying more compacted highland ‘mega-regolith’. However, the detailed geological record pre-served in the near sub-surface at various candidate landing sites may be different. As part of a detailed site selection process other potential landing sites will have different considerations and more work is required to define the geological contexts, and likely sub-surface environments for these sites.  The science case is largely predicated on studying samples retrieved from, and instruments placed within a borehole at the landing site. The drilling technology itself, likely either ‘wire-line’ or ‘coiled tubing’, will be subject to detailed study once funding is secured (see [3, 4] for some discussion of extraterrestrial drill-ing technologies). It is assumed that a sub-set of sam-ples from the drilling will be cached for a potential sample return mission that may follow at a later date. If 2611.pdf46th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2015)there is sufficient mass budget available additional instruments may be deployed on the surface, for exam-ple to characterise the abundance and composition of volatiles in the local regolith and the surface environ-ment. Top-level science drivers for Lunar Mission One: A thorough, top-level, prioritisation of lunar science objectives is provided in the US National Research Council (NRC) report [5] and this still represents a broad consensus in the science community on lunar science priorities. Based on this study, and on more recent reviews of the literature (e.g. [6,7] and refs cited therein) the following science goals for LM1 are sug-gested. These will be further refined as mission plan-ning proceeds (no order of priority is implied):  1. Understanding the geochemistry/mineralogy of the lunar crust  a. Determine the physical properties, geochemical and mineralogical composition of the landing site ver-sus depth beneath the surface and determine the extent and structure of the mega-regolith at the landing site.  b. Attempt to identify fragments of deep crustal and/or mantle materials excavated by the SPA impact within the local regolith, and characterise their chemi-cal composition and mineralogy. 2. Characterise the impact history of the landing site and constrain the age of the SPA Basin - Attempt to identify impact melt fragments in the local regolith and attempt to date these (e.g. by using the in situ K-Ar method recently demonstrated by instruments on the Curiosity rover on Mars [8]). This may be able to con-strain the impact history of the landing site, and possi-bly establish an approximate age for the South-Pole Aitken basin. It is recognized that accurate dating will require the return of samples to Earth. For this reason, LM1 will aim to characterise and cache appropriate samples for later collection and return to Earth to ena-ble later accurate age dating and geochemical analyses.  3. Understand the diversity and origin of lunar po-lar volatiles - Determine the volatile content (including OH/H2O) and associated isotopic composition of the local regolith, both at the surface and in drill samples.  4. Constrain models of the lunar interior  a. By placing thermal sensors in the borehole measure the lunar heat flow. This will help characterise the thermal state of the interior at a locality far from the Apollo heat-flow measurements and elucidate the workings of the planetary heat engine.  b. By placing a seismometer in the borehole use seismic signals generated by natural moonquakes and/or meteorite impacts to probe the structure of the lunar crust and mantle at a locality far from the Apollo seismic measurements. Such knowledge will shed light on the	  differentiation of the Moon and, when coupled with geochemical studies, may further constrain the bulk composition of the Moon.  c. In addition, subject to available payload mass and the possible associated future missions, LM1 could also act as a node for a lunar geophysics network fur-ther informing our knowledge of the lunar interior.  5. Characterise the lunar environment for future scientific exploitation and human exploration - Meas-ure the environment at the site and characterise its ra-diation, seismic, dust and charging environment as well as the local exosphere. This will identify possible hazards to future human exploration and habitation. It will also help characterise the lunar environment in preparation for future scientific activities (e.g. astro-nomical observations and fundamental physics exper-iments).  6. Identify resources for future human space explo-ration - Assess the potential for exploiting lunar re-sources for exploration and human habitation from the local mineralogy and volatiles (for context see refer-ence [9] and references cited therein).  7. Assess the potential of the lunar surface as a platform for astronomical observations - Conduct ini-tial proof-of-concept studies for future low-frequency radio astronomy from the Moon, including measure-ments of extra-galactic and galactic sources, terrestrial emission, the lunar exosphere, and the effects of the lunar surface on radio propagation and communication. Additionally, investigate the possibilities for studying the Earth and its magnetosphere from the Moon. Within a notional 30 kg allocation, a model pay-load selection will be made following a detailed study of science return, technical maturity, accommodation (mass, power, telemetry, volume), operational needs, risk and cost, and international exploration priorities. Sample handling will be a key issue since this will impact the instrumentation that will study the recov-ered samples. A strawman payload will be developed that will form the basis of a preliminary design that will be periodically reviewed and refined on the basis of input from an international science advisory group. References: [1] De Rosa, D., et al., Planet. Space Sci., 74, 224-246, (2012). [2] Spudis, P.D., et al., Ge-ophys. Res. Lett., 35, L14201, (2008). [3] Zacny, K., et al., Astrobiol., 8, 665-706, (2008). [4] http://www.planetary.org/explore/projects/planetary-deep-drill/ (2014). [5] NRC, “The Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon”, Washington, DC; The National Academies Press, (2007). [6] Jaumann, R. et al., Planet. Space Sci. 74, 15-41, (2012). [7] Crawford, I.A., Joy, K.H., Phil. Trans. Royal Soc., A372, 20130315: 1-21, (2014). [8] Farley K.A., et al., Science 343, 1247166, (2014). [9] Anand M, et al., Planet. Space Sci., 74, 42-48, (2012). 2611.pdf46th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2015)

Lunar Mission One: the first crowdfunded mission to the Moon presenting new opportunities for lunar science

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Lunar Mission One: the first crowdfunded mission to the Moon presenting new opportunities for lunar science

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