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WASHINGTON – NASA is seeking ideas from scientists on what research astronauts could conduct during the first Artemis lunar landing mission in 2024.
NASA announced on August 21 that it was researching brief white papers on science that the astronauts on the Artemis 3 mission can complete. Articles, not exceeding two pages, must be submitted to the agency by September 8.
The documents will support the work of a scientific definition team from the Science Mission Directorate of NASA to develop science objectives for the Artemis 3 mission. This team will also use a number of other resources, ranging from the 10-year survey from planetary science to a “road map” for lunar science created by an advisory group, the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group.
“We want to make sure the science is ready to go,” Lori Glaze, director of NASA’s planetary science division, said at an Aug. 17 meeting of NASA’s planetary science advisory committee. This includes making sure that astronauts are trained on the science and are equipped with the right tools and instruments. “They will have what they need to do science on the surface.”
The science goals, she said, will feed into the general goals of the Artemis 3 mission being developed by the Human Exploration Mission and Operations Directorate. “We want to participate” in this effort, she said, “by making sure that we have the scientific input”.
It is not yet clear what capabilities will be available to scientists on Artemis 3, but will likely be limited, at least compared to future mission plans. As NASA studies concepts for an unpressurized rover, and Japan’s JAXA space agency has announced plans to develop a pressurized rover, NASA’s announcement for the white papers says the two astronauts on Artemis 3 will perform ” several ‘walking tours’ to its landing site near the moon’s south pole but makes no mention of a rover.
During these lunar excursions, astronauts will collect samples of moon rocks and regoliths and use cameras and other instruments, including those operated by the astronauts themselves and those deployed to the surface, potentially for an operation after the departure of the astronauts.
The call for white papers doesn’t look for information about the instruments or associated technologies, but NASA is already investigating what is needed. “We’re trying to determine what instrumentation will be needed,” said Brad Bailey, a program scientist in the agency’s Exploration Science Strategy and Integration Office, later in the meeting. This ranges from portable instruments to those that can be bolted to the side of the lander.
Some instruments and other equipment, he said, could be delivered to robotic landers in advance, such as through NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.
One outstanding issue is the number of samples Artemis 3 and later missions will be able to return to Earth. Last fall’s call for proposals for the Human Landing System program set a minimum mass of returned samples of only 35 kilograms, including the mass of sample containers. Agency officials then said the goal was to return 100 kilograms, but the rush to return to the moon by 2024 placed restrictions on what could be done at least on that landing mission. initial. This has worried scientists who continue to study samples returned from the Apollo missions half a century ago but are eager to obtain new samples.
Returning as many samples as possible remains a priority, Bailey said. “The science of samples is definitely at the heart and the core of anything we plan to do moving forward,” he said. “One of our main goals is to bring back samples, and a lot of them. You can’t have enough samples. “
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