Describing the Moon as “priceless to planetary scientists,” the National Research Council has, at the request of NASA, laid out a plan detailing what the scientific missions and priorities should be if the US returns to the lunar surface under President Bush’s Vision for Space Exploration.
The NRC interim report, The Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon , details in a series of findings and recommendations what science should be pursued. Saying that information is expected from unmanned missions flown before 2010 by the US and other nations, the report calls for NASA to quickly establish two new enabling programs, one for fundamental lunar research and the other for lunar data analysis.
Another recommendation calls for NASA to explore the Moon’s South Pole–Aitken basin. To determine the composition and structure of the lunar interior, the report recommends deployment of a network of geophysical stations across the Moon.
The report...
