The Discovery Program is a series of Solar System exploration missions funded by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) through its Planetary Missions Program Office. The cost of each mission is capped at a lower level than missions from NASA's New Frontiers or Flagship Programs. As a result,Discovery missions tend to be more focused on a specific scientific goal rather than serving a general purpose.
Rille is typically used to describe any of the long,narrow depressions in the surface of the Moon that resemble channels. The Latin term is rima,plural rimae. Typically,a rille can be several kilometers wide and hundreds of kilometers in length. However,the term has also been used loosely to describe similar structures on a number of planets in the Solar System,including Mars,Venus,and on a number of moons. All bear a structural resemblance to each other.
The geology of the Moon is quite different from that of Earth. The Moon lacks a true atmosphere,and the absence of free oxygen and water eliminates erosion due to weather. Instead,the surface is eroded much more slowly through bombardment of the lunar surface by micrometeorites. It does not have any known form of plate tectonics,it has a lower gravity,and because of its small size,it cooled faster. In addition to impacts,the geomorphology of the lunar surface has been shaped by volcanism,which is now thought to have ended less than 50 million years ago. The Moon is a differentiated body,with a crust,mantle,and core.
The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) is a NASA program for development of far reaching,long term advanced concepts by "creating breakthroughs,radically better or entirely new aerospace concepts". The program operated under the name NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts from 1998 until 2007 (managed by the Universities Space Research Association on behalf of NASA),and was reestablished in 2011 under the name NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts and continues to the present. The NIAC program funds work on revolutionary aeronautics and space concepts that can dramatically impact how NASA develops and conducts its missions.
In space exploration,in situ resource utilization (ISRU) is the practice of collection,processing,storing and use of materials found or manufactured on other astronomical objects that replace materials that would otherwise be brought from Earth.
Planetary Transportation Systems (PTS),formerly known as PTScientists and Part-Time Scientists,is a Berlin-based aerospace company. They developed the robotic lunar lander "ALINA" and seek to land on the Moon with it. They became the first German team to officially enter the Google Lunar X-Prize competition on June 24,2009,but failed to reach the finals in 2017 for lack of a launch contract. During the summer of 2019,the company filed for bankruptcy,and the ALINA project was put on hold. In July 2021,PTS was selected with ArianeGroup to build ESA's ASTRIS kick-stage.
A lunar rover or Moon rover is a space exploration vehicle designed to move across the surface of the Moon. The Apollo Program's Lunar Roving Vehicle was driven on the Moon by members of three American crews,Apollo 15,16,and 17. Other rovers have been partially or fully autonomous robots,such as the Soviet Union's Lunokhods and the Chinese Yutus. Three countries have had operating rovers on the Moon:the Soviet Union,the United States and China. An Indian mission failed while Japan and Greece currently have planned missions.
Lunar lava tubes are lava tubes on the Moon formed during the eruption of basaltic lava flows. When the surface of a lava flow cools,it hardens and the lava can channel beneath the surface in a tube-shaped passage. Once the flow of lava diminishes,the tube may drain,forming a hollow void. Lunar lava tubes are formed on sloped surfaces that range in angle from 0.4°to 6.5°. These tubes may be as wide as 500 metres (1,600 ft) before they become unstable against gravitational collapse. However,stable tubes may still be disrupted by seismic events or meteoroid bombardment.
Lunar swirls are enigmatic features found across the Moon's surface,which are characterized by having a high albedo,appearing optically immature,and (often) having a sinuous shape. Their curvilinear shape is often accentuated by low albedo regions that wind between the bright swirls. They appear to overlay the lunar surface,superposed on craters and ejecta deposits,but impart no observable topography. Swirls have been identified on the lunar maria and on highlands - they are not associated with a specific lithologic composition. Swirls on the maria are characterized by strong albedo contrasts and complex,sinuous morphology,whereas those on highland terrain appear less prominent and exhibit simpler shapes,such as single loops or diffuse bright spots.
Human analog missions are activities undertaken on Earth in various environments to simulate aspects of human missions to other worlds,including the Moon,asteroids,and Mars. These remote field tests are performed in locations that are identified based on their physical similarities to the extreme space environments of a target mission. Such activities are undertaken to test hardware and operational concepts in relevant environments.
Terrestrial analogue sites are places on Earth with assumed past or present geological,environmental or biological conditions of a celestial body such as the Moon or Mars. Analogue sites are used in the frame of space exploration to either study geological or biological processes observed on other planets,or to prepare astronauts for surface extra-vehicular activity.
Martian lava tubes are volcanic caverns on Mars that are believed to form as a result of fast-moving,basaltic lava flows associated with shield volcanism. Lava tubes usually form when the external surface of the lava channels cools more quickly and forms a hardened crust over subsurface lava flows. The flow eventually ceases and drains out of the tube,leaving a conduit-shaped void space which is usually several meters below the surface. Lava tubes are typically associated with extremely fluid pahoehoe lava. Gravity on mars is about 38% that of Earth's,allowing Martian lava tubes to be much larger in comparison.
Phobos And Deimos &Mars Environment (PADME) is a low-cost NASA Mars orbiter mission concept that would address longstanding unknowns about Mars' two moons Phobos and Deimos and their environment.
Hargraves is a Hesperian-age complex double-layered ejecta impact crater on Mars. It was emplaced near the crustal dichotomy in the vicinity of the Nili Fossae,the Syrtis Major volcanic plains,and the Isidis impact basin,and is situated within the Syrtis Major quadrangle. Hargraves has been the target of focused study because its ejecta apron is particularly well-preserved for a Martian crater of its size. It has been analogized to similar double-layered ejecta blankets on Earth,including that of the Ries impact structure,which was where the conceptual model for how such craters formed was first advanced.
The Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) is a robotic space probe set for launch in 2024 to bring back the first samples from Mars' largest moon Phobos. Developed by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and announced on 9 June 2015,MMX will land and collect samples from Phobos once or twice,along with conducting Deimos flyby observations and monitoring Mars' climate.
Laura Kerber is an American research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory studying planetary geology. Her research has covered explosive volcanism,wind erosion in deserts,and extraterrestrial caves. Her work focuses mainly on Mercury,Mars,and the Moon. Kerber graduated from Pomona College in 2006 and holds two master's degrees,in Geology and Engineering,and a PhD in Geology from Brown University.
The Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) is a science payload on board the InSight lander that features instruments to study the heat flow and other thermal properties of Mars. One of the instruments,a burrowing probe nicknamed "the mole",was designed to penetrate 5 m (16 ft) below Mars' surface. In March 2019,the mole burrowed a few centimeters,but then became unable to make progress due to various factors. In the following year further attempts were made to resolve the issues,with little net progress. On January 14,2021,it was announced that efforts to drill into the martian surface using the device had been terminated.
Bi-sat Observations of the Lunar Atmosphere above Swirls (BOLAS) is a spacecraft mission concept that would orbit the Moon at very low altitude in order to study the lunar surface. The concept,currently under study by NASA,involves two small identical CubeSat satellites connected vertically above the lunar surface by a 25 km long tether. The mission goal would be to understand the hydrogen cycle on the Moon,dust weathering,and the formation of lunar swirls.
The Lunar Polar Exploration mission (LUPEX),also known as Chandrayaan-4,is a robotic lunar mission concept by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) that would send a lunar rover and lander to explore the south pole region of the Moon no earlier than 2025. JAXA is likely to provide the under-development H3 launch vehicle and the rover,while ISRO would be responsible for the lander.
ISOCHRON is a proposed lunar sample-return mission that would retrieve samples of the youngest lunar mare basalt.
