SPECIAL REPORT SSI LUNAR PROSPECTOR PROBE PROJECT_________ The Space Studies Institute is actively engaged in developing a small, dedicated lunar orbiting probe. This probe will provide a chemical map of the entire moon and discover whether or not frozen water and other volatiles exist at the lunar poles. Information from such a lunar prospector is vital to the determination of this Nation’s next steps in space. The Moon and SSI’s Critical Path SSI’s supporters and anyone who has read O'Neill’s The High Frontier, are aware of the unique importance of the Moon to humanity’s future in space. Unlike the Earth, which is situated at the bottom of the inner Solar System’s deepest gravity well, our natural satellite is in a “gravity dimple.” The amount of energy required to achieve escape velocity from the Moon is less than onetwentieth of that required for Earth escape. Furthermore, the Moon has no atmosphere to impede launching and is therefore ideal for electromagnetic mass-driver launchers which are vastly more efficient than rocket systems. Although there are other objects in deep space which also are good candidates for space resource utilization by virtue of low delta-v’s (changes in velocity), these are all relatively far away. Eventually, we will use materials from asteroids and perhaps the moons of other planets. But at present, the long distances involved pose enormous barriers of cost and complexity. The Moon’s proximity means that mission opportunities are frequent and that rescue of human crews is possible. It also means that humans can project their intelligence from the Earth via teleoperations, something not possible beyond a few light-seconds distance from a human outpost. Luna Incognita Thanks to the Apollo expeditions we have considerable knowledge of the lunar materials near the Moon’s equator. However, we know very little about those large portions of the lunar surface that lie outside a belt 30 degrees INSTRUMENT/EXPERIMENT CANDIDATES (FOR AN ORBITING SPACECRAFT) INSTR./EXPER. ABBREV. MEASUREMENT(S) HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGER (IMAGER) SURF. MORPHOL., ALBEDO DISTRIBUTION GAMMA RAY SPECTROMETER (GRS) SURF. ELEMENT. COMPOS. (U, Th, K, Si, Al, Mg, Fe, Ti, Ca.S, 0, H, C) X-RAY SPECTROMETER (XRS) SURF. ELEMENT COMPOS. (Si, Al, Mg; Poss. Fe, Ca, Ti, K) RADAR ALTIMETER (ALTIM) SURF. TOPOGRAPHIC (ELEVATION) PROFILES MAGNETOMETER (MAG) MAGNETIC FIELDS (INTERNAL) ELECTRON REFLECTOMETER (ER) MAGNETIC FIELDS (SURFACE) GRAVITY (DSN DOPPLER) (GRAV-DSN) SUBSURF. MASS DISTRIBUTION GRAVITY (WITH SUBSATELLITE RETROREFLECTOR) (GRAV-SUB) SUBSURF. MASS DISTRIBUTION VIS 1BLE/IR MAPPING SPECTROM (VIMS) SURFACE MINERAL COMPOSITION THERMAL/1R MAPPING SPECTROM (TIMS) SURF. MINERAL COMPOS. & TEXTURE MICROWAVE RADIOMETER (MRAD) SUBSURFACE TEMPERATURE GRADIENT Figure 2. NASA lunar observer and experiments LGO (DOPPLER RADAR SGS) DEPLOYED North and South of that equator. For reasons of orbital mechanics, our lunar explorers and their orbiting counterparts have not examined the polar regions of our closest neighbor in space. Given SSI’s plans to use lunar resources for the construction of human colonies and solar power satellites in free space, a complete assessment of available resources is obviously vital. Figure 1 shows remote sensing coverage obtained by gamma-ray spectrometry during Apollo. From a resource standpoint, the majority of the Moon remains “Luna Incognita.” Because the lunar pole is inclined less than 2 degrees (compared with the Earth’s 23 degrees), the Moon’s polar regions are perpetually cold. Scientists have theorized that these regions may form cold traps which SSI SPECIAL REPORT__________________________________________________________LUNAR PROSPECTOR PROBE Figure I. Areas chemically mapped via gamma-ray spectroscopy during Apollo.
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