(Accepted for publication in Planetary and Space Science)

Back to the Moon: The Scientific Rationale for Resuming Lunar

Surface Exploration
I. A. Crawforda,b,*, M. Anandc,d, C. S. Cockelle, H. Falckef,g,h, D. A. Greeni, R.
Jaumannj, M. A. Wieczorekk

Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Birkbeck College, Malet Street,

London, WC1E 7HX, UK.

Centre for Planetary Sciences at UCL/Birkbeck, UK.

Planetary and Space Sciences, Department of Physical Sciences, The Open
University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK.

Department of Mineralogy, The Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, UK.

School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, UK.

Department of Astrophysics, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON), Postbus 2, 7990 AA

Dwingeloo, The Netherlands.

Max-Planck-Institut fr Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hgel 69, 53121 Bonn,

Germany.

Centre of Human and Aerospace Physiological Sciences, King's College London,

London, SE1 1UL, UK.

DLR, Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, Germany.

Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Univ Paris Diderot, France.

* Corresponding author: Tel : +44 203 073 8026

Email address: i.crawford@bbk.ac.uk

Abstract

The lunar geological record has much to tell us about the earliest history of the Solar
System, the origin and evolution of the Earth-Moon system, the geological evolution
of rocky planets, and the near-Earth cosmic environment throughout Solar System
history. In addition, the lunar surface offers outstanding opportunities for research in
astronomy, astrobiology, fundamental physics, life sciences and human physiology
and medicine. This paper provides an interdisciplinary review of outstanding lunar
science objectives in all of these different areas. It is concluded that addressing them
satisfactorily will require an end to the 40-year hiatus of lunar surface exploration,
and the placing of new scientific instruments on, and the return of additional samples
from, the surface of the Moon. Some of these objectives can be achieved robotically
(e.g. through targeted sample return, the deployment of geophysical networks, and the
placing of antennas on the lunar surface to form radio telescopes). However, in the
longer term, most of these scientific objectives would benefit significantly from
renewed human operations on the lunar surface. For these reasons it is highly
desirable that current plans for renewed robotic surface exploration of the Moon are
developed in the context of a future human lunar exploration programme, such as that
proposed by the recently formulated Global Exploration Roadmap.

Keywords: Moon; Lunar science; Lunar geology; Lunar geophysics; Lunar

astronomy; Space exploration; Astrobiology; Space life sciences; Space medicine

1. Introduction
Over the last decade there has been a renaissance in lunar exploration conducted from
orbit about the Moon, with the following countries all sending remote-sensing
spacecraft to lunar orbit during this period: European Space Agency: SMART-1
(2004); Japan: Kaguya (2007); China: Change-1 (2007), Change-2 (2010); India:
Chandrayaan-1 (2008); and the United States: Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO;
2009), GRAIL (2012). However, none of these spacecraft were designed to land on
the Moons surface in a controlled manner, although the US Lunar CRater
Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS; co-launched with LRO) and the
Chandrayaan-1 Moon Impact Probe (MIP) did deliberately impact the lunar surface in
an effort to detect polar volatiles. Indeed, it is sobering to realise that no spacecraft of
any kind has successfully landed on the Moon in a controlled manner since the
Russian robotic sample return mission Luna 24 in August 1976, and that no human
being has set foot on the Moon since Apollo 17 in December 1972. In this paper we
argue that this long hiatus in lunar surface exploration has been to the detriment of
lunar and planetary science, and indeed of other sciences also, and that the time has
come to resume the robotic and human exploration of the surface of the Moon.

The strong scientific case for renewed lunar exploration was already recognized in a
comprehensive study conducted by the European Space Agency in 1992 on Europes
Priorities for the Scientific Exploration and Utilization of the Moon (ESA 1992).
Many of the conclusions of this earlier study remain valid today, albeit with some
need of updating in light of more recent discoveries, and we will follow its basic
framework in what follows. In particular, the ESA study found that lunar science
objectives can logically be divided into three categories: (i) Science of the Moon (i.e.

studies of the Moon itself); (ii) Science on the Moon (i.e. studies using the lunar
surface as a platform for scientific investigations not directly related to the Moon
itself); and (iii) Science from the Moon (i.e. studies utilising the lunar surface as a
platform for astronomical observations).

2. Science of the Moon

From a planetary science perspective, the primary importance of the Moon arises from
the fact that, owing to a lack of recent geological activity and active erosional
processes, it has an extremely ancient surface, mostly older than 3 billion years with
some areas extending almost all the way back to the origin of the Moon 4.5 billion
years ago (e.g. Hiesinger and Head 2006; Jaumann et al., 2012). Its relatively
accessible near-surface environment therefore preserves a record of the early
geological evolution of a terrestrial planet, which more complex planets such as Earth,
Venus and Mars, have long lost, and of the Earth-Moon system in particular.
Moreover, the lunar surface provides a platform for geophysical instruments (e.g.
seismometers and heat-flow probes) to probe the structure and composition of the
deep interior, which is also required if we are to use the Moon as a model for
terrestrial planet evolution. Last, but not least, the Moons outer layers also preserve a
record of the environment in the inner Solar System (e.g. meteorite flux,
interplanetary dust density, solar wind flux and composition, galactic cosmic ray flux)
throughout Solar System history, much of which is relevant to understanding the past
habitability of our own planet (e.g. Crawford, 2006; Cockell, 2010).

Gaining access to this information lies primarily in the domain of the geosciences (i.e.
geology, geophysics, and geochemistry), and will require a return to the lunar surface
with robotic and/or human missions.

The most recent study of Science of the Moon objectives is the US National
Research Councils Report on the Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon
(NRC 2007; hereinafter the SCEM Report). This study identified, and prioritized,
eight top-level scientific concepts (each of which can be broken down into multiple
individual science goals), and identified the capabilities that would be required of
space missions designed to address them. We note that several of these objectives (i.e.
those which could be addressed by a South Pole-Aitken Basin sample return mission
and a lunar geophysics network) were also strongly endorsed by the recent US
Planetary Science Decadal Survey (NRC, 2011). As a basis for discussion, we
summarise these here (as given in Table 4.1 of NRC 2007), and in each case highlight
how surface (human and/or robotic) exploration will aid in meeting these scientific
objectives.

2.1 The Bombardment History of the Inner Solar System

The vast majority of lunar terrains have never been directly sampled, and their ages
are based on the observed density of impact craters calibrated against the ages of
Apollo and Luna samples (e.g. Neukum et al., 2001; Stffler et al., 2006). However,
the current calibration of the cratering rate, used to convert crater densities to absolute
ages, is neither as complete nor as reliable as it is often made out to be. For example,
there are no calibration points that are older than about 3.85 Ga, and crater ages
younger than about 3 Ga are also uncertain (e.g. Hiesinger et al., 2012). Furthermore,

longitudinal variations in the cratering rate on the surface of the Moon are predicted
by orbital dynamics models, but these are difficult to confirm with existing data (Le
Feuvre and Wieczorek, 2011). Improving the calibration of the cratering rate would
be of great value for planetary science for the following three reasons: (i) It would
provide better estimates for the ages of unsampled regions of the lunar surface; (ii) It
would provide us with a more reliable estimate of the impact history of the inner Solar
System, especially that of our own planet; and (iii) The lunar impact rate is used, with
various other assumptions, to date the surfaces of other planets for which samples
have not been obtained (including key events and stratigraphic boundaries on Mars),
and to the extent that the lunar rate remains unreliable so do the age estimates of
surfaces on the other terrestrial planets.

Moreover, there is still uncertainty over whether the lunar cratering rate has declined
monotonically since the formation of the Moon, or whether there was a bombardment
cataclysm between about 3.8 and 4.0 billion years ago characterised by an unusually
high rate of impacts (Hartmann et al., 2000; Stffler et al., 2006). Clarifying this issue
is especially important from an astrobiology perspective because it defines the impact
regime under which life on Earth became established (e.g. Maher and Stevenson,
1988; Sleep et al., 1989; Ryder, 2003; for an illustration of this unresolved issue see
Fig. 2.3 of NRC 2007).

In principle, obtaining an improved cratering chronology is straightforward: it

merely requires the sampling, and radiometric dating, of surfaces having a wide
range of crater densities, supplemented where possible by dating of impact melt
deposits from individual craters and basins (Stffler, et al., 2006). However, in

practice this is likely to require the implementation of multiple missions to many

different sites (see the detailed discussion by Stffler, et al., 2006). These might be
robotic missions, ideally involving rover-facilitated mobility and either in situ
radiometric dating or, preferably, a sample return capability (e.g. Shearer and Borg,
2006). The possibilities of robotic in situ radiometric dating techniques have been
investigated by a number of workers (e.g. Talboys et al., 2009; Trieloff et al., 2010),
and such in situ measurements may be able to address some key questions in lunar
science (e.g. verifying the approximate ages of the youngest lava flows estimated by
crater counting). However, the practicality of performing in situ radiometric dating
with sufficient accuracy to obtain definitive results for chronology has been
questioned (e.g. Taylor et al., 2006). Additional robotic sample return missions to key
localities, such as the South Pole-Aitken basin (as envisaged by the MoonRise
proposal; Jolliff et al., 2010) would undoubtedly improve our knowledge in key
respects (Cohen and Coker, 2010). However it is likely to prove impractical to target
dedicated robotic sample return missions to sufficient locations to fully characterise
lunar chronology. Given the enhanced mobility, sample collection efficiency and
sample return capacity actually demonstrated by the Apollo missions (e.g. Vaniman et
al., 1991; Crawford, 2012), it seems clear that obtaining anything approaching a
complete lunar impact chronology will, at the very least, be greatly facilitated by new
human missions to the lunar surface.

2.2 The structure and composition of the lunar interior

As noted in the SCEM Report, the structure of the lunar interior provides fundamental
information on the evolution of differentiated planetary bodies. The Moon is
especially important in this respect because, lacking plate tectonics, its crust and

mantle have remained almost completely isolated from each other for more than 4
billion years. Given the limited volcanic activity on the Moon since its formation, and
given the sluggish convection in the mantle of this single-plate planet, the interior of
the Moon should retain a record of early planetary differentiation processes that more
evolved planetary bodies have since lost.

Despite data from a rudimentary geophysical network that was set up during the
Apollo missions (ALSEP; Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package), keys aspects
of the Moons interior structure, composition, and evolution are left unanswered (for a
summary, see Wieczorek et al. 2006). The thickness of the crust, which is critical for
estimating the bulk composition of the Moon, is debated, with recent estimates being
almost half of those made during the Apollo era. The existence of a seismic
discontinuity in the mantle 500 km below the surface, which could either be a
reflection of primordial differentiation or later magmatic processes, is also debated.
Four heat flow measurements (at two sites each) were made during Apollo (Langseth
et al. 1976) in order constrain the Moons bulk composition and thermal evolution,
but in retrospect, these were found to be made near the edge of an atypical province
enriched in heat-producing elements (Jolliff et al., 2000). It is not clear if these unique
measurements are representative of either the ancient feldspathic highlands terrane, or
of the more volcanically active Procellarum KREEP terrane. Though most data
indicate that the Moon has a small molten core (e.g. Weber et al., 2011), neither its
size nor composition are well constrained, and the existence of a solid inner core has
remained elusive.

Resolving these questions will require making further geophysical measurements.

While a few such measurements can be made from orbit (such as the measurement of
the Moons gravity and magnetic fields; Purucker and Nicholas 2010, Zuber et al.,
2011), most require geophysical instruments to be placed on, or below, the lunar
surface. Key instruments in this respect are seismometers, to probe the structure of the
deep interior (e.g. Lognonn, 2005; Yamada et al., 2011), heat-flow probes to
measure the heat loss from the lunar interior and its spatial variations (Langseth, et al.,
1976), and magnetometers to measure the thermal conductivity profile. Such
instruments can in principle be placed and operated on the lunar surface robotically
without direct human intervention, such as envisaged for the proposed Farside
Explorer (Mimoun et al., 2012) and Lunette (Neal et al., 2011) missions, the
International Lunar Network (Cohen et al., 2010; also http://iln.arc.nasa.gov/), and the
LunarNet penetrator concept (Smith et al., 2012). Nevertheless, as discussed below,
human deployment of such instruments would be extremely beneficial.

The thermal perturbation caused by an autonomous lander, which would bias the heat
flow measurements, could be minimized by placing the heat flow experiment far from
the landing site (Kiefer, 2012). The emplacement of thermal probes several meters
below the surface would be greatly facilitated by a human operated drill, as was aptly
demonstrated during the deployment of the heat flow package by the Apollo
astronauts. Moreover, thanks to the human operated portable magnetometers used
during the Apollo 14 and 16 missions, it is known that the surface magnetic fields can
vary dramatically, and even change direction, over kilometer scale distances (e.g.,
Fuller and Cisowski 1987); human-led magnetic surveys over large distances would
be invaluable in deciphering the origins of these enigmatic fields. Strong magnetic

fields can help in deflecting harmful solar and cosmic rays, but it is currently difficult
to quantify this potential benefit to human exploration activities in the absence of
detailed surface magnetic field map (e.g., Halekas et al., 2010).

A human return to the lunar surface would therefore benefit geophysical

investigations by the additional payload capacity, operational flexibility, and long
traverses that are inherent in human missions (e.g. Spudis, 2001; Garvin, 2004;
Crawford, 2004).

2.3 The diversity of lunar crustal rocks

The SCEM Report highlighted the fact that key planetary processes are manifested in
the diversity of lunar crustal rocks. Quantifying and understanding this diversity will
require detailed chemical and mineralogical analysis of rocks and soils from as yet
unsampled regions of the lunar surface. In particular, no samples have yet been
returned from the polar regions or the far-side, thus greatly limiting our knowledge of
lunar geological processes. Although, statistically, many of the 160 or so known lunar
meteorites (http://meteorites.wustl.edu/lunar/moon_meteorites_list_alpha.htm) must
originate from these areas, and provide an excellent statistical sampling of the lunar
crust (e.g. Korotev, 2005), the value of these materials is limited by a lack of
knowledge of their source regions and thus geological context.

The diversity of lunar crustal materials has been demonstrated most recently by new
results from orbital remote sensing instruments on Kaguya, Chandrayaan-1 and LRO.
These include outcrops of pure anorthosite which may represent pristine magma
ocean flotation cumulates (Ohtake et al., 2009); olivine rich outcrops which may

sample mantle material (Yamamoto et al., 2010); and spinel-rich (Sunshine et al.,
2010) and silica-rich (Greenhagen et al. 2010; Glotch et al. 2010; Jolliff et al., 2011)
lithologies not represented in the existing sample collection. It is important to confirm
the interpretation of the remote-sensing data as no ground-truth has yet been
obtained for any of these localities. It is also important to obtain measurements of
minor and trace elements in these materials which cannot be detected by orbital
remote-sensing instruments, but which are essential to discriminate between different
suggested origins and formation mechanisms.

Sample return missions to currently unsampled regions would be the preferred means
of furthering our knowledge of lunar geological diversity. Although an alternative
would be to make robotic in situ geochemical measurements, as proposed for both the
Farside Explorer (Mimoun et al., 2012) and LunarNet (Smith et al., 2012) mission
concepts, a full understanding of geological processes requires the ability to measure
the isotopic composition and concentrations of minor and trace elements at levels that
may be beyond the capabilities of in situ robotic instruments. In addition, mobility is
crucially important if the local geological diversity in the vicinity of a landing site is
to be properly characterized. As was the case for determining surface ages (Section
2.1), and for essentially the same reasons, characterizing lunar geological diversity
would greatly benefit from a renewed human presence on the lunar surface provided
that such missions were targeted at sites carefully chosen with this objective in mind.

2.4 Volatiles at the lunar poles

As noted in the SCEM Report, the lunar poles potentially bear witness to the flux of
volatiles present in the inner Solar System throughout much of Solar System history.

In 1998 the Lunar Prospector neutron spectrometer found evidence of enhanced

concentrations of hydrogen at the lunar poles (Feldman et al., 1998), which was
widely interpreted as indicating the presence of water ice in the floors of permanently
shadowed polar craters. Radar observations have also been used to infer the presence
of ice in such regions (e.g. Spudis et al., 2010; but see Fa et al. 2011 for an alternative
interpretation). The presence of water ice in permanently shadowed craters was
supported by the LCROSS impact experiment, which found a water ice concentration
of 5.6 2.9 % by weight in the target regolith at the Cabeus crater (Colaprete et al.,
2010). It seems likely that this water is ultimately derived from the impacts of comets
(and/or water-rich asteroids) with the lunar surface, although solar wind implantation
and endogenic sources might also contribute (for a brief review see Anand, 2010).
However, the inferred quantity of water is sensitive to the calibration of the
spectrometers on the LCROSS probe and a number of other assumptions (Colaprete et
al. 2010). Ideally, therefore, this result needs to be confirmed by in situ
measurements.

In addition to ice in permanently shadowed craters, infra-red remote-sensing

observations have found evidence for hydrated minerals, and/or adsorbed water or
hydroxyl molecules, over large areas of the high latitude (but not permanently
shadowed) lunar surface (Pieters et al. 2009; Sunshine et al., 2009; Clark, 2009). It is
hypothesised this OH/H2O, which cannot exist as ice, is produced by the reduction of
iron oxides in the regolith by solar wind-implanted hydrogen, with OH/H2O being
retained in the relatively cold high-latitude regolith. It is possible that, over time, this
high-latitude OH/H2O may migrate to polar cold traps and contribute to ice deposits
there (Crider and Vondrak 2002), and this scenario is supported by observations of

water molecules in the lunar exosphere made by the Moon Impact Probe (MIP)
released by Chandrayaan-1 (Sridharan et al., 2010).

As discussed by Anand (2010) and Smith et al. (2012), obtaining improved

knowledge of the presence, composition, and abundance of water (and other volatiles)
at the lunar poles is important for several reasons:

It is probable that the ice in permanently shadowed regions is ultimately

derived from comet and/or asteroid impacts. Even though the original volatiles
will have been considerably reworked, it is likely that some information
concerning the composition of the original sources will remain. Among other
things, this may yield astrobiologically important knowledge on the role of
comets and meteorites in delivering volatiles and pre-biotic organic materials
to the terrestrial planets (Chyba and Sagan 1992; Pierazzo and Chyba 1999).

The processes involved in the creation, retention, migration, and destruction of

OH and H2O across the surface of the Moon are likely to be common on other
air-less bodies, and quantifying them on the Moon will give us better insight
into the volatile history and potential availability of water elsewhere in the
inner solar system.

Lunar polar ice deposits are of considerable astrobiological interest, even if

they do not retain vestigial information concerning their ultimate sources. This
is because any such ices will have been subject to irradiation by galactic
cosmic rays and, as such, may be expected to undergo organic synthesis

reactions (e.g. Lucey, 2000). Analogous reactions may be important for

producing organic molecules in the icy mantles of interstellar dust grains, and
on the surfaces of outer Solar System satellites and comets (e.g. Bernstein et
al., 2002; Elsila et al., 2007), but the lunar poles are much more accessible
than any of these other locations.

The presence of water ice at the lunar poles, and even hydrated materials at
high-latitude but non-shadowed localities, could potentially provide a very
valuable resource in the context of future human exploration of the Moon (e.g.
Anand et al., 2012; this issue).

Confirming the interpretation of the remote sensing measurements, and obtaining

accurate values for the concentration of polar ice and high latitude surficial OH/H2O
will require in situ measurements by suitably instrumented and landed spacecraft. The
requirements for permanently shadowed environments and high latitude, but nonpermanently shadowed, environments are rather different. The conditions within
permanently shadowed areas, where temperatures can be below 40 K (Paige et al.,
2010), are not readily amenable to human exploration or even robotic vehicles (unless
these are equipped with a nuclear power source or long-lived batteries capable of
operating at very low temperatures). For these environments a penetrator-based
system, such as envisaged in the MoonLITE and LunarNet mission concepts (Gao et
al., 2008; Smith et al., 2012), may be a possibility. On the other hand, nonpermanently shadowed polar localities are amenable to solar-powered robotic
exploration, and proposals such as ESAs Lunar Lander (Carpenter et al., 2010;
2012), and Lunar Beagle (Gibson et al., 2010), would provide valuable initial

measurements of volatiles in these environments. In the longer term, a full

characterization of polar volatiles, as for other aspects of lunar geology, would benefit
from the increased mobility and flexibility that would be provided by human
exploration (which would of course be facilitated at the poles if exploitable quantities
of volatiles prove to be present).

2.5 Lunar volcanism

The SCEM Report identified the charaterization of lunar volcanism as a high lunar
science priority because of the window it provides into the thermal and compositional
evolution of the lunar mantle. Since the SCEM Report was published new remote
sensing observations have indicated that lunar volcanism is even more diverse than
previously thought, with the identification of probable areas of non-mare silicic
volcanism on both the near- and far-sides (Glotch et al., 2010; Jolliff et al., 2011).
There is no doubt that these areas would benefit from in situ investigation. However,
from a lunar exploration perspective, this is just one aspect of the wider requirement
to sample a diverse set of lunar rocks (Section 2.3), and the implications for
exploration capabilities are essentially the same.

2.6 Impact processes

Impact cratering is a fundamental planetary process, an understanding of which is
essential for our knowledge of planetary evolution. Yet our knowledge of impact
processes is based on a combination of theoretical modelling, small-scale laboratory
hyper-velocity impact experiments, and field geological studies of generally poorlypreserved terrestrial impact craters (Melosh, 1989). The Moon provides a unique
record of essentially pristine impact craters of all sizes (from micron-sized pits up to

1000-km impact basins). Field studies, combining sample collection (including drill
cores) and in situ geophysical studies (e.g. active seismic profiling), of the ejecta
blankets and sub-floor structures of pristine lunar craters of a range of sizes would
greatly aid in our understanding of the impact cratering process. As discussed by
Crawford (2004), the implied requirements for mobility, deployment of complex
geophysical instruments, sub-surface drilling, and sample return capacity are likely to
outstrip the capabilities of purely robotic exploration and would be greatly facilitated
by a human exploration programme.

2.7 Regolith processes

The SCEM Report noted that the lunar surface is a natural laboratory for
understanding regolith processes and space weathering on airless bodies throughout
the Solar System. In addition to their scientific interest, better characterisation of the
composition, volatile content and mechanical properties of lunar regolith will also be
important for planning In-Situ Resource Utilisation (ISRU) applications in support of
future lunar exploration activities (e.g. Anand et al., 2012; Schwandt et al., 2012). As
noted in Section 2.4, the nature of relatively cold high-latitude regoliths, which have
never been sampled or studied in situ, and which may contain a volatile component,
are of particular interest. Many of the properties of both high- and low-latitude
regoliths could be investigated by appropriate instruments on robotic soft-landers such
as ESAs proposed Lunar Lander (Carpenter et al., 2012) or penetrators such as the
LunarNet concept (Smith et al., 2012).

Another important aspect of the lunar regolith is the record it contains of early solar
and Solar System history. Studies of Apollo samples have revealed that solar wind

particles are efficiently implanted in the lunar regolith (McKay et al., 1991; Lucey et
al., 2006), which therefore contains a record of the composition and evolution of the
Sun throughout Solar System history (e.g. Wieler et al., 1996). Recently, samples of
the Earths early atmosphere appear to have been retrieved from lunar regolith
samples (Ozima et al., 2005; 2008), and it has been suggested that samples of Earths
early crust may also be preserved there in the form of terrestrial meteorites
(Gutirrez,, 2002; Armstrong et al., 2002; Crawford et al., 2008; Armstrong, 2010).
Meteorites derived from elsewhere in the Solar System will likely also be found on
the Moon, preserving a record of the dynamical evolution of small bodies throughout
Solar System history (Joy et al., 2011; 2012). Last but not least, the lunar regolith may
contain a record of galactic events, by preserving the signatures of ancient galactic
cosmic ray (GCR) fluxes, and the possible accumulation of interstellar dust particles
during passages of the Sun through dense interstellar clouds (Crozaz et al., 1977;
McKay et al., 1991; Crawford et al., 2010). Collectively, these lunar geological
records would provide a window into the early evolution of the Sun and Earth, and of
the changing galactic environment of the Solar System, that is unlikely to be obtained
in any other way. Much of this record has clear astrobiological implications, as it
relates to the conditions under which life first arose and evolved on Earth.

From the point of view of accessing ancient Solar System history it will be desirable
to find layers of ancient regoliths (palaeoregoliths) that were formed and buried
billions of years ago, and thus protected from more recent geological processes, (e.g.
Spudis, 1996; Crawford et al., 2010; Fagents et al., 2010; see Figure 1 of Crawford et
al., 2010 for a pictorial representation of the process). Locating and sampling such
deposits will likely be an important objective of future lunar exploration activities, but

they will not be easy to access.

Although robotic sampling missions might in

principle be able to access palaeoregoliths at a limited number of favorable sites (for

example where buried layers outcrop in the walls of craters or rilles), fully sampling
this potentially rich geological archive of Solar System history will probably require
the mobility and sample return capabilities of human exploration (Spudis, 2001;
Garvin, 2004; Crawford, 2004). The specific requirements of a human exploration
architecture capable of locating and sampling palaeoregolith deposits have been
described elsewhere (Crawford et al., 2010).

2.8 Atmospheric and dust environment

The final broad lunar science area discussed by the SCEM Report related to studies of
the lunar atmosphere and near-surface dust environment. Of particular interest is the
need to characterise the composition of the tenuous lunar exosphere (which has a
variable density in the range 105 107 atoms or molecules cm-3; Lucey et al., 2006),
and its interaction with the surface regolith. This in turn will help constrain models of
the lunar volatile budget discussed in Section 2.4. The extent to which transient
releases of gasses into the atmosphere may occur is also of interest, as this may
correlate with on-going low-level geological activity (Crotts, 2008). The surface dust
environment, and especially the extent to which dust grains may become
electrostatically charged and transported, is another important research topic (e.g.
Grn et al., 2011; Pines et al., 2011; Horanyi and Stern, 2011), not least because of
the potential hazards mobile dust may pose to scientific instruments and human
operations on the surface (NRC, 2007; Loftus et al., 2010; Linnarsson et al., 2012).
Some of the processes involved are likely to be common on other air-less bodies, and

quantifying them on the relatively accessible lunar surface will therefore give us
better insight into regolith/exosphere interactions throughout the Solar System.

Although some aspects of these investigations can be performed from lunar orbit (for
example relevant observations will be performed by the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust
Environment Explorer, LADEE, mission due for launch in 2013), more detailed
studies of the lunar dust and plasma environment will require in situ surface
measurements. These may be provided by suitably instrumented robotic landers, such
as ESAs proposed Lunar Lander mission (Carpenter et al., 2012). However, it is
important to note that the landed missions have the potential to significantly disturb
the tenuous lunar atmospheric environment, and that this will be especially true of
human operations (NRC, 2007). It is therefore scientifically highly desirable that the
lunar atmosphere/exosphere be properly characterized by minimally invasive robotic
probes before human operations are resumed on the lunar surface.

3. Science on the Moon

3.1 Life sciences and astrobiology

The Moon is a potentially valuable site to address a range of life science and
astrobiology questions (e.g. Crawford, 2006; Gronstal et al., 2007; Cockell 2010;
Crawford and Cockell, 2010). These questions broadly fall into three categories:

3.1.1 Research that enhances our understanding of the habitability of the Earth
through time
As the Earth's closest celestial neighbour the Moon retains a unique record of the
inner Solar System environment under which life evolved on our planet. The
metamorphism and alteration of terrestrial Archaean (i.e. >2.5 Gyr old) rocks and
their organic microfossils limits the quantity of material that can be used to
understand the nature of early life on the Earth. The possibility that rocks ejected by
asteroid and comet impacts on the early Earth may have landed on the Moon provides
a tantalising possibility for a lunar surface source of early Earth material (Gutirrez,,
2002; Armstrong et al. 2002; Crawford et al., 2008; Armstrong, 2010). The quantity
of this material is predicted to be as much as 200 kg/km2. The Moon may also have
collected material ejected from other planetary bodies in the Solar System. Early
rocks from Mars and Venus, both of which have early histories of enormous
biological interest, might also exist on the Moon (Gladman et al. 1996; Armstrong et
al. 2002), although the quantity and distribution and condition of this material is more
uncertain. In addition, the lunar regolith, and especially buried palaeoregoliths (Spudis
1996), likely contains a record of solar wind flux (and thus solar luminosity) and
galactic cosmic rays (and thus the galactic environment of the solar system)
throughout solar system history (Crawford et al., 2010; Fagents et al., 2010). Much of
this record will be directly relevant to understanding the past habitability of our own
planet.

3.1.2 Research that enhances our understanding of the possibility of life elsewhere in
the Universe

Although the Moon has, almost certainly, never supported any life of its own, lunar
exploration will nevertheless inform our searches for life elsewhere. This includes a
record of volatile fluxes in the inner solar system (NRC, 2007; Anand, 2010), and
information on the survival of both microorganisms and organic matter in extreme
planetary conditions.

The impacts that occurred into the Moon in its early history included material in
addition to terrestrial rocks, such as cometary material and chondritic and
carbonaceous meteorites (e.g. Joy et al., 2012). Protected either in the subsurface or in
permanently shadowed craters (Seife, 2004; Vasavada et al., 1999), these might
provide insights into the inventory of volatile and/or organic material that penetrated
the early inner Solar System, and what quantity may still do so today. Insofar as these
organics might have provided an exogenous source of prebiotic organics necessary to
kick-start life on the Earth, investigating organics on the Moon has important
contributions to make to understanding the origin of life on the Earth. Indigenous
organic processing on the Moon may also yield insights into the chemical pathways of
alteration, and fate, of organics in interplanetary space (e.g., Lucey, 2000).

In addition, the lunar environment contains the crashed remains of unsterilized

spacecraft. The bacterial spores that these craft may contain could be collected and
examined for DNA and other biochemical damage, as well as examined for their
viability. Human or robotic explorers could be developed to collect these organisms

for study on the Moon or return to the Earth. The organisms returned from these craft
would answer many questions about the longevity of microorganisms in the space
environment that will inform fields as diverse as planetary protection, for example
allowing for an assessment of how long contaminant organisms survive on other
planetary surfaces (Rummel, 2004; Glavin et al., 2004, 2010) and biogeography, for
example, showing whether organisms can survive the conditions in interplanetary
space and the impact conditions of landing on another planetary surface after being
transferred from one planet to another (Clark, 2001; Horneck et al., 2001; Mastrapa et
al., 2001; Burchell, 2004; Cockell et al., 2007; Nicholson et al., 2005).

3.1.3 Research that advances the human exploration and settlement of space

The space environment is hostile to life and includes hard vacuum, high radiation
(both UV and ionizing radiation), altered gravity regimes, the presence of biologically
and mechanically aggravating dust, and difficulties in acquiring liquid water and
gases to breathe (e.g. Horneck, 1996; Horneck et al., 2003). The Moon is therefore a
testing ground for technological principles and approaches for dealing with the major
environmental parameters that affect life in outer space. For example, the Moon can
be used to investigate whether the effects of gravity are linear or whether there are
critical threshold in effect (e.g. Cockell, 2010), the biological effects of the radiation
environment beyond the Earths magnetosphere, and the toxicity of lunar dust
(Carpenter et al., 2010; Loftus et al., 2010; Linnarsson et al., 2012).

Organisms could also be taken to the lunar surface and used to carry out
investigations in situ using surface laboratories (as proposed for ESAs Lunar Lander;
Carpenter et al., 2010). Microorganisms, plants and animals could be used to
investigate a variety of questions, including the cumulative effects of space conditions
(Mileikowsky et al., 2000; Blakely, 2000; Clark, 2001; Brenner et al., 2003; Giusti et
al., 1998; Horneck et al., 2003; Stein and Leskiw ,2000; Zayzafoon et al., 2005;
Carpenter et al., 2010) and their use in life support systems (Tamponnet 1996; Sadeh
and Sadeh, 1997; Bluem and Paris, 2001; Henrickx et al., 2006). These experiments
would yield new insights into the evolution of organisms in the space environment,
the possibility of microbial, plant, and cultivated crop production, and the potential for
healthy human and animal reproduction in space.

3.2 Human physiology and medicine

Acceleration produced by the force of gravity is an omnipresent factor that modulates
many biological processes (Clment and Slenzka, 2006). Historically, much of the
space biomedical science focus has been upon whole-body physiology, reflecting the
immediate challenge of maintaining astronaut (and thus mission) functionality
(Garshnek, 1989; Williams, 2003). Most physiological systems are known to
progressively adapt to life in microgravity (Nicogossian et al., 1994), however many
encounter problems upon re-exposure to a gravitation vector. Alterations in spatial
orientation (Lipshits et al., 2005) and sensory-motor function (e.g. Kalb and Solomon,
2007; Souvestre et al., 2008) are acutely challenging but re-adapt rapidly, whereas
cardiovascular (Hargens and Richardson, 2009; Hughson, 2009) and musculoskeletal
system (Narici and de Boer 2011) de-conditioning can precipitate chronic health
issues as well as imparing astronaut operations. A raft of countermeasures including

various exercise regimes, nutrition and behavioural support are employed in space
missions (Convertino, 2002; Cavanagh et al., 2005), but these fail to entirely
ameliorate microgravity-induced de-conditioning. As a consequence, the maximum
recommended stay on the International Space Station (ISS) is currently 6 months
(Williams et al., 2009).

Partly, this failure relates to the fact that just how gravity affects biological processes
is largely unknown, at the level of an organism, a system, or of an individual cell. In
fact, whilst life appears well adapted to gravity today, it presented a major challenge
to emergence from the prehistoric aquatic environment. Gravitropism (a plant
growths sensitivity to gravity) has been well documented since Darwin, and it is
highly likely that gravity also has an important role in the regulation of animal cells.
In fact, intra-cellular force sensors (sensitive to physical pressure and structural strain)
have been proposed as part of standard cellular architecture (Wayne et al, 1992).

Even minor alterations in the physical force environment (Klaus, 1998) may have
significant downstream effects. An abnormal gravity environment is likely to inhibit
sedimentation, equalising molecular (and thus affecting electro-chemical gradients)
and organelle distribution, and modify cytoskeletal activity and gene transcription
(Cogoli and Cogoli-Greuter, 1997). Such processes may in part explain observed
gravity-dependent changes in cellular growth, proliferation and regeneration
(Sonnenfeld and Shearer, 2002; Borchers, et al., 2002), organisation (Vico et al.,
2000), and healing (Davidson et al., 1999; Radek et al., 2008). For instance, reduced
lymphocyte proliferation, delayed bone cell differentiation (Hughes-Fulford and
Lewis, 1996), and retardation of pre-natal (e.g. Bruce, 2003) and post-natal

development (e.g. Ronca and Alberts, 1997) and locomotion (Walton, 1998) have all
been observed in a number of animal models in microgravity.

Monitoring human adaptation to prolonged exposure to partial gravity, such as exists

on the Moon, may offer significant insights into vestibular disorders (Clment et al.,
2005) and a range of processes beyond associated in ageing (Vernikos and Schneider,
2010), disuse pathology (Edgerton et al., 2000; Elmann-Larsen and Schmitt, 2003)
and lifestyle conditions such as the metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease.
The lunar partial gravity model would supplement the knowledge accrued by long
duration ISS microgravity exposure, by adding a point at 1/6th g from which to
investigate gravity dose-dependence (e.g. Cockell, 2010). In addition, by providing a
more tightly controlled environment in terms of the nutritional, medical (including
remote monitoring) and exercise countermeasure support, the Moon would offer an
opportunity to test the efficacy of countermeasure and/or therapeutic approaches
within otherwise healthy and well motivated individuals (e.g. Green, 2010). The
lunar partial gravity is likely to offer some protection to de-conditioning that will
likely not only facilitate longer operational durations than the ISS, but also has greater
relevance and applicability to life on Earth than the microgravity environment of the
ISS. There would therefore be the opportunity to understand the physiological effects
of gravity that are not possible within either a 1-g or a microgravity environment.
Such studies were beyond the scope of the limited duration Apollo missions, but
would be facilitated by longer-term human operations on the Moon.

Finally, there would be much to learn about life support (e.g. bio-regenerative food,
breathable air, and water closed-loops; Ekhart, 1996), and medical support provision,

from human operations in a lunar base beyond research into partial gravity effects.
Examples include individualised medicine (Kalow 2002), carcinogenesis (Rykova et
al., 2008), viral virulence (Wilson et al., 2007), robotic surgery (Cermack, 2006),
telemetric medical monitoring (Grigoriev and Egorov, 1997), and even basic health
care delivery due to the severe resource and technical assistance limitations (Mortimer
et al., 2004). In contrast to the popular myth, space biomedical devices must be simple
(to operate and repair), robust, compact, light, low consumers, non-invasive and
multi-faceted (e.g. diagnostic and interventional ultrasound; Ma et al., 2007) and
ideally preventative (Thirsk et al., 2009). Such characteristics possess value well
beyond space applications, e.g. in remote societies and disaster zones, and could also
facilitate de-centralised care provision within the developed world offering efficacy
and cost-effectiveness benefits (Williams, 2002).

It follows that while incorporating humans in future lunar exploration may add to the
associated risks and challenges, it would radically enhance both its scientific
capabilities and the resulting benefits (including potential biomedical benefits) to
society.

3.3 Fundamental physics

Although not a major driver for lunar exploration, it is recognized that a number of
research fields in the area of fundamental physics may benefit from the ability to
place scientific instruments on the lunar surface. These include tests of General
Relativity through improved lunar laser ranging measurements (e.g. Livio, 2006;
Burns et al., 2009; Currie et al., 2010), tests of quantum entanglement over large

baselines (Schneider, 2010), and searches for strange quark matter (Banerdt, et al.,
2007; Han et al., 2009).

4. Science from the Moon Astronomy

4.1 Why Astronomy?

A natural area to use the Moon as a platform for performing scientific experiments is
astronomy (for summaries see, e.g., Burns et al., 1990; Livio, 2006; Crawford and
Zarnecki, 2008; Jester and Falcke, 2009). Almost the entire electromagnetic spectrum
is currently being used to study the universe from radio to high-energy gamma ray
emission. Different frequencies typically relate to different physical processes, and
consequently the universe looks markedly different in optical, infrared, or radio
wavelengths. Hence, during the last century modern telescopes have diversified and
evolved enormously, fundamentally changing our view of the universe and our place
therein. Due to their ever increasing sensitivity, which allows one to peer deeper and
deeper into the earliest phases of the cosmos, the requirements for telescope sites have
become more and more extreme: one simply needs the best possible observing
conditions. The most important factors here are light pollution (at the relevant
frequencies) and distortions due to the atmosphere. Light pollution is generally caused
by any form of civilization, thereby pushing observatories to more and more remote
locations. Detrimental effects of the atmosphere include:

temporary effects such as clouds and water vapour, which temporarily absorb
and disturb optical or high-frequency radio radiation,

turbulence in the ionosphere or troposphere, which distorts radio or optical

wave fronts, thereby severely degrading the image quality,

air glow, which can overpower sensitive infrared observations,

total absorption of radiation, e.g., of very low-frequency radio, infrared, X-ray,

and gamma-ray radiation.

The best and in many cases only remedy is to observe from dry deserts, high
mountains, or from space. Two of the most remote, but also most exquisite,
astronomical sites on Earth are the Atacama desert and Antarctica. The former
currently hosts some of the worlds largest telescopes, including ESOs 8m-class Very
Large Telescopes (VLT), the ALMA sub-mm-wave radio telescope, and in the future
probably also the ~40 m diameter European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT; see
http:// www.eso.org). A century after its initial exploration, Antarctica now also hosts
a number of somewhat smaller telescopes (e.g., the South Pole Telescope, Carlstrom
et al., 2011) as well as the giant IceCube detector. IceCube is the worlds largest
neutrino observatory, using the ice itself as detector material (e.g., Abbasi et al.,
2011).

The Moon would be a logical next step in the quest for the most suitable sites to be
used for astronomy. An important secondary important factor in selecting a site,
however, is the available infrastructure: How accessible is the site for people and
material? How does one obtain power and how good is the data connection? Already
for Antarctica this poses serious constraints, and it took a long time until this
continent became useful for scientific exploitation. It is needless to say that the Moon
is even more difficult to reach. Hence, like Antarctica, any significant exploitation of
the Moon requires a developed infrastructure something that would likely become
available only in conjunction with human exploration of the Moon. Even then one has

to assess how unique and useful the Moon is for astronomy in the first place. After all,
the International Space Station (ISS), while having a well-developed infrastructure
available, is not used for telescopes; its small, relatively unstable platform in lowEarth orbit (LEO) is simply too poor a telescope site to be competitive. Hence, the
vast majority of space-based telescopes have been associated with free-flying
satellites. Of course, some of these satellites, most notably the Hubble Space
Telescope (HST), benefited from the heavy lift capabilities of the Space Shuttle and
the servicing possibilities the human space flight program offered (NRC, 2005).
Indeed, it is interesting to note that the one human-serviced space telescope, HST, is
in fact the most productive of all astronomy space missions even many years after its
launch (see Tables 4 and 6 in Trimble and Ceja, 2008; HST produced 1063 papers in
the time frame 2001-2003, compared to 724 for Chandra, the next most productive).

So, the question to ask is: Which type of telescopes would uniquely benefit from a
lunar surface location? This question has been addressed in a couple of workshops
and scientific roadmaps in recent years (Falcke et al., 2006; Livio, 2006; NRC, 2007;
Crawford and Zarnecki, 2008; Worms et al., 2009). In the following section we try to
synthesize these findings.

4.2 Which astronomy?

There is a wide consensus that a low-frequency radio telescope (i.e. a radio telescope
operating at frequencies below 30-100 MHz) would be the highest priority (e.g., Jester
and Falcke, 2009; Burns et al., 2009). Radio waves at these frequencies are seriously
distorted by the Earths ionosphere and completely absorbed or reflected at
frequencies below 10-30 MHz. Hence, the low-frequency universe is the last

uncharted part of the electromagnetic spectrum, and a lunar infrastructure would

greatly benefit its exploration. Of particular relevance for science here is the
investigation of the dark ages of the universe. This is the epoch several hundred
million years after the big bang, but before the formation of the first stars and black
holes, when the cosmos was mainly filled with dark matter and neutral hydrogen. This
epoch contains still pristine information of the state of the big bang and can
essentially only be observed through radio emission from atomic hydrogen red-shifted
to several tens of MHz. The best location to study this treasure trove of cosmology
(Loeb and Zaldariaga 2004) would indeed be on the lunar far-side.

Other science topics of interest for a lunar radio telescope include:

A high-resolution map of the universe and a general inventory of lowfrequency radio sources ground-based maps around 10 MHz are very poor
compared to any other wavelength due to the effects of the ionosphere (Cane
and Whitham 1977);

Search for and study of radio emission from planets and exoplanets
(Griemeier et al. 2007);

Investigation of the local plasma bubble around our solar system; and

Radio-detection of ultra-high energy cosmic rays. In fact the Moon itself is

already now being used as a detector for ultra-high energy neutrinos (Gorham

et al. 2004, Buitink et al. 2010, Jaeger et al. 2011) and cosmic rays (ter Veen
et al. 2010) with the help of radio telescopes.

More details on the various science cases, an extensive review of past studies, and a
summary of relevant observing constraints can be found in Jester and Falcke (2009).

Low-frequency telescopes are currently being built using a network of many,

relatively simple dipole-like antennas (e.g., the LOFAR telescope; van Haarlem et al.
2012). The individual antennas are digitally connected to form a large interferometer
(a phased array), which acts as one large, steerable telescope dish, but without any
moving parts. These radio antennas can be made robust and lightweight to transport
many of them into space, while the Moons gravity and surface would keep them
fixed relative to each other. Moreover, if placed at the far-side of the Moon, the Moon
itself would shield the telescope from any radio pollution (also called radio frequency
interference, RFI) originating from Earth. This RFI can be either of man-made origin
or due to natural Auroral Kilometric Radiation (AKR) in the Earths magnetosphere.
In fact due to this shielding and lack of its own magnetic activity the farside of the
Moon probably belongs to the most radio-quiet places in our solar system. This has
been long recognized and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has
accordingly designated the lunar far-side as a radio-quiet zone for radio astronomy
(ITU Radio Regulations, Article 22, Section V). The installation of such a lowfrequency radio array could proceed in several steps, starting with a few antennas and
then growing to a larger and larger network (ideally out to tens to hundreds or
kilometres with thousands of antennas). While the first steps can certainly be done

robotically, a large-scale installation over such diverse terrain and large distances, will
ultimately be much more efficient with the presence of humans on the surface.

In addition to radio telescopes, a number of other types of lunar observatories have

been discussed (for example, see the discussion reported by Crawford and Zarnecki,
2008). The huge cost overruns of the HST-successor, JWST, have shown how
difficult it is to fold-up and bring even medium-sized optical telescopes into space.
For certain applications liquid-mirror telescopes have been proposed, whereby the
combination of a rotating fluid and the Moons gravity would form a perfect (nonsteerable) mirror that could detect the very first stars in the universe (Angel et al.
2008), although this technique currently has a rather low technical readiness. Perhaps
a simpler, and scientifically topical and important, implementation of lunar-based
telescopes would be to obtain disc-integrated spectral, polarimetric, and albedo
measurements of the Earth. Such observations could provide important insights into
both the Earths radiation budget and climate (e.g. Pall and Goode, 2009), and the
interpretation of observations of Earth-like exoplanets and the interpretation of
planetary biosignatures (e.g. Sparks et al., 2010; Karalidi et al., 2012).

With regard to larger instruments, the lunar surface and gravity may facilitate the
construction of interferometers by combining a set of smaller optical, IR, and submm-wave telescopes a concept similar to the radio interferometer array. However,
here shielding is not such an issue and one needs to compare these Moon-based
interferometers with free-flying and formation-flying satellites. The latter concept has
been the preferred option for small-number-of-elements interferometers (e.g., Cockell
et al. 2009). On the other hand, formation flight to the required precision for

astronomical interferometers has not been realized so far, while ground-based

interferometers are well understood and tested.

Moreover, the Moon as a large airless body could host detectors for cosmic ray
particles. Those particles are typically absorbed in the Earths atmosphere but would
reach the lunar surface unimpeded. The detectors could be distributed over the Moon
to study solar-wind induced structural variations of the cosmic ray flux at low
energies. At energies above 1015 eV the composition of cosmic rays could be directly
measured, if a large detector can be built using, e.g., lunar water resources. Here,
however, one needs to critically assess whether the science return justifies the
undoubtedly high costs for these concepts.

Finally, the simple presence of a lunar infrastructure for human activities, may lend
itself to the relatively simple installation of smaller telescopes and experiments.
Indeed, Apollo 16 deployed a UV telescope on the Moon (Carruthers, 1973) a class
of telescopes that was later flown on satellites (e.g. the International Ultraviolet
Explorer, IUE). This would qualify as opportunistic science, i.e., missions that
simply catch a ride, given it is there. At the very least, an existing science-park on
the Moon would take the burden of taking along ones own attitude control, powersupply, or data handling capability, which now has to be carried by every astronomy
satellite. Whether by the time such an infrastructure is likely to be available there will
still a sufficient science case left for such small telescopes remains to be seen. On the
other hand, it is worth noting that, perhaps surprisingly, small robotic telescopes have
revolutionized some areas of astronomy (e.g., planet searches, Gamma-Ray-Burst
afterglows) in recent years and may continue to do so.

To summarize: a low-frequency lunar radio telescope to map the last unexplored

frequency window to the universe, and to explore the dark ages of the universe,
should be feasible and would be uniquely suited for the Moons far-side. Small
optical/IR telescopes to observe the Earth from the nearside may also be scientifically
valuable. Large (10 metre plus) optical telescopes or interferometers might at some
point benefit from the lunar surface as a platform, but the technical case for this still
needs to be developed, and the Moon as a site for such telescopes needs to be better
studied. Smaller telescopes could be installed, using lunar activities as opportunity.
All options would certainly benefit from a sustainable human return to the Moon, but
certainly will not drive it. This situation is, however, not very much different from the
usage of Antarctica for astronomy, where astrophysicists simply made use of the fact
that Antarctic exploration programs and infrastructure already existed. Perhaps the
same will happen with the Moon in the coming decades.

As a final note: a potentially disturbing factor for many telescopes at wavelengths

shorter than radio is the unknown dust mobility on the Moon, which might cover
mirrors and joints over a period of time. Also, for radio telescopes the dielectric
properties of the lunar surface, the existence of an ionosphere, and the temporal (e.g.,
through cosmic rays) and spectral radio background variations should be studied to
verify the feasibility of the lunar surface for future astronomy applications. Hence,
any lunar precursor missions, such as ESAs proposed Lunar Lander (Carpenter et al.,
2008; 2012) should investigate these effects in more detail in order to optimize future
astronomical observations from the Moon..

5 Conclusions
Summarising the above, we see that the lunar geological record still has much to tell
us about the earliest history of the Solar System, the origin and evolution of the EarthMoon system, the geological evolution of rocky planets, and the near-Earth cosmic
environment throughout Solar System history. These lunar science objectives were
strongly endorsed by the US National Research Council Report on the Scientific
Context for Exploration of the Moon (NRC 2007), and a number of them (i.e. those
which could be addressed by sample return from the South Pole-Aitken Basin and by
the creation of a lunar geophysics network) received high priority in the recent US
Planetary Science Decadal Survey (NRC, 2011). Addressing these objectives requires
an end to the 40-year hiatus of lunar surface exploration, with the placing of scientific
instruments on, and the return of samples from, the surface of the Moon, with a
particular emphasis on regions not previously visited. It is also clear that the lunar
surface offers outstanding opportunities for research in astronomy, astrobiology,
fundamental physics, life sciences and human physiology and medicine.

Many of these objectives, can be addressed robotically, as reflected by the large

number of proposals for lunar surface robotic exploration that have been put forward
in recent years (e.g. MoonLITE and MoonRaker, Gao et al., 2008; MoonRise, Jolliff
et al., 2010; Lunar Beagle, Gibson et al., 2010; SELENE-2, Hashimoto et al., 2011;
Luna-Glob, Mitrofanov et al., 2011; Lunette, Neal et al., 2011; LunarNet, Smith et
al., 2012; Farside Explorer, Mimoun et al., 2012; and ESAs Lunar Lander, Carpenter
et al., 2012). However, in the longer term, it is also clear that most of these scientific
objectives would benefit from the scientific infrastructure, on the spot decision
making, enhanced surface mobility, and sample return capacity that would be

provided by renewed human operations on the lunar surface (e.g. Spudis, 2001;
Garvin, 2004; Cockell, 2004; Crawford, 2004; 2012). Indeed, some of these scientific
objectives will be impossible to conduct robotically (i.e. those related to human
physiology and medicine where humans will form the experimental subjects), and
others (e.g. deep drilling into the lunar crust to extract undisturbed palaeoregolith
deposits with their potentially rich record of Solar System history) may be wholly
impractical without a human presence. That said, it is also true that a human return to
the Moon will benefit from robotic precursor missions, for example to assess possible
seismic and impact hazards, regolith properties (including possible dust toxicity;
Linnarsson et al. 2012, this issue), the radiation environment, and in situ resource
availability (Anand et al. 2012, this issue). For all these reasons it is highly desirable
that current plans for robotic exploration of the lunar surface are developed in the
context of a future human exploration programme.

Fortunately, such a programme is under active international discussion. In 2007 the

Worlds space agencies came together to develop the Global Exploration Strategy
(GES), which lays the foundations for a global human and robotic space exploration
programme (GES 2007). One of the first fruits of the GES has been the development
of a Global Exploration Roadmap (GER 2011), which outlines possible international
contributions to human and robotic missions to the Moon, near-Earth asteroids and,
eventually, Mars. Implementation of this roadmap would provide many opportunities
for pursuing the science objectives outlined in this paper, and lunar science would
therefore be a major beneficiary of its implementation.

Acknowledgements
We wish to thank Dr James Carpenter for his enthusiastic support of lunar science in
Europe, for organising this Special Issue of Planetary and Space Science, and for his
invitation to contribute to it. We thank the two referees (Dr. Wim van Westrenen, the
other anonymous), for comments which have greatly improved the quality of the
manuscript.

References

Abbasi, R. et al., 2011 Limits on Neutrino Emission from Gamma-Ray Bursts with
the 40 String IceCube Detector, Physical Review Letters, 106, 141101.

Anand, M., 2010. Lunar water. Earth Moon Planets, 107, 65-73.

Anand, M, Crawford, I.A., Balat-Pichelin, M., Abanades, S., van Westrenen, W.,
Praudeau, G., Jaumann, R., Seboldt, W., 2012 A brief review of chemical and
mineralogical resources on the Moon and their potential utilization. Planet. Space
Sci., (this volume).

Angel, R., et al., 2008. A Cryogenic Liquid-Mirror Telescope on the Moon to Study
the Early Universe. Astrophys. Journal, 680, 1582-1594.

Armstrong, J.C., 2010. Distribution of impact locations and velocities of Earth

meteorites on the Moon. Earth Moon Planets, 107, 43-54.

Armstrong, J.C., Wells, L.E. and Gonzales, G., 2002. Rummaging through Earths
attic for remains of ancient life. Icarus, 160:183-196.

Banerdt, W. B., Chui, T., Griggs, C.E., Herrin, E.T., Nakamura, Y.,; Paik, H.J.,
Penanen, K., Rosenbaum, D., Teplitz, V. L., Young, J., 2007. Using the Moon as a
low-noise seismic detector for strange quark nuggets, Nuclear Physics B Proceedings
Supplements, 166, 203-208.

Bernstein, M.P., Dworkin, J.P., Sandford, S.A., Cooper, G.W., and Allamandola, L.J.
2002. The formation of racemic amino acids by ultraviolet photolysis of interstellar
ice analogs. Nature, 416:401-403.

Blakely, E.A., 2000. Biological effects of cosmic radiation: deterministic and

stochastic: setting the framework. Health Phys. 79, 495506.

Bluem, V., Paris, F., 2001. Aquatic modules for bioregenerative life support systems
based on the CEBAS biotechnology. Acta Astronaut 48, 287297.

Borchers, A.T., Keen, C.L., Gershwin, M.E., 2002. Microgravity and immune
responsiveness: implications for space travel. Nutrition 18(10), 889-898.

Brenner, D.J., Doll, R., Goodhead, D.T., Halla, E.J., Land, C.E., Little, J.B., Lubin,
J.H., Preston, D.L., Preston, R.J., Puskin, J.S., Ron, E., Sachs, R.K., Samet, J.M.,

Bruce, L.L., 2003. Adaptations of the vestibular system to short and long-term
exposures to altered gravity. Adv Space Res. 32(8), 1533-9.

Bruce, L.L., 2003. Adaptations of the vestibular system to short and long-term
exposures to altered gravity. Adv Space Res., 32(8), 1533-9.

Buitink, S., Scholten, O., Bacelar, J., Braun, R., de Bruyn, A.~G., Falcke, H., Singh,
K., Stappers, B., Strom, R.G., Yahyaoui, R.A., 2010. Constraints on the flux of ultrahigh energy neutrinos from Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope observations.
Astron. Astrophys., 521, A47.

Burchell, M.J., 2004. Panspermia today. Int. J. Astrobiology 3, 7380.

Burns, J.O., Duric, N., Taylor, G.J., Johnson, S.W., 1990. Observatories on the Moon.
Scientific American, 262(3), 18-25.

Burns, J.O., et al., 2009. Science from the Moon: The NASA/NLSI Lunar University
Network for Astrophysics Research (LUNAR). Submitted as a white paper to the
planetary sciences decadal review, ArXiv e-prints arXiv:0909.1509.

Cane, H.V., Whitham, P.S., 1977. Observations of the southern sky at five frequencies
in the range 2-20 MHz. Mon. Not. Roy. Astron. Soc., 179, 21-29.

Carlstrom, J.E., et al., 2011. The 10 Meter South Pole Telescope. Pub. Astron. Soc.
Pacific, 123, 568-581.

Carpenter, J.D., Houdou, B., Koschny, D., Crawford, I.A., Falcke, H., Kempf, S.,
Lognonne, P., Ricci, C., Pradier, A., 2008. The MoonNEXT Mission: A European
Lander at the Lunar South Pole. Joint Annual Meeting of LEAG-ICEUM-SRR,
October 28-31, 2008, Cape Canaveral, Florida; LPI Contributions 1446, 33.

Carpenter, J.D., Angerer, O., Durante, M., Linnarson, D., Pike, W.T., 2010. Life
siciences investigations for ESAs first lunar lander. Earth Moon Planets, 107, 11-23.

Carpenter, J.D., Fisackerly, R., Pradier, A., Houdou, B., De Rosa, D., Gardini., B.,
2012. Science and payload activities in support of the ESA lunar lander. Lunar and
Planetary Science Conference, 43, 1990.

Carruthers, G.R., 1973. Apollo 16 far-ultraviolet camera/spectrograph: Instrument and

operations. Applied Optics,12, 2501-2508.

Cavanagh, P.R., Licata, A.A., Rice, A.J., 2005. Exercise and pharmacological
countermeasures for bone loss during long-duration space flight. Gravit. Space Biol.
Bull. 18(2), 39-58.

Cermack, M., 2006. Monitoring and telemedicine support in remote environments and
in human space flight. Brit. J. Anaesth. 97(1), 107-114.

Chyba, C.F., Sagan, C.,1992.

Endogenous production, exogenous delivery and

impact-shock synthesis of organic molecules: an inventory for the origins of life.

Nature, 355, 125-132.

Clark, B.C., 2001. Planetary interchange of bioactive material: probability factors and
implications. Orig. Life Evol. Biosph. 31, 185197.

Clark, R.N., 2009. Detection of adsorbed water and hydroxyl on the Moon. Science,
236, 562-564.

Clment, G., Reschke, M.S., Wood, S., 2005. Neurovestibular and sensorimotor
studies in space and Earth benefits. Curr. Pharm. Biotechnol. 6(4), 267-283.

Clment, G., Slenzka, K., (eds.), 2006. Fundamentals of Space Biology: Research on
Cells, Animals and Plants in Space (Springer Science Business Media, New York).

Cockell, C.S., 2004. The value of humans in the biological exploration of space. Earth
Moon Planets 94 233-243.

Cockell, C.S., 2010. Astrobiology what can we do on the Moon? Earth, Moon
Planets 107, 3-10.

Cockell, C.S, Brack, A., Wynn-Williams, D.D., Baglioni, P. Demets, R., Edwards,
H., Gronstal, A., Kurat, G., Lee, P., Osinski, G.R., Pearce, D., Pillinger, J., Roten,
C.A., Sancisi-Frey, S., 2007. Interplanetary transfer of photosynthesis: an

experimental demonstration of a selective dispersal filter in planetary island

biogeography. Astrobiology 7, 19.

Cockell, C.S. et al., 2009. Darwin-a mission to detect and search for life on extrasolar
planets. Astrobiology 9, 1-22.

Cogoli, A., Cogoli-Greuter, M., 1997. Activation and proliferation of lymphocytes

and other mammalian cells in microgravity. Adv. Space Biol. Med. 6, 3379.

Cohen, B.A., et al., 2010. NASA's International Lunar Network Anchor Nodes and
Robotic Lunar Lander Project Update, Lunar Exploration Analysis Group 2010, 14.

Cohen, B. A., Coker, R. F., 2010. Pulling Marbles from a Bag: Deducing the Regional
Impact History of the SPA Basin from Impact-Melt Rocks, Lunar and Planetary
Science Conference, 41, 2475.

Colaprete, A., Schultz,P., Heldmann, J., Wooden,D., Shirley, M., Ennico, K.,
Hermalyn, B., Marshall, W., Ricco, A., Elphic, R.C., Goldstein, D., Summy, D., Bart,
G.D., Asphaug, E., Korycansky D., Landis D., Sollitt L., 2010. Detection of water in
the LCROSS ejecta plume. Science, 330, 463-468.

Convertino, V.A., 2002. Planning strategies for development of effective exercise and
nutrition countermeasures for long-duration space flight. Nutrition 18(10), 880888.

Crawford, I.A., 2004. The scientific case for renewed human activities on the Moon.
Space Policy, 20, 91-97.

Crawford, I.A., 2006. The Astrobiological Case for Renewed Robotic and Human
Exploration of the Moon. Internat. J. Astrobiology, 5, 191-197.

Crawford, I.A., 2012. Dispelling the myth of robotic efficiency: why human space
exploration will tell us more about the Solar System than relying on robotic
exploration alone. Astronomy and Geophysics, 53, 2.22-2.26.

Crawford, I.A., Cockell, C.S., 2010. Astrobiology on the Moon, Astronomy and
Geophysics, 51, 4.11-4.14.

Crawford, I.A., Zarnecki, J., 2008., Astronomy from the Moon, Astronomy and
Geophysics, 49, 2.17-2.19.

Crawford, I.A., Baldwin, E.C., Taylor, E.A., Bailey, J. and Tsembelis, K., 2008. On
the survivability and detectability of terrestrial meteorites on the Moon. Astrobiology,
8, 242-252.

Crawford, I.A., Fagents, S.A., Joy, K.H., Rumpf, M.E., 2010. Lunar palaeoregolith
deposits as recorders of the galactic environment of the Solar System and implications
for astrobiology. Earth Moon Planets, 107, 75-85.

Crider, D. H. and Vondrak, R. R., 2002. Hydrogen migration to the lunar poles by
solar wind bombardment of the Moon. Adv. Space Res., 30, 1869-1874.

Crotts, A.P.S., 2008. Lunar Outgassing, Transient Phenomena, and the Return to the
Moon. Astrophysical Journal, 687, 692-705.

Crozaz, G., Poupeau, G., Walker, R.M., Zinner, E., Morrison, D.A., 1977. The record
of solar and galactic radiations in the ancient lunar regolith and their implications for
the early history of the Sun and Moon. Phil. Trans. Royal Soc., A285, 587-592.

Currie, D. G., Delle Monache, G., Dell'Agnello, S., 2010. A lunar laser retroreflector
for the for the 21st century (LLRRA-21): selenodesy, science and status. American
Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #P51C-1467.

Davidson, J.M., Aquino, A.M., Woodward, S.C., Wilfinger, W.W., 1999. Sustained
microgravity reduces intrinsic wound healing and growth factor responses in the rat.
FASEB J. 13, 325329.

Eckart P., 1996. Spaceflight Life Support and Biospherics, Microcosm Press,
Torrance, CA.

Edgerton, V.R., Roy, R.R.., Hodgson, JA., Day, M.K., Weiss, J., Harkema, S.J.,
Dobkin, B., Garfinkel, A., Konigsberg, E., Koslovskaya, I., 2000. How the science
and engineering of spaceflight contribute to understanding the plasticity of spinal cord
injury. Acta Astronaut. 47(1), 51-62.

Elsila, J.E., Dworkin, J.P., Bernstein, M.P., Martin, M.P., Sandford, S.A., 2007.
Mechanisms of Amino Acid Formation in Interstellar Ice Analogs. Astrophys. J., 660,
911-918.

Elmann-Larsen, B., Schmitt, B,D., 2003. Staying in bed to benefit ESA's astronauts
and Europe's citizens. ESA Bull. 113, 34-39.

ESA, 1992. Mission to the Moon: Europes priorities for the scientific exploration and
utilization of the Moon, ESA SP-1150.

Fa, W., Wieczorek, M.A., Heggy, E., 2011. Modeling polarimetric radar scattering
from the lunar surface: Study on the effect of physical properties of the regolith layer.
Journal Geophys. Res., 116, CiteID E03005.

Fagents, S.A., Rumpf, M.E., Crawford, I.A. and Joy, K.H., 2010. Preservation
potential of implanted solar wind volatiles in lunar paleoregolith deposits buried by
lava flows. Icarus, 207, 595-604.

Falcke, H. et al., 2006. Towards a European Infrastructure for Lunar Observatories

Joint Statement, Workshop Bremen 2006 (http://www.astron.nl/moon/).

Feldman, W.C., Maurice, S., Binder, A.B., Barraclough, B.L., Elphic, R.C.,
Lawrence, D.J., 1998. Fluxes of fast and epithermal neutrons from Lunar Prospector:
evidence for water ice at the lunar poles. Science, 281, 1496-1500.

Fuller M, and S.M. Cisowski, 1987. Lunar paleomagnetism. In: Geomagnetism,

Jacobs J.A. (ed), Academic Press, p 307-455.

Gao, Y., Phipps, A., Taylor, M., Crawford, I.A., Ball, A.J., Wilson, L., Parker, D.,
Sweeting, M., da Silva Curie, A., Davies, P., Baker, A., Pike, W.T., Smith, A., and
Gowen, R., 2008. Lunar science with affordable small spacecraft technologies:
MoonLITE and Moonraker. Planet. Space Sci., 56, 368-377.

Garshnek, V., 1989. Soviet space flight: the human element. Aviation Space Environ.
Med. 60(7), 695-705.

Garvin, J., 2004. The science behind the vision for US space exploration: the value of
a human-robotic partnership. Earth Moon Planets 94 221-232

GES, 2007. The Global Exploration Strategy: Framework for Coordination

(http://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/GES_Framework_final.pdf).

GER,

2011.

The

Global

Exploration

Roadmap

(http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/591067main_GER_2011_small_single.pdf).

Gibson, E.K., Pillinger, C.T., Waugh, L.J., 2010. Lunar Beagle and lunar
astrobiology. Earth Moon Planets, 107, 25-42.

Giusti, A.M., Raimondi, M., Ravagnan, G., Sapora, O., Parasassi, T., 1998. Human
cell membrane oxidative damage induced by single and fractionated doses of ionizing
radiation: a fluorescence spectroscopy study. Int. J. Radiat. Biol. 74, 595605.

Gladman, B.J., Burns, J.A., Duncan, M., Lee, P., Levison, H.F., 1996. The exchange
of impact ejecta between terrestrial planets. Science 271, 13871392.

Glavin, D.P., Dworkin, J.P., Lupisella, M., Kminek, G., Rummel, J.D., 2004.
Biological contamination studies of lunar landing sites: implications for future
planetary protection and life detection on the Moon and Mars. Int. J. Astrobiology, 3,
265271.

Glavin, D.P., Dworkin, J.P., Lupisella, M., Williams, D.R., Kminek, G., Rummel,
J.D., 2010. In situ biological contamination studies of the Moon: implications for
planetary protection and life detection missions. Earth, Moon, Planets, 107, 87-93.

Glotch, T.D., Lucey, P.G., Bandfield, J.L., Greenhagen, B.T., Thomas, I.R., Elphic,
R.C., Bowles, N., Wyatt, M.B., Allen, C.C., Hanna, K.D., Paige, D.A., Highly silicic
compositions on the Moon. Science 329, 1510-1513, (2010).

Gorham, P.W., Hebert, C.L., Liewer, K.M., Naudet, C.J., Saltzberg, D., Williams, D.,
2004. Experimental limit on the cosmic diffuse ultrahigh energy neutrino flux.
Physical Rev. Lett., 93, 041101.

Green, D.A., 2010. How the UK can lead the terrestrial translation of biomedical
advances arising from lunar exploration activities. Earth, Moon Planets, 107, 127146.

Greenhagen, B.T., et al., Global silicate mineralogy of the Moon from the Diviner
lunar radiometer. Science, 329, 1507-1509, (2010).

Griemeier, J.-M., Zarka, P., Spreeuw, H.,2007. Predicting low-frequency radio

fluxes of known extrasolar planets. Astron. Astrophys., 475, 359-368.

Grigoriev, A.I., Egorov. A.D., 1997. Medical monitoring in long-term space missions.
Adv Space Biol. Med. 6, 167-191.

Gronstal, A.,Cockell, C.S., Perino, M.A., Bittner, T., Clacey, E., Clark, O., Ingold, O.,
Alves de Oliveira, C., and Wathiong, S., 2007. Lunar Astrobiology: A Review and
Suggested Laboratory Equipment. Astrobiology, 7:767-782.

Grn, E., Horanyi, M., Sternovsky, Z., 2011. The lunar dust environment. Planet.
Space Sci., 59, 1672-1680.

Gutirrez, J.L., 2002. Terrene meteorites in the moon: its relevance for the study of
the origin of life in the Earth. ESA SP-518, 187 191.

Halekas, J.S., Lillis, R.J., Lin, R.P., Manga, M., Purucker, M.E., Carley, R.A., 2010.
How strong are lunar crustal magnetic fields at the surface? Considerations from a reexamination of the electron reflectometry technique. J. Geophys. Res., 115, E03006.

Han, K., and the LSSS Collaboration, 2009. Search for stable strange quark matter in
lunar soil using the mass spectrometry technique. Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and
Particle Physics, 36, 064048.

Hargens A.R., Richardson, S., 2009. Cardiovascular adaptations, fluid shifts, and
countermeasures related to space flight. Respir. Physiol. Neurobiol. 169, S30-S33.

Hartmann, W.K., Ryder, G., Dones, L., Grinspoon, D., 2000. The time dependent
intense bombardment of the primordial Earth-Moon system. In Origin of the Earth
and Moon, eds. Canup, R.M., Righter, K., University of Arizona Press, 493-512.

Hashimoto, T., Hoshino, T., Tanaka, S., Otsuki, M., Otake, H., Morimoto, H., 2011.
Japanese moon lander SELENE-2Present status. Acta Astronautica., 68, 13861391.

Hendrickx, L., De Wever, H., Hermans, V., Mastroleo, F. , Morin, N., Wilmotte, A.,
Janssen, P., Mergeay, M., 2006. Microbial ecology of the closed artificial ecosystem
MELiSSA (Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative): reinventing and
compartmentalizing the Earths food and oxygen regeneration system for long-haul
space exploration missions. Res. Microbiol., 157, 7786.

Hiesinger, H., Head, J.W., 2006. New views of lunar geoscience: an introduction and
overview. Rev. Min. Geochem., 60, 1-81.

Hiesinger, H., van der Bogert, C.H., Pasckert, J.H., Funcke, L., Giacomini, L.,
Ostrach, L.R., Robinson, M.S., 2012. How old are young lunar craters? J. Geophys.
Res., 117, E00H10.

Horanyi, M., Stern, A., 2011. Lunar dust, atmosphere and plasma: The next steps.
Planet. Space Sci. 59, 1671).

Horneck, G., 1996. Life sciences on the Moon. Adv. Space Res. 18, 95101.

Horneck, G., Rettberg, P., Reitz, G., Wehner, J., Eschweiler, U., Strauch, K., Panitz,
C., Starke, V., Baumstark-Kahn, C., 2001. Protection of bacterial spores in space, a
contribution to the discussion on panspermia. Orig. Life Evol. Biosph. 31, 527547.

Horneck, G., Facius, R., Reichert, M., Rettberg, P., Seboldt, W., Manzey, D.,
Comet, B., Maillet, A., Preiss, H., Schauer, L., Dussap, C.G., Poughon, L., Belyavin,
A., Reitz, G., Baumstark-Khan, C., Gerzer, R.., 2003. Humex, a study on the
survivability and adaptation of humans to long-duration exploratory missions, part I:
lunar missions. Adv. Space Res. 31, 23892401.

Hughes-Fulford M, Lewis M.L., 1996. Effects of microgravity on osteoblast growth

activation. Exp. Cell. Res. 224(1),103-9.

Hughson, R.L., 2009. Recent findings in cardiovascular physiology with space travel.
Respir. Physiol. Neurobiol. 169, S38-S41.

Jaeger, T.R., Mutel, R.L., Gayley, K.G., 2010. Project RESUN, a Radio EVLA
Search for UHE Neutrinos. Astroparticle Physics, 34, 293-303.

Jaumann, R., et al., 2012. Lunar Exploration and Scientific Results: Current Status of
Lunar Research. Planet. Space Sci. (in press; this volume).

Jester, S., Falcke, H., 2009. Science with a lunar low-frequency array: from the dark
ages of the Universe to nearby exoplanets. New Astron. Rev., 53, 1-26.

Jolliff, B.L., Gillis, J.J., Haskin, L.A., Korotev, R.L., Wieczorek, M.A., 2000. Major
lunar crustal terranes: surface expressions and crust-mantle origins. J. Geophys. Res.,
105, 4197-4216.

Jolliff, B. L., Shearer, C., Gaddis, L. R., Pieters, C. M., Head, J. W., Haruyama, J.,
Jaumann, R., Ohtake, M., Osinski, G., Papanastassiou, D. A., Petro, N. E., 2010.
MoonRise: Sampling South Pole-Aitken Basin as a Recorder of Solar System Events.
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #P43A-01.

Jolliff, B.L.,et al., 2011. Non-mare silicic volcanism on the lunar farside at ComptonBelkovich. Nature Geoscience, 4, 566-571.

Joy, K.H., Kring, D.A., Bogard, D.D., McKay, D.S., Zolensky, M.E.. 2011. Reexamination of the formation ages of the Apollo 16 regolith breccias. Geochimica et
Cosmochimica Acta, 75, 7208-7225.

Joy, K.H., Zolensky, M.E., Nagashima, K., Huss, G.R., Kent, Ross, D.K., McKay,
D.S., Kring, D.A., 2012. Direct detection of projectile relics from the end of the lunar
basinforming epoch. Science, (in press; DOI: 10.1126/science.1219633).

Kalb, R., Solomon, D., 2007. Space exploration: Mars, and the nervous system. Arch.
Neurol. 64, 485490.

Kalow, W., 2002. Pharmacogenetics and personalised medicine. Fundam. Clin.

Pharmacol. 16(5), 337-342.

Karalidi, T., Stam, D.M., Snik, F., Bagnulo, S., Sparks, W.B., Keller, C.U., 2012.
Observing the Earth as an exoplanet with LOUPE, the Lunar Observatory for
Unresolved Polarimetry of Earth. Planet. Space Sci., (this issue).

Kiefer, W.S., 2012. Lunar heat flow experiments: science objectives and a strategy for
minimising the effects of lander-induced perturbations. Planet Space Sci., 60, 155165.

Klaus., D.M., 1998. Microgravity and its implication for fermentation biotechnology.
Trends Biotechnol. 16(9), 369-73.

Korotev, R.L., 2005. Lunar geochemistry as told by lunar meteorites, Chemie der
Erde, 65, 297-346.

Langseth, M.G., Keihm, S.J., Peters, K.., 1976. Revised lunar heat-flow values, Lunar
Planet. Sci. Conf., 7, 3143-3171.

Le Feuvre, M., Wieczorek, M.A., 2011. Nonuniform cratering of the Moon and a
revised crater chronology of the inner Solar System. Icarus, 214, 1-20.

Linnarsson, D., Carpenter, J., Fubini, B., Gerde, P., Karlsson, L.L., Loftus, D.J.,
Prisk, G.K., Staufer, U., Tranfield, E.M., van Westrenen, W., 2012. Toxicity of lunar
dust. Planet. Space. Sci., (in press; this volume)

Lipshits, M., Bengoetxea, A., Cheron, G., McIntyre, J., 2005. Two reference frames
for visual perception in two gravity conditions. Perception, 34(5), 545-555.

Livio, M., 2006. Astrophysics enabled by the return to the Moon: a brief summary of
highlights based on the workshop held at Space Telescope Science Institute
November

2830,

2006

(available

on

line

at:

http://www.star.ucl.ac.uk/~iac/STScI_Report.pdf).

Loeb, A., Zaldarriaga, M., 2004. Measuring the small-scale power spectrum of cosmic
density fluctuations through 21cm tomography prior to the epoch of structure
formation. Phys. Rev. Lett., 92, 211301.

Loftus, D.J., Rask, J.C., McCrossin, C.G., Tranfield, E.M., 2010. The chemical
reactivity of lunar dust: from toxicity to astrobiology. Earth Moon Planets, 107, 95105.

Lognonn, P., 2005. Planetary Seismology, Ann. Rev. Earth. Planet. Sci., 33, 571604.

Lucey, P.G., 2000. Potential for prebiotic chemistry at the poles of the Moon. Proc.
SPIE, 4137, 84-88.

Lucey, P.G., Korotev, R.L., Gillis, J.J., Taylor, L.A., Lawrence, D., Campbell, B.A.,
Elphic, R., Feldman, B., Hood, L.L., Hunten, D., Mendillo, M., Noble, S., Papike, J.J.,
Reedy, R.C., Lawson, S., Prettyman, T., Gasnault, O., Maurice, S., 2006.
Understanding the lunar surface and space-Moon interaction. Rev. Min. Geochem. 60,
82219.

Ma, O.J., Norvell, J.G., Subramanian, S., 2007. Ultrasound applications in mass
casualties and extreme environments. Crit Care Med. 35(5 Suppl), S275-S279.

Maher, K.A., Stevenson, D. 1988. Impact frustration of the origin of life, Nature, 331,
612-614.

Mastrapa, R.M.E., Glanzberg, H.,.Head, J.N., Melosh, H.J., Nicholson, W.L., 2001.
Survival of bacteria exposed to extreme acceleration: implications for panspermia.
Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 189, 18.

McKay, D.S., Heiken, G.H., Basu, A., Blanford, G., Simon, S., Reedy, R., French,
B.M. and Papike, J., 1991. The lunar regolith. In: Heiken, G.H., Vaniman, D. and
French, B.M. (Eds.), The Lunar sourcebook: A user's guide to the Moon, Cambridge
University Press, pp. 285-356.

Melosh, H.J., 1989. Impact Cratering: A Geologic Process, Oxford University Press,
Oxford.

Mileikowsky, C., Cucinotta, F.A., Wilson, J.W., Gladman, B., Horneck, G.,
Lindegren, L., Melosh, J., Rickman, H., Valtonen, M., Zheng, J.Q., 2000. Risks
threatening viable transfer of microbes between bodies in our solar system. Planet.
Space Sci. 48, 11071115.

Mimoun, D., et al., 2012. Farside explorer: unique science from a mission to the
farside of the Moon, Experimental Astronomy, (in press; DOI: 10.1007/s10686-0119252-3).

Mitrofanov, I. G., Zelenyi, L. M., Tret'yakov, V. I., Dolgopolov, V. P., 2011. Science
program of lunar landers of "Luna-Glob" and "Luna-Resource" missions. Lunar and
Planetary Science Conference, 42, 1798.

Mortimer, A.J., DeBakey, M.E., Gerzer, R., Hansen, R., Sutton, J., Neiman, S.N.,
2004. Life science research in space brings health on Earth. Acta Astronaut. 54, 805812.

Narici, M.V., de Boer, M.D., 2011. Disuse of the musculo-skeletal system in space
and on Earth. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol., 111(3), 403-20.

Neal, C. R., Banerdt, W. B., Alkalai, L., 2011. Lunette: a two-lander Discovery-class
geophysics mission to the Moon. Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, 42, 2832.

Neukum, G., Ivanov, B. A., Hartmann, W. K., 2001. Cratering Records in the Inner
Solar System in Relation to the Lunar Reference System. Space Science Reviews, 96,
55-86.

Nicholson, W.L., Schuerger, A.C., 2005. Bacillus subtilis spore survival and
expression of germination-induced bioluminescence after prolonged incubation under
simulated Mars atmospheric pressure and composition: implications for planetary
protection and lithopanspermia. Astrobiology 5, 536544.

Nicogossian, A.E, Huntoon, C.L., Pool, S.L. (eds.), 1994. Space physiology and
medicine. (3rd ed., Lea and Febiger, Philadelphia, USA, 1994) pp. 167193.
NRC, 2005. Assessment of Options for Extending the Life of the Hubble Space
Telescope. National Research Council, National Academies Press, Washington DC.

NRC, 2007. The Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon (the SCEM Report).
National Research Council, National Academies Press, Washington DC.

NRC, 2011. Vision and voyages for planetary science in the decade 2013-2022.
National Research Council, National Academies Press, Washington DC.

Ohtake, M., et al., 2009. The global distribution of pure anorthosite on the Moon.
Nature, 461, 236-240.

Ozima, M., Seki, K., Terada, N., Miura, Y.N., Podosek, F.A. and Shinagawa, M.,
2005. Terrestrial nitrogen and noble gases in lunar soils. Nature 436:655-659.

Ozima, M., Yin, Q.-Z., Podosek, F.A and Miura, Y.N., 2008. Toward prescription for
approach from terrestrial noble gas and light element records in lunar soils
understanding early Earth evolution. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 105:1765417658.

Pall, E., Goode, P.R., 2009. The Lunar Terrestrial Observatory: Observing the Earth
using photometers on the Moons surface. Adv. Space. Res., 43, 1083-1089.

Paige, D.A., et al., 2010. Diviner Lunar Radiometer observations of cold traps in the
Moons south polar region. Science. 330, 479-482.

Pierazzo, E., Chyba, C.F., 1999. Amino acid survival in large cometary impacts.
Meteorit. Planet. Sci., 34, 909-918.

Pieters, C.M. et al., 2009. Character and spatial distribution of OH/H2O on the surface
of the Moon seen by M3 on Chandrayaan-1. Science, 326, 568-572.

Pines, V., Zlatkowski, M., Chait, A., 2011. Lofted charged dust distribution above
the Moon surface. Planet. Space Sci., 59, 1795-1803.

Purucker, M.E., Nicholas, J.B., 2011. Global spherical harmonic models of the
internal magnetic field of the Moon based on sequential and coestimation approaches.
J. Geophys. Res., 115, E12007.

Radek, K.A., Baer L.A., Eckhardt, J., DiPietro, L.A., Wade, C.E., 2008. Mechanical
unloading impairs keratinocyte migration and angiogenesis during cutaneous wound
healing. J. Appl. Physiol. 104, 12951303.

Ronca, A.E, Alberts, J.R, 1997. Altered vestibular function in fetal and newborn rats
gestated in space. J. Gravi.t Physiol. 4(2), P63-6.

Rummel, J.D., 2004. Strep, lies, and 16mm Film: did S. mitis survive on the Moon?
Should humans be allowed on Mars? Int. J. Astrobiology 3 (Suppl.), S7S8.

Ryder, G., 2003. Bombardment of the Hadean Earth: wholesome or deleterious?

Astrobiology, 3, 3-6.

Rykova, M., Antropova, E., Larina, I.M., Morukov, B.V., 2008. Humoral and
cellular immunity in cosmonauts after the ISS missions. Acta Astronaut. 63, 697705.

Sadeh, W.Z., Sadeh, E., 1997. An integrated engineered closed/controlled ecosystem

for a lunar base. Adv. Space Res. 20, 20012008.

Seife, C., 2004. Moons abundant resources largely an unknown quantity. Science
303, 1603.

Schneider, J., 2010. Test of Quantum Physics from Earth-Moon correlations.

European Planetary Science Congress 2010, Abstract #202.

Schwandt, C., Hamilton J.A., Fray, D.J., Crawford, I.A., 2012. The production of
oxygen and metal from lunar regolith. Planet. Space Sci., (this issue).

Shearer, C. K., Borg, L.E., 2006. Big returns on small samples: Lessons learned from
the analysis of small lunar samples and implications for the future scientific
exploration of the Moon. Chemie der Erde, 66, 163-185.

Sleep N.H., Zahnle K.J., Kasting K.F. and Morowitz H.J., 1989. Annihilation of
ecosystems by large asteroid impacts on the early Earth, Nature, 342, 139-142.

Smith, A., et al., 2012. Lunar Neta proposal in response to an ESA M3 call in 2010
for a medium sized mission, Experimental Astronomy, (in press; DOI:
10.1007/s10686-011-9250-5).

Sonnenfeld, G., Shearer, W.T., 2002. Immune function during space flight. Nutrition,
18, 899903.

Souvestre, P. Blaber A., Landrock, C., 2008. Space motion sickness: the sensory
motor controls and cardiovascular correlation. Acta Astronaut. 63, 745757.

Sparks, W. B., Meadows, V., McCullough, P., Postman, M., Bussey, B., Christian,
C., 2010. Lunar Based Observations of the Earth as a Planet. Astrobiology Science
Conference 2010, Abstract No. 5397.

Spudis, P.D., 1996. The Once and Future Moon. Smithsonian Institution Press,
Washington D.C.

Spudis. P.D., 2001. The case for renewed human exploration of the Moon. Earth
Moon Planets 87 159-171.

Spudis, P.D. et al., 2010. Initial results for the north pole of the Moon from MiniSAR, Chandrayaan-1 mission. Geophysical Research Letters, 37, CiteID L06204.

Sridharan, R., Ahmed, S. M., Pratim Das, T., Sreelatha, P., Pradeepkumar, P., Naik,
N., Supriya, G., 2010. The sunlit lunar atmosphere: a comprehensive study by
CHACE on the Moon Impact Probe of Chandrayaan-1. Planet. Space Sci., 58, 15671577.

Stein, T.P., Leskiw, M.J., 2000. Oxidant damage during and after spaceflight. Am. J.
Physiol. Endocrinol. Metab. 278, E375E382.

Stffler, D., Ryder, G., Ivanov, B.A.,, Artemieva, N.A., Cintala, M.J., Grieve, R.A.F.,
2006. Cratering History and Lunar Chronology, Rev. Min. Geochem., 60, 519 596.

Sunshine, J.M., Farnham, T.L., Feaga, L.M., Groussin, O., Merlin, F., Milliken, R.E.,
A'Hearn, M.F., 2009. Temporal and Spatial Variability of Lunar Hydration As
Observed by the Deep Impact Spacecraft. Science, 326, 565-568.

Sunshine, J., Besse, S., Petro, N., 2010. Hidden from plain sight: spinel-rich deposits
on the nearside of the Moon as revealed by Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3). Lunar
and Planetary Science Conference, 41, 1508.

Talboys, D. L., Barber, S., Bridges, J. C., Kelley, S. P., Pullan, D., Verchovsky, A. B.,
Butcher, G., Fazel, A., Fraser, G. W., Pillinger, C. T., Sims, M. R., Wright, I. P.,
2009. In situ radiometric dating on Mars: Investigation of the feasibility of K-Ar
dating using flight-type mass and X-ray spectrometers, Planet. Space Sci., 57, 12371245.

Tamponnet, C., 1996. Life support systems for lunar missions. Adv. Space Res. 18,
103110.

Taylor, S.R., Pieters, C.M., MacPherson, G.J., 2006. Earth-Moon system, planetary
science, and lessons learned, Rev. Min. Geochem., 60, 657 704.

Ter Veen, S., Buitink, S., Falcke, H., James, C.W., Mevius, M., Scholten, O., Singh,
K., Stappers, B., de Vries, K.D., 2010. Limit on the ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray flux
with the Westerbork synthesis radio telescope. Phys. Rev.D, 82, 103014.

Thirsk, R., Kuipers, A., Mukai, C., Williams, D., 2009. Spinoffs from space. CMAJ,
180, 1324-1325.

Trieloff, M., Jessberger, E. K., Hiesinger, H., Schwarz, W. H., Hopp, J., Burfeindt, J.,
Bernhard, H.-G., Hofmann, P., Li, X., Breitkreutz, H., 2010. ISAGE - in situ dating of
planetary surfaces, EPSC 2010, 754.

Trimble, V., Ceja, J. A., 2008. Productivity and impact of astronomical facilities:
three years of publications and citation rates. Astronomische Nachrichten, 329,.632647.

van Haarlem, M. et al., 2012. LOFAR: The Low Frequency Array. Astron. Astrophys.,
(to be submitted).

Vaniman, D., Dietrich, J., Taylor, G.J. and Heiken, G., 1991. Exploration, samples,
and recent concepts of the Moon, 1991. In: Heiken, G.H., Vaniman, D. and French,
B.M. (Eds.), The Lunar sourcebook: A user's guide to the Moon, Cambridge
University Press.

Vasavada, A.R., Paige, D.A., Wood, S.E., 1999. Near surface temperatures on
Mercury and the Moon and the stability of polar ice deposits. Icarus 141, 179193.

Vernikos, J., Schneider, V.S., 2010. Space, gravity and the physiology of aging:
parallel or convergent disciplines? Gerontology 56(2), 157-166.

Vico, L., Collet, P., Guignandon, A., Lafage-Proust, M..H., Thomas, T., Rehaillia,
M.. Alexandre, C., 2000. Effects of longterm microgravity exposure on cancellous
and cortical weightbearing bones of cosmonauts. Lancet 355, 16071611.

Walton, K., 1998. Postnatal development under conditions of simulated

weightlessness and space flight. Brain Res. Rev. 28, 25-34.

Wayne, R, Staves, M.P, Leopold, A.C, 1992. The contribution of the extracellular
matrix to gravisensing in characean cells. J. Cell Sci.101, 611-23.

Weber, R.C., Lin, P.-Y., Garnero, E.J.; Williams, Q., Lognonn, P., 2011. Seismic
Detection of the Lunar Core. Science, 331, 309-312.

Wieczorek, M.A., et al., 2006. The constitution and structure of the lunar interior,
Rev. Min. Geochem., 60, 221 364.

Wieler, R., Kehm, K., Meshik, A.P., Hohenberg, C.M.,1996. Secular changes in the
xenon and krypton abundances in the solar wind recorded in single lunar grains.
Nature, 384:46-49.

Williams, D.R., 2002. Bioastronautics: optimizing human performance through

research and medical innovations. Nutrition, 18(10), 794-796.

Williams, D.R., 2003. The biomedical challenges of space flight. Ann. Rev Med. 54,
245-256.

Williams, D., Kuipers, A., Mukai, C., Thirsk, R., 2009. Acclimation during space
flight: effects on human physiology. CMAJ, 180, 1317-1323.

Wilson, J.W. et al., 2007. Spaceflight alters bacterial gene expression and virulence
and reveals a role for global regulator Hfq. Proc Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 104(41),
16299-16304.

Worms, J.-C., et al., 2009. ESSC-ESF Position Paper-Science-Driven Scenario for

Space Exploration: Report from the European Space Sciences Committee (ESSC).
Astrobiology, 9, 23-41.

Yamada, R., Garcia, R. F.;, Lognonn, P., Le Feuvre, M., Calvet, M., GagnepainBeyneix, J., 2011. Optimisation of seismic network design: application to a
geophysical international lunar network. Planet. Space Sci., 59, 343-354.

Yamamoto, S., Nakamura, R., Matsunaga, T., Ogawa, Y., Ishihara, Y., Morota, T.,
Hirata, N., Ohtake, M., Hiroi, T., Yokota, Y., Haruyama, J., 2010. Possible mantle
origin of olivine around lunar impact basins detected by SELENE. Nature
Geoscience, 3, 533-536.

Zayzafoon, M., Meyers, V.E., McDonald, J.M., 2005. Microgravity: the immune
response and bone. Immunol. Rev. 208, 267280.

Zuber, M.T., et al., 2011. Mission status and future prospects for improving
understanding of the internal structure and thermal evolution of the Moon from the
Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) Mission, Lunar and Planetary
Science Conference, 42, 1967.