NASA’s Lunar Discovery and Exploration Program (LDEP) represents a bold new chapter in the agency’s quest to understand and explore Earth’s celestial neighbor. Established within the Science Mission Directorate (SMD), the LDEP is an ambitious initiative that seeks to achieve an innovative and sustainable program of scientific and human exploration of the Moon, in collaboration with commercial and international partners.
The LDEP Portfolio
The LDEP encompasses a diverse array of projects and missions, each designed to contribute to the overarching goal of lunar exploration and discovery. One key component of the program is the establishment of commercial contracts for lunar landing transportation services through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. This innovative approach leverages the expertise and resources of private industry to deliver payloads to the lunar surface, enabling a new era of cost-effective and efficient lunar exploration.
In addition to the CLPS program, the LDEP portfolio includes the development of cutting-edge lunar science instruments, the creation of lunar SmallSats, and the ongoing operations of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. These projects work in concert to provide a comprehensive understanding of the Moon’s geology, composition, and potential for supporting future human exploration.
Robotic Missions: Paving the Way for Human Exploration
VIPER Mission
The Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) was a highly anticipated lunar mission designed to search for water ice and other potential resources at the Moon’s south pole. However, on July 17, 2024, NASA announced its decision to discontinue the VIPER project due to cost increases, schedule delays, and the risks of future cost growth.
Originally planned for launch in late 2023, VIPER faced multiple setbacks, including a launch delay to late 2024 and further schedule and supply chain issues that pushed its readiness date to September 2025. The continuation of the project would have resulted in increased costs that threatened the cancellation or disruption of other CLPS missions.
Despite the cancellation, NASA remains committed to studying and exploring the Moon through alternative methods. The agency plans to disassemble and reuse VIPER’s instruments and components for future Moon missions and is considering expressions of interest from U.S. industry and international partners for the use of the existing VIPER rover system.
Lunar Trailblazer Mission
Lunar Trailblazer, a mission selected under NASA’s Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program, is designed to investigate lunar water and geology. The SmallSat carries two instruments: the High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper (HVM3) from JPL and the Lunar Thermal Mapper (LTM) from the University of Oxford.
When used in conjunction, these instruments provide the ability to simultaneously identify various forms of water on the Moon and study mineralogy and temperature. Lunar Trailblazer has four primary objectives:
- Determine the form, abundance, and distribution of H2O and OH in sunlit terrains
- Assess time variability of lunar volatiles
- Determine the form and abundance of ice, bound H2O, and OH in permanently shadowed regions (PSRs)
- Understand how localized gradients in albedo and surface temperature affect ice and OH/H2O concentration
Lunar Trailblazer is scheduled to launch in 2024.
LunaH-Map Mission
LunaH-Map, another SIMPLEx mission funded by the Planetary Science Division, was launched with Artemis I in November 2022. This miniaturized, fully functional interplanetary spacecraft, no larger than a shoebox, is designed to map hydrogen enrichments within permanently shadowed regions of the lunar south pole.
LunaH-Map will enter a low altitude, elliptical polar orbit and measure the abundance of hydrogen using a compact neutron spectrometer. The science objective is to make neutron measurements at low altitude over the lunar south pole, allowing LunaH-Map to constrain the hydrogen within permanently shadowed regions at an unprecedented spatial resolution.
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is an orbiting spacecraft that has been studying the Moon in unprecedented detail since 2009. It has completed its fourth extended mission on September 30, 2022, accomplishing all its original science goals, and will continue to perform science investigations and inform future Artemis missions as it begins its 5th extended mission.
LRO has made significant contributions to the study of lunar volcanism, revealing that lunar volcanism may have ended more recently than previously thought. The orbiter has also identified new tectonic features and provided insights into the impact of Earth’s tidal interactions on the Moon’s surface.
As NASA prepares for the Artemis missions, LRO continues to support the agency by providing high-resolution mapping data of potential landing sites and characterizing the lunar environment to ensure the safety and success of future human exploration.
Maximizing the Science Return of Artemis
Beyond the robotic exploration missions, the Planetary Science Division and the Exploration Science Strategy Integration Office (ESSIO) are working together to maximize the science return of the Artemis program. The return of humans to the Moon requires and enables a greater scientific understanding of Earth’s natural satellite, and the Planetary Science Division is playing a critical role in reducing risk and preparing the way for human exploration.
By leveraging the unique capabilities of human explorers, such as their ability to make real-time observations, collect samples, and deploy complex scientific instruments, the Artemis program has the potential to yield groundbreaking scientific discoveries about the Moon’s geology, resources, and potential for supporting sustained human presence.
Artemis: The Next Giant Leap
The Artemis program represents NASA’s ambitious plan to return humans to the Moon and establish a sustainable presence on and around Earth’s natural satellite. This multi-mission campaign is designed to push human space exploration farther than ever before, with the ultimate goal of using the Moon as a stepping stone for future missions to Mars.
Artemis I
Artemis I, the first mission in the program, successfully launched on November 16, 2022. This uncrewed test flight sent the Orion spacecraft on a 25-day journey around the Moon, testing critical systems and paving the way for future crewed missions.
Artemis II
Artemis II, scheduled for no earlier than September 2025, will be the first crewed mission of the Orion spacecraft. Four astronauts will perform a lunar flyby and return to Earth, becoming the first crew to travel beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. The mission will test critical environmental control and life support systems required to support astronauts.
Artemis III
Artemis III, planned for no earlier than September 2026, will land the first woman and the first person of color on the lunar surface near the Moon’s south pole. This mission will mark humanity’s return to the lunar surface after more than half a century and will lay the foundation for establishing a sustainable human presence on the Moon.
Artemis IV and Beyond
Artemis IV, scheduled for 2028, will be the first mission to the Gateway lunar space station. This orbiting outpost will support longer expeditions on the Moon and serve as a staging point for future missions to Mars. As the Artemis program progresses, each mission will increase in complexity, testing new systems and capabilities that will be essential for deep space exploration.
Summary
NASA’s Lunar Discovery and Exploration Program represents a new era in the agency’s quest to understand and explore the Moon. Despite the discontinuation of the VIPER project, NASA remains committed to studying and exploring the Moon through the CLPS program and the Artemis missions. By leveraging the expertise and resources of commercial and international partners, and by deploying a diverse array of robotic missions and scientific instruments, the LDEP is paving the way for the return of humans to the lunar surface and the establishment of a sustained human presence on the Moon.
Through the LDEP and the Artemis program, NASA is not only advancing our scientific understanding of Earth’s celestial neighbor but also laying the foundation for future exploration and discovery beyond the Moon. The knowledge and technologies developed through these initiatives will be crucial to enabling future missions to Mars and other destinations in the solar system, as humanity continues to push the boundaries of exploration and discovery.
