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0 Introduction
This proposed Lunar Data Project will identify and reformat lunar data uniquely held by
the NSSDC and archive and make the data accessible online to the lunar exploration
community. The National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) maintains over 500
NASA data sets from astronaut and robotic missions to the Moon. It is the most
comprehensive archive of 20th century lunar data in the world. Most of these data sets are
unique and are not in the Planetary Data System (PDS) since they are primarily image
and microfilmbased dating from the Apollo era. These data sets are archived and well
maintained, and are held in the offline portion of the permanent NSSDC archive. High
level information about these data is accessible online and requests for duplication of
many of these data have occurred steadily over the last 30 years. Utilization of the data
in the current nonelectronic format is cumbersome. The expertise and most of the
equipment needed to achieve this task already exists at the NSSDC. Figure 1 summarizes
the project and how the results will be utilized by the exploration community. As
indicated by the attached letter (Appendix 6), this effort is supported by John Young,
Commander of the Apollo 16 mission, who collected a portion of the data himself.
Making use of this data before the scheduled lunar missions take place will in effect
allow us to get to the Moon ahead of the hardware.
1.1 Relevance to NASA
The President has challenged NASA to “extend human presence across the Solar System,
starting with a human return to the Moon before the year 2020, in preparation for human
exploration of Mars and other destinations.” In response, Administrator O’Keefe has
established a set of goals for space exploration beyond lowEarth orbit, see Figure 2.
These goals emphasize exploration, though science is also a part of the lunar missions.
Consistent with the NASA Vision and Mission, NASA exploration programs will seek
profound answers to questions of our origins, whether life exists beyond Earth, and how
we could live on other worlds. In order to support exploration of the Moon, key data will
be needed to determine landing sites based on local resources, terrain, environment, and
other lunar characteristics for which much data already exists. The current NASA vision
is a continuation of the early lunar flights of the 1960s. Most instruments flown or left on
the Moon had a specific purpose with the ultimate goal of enabling future exploration.
The Saturn V rockets at both Kennedy and Johnson Space Centers are a monument to the
midstream cancellation of the program. It is important to take advantage of the enormous
amount of information produced by these previous lunar missions. We cannot afford to
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recreate existing lunar data sets. The first new mission to the Moon, scheduled for launch
in 2008, will be limited and should therefore concentrate on obtaining data that are
needed, taking advantage of and supplementing the data that already exists in the PDS
and the NSSDC. Later robotic missions to the lunar surface will require an
understanding of the environment which only the insitu Apollo experiments can give.
This effort will build on and extend previous NASA accomplishments at a low cost.
Providing rapid access to currently offline key lunar data sets in the NSSDC in a Lunar
Exploration Enabling Database (LEED) will support the President’s Moon/Mars initiative
and should be important in determining the requirements of the upcoming new lunar
missions.
Figure 2 – The Lunar Data Project will enable the successful implementation of the
exploration initiative to meet the goals of the lunar exploration vision.
1.2 Lunar Data Key Questions and Goals
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There are two primary reasons that knowledge of the lunar environment is essential to
enable extended robotic and human exploration. The first is that all hazards and
deleterious environmental effects must be recognized and understood to enhance
astronaut safety, including risks posed to equipment as well as to astronauts. Potential
hazards include the charged and energetic particle environment, the cosmic ray and
radiation environment, the ambient atmosphere, lunar dust, and landing obstacles such as
boulders, craters, and sharp rocks. The second reason is to locate potential resources on
the Moon, particularly water ice, but also optimal locations for solar energy and safe
landing and building sites. Much of the data returned from the Moon during the Apollo
program and archived at the NSSDC is ideally suited to help meet the goal of
understanding the lunar environment to mitigate hazards and make full use of whatever
resources might be available (Figure 3). A gap analysis of the current data would also
help determine lunar data which should be collected in the future. As evidenced by the
fact that most Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package (ALSEP) data are not
referenced or mentioned in such compendiums as the Lunar Sourcebook (Cambridge,
1991) it is clear that the information is not widely known to the community.
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Figure 3 The near side of the Moon has been extensively explored by the Soviet
Luna (red) and U.S. Surveyor (yellow) and Apollo (green) missions.
1.3 Lunar Data Evaluation
A lunar data evaluation team consisting of a group of Goddard lunar and data experts (see
Section 2.1) was formed in February 2004 to review the extensive uniquely held lunar
data at the NSSDC. The panel provided an independent initial ranking of these unique
lunar data sets as to their potential importance in supporting the President’s initiative.
The prioritized list is one of the bases of this proposal. (see Section 2.3)
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The purpose of the Lunar Data Project is to identify lunar data uniquely held by the
NSSDC that is of vital importance in supporting the President’s Moon/Mars initiative,
reformat digital data, digitize analog data at the appropriate resolution and place that data
online (web accessible) with associated metadata for access by the entire exploration
community. A secondary goal is to determine if data exists from other U.S. sources and
the Soviet lunar exploration program to enhance or improve the archive, and if so,
prepare to utilize it as well.
The potential impact of the Lunar Data Project is to improve safety for both machine and
people, limit duplication of efforts, reduce costs, aid in the development of mission
architectures and enhance spacecraft and instrument design.