Deployment of Penetrators on The Moon can enable :-

• Scientific investigation of the volatiles in the permanently shadowed lunar craters.
• Determination of the lunar interior and core with a network of seismometer emplacements.
• Support lunar astronautical return with determination of in-situ resources (water ice), regolith radiation shielding potential, and geograhical distribution of potentially damaging shallow lunar quakes.
• A planetary technical demonstrator for penetrator technology.

Background and current status

Development of penetrators for lunar application has evolved from relatively recent UK ambition to provide a UK led space mission for which the 'MoonLITE' mission was selected, and achieved international aclaim, though subsequently mothballed (hopefully temporary) due to local and global financial situations.

Subsequently the LunarEX proposal was submitted to ESA, though no lunar proposals were accepted from that call. LunarEX was similar to MoonLITE proposing 4 penetrators to be widely distributed over the Lunar globe to include the investigations proposed above (permanently shadowed craters, lunar interior, and support to future human astronautical missions).

More recently (Nov 2010) the LunarNet proposal was submitted to ESA in response to its M3 call, this time benefitting from the successful results of the Pendine full scale impact trial, and recent penetrator system study results arranged through the UK and directed by ESA.

Whatever the result from these proposals, we note that the scientific and technology aims of the penetrator remain valid, and we continue to seek avenues to enable their realisation, whether through a combined mission involving several penetrators, or as a relatively low mass add-on to another lunar mission of a single penetrator with specific science and technology goals.

Presentations

• "Update on Penetrators for the Moon, Ganymede, Europa & Mars" IPPW7, Barcelona (June10)
• "MoonLITE Update" EGU, Vienna (23Apr09)
• "Progress of MoonLITE Penetrators" LEAG/ILEWG, Florida (30Oct08)
• "An update on MoonLITE" IAC, Glasgow (03Oct08)
• "Shoot for the Moon" Keynote presentation, AMSAT Colloquium, SSC (25Jul08)
• "An Update on MoonLITE" EGU, Vienna, Austria (Apr08)
• "MoonLite: a UK led penetrator mission to the Moon" RAS Meeting, London (11Jan08)
• "Technical Trade Studies for a Lunar Penetrator" ILEWG9 Sorrento (Oct07)
• "MoonLite and LunarEx penetrator missions to the Moon" Bangkok (Jul07)
• "MoonLite and LunarEx" NASA (Jul07)
• "Lunar Exploration with Penetrators" 8th ILEWG Lunar Conference Beijing (July06)

Videos

• Proposed MoonLITE Mission
• Impact Test Track

Documents

• LunarNet Cosmic Vision Proposal (Nov 2010)
• MoonLITE Science Requirements (001)
• "Britain Plans First Moon Mission" - BBC News
• "Lunar Exploration Mission" - STFC UK funding agency
• "PPARC Lunar Missions Options Study" - Executive Summary
• "UK Lunar Science Missions: MoonLITE & Moonraker"
• UK Lunar Penetrator Consortium
• LunarEX Cosmic Visions Proposal

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1st February 2011, Rob Gowen. rag@mssl.ucl.ac.uk

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