Freiburg 2008 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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EP: Fachverband Extraterrestrische Physik

EP 6: The Future of Space Research

EP 6.3: Hauptvortrag

Dienstag, 4. März 2008, 09:30–10:00, KGI-Aula

Lunar Exploration Orbiter (LEO) — •Ralf Jaumann and and the LEO Team — Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Institut für Planetenforschung

The Moon is an integral part of the Earth-Moon system, it is a witness to more than 4.5 b. y. of solar system history, and it is the only planetary body except Earth for which we have samples from known locations. The Moon is our closest companion and can easily be reached from Earth at any time, even with a relatively modest financial budget. Consequently, the Moon was the first logical step in the exploration of our solar system before we pursued more distant targets such as Mars and beyond. The vast amount of knowledge gained from the Apollo and other lunar missions of the late 1960's and early 1970's demonstrates how valuable the Moon is for the understanding of our planetary system. Even today, the Moon remains an extremely interesting target scientifically and technologically, as ever since, new data have helped to address some of our questions about the Earth-Moon system, many questions remained. Therefore, returning to the Moon is the critical stepping-stone to further exploring our immediate planetary neighborhood. In this concept study, we present scientific and technological arguments for a national German lunar mission, the Lunar Explorations Orbiter (LEO. LEO will be unique, because it will globally explore the Moon in unprecedented spatial and spectral resolution gaining information about the lunar surface composition, surface ages, mineralogy, physical properties, interior, thermal history, gravity field, regolith structure, and magnetic field.