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P. Spudis (Lunar and Planetary Institute)
The Moon is an important planetary object whose history and processes are a guide to the interpretation of the other terrestrial planets. Moreover, the lunar surface is a cosmic “witness plate” offering a record of a portion of the history of the Earth-Moon system that has been erased on Earth’s surface. During the 1990’s, two orbital reconnaissance missions to the Moon have mapped global topography and some selected compositional properties. We are in the process of developing an exploration strategy that addresses the most pressing remaining questions of lunar evolution. This strategy includes additional orbital missions (to “fill in” important gaps in our knowledge of lunar composition and morphology), landed missions (to conduct in situ analyses of selected regions), networks (to obtain global data on crustal thickness and composition), and sample return missions, both simple “grab samplers” and detailed and complex field work by both robotic and human missions. These missions will be constructed into a strategy that answers the most important questions in the proper order. We anticipate that our white paper input into the NRC Inner Planets panel will be completed by the deadline.