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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Lunar laboratory

Conference ·
An international research laboratory can be established on the Moon in the early years of the 21st Century. It can be built using the transportation system now envisioned by NASA, which includes a space station for Earth orbital logistics and orbital transfer vehicles for Earth-Moon transportation. A scientific laboratory on the Moon would permit extended surface and subsurface geological exploration; long-duration experiments defining the lunar environment and its modification by surface activity; new classes of observations in astronomy; space plasma and fundamental physics experiments; and lunar resource development. The discovery of a lunar source for propellants may reduce the cost of constructing large permanent facilities in space and enhance other space programs such as Mars exploration. 29 refs.
Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA); National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Houston, TX (USA). Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-36
OSTI ID:
5610117
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-86-2213; CONF-8606145-1; ON: DE86012433
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English