title: Lunar exploration: opening a window into the history and evolution of the inner Solar System.
abstract: The lunar geological record contains a rich archive of the history of the inner Solar System, including information relevant to understanding the origin and evolution of the Earth-Moon system, the geological evolution of rocky planets, and our local cosmic environment. This paper provides a brief review of lunar exploration to-date and describes how future exploration initiatives will further advance our understanding of the origin and evolution of the Moon, the Earth-Moon system and of the Solar System more generally. It is concluded that further advances will require the placing of new scientific instruments on, and the return of additional samples from, the lunar surface. Some of these scientific objectives can be achieved robotically, for example by in situ geochemical and geophysical measurements and through carefully targeted sample return missions. However, in the longer term, we argue that lunar science would greatly benefit from renewed human operations on the surface of the Moon, such as would be facilitated by implementing the recently proposed Global Exploration Roadmap.
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Birkbeck College, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, UK Centre for Planetary Sciences at UCL/Birkbeck, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK i.crawford@bbk.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Ian A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Crawford
authors.affiliation: School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Williamson Building, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
authors.forename: Katherine H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Joy
keywords: Earth–Moon system; lunar exploration; lunar science; origin of the Moon
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