Lunar Exploration Roadmap - Opening the Gateway to the Solar System

The Lunar Exploration Roadmap is a living document updated and modified with time as more data become available, as further analyses by LEAG Specific Action Teams result in new findings, and as other developments occur.

The Roadmap identifies three themes:

Sustainability Theme is at the lowest fidelity, representing a small (but growing) body of opinion and knowledge, and will require further refinements.

Science Theme
has a long heritage of study, including NRC studies, and represents community consensus.

Feed Forward Theme
has been coordinated with the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group and the Small Bodies Assessment Group.

The roadmap is intended to layout an integrated and sustainable plan for lunar exploration that will allow NASA to transition from the Moon to other bodies in the Solar System without abandoning the lunar infrastructure that support explorations and built up using tax payer dollars.

As such, the roadmap will enable commercial development, through early identification of “commercial on ramps”, that will create wealth and jobs to offset the initial investment of the taxpayer. In addition, the roadmap will, with careful planning, enable international cooperation to expand our scientific and economic spheres of influence while enabling an expansion of human and robotic space exploration.

Lunar Exploration Roadmap

Suggestions for revisions to the roadmap can be given to the LEAG Chair or via the e-mail address at the LEAG website.

MEPAG Review of the LER Mars Feed Forward section