We are pleased to announce the release of the final report for the study, “New Approaches to Lunar Ice Detection and Mapping”, from the Keck Institute for Space Studies:
http://kiss.caltech.edu/study/lunar-ice/KISS_lunar_report.pdf

This study, which began in July 2013, was motivated by recent advances in two areas: 1) remote sensing data and models provide compelling (though sometimes conflicting) evidence for the presence of concentrated volatiles on the Moon, and 2) small, low-cost spacecraft have emerged as a potentially viable means of planetary exploration and science. We therefore sought to identify key measurements for lunar ice detection and mapping that could be accomplished through innovative, low-cost mission concepts.

The report summarizes the current state of knowledge about lunar volatiles, and identifies future measurement approaches that could clarify their abundance, composition, and distribution. The mission concepts presented are a small subset of those considered in the study, and are those we found most compelling and/or technically mature. More information on this study can be found here: http://kiss.caltech.edu/study/lunar-ice/index.html

Best regards,

Paul O. Hayne (JPL)
David A. Paige (UCLA)
Andrew P. Ingersoll (CalTech)
on behalf of 33 co-authors from 15 separate institutions