<div class="grid grid-cols-article-mobile md:max-w-[750px] md:grid-cols-article md:max-w-screen-sm" data-article-body="true"><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color"><i>When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.</i></p><figure class="relative col-body mb-4"><div class="relative"><img alt=" Artistic depiction of NASA astronauts at the lunar south pole carrying out early work to establish an Artemis Base Camp. . " loading="lazy" width="960" height="540" decoding="async" data-nimg="1" class="fig-image-round" style="color:transparent" src="https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/tj1xt3J2IdaF1rTrIP0l3A--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MA--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/space_311/ffd8d50d0ef0a22e49ae320a9f8224d3"><button aria-label="View larger image" class="group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent" data-ylk="elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;"><span class="absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none"><svg viewbox="0 0 22 22" aria-hidden="true" class="size-4 lg:size-6" width="22" height="22"><path d="M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z"></path></svg></span></button><dialog aria-label="Modal Dialog" aria-modal="true" class="fixed inset-0 z-[4] size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden"></dialog></div><figcaption class="relative text-[0.875rem]/[1.25rem] figure-caption mt-1 line-clamp-2 pr-2.5"><div>We may already have some of the tools we need for the next generation of space exploration. | Credit: NASA</div></figcaption></figure><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">As the moon and Mars take center stage in human spaceflight, scientists are leveraging existing space missions to lay the groundwork for a sustained human presence off-planet.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">From pinpointing water resources on the moon to shielding crews from harmful radiation and managing abrasive dust, researchers described how new results from in-service missions are addressing practical challenges of exploration at a press briefing Dec. 17 at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting in Louisiana.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">The scientific work highlighted at the briefing comes as NASA prepares for a renewed push in human exploration. On Dec. 18, President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-signs-sweeping-executive-order-002332922.html" data-ylk="slk:signed an executive order;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;" class="link  yahoo-link"><u>signed an executive order</u></a> directing the agency to return astronauts to the moon by 2028 and begin building the "initial elements" of a permanent lunar base by 2030, with <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/us-senate-confirms-jared-isaacman-203014034.html" data-ylk="slk:newly sworn-in;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;" class="link  yahoo-link"><u>newly sworn-in</u></a> NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman leading the effort.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">At the AGU briefing, scientists said they are helping support those ambitions by adapting tools and datasets originally developed for Earth to support future moon and Mars missions.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">For instance, Gina DiBraccio, a heliophysicist and acting director of the Solar System Exploration Division at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, discussed a decision-support tool initially designed to track space weather near Earth that has been extended to incorporate data from Mars missions, helping astronauts assess radiation risks in near real time from the Martian surface.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">The <a href="https://iswa.ccmc.gsfc.nasa.gov/IswaSystemWebApp/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:dashboard;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>dashboard</u></a> integrates data from multiple Mars missions, including NASA's MAVEN orbiter, Curiosity and Perseverance rovers, with additional data sources planned, DiBraccio said. The project is envisioned as an all-in-one display astronauts could access on a tablet, allowing crews to monitor space weather events such as solar flares and determine whether protective measures are needed.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">"It's really one of the first steps of tools that astronauts will be able to use to understand and assess space weather from the surface of Mars," DiBraccio said.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">Other long-running missions at Mars are also producing critical datasets for understanding radiation hazards, scientists said.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">Shannon Curry, MAVEN's principal investigator at UC Boulder, highlighted a newly completed <a href="https://agu.confex.com/agu/agu25/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/1869625" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:catalog;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>catalog</u></a> of Martian space weather events compiled from the now-silent orbiter data spanning a full solar cycle from 2014 through 2025. The catalog allows scientists to quantify radiation levels in orbit — some of which can penetrate Mars' thin atmosphere and reach the surface — during periods of both low and high solar activity.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">"This really informs, over a full solar cycle, what we can expect to see, and when we can expect to see it," Curry said.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">Scientists also stressed the importance of pinpointing water resources on the moon, particularly near the lunar south pole, where NASA plans to land astronauts under its Artemis program.</p><figure class="relative col-body mb-4"><div class="relative"><img alt="Four people in orange space suits stand on a road in front of a large van and look at a crowd off camera" loading="lazy" width="960" height="540" decoding="async" data-nimg="1" class="fig-image-round" style="color:transparent" src="https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/npE8Y_UymHxyxHUHTEFiXA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MA--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/space_311/51b597ae958115556db0a003d309736b"><button aria-label="View larger image" class="group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent" data-ylk="elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;"><span class="absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none"><svg viewbox="0 0 22 22" aria-hidden="true" class="size-4 lg:size-6" width="22" height="22"><path d="M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z"></path></svg></span></button><dialog aria-label="Modal Dialog" aria-modal="true" class="fixed inset-0 z-[4] size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden"></dialog></div><figcaption class="relative text-[0.875rem]/[1.25rem] figure-caption mt-1 line-clamp-2 pr-2.5"><div>The four astronauts chosen for the Artemis 2 mission to the moon. | Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani</div></figcaption></figure><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">"The challenge right now is that the datasets don't actually agree exactly where the water is," Bethany Ehlmann, the director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado Boulder, told reporters during the briefing.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">"We know broadly it's in the south pole, we know broadly there are few craters of interest," she said. "But it's like saying, 'There is water in the city of New Orleans — somewhere.'"</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">A new imaging spectrometer <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-selects-instruments-for-artemis-lunar-terrain-vehicle/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:NASA selected in July;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>NASA selected in July</u></a> could help address that uncertainty, she said. The instrument, which could be used in moon orbit, is designed to act as "<a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2024ltvi.prop...13F/abstract" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:enhanced eyes;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>enhanced eyes</u></a>" for astronauts and scientists by mapping water and minerals, and identifying science-packed sites for collecting samples.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">Another focus of the briefing was <a href="https://agu.confex.com/agu/agu25/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/1904393" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:lunar dust;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>lunar dust</u></a>, a persistent challenge during the Apollo era. Fine, abrasive particles damaged spacesuits and equipment, and Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison "Jack" Schmitt famously suffered the first recorded case of <a href="https://www.space.com/moon-dust-problem-lunar-exploration.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:extraterrestrial hay fever;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>extraterrestrial hay fever</u></a> after exposure to moon dust.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">"I think dust is probably one of our greatest inhibitors to a nominal operation on the moon," Apollo 17 commander Gene Cernan <a href="https://www.space.com/moon-dust-problem-lunar-exploration.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:said during a post-mission debrief;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>said during a post-mission debrief</u></a>. "I think we can overcome other physiological or physical or mechanical problems except dust."</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">Scientists are now tackling that challenge through new instruments and missions.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">One of them, DUSTER — short for Dust and Plasma Environment Surveyor — has been <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/artemis-4/nasa-selects-2-instruments-for-artemis-iv-lunar-surface-science/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:selected for NASA's Artemis IV mission;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>selected for NASA's Artemis IV mission</u></a>. Led by Xu Wang of the University of Colorado Boulder, the $24.8 million project will deploy a suite of instruments on a rover to record dust and plasma conditions near the lunar surface and assess how they respond to human activity.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">Another instrument the team is developing is a Compact Electrostatic Dust Analyzer (CEDA), designed to measure key properties of lunar dust, Wang said. The instrument is designed to operate either on the surface or aboard orbiting spacecraft and to <a href="https://agu.confex.com/agu/agu25/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/1904393" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:survive hard landings;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>survive hard landings</u></a> regardless of orientation.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">"Dust is everywhere on the moon," Wang told reporters on Wednesday. "You can't go around it. You have to deal with and live with it."</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">Work is also underway to understand whether Mars' <a href="https://agu.confex.com/agu/agu25/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/1964646" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:localized magnetic fields;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>localized magnetic fields</u></a> could provide astronomers limited natural protection from radiation. Initial modeling based on orbital observations suggests crustal magnetic fields locked into Martian rocks could offer shielding over distances of a few miles.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">To map those regions in greater detail, teams are working to further miniaturize magnetometers that could be mounted on aerial vehicles, such as small drones similar to <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/nasas-mars-helicopter-ingenuity-flown-202911870.html" data-ylk="slk:NASA's now-retired Ingenuity helicopter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;" class="link  yahoo-link"><u>NASA's now-retired Ingenuity helicopter</u></a>, enabling surface surveys at much finer resolution than is possible from orbit, according to Jared Espley, a space scientist at NASA Goddard who is involved with the research.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">Together, the work underscores how robotic missions are critically shaping the future of human exploration, scientists said.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">"It's really not a question of robotic exploration or human exploration," Ehlmann said. "It is an 'and' — it's robotic <em>and </em>human exploration and how we do these best together."</p></div>

"It's really not a question of robotic exploration or human exploration," Ehlmann said. "It is an 'and' — it's robotic and human exploration and how we do these best together."

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