181 lunar objectives, plus

Ever since the end of the Apollo program, “folks around the world have been thinking about returning to the moon, and what they would like to do there,” says Jeff Volosin, strategy development lead for NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. Now, NASA is going back; the agency plans to send astronauts to the Moon no later than 2020. “So we consulted more than 1,000 people from businesses, academia and 13 international space agencies to come up with a master list of 181 potential lunar objectives.”

http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_50551.shtml
Last year on the Moon Mission

Refinement and expansion of these two themes and four others (science, economic expansion, international cooperation, and public engagement) were pursued in 2006. This post outlines where we are relative to the moon.

In conjunction with the unveiling of six themes, NASA released a list  of 181 specific lunar activities, classified and rated by discipline and theme.

http://www.thespacereview.com/article/791/1

Harsh witness Moon

“Earth and the Moon occupy the same position in the solar system,” says a researcher. “While Earth is a very dynamic planet, the Moon is a fossil world with no atmosphere. So the Moon preserves a record of the early history of the solar system that is no longer readable on Earth.”

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/26jan_harshwitness.htm