Announcement of Opportunity: PROSPECT Science Team

The materials found at the surface of the Moon may provide valuable resources to support future exploration missions. This is especially true close to the lunar poles, where extreme cold conditions can trap water ice and other volatiles. Such resources are of scientific interest and may provide benefits to future human and robotic exploration.

The Package for Resource Observation and in-Situ Prospecting for Exploration, Commercial exploitation and Transportation (PROSPECT) is a package to access and assess potential resources on the Moon and to prepare technologies that may be used to extract these resources in the future. PROSPECT comprises of the ProSEED drilling and sampling system, and the ProSPA sample handling and analysis package, and is scheduled for launch on Russia's Luna 27 lander mission in 2023.

PROSPECT will enter the detailed design (Phase C) in early 2019, hence the functional breakdown and technical specification of all elements is already mature. This has been the result of preliminary design based upon the objectives and scientific measurement requirements, reviewed and endorsed by the PROSPECT User Group (who were appointed at the start of Phase B development).

Building on the responsibilities and scope of the PROSPECT User Group (PUG), ESA seeks proposals for membership of the PROSPECT Science Team. The Science Team will be responsible for maximizing the extent to which the PROSPECT payload meets or exceeds its science objectives, while working in the framework of PROSPECT's already defined functional architecture and technical specification.

For details on the scope of the call, activities and responsiblities of science team members, PROSPECT investigations and application materials required, please refer to this Announcement's documentation below.

UPDATE

Please note the proposal deadline was on 26 October 2018 (18:00 CEST) and the call is now closed.

Documents

Timeline

Submission

Proposals must be submitted electronically in PDF format to the following email address before the prooposal due date:

prospect@esa.int

Proposers will receive confirmation following successful receipt of their proposals by ESA.

Any enquiries regarding this announcement should be addressed to: