On the lunar missions and post-mission disposal
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This paper aims to achieve two primary objectives. Firstly, it seeks to selectively review existing literature and establish a framework for post-lunar mission disposal. The framework will provide guidance for responsible and sustainable practices in the post-mission phases, ensuring the long-term success and safety of future lunar endeavors. Key areas of focus include addressing space debris, regulating private sector activities, enhancing our understanding of the Moon-Earth relationship, balancing space exploration with environmental preservation, promoting international cooperation, monitoring lunar activities, diplomatically addressing non-compliance issues, ensuring proper parking of lunar rovers and landers to avoid interference with other missions, and passivating nuclear systems to maintain the sustainability and viability of space activities, while protecting the space environment for future generations. Secondly, the study seeks to define a framework to optimize lunar missions. By analyzing short-term and long-term causal effects, it identifies conditions under which lunar activities can be maximized. Findings indicate that space debris reduces lunar missions over time, while objects launched into space tend to increase them. The cooperation between the United States and Russia initially boosts lunar missions but becomes mostly detrimental after the first year. Moreover, different types of moon missions, such as flybys, impact missions, rover missions, lander and crewed landing missions, probe missions, orbiter missions, and sample return missions, have varying impacts on lunar missions. These results have important economic implications.
Source: Space habitation.
Institution: John Carroll University
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid:
OpenAlex ID: W4415904482