Landing site candidates for the next lunar exploration project: SELENE-2

Abstract

The next Japanese lunar exploration project: SELENE-2 is planned as a follow-on mission of Kaguya (SELENE). The spacecraft is to be launched around the middle of 2010's. In order to select the landing site candidates which maximize the scientific gain of the project, SELENE-2 Landing Site Research Board started in March, 2010. The working group has discussed the various scientific proposals and the landing site candidates in cooperation with domestic researchers who were interested in lunar science, and now proposes several model missions which execute the scientific exploration of the highest priority today. In our presentation, the present landing site candidates, the grounds of the selection, and the process of further selection of the landing site in the future would be shown.