Analyzing the economic, social, and political elements of sustainable lunar development is a nascent field of study that would greatly benefit from more research. To this end, NASA will work with selected teams and experts from non-governmental organizations (university, industry, research non-profit) to evaluate the economic, social, and political elements of lunar surface sustainability.
This research call seeks to expand upon the important scientific and technical work of building a sustainable lunar surface presence by integrating it with social science research. Lunar surface sustainability is a highly complex problem that will require an interdisciplinary approach. We seek original research that will yield insight into the economic, social, and political approaches that may yield new frameworks for evaluating sustainability and can be factored into mission planning, policy, and strategy.
Preference will be given to teams that feature a strong interdisciplinary research and analysis approach or interdisciplinary teams that feature expertise in both social sciences (economics, econometrics, policy analysis) and physical sciences (physics, engineering).
Proposal Deadline: May 17, 2024
The single research topic for this program element is Lunar Surface Sustainability: Economic, Social, and Policy Research and Analyses. The sustainable development of the lunar surface acknowledges that current operations may impact our ability to conduct future operations (indeed, current operations may also impact other current operations). Whether we seek to protect critical areas for scientific investigation (e.g., Permanently Shadowed Regions), preserve lunar heritage areas (e.g., Apollo sites) or incorporate other technical, economic, or cultural considerations may all factor into our mission planning, policy, and potential regulatory approaches. Analyses may help disentangle and characterize the goals of sustainability, develop frameworks for evaluating the sustainability of operations, or compare and contrast the different definitions of sustainability. Proposals should may broadly consider lunar surface exploration (i.e., both human and robotic missions).