{{Short description|Proposed NASA mission to the Moon}} {{For|the astronomical phenomenon|Moonrise and moonset}}{{Infobox spaceflight | name = ''MoonRise'' | mission_type = Lunar sample return | operator = NASA{{\}}Jet Propulsion Laboratory | launch_date = | launch_rocket = Atlas V 531 | launch_site = Cape Canaveral SLC-41 | launch_contractor = United Launch Alliance (for launch) }}
'''''MoonRise''''' was a robotic mission concept to the south pole of the Moon. It was proposed in 2010 and 2017 for NASA's New Frontiers program mission 3 and 4, respectively, but it was not selected. If funded and launched by another NASA opportunity, it would focus on the giant South Pole–Aitken basin (SPA basin) on the far side of the Moon between the Moon's South Pole and Aitken Crater, 16° south of the Moon's equator. This basin measures nearly {{convert|2500|km}} in diameter and {{convert|12|km}} in depth. This region is the oldest and deepest observable impact basin on the Moon and provides a window into the deep crust of the Moon and its history as a result. The basin is also among the largest recognized impact structures in the Solar System.<ref name="factsheet">{{cite web |url=http://moonrise.jpl.nasa.gov/documents/MoonRiseFactSheetfinal.pdf |title=MoonRise |series=NASA Facts |publisher=NASA |date=June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516060655/http://moonrise.jpl.nasa.gov/documents/MoonRiseFactSheetfinal.pdf |archive-date=16 May 2011}}</ref>
''MoonRise'' was not selected for the third New Frontiers program mission 3, losing out to the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission,<ref name="sfnow20110525">{{cite news |url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1105/25osirisrex/index.html |title=NASA picks robotic asteroid voyager for liftoff in 2016 |work=Spaceflight Now |first=Stephen |last=Clark |date=25 May 2011 |access-date=19 November 2016}}</ref> and it lost again in the 2017 competition for New Frontiers program mission 4.<ref name="ibtimes20171220">{{cite news |url=http://www.ibtimes.com/nasas-new-frontier-mission-will-search-alien-life-or-reveal-solar-systems-history-2631073 |title=NASA's New Frontier Mission Will Search For Alien Life Or Reveal The Solar System's History |work=International Business Times |first=Elana |last=Glowatz |date=20 December 2017 |access-date=14 January 2018}}</ref> In February 2025, the recommended mission themes for New Frontiers program mission 5 were revised, with the SPA basin lunar sample return concept proposed to no longer be eligible.<ref name="nf5_revised">{{cite press release|url=https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2025/02/scientific-themes-for-nasas-next-new-frontiers-class-mission-new-report|title=Scientific Themes for NASA's Next New Frontiers Class Mission — New Report|date=February 25, 2025}}</ref>
==Science objectives== thumb|Possible configuration of a lunar sample return craft for Aitken basin thumb|South Pole–Aitken basin
''MoonRise'' has the following objectives:<ref name="factsheet" /> * Determine the impact chronology of the SPA basin * Investigate processes associated with the formation of large impact basins * Investigate the materials excavated from the deeper crust, and possibly the mantle, of the Moon within the SPA basin * Determine rock types, distribution of thorium, and implications for the Moon's thermal evolution * Sample and analyze basaltic rock and volcanic glass, which record the composition and chemical evolution of the Moon's far-side mantle beneath the SPA basin
==Future prospects== ''MoonRise'' received Phase A funding out of the New Frontiers program.<ref>{{cite conference |url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/docs/a516.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161120004955/https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/docs/a516.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2016-11-20 |title=An Overview of the MoonRise Lunar Sample Return Mission from the South Pole-Aitken Basin |conference=7th International Planetary Probe Workshop. 14–18 June 2010. Barcelona, Spain. |first1=L. |last1=Alkalai |first2=B. |last2=Jolliff |first3=D. |last3=Papanastassiou |date=2010}}</ref> The study was one of three concepts to get {{US$|3.3 million}} funding in 2010 to further develop the mission for the final selection, which was a {{US$|650 million}} mission to launch in the late 2010s.<ref name="wustl20091231">{{cite web |url=https://source.wustl.edu/2009/12/wustlled-moon-mission-is-finalist-for-nasa-next-big-space-venture/ |title=WUSTL-led Moon mission is finalist for NASA's next big space venture |publisher=Washington University in St. Louis |date=31 December 2009}}</ref> The three semi-finalists were ''MoonRise'', the OSIRIS-REx sample return mission, and the Venus In Situ Explorer mission.<ref name="wustl20091231" />
Although ''MoonRise'' was passed over in favor of OSIRIS-REx in the 2011 selection, a South Pole–Aitken basin sample return mission had been part of the 2013–2022 Planetary Science Decadal Survey's recommendation for potential New Frontiers mission 5,<ref name="decadal.survey.2">{{cite book |url=http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/docs/131171.pdf |title=Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022 |publisher=The National Academies Press |pages=15–16 |date=2011 |isbn=978-0-309-22464-2}}</ref> and NASA's Planetary Science Division has expressed support for the Decadal Survey's recommendations.<ref name="PSD.DS.response">{{cite letter |url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/docs/PSD_response_to_DS_Final.pdf |title=Planetary Science Division Response to the Planetary Science Decadal Survey |first=Edward J. |last=Weiler |recipient=Charles F. Kennel |date=29 July 2011 |access-date=20 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107170232/http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/docs/PSD_response_to_DS_Final.pdf |archive-date=7 January 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In February 2025, given the aging of the 2013–2022 Decadal Survey, the recommended mission themes for the fifth New Frontiers mission were revised, with the SPA basin lunar sample return concept proposed to no longer be eligible.<ref name="nf5_revised"/> The successor to the 2013–2022 Decadal Survey, the 2023–2032 Decadal Survey, continued to endorse the SPA sample return concept but recommended it be considered by NASA's Lunar Discovery and Exploration Program rather than New Frontiers.
==See also== *Origin of the Moon *''Stardust'', a 1999 cometary coma sample return mission
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110516060655/http://moonrise.jpl.nasa.gov/documents/MoonRiseFactSheetfinal.pdf MoonRise Fact Sheet]
{{Moon spacecraft}} {{Planetary Missions Program Office|New Frontiers=y}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
Category:Sample return missions Category:Cancelled missions to the Moon Category:Cancelled NASA space probes Category:New Frontiers program proposals