MoonRaker

The MoonRaker mission consists of a single propulsive soft-lander aiming to provide a low-cost European lander capability for robotic exploration of the lunar surface in preparation for subsequent human expeditions.

Overview

The primary science goal is in-situ dating of the young basalts at northern Oceanus Procellarum, both for understanding lunar evolution and for better calibrating the lunar cratering rate that is used with assumptions for dating solid surfaces throughout the whole solar system. 

Professor Yang Gao was the science coordinator in MoonRaker Pre-phase A study and the STAR Lab was involved in the science coordination, and has been carrying on with various robotics development.