The Road Ahead of Endurance
A Long-Range Rover to Explore
the Farside of the Moon

Every ten years, the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey sets the goals for NASA’s exploration of the Solar System. The recent Decadal Survey—“Origins, Worlds, and Life”—included a lot of exciting missions, but few were as surprising as Endurance: a concept for a long-range rover to traverse over 2,000 kilometers across the gigantic South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin that dominates the farside of the Moon. Along its traverse, Endurance would collect a large mass of high-priority samples necessary to address long-standing questions about Solar System chronology, planetary evolution, and more. Endurance would deliver these samples to Artemis astronauts for return to Earth. In this presentation, I’ll share how this concept came to be, its current state, and the next steps for this mission concept. 

Dr. James Tuttle Keane is a planetary scientist at JPL. Dr. Keane studies the interactions between orbital dynamics, rotational dynamics, and geologic processes on rocky and icy worlds across the solar system. He has extensive experience with NASA planetary science missions, including GRAIL, New Horizons, and Juno. He served on the Mercury and Moon panel of the recent Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey and was the science champion for the Endurance mission concept. Dr. Keane is currently the lunar program scientist in JPL’s Solar System Exploration Directorate. 

Please bring any questions you may have to Dr. Keane, we will have an open Q&A at the end time permitting. Early-career-identified participants will get priority in having their questions answered. Non-early-career attendees are welcome and encouraged to ask questions as well, while keeping in mind that this event is run by and for the next generation of the lunar community.

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Event Details

December 8, 2023
9 AM Pacific Time / 12 PM Eastern Time / 5 PM UTC

Please note that we ask about NextGen status in our registration. You are considered 'NextGen' if you are currently enrolled as a student or are <10 years post-terminal degree (time off due to life events does not count toward 10 years). We ask this question for two reasons: (1) to track NextGen engagement, and (2) to amplify NextGen voices in the panel. Early-career-identified participants will get priority in having their questions answered. Non-early-career attendees are welcome and encouraged to ask questions as well, while keeping in mind that this event is run by and for the next generation of the lunar community.

Dr. Keane will give a ~45 minute talk, followed by ~15 minutes of Q&A. Early-career-identified participants will get priority in having their questions answered. Non-early-career attendees are welcome and encouraged to ask questions as well, while keeping in mind that this event is run by and for the next generation of the lunar community.

All participants will be expected to follow the NextGen Code of Conduct:

The Next Generation Lunar Scientists and Engineers group expects organizers and participants alike to contribute to a harassment-free environment for all. While attending a NextGen event, workshop, networking function,  online forum, chat room, social media, or other NextGen related activities, organizers and participants should not engage in harassment in any form. As a group we aim to share ideas and freedom of thought and expression, and it is essential that the interactions between members within and others outside of the group take place in an environment that recognizes the inherent worth of every person by being respectful of all.