Oct. 30, 2007

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

Michael Mewhinney
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
650-604-3937
michael.mewhinney@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 07-233

NASA TO ESTABLISH NATIONWIDE LUNAR SCIENCE INSTITUTE

WASHINGTION - NASA has announced its intent to establish a new lunar
science institute. This effort, with dispersed teams across the
nation, will help lead the agency's research activities for future
lunar science missions related to NASA's exploration goals.

Named the NASA Lunar Science Institute (NLSI), the effort will be
managed from NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffet Field, Calif. Ames
currently manages a similar distributed NASA Astrobiology Institute.

NLSI's operations are expected to begin March 1, 2008. NLSI will
augment other, already established lunar science investigations
funded by NASA by encouraging the formation of interdisciplinary
research teams that are larger than those currently at work in lunar
science.

"I am excited about NLSI," said Alan Stern, associate administrator
for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters,
Washington. "As the National Academy of Sciences has told us, the
science to be done at the moon and from the moon are of high value,
and NLSI will help us coordinate and expand a number of in-depth
research efforts in lunar science and other fields that can benefit
from human and robotic missions that are part of NASA's exploration
plans."

NLSI research teams will address current topics in basic lunar
science, and perhaps astronomical, solar and Earth science
investigations that could be performed from the moon. They also will
offer a quick response capability for lunar science support to NASA's
Exploration initiative.

A national search for a NLSI director is currently underway. Most work
done under NLSI's banner will take place at other NASA centers,
universities and non-profit research groups around the nations. These
groups will be competitively selected after scientific peer review.

Initially, NASA will select four or five teams for grants of $1 to $2
million each for three years, with renewals of up to five years. NASA
will solicit team proposals in a 2008 NASA Research Announcement.

By late 2008, about 50 researchers around the U.S. could be working
under NLSI's banner. By 2010, that number could double. Funds for
this effort are part of the president's proposed 2008 NASA budget for
the lunar science project within the planetary research program, now
under consideration in Congress.

"We're delighted NASA Ames was chosen to lead this exciting new lunar
science research office," said S. Pete Worden, Ames center director.
"This will complement the agency's ongoing lunar research and further
the implementation of the nation's exploration efforts."

The lunar science institute is modeled after the highly successful
NASA Astrobiology Institute, based at Ames. Established in 1997, the
NASA Astrobiology Institute promotes, conducts and leads integrated
multidisciplinary astrobiology research in addition to training a new
generation of astrobiology researchers.

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov