The Center for Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science (CLASS) is at the intersection of NASA science and exploration for rocky, atmosphereless bodies. Science facilitates NASA’s exploration by reducing risk and cost; exploration facilitates science with new data, objectives, and insights.
US Space Policy program has turned the nation’s attention toward extending the human presence in the solar system through the exploration of the Moon, Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs), and the moons of Mars. This exploration program will require scientific activities that address fundamental questions about the history of Earth, the solar system and the universe, as well as supporting exploration technology and engineering that to reduce the risk and increase the productivity of future missions to Mars and beyond.
CLASS will take advantage of a dynamic partnership between the NASA centers in the southeast (KSC and MSFC), our core group of scientists at the University of Central Florida (UCF) and the University of Florida (UF), and a wide network of researchers.
