Planetary Caves

The team outlines the main open scientific questions regarding planetary caves and refine the key science and exploration goals and mission objectives. Focus will be on developing a structured and scientifically relevant approach to cave exploration on the Moon, in line with future activities and opportunities. This approach will then be transferred to a Martian scenario, defining specific planetary cave exploration and astrobiology goals. The overall objective is to foster a strong network on planetary caves in Europe and within ESA, supporting the development of future missions to these extremely interesting environments. Planetary cave exploration could open unexpected, exciting scenarios also for human exploration in the near future.