The Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI), originally the NASA Lunar Science Institute, is an organization, established by NASA in 2008, that supplemented and extended existing NASA lunar science programs. Supported by the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD), the NLSI was managed by the NASA Ames Research Center and was modeled on the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) with dispersed teams across the nation working together to help lead the agency's research activities related to NASA's lunar exploration goals. Competitively selected team investigations focused on one or more aspects of lunar science investigations of the Moon (including lunar samples), from the Moon, and on the Moon.
In 2013 the LSI became the Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute and expanded its scope to include Near-Earth asteroids and Phobos and Deimos.
Teams
The Lunar Science Institute is composed of seven teams across the nation, each with a different focus for lunar science. The teams are listed below.
The Moon as the Cornerstone to the Terrestrial Planets: The Formative Years
PI: Carle Pieters, Brown University
Scientific and Exploration Potential of the Lunar Poles
PI: Ben Bussey, APL / JHU
Impact Processes in the Origin and Evolution of the Moon: New Sample-Driven Perspectives
PI: David Kring, LPI
Dynamic Response of the Environment at the Moon (DREAM)
PI: Bill Farrell, NASA Goddard
Center for Lunar Origin and Evolution (CLOE)
PI: Bill Bottke, SwRI
Lunar University Node for Astrophysics Research (LUNAR)
PI: Jack Burns, Univ. of Colorado / CASA
Colorado Center for Lunar Dust and Atmospheric Studies (CCLDAS)
PI: Mihaly Horanyi, Univ. of Colorado / LASP