As the first important step the LRR mission will boost the public interest, education, awareness and support that is so much needed to allow humankind to evolve to a true space-faring species. One key to making public awareness and involvement a success would be to fuel and develop the imaginations of school children from around the world. If schoolchildren feel that they have made a contribution to the mission, they and their families will have enthusiasm for this race as well as future exploration missions.

Secondly, the following reasoning clarifies the technological considerations that make this precursor mission an important stepping stone to future space activity.

Human exploration of space will require the preparation of space settlements (see Chapter 2). For example, realization of Lunar and Mars bases in the near future is envisioned as one of the great strides forward in human expansion beyond Low Earth Orbit. As these bases will rely on in-situ resources, infrastructure will need to be created to allow for In-Situ Resource Utilization. Teleoperated or autonomous rovers will play a major role in the preparation and maintenance of these settlements and their infrastructure. The LRR will stimulate the development of versatile robotic rovers that can withstand hazardous environments like that of the Moon. Therefore, it is a stepping stone towards human settlement beyond LEO.

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