A systems study to determine the attractiveness of solar system sites for eventual human exploration

A pre-phase A idea-generation team at the-Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has conducted a study to rank notable locations in the solar system based on attractiveness for human exploration. The process used to perform the study was composed of the following primary steps: determination of ranking criteria (including value, cost, and risk criteria) upon which to rate sites in the solar system; weighting of the criteria based upon importance to eventual human exploration; selection of candidate sites to consider and assignment of team members to the task of advocating the benefits of particular sites; rating the sites in both the short- and long-term based on team member presentations and team discussions; compilation of scores derived from an average of the individual ratings for each weighted criterion. Finally, a comparison of the total scores of different sites was made to determine a ranking of all the bodies and solar system sites included in the study. Sensitivity analysis was also performed to determine how criteria weightings affect the rankings. Criteria and methods used may be valuable in determining future exploration strategies. Insight may also be gained from some potentially surprising rankings.