The final Human Lunar Return (HLR) briefing took place on August 7, 1996.
[2] The lunar habitat was designed to have an inflatable hull and was scheduled to be delivered in advance of the crew.
[3] To protect against cosmic rays and a possible solar particle event, the hull of the lunar habitat to be at minimum 5 grams per square centimetre (1.1 oz/in2) thick and filled with either water or polyethylene.
[2] One of the primary goals of the mission was to bring 300 kilograms (660 lb) of payload from the lunar surface back to Earth to be studied.
[2] The mission required two shuttle and three Proton launches to land two astronauts and a small habitat structure at Aristarchus crater.