The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said the concept would be designed "to begin passing the space exploration torch to a new generation."

The American Student Moon Orbiter, or ASMO, concept would invite U.S. students, faculty and industry leaders to respond to a 90-day "Request for Information" that's planned for release this month. The orbiter would be a small satellite that could orbit the moon and carry scientific instruments designed and developed by students.

"It is important to provide meaningful experiences to our next generation of engineers, but we need to do it in a thoughtful way,"

said Joyce Winterton, NASA's assistant administrator for education. "By collecting input from universities with experience in this area, we can make the correct decision about whether to proceed and, if so, how."

Under the ASMO concept, teams would learn directly from space agency mentors as part of a diverse, nationwide, higher education initiative enabling students to design, build, launch, operate and own a small spacecraft and its payload, NASA said.

An ASMO overview is available at http://asmo.arc.nasa.gov