Nuclear Masses in Astrophysics for the Next 25 Years

The synthesis of elements via the rapid-neutron capture process depends sensitively on the one-neutron separation energy, which in turns is influenced by nuclear structure effects such as shell closure and deformation. It has already been demonstrated for the light isotopes that standard magic numbers such as 20, 28 vanish while new ones emerge as nuclei gets more neutron rich. Such situation can be expected for the N = 82 and 126 shell closures relevant for the r-process. In between shells, the nucleus is also observed to get deformed, which affect the pathway of the r-process. In this talk I will present mass measurements, using the Canadian Penning Trap (CPT) at the former CARIBU facility, of neutron-rich Rh isotopes, which lie in a region of rapid shape transitions. I will also discuss planned measurements using the CPT at the N=126 Factory aimed at studying changes in the N = 126 shell closure.