NASA Names Scientists to Support Lunar South Pole Science
NASA has selected 10 participating scientists to help shape a science plan for astronauts to complete on the lunar surface under the Artemis program – including deploying scientific instruments, making critical observations of the landing site, and collecting Moon rocks.
“Congratulations to the scientists selected to participate in this important Artemis lunar surface science team,” said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The selected scientists will bring a wealth of expertise to this team to ensure we are supporting crews on the Moon to achieve the missions’ science objectives. Exploring the lunar surface and executing the U.S.’s science objectives is a major step toward sustained operations at the Moon and preparation for human exploration of Mars.”
The selected scientists are:
- Kristen Bennett, Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff
- Aleksandra Gawronska, The Catholic University of America in Washington
- Timothy Glotch, State University of New York, Stony Brook
- Paul Hayne, University of Colorado, Boulder
- Erica Jawin, Smithsonian Institution in Washington
- Jeannette Luna, Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville
- Sabrina Martinez, NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston
- Jamie Molaro, Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona
- Hanna Sizemore, Planetary Science Institute
- Catherine Weitz, Planetary Science Institute
The participating scientists will join the first Artemis lunar surface science team, led by Noah Petro, project scientist, at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and Padi Boyd, deputy project scientist, at NASA Headquarters. In this role, they will support the inaugural Artemis geology team, led by Brett Denevi of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. The larger team also includes deployed instrument teams and the Artemis internal science team.
“Artemis is enabling the kind of scientific work that will reshape our understanding of the Moon and open the door to discoveries we’ve only imagined,” said Lakiesha Hawkins, acting deputy associate administrator, Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. “The work these scientists will contribute before, during, and after the mission will help us make the most of every step astronauts take on the lunar surface and ensure we’re learning as much as possible from this new era of human exploration.”
During the mission, astronauts will land near the Moon’s South Pole, a landscape of extremes with dark craters that contain may contain ice and mountain peaks in near-constant illumination. The scientific research during the first crewed Artemis lunar landing mission will provide critical data to support further exploration while digging deeper into questions that have intrigued scientists since the Apollo era – such as the impact history of the Moon or the locations of shallow ice deposits. In addition, the processes that the science team develops and tests during the first Artemis landed lunar mission will provide the framework for science operations during increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon’s surface and subsurface.
The selected participants will engage in pre-mission planning, science mission operations, and work preparing the post-mission reports to address these questions.
Through Artemis, NASA will address high priority science questions in a Golden Age of exploration and discovery, focusing on those best accomplished by human explorers on and around the Moon and by using the unique attributes of the lunar environment. The Artemis missions will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.
For more information on Artemis, visit:
Alise Fisher / Molly Wasser
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
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