This post was written by Arty Goodwin.
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Howdy! This summer, I’m taking part in the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) Exploration Science Summer Intern Program, a 10-week internship that started at the end of May. I’ve been joined by four other interns from universities in the USA, Spain, India, and Germany. We’re all based in Houston (Texas) splitting time between a research project supervised by Dr David Kring, as well as exploring the local area!
The five of us are working together in hunting for permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) near the south pole of the moon. The hope is that areas of constant shade are so cold that they may trap icy material in the lunar soil. Think permafrost, but on the moon. Trapped water will be interesting for science and also more industrial applications – such as creating drinking water or even rocket fuel for the next wave of moon explorers.
Our work is motivated by the USA Artemis lunar science and exploration program, whose goals include landing astronauts on the moon later this decade. We’re using remote sensing – predominantly data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter – to assess how easy it will be for astronauts to walk into (and climb back out of!) these permanently shady areas.
The five of us have also been busy exploring the sights of Houston too! An obvious trip was the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences (which has some amazing dinosaurs to see!) as well as the Space Centre Houston – home to both new and historical artefacts. Seeing a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster up-close was one of the highlights! Houston is hot and humid and the city is surrounded by woodland, marshes, and plenty of wildlife. We’re hoping to spot an alligator in the nearby bayou (marshy lakes), though our last attempt was thwarted by spiders and a few wild snakes!
It’s been a great start to the internship and the team are excited to see what we can discover in our research, as well as experiencing all that Houston has to offer!
Earth & Solar System 