No water. Intense radiation. Corrosive dust. Georgia Tech scientists and NASA aim to meet these challenges to human presence on Earth’s moon. Is water being generated by the chemistry of the lunar surface regolith — and if so, how much? Does the Moon have a water cycle?

NASA Research Scientist Janine E. Captain (Ph.D. Chem ‘05) returns to campus from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and the ARTEMIS project to explain. Captain has led the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo) instrument on NASA’s PRIME-1 and VIPER missions.

Captain will be joined by Regents’ Professor Thomas (Thom) Orlando, who will also present his work on the possible processes which originate water in the universe, including on Earth’s moon. With joint appointments in the Schools of Physics & Chemistry and Biochemistry, Orlando serves as principal investigator of the Center for Lunar Environment and Volatile Exploration Research, a NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute that’s hosted at Georgia Tech.

Light refreshments will be served after the presentation. RSVP HERE