Priorities in Lunar Exploration

by

Barbara Cohen, Ph.D.
NASA/MSFC

Friday, February 1, 2008
Socialization : 10:15 a.m.
Presentation : 10:30 a.m.
Location: NSSTC, Room 2096
320 Sparkman Drive
Huntsville, AL 35805

The Moon is a witness to 4.5 billion years of solar system history, recording that history more completely and more clearly than any other planetary body. There is a great deal of lunar science still to be accomplished to understand the Moon, its relationship to other terrestrial planets, and to aid human and robotic exploration. To prioritize the science goals in return to the Moon activities, the document The Scientific Context for the Exploration of the Moon was released last year. I will cover the main outstanding issues in lunar science today as set out by the planetary science community as well as what will be addressed by current and planned US and international missions.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:
Barbara Cohen is the lead lunar scientist at MSFC, providing scientific guidance to MSFC's lunar exploration efforts and developing a lunar and planetary science focus. Dr. Cohen received her BS in Geology from SUNY at Stony Brook and her PhD in Planetary Science from the University of Arizona. For her dissertation research, she studied lunar meteorites, which are randomly-launched samples of the Moon that represent areas different from the Apollo returned samples. Dr. Cohen continued to study lunar samples and meteorites during research positions at the University of Tennessee, the University of Hawaii, and the University of New Mexico. She is now a Principal Investigator on multiple NASA SMD projects and is a Co-Investigator on several spacecraft and instrument proposal teams. Recently, Dr. Cohen helped craft the National Research Council report, "The Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon," which set science priorities for return to the Moon activities.

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