Program Description
NASA and its partners in academia, industry, and the international community are examining options for a new era of robotic and potentially human exploration of the lunar surface. That effort began when the agency asked the National Research Council (NRC) to develop a set of science priorities for this lunar exploration initiative. Those recommendations are summarized in The Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon.
To help integrate those science priorities with NASA's exploration program, the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) has been hosting a special summer intern program to evaluate possible landing sites for robotic and human exploration missions. Teams of students have been working with LPI science staff and other collaborators to evaluate the best landing sites to address each of the NRC science priorities. Over a five year period (2008–2012) the teams worked on that task and generated A Global Lunar Landing Site Study to Provide the Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon.
This summer, students will generate a detailed assessment of one or two high-priority landing sites identified in that report. This study will utilize the latest lunar data (e.g., M3, LOLA, LROC), explore potential traverse routes and stations, and identify hurdles that mission architects will need to address.
This program is open to graduate students in geology, planetary science, and related programs. It is also open to undergraduates with at least 50 semester hours of credit in those fields so that they, too, can participate in lunar exploration activities. The 10-week program runs from May 28, 2013 through August 2, 2013. Selected interns will receive a $5,000 stipend to cover the costs associated with being in Houston for the duration of the program. Additionally, U.S. citizens will receive up to $1,000 in travel expense reimbursement and foreign nationals will receive up to $1,500 in travel expense reimbursement.
The Lunar and Planetary Institute is adjacent to NASA's Johnson Space Center. The Johnson Space Center is home to the human exploration program and the integrated robotic and human systems that are being designed to push exploration beyond low-Earth orbit.
The Lunar Exploration Summer Intern Program is supported by funding from the Lunar and Planetary Institute and the NASA Lunar Science Institute at NASA Ames Research Center.
Publications and Products
Products
Lunar Impact Crater Database (2011)
Losiak et al, LPI Lunar Exploration Intern Program (2009). Revised by Ohman, LPI (2011).
3D Flyover of King Crater on the Lunar Farside (2008)
Thaisen et al., LPI Lunar Exploration Intern Program
Publications
T. Kohout, K. O’Sullivan, A. Losiak, K.G. Thaisen, S. Weider, and D.A. Kring (2009) Scientific opportunities for human exploration in the Moon’s Schrödinger Basin, Lunar and Planetary Science XXXX, Abstract 1572.
A. Losiak, D.E. Wilhelms, C.J. Byrne, K. Thaisen, S.Z. Weider, T. Kohout, K.O’Sullivan, and D.A. Kring (2009) A new lunar impact crater database, Lunar and Planetary Science XXXX, Abstract 1532.
D. L. Eldridge, J. Korteniemi, T. Lough, K. I. Singer, L. Werblin, and D. A. Kring (2010) Sampling the Youngest and Oldest Mare Basalts: Important Lunar Regions, Lunar and Planetary Science XXXXI, Abstract 1486.
M. E. Ennis, A. L. Fagan, J. N. Pogue, S. Porter, J. F. Snape, and D. A. Kring (2010) Lunar Farside Volcanism: Potential Sampling Localities within South PoleAitken Basin, Lunar and Planetary Science XXXXI, Abstract 2512.
A. L. Fagan, M. E. Ennis, J. N. Pogue, S. Porter, J. F. Snape, C. R. Neal, and D. A. Kring (2010) Science-Rich Mission Sites within South Pole-Aitken Basin, Part I: Antoniadi Crater, Lunar and Planetary Science XXXXI, Abstract 2467.
A. L. Fagan, C. R. Neal, and A. Simonetti (2010) Apollo 14 Olivine Vitrophyres: Geochemical Evidence for Heterogeneous Target Materials, Lunar and Planetary Science XXXXI, Abstract 2226.
J. Korteniemi, D. L. Eldridge, T. Lough, L. Werblin, K. I. Singer and D. A. Kring (2010) Assessment of Lunar Volcanic Morphological Diversity: Distribution of Floor-Fractured Craters, Lunar and Planetary Science XXXXI, Abstract 1335.
J. Korteniemi, D. L. Eldridge, K. I. Singer, T. Lough, L. Werblin and D. A. Kring (2010) Volcanic Landing Sites on the Moon: The Compact and Diverse Harbinger Region, Lunar and Planetary Science XXXXI, Abstract 1339.
T. Lough, J. Korteniemi, D. L. Eldridge, K. Singer, L. Werblin, and D. A. Kring (2010) Mission Options to Explore the Flux and Evolution of Lunar Volcanism Through Space and Time, Lunar and Planetary Science XXXXI, Abstract 2537.
K. I. Singer, D. L. Eldridge, J. Korteniemi, T. Lough, L. Werblin, and D. A. Kring (2010) Using ArcGIS to Identify Landing Sites with Diverse Mare Basalt Compositions, Lunar and Planetary Science XXXXI, Abstract 2520.
J. F. Snape, A. L. Fagan, M. E. Ennis, J. N. Pogue, S. Porter, C. R. Neal, and D. A. Kring (2010) Science-Rich Mission Sites within South Pole-Aitken Basin, Part 2: Von Kármán Crater, Lunar and Planetary Science XXXXI, Abstract 1857.
K. M. O’Sullivan, T. Kohout, K. G. Thaisen, and D. A. Kring (2011) Calibrating several key lunar stratigraphic units representing 4 billion years of lunar history within Schrödinger Basin. In Recent Advances in Lunar Stratigraphy, D.A. Williams and W. Ambrose (eds.), pp. 117–128, Geological Society of America Special Paper 477, Boulder, CO.
A. L. Souchon, J. Flahaut, P. Sharma, C. E. Jilly, J.-F. Blanchette-Guertin, and D. A. Kring (2011) Suggested landing sites to study key planetary processes on the Moon: The case of Schrödinger Basin, Lunar and Planetary Science XXII, Abstract #1791.
J. Flahaut, J.-F. Blanchette-Guertin, C. Jilly, P. Sharma, A. L. Souchon, and D. A. Kring (2011) Testing the lunar magma ocean hypothesis: Science-rich mission sites, Lunar and Planetary Science XXII, Abstract #1844.
C. E. Jilly, J.-F. Blanchette-Guertin, J. Flahaut, P. Sharma, A. L. Souchon, and D. A. Kring (2011) Lunar landing sites to explore the extent of KREEP and its significance to key planetary processes, Lunar and Planetary Science XXII, Abstract #1270.
J.-F. Blanchette-Guertin, J. Flahaut, C. E. Jilly, P. Sharma, A. L. Souchon, and D. A. Kring (2011) Mission strategies for determining the vertical extent and structure of the lunar megaregolith, Lunar and Planetary Science XXII, Abstract #1405.
P. Sharma, J.-F. Blanchette-Guertin, C. E. Jilly, J. Flahaut, A. L. Souchon, and D. A. Kring (2011) Identifying lunar landing sites for sampling lower crust and mantle material, Lunar and Planetary Science XXII, Abstract #1579.
R. W. K. Potter , P. Donohue, Z. E. Gallegos, N. P. Hammond, and D. A. Kring (2011) Multi-ring basins: Where and how to best determine their structure, Lunar and Planetary Science XXII, Abstract #1445.
Z. Gallegos, P. Donohue, N. Hammond, R. W. K. Potter, and D. A. Kring (2011) Maunder Crater: A case study of a landing site designed to full-fill multiple NRC (2007) science objectives, Lunar and Planetary Science XXII, Abstract #1958.
J. Flahaut, J.-F. Blanchette-Guertin, C. E. Jilly, P. Sharma, A. L. Souchon, W. van Westrenen, and D. A. Kring (2012) Identification and characterization of science-rich landing sites for lunar lander missions using integrated remote sensing observations. Advances in Space Research 50, pp. 1647-1665.
D. A. Kring and D. D. Durda (eds.) (2012) A Global Lunar Landing Site Study to Provide the Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon, LPI Contribution No. 1694, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX, 688 p.
You will need to apply using the 
Throughout the summer, the teams will have opportunities to visit facilities and observe activities that are part of the lunar exploration program. They will also be exposed to several seminars that are designed to broaden a student’s exposure to lunar science and exploration issues. Although the specific opportunities available will change each year, the goal is to provide a similar set of activities for each summer team. Highlights for each year of the program are provided here: 
