Science at LPI
The science at the Lunar and Planetary Institute is focused on the formation, evolution, and current state of our solar system through analysis of data and samples obtained through NASA’s long history of missions and exploration. Our current major research topics include the origin and evolution of the early solar system; petrology and geochemistry of planetary materials and volatiles; planetary interiors, volcanism, and tectonism; and impact cratering.
Research Foci
Lunar Science and Exploration
Resources to support the scientific research and exploration strategy of the Moon
Center for Lunar Science and Exploration
The Center for Lunar Science and Exploration is part of the NASA Lunar Science Institute and is designed to investigate lunar science issues, develop strategies for future lunar exploration, and train a new community of talent that will be needed to assure the success of the Constellation Program.
Staff Highlights 
April Highlights
Invited Talks
D.A. Kring gave an invited lecture titled “The Lunar Cataclysm Hypothesis and Implications for the Entire Solar System” to the impact cratering research group and Humboldt University students at the Museum für Naturekunde, Berlin, Germany, April 17th, 2012.
D.A. Kring gave an invited Museum Colloquium titled “The Chicxulub Impact Event and the Environmental Calamity it Produced at the at the K-T (K-Pg) Boundary” at the Museum für Naturekunde, Berlin, Germany, April 17th, 2012.
D.A. Kring gave the invited closing keynote address at the European Lunar Symposium in Berlin, Germany. He spoke about “Using the Moon to Explore the Entire Solar System” at the German Aerospace Center, Berlin, Germany, April 20th, 2012.
After that address, the co-chair for the European Lunar Symposium, on behalf of his European colleagues, thanked D.A. Kring and the LPI for providing opportunities for international students through the Lunar Exploration Intern Program; Field Training and Research Program at Meteor Crater; and Short Course and Field School at the Sudbury Impact Structure.
Research Proposal
P. McGovern, P.I., "NASA Outer Planets Research Program (OPRP): Copious volcanism on a compression-dominated planet? Insights into magma ascent and mountain building on Io from advanced numerical modeling."
Publications
A. H. Treiman Experimental constraints on the destabilization of basalt + calcite + anhydrite at high pressure-high temperature and implications for meteoroid impact modeling, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, volume 331-332, pages 291-304,
A. H. Treiman Eruption age of the Sverrefjellet volcano, Spitsbergen Island, Norway, Polar Research, volume 31, page 17320
W. S. Kiefer, R. J. Macke, D. T. Britt, A. J. Irving, and G. J. Consolmagno, "The density and porosity of lunar rocks," Geophys. Res. Lett. 39, L07201, 2012GL051319. LPI Contribution 1658.
Presentations
W.S. Kiefer, Next Stop Mars, for LPI’s “Explore: Life on Mars?” workshop, April 3, 2012.
W.S. Kiefer, Exploring Mars with the Opportunity and Curiosity Rovers, for LPI’s “Explore: Life on Mars?” workshop, April 4, 2012.
W.S. Kiefer, Using Gravity Observations to Explore the Structure of Volcanic Fields on the Moon, invited seminar for Southwest Louisiana Geophysical Society, Lafayette LA, April 10, 2012.
W.S. Kiefer, Mars: The Inside Story, for LPI’s “Countdown to Curiosity” workshop, April 17, 2012.
Service Activities
W. S. Kiefer is a member of the Project Advisory Board for the PBS LearningMedia/WGBH Education Foundation’s “Year of the Solar System: Digital Media for K-12 Planetary Sciences”.
Featured Science
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Discovery: Icy Satellites
The Voyager, Galileo, and ongoing Cassini missions have been dedicated to mapping these bodies, revealing an amazing diversity of features and important discoveries, including tidal heating, recently formed tectonic fractures, and ongoing ice-rich volcanism. The extensive cratering record can also be used to estimate the ages of these geologic events. -
Center for Lunar Science and Exploration
The Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) and the Johnson Space Center (JSC) have a long and successful history of collaborative research and exploration activities that began with the Apollo program. The LPI and JSC have harnessed that heritage to build the Center for Lunar Science and Exploration (CLSE) to better support our nation's lunar science and exploration activities. -
The Poles of the Moon
Water is present at the poles of the Moon in several different forms. The Moon Mineralogy Mapper experiment on the Indian Chandrayan-1 spacecraft mapped the 2800-mm spectral channel, a band where a significant water absorption feature is expected
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Opportunities
LPI Summer Intern Program
Experience cutting-edge research with LPI or JSC scientist mentors
Lunar Exploration Summer Intern Program
Work with a scientist mentor to integrate science priorities with NASA's lunar exploration initiatives
Positions Available
Scientist positions available at the Lunar and Planetary Institute
Student Research Grants
Annual awards for research funding in the planetary sciences
