Training
Field Training and Research Program
The CLSE has created a field training and research program. It was designed to meet at Meteor Crater every other year for program continuity and at alternate sites during intervening years for program diversity. Due to logistical constraints, that alternating schedule was not implemented in the first four years of the program. It is, however, planned for future years.
2010 Field Training and Research Program at Meteor Crater
2011 Field Training and Research Program at Meteor Crater
2012 Short Course and Field School at the Sudbury Impact Structure
2013 Short Course and Field School at the Sudbury Impact Structure
2014 Field Training and Research Program at Meteor Crater
2015 Field Training and Research Program at Zuni-Bandera Volcanic Field
2016 Field Training and Research Program at Meteor Crater
2017 Short Course and Field School at the Sudbury Impact Structure
2018 Field Training and Research Program at Meteor Crater
2019 Field Training and Research Program in the San Francisco Volcanic Field (to be rescheduled)
2020 Field Training and Research Program at Meteor Crater (to be rescheduled)
2021 Short Course and Field School at the Sudbury Impact Structure
2021 EVA Exercise at Meteor Crater
2022 Field Training and Research Program in the San Francisco Volcanic Field
2022 Field Training and Research Program at Meteor Crater
2023 EVA Exercise at Meteor Crater
2023 Field Training and Research Program in the San Francisco Volcanic Field
2024 Field Training and Research Program at Meteor Crater
2025 Short Course and Field School at the Sudbury Impact Structure
2026 Field Training and Research Program at Meteor Crater
Field Training and Research Program at Meteor Crater
The Field Training and Research Program at Meteor Crater is a week long field class and research project based at Barringer Meteorite Crater, Arizona, more popularly known as Meteor Crater. The goal of the field camp is to introduce students to impact cratering processes and provide an opportunity to assist with a research project at the crater. Skills developed during field camp should better prepare students for their own thesis studies in impact cratered terrains, whether they be on the Earth, the Moon, Mars, or some other solar system planetary surface. This field camp was originally organized under the auspices of the NASA Lunar Science Institute (NLSI), which was designed, in part, to train a new generation of explorers for the Moon and beyond. Support of the program has continued from the NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI). This is our flagship training program. It is designed to be offered every other year. The most recent edition was held in 2022. In intervening years, we offer training programs at other important planetary geology sites, such as the Sudbury impact structure.
Short Course and Field School at the Sudbury Impact Structure
Short Course and Field School at the Sudbury Impact Structure is a week-long program of field and classroom activities. The goal of the field camp is to introduce students to impact cratering processes associated with an immense basin-size impact event and differentiated melt sheet. Skills developed during the field camp should better prepare students for their own thesis studies in impact cratered terrains, whether they be on the Earth, the Moon, Mars, or some other solar system planetary surface.This field camp was originally organized with our Canadian partners under the auspices of the NASA Lunar Science Institute, which was designed, in part, to train a new generation of explorers for the Moon and beyond.
Field Training and Research Program at the Zuni-Bandera Volcanic Field
The Field Training and Research Program at the Zuni-Bandera Volcanic Field is a week-long field class and research project in and around the famous McCarty's lava flow. The goal of the field camp will be to introduce students to basaltic volcanism and physical volcanology and to provide them with an opportunity to assist with a research project in the volcanic field. Skills developed during field camp should better prepare students for their own thesis studies of volcanic provinces on Earth, the Moon, Mars, or any other Solar System planetary surface where basaltic volcanism has occurred. This field camp is being organized under the auspices of the NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, which is designed, in part, to train a new generation of explorers for the Moon and beyond. The initial edition of the course was held in the fall of 2015. We anticipate moving the location of the course to the San Francisco Volcanic Field, near Flagstaff, Arizona, in 2019. The new location is a well-known lunar analogue site that has been used for astronaut training and extensive mission simulations.
Field Training and Research Program in the San Francisco Volcanic Field
The Field Training and Research Program in the San Francisco Volcanic Field, near Flagstaff, Arizona, is a week-long field class and research project in and around the sites used by the instructor to train astronauts and used by NASA for lunar mission simulations. The goal of the field camp will be to introduce students to basaltic volcanism and physical volcanology in a bimodal volcanic field with a stratovolcano. The program will provide students with an opportunity to assist with a research project in the volcanic field. Skills developed during field camp should better prepare students for their own thesis studies of volcanic provinces on Earth, the Moon, Mars, or any other Solar System planetary surface where basaltic volcanism has occurred. This field camp is being organized under the auspices of the NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, which is designed, in part, to train a new generation of explorers for the Moon and beyond. The next edition of this field course will be May 7 – 14, 2022.
EVA Exercises at Meteor Crater
The LPI-JSC Center for Lunar Science and Exploration, with NASA NLSI and SSERVI support, developed several field training and research programs in anticipation of a new era of lunar surface exploration. The flagship program in that series is the Field Training and Research Program at Meteor Crater. To complement that program, we developed EVA Exercises at Meteor Crater. The program introduces graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to the geology of Meteor Crater and a few issues that may affect Artemis astronaut EVAs on the lunar surface. Students and postdocs serve in a virtual Science Operations Center that allows them to operate from their homes or home institutions. The group communicates with an ‘astronaut,’ in this case the course instructor, through a Science Communicator (SciCom), with the goal of maximizing the scientific return of an EVA. EVAs are followed by debriefings to discuss what was learned during the EVA and what could have been learned if segments of EVAs had been done differently.
Higher Education
The Center for Lunar Science and Exploration, in collaboration with numerous Texas higher education institutions, has initiated the Higher Education Lunar Consortium. Science faculty and Center researchers are working together to infuse lunar science and exploration content into undergraduate and graduate courses. The consortium provides students access to the latest exploration results and opportunities for research and careers in cutting-edge lunar science.
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Lunar Exploration Summer Intern Program & Exploration Science Summer Intern Program
We also host an intern program at the LPI that provides students an opportunity to be involved in exploration activities. Teams of interns are organized to determine which locations on the Moon will be the best landing sites to meet science requirements. Additional details of the program are posted at the Lunar Exploration Summer Intern Program website. This six year (2008–2013) program has been superseded by the Exploration Science Summer Intern Program.
Beginning in 2015, the LPI began hosting a new program that builds on the success of the Lunar Exploration Summer Intern Program, which was designed to evaluate possible landing sites on the Moon for robotic and human exploration missions. The new Exploration Science Summer Intern Program is having the same impact on future exploration activities, but has a broader scope that includes both the Moon and near-Earth asteroids. It is a unique opportunity for students to integrate scientific input with exploration activities in a way that mission architects and spacecraft engineers can use. Activities may involve assessments and traverse plans for a particular destination (e.g., on the lunar farside) or a more general assessment of a class of possible exploration targets (e.g., small near-Earth asteroids). Additional details of the program are posted at the Exploration Science Summer Intern Program website.
Space Flight Resource Management Training for Science Operations
An extensive series of 3-, 14-, and 28-day-long lunar mission simulations through the Desert Research and Technology Studies (DRATS) program provided an opportunity to explore a new operational paradigm that closely integrates science operations during extravehicular activities (EVA) with traditional flight operations. A mission control center (MCC) was developed with dual science and flight consoles, rather than a flight MCC with a backroom of scientists.
To begin training scientists to work in a flight operations environment involving crew, we developed Space Flight Resource Management Training for Science Operations. This is a two-week, immersive training activity that utilizes facilities at the Johnson Space Center's (JSC's) flight training facility, with additional instructional content presented at the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI). Participants will be taught space flight resource management (SFRM) skills, learn to develop and share situational awareness in a complex mission environment, learn to develop better active listening skills, learn communication protocols, how to package comm-loop calls, and problem solving skills relevant to a human mission environment. In addition, participants will discuss Gateway-related operations, including a required tele-operation element, the evolving Design Reference Mission (DRM) for lunar surface landing sites and traverses, and an introduction to EVA ops that will utilize the new Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) for astronauts. Those activities will be integrated with two lunar mission simulations that the Flight Operations Directorate (FOD) developed for training purposes.
Postdoctoral Researchers
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Senior Scientists will seek post-doctoral fellows to support the research initiatives outlined above. These positions will be advertised through the LPI and on the Center’s website for Opportunities. In the image shown here, a LPI Postdoctoral Fellow is working in the Apollo sample curatorial facility at the Johnson Space Center. |
Training in Lunar and Planetary Analogue Terrains
To better integrate science and exploration in the nation’s plans for future missions, the Center for Lunar Science and Exploration also fosters opportunities for its student and postdoctoral team members to study analogue terrains. Thus far, the program has facilitated two analogue terrain events:
- Geophysical Survey of Barringer Meteorite Crater, aka Meteor Crater, Arizona (May 2010) – This activity engaged graduate students from the University of Houston and the University of Texas-Austin.
- Field Assessment of Impact Ejecta around the Ries Crater, Germany (June 2010) – This activity engaged three postdoctoral researchers in the NASA Lunar Science Institute
- Lunar Analogue Training at Meteor Crater, Arizona & the San Francisco Volcanic Field, Arizona (April–May 2011) – This activity engaged nine postdoctoral researchers from LPI and JSC; three graduate students from the University of Maryland, University of Houston, and Rice University; and an education specialist from LPI.
- Field Assessment of the Anorthosite-rich Stillwater Igneous Complex, Montana (July 2012) – This activity engaged three postdoctoral researchers in the NASA Lunar Science Institute and gave them an opportunity to see a classic analogue for the lunar magma ocean and planetary differentiation.
- Field Assessment of Impact Ejecta at Barringer Meteorite Crater, aka Meteor Crater, Arizona (January 2013) – This activity was integrated with the excavation of impact ejecta that was being made to accommodate a reconfiguration of the Visitor Center at the crater. It involved four postdoctoral researchers in the NASA Lunar Science Institute.
In addition, participants in the Lunar Exploration Summer Intern Program are briefed several times about NASA’s formal Desert Research and Technology Studies (Desert RATS) that are a key component of NASA’s planetary exploration analogue program. All of these activities are designed to compliment and expand the training opportunities available through the formal Field Training and Research Program at Meteor Crater, which is described in greater detail above.
