Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM

Monday, March 22, 2004 / 3:30 PM, Building 3 Auditorium

Paul Lowman

"Back to the Moon with New Technologies: Better and Cheaper!"

ABSTRACT -- There have been enormous advances in space technology and scientific instrumentation since the end of the Apollo Program. This talk outlines possible lunar missions, starting with orbital surveys to study scientifically and strategically critical locations, such as the lunar south pole. Early robotic missions could emplace a network of astronomical instruments: telescopes, submillimeter interferometers, radio astronomy dishes, and optical interferometry systems. This robotic complex could serve as the nucleus for a manned settlement in the next decade.

SPEAKER -- Paul Lowman was the first geologist hired by NASA, in 1959, and he started his career working on tektite research with the late John A. O'Keefe. He is currently a member of the GSFC Geodynamics Branch. When the Apollo Program was started, he was detailed to NASA Headquarters, where he helped plan the geophysical investigations later carried out on the Moon. He also helped plan post-Apollo missions, monitoring lunar base studies by North American Aviation. Dr. Lowman taught lunar geology at the Air Force Institute of Technology, Catholic University, and the University of California. As a member of the GSFC Planetology Branch, he took part in Apollo 11 and 12 sample analysis, and in Apollo 15 and 16 X-ray Fluorescence experiments with the late Isidore Adler. Most recently, he helped organize the 2003 International Lunar Conference in Waikoloa, Hawai'i. He is the author of Exploring Space, Exploring Earth: New Understanding of the Earth from Space Research, published by Cambridge University Press, 2002.