Lunar and Planetary Science Conference

By Alex Dworzanczyk, INSPIRE 12th Grade

The INSPIRE program can be a gateway to new opportunities through NASA. During the summer of 2011, I worked with Dr. Scott Mest of Goddard Space Flight Center on a project of mapping areas of the Moon to determine the areas of the greatest scientific value for a future mission to investigate. This project gave me my first experience of work at NASA and my first interactions with NASA scientists, and would later serve as an opportunity to experience first-hand a major conference of space scientists and engineers.

In December, 2011, I received an e-mail from Dr. Mest in which he presented me a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. His work on the results from the Dawn mission to Vesta left him with too many papers to present alone, and so he offered me the chance to present my work on mapping lunar regions of interest at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston, Texas! I immediately accepted his offer, and began working on the poster on which I would present my results.

After clearing my absence from school with the relevant officials, and printing out my poster, I got on the plane to Houston and arrived on Wednesday, March 21, 2012.

My first day was spent putting up my poster and examining the displays that the other presenters had here. Taking place at the same time and in the same building as the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) was the Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space (NETS) Conference. Engineers representing Pratt & Whitney, Lockheed-Martin, and various other corporations and many NASA centers were present here to discuss the role of nuclear power in space exploration, from the past and present use of Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) on space probes and during the Apollo program to the future use of very powerful nuclear reactors to propell crewed and scientific missions faster and farther than ever before!

I learned about new maps NASA scientists are producing of the dwarf planet Vesta, an entire new world not mapped in detail until the Dawn probe entered orbit just a few months ago. Here scientists see in craters millions of years old geological processes that reveal this world's dynamic evolution. I also met with veterans of the Desert RATS tests and the Mars Desert Research Station, who explained to me how their work is paving the way for future manned exploration of the asteroids and Mars by developing techniques for communicating effectively with Mission Control and planning a traverse of a region of scientific interest. I also learned about how scientists analyzing the Martian polar ice caps are using Greenland as a terrestrial analogue to form a hypothesis about how the ice beneath the polar ice cap's surface might look on Mars.

From the engineers of the NETS conference, I learned about topics in nuclear engineering ranging from the Stirling-cycle electricity generators to be used on future missions using radioisotopes, such as the Titan Mare Explorer, to Nuclear Thermal Rocketry, which uses a nuclear reactor to directly heat a working fluid to make thrust and electric power, to the development of nuclear fusion as a spacecraft propulsion mechanism in the farther future. I got to meet many engineers, including the world-famous Dr. Stanley Borowski, the lead nuclear thermal rocket engineer at Glenn Research Center.

My own presentation, given on Thursday night, focused on the work I did as part of the INSPIRE Summer STEM Experience in 2011. I talked about how my work on maps of the Copernicus Crater and Apollo 15 Regions of Interest helped identify areas of scientific interest there, like extinct volcanoes near the Apollo 15 landing site to the enormous central peak of Copernicus Crater.

I wouldn't have been able to attend this conference without the help of Dr. Mest and the NASA INSPIRE Program. Through the INSPIRE Program and thanks to Dr. Mest, I got to broaden my horizons and learn a lot about planetary science and engineering from the men and women who work on them first hand.

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