Women lead development of tools to search for water on the Moon
Prital Johnson (left) and Dr. Janine Captain discuss a valve issue on a mass spectrometer set to go to the Moon. (Spectrum News 13/Will Robinson-Smith).
Finding frozen water on the Moon is one of the most important missions to make the moon more habitable as NASA’s Artemis program is poised to bring humans back for a permanent presence. In 2022, there will be several robots, CubeSats, and landers launched to the Moon, including the Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule. A women-led team at the Kennedy Space Center is developing an instrument that can detect low levels of water. Led by principle researcher Dr. Janine Captain, they’ve converted off-the-shelf mass spectrometers that are used to analyze molecules into tools that can function on the Moon. The research led by women is a sign of NASA’s desire for an increasingly more inclusive work environment.
