The Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) is a scientific research institute dedicated to study of the solar system

Solar System

The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...

, its formation, evolution, and current state. The Institute is part of the Universities Space Research Association

Universities Space Research Association

The Universities Space Research Association was incorporated on March 12, 1969 in the District of Columbia as a private, nonprofit corporation under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences . Institutional membership in the Association has grown from 49 colleges and universities when it was...

 (USRA) and is supported by the Science Mission Directorate

Science Mission Directorate

The Science Mission Directorate of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration engages the United States’ science community, sponsors scientific research, and develops and deploys satellites and probes in collaboration with NASA’s partners around the world to answer fundamental questions...

 of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Located at 3600 Bay Area Boulevard in Houston, Texas, the LPI maintains an extensive collection of lunar and planetary data, carries out education and public outreach programs, and offers meeting coordination and publishing services. The LPI sponsors and organizes several workshops and conferences throughout the year including the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference

Lunar and Planetary Science Conference

The Lunar and Planetary Science Conference , jointly sponsored by the Lunar and Planetary Institute and NASA Johnson Space Center , brings together international specialists in petrology, geochemistry, geophysics, geology and astronomy to present the latest results of research in planetary science...

 (LPSC) held in March in the Houston area.

History

In his March 1968 speech at the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) in Houston, Texas, President Lyndon B. Johnson

Lyndon B. Johnson

Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...

 announced the formation of the Lunar Science Institute (LSI).

"We will welcome here all who are interested in the sciences of space. We will strengthen the cooperation between NASA and our universities. And we will set new patterns of scientific cooperation which will have profound effects on man's knowledge of his universe."
-- President Lyndon B. Johnson, March 1, 1968

"The institute will provide a base for outside scientists, encouraging them to visit the Manned Spacecraft Center and use its laboratories, lunar photographs, and (ultimately) its rock samples. LSI is viewed as a major potential stimulus to lunar science at MSC and elsewhere."

This announcement was the culmination of meetings and events involving NASA, the National Academy of Sciences

United States National Academy of Sciences

The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...

, Universities Research Association

Universities Research Association

The Universities Research Association, Inc. is a consortium of 87 leading research oriented universities, primarily in the United States, with members in Canada, Japan, and Italy. It is based in Washington, D.C.- History and purpose :...

 and several major universities. Initially operated by the National Academy of Sciences, USRA took over the management of the Lunar Science Institute on December 11, 1969.
Dr. William W. Rubey was appointed the first director of the Lunar Science Institute. Dr. Rubey led the institute through the transition to the new management operation under USRA. A program of visiting university-based scientists was established, the first symposium was organized, and the first lecture of the LSI seminar series was presented. The Lunar Science Institute was formally dedicated on January 4, 1970 at the former West Mansion on NASA Road 1 near the Manned Spacecraft Center.

Dr. Thomas R. McGetchin was appointed director in 1977. Under his leadership, Dr. McGetchin expanded the focus of the Lunar Science Institute to include the study of the entire solar system, and the name was changed to the Lunar and Planetary Institute.

In 1991, under the leadership of Dr. David C. Black, the LPI moved into a new facility. This new building combined several USRA divisions and operations into one location. The building, dedicated in January 1992, provided more office, meeting, computer and library space and improved USRA-Houston operations.

The LPI continues to operate in the USRA-Houston building under the direction of Dr. Stephen J. Mackwell.

General focus

Research topics of the LPI include the formation and evolution of the solar system

Formation and evolution of the Solar System

The formation and evolution of the Solar System is estimated to have begun 4.568 billion years ago with the gravitational collapse of a small part of a giant molecular cloud...

, petrology and geochemistry of planetary materials and volatiles, planetary interiors, volcanism

Volcanism

Volcanism is the phenomenon connected with volcanoes and volcanic activity. It includes all phenomena resulting from and causing magma within the crust or mantle of a planet to rise through the crust and form volcanic rocks on the surface....

, tectonism, and impact cratering. Research interests range from Mercury

Mercury (planet)

Mercury is the innermost and smallest planet in the Solar System, orbiting the Sun once every 87.969 Earth days. The orbit of Mercury has the highest eccentricity of all the Solar System planets, and it has the smallest axial tilt. It completes three rotations about its axis for every two orbits...

 to Pluto

Pluto

Pluto, formal designation 134340 Pluto, is the second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the tenth-most-massive body observed directly orbiting the Sun...

 and the icy moon

Icy moon

Icy moons are believed to be a common class of natural satellites or planetoids with surfaces composed mostly of ice. An icy moon may harbor an ocean underneath the surface, and possibly include a rocky core of silicate or metallic rocks. It is thought that they may be composed of ice II...

s of the solar system.
The LPI currently maintains a staff of resident scientists as well as visiting scientists, postdoctoral fellows and graduate fellows. Resident scientists provide planetary science expertise necessary for the LPI to achieve its goals and maintain their scientific proficiency through peer-reviewed activities.

The Center for Lunar Science Exploration, a collaborative effort of the Lunar and Planetary Institute and the Johnson Space Center and an integral part of the NASA Lunar Science Institute

NASA Lunar Science Institute

The NASA Lunar Science Institute is a new organization, established by NASA in 2008, that supplements and extends existing NASA lunar science programs...

 (NLSI), was established in 2009. The Center is designed to develop a core, multi-institutional lunar science program, provide scientific and technical expertise to NASA, support the development of a lunar science community, and develop lunar science education and outreach programs.

Analysis groups

The LPI provides support for a number of NASA's community analysis groups, including:

Curation and Analysis Planning Team for Extraterrestrial Materials (CAPTEM) - responsible for the care and distribution of all extraterrestrial samples collected by NASA including the Apollo lunar samples, materials from sample return missions, and solid materials of the solar system

Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG) - responsible for analyzing scientific, technical, commercial, and operational issues associated with lunar exploration in response to requests by NASA

Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) - responsible for providing science input for planning and prioritizing future Mars

Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...

 exploration activities for the next several decades

Outer Planets Assessment Group (OPAG) - responsible for identifying the scientific priorities and pathways for exploration in the outer solar system

Optimizing Science and Exploration Working Group (OSEWG) - responsible for guiding exploration and science investigations during lunar sortie and outpost missions, with extensibility to future Mars missions

Small Bodies Assessment Group (SBAG) - responsible for identifying scientific priorities and opportunities for the exploration of asteroids, comets, interplanetary dust, small satellites, and trans-Neptunian objects and for providing scientific input on the utility of asteroids and comets in support of human space activities

Venus Exploration Analysis Group (VEXAG) - responsible for identifying scientific priorities and strategy for the exploration of Venus

Venus

Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...

Summer intern programs

The LPI hosts a Summer Intern Program providing undergraduates an opportunity to participate in cutting-edge research in the planetary sciences. LPI Summer Interns work one-on-one with scientists at the LPI or at the Johnson Space Center to complete research projects of current interest. The Summer Intern Program allows participants to experience a real research environment, to learn from leading planetary scientists, and to preview careers in research.

The LPI also hosts a Lunar Exploration Summer Intern Program designed to evaluate possible landing sites for robotic and human exploration missions. Interns work with LPI scientific staff and other collaborators. The program is open to graduate students in geology, planetary science, and related fields, and undergraduates with at least 50 semester hours of credit.

Meetings

The LPI organizes and sponsors a number of planetary science workshops and conferences throughout the year in both domestic and international locations, including the annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. This important five-day meeting held in the Houston area in March brings together international specialists in petrology, geochemistry, geophysics, geology, and astronomy to present scientific findings in planetary science. The LPSC dates back to the days of the Apollo program and the early meetings focusing on the study of the lunar samples. After four decades, this conference continues to thrive, drawing planetary scientists and researchers from around the world.

Publications

The LPI has collaborated on a number of publications in the prestigious Space Science Series of the University of Arizona Press

University of Arizona Press

The University of Arizona Press, a publishing house founded in 1959 as a department of the University of Arizona, is a nonprofit publisher of scholarly and regional books...

, including Asteroids III (ISBN 0816522812), Comets II (ISBN 0816524505), Europa (ISBN 9780816528448), Meteorites and the Early Solar System II (ISBN 9780816525621), Origin of the Earth and Moon (ISBN 0816520739), Protostars and Planets V (ISBN 9780816526543), and The Solar System Beyond Neptune (ISBN 9780816527557). The LPI also publishes a large number of planetary science workshop and meeting documents every year as well as a quarterly newsletter, Lunar and Planetary Information Bulletin.

Education and public outreach

The LPI has a long tradition of space science

Space science

The term space science may mean:* The study of issues specifically related to space travel and space exploration, including space medicine.* Science performed in outer space ....

 education and public outreach through a number of programs and resources. This effort serves a wide variety of audiences, including K-12 students and educators, undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students, and the public in formal and informal venues and on local, regional, and national levels.

These programs and resources include the following:

Explore! Fun with Science - a program designed to bring space science into libraries and informal learning environments

Family Space Days - a series of space science activities for families to share with young children, held monthly at the LPI

MyMoon - an online presence promoting the use of social media

Social media

The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,...

 to engage a target audience of 18 to 35-year-olds to appreciate and explore the Moon in a new and fun way

Cosmic Explorations: A Speakers Series - a series of public lectures presented by international experts in space science (past lectures are made available online at the LPI website)

Library

The LPI library contains more than 60,000 cataloged books, documents, maps, films and videos, and print and electronic journals and newsletters. The subject emphasis of the collection is planetary science and geology, with limited collection development extending into the secondary support field of computer science remote sensing. There is an ongoing effort to scan and make available to the scientific community and the general public a number of out-of-print planetary science books, NASA documents and images, and related works. (These publications are copyright-free or made available with permission.)

This collection is a NASA Regional Planetary Image Facility

Regional Planetary Image Facility

NASA Regional Planetary Image Facilities are planetary image and data libraries located throughout the United States and overseas and are funded by both NASA and the host institutions. A network of these facilities was established in 1977 to “maintain photographic and digital data as well as...

 (RPIF) and includes photographs, maps and other data from planetary missions including Apollo, Lunar Orbiter, Clementine, Mars Pathfinder

Mars Pathfinder

Mars Pathfinder was an American spacecraft that landed a base station with roving probe on Mars in 1997. It consisted of a lander, renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station, and a lightweight wheeled robotic rover named Sojourner.Launched on December 4, 1996 by NASA aboard a Delta II booster a...

, Voyager 1

Voyager 1

The Voyager 1 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA in 1977, to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space. Operating for as of today , the spacecraft receives routine commands and transmits data back to the Deep Space Network. At a distance of as of...

, Voyager 2

Voyager 2

The Voyager 2 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977 to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space...

, Magellan

Magellan probe

The Magellan spacecraft, also referred to as the Venus Radar Mapper, was a 1,035-kilogram robotic space probe launched by NASA on May 4, 1989, to map the surface of Venus using Synthetic Aperture Radar and measure the planetary gravity...

, Galileo and Mars Global Surveyor

Mars Global Surveyor

The Mars Global Surveyor was a US spacecraft developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and launched November 1996. It began the United States's return to Mars after a 10-year absence. It completed its primary mission in January 2001 and was in its third extended mission phase when, on 2...

.

The library maintains two weblogs--Recent additions to the collection and New and Noteworthy--that feature newly acquired library materials, give tips on using library services and resources, and provide news about what is happening in the library and RPIF at the Lunar and Planetary Institute.

Directors of the LPI

William Walden Rubey

William Walden Rubey

William Walden Rubey was an American geologist.He was born in Moberly, Missouri. He attended the University of Missouri, and in 1920 he graduated with an A.B. degree. During the same year he married Susan Elsie Manovill, and joined the U.S. Geological Survey...

 (1968-1971)

Joseph W. Chamberlain (1971-1973)

David W. Strangway

David Strangway

David William Strangway, OC, FRSC is a Canadian Geophysicist and University Administrator. Strangway is the founder, first President and first Chancellor of Quest University Canada, a private non-profit liberal arts and sciences university in Squamish, British Columbia which opened in September...

(1973)

James W. Head (1973-1974)

Robert O. Pepin (1974-1977)

Thomas R. McGetchin (1977-1979)

John R. Sevier (1979)

Roger J. Phillips (1979-1982)

Kevin C. Burke (1982-1988)

David C. Black (1988-2002)

Arch M. Reid (2002)

Stephen J. Mackwell (2002-present)

Social presences

Lunar and Planetary Institute Facebook Page

Lunar and Planetary Institute Flickr Page

Lunar and Planetary Institute Library Twitter Page