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H. Julian Allen Award

The H. Julian Allen Award was established to annually recognize the best technical paper with a NASA Ames researcher as the senior author. It truly is one of NASA Ames’ highest honors.

Rick Guidice illustration of Earth and the sun

2016 H. Julian Allen Award – Dr. Anthony Colaprete

The H. Julian Allen award is truly one of NASA Ames Research Center’s highest honors. In 2016, it was awarded to Anthony Colaprete for his paper “Detection of Water in the LCROSS Ejecta Plume.” The H. Julian Allen Award was established in 1969 to annually recognize a scientific or engineering paper of outstanding technical merit and significance. Dr. Colaprete is an internationally known planetary scientist recognized for his contributions towards the LCROSS mission and his work on the Martian climate system.

Discovery of water on other planetary bodies brings us one step closer to unveiling the questions associated with the early evolution and formation of Solar System. NASA Ames has played a significant role in catalyzing scientific lunar research by initiating and managing missions to the Moon. In his presentation, Dr. Colaprete provides insight into NASA’s Resource Prospector mission aimed to harvest lunar resources, based on the findings of the LCROSS and LRO missions.

Abstract:
The lunar water system is dramatically more complex and rich than was deduced following the Apollo era, as demonstrated by the last two decades of lunar observations. What was once thought to be a largely arid world is now believed to harbor significant quantities of water ice near its surface. The signature of water has been observed in surface reflectance measurements in in-situ observations in orbit around the Moon. A variety of different types of observations show a complex world of potential frosts, subsurface ices and water bound in volcanic and meteoritic glasses. Not all of the observations are consistent with each other, nor are all the observations consistent with any one theory as to how the water got there (sources) or how it is lost (sinks). As more missions are being planned to the Moon, some are specifically focused on lunar polar volatiles. NASA Ames has had a significant role in rewriting of lunar text books, having significant involvement in two previous missions – Lunar Prospector (LP) and the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS). LP demonstrated an enhanced hydrogen signature at both poles, while LCROSS confirmed water ice to be among the form of the hydrogen that was found. These two ground breaking missions launched the framework for Resource Prospector. The goal of the Resource Prospector mission is to understand the distribution of water at the “human scale,” and evaluate the use of lunar polar water as an exploration resource. The intention of this talk is to not only tell the story of Lunar Water but also illustrate Ames role in writing it. It also will describe the next steps forward, and how Ames is involved.

Biography:
Dr. Colaprete is a planetary scientist in Code SST. He came to NASA Ames in 2000 from the University of Colorado as a Post-Doc who joined the Mars Climate Modeling group, working on implementing cloud microphysical models into Mars climate models. Hired as a civil servant in 2003, Colaprete split his time between fundamental scientific research and developing flight instrumentation. Colaprete has been the Principal Investigator (PI) for several flight projects and instruments, including the LCROSS mission and the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) Ultraviolet and Visible Spectrometer (UVS). Currently, he is the Project Scientist for the RP mission, PI for the Near InfraRed Volatiles Spectrometer System (NIRVSS) and leads the Ames Flight Instrument Group.