Stony Brook Professor Joins NASA Artemis Lunar Geology Science Team

Timothy Glotch, chair of Stony Brook University's Department of Geosciences, is now one of 10 scientists from across the country selected by NASA to shape what astronauts actually do on the Moon's surface under the Artemis program. The appointment, announced April 1, puts a Long Island researcher at the center of decisions that will determine which rocks get collected, which instruments get deployed, and which observations get made the first time humans stand on the lunar south pole.

Glotch will work through three distinct phases: pre-mission planning with the crew, real-time science support at NASA's Mission Control in Houston during lunar operations, and post-mission analysis of the samples and data returned to Earth. The target landing zone sits near the Moon's south pole, a geologically extreme region where permanently shadowed craters may harbor water ice and mountain peaks catch near-constant sunlight.

"I am incredibly honored to have been selected to join the Artemis lunar surface science team," Glotch said. "I'm looking forward to joining the rest of the team and doing my part to help maximize the scientific return from NASA's first crewed mission to the surface of the Moon in almost 60 years. Lunar research has been a cornerstone of the university's Department of Geosciences since its founding during the Apollo era, and it is exciting to be able to continue that tradition."

Glotch joins a team led by Noah Petro, project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and Padi Boyd, deputy project scientist at NASA Headquarters. They support the inaugural Artemis geology team headed by Brett Denevi of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. Fellow participating scientists come from institutions including the University of Colorado Boulder, the Smithsonian Institution, Tennessee Technological University, and NASA's own Johnson Space Center.

Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration in NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said the selected scientists "will bring a wealth of expertise to this team to ensure we are supporting crews on the Moon to achieve the missions' science objectives."

For Stony Brook, the selection carries institutional weight that extends well beyond Glotch's own research in infrared remote sensing, mineralogy and planetary-surface processes. The geosciences department traces its lunar science roots to the Apollo program itself, and the appointment now positions it to compete for NASA research grants, expand collaborative work with mission centers, and build direct pathways for students into the Artemis pipeline. Stony Brook, New York's flagship public university with more than 27,000 students and 3,000 faculty members, has previously secured access to rare lunar samples from international missions, giving graduate researchers hands-on material that very few institutions in the world can study.

Undergraduate and graduate students in the university's planetary science and remote sensing labs stand closest to those emerging opportunities. The pre-mission planning work Glotch and his team will undertake through the late 2020s could draw Stony Brook students into mission preparation research directly, while the post-mission sample analysis phase is historically where universities generate new dissertations, federally funded grants, and long-term hires. NASA's Artemis program is also explicitly designed as the foundation for future crewed Mars missions, meaning the science infrastructure being built now, with a Long Island scientist at the table, is intended to outlast the initial Moon landings.