Johnson’s Cindy Evans Prepares Artemis Teams for Lunar Science
NASA’s Artemis II crew assumed many technical and operational responsibilities during their historic mission to the Moon, but they also played an important role as a science ambassador to Earth’s closest neighbor.
During their 10-day journey, the crew flew over the far side of the Moon, analyzing and photographing geological features such as impact craters and ancient lava flows. Their observations will help pave the way for scientific activities on future Artemis missions to the surface of the Moon and contribute to lunar and planetary science. The crew drew on the extensive geology training they received on Earth to describe nuances of shapes, textures and colors – the type of information that reveals the geological history of a region.
Cindy Evans, Artemis exploration scientist and geology training manager, was one of the crew’s instructors. Based at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston in the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) division, Evans is part of Artemis’ internal science team and leads geology training for crew members, mission managers, engineers and flight controllers. This effort focuses on a core curriculum of geology, lunar and planetary sciences in the classroom as well as a progression of geology-focused field courses.
“As ‘on the ground’ scientists, Artemis crew members need geology and field skills to be able to execute the mission’s science requirements from lunar orbit and on the surface of the Moon,” Evans explained. “Whether they look out of spacecraft windows or walk on the surface, Artemis astronauts work on behalf of all scientists to collect clues about the ancient geological processes that shaped the Moon and our solar system. They must have the muscle memory and confidence in their knowledge of geology to carry out geological observations, sampling and other scientific tasks.”
A former oceanographer who studied the rocks that make up ocean crust, Evans imagined she would one day explore the Moon as a NASA astronaut. That dream led her to Johnson, although it didn’t lead her to don a flight suit.
During his 37 years with the agency, Evans contributed to the Space Shuttle program, the Shuttle-Mir program and the International Space Station before moving on to NASA’s Artemis campaign. Some of his notable accomplishments include creating the crewed Earth observation effort for Shuttle-Mir, which equipped crews to photograph the Earth as it changed beneath them. As a member of the imaging team investigating the Columbia accident, she contributed to the development and integration of the Space Shuttle return-to-flight imaging inspection process. “I have been both honored and incredibly fortunate to have participated in a wide variety of human spaceflight programs,” Evans said. “And I’m very proud of the work my team is doing right now.”
Evans also had two opportunities to travel to Antarctica to participate in deep-field geology sessions. “Few things in this world are as wonderful as camping on blue ice just a few hundred miles from the Earth’s South Pole and collecting rocks from space,” she said.
Collaborating with professionals from various fields has been an integral part of Evans’ work since the beginning of his career. “During graduate school, I trained as an oceanographer – an interdisciplinary field where geology meets biology, chemistry and physical oceanography,” she said. “As a planetary scientist at Johnson, I have the challenge of working in a world of engineers and accepting the complex teamwork between hardware engineers, operations engineers, management – many of whom are engineers – and scientists. This has been an incredible opportunity.”
These interdisciplinary experiences taught Evans to be flexible. “Human spaceflight is a dynamic business,” she said. “I’ve worked in many different roles, and each position has taught me new things and broadened my perspective. »
Another important lesson? “As a former lab rat, I learned that it’s all about people. A common thread throughout my career at NASA is the professional fulfillment brought by the relationships and talents of my colleagues and teammates,” she said.
Evans encourages early-career and aspiring NASA team members to reach out to colleagues in different organizations to make connections. “You never know where a path will lead,” she said. “Plans can change – don’t let opportunities pass you by! Even if an opportunity isn’t an obvious or intuitive next step, it’s worth thinking about.”
