David Heather

    Project Scientist

     

    Main Research Fields

    My research areas encompass planetary geology and remote sensing, particularly on the Moon, and include questions regarding: geological mapping, morphology, lunar volcanism and volcanic history, impact cratering and lunar stratigraphy, volatiles, habitability, and ISRU. I use multispectral mapping, spectroscopy and analysis of planetary image data in support of my research.

    I am interested in understanding the mineralogical and morphological chracteristics of the lunar surface, and  how they have changed and evolved over time.  In particular, I am interested in the history of lunar volcanism and how this has shaped the Moon as we see it today.

    For the upcoming PROSPECT mission, I am also interested in exploring the composition, distribution and role of volatiles in the near lunar surface, and the characterisation/selection of sites for future human and robotic exploration, particularly with respect to in-situ resource utilisation.


    Keywords

    Planetary geology & remote sensing: Moon, surface mineralogy, volcanism, impact cratering, planetary mapping, volatiles, habitability, ISRU

    Ongoing collaborations

        ESA/ESAC, ES: Sebastien Besse - lunar volcanism and mineralogical mapping.

        University of Lancaster, UK: L. Wilson - application of remote sensing data to the volcanic history of Marius Hills.

    Project/mission at ESA

    PROSPECT - The Package for Resource Observation and in-Situ Prospecting for Exploration, Commercial exploitation and Transportation (PROSPECT) is a package to access and assess potential resources on the Moon and to prepare technologies that may be used to extract these resources in the future.

    Planetary Archives Scientist: current / past involvement in science archiving of data from PROSPECT, Rosetta, Mars Express, Venus Express, ExoMars, Huygens, Chandrayaan-1, BepiColombo, SMART-1, Giotto