UTEP professor working with NASA on lunar mapping

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Dr. Jose Hurtado is continuing UTEP's history working with NASA as they prepare for multiple landings on the moon over the next decade.

"The whole idea is to produce, innovative maps of the lunar south pole.," said Hurtado. "Looking at it through the lens of not just geology, but things like hazards, where the craters are all the sort of things that in the future will be interesting to NASA to consider for things like selecting landing sites or for characterizing regions where robots might go."

Hurtado has been working with NASA for over 15 years, originally starting as a trainer for astronauts as they learn geology. Now, he's helping them research important parts of the moon and helping those astronauts prepare for lunar landings.

"It's approaches to mapping, like what we're demonstrating in this project that we're going to build upon, to make the maps at a much greater detail that'll help plan those missions."

The south pole of the moon is one that has not been mapped to the degree that the rest of the moon has. With his work, Hurtado will be able to give NASA a better look at what exactly makes up the south pole, including if there's valuable resources like water hiding in some of the deep craters.

"It's doing real science and also applying that to exploration of the moon, how much cooler can you get than that?"

The work he's doing now won't put people on the moon in the near future, but it is valuable information for other scientists to use when they start mapping out landing locations. However, Hurtado has been working with NASA on the Artemis missions, which will send astronauts to the moon for the first time since the 1970s.

Artemis II will send astronauts around the moon and is planned to launch in early 2026, and Hurtado will be in Mission Control in Houston during the launch, something he's taking great pride in.

"A lot of what we do in science tends to be sort of very focused on one person or a small sort of research team. This is really far reaching, right? I hope to get everybody, including everybody here in El Paso, excited about lunar exploration."

UTEP has a history of working with NASA. Hurtado is not the only professor working with them on various projects. He loves being able to contribute to the rich history that the university has.

"It's really nice to be a part of that legacy," said Hurtado. "It's a really important part of my job to contribute to that and making space accessible to the folks here at UTEP and in our community."