Paul D. Spudis

Paul D. Spudis

Paul D. Spudis (1952-2018) was a senior staff scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas, and a prolific author on the subject of the moon. His books include The Value of the Moon: How to Explore, Live, and Prosper in Space Using the Moon's Resources.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, one of several NASA missions up for extension.

NASA’s Extended Science Missions in Peril

When it comes to keeping spacecraft going, when is enough enough?

The Moon’s Mantle Muddle

Maybe we’ve been looking for the wrong minerals, or maybe our models are wrong.

Image of the southern sky in the far ultraviolet, taken by the first astronomical telescope on the Moon, Apollo 16 mission, April, 1972.

The Promise of Astronomy on the Moon

Thirty years ago it was a good idea, and it still is today.

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You Too, Yutu?

If China’s Moon rover is immobile, its scientific mission is effectively over.

View of the Moon at gamma-ray wavelengths, as imaged by the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory satellite. These gamma rays are induced during the collision of cosmic rays with the lunar surface, the same process recently found able to synthesize complex organic molecules in lunar polar ice deposits.

Lunar Forensic Files

Studying life’s processes and origin on the Moon

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Clementine – The Legacy, Twenty Years On

Remembering the first spacecraft to globally map the Moon

An excavating robot mines the Moon. Perhaps the writing should be in Chinese.

Mining the Moon, Fueling the Future

What does the term "mining" really mean for the Moon and other extraterrestrial bodies?

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A New Site to Explore on the Moon

The Chang’E 3 spacecraft has landed on one of the most geologically interesting spots on the Moon. What might it discover?

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JFK and the Moon

Was President Kennedy a reluctant spacefarer?

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Watch Where You Step on the Moon

Should the Moon become a United Nations International Park?

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Unplanned (But Controlled) Experiments: The Role of Serendipity

Two spacecraft arrive at the Moon at the same time, and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts

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LADEE – Measuring Almost Nothing and Looking for the Almost Invisible

The LADEE mission seeks the faintest of lunar phenomena

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The Quest for Life Elsewhere – Rationale for a Space Program?

Should searching for extraterrestrial life be the primary goal of our space program?

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Signs of “Life” on the Lunar Frontier

New sightings of water on the Moon, roadmaps for exploration and commercial lunar flights

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Good Things Delivered in Small Packages

NASA recently asked industry for concepts of small robotic landers for missions to the Moon. What could such machines accomplish?

The fresh lunar crater Giordano Bruno offers a wealth of fascinating landforms to study.

Melted Moon

Lava-like features and landforms around young lunar craters give us insight into the processes and history of the Moon

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Earth’s Nightlight

The Moon's motions have a significant impact on life on Earth

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The Moon’s Antipodal Magnetism Mystery

A magnetic anomaly near the Moon's north pole may be related to an impact basin near its south pole. How can this happen?

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Alien Minerals Found in Lunar Crater – Film at Eleven!

Computer models in science can be useful -- until you start believing in them.

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Earth-Moon: A Watery “Double-Planet”

New work on lunar samples reveal a shared source for water in the deep interior of both Earth and Moon

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