University of Houston co-hosts International Lunar Superconductor Applications Workshop

Nearly two years ago, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the LCROSS Impactor found evidence of water and ice at the moon's poles.

Beginning this Thursday (March 3), invited engineers and scientists from NASA, top research institutions and private industry will gather in Houston for the first International Lunar Superconductor Applications Workshop where they will discuss the 2009 discovery and how superconductors can help advance research and commercial development on the moon.

The Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston (TcSUH) and Flexure Engineering will co-host the three-day event (March 3-5) at the University of Houston Hilton Hotel. The event also will feature researchers from John Hopkins, UCLA, the Lunar and Planetary Institute and other institutions.

In break-out sessions, leaders in high-temperature superconductivity, low temperature electronics, lunar science, and cryogenic robotics will discuss the challenges and opportunities involved in exploring super-cold regions. They will brainstorm and outline activities for future collaboration.

"Suddenly on July 6, 2009, the lunar poles became the most valuable destinations in the solar system," said Flexure Engineering CEO Russell Cox. "Lunar ices can teach us about comets and asteroids, the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and even the icy dust that formed our solar system 4.6 billion years ago."

At TcSUH, research and development efforts on prototype devices that use high-temperature superconductors have been under way for the past decade.

"The lunar surface has lower temperature, low gravity and vacuum. It is ideal for applications that use superconductors as the enabling technology," said Wei-Kan Chu, Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen University Professor of Physics and TcSUH's director of research.

The LSA workshop will provide scientists and engineers a unique opportunity to discuss ways to influence and guide key decision-making processes that will shape decades of lunar research and exploration.

The workshop precedes the Global Lunar Superconductor Applications Virtual Workshop, July 8-9, 2011, and the LSA 2012 workshops.

Provided by University of Houston