The Cannon Group
at Colorado School of Mines
Research Areas
Space Resources
- Geologic models for space resources
- Predictive maps of resource favorability
- Prospecting strategies & tools
Regolith Processing
- Regolith simulant synthesis & analysis
- Particle size and shape characterization
- Regolith transport and processing
Planetary Cartography
- Illumination & line of sight modeling
- Landing site analysis
- 2D & 3D visualization, AR/VR
Currently Funded Projects
- Lunar Environment and Resource Utilization Academic Research Engagement (Industry funding)
- NASA SBIR Phase II: Modeling Rover Interactions with Lunar Regolith in Permanently Shadowed Regions (Outward Technologies)
- NIAC Phase I: Regolith Adaptive Modification System (RAMs) to Support Early Extraterrestrial Planetary Landings and Operations (NASA/Texas A&M)
Current Student Projects
- Particle shape characterization of Apollo regolith samples
- Thermal modeling of lunar cold traps
- Deep learning for super-resolution spacecraft imagery
- Casting basalt and anorthosite
- Natural landing surfaces on the Moon and Mars
Facilities & Capabilities
Planetary Cartography Lab
The Planetary Cartography Lab is located in GRL 238, and hosts computing and software resources for mapping, geospatial analysis, and remote sensing for all planetary bodies. Equipment includes an 86" SMART Board interactive display, large format 2D & 3D printers, and VR headsets.
Space Resources Lab
We also have equipment in the shared Space Resources Lab in GRL 140: this includes a Microtrac SYNC particle size and shape analyzer, and instruments and materials for synthesizing and analyzing high-fidelity regolith simulants.
Links & Projects
Lunar Mining & Landing Sites — Resources and tools focused on the Moon
Asteroid Mining — Resources and tools focused on asteroids
Artemis Base Maps — A set of mapping products for prospective landing sites for the Artemis missions
Eat Like a Martian — We’re exploring food produced by ISRU, and food logistics for space missions
Planetary Simulant Database — We created and maintain the Planetary Simulant Database, a free resource with data on historic and current regolith simulants
What we’ve published lately
2021. Cannon, K. M.
Accessible Carbon on the Moon
arXiv:2104.13521.
2021. J.D. Tarnas, J.F. Mustard, B. Sherwood Lollar, V. Stamenković, K.M. Cannon, J.-P. Lorand, T.C. Onstott, J.R. Michalski, O. Warr, A.M. Palumbo, and A.-C. Plesa
Earth-like Habitable Environments in the Subsurface of Mars
Astrobiology, in press.
2021. Tarnas, J. D., J. F. Mustard, X. Wu, E. Das, K. M. Cannon. C. B. Hundal, A. C. Pascuzzo, J. R. Kellner, and M. Parente
Successes and challenges of factor analysis/target transformation application to visible-to-near-infrared hyperspectral data
Icarus, 114402.
2021. Neish, C. D., K. M. Cannon, L. L. Tornabene, R. L. Flemming, M. Zanetti, and E. Pilles
Spectral properties of lunar impact melt deposits from Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) data
Icarus, 114392.
2020. Cannon, K. M., A. N. Deutsch, J. W. Head, and D. T. Britt
Stratigraphy of ice and ejecta deposits at the lunar poles
Geophysical Research Letters, e2020GL088920.
Contact Info
Feel free to contact me about our groups’ work, potential speaking appearances, or possible collaborations.
Email: cannon@mines.edu
Cell: (+1) 401-340-6608