Current Graduate Students
Sarah Deitrick
Hunter Danque

PI: Kevin M. Cannon
Assistant Professor
Geology and Geological Engineering
Space Resources Program
cannon@mines.edu | 401-340-6608

Undergraduates
Zoe Bowers
Daniel Abel

Research Areas

Space Resources

  • Geologic models for lunar polar ice deposits
  • Predictive maps of ice favorability
  • Prospecting strategies & tools

Regolith Processing

  • Regolith simulant synthesis & analysis
  • Producing clays from lunar regolith
  • Cold sintering of regolith

Planetary Cartography

  • Illumination & line of sight modeling
  • Landing site analysis
  • 2D & 3D visualization, AR/VR

Currently Funded Projects

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. Other 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 instruments and materials for synthesizing and analyzing high-fidelity regolith simulants.

Links & Projects

Lunar Mining & Landing Sites — A variety of resources and tools, including "Ice Prospecting: Your Guide to Getting Rich on the Moon"

Planetary Simulant Database — We created and maintain the Planetary Simulant Database, a free resource with data on historic and current regolith simulants

Eat Like a Martian — We’re exploring food produced by ISRU, and food logistics for space missions

What we’ve published lately

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.

2020. Cannon, K. M., and D. T. Britt
Accessibility dataset for large permanent cold traps at the lunar poles
Earth and Space Science, e2020EA001291.

2020. Cannon, K. M., and D. T. Britt
A Geologic Model for Lunar Ice Deposits at Mining Scales
Icarus, 347, 113778.

2019. Lo, Y. H., C.-T. Liao, J. Zhou, A. Rana, C. S. Bevis, G. Gui, B. Enders, K. M. Cannon, Y.-S. Yu, R. Celestre, K. Nowrouzi, D. Shapiro, H. Kapteyn, R. Falcone, C. Bennett, M. Murnane, and J. Miao
Multimodal x-ray and electron microscopy of the Allende meteorite
Science Advances, 5, eaax3009.

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