Katherine Joy, a planetary geologist from the University of Manchester, is playing a key role in preparing for NASA’s upcoming Artemis IV mission, scheduled to land astronauts near the moon’s south pole in early 2028. Although Joy has applied to become an astronaut, she acknowledged her susceptibility to motion sickness would make space travel challenging. Instead, she contributes her expertise as part of a 12-member geological team tasked with guiding lunar exploration during the mission.

The Artemis IV expedition will mark the first human landing on the moon in 56 years. Joy and her colleagues, led by Brett Denevi of Johns Hopkins University, are working with a £3.85 million budget to develop strategies for the crew’s activities on the lunar surface. Their responsibilities include identifying geological features of interest, advising on sample collection, drilling rock cores, and locating potential deposits of lunar ice, which could prove critical for sustaining a future lunar base.

Joy recently returned to Manchester after a meeting at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The geology team is currently analyzing data from the Artemis II mission, which involved astronauts orbiting the moon in April, gathering valuable reconnaissance. The subsequent Artemis III mission, planned for next year, will test new systems in low-Earth orbit but will not include a lunar landing. It is the Artemis IV crew that will finally conduct surface operations.

The south pole landing site is situated in the lunar highlands, known for their pale, whitish rock formations. Joy highlighted the scientific importance of these rocks, which were formed within the first tens of millions of years of the moon’s history and could offer insights into planetary formation processes throughout the solar system. Apollo-era samples have suggested the moon originated from debris ejected from Earth following a massive impact around 4.5 billion years ago, though alternative theories propose that rapidly spinning early Earth ejected chunks that became the moon. Samples from the south pole could help clarify these hypotheses.

In addition to searching for ice deposits—referred to as “lunar white gold”—which might contain water, oxygen, and noble gases, the team’s goal is to bring back materials that will inform the feasibility of resource extraction on the moon. This includes understanding how much regolith must be processed to yield useful quantities of water for future lunar habitats.

Joy’s enthusiasm for space traces back to 1991, when Helen Sharman became the first British astronaut. She noted that while most Apollo moonwalkers were pilots, Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt was a geologist and the only professional scientist to walk on the moon, offering a precedent for her own role. Other scientists, such as Jessica Watkins and Lauren Edgar, have combined geology expertise with astronaut training, with Edgar now part of NASA’s astronaut corps.

Although Joy does not expect to travel to the moon herself, she embraces the opportunity to contribute to the mission’s geological objectives and to support future generations of explorers.