Clive Neal
Permanent human habitation of the Moon is the next logical step in human space exploration as the Moon is our gateway to the Solar System. Robotic precursor missions to the lunar surface are required to ensure that the resources are actually reserves. The richest and most accessible deposit will dictate where the Moon Base will be located. This approach will bring the Moon into our economic sphere of influence and stimulate the economy by opening a new sector of opportunity.
I am passionate about getting humans back to the Moon to stay so that our race can sustainably explore our Solar System.
Clive R. Neal grew up and was educated in the United Kingdom. He obtained his PhD in geochemistry and petrology in 1986. He moved to the United States later in that year where he spent 4 years as a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Tennessee – Knoxville. While there, he studied mantle petrology and was introduced to the study of Apollo Moon rocks. He is currently a Professor of Planetary Geology at the University of Notre Dame.
Neal has been involved in the study of the Moon since 1986 using Apollo samples, lunar meteorites, as well as remotely sensed data from missions including and since Apollo. He has also served on mission and research review panels, including being the Chair of the Lunar Sample Allocation subcommittee 2005-2009, and was a member of the Senior Review panel for NASA’s Planetary Science Division in 2012 and chaired that panel in 2014. He is the current chair of NASA’s Lunar Exploration Analysis Group, a group that he chaired from 2006-2010. Neal is passionate about NASA and in returning humans to the Moon and beyond in a sustainable, economically beneficial way. In 2015, he received the NASA “Wargo Award” for contributions to the integration of exploration and planetary science throughout his career.
The Lunar Exploration Analysis Group has already developed a Roadmap to develop a permanent Moon Base. This involved many experts from a number of important fields and shows that the Moon is required to enable sustainable Mars exploration.
How we get back to the Moon.
Lunar geology, evolution, and resources.