As the deputy principal investigator for NASA’s Artemis III geology team, Edgar helps train astronauts preparing to go to the moon in 2027. She’s also assessing potential landing sites, with a focus on the moon’s south pole—where water and ice may be trapped in shadowed areas. “Water can be useful as rocket propellant and for understanding the moon’s formation and evolution,” she says.

Along with earth sciences prof Marisa Palucis, Edgar co-teaches what she calls “a crash course in geology” for astronaut candidates. It covers how to make measurements on the moon or the surface of a planet and how the shape and size of rocks and other surface features can provide insights. “Her goal is to have the astronauts be able to do some basic geology,” Palucis says.

Last winter Edgar spent two months in Antarctica analyzing more than 200 meteorites, which are used to train astronauts in sampling protocols. “It’s hard to bring back samples from other planets, so meteorites are a great source of extraterrestrial material when we find them here on Earth,” she says.

Edgar started as an engineering major, but her love of space and the outdoors pivoted her to geology. She was inspired by a Women in Science Project internship her freshman year. “I was looking at meteorites and micrometeorites that were collected from our South Pole. I thought that rocks were fascinating, so I started taking some geology classes,” she says. “Then I wanted to ask when and where did life arise in the solar system, and why we study other planets to learn about our own.”