“An Artist Sketches the Giant Gender Gap on the Moon”

The surface of the Moon is dotted with untold numbers of craters, the scars of previous impacts. Of the roughly 1,500 craters that carry official names (mostly honoring scientists and explorers), only about 2% are named for women, however.

Bettina Forget, an artist and amatuer astronomer, has been sketching those 32 craters. She uses a telescope to observe the ones visible from Earth and images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to draw those on the Moon’s far side.  Ms. Forget is also creating small 3D-printed versions of the craters, and, as part of her art project entitled “One Small Step,” she’s planning to ask female astronomers to affix them to the soles of their shoes to create crater imprints.

How about a story with several angles: the science of lunar craters, a look at how craters are named, and the artistry of Ms. Forget’s work? (I’m an astronomer by training, so I’d bring that background.)

Thanks,

Kathy.