We are happy to introduce our newest members of LPE as our team continues to grow. Get to know them better through their brief introductions and what they’ll be working on:

I’m Florian Achorner, and I completed my master’s in aerospace engineering at the Technical University of Munich. During my studies, I developed a strong enthusiasm for space exploration, with a particular focus on the Moon and the challenges of enabling a sustainable human presence there. After gaining initial insights into lunar research during my lectures and master’s thesis, I joined the LPE team in January. As a research associate in the EU-funded Ice2Thrust project, I investigate the release of water from icy lunar regolith using solar energy, as well as its capture using a cold trap under vacuum conditions.

I am Shreya Chauhan. I earned a master's in planetary science and space exploration from Freie Universität Berlin. My research interests focus on planetary remote sensing and instrumentation. I joined the LPE team as a research associate for the ESA-funded Rover Permittivity Sensor (RPS) project, supporting the flight development of the thermal sensing unit within the sensor suite. Additionally, I will support the calibration campaign for the thermal sensor on EMS-L for the upcoming JAXA-ISRO LUPEX mission to the lunar south pole.

I'm Simon Venth and I completed my BSc and MSc in Aerospace Engineering at TU Delft in the Netherlands. I graduated in the field of space embedded systems, where I investigated fault tolerance of FPGAs under proton radiation. I then joined the data systems division at ESA ESTEC as a YGT and transferred to ESA EAC for my second year. As part of the Spaceship EAC team there, I got in touch with lunar exploration and ISRU and developed a passion for it. Here at the Lunar and Planetary Exploration professorship, I work on the Lunar Volatiles Scout (LVS) instrument, which is set to fly on ESA's MAGPIE mission in the future.