Dr. Sarah Kathryn Noble

NASA Headquarters
Mail Code 3C59, Washington DC 20062
Phone: (202) 358-2492

Email: sarah.k.noble(at)nasa.gov

Education:

Brown University, Ph.D. Geological Sciences; May 2004, advisor: C. M. Pieters, thesis title: “Turning Rock into Regolith – The Physical and Optical Consequences of Space Weathering in the Inner Solar System”

Brown University, Sc.M. Geological Sciences; May 2000

University of Minnesota, B. S. Geology with distinction, minors: Political Science, Studio Arts; March 1998

Teaching Experience:

T.A GEO22 - Physical Geology, Brown University, Fall 98, Fall 00
T.A. Geo 1001 - Intro Geology, University of Minnesota, Fall 97

Employment:

Sept 2010 - present, program scientist at NASA Headquarters, Washington DC
- Program Scientist for Psyche
- Program Scientist for LADEE (the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer)
- Deputy Program Scientist for the Mars 2020 rover (through January 2018)
- Lead discipline scientist for PDART, SSERVI, Co-lead for PSTAR, caucus member for LDAP, and LARS
Sept 2010 - Sept 2014, research scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt MD
- Working on space weathering-related issues utilizing TEM and other electron microscopy techniques.
Feb 2009 - Sept 2010, research scientist at University of Alabama Huntsville / Marshall Space Flight Center.
- Project Scientist for the Lunar Mapping and Modeling Project.
- Working on space weathering-related issues utilizing TEM and other electron microscopy techniques.
Jan 2008 - Jan 2009, NASA Postdoctoral Management Fellow at NASA Headquarters in DC
- Working as a Lunar Program Scientist in the Planetary Sciences Division of the Science Mission Directorate.
Dec 2005 - Nov 2007, NASA Postdoctoral Fellow (what used to be called an NRC postdoc) at Johnson Space Center with Dr. Lindsay Keller.
- Working on space weathering-related issues utilizing TEM and other electron microscopy techniques.
Sept 2004 - November 2005, GSA Congressional Science Fellow
- Worked as a congressional staffer with the democratic staff of the House Committee on Science
- Prepared memos, did budget analysis and oversight, wrote speeches, drafted legislation, assisted with the committee website overhaul
- Articles published in GSA Today:
  - Greetings from Capitol Hill! GSA Today, v. 15, no. 3 (March 2005)
  - U.S. Space Policy: Where are we going, and why are we in this hand basket- I mean - space shuttle? GSA Today, v. 15, no. 8 (August 2005)
  - A Category 5 Adventure GSA Today, v. 15, no. 12 (December 2005)
  - Back to Academia: Lessons learned from a year on the Hill GSA Today, v. 16, no. 3 (March 2006)

Awards and Honors:

Inducted into the Space Camp Hall of Fame, 2018
Asteroid 133432Sarahnoble named in my honor
Selected as a "Woman@NASA" - 2015 class
PI, NASA ROSES2010 Lunar Advanced Science and Exploration Research (LASER) grant
NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program Fellowship, June 2001 - June 2004
Honorable Mention, Dwornik Award for best student oral presentation at LPSC - 2004
Attended JPL/Caltech Planetary Science Summer School mission design program
- July 99
- August 03 (mission PI)
Dennis Fellowship, University of Minnesota - 1996
U of MN Deans list: Fall 95, Wtr 96, Wtr 97, Fall 97, Wtr 98

Professional Societies and Service:

GSFC Science Director's Committee, Spr 2010 - Spr 2012.
Served in the NASA Desert RATS science backroom during the 2010 and 2011 field campaigns.
Lunar Heritage Preservation - member of ad hoc panel which examined the scinece that could be done at lunar heritage sites. Our results are included as Appendic C in this report.
Lunar Sample Acquisition and Curation (LSAC) review - member of ad hoc LEAG/CAPTEM panel which performed an end-to-end assessment of future lunar sample acquisition from collection on the lunar surface to storage and dissemination on Earth. The final report can be found here.
NLSI Lunar Science Forum conference organizing committee member, 2010 and 2012.
NASA proposal reviewer for a wide variety of programs including Cosmochmistry, LASER, PMDAP, MMAMA and PG&G.
Association for Women Geoscientists
- Board member (South Central Regional Delegate), Fall 05 - Fall 07.
Geological Society of America
- Member, Congression Science Fellow selection committee, Sept 07- Sept 10.
- Member, Geology and Public Policy Committee, Sept 05 - Sept 06.
Brown University, Geology Dept Representative, Graduate Student Council, Fall 01- Spr 04.
Brown University, Student Representative to Geology Faculty, Fall 01 - Spr 02.
University of Minnesota, Co-editor Society of Women Engineers newsletter, Fall 94 - Spr 96.

Current Research Interests:

I study space weathering (what is space weathering?) and the ways in which space weathering affects the visible/nearIR spectra of soil. Space weathering affects all bodies which are not protected by an atmosphere. I have been studying lunar soils for a while now to understand the processes involved in space weathering. The Moon is a great place to start because we actually have samples from the Moon to study. Beyond that I am also trying to apply this knowledge to the asteroids and Mercury to understand how space weathering on these bodies will be similar/ different than on the Moon. Why do we care about space weathering? Because until we have samples in hand of the rest of the Moon and Mercury and the asteroids (well, we have meteorites, but we don't know which asteroids they come from) our information must come from remote methods (satellites, rovers, telescopic data, etc.). Space weathering processes create the soil that covers the surface of these bodies and alters its properties. Therefore, if we want to understand the data that we recieve from these remote methods, we must understand the weathering processes.