Noel William Hinners (December 25, 1935 – September 5, 2014) was an American

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

and

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

who is primarily remembered for his work with

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

where he worked in a variety of scientific and administrative roles from 1963 to 1989, including two years as

NASA Chief Scientist Chief Scientist is the most senior science position at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The chief scientist serves as the principal advisor to the NASA Administrator in science issues and as interface to the national and ...

. In 1977 he was awarded the

NASA Distinguished Service Medal The NASA Distinguished Service Medal is the highest award that can be bestowed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States. The medal may be presented to any member of the federal government, including both milita ...

. At NASA Hinners helped plan and execute the Apollo program and was also responsible for the successful launches of numerous scientific probes into space; achieving such notable objectives as the first retrieval of

Moon rocks Moon rock or lunar rock is rock originating from Earth's Moon. This includes lunar material collected during the course of human exploration of the Moon, and rock that has been ejected naturally from the Moon's surface and landed on Earth as ...

, mapping the surface of Mars, and capturing the first photographic images of the birthplace of stars among other achievements. His later work at

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...

as vice president of Flight Systems from 1989-2002 remained closely linked with

Life and career

Born in Brooklyn and raised in

Chatham, New Jersey "The Chathams" is a term used in reference to shared services for two neighboring municipalities in Morris County, New Jersey, United States – Chatham Borough and Chatham Township. The two are separate municipalities. The first, a town that w ...

, Hinners was one of eight children born to William and Hazel Hinners. His father was an insurance agent, and his mother a homemaker. He earned degrees from

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

(Bachelor of Agricultural Science, 1958),

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

(master's in Geology), and

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

(Ph.D in Geochemistry, 1963). After graduating from Princeton, Hinners worked for

Bellcomm Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mul ...

, a subsidiary of AT&T that worked closely with

. With Bellcomm he spent the next nine years working on the science of the Apollo program, including making many of the site selections for the Apollo missions. From 1972 to 1974 he served as NASA's director of Lunar Programs and from 1974 to 1979 he was NASA's associate administrator for Space Science. In 1979, Hinners left NASA to become the director of the Smithsonian's

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the Nat ...

. He left that post in 1982 to become director of the

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C. in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC empl ...

where he remained for almost 6 years. From 1987 to 1989 he served as

and associate deputy administrator of NASA. He then became vice president of Flight System at

where he remained until his retirement in 2002. His work at Lockheed Martin was still closely tied to NASA, including responsibilities for NASA's

Mars Global Surveyor ''Mars Global Surveyor'' (MGS) was an American robotic space probe developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and launched November 1996. MGS was a global mapping mission that examined the entire planet, from the ionosphere down through the a ...

, Mars Surveyor Program,

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter ''Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter'' (MRO) is a spacecraft designed to study the geology and climate of Mars, provide reconnaissance of future landing sites, and relay data from surface missions back to Earth. It was launched on August 12, 2005, an ...

, Stardust and Genesis Discovery missions, Space (Nuclear) Power Systems and Mission Operations for NASA/LM planetary missions. Hinners died of

basal-cell carcinoma Basal-cell carcinoma (BCC), also known as basal-cell cancer, is the most common type of skin cancer. It often appears as a painless raised area of skin, which may be shiny with small blood vessels running over it. It may also present as a raise ...

at the age of 78 in

Littleton, Colorado Littleton is a home rule municipality city located in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties, Colorado, United States. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistica ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hinners, Noel 1935 births 2014 deaths Deaths from cancer in Colorado Deaths from skin cancer NASA people Princeton University alumni California Institute of Technology alumni Rutgers University alumni Goddard Space Flight Center people Directors of museums in the United States 20th-century American geologists Planetary scientists Lockheed Martin people Martin Marietta people