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Sciences and Exploration Directorate

Hannah H Kaplan

(RESEARCH AST, PLANETARY STUDIES)

Hannah H Kaplan's Contact Card & Information.
Email: hannah.kaplan@nasa.gov
Phone: 301.286.8439
Org Code: 693
Address:
NASA/GSFC
Mail Code 693
Greenbelt, MD 20771
Employer:
NASA

Missions & Projects

Brief Bio


I am a Research Space Scientist in the Planetary Systems Lab at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. My current roles include: Lucy/L’Ralph instrument scientist, OSIRIS-APEX/OVIRS deputy PI, OSIRIS-APEX Co-I and composition working group lead, OSIRIS-REx science team collaborator, and instrumentation laboratory manager.


My scientific research involves remotely characterizing the chemistry and mineralogy of planetary surfaces. I have worked with visible – near-infrared spectral data from multiple spacecraft and am particularly interested in infrared spectroscopy of organics, connecting laboratory and spacecraft spectral data, and spectroscopy of carbonaceous asteroids and meteorites. 

Positions/Employment


Research Space Scientist

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Greenbelt, MD

April 2020 - Present


Postdoctoral Researcher

Southwest Research Institute - Boulder, CO

April 2018 - April 2020

Education


Ph.D. Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, Brown University

M.Sc. Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, Brown University

B.A. Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis

Publications


Refereed

2025. "Lucy Mission Search Plans for Activity around Its Jovian Trojan Flyby Targets.", The Planetary Science Journal, 6 (7): 177 [10.3847/psj/ade707] [Journal Article/Letter]

2025. "An overview of the petrography and petrology of particles from aggregate sample from asteroid Bennu.", Meteoritics & Planetary Science, [10.1111/maps.14335] [Journal Article/Letter]

2025. "Abundant ammonia and nitrogen-rich soluble organic matter in samples from asteroid (101955) Bennu.", Nature Astronomy, [Full Text] [10.1038/s41550-024-02472-9] [Journal Article/Letter]

2025. "An evaporite sequence from ancient brine recorded in Bennu samples.", Nature, 637 (8048): 1072-1077 [10.1038/s41586-024-08495-6] [Journal Article/Letter]

2025. "Lucy L′Ralph In-flight Calibration and Results at (152830) Dinkinesh.", The Planetary Science Journal, 6 (1): 7 [10.3847/psj/ad9921] [Journal Article/Letter]

2024. "Asteroid (101955) Bennu in the laboratory: Properties of the sample collected by OSIRIS-REx.", Meteoritics & Planetary Science, [Full Text] [10.1111/maps.14227] [Journal Article/Letter]

2024. "A contact binary satellite of the asteroid (152830) Dinkinesh.", Nature, 629 (8014): 1015-1020 [10.1038/s41586-024-07378-0] [Journal Article/Letter]

2024. "The First Lucy Earth Flyby (EGA1).", Space Science Reviews, 220 (1): 3 [10.1007/s11214-023-01034-1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2023. "Boulder Diversity in the Nightingale Region of Asteroid (101955) Bennu and Predictions for Physical Properties of the OSIRIS‐REx Sample.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 128 (12): [10.1029/2023je008019] [Journal Article/Letter]

2023. "Visible and Near-infrared Spectral Properties of Martian Slope Streaks.", The Planetary Science Journal, 4 (12): 232 [10.3847/psj/ad037e] [Journal Article/Letter]

2023. "L’Ralph: A Visible/Infrared Spectral Imager for the Lucy Mission to the Trojans.", Space Science Reviews, 219 (8): 69 [10.1007/s11214-023-01009-2] [Journal Article/Letter]

2023. "OSIRIS-APEX: An OSIRIS-REx Extended Mission to Asteroid Apophis.", The Planetary Science Journal, 4 (10): 198 [10.3847/psj/acf75e] [Journal Article/Letter]

2023. "Phyllosilicate decomposition on Bennu due to prolonged surface exposure.", Icarus, 115809 [10.1016/j.icarus.2023.115809] [Journal Article/Letter]

2023. "Overview of the search for signs of space weathering on the low-albedo asteroid (101955) Bennu.", Icarus, 115563 [10.1016/j.icarus.2023.115563] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Mapping Phyllosilicates on the Asteroid Bennu Using Thermal Emission Spectra and Machine Learning Model Applications.", Geophysical Research Letters, 49 (20): [10.1029/2022gl100815] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Evaluating possible spectroscopic variation of Bennu’s sampling site.", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 519 1464–1475 [10.1093/mnras/stac2969] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "GRO 95577 (CR1) as a mineralogical analogue for asteroid (101955) Bennu.", Icarus, 383 115054 [10.1016/j.icarus.2022.115054] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Spacecraft sample collection and subsurface excavation of asteroid (101955) Bennu.", Science, 377 285-291 [10.1126/science.abm1018] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Global geologic map of asteroid (101955) Bennu indicates heterogeneous resurfacing in the past 500,000 years.", Icarus, 381 114992 [10.1016/j.icarus.2022.114992] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Widely distributed exogenic materials of varying compositions and morphologies on asteroid (101955) Bennu.", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 508 2053–2070 [10.1093/mnras/stab2548] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Composition of organics on asteroid (101955) Bennu.", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 653 L1 [Full Text] [10.1051/0004-6361/202141167] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Visible–near-infrared observations of organics and carbonates on (101955) Bennu: Classification method and search for surface context.", Icarus, 368 114579 [10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114579] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Evidence for limited compositional and particle size variation on asteroid (101955) Bennu from thermal infrared spectroscopy.", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 650 [10.1051/0004-6361/202039728] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "The Role of Hydrated Minerals and Space Weathering Products in the Bluing of Carbonaceous Asteroids.", The Planetary Science Journal, 2 (2): 68 [10.3847/psj/abe76f] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Hydrogen abundance estimation and distribution on (101955) Bennu.", Icarus, 114427 [10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114427] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Weak spectral features on (101995) Bennu from the OSIRIS-REx Visible and InfraRed Spectrometer.", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 644 A148 [10.1051/0004-6361/202039688] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Photometry of asteroid (101955) Bennu with OVIRS on OSIRIS-REx.", Icarus, 114183 [10.1016/j.icarus.2020.114183] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Widespread carbon-bearing materials on near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu.", Science, 370 eabc3522 [10.1126/science.abc3522] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Variations in color and reflectance on the surface of asteroid (101955) Bennu.", Science, 370 eabc3660 [10.1126/science.abc3660] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Bright carbonate veins on asteroid (101955) Bennu: Implications for aqueous alteration history.", Science, 370 eabc3557 [Full Text] [10.1126/science.abc3557] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Asteroid (101955) Bennu’s weak boulders and thermally anomalous equator.", Science Advances, 6 (41): eabc3699 [10.1126/sciadv.abc3699] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Exogenic basalt on asteroid (101955) Bennu.", Nature Astronomy, 5 31 [10.1038/s41550-020-1195-z] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Global Patterns of Recent Mass Movement on Asteroid (101955) Bennu.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 125 (9): [10.1029/2020je006475] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Visible–near infrared spectral indices for mapping mineralogy and chemistry with OSIRIS ‐ RE x.", Meteoritics & Planetary Science, maps.13461 [10.1111/maps.13461] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Evidence for widespread hydrated minerals on asteroid (101955) Bennu.", Nature Astronomy, 3 (4): 332-340 [10.1038/s41550-019-0722-2] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Properties of rubble-pile asteroid (101955) Bennu from OSIRIS-REx imaging and thermal analysis.", Nature Astronomy, 3 (4): 341-351 [10.1038/s41550-019-0731-1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "The unexpected surface of asteroid (101955) Bennu.", Nature, 568 (7750): 55-60 [Full Text] [10.1038/s41586-019-1033-6] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Reflectance spectroscopy of insoluble organic matter (IOM) and carbonaceous meteorites.", Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 54 (5): 1051-1068 [10.1111/maps.13264] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "An aqueously altered carbon-rich Ceres.", Nature Astronomy, 3 (2): 140-145 [10.1038/s41550-018-0656-0] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "Science exploration architecture for Phobos and Deimos: The role of Phobos and Deimos in the future exploration of Mars.", Advances in Space Research, 62 (8): 2174-2186 [10.1016/j.asr.2017.12.017] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "New Constraints on the Abundance and Composition of Organic Matter on Ceres.", Geophysical Research Letters, 45 (11): 5274-5282 [10.1029/2018gl077913] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "Reflectance spectroscopy of organic matter in sedimentary rocks at mid-infrared wavelengths.", Clays and Clay Minerals, 66 (2): 173-189 [10.1346/ccmn.2018.064092] [Journal Article/Letter]

2016. "Orbital evidence for clay and acidic sulfate assemblages on Mars based on mineralogical analogs from Rio Tinto, Spain.", Icarus, 275 45-64 [10.1016/j.icarus.2016.03.019] [Journal Article/Letter]

2016. "Reflectance Spectroscopy for Organic Detection And Quantification in Clay-bearing Samples: Effects of Albedo, Clay Type, and Water Content.", Clays and Clay Minerals, 64 (2): 167-184 [10.1346/ccmn.2016.0640207] [Journal Article/Letter]