Jennifer Heldmann

Biography

Jennifer Heldmann’s fascination with our Solar System was sown in the third grade; nurtured through visiting “the local science museum and planetarium …, watching the movie ‘Space Camp’ …, [and] setting up space shuttle cockpits [in which to] reenact a shuttle mission from launch to landing”; and germinated when, “using a small telescope to look at the moon one night from [her] backyard in Central New York,” she realized the moon was a real place – a place “we could explore and visit.” It was from such sprouts that Dr. Heldmann’s mighty oak grew through studies that would take her to the NASA Ames Research Center as a Research Scientist. At Ames, Dr. Heldmann studies recent water on Mars through spacecraft data analysis, numerical modeling, and fieldwork in Mars-analog environments. As Dr. Heldmann explains, “Such studies are important scientifically in terms of Solar System evolution and also are relevant for planning future human exploration of the Moon through the identification of materials that can be used for in-situ resource utilization.” Dr. Heldmann, who received a bachelor’s degree in Astrogeophysics from Colgate University, Hamilton, N.Y., a master’s degree in Space Studies at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, and a Ph.D. in Planetary Science from the University of Colorado, Boulder, has never forgotten how excited she felt when she was first introduced to the Solar System and later viewed the moon through a small telescope; so, when possible, she translates that personal excitement into education and public outreach programs that will inspire the next generation of scientists and explorers to “keep exploring the final frontier.”

Research Interest

 Solar System