Sciences and Exploration Directorate

Richard D Starr

(PHYSICIST)

Richard D Starr's Contact Card & Information.
Email: richard.d.starr@nasa.gov
Phone: 301.286.5073
Org Code: 691
Address:
NASA/GSFC
Mail Code 691
Greenbelt, MD 20771
Employer: CATHOLIC UNIV OF AMERICA

Brief Bio


Richard Starr is a Research Associate Professor in the Physics Department at The Catholic University of America and has been funded through NASA grants to conduct X-ray, gamma ray, and neutron studies at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD since 1980. He has participated on many planetary missions, including NEAR (XGRS), Mars Odyssey (GRS) and MESSENGER (XRS). He is currently working on three flight missions: as a co-investigator on LunaH-Map, a CubeSat mission scheduled for launch in 2019, as a co-investigator on the Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND) which is part of the science payload on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, and as a collaborator on the Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) experiment on the Mars Curiosity Rover.

Positions/Employment


Research Associate Professor

The Catholic University of America - Washington, DC

1985 - Present


Senior Research Associate

The Catholic University of America - Washington, DC

1980 - 1985


NRC Postdoctoral Fellow

National Bureau of Standards - Gaithersburg, MD

1978 - 1980

Education


Ph.D. Physics, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 1978
M.S. Physics, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 1974
B.S. Physics, New York University, New York, NY 1972

Awards


Mars Observer Payload Development/GRS
NEAR Shoemaker Mission Team
Mars Odyssey GRS Team
MESSENGER Mission Team
LRO Science Mission Team
 

Selected Publications


Refereed

2018. "Crater age and hydrogen content in lunar regolith from LEND neutron data." Planetary and Space Science 162 105–112 [10.1016/j.pss.2017.08.001] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "Hydrothermal Decomposition of Amino Acids and Origins of Prebiotic Meteoritic Organic Compounds." ACS Earth & Space Chemistry [Full Text] [10.1021/acsearthspacechem.8b00025] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "Modeled Martian subsurface elemental composition measurements with the Probing In situ with Neutron and Gamma ray instrument." Earth and Space Science 4 (2): 76-90 [10.1002/2016ea000162] [Journal Article/Letter]

2016. "Modeling orbital gamma-ray spectroscopy experiments at carbonaceous asteroids." Meteoritics & Planetary Science 52 (1): 174-190 [10.1111/maps.12786] [Journal Article/Letter]

2016. "Calibration of the MESSENGER X-Ray Spectrometer." Planetary and Space Science 122 13-25 [10.1016/j.pss.2016.01.003] [Journal Article/Letter]

2014. "Water and chlorine content in the Martian soil along the first 1900 m of the Curiosity rover traverse as estimated by the DAN instrument." Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 119 (7): 1579-1596 [10.1002/2013je004553] [Journal Article/Letter]

2012. "MESSENGER detection of electron-induced X-ray fluorescence from Mercury's surface." Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 117 (E12): [10.1029/2012je004118] [Journal Article/Letter]

2011. "The Major-Element Composition of Mercury's Surface from MESSENGER X-ray Spectrometry." Science 333 (6051): 1847-1850 [10.1126/science.1211567] [Journal Article/Letter]

2006. "Analysis of gamma ray spectra measured by Mars Odyssey." Journal of Geophysical Research 112 (E3): E03S04 [10.1029/2005je002657] [Journal Article/Letter]

2001. "X-ray fluorescence measurements of the surface elemental composition of asteroid 433 Eros." Meteoritics and Planetary Science 36 1673-1695 [10.1111/j.1945-5100.2001.tb01856.x] [Journal Article/Letter]