Research Space Scientist
NASA Johnson Space Center
Team member
Dr. Justin Simon is a planetary scientist and Director of the Isotope Cosmochemistry & Geochronology Center (CICG) within the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Division at the Johnson Space Center. The CICG is a core NASA analytical facility with a scientific team that conducts laboratory measurements on meteorites and samples returned by spacecraft to study terrestrial planet formation.
Dr. Simon and team conduct experiments to make precise element abundance and isotopic ratio measurements recorded in the extraterrestrial rock record, such as from the Solar System’s earliest solids to the crusts of habitable planets. The CICG facilities include three mass spectrometers, two laser ablation systems for high spatial resolution analyses, dedicated sample preparation laboratories, and a metal-free clean chemistry laboratory to measure a variety of elements and their isotopes at high precision. The mass spectrometry measures isotope variability in extraterrestrial samples to identify the underlying physicochemical processes and timing of their formation (https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/roundup/2098).
As lead of the VAPOR sub-team of CASA Moon, he will guide research that combines sample and remote sensing studies to investigate the origin, distribution, and evolution of lunar volatiles recorded by Apollo 17 sample cores. As a member of the CRUST and EUREKA sub-teams, he and the JSC team members will conduct novel compositional analyses of representative ancient planetary crust samples and “new” Apollo clast samples being discovered in selected brecciated Apollo samples through XCT imaging.