Noel W. Hinners *63

Noel Hinners, a geologist and soil scientist who guided NASA’s scientific probes deep into space, died of cancer Sept. 5, 2014. He was 78.

Hinners received a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers in 1958, a master’s degree from Caltech in 1960, and a Ph.D. in geology from Princeton in 1963. Before joining NASA in 1972 as director of lunar operations, he was with Bellcomm developing sites for the Apollo moon landings.

He helped plan the final Apollo missions and oversaw the design of scientific projects for most NASA space ventures into 1979, including the Skylab space station and the first unmanned missions to Saturn, Mars, and Venus.

In 1979, Hinners became the director of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. In 1982, he returned to NASA as director of its Goddard Space Flight Center, and in 1987 he became NASA’s third-highest official, associate deputy administrator. Hinners joined Martin Marietta in 1989 as vice president for flight operations, including programs to explore Mars. He remained when the company merged with Lockheed, and retired in 2002.

He is survived by Diana, his wife of 52 years; two sons; and two granddaughters. A loyal Princetonian, Hinners served for the last eight years as planned-giving chair for the Graduate School.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.