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Personnel News

Noel Hinners

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
September 6, 2014
Filed under ,

Noel Hinners, former NASA scientist, dies at 78, AP
“Keith Cowing, who runs the blog NASA Watch, said Hinners was a reader of his website and would post comments. He called him “one of the last of a certain breed” of NASA scientists from the early days of space exploration programs. “He had one foot firmly placed in the old NASA and one in the new NASA,” Cowing said. Hinners worked a variety of positions at NASA, Cowing said. “He did everything you could do in and around NASA once,” Cowing said.”
Noel Hinners, a top NASA official, dies at 78, Washington Post
“At the Greenbelt facility, he showed his adherence to the doctrine of management by walking around and visiting scientists and others at their jobs. This included working with the maintenance crew on a night when a snowstorm had left Washington roads impassible. Not one to fear getting his feet wet — or cold — Dr. Hinners joined in snow plowing operations on the Goddard grounds, and learned, he said, that “there’s an art to it.”

Dr. Noel W. Hinners, LockheedMartin (retired) – Dr. Hinners retired in January2002 from Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company where he was vice president of Flight Systems with responsibility for NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Surveyor Program, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Stardust and Genesis Discovery missions, Space (Nuclear) Power Systems and Mission Operations for NASA/LM planetary missions. Dr. Hinners served as associate deputy administrator and chief scientist of NASA from 1987 to 1989. From 1982 to 1987, Dr. Hinners was director of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.  From 1979 to 1982 he was director of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum and from 1974 to 1979 NASA’s associate administrator for Space Science.  From 1972 to 1974 he was NASA’s director of Lunar Programs. Dr. Hinners worked on the Apollo program from 1963 to 1972 with Bellcomm, focusing on Apollo science and site selection in support of NASA HQ. He was a member of the NRC Space Studies Board (1981-1982 & 1989-1996) and chaired its Committee on Human Exploration.”

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.

8 responses to “Noel Hinners”

  1. Alan Ladwig says:
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    So sorry to hear this. Noel was a great scientist and mentor; didn’t take himself too seriously; had a wonderful sense of humor; and was a true friend. I so appreciated his advice and counsel long after he left NASA. His heart belong to space.

    • kcowing says:
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      I found every conversation with him to be informative – even if that was not his intent. He had one foot in classic NASA and one foot in modern NASA.

  2. John C Mankins says:
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    Noel was a truly great man. His passing is a tragedy.

    I wish his family all the best at this terrible time.

    – John

  3. Bill Adkins says:
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    Noel was a great man. Keith is exactly right that Noel was part Classic NASA and part modern NASA. He was the best of the best. We will miss him.

  4. Ed says:
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    Noel was both a good friend and office mate. I remember standing with him when we received word that Viking had landed on Mars and how excited he was. I think we shared Christmas day has our birthday although mine was quite a few year earlier. Ed Smylie

  5. kcowing says:
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    Craig: Thanks for stopping by. Your Dad came here often even though he joked to me once that he did not exactly advertise that fact …

  6. SJG_2010 says:
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    One thing is for sure: You can be very proud of your father. I worked with him at Lockheed on the Stardust & Genesis missions. He participated in many fantastic adventures that us “mere mortals” can only dream of. I am sorry for your (and the scientific community’s) loss.

  7. Tim L says:
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    Very sorry to hear about this. Noel went out of his way to help me as I was finishing up my undergrad at CU-Boulder back in 2001 and looking for jobs at Lockheed. A man of his stature surely didn’t need to bother himself with helping out a lowly aerospace student, and yet he took the time to meet with me and beat the bushes at L-M during a downturn in hiring for manned space programs.