Role
Co-Investigator
Biography
Dr. Lena Heffern (she/her) is a multi-discipline research faculty member at the University of Colorado Laboratory for Atmospheric Space Physics (LASP). Dr. Heffern is an expert in gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer (GRNS) instrument development and has previous experience with flight GRNS on the NASA LunaH-Map and Psyche missions. She has performed analyses of Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) data, looking at solar energetic particle events and correlating them with multiple heliophysics spacecraft to better understand how particles travel through our solar system. As a LunarVISE Co-I, Dr. Heffern will work closely with mission team members to better refine our understanding of landed GRNS data. Her experiences on LunaH-Map, Psyche, and MSL RAD are helpful for understanding the solar proton/galactic cosmic ray flux environment on the Moon’s surface in the context of the passive GRNS system that will be manifested on LunarVISE. She earned her Master’s in Nuclear Engineering at the University of New Mexico and PhD in Exploration Systems Design with an emphasis on Instrumentation at Arizona State University.