Amy Fagan

Assistant Professor Western Carolina University

  • Cullowhee NC

Amy Fagan studies NASA’s planetary geology, with a focus on petrology, mineralogy, and lunar geology.

Contact

Western Carolina University

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Media

Areas of Expertise

Petrology
Minerology
Planetary Geology
Lunar Geology

Accomplishments

Susan Mahan Niebur Early Career Award, NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute

2020

Education

University of Notre Dame

Ph.D.

Washington and Lee University

B.S.

Media Appearances

Perplexing side of the moon: WCU prof works with NASA to help solve longtime lunar mystery

Asheville Citizen-Times  online

2024-01-23

Amy Fagan, associate professor of geology at Western Carolina University, has worked at the college for nearly a decade. Over the course of her career, Fagan has also loaned her skills to several NASA initiatives, the latest of which aims to finally date an unusual region of the moon that has stumped scientists since its discovery in 1971.

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WCU prof Amy Fagan works with NASA to help solve lunar mystery

Italy 24  online

2024-01-23

Amy Fagan, associate professor of geology at Western Carolina University, has worked at the college for nearly a decade. Over the course of her career, Fagan has also loaned her skills to several NASA initiatives, the latest of which aims to finally date an unusual region of the moon that has stumped scientists since its discovery in 1971.

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WCU professor collaborates with NASA using $50M DIMPLE to explore moon mysteries

WLOS  online

2024-01-03

Amy Fagan is working on the organization's latest lunar land/rover instrument suite.
Fagan and fellow scientists, along with leading principal investigator Scott Anderson from the Southwest Research Institute’s Solar System Science and Exploration Division, are part of a team working on NASA’s new DIMPLE instrument suite.

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Articles

Maximizing Crew Performance/Productivity For Missions To The Moon And Mars

44th COSPAR Scientific Assembly

2022

The eighth in the series of Community Workshops for Achievability and Sustainability of Human Exploration of Mars (AM VIII), hosted by Explore Mars Inc., was held virtually due to COVID-19 constraints on June 1-3, 2021. The workshop engaged a multi-disciplinary team of subject matter experts to investigate challenges and opportunities for human exploration of Mars, including how lunar activities can be maximally leveraged.

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The Scientific Value of Lunar Sample Exchange

Annual Meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group

2021

As we consider the future of lunar science and exploration, we emphasize the benefit of sample exchange and sample sharing between all nations. Here we draw attention to the past exchange of Apollo and Luna samples between different countries.

The Importance of Human Exploration in Accomplishing High Priority Lunar Science Objectives

Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032 White Paper

2021

The value of astronauts in accomplishing high priority lunar science cannot be overstated. While lander, robotic, and orbital missions have a long history of achieving Solar System science, human cognition, dexterity, and mobility all greatly increase the science value of in situ astronauts doing scientific exploration on another planetary body.

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