October 23, 2024, Tucson, Ariz. – The Planetary Science Institute is pleased to announce that Amanda Hendrix, a PSI Senior Scientist for 12 years, will become the Institute’s Deputy CEO effective January 1, 2025, and will become CEO on January 1, 2026. Hendrix will succeed Mark V. Sykes, who has led PSI since 2004.
Hendrix has more than 25 years of experience in planetary science. Her research focuses on ultraviolet (UV)-visible spectroscopy of Solar System surfaces, including moons, small bodies, and ocean worlds, to understand surface composition and space weathering effects. Hendrix received a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from the University of Colorado Boulder. As a graduate student and post-doctoral researcher at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics/University of Colorado, Hendrix gained valuable experience in UV spectroscopy and instrumentation. After LASP, she spent 12 years at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and served as Deputy Project Scientist on the Cassini mission, before moving to PSI in 2012.
She was a co-investigator on the Galileo Ultraviolet Spectrograph and on the Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph instruments, and is currently a co-investigator on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s Lyman Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) instrument. She is a member of the Europa Clipper Ultraviolet Spectrograph science team. She has been a principal investigator on numerous NASA research and data analysis and Hubble Space Telescope programs. Hendrix is the Principal Investigator on NASA’s Toolbox for Research and Exploration (TREX) program to develop tools and research methods for exploration of airless surfaces in preparation for human and robotic in situ resource utilization (ISRU) missions.
Hendrix is a leader of the planetary community, having chaired the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society and the NASA Outer Planets Advisory Committee, and she serves as a member of the NASA Advisory Council. She has also chaired and served on committees of the National Academies. Dr. Hendrix has been honored by the International Astronomical Union by the naming of Minor Planet 6813 Amandahendrix and is a Fellow of the American Astronomical Society.
Hendrix co-authored “Beyond Earth: Our Path to a New Home in the Planets,” published by Penguin/Random House. Besides research, she enjoys teaching and sharing her love of planetary science with students and the public.
”Under Mark Sykes’ leadership for the last 20 years, PSI has grown to play a major and vital role in the planetary science sphere, and beyond,” Hendrix said. “I am delighted to step into this role.”
“I attribute PSI’s strong sense of community and its continuing growth and success to the hard work and dedication of its scientists, educators and administrative staff,” said Sykes. “Amanda has been a significant part of that, and I fully expect that she will take us in new directions and to greater successes in the future.”
“I look forward to working closely with the PSI Board and the fantastic science and administrative staff on ambitious and inspirational science and education projects,” Hendrix said. “It is truly an honor to serve the PSI community.”
“Come 2026, I will become just another scientist within the Institute, and I am very much looking forward to it!” Sykes said. “There is no end to the science to be done.”
MEDIA CONTACT:
Alan Fischer
Public Information Officer
520-382-0411
[email protected]
SCIENCE CONTACT:
Amanda Hendrix
Senior Scientist
[email protected]
PSI INFORMATION
Mark V. Sykes
CEO
520-622-6300
[email protected]
PSI HOMEPAGE
PSI PRESS RELEASES
THE PLANETARY SCIENCE INSTITUTE:
The Planetary Science Institute is a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation dedicated to Solar System exploration. It is headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, where it was founded in 1972.
PSI scientists are involved in numerous NASA and international missions, the study of Mars and other planets, the Moon, asteroids, comets, interplanetary dust, impact physics, the origin of the Solar System, extra-solar planet formation, dynamics, the rise of life, and other areas of research. They conduct fieldwork on all continents around the world. They also are actively involved in science education and public outreach through school programs, children’s books, popular science books and art.
PSI scientists are based in 39 states, the District of Columbia and several international locations.
