L'group studies the microscale isotopic and chemical properties of extraterrestrial materials, including meteorites, interplanetary dust particles, and spacecraft-returned samples. Prof. Nittler has worked on samples returned by NASA's Stardust and Genesis missions and the group is actively involved with asteroid Ryugu samples returned by the Hayabusa2 mission and Bennu samples returned by the OSIRIS-REx mission.
Particular interests include presolar grains, the origin and astrobiological implications of macromolecular organic matter found in meteorites, and the development of new techniques for isotopic analysis and mapping of small samples.
Click here for more information about presolar grains (very old site).
We also work on X-ray and Gamma-ray spectrometers for planetary missions. Dr. Nittler was a team member of the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission to asteroid 433 Eros and served as Deputy PI for NASA's MESSENGER mission, the first spacecraft to visit Mercury since 1975. It flew by the planet three times before its four-year orbital mission from 2011–2015. He is also a member of the MIXS (Mercury Imaging X-ray Spectrometer) team for the ESA/JAXA Mercury mission, BepiColombo, which will arrive at Mercury in late 2026.