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Morgan Cable

Photo of Morgan Cable

Address:

4800 Oak Grove Drive
M/S 183-601

Pasadena, CA 91109

Phone:

818.354.2126

Fax:

818.393.4445

Curriculum Vitae:

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Member of:

Laboratory Studies

Biography

Dr. Morgan Cable is a research scientist in the Laboratory Studies group at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.  She is the Science Lead for the Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor (EELS) concept and Co-Deputy PI of the Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL) Instrument aboard the Mars 2020 (Perseverance) rover. Dr. Cable has worked on the Cassini Mission, is a Co-Investigator of the Dragonfly mission to Titan, and is serving multiple roles on Europa Clipper. She was recently appointed as a CIFAR Fellow for the Earth 4D: Subsurface Science and Exploration Program. She previously served as the Ocean Worlds Program Area Scientist for the Planetary Mission Formulation Office, and as supervisor of the Astrobiology and Ocean Worlds Group.

Morgan’s research focuses on organic and biomarker detection strategies, through both in situ and remote sensing techniques.  While earning her Ph.D. in Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology, she designed receptor sites for the detection of bacterial spores, the toughest form of life.  As a NASA Postdoctoral Fellow at JPL, Morgan developed novel protocols to analyze organics such as amines and fatty acids using small, portable microfluidic sensors.  She is currently working as a Collaborator on the Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa (MISE), an instrument selected for NASA’s next mission to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa; this spectrometer will map Europa’s surface and search for organics, salts and minerals.

Dr. Cable’s research interests also include ‘weird’ life and prebiotic chemistry.  She has performed laboratory experiments to study the liquid hydrocarbon lakes of Titan, a moon of Saturn.  She and colleagues were the first to discover a co-crystal, the equivalent of a ‘hydrated mineral’, made exclusively of organics that may exist on Titan’s surface.  This work has led to the inception of a new field, Titan ‘petrology’. This work could yield clues to organic reservoirs on Titan that life could potentially exploit.

In addition to biomarker sensor design and the search for ‘weird’ life, Morgan has also explored several extreme environments on Earth that serve as analogs for other places in the solar system, such as Mars.  She has been involved in research expeditions to the driest desert in the world (the Atacama Desert) in Chile, the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and fumarole-generated ice caves of the Mount Meager Volcano in Canada. Morgan has also co-led a team of young researchers on multiple expeditions to Iceland to study how life colonizes a fresh lava field.  The goal of this work is to inform future Mars sample return missions in terms of sample selection, preservation and analysis.

Education

  • Ph.D., Inorganic Chemistry, California Institute of Technology (2010)
  • B.A., Chemistry (summa cum laude), Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University (2005)

Professional Experience

  • Co-Deputy PI for the Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL) on the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover. PIXL maps the chemical elements and minerals in rocks and regolith on the Mars surface, providing critical context for habitability and understanding the history of Jezero Crater.
  • Science Lead of the Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor (2019-present), a snake-like robot with serially-replicated segments can traverse the rough terrain such as on the Moon, and enclosed labyrinthian environments and liquids of Ocean Worlds like Enceladus.
  • Co-Investigator for Dragonfly Mission Concept (2018-present). Using scientific expertise regarding Titan chemistry, laboratory analogs, and biosignatures to provide input to mission, instrument, and science investigation development and science operations planning.
  • Task Manager for Strategic Initiative Project at JPL (2017-2021) to retire risk in sampling the plume of Enceladus and the atmospheres of Titan and Venus at hypervelocity speeds.
  • Project Staff Scientist and Deputy Phase Lead for Landing Site Selection for Europa Lander Project (2016-2018). Responsible for science operations and development of science requirements. Also responsible for Europa Lander mission landing site certification and selection. Lead writer/editor of Europa Lander Terrain Specification Document.
  • Collaborator on the Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa (MISE) instrument (2015-present). Developing instrument documents and requirements, and supporting calibration activities.
  • Cassini Assistant Project Science Systems Engineer (2015-2017). Supported the Project Scientist on tasks dealing with science oversight, science trades and science issues for the Cassini Mission.
  • Research Scientist in the Cryogenic Chemistry Laboratory (2013-present). Designing and performing various laboratory experiments using custom cryostats to understand chemical and physical processes in Titan’s lakes, evaporite basins and dunes.
  • Task Manager, Instrument Concepts for Europa Exploration (ICEE) project (2013-2014). Retired radiation and planetary protection risk for an imaging spectrometer, the Europa Short Wavelength Infrared Spectrometer (ESWIRS). All tasks were completed within the 1 year timeframe. This work was leveraged to win an instrument proposal, the Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa (MISE), which was selected for the Europa Mission payload in 2015.
  • Team Lead of multiple research expeditions to Iceland (2012-present). Sampling young and old lava fields as analog environments for Mars.
  • Program Manager, Flyby of Io with Repeat Encounters (FIRE) Mission Study, through the NASA Planetary Science Summer School (2012).
  • Manager of a Space Camp in South Korea (2009-present). Lead of a team of scientists and engineers who volunteer to teach an annual space camp at SongAm StarsValley Observatory in South Korea, which is home to the only Challenger Learning Center in Asia.

Research Interests

  • Planetary science
  • Remote sensing
  • In situ sensor design
  • Lab-on-a-chip technologies
  • Lanthanide photochemistry
  • Inorganic chemistry

Selected Awards

  • NASA Voyager Award for outstanding service to the 2022 Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey (2022)
  • JPL Individual Award for JPL ocean world and astrobiology community leadership (2022)
  • JPL Lew Allen Award for Excellence in contributions to our understanding of the chemistry on Titan’s surface (2021)
  • JPL Team Award for service as a member of the Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor (EELS) Capture Team (2021)
  • JPL Team Award for extraordinary service leading the Astrobiology & Ocean World group during the COVID pandemic (2021)
  • NASA Early Career Public Achievement Medal for leadership roles in advancing NASA’s missions (2020)
  • NASA Voyager Award for scientific leadership for the formulation of multiple mission concepts to explore Enceladus (2020)
  • JPL Team Award for outstanding leadership of the Strategic Initiative Hypervelocity Sampling Across the Solar System (2019)
  • Named by the American Chemical Society (ACS) as one of the ‘Talented Twelve’ rising stars in chemistry (2018)
  • NASA Voyager Award, for exceptional work on outer worlds projects, chemistry and technology (2018)
  • JPL Bruce Murray Award, for excellence in education and public engagement (2018)
  • JPL Team Award, for analysis and refinement of Europa Lander science objectives (2018)
  • JPL Team Award, for excellence in developing the Europa Lander Science Definition Team (SDT) report (2017)
  • JPL Charles Elachi Explorer Award, for outstanding early career achievement (2016)
  • JPL Team Award, for work to develop a free flyer concept (Sylph) to sample a possible Europa plume (2016)
  • NASA Voyager Award, for exceptional leadership and innovation on the Europa Short Wavelength Infrared Spectrometer Project (2015)
  • NASA Mariner Award, for contributing heavily to two major NASA instrument proposals within the space of two months (2014)
  • JPL Outstanding Postdoctoral Research Award in Planetary Science (2012)
  • Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Distinguished Alumnus (2011)
  • Caltech Herbert Newby McCoy Award for outstanding achievement in chemistry (2010)
  • Valedictorian, Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University (2005)