Dr. Randy A. Kimble

Astrophysics Science Division
NASA/GSFC
Code 667, ExoPlanets and Stellar Astrophysics Laboratory
Greenbelt, MD 20771

tel: 301-286-5783
fax: 301-286-1752
e-mail: randy.a.kimble @ nasa.gov

Present Position

Astrophysicist

Project Scientist for Hubble Space Telescope Development
Instrument Scientist for HST/Wide Field Camera 3

Brief Bio

After receiving my Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, I spent some years on the research staff of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at The Johns Hopkins University, where I was Deputy Project Scientist for the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope during its development and flight on the Astro-1 space shuttle mission.

I joined NASA Goddard in 1990 and served as Instrument Scientist and Co-Investigator for the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) through its development and successful installation on HST in 1997 and its continuing scientific operations. I have also been a Co-Investigator on the HST/Advanced Camera for Surveys and am now HST Development Project Scientist and Instrument Scientist for the HST/Wide Field Camera 3, which we hope will be installed during HST Servicing Mission 4, pending NASA approval.

Awards: NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, 1998; Inducted into Space Technology Hall of Fame, 1997.

Educational Background

B.S. Physics, Massachusetts institute of Technology, 1974
M.A. Physics, University of California, Berkeley, 1976
Ph.D. Physics, University of California, Berkeley, 1983 (thesis: "Satellite Observations of the Extreme Ultraviolet and Far Ultraviolet Radiation Fields")

Research Interests

My research interests are in astronomical instrumentation, particularly detectors, as well as in evolved stellar populations, UV background radiation, and the interstellar medium.

Current Projects

Instrument Scientist, HST/Wide Field Camera 3, in development

Co-I, HST/Advanced Camera for Surveys, Guaranteed Time Observer Program

PI, Event-Driven APS Detector Development Program (high-performance readout for microchannel plate detectors)

Project Scientist, CHIPS (University-class Explorer mission)

Co-I, HST General Observer programs studying stellar populations in nearby galaxies (M31 and M32) with PI Tom Brown of STScI

Selected Publications

Kimble, R. A., MacKenty, J. W., O’Connell, R. W., and the WFC3 Team, Status and performance of HST Wide Field Camera 3, Proc. SPIE, 5487, 266

Brown, T. M., Ferguson, H. C., Smith, E., Kimble, R. A., Sweigart, A. V., Renzini, A., Rich, R. M., & VandenBerg, D. A., 2004, Age Constraints for an M31 Globular Cluster from Main-Sequence Photometry, ApJ, 613, 125

Brown, T. M., Ferguson, H. C., Smith, E., Kimble, R. A., Sweigart, A. V., Renzini, A., & Rich, R. M., 2004, RR Lyrae Stars in the Andromeda Halo from Deep Imaging with the Advanced Camera for Surveys, AJ, 127, 2738

Kimble, R. A., Pain, B., Ortiz, M., Heynssens, J. B., Norton, T. J., & Haas, J. P., 2003, A high-speed event-driven active pixel sensor readout for photon-counting microchannel plate detectors, Proc. SPIE, 4854, 203

Brown, T. M., Ferguson, H. C., Smith, E., Kimble, R. A., Sweigart, A. V., Renzini, A., Rich, R. M., & VandenBerg, D. A., 2003, Evidence of a Significant Intermediate-Age Population in the M31 Halo from Main-Sequence Photometry, ApJ, 592, L17

Brown, T. M., Ferguson, H. C., Smith, E., Bowers, C. W., Kimble, R. A., Renzini, A., & Rich, R. M., 2003, Far-Ultraviolet Emission from Elliptical Galaxies at z = 0.33, ApJ, 584, L69

Bloom, J. S. et al., 2002, Detection of a Supernova Signature Associated with GRB 011121, ApJ, 572, L45

Devine, D., Grady, C. A., Kimble, R. A., Woodgate, B., Bruhweiler, F. C., Boggess, A., Linsky, J. L., & Clampin, M., 2000, A Lyá Bright Jet from a Herbig AE Star, ApJ, 542, L115

Brown, T. M., Bowers, C. W., Kimble, R. A., Sweigart, A. V., & Ferguson, H. C., 2000, Detection and Photometry of Hot Horizontal Branch Stars in the Core of M32, ApJ, 532, 308

Gilliland, R. L., Goudfrooij, P., & Kimble, R. A., 1999, Linearity and High Signal-to-Noise Performance of the STIS CCD, PASP, 111, 1009

Kimble R. A., et al., 1998, The On-Orbit Performance of the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, ApJ, 492, L83

Woodgate, B. E., Kimble, R. A., et al., 1998, The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) Design, PASP, 110, 1183

Kaiser, M. E., Bohlin, R. C., Lindler, D. J., Gilliland, R. L., Argabright, V. S., & Kimble, R. A., 1998, STIS Signal-to-Noise Capabilities in the Ultraviolet, PASP, 110, 978

Kimble, R. A., Davidsen, A. F., Long, K. S., & Feldman, P. D., 1993, Extreme Ultraviolet Observations of HZ43 and the Local H/He Ratio with the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope, ApJ, 408, L97

Kimble, R. A., et al., 1993, Extreme Ultraviolet Observations of G191-B2B and the Local Interstellar Medium, ApJ, 404, 663

Jakobsen, P., Bowyer, S., Kimble, R. A., Jelinsky, P., Grewing, M., Kraemer, G., & Wulf-Mathies, C., 1984, Rocket Observations of the Diffuse Ultraviolet Background, Astr. Astrophys., 139, 481

Bowyer, S., Kimble, R., Paresce, F., Lampton, M., & Penegor, G., 1981, Continuous-readout extreme-ultraviolet airglow spectrometer, Appl. Opt., 20, 477

Kimble, R., Bowyer, S., & Jakobsen, P., 1981, Astrophysical constraints on the radiative lifetime of neutrinos with mass between 10 and 100 eV/c-squared, Phys. Rev. Lett., 46, 80