Alka Rani

Affiliation: NASA MSFC/ST13

Email: alka.rani@nasa.gov

Phone: (256) 961-7211

Affiliation: NASA MSFC/ST13

Personal

Dr. Alka Rani is a planetary scientist specializing in the geological and geophysical evolution of the Moon and Mars. Her research takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding planetary surfaces, integrating geological, geochemical, and geophysical analyses using both global and in situ datasets.

She has actively contributed to planetary mission design, surface exploration strategies, and hazard characterization for landing site selection, advancing our understanding of planetary terrains. Her expertise spans remote sensing, planetary geology, and seismic investigations, with a strong focus on deciphering subsurface structures and evolutionary processes.

Dr. Rani earned her Ph.D. from the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, and IIT Gandhinagar, India. Currently, she is a NASA Postdoctoral Fellow at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), where she continues to investigate planetary interiors and surface processes through advanced geophysical and geochemical modeling.

Research Areas

• Planetary Interiors: Understanding planetary interiors using seismic analysis, focusing on subsurface structures and evolutionary processes.
• Interdisciplinary Planetary Science: A comprehensive approach that integrates geophysics, geochemistry, petrology, and mineral physics to study the properties of planetary interiors, utilizing thermoelastic and petrological modeling for deeper insights.
• Planetary Surface Processes: Investigation of surface features such as volcanism and tectonics on solid planetary bodies, examining both internal and external processes that shape these terrains.
• Hazard Characterization: Analysis of potential landing sites for planetary missions, including Jezero Crater and Chandrayaan-3, focusing on safety considerations for planetary exploration.

Current Projects

Evolution of the KREEP Region Through Geochemical Analysis of the Lunar Surface: The project focuses on understanding the Moon’s formation and evolution through geochemical and petrological analysis of lunar surface materials, particularly mare basalts beyond the Procellarum KREEP Terrane (PKT) region. Using multivariate cluster analysis on data from Lunar Prospector and CLASS missions, the project identified distinct chemical provinces that help decode the Moon’s compositional heterogeneity and volcanic history

GANGOTRI Mission Concept: Contributing to the GANGOTRI mission concept led by Louisiana State University (LSU), focused on uncovering glacial insights into the Amazonian climate of Mars.

Magmatic Evolution of Martian Volcanic Provinces: Constraining the magmatic evolution and chemistry of Martian volcanic provinces, with implications for geodynamics and tectono-volcanic processes on Mars.

Education

Constraining the magmatic evolution and chemistry of Martian volcanic provinces, with implications for geodynamics and tectono-volcanic processes on Mars.

Ph.D. in Earth Science (Planetary Science)
Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, India / Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, India
July 2017 – July 2022

Master’s in Technology (Applied Geophysics)
Department of Applied Geophysics, Kurukshetra University, India
July 2013 – July 2016

Bachelor in Science (B.Sc.)
University College, Kurukshetra University, India
June 2010 – June 2013

Professional Experience

NASA Postdoctoral Fellow (NPP)
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, USA
September 2023 – Present

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, India
September 2022 – July 2023

Visiting Doctoral Research Scholar
Planetary Science Laboratory (PSL), Department of Geology & Geophysics, Louisiana State University (LSU), USA
March 2020 – August 2020

Research Fellow
Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, India
July 2017 – July 2022

Project Assistant II
CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, India
November 2016 – June 2017

Publications

Rani, A., Basu Sarbadhikari, A., Hood, D., Gasnault, O., Nambiar, S., and Karunatillake, S. (2022)

“Consolidated Chemical Provinces on Mars: Implications for Geologic Interpretations”
Geophysical Research Letters, 49, e2022GL099235

Rani, A., Basu Sarbadhikari, A., Sinha, R. K., Karunatillake, S., Komatsu, G., and Bates, A. (2021)

“Evidence of regionally distributed tectono-volcanism in a floor fractured crater of North-Central Arabia Terra, Mars”
Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 126(11)

Sinha, R. K., Rani, A., Ruj, T., & Bhardwaj, A. (2023)

“Geologic investigation of lobate scarps in the vicinity of Chandrayaan-3 landing site in the southern high latitudes of the moon”
Icarus, 402, 115636

Sinha, R. K., Rani, A., Conway, S. J., Vijayan, S., Basu Sarbadhikari, A., Massé, M., Mangold N., and Anil Bhardwaj (2020)

“Boulder fall activity in the Jezero crater, Mars”
Geophysical Research Letters, 47(23)

Service & Recognition

Professional Service

• Journal Reviewer: Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, Icarus
• Executive Secretary for NASA ROSES-2023 Review Panel
• Judge at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) 2024 Dwornik Awards
• Moderator at the session “Volcanic Exploration of the Solar System” at LPSC 2025
• Invited Panelist to train MSc-PhD students in writing manuscripts (course: GEOL 7900, exploratory methods in planetary geoscience, Geology & Geophysics Department, Louisiana State University)

Awards and Fellowships

• Selected as an intern at Planetary Science Summer School (PSSS)-Session 1, 2024
• NASA Post-Doctoral Fellow (NPP), 2023-Present
• Senior Research Fellowship, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, 2019-2022
• Junior Research Fellowship, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, 2017-2019
• CSIR-UGC JRF NET Qualified (All India Rank 12, Lectureship), 2017