After obtaining a PhD in Physics and Astronomy from Rice University, and following a Postdoctoral appointment at the University of Maryland, Dr Sarantos has served has served at GSFC for fifteen years in a variety of roles (NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow, co-located university scientist, and civil servant). His research focuses on understanding sources and sinks for neutrals and ions from “airless” bodies and their connection to their surface and surrounding space environment. He specializes on the development of kinetic particle models used to interpret measurements from the Moon, Mercury, and similar solar system objects. He has served as team member in the MESSENGER, LADEE and Bepi Colombo missions.
Highlights, Mission and Team Participation
• Coauthor, 75 peer reviewed papers to date with an h-index of 29 (Web of Science).
• Principal Investigator of 7 funded NASA ROSES proposals since 2009.
• Guest Investigator, Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment (LADEE) investigation.
• Guest Investigator, BepiColombo investigation.
• Co-Investigator, Dynamic Response of the Environment At the Moon (DREAM) Node of the NASA Lunar Science Institute.
• Co-Investigator, Dynamic Response of the Environment at Asteroids, the Moon, and moons of Mars (DREAM2) Node of the NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI).
• Associate Science Team member, NASA MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) UVVS Investigation.
Selected Publications:
Sarantos, M., & Tsavachidis, S. (2021). Lags in Desorption of Lunar Volatiles. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 919(2), L14.
Sarantos, M., & Tsavachidis, S. (2020). The boundary of alkali surface boundary exospheres of Mercury and the Moon. Geophysical Research Letters, 47(16), e2020GL088930.
Pokorný, P., Sarantos, M., Janches, D., & Mazarico, E. (2020). Meteoroid Bombardment of Lunar Poles. The Astrophysical Journal, 894(2), 114.
Jones, B. M., Sarantos, M., & Orlando, T. M. (2020). A New In Situ Quasi-continuous Solar-wind Source of Molecular Water on Mercury. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 891(2), L43.
Sarantos, M, R.E. Hartle, R.M. Killen, Y. Saito, J.A. Slavin, and A. Glocer (2012), Flux estimates of ions from the lunar exosphere, Geophys. Res. Lett. 39, L13101 doi:10.1029/2012GL052001.
Sarantos, M, R.M. Killen, D. Glenar, M. Benna, and T.J. Stubbs (2012), Metallic species, oxygen and silicon in the lunar exosphere: upper limits and prospects for LADEE measurements, J. Geophys. Res. 117, A03103, doi:10.1029/2011JA017044.
Sarantos, M., Killen, R. M., Sharma, A. S., & Slavin, J. A. (2008). Influence of plasma ions on source rates for the lunar exosphere during passage through the Earth's magnetosphere. Geophysical research letters, 35(4).
Sarantos, M., Reiff, P. H., Hill, T. W., Killen, R. M., & Urquhart, A. L. (2001). A Bx-interconnected magnetosphere model for Mercury. Planetary and Space Science, 49(14-15), 1629-1635.
Killen, R. M., Potter, A. E., Reiff, P., Sarantos, M., Jackson, B. V., Hick, P., & Giles, B. (2001). Evidence for space weather at Mercury. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 106(E9), 20509-20525.