Sara Faggi

Dr. Sara Faggi is a Research Assistant Professor at American University in Washington DC, with concurrent appointment as Postdoctoral Researcher in the Solar System Division at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. She is affiliated with the Goddard Center for Astrobiology and specializes in compositional studies of comets through high-resolution infrared spectroscopy.

Educated at Università degli Studi di Firenze, she earned her Ph.D. in Physics and Astronomy (2017), Master's in Astrophysics (2013), and Bachelor's in Physics (2008). Her research focuses include:

• High-resolution spectroscopic analysis of cometary composition
• Origin and evolution of organics and water in planetary systems
• Development of non-LTE fluorescence models
• Instrumentation simulation for echelle spectrographs

Her career highlights feature:

• Leadership in ground-based observations for ESA/Rosetta and ESA/ExoMars missions
• Expertise in GIANO/TNG, iSHELL/IRTF, and NIRSPEC/Keck spectrograph systems
• Co-investigator role in the Planetary Spectrum Generator (PSG) project
• Extensive observational campaign leadership since 2013

She contributes to instrument science verification and develops spectrographic simulators for NASA's astrobiology initiatives.