Noel William Hinners (December 25, 1935 – September 5, 2014) was an American geologist and soil chemist who is primarily remembered for his work with NASA where he worked in a variety of scientific and administrative roles from 1963 to 1989, including two years as NASA Chief Scientist.

At NASA Hinners helped plan and execute the Apollo program and was also responsible for the successful launches of numerous scientific probes into space; achieving such notable objectives as the first retrieval of Moon rocks, mapping the surface of Mars, and capturing the first photographic images of the birthplace of stars among other achievements.

His later work at Lockheed Martin as vice president of Flight Systems from 1989-2002 remained closely linked with NASA.

[1] In 1979, Hinners left NASA to become the director of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.

He left that post in 1982 to become director of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center where he remained for almost 6 years.