[FPSPACE] FW: STScI: Hubble Project Pioneer Rodger Doxsey Passes Away

[LARRY KLAES]

> Date: Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:55:24 -0400
> Subject: STScI: Hubble Project Pioneer Rodger Doxsey Passes Away
> From: rick.fienberg at aas.org
> To: Rick.Fienberg at aas.org
> 
> THE FOLLOWING RELEASE WAS RECEIVED FROM THE SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE
> INSTITUTE IN BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, AND IS FORWARDED FOR YOUR
> INFORMATION. (FORWARDING DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT BY THE AMERICAN
> ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY.) Rick Fienberg, American Astronomical Society:
> rick.fienberg at aas.org, 1-202-328-2010 x116.
> 
> October 14, 2009
> 
> Contacts:
> Cheryl Gundy / Ray Villard
> Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
> +1 410-338-4707 / +1 410-338-4514
> gundy at stsci.edu / villard at stsci.edu
> 
> HUBBLE PROJECT PIONEER RODGER DOXSEY PASSES AWAY
> 
> Dr. Rodger Doxsey, head of the Space Telescope Science Institute’s
> (STScI) Hubble Mission Office, passed away on October 13 after a
> prolonged illness. The New York native was 62 years old.
> 
> Doxsey oversaw Hubble science operations at STScI in Baltimore, Md.,
> for nearly three decades. Astronomers credit Doxsey for being one of
> the key Hubble program people who had a working knowledge of the
> extremely complex Hubble Space Telescope from top to bottom. Doxsey
> dedicated his career to making Hubble a success, working closely with
> the scientists and engineers at the institute that operate the
> telescope, the engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in
> Greenbelt, Md., and the scientists from around the world who use the
> telescope.
> 
> He arrived at the institute in 1981, nine years before the Hubble
> Space Telescope’s launch. Riccardo Giacconi, then the STScI director,
> recruited him to be the institute’s Mission Operations Scientist.
> Doxsey was part of the science operations teams for the SAS-3 and
> HEAO-1 X-ray space observatories. The science operations for those
> missions were at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where
> Doxsey earned a doctorate in physics.
> 
> “Rodger was the heart and soul of Hubble here at the institute. He
> innately knew everything about the space telescope, from the smallest
> anomaly to the breadth of the extraordinary science delivered by the
> telescope he had worked with for over 28 years,” said STScI director
> Matt Mountain.
> 
> Doxsey was recognized numerous times for his career achievements. NASA
> awarded him the 1991 Distinguished Public Service Medal -- the highest
> honor NASA confers to a non-government employee. Doxsey was honored
> for “outstanding leadership in developing the concepts of the
> scientific operation of the Hubble Space Telescope, as well as the
> subsequent implementation of systems to accomplish these ends.”
> 
> The recipient of the prestigious Van Biesbroeck Prize in 2004, Doxsey
> was cited by the American Astronomical Society for “his outstanding,
> unselfish dedication to making the Hubble Space Telescope one of the
> most scientifically productive telescopes of all time.” The prize
> honors an individual for long-term extraordinary or unselfish service
> to astronomy, often beyond the requirements of his or her paid
> position.
> 
> A photograph is available at: http://hubblesite.org/news/2009/27
> 
> The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation
> between NASA and the European Space Agency and is managed by NASA’s
> Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The Space Telescope
> Science Institute conducts Hubble science operations. The institute is
> operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in
> Astronomy, Inc. in Washington, and is an International Year of
> Astronomy 2009 program partner.
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> If you do not wish to receive press releases that are forwarded to the
> news media by the American Astronomical Society, please unsubscribe by
> replying accordingly to any incoming press release, or send e-mail to
> rick.fienberg at aas.org. Requests for referrals to experts on astronomy
> and space exploration should be sent to the same address. Rick
> Fienberg, AAS Press Officer: rick.fienberg at aas.org, telephone
> 1-202-328-2010 x116.
 		 	   		  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.friends-partners.org/pipermail/fpspace/attachments/20091014/94117f48/attachment.html