Albert Roach Hibbs | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1924-10-19)October 19, 1924 Akron, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | February 24, 2003(2003-02-24) (aged 78) Pasadena, California, U.S. |
| Education | California Institute of Technology (BS,PhD) University of Chicago (MS) |
| Known for | "Voice of JPL" in 1960s, 1970s and 1980s |
| Awards | Peabody Award (1963) Thomas Alva Edison Foundation National Media Award (1962, 1965) NASA Exceptional Service Medal (1984) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics,Physics,Science Communication |
| Institutions | NASA,JPL,U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) |
| Doctoral advisor | Richard Feynman |
Albert Roach Hibbs (October 19, 1924 – February 24, 2003) was an Americanmathematician andphysicist affiliated with theJet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).[1][2] He was known as "The Voice of JPL" due to his gift for explaining advanced science in simple terms.[3] He helped establish JPL's Space Science Division in 1960 and later served as its first chief. He was the systems designer forExplorer 1, the USA's firstsatellite, and helped establish the framework for exploration of theSolar System through the 1960s. Hibbs qualified as anastronaut in 1967 and was slated to be a crew member of Apollo 25, but he ultimately did not go to the Moon due to theApollo program ending after theApollo 17 mission in 1972.
Hibbs earned bachelor's degree in physics from theCalifornia Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 1945, having attended Caltech under the sponsorship of theUS Navy'sV-12 program. He then obtained a master's degree in mathematics from theUniversity of Chicago in 1947.[3][4]
While working as a staff member at JPL, in 1955 Hibbs received a PhD in physics from Caltech with a thesis on "The Growth ofWater Waves Due to the Action of the Wind".[5][6] His thesis advisor was the Nobel laureateRichard Feynman. Hibbs became close friends with Feynman and together they published the textbookQuantum Mechanics and Path Integrals (McGraw-Hill, 1965),[7][4] which is still a standard reference on thepath integral formulation.
Hibbs joined the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in 1950. He became head of JPL's Research and Analysis Section, and in this role, he was the systems designer for America's first successful satellite,Explorer 1, in 1958. AfterNASA took over JPL in 1958, Hibbs worked to establish the framework for planetary missions for the next decade.[4]
In 1960, Hibbs was placed in charge of forming and leading the Space Science Division at JPL. As the division became successful, Hibbs emerged as the "Voice of JPL".[7]
From 1962 to 1967, Hibbs left JPL to work on special assignment as staff scientist for the Arms Control Study Group (ACSG) of the U.S.Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA), studying how arms-control treaties could be monitored from space.[8]
From the late 1960s to the 1980s, he became the authoritative source of information on JPL missions, including: theRanger andSurveyor missions to theMoon; theMariner missions toVenus,Mars, andMercury; theViking missions to Mars; and theVoyager missions to the outer planets.[4][9]
By the age of five, Hibbs had decided that he wanted to go to the Moon.[9] He qualified as an astronaut in 1967, despite being 7 years over the age limit, and he was slated to be a crew member ofApollo 25. TheApollo program ended afterApollo 17, denying him his dream.[9] Nevertheless, he has reflected that: "Even though I didn't make it to the moon, my machines did."[10]
Hibbs hosted and produced several radio and television programs for adults and children. He won aPeabody award for the children's seriesExploring, as well as two Thomas Alva Edison Foundation National Media Awards. He was also given NASA's Exceptional Service Medal, "for his outstanding achievements in explaining the complexities and significance of space exploration to the general public via radio and television," and the NASA Achievement Award.[9][11][8]
As a prominent member of theSouthern California Skeptics, Hibbs was awarded a Fellowship from theCommittee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP).[8]
Hibbs also had an asteroid named after him (2441 Hibbs) in honor of Al Hibbs and his wife Marka as an acknowledgement of the role they played in introducing her to Space Science at Caltech.[12][clarification needed]
In 1947, Hibbs andRoy Walford took time off from graduate and medical school, respectively, to go toReno andLas Vegas to beat thecasinos atroulette. Studying biases in the roulette wheels, they made profits variously estimated between $6,500[13] and $42,000.[14] According to Hibbs himself, during an episode ofYou Bet Your Life on which he was a contestant and won $250, he made "about $12,000" from his roulette exploits.[15] The pair used the profits to spend over a year sailing around the Caribbean aboard a 40-foot sailboat, Adonde.[7]
While working for JPL, Hibbs appeared onYou Bet Your Life where he talked about his adventures in roulette.[16]
Hibbs was a member of the project review committee forBiosphere 2 from 1987 to 1992 and was involved in artistTom Van Sant'sGeosphere Project from 1989 to 1995 as a member of the Eyes on Earth Board of Directors.[7] In his retirement, Hibbs pursued underwater photography at sites all over the world.[4]
Hibbs enjoyed makingkinetic sculpture as a hobby[8] and was fascinated by miniaturised, independently operating machines—a field where he once again collaborated in a well known idea-experiment of Feynman's. According to Feynman, it was Hibbs who originally suggested to him (circa 1959) the idea of a medical use for Feynman's theoretical micromachines (seenanotechnology). Hibbs suggested that certain repair machines might one day be reduced in size to the point that it would, in theory, be possible to (as Feynman put it) "swallow the doctor".[17]
Hibbs first married in 1950, to Florence Pavin, with whom he had two children. He was widowed in 1970. In 1971, he married Marka Oliver.
He died in February 2003 from complications following heart surgery at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, California.[7]
