Marcia Neugebauer | |
|---|---|
 Circa 1961 | |
| Born | (1932-09-27)September 27, 1932 (age 93) |
| Alma mater | Cornell University |
| Known for | Space Physics |
| Awards | Arctowski Medal NASA Distinguished Service Medal |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | NASA |
Marcia Neugebauer (born September 27, 1932) is an Americangeophysicist who made contributions tospace physics. Neugebauer's research was among the first that yielded the first direct measurements of thesolar wind and shed light on its physics and interaction withcomets.
Neugebauer was born inNew York City. She attendedBurr and Burton Academy (then Burr and Burton Seminary) inManchester, Vermont, where she played basketball and learned how to ski.[1][2] She received a B.A. inphysics fromCornell University in 1954, followed by an M.S. in physics from theUniversity of Illinois inUrbana in 1956.[3] She was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Physics in 1998 by theUniversity of New Hampshire.
She was married to astrophysicistGerry Neugebauer.[4]
Neugebauer was an investigator of theMariner 2plasma analyzer that made the first extensive measurements of the solar wind and discovery of its properties.[4][3] She also developed analytical instruments that orbited Earth, some set up on the moon by theApollo astronauts, and others that flew byHalley's Comet on the EuropeanGiotto mission.[3]
Neugebauer was study scientist for many space missions during her long career withNASA and held several management positions at the Propulsion Laboratory, including Manager of the Physics and Space Physics sections, Manager of theMariner Mark II study team, and project scientist forRangers 1 and2 and theComet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby mission.[3]
Neugebauer served as president of theAmerican Geophysical Union from 1994 to 1996[5] and was editor-in-chief of its journalReviews of Geophysics.[3] She also chaired theNational Academy of Sciences' Committee on Solar and Space Physics.
In 1967 theMuseum of Science and Industry named Neugebauer "California Woman Scientist of the Year." She received many awards from NASA, including the Exceptional Scientific Achievement Award, the Outstanding Leadership Medal, and theDistinguished Service Medal (the highest award given by NASA).[3] In 1997 she was inducted in the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame.[6] In 2004 Neugebauer was awarded the William Kaula Award[7] and in 2010 was awarded theArctowski Medal from the National Academy of Sciences "for definitively establishing the existence of the solar wind, critical to understanding the physics of the heliosphere, and for elucidating many of its key properties."[8]
In 2010 Neugebauer was awarded theGeorge Ellery Hale Prize of the Solar Physics Division of theAmerican Astronomical Society "for her seminal contributions to the discovery of the solar wind and her extensive and ongoing contributions to solar-heliospheric physics."[9]
