Stamatios (Tom) M. Krimizis | |
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 Stamatios (Tom) M. Krimizis | |
| Born | Stamatios M. Krimizis (1938-09-10)September 10, 1938 (age 86) |
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| Employer | Applied Physics Laboratory |
| Title | Head Emeritus, Space Department |
| Scientific career | |
| Thesis | An interplanetary diffusion model for the time behavior of intensity in a solar cosmic ray event (1965) |
| Doctoral advisor | James Van Allen |
Stamatios (Tom) Mike Krimizis (Greek:Σταμάτιος Κριμιζής; born September 10, 1938) is a Greek-American scientist inspace exploration. He has contributed to many of the United States' unmanned space exploration programs of theSolar System and beyond. He has contributed to exploration missions to almost every planet of the Solar System.[1][2] In 1999, theInternational Astronomical Union named the asteroid8323 Krimigis (previously 1979 UH) in his honor.[2]
Stamatios Krimigis was born September 10, 1938 inVrontados,Chios,Greece, where he completed his early education.[2] He then moved to the United States to further his studies. Krimigis earned a Bachelor of Physics from theUniversity of Minnesota in 1961. He continued his education at theUniversity of Iowa, where he received aMaster of Science in 1963 and aPh.D. in 1965 in Physics under the mentorship of renowned space scientistJames Van Allen.[2]
He is HeadEmeritus of the Space Department at theJohns HopkinsApplied Physics Laboratory inLaurel, Maryland.[3][4] He holds the Chair of Science of Space at theAcademy of Athens,Greece,[2][5] and serves as the President of the Greek National Council for Research and Technology.[1]
Krimigis is the only scientist in the world to lead or participate in space physics experiments on all nine classical planets. He has served as a principal investigator on fiveNASA missions, including theVoyager 1 andVoyager 2, theCassini Saturn Orbiter, and as a co-investigator on many others.[1][4]
Krimigis has designed, built, flown and analyzed data from 21 instruments in various NASA andEuropean Space Agency missions.[2] His Low Energy Charged Particle Experiment (LECP) instrument flies aboard both Voyager spacecraft; on Voyager 1, LECP data was essential to determining that a spacecraft had left the solar system for the first time in 2012.[4][6] Krimigis was also instrumental in establishing NASA'sDiscovery Program of low-cost planetary missions, as well as theNew Frontiers program, for which the APL-built New Horizons to Pluto was the first mission. He is also a co-investigator on theParker Solar Probe, launched in 2018.[7]
He is co-investigator for LAN/HI-SCALE onUlysses solar polar orbiter, EPIC onGEOTAIL, EDP forGalileo mission, TRD onMariner 3, and for the LECR onMariner 4.[2][8] Krimigis has also worked on theAdvanced Composition Explorer, theMariner 5,MESSENGER andNew Horizons programs.[8]
In 1986, Krimigis briefedPresident Reagan on theAMPTE mission. He also met withPresident Gorbachev in 1987 andPresident Bush in 1990 to discussspace exploration.[4][9]
In 2016, Krimigis received NASA's highest service honor, the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, for his lifelong efforts to advance space exploration and science.[10]
In 2017, Krimigis's contributions to the Voyager program were highlighted in the documentary film "The Farthest."[10]
Krimigis's research has focused on the study of the magnetospheres of planets and the heliosphere. His pioneering work on space instruments has contributed significantly to our understanding of space weather and the interactions between solar wind and planetary environments. His work with the Voyager spacecraft has provided invaluable data on the outer planets and the boundary of the solar system.
Krimigis's publication record spans from "Interplanetary diffusion model for time behavior of intensity in a solar cosmic ray event," published in theJournal of Geophysical Research in 1965, to "Search for the exit: Voyager 1 at heliosphere's border with the galaxy," published inScience in 2013. As a researcher, Krimigis has published nearly 600 articles in scientific journals and books, including ground-breaking findings on solar observations, planetary magnetospheres, and the charged particles that flood the space between the planets. Krimigis has over 21,000 citations, making him one of the most cited scientists in his field.[3][10]
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