Donald E. Brownlee

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Don Brownlee (* 1943 ) is an American astronomer, professor of astronomy at the University of Washington (Seattle) and the head of research for NASA's Stardust mission to comet Wild 2 . His primary interests are astrobiology , comets , interstellar matter and “porsche evangelism”.

Training and area of ​​work

Brownlee studied electrical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley . He then attended the University of Washington , where he received his doctorate in astronomy in 1971. From 1975 he was then a member of the faculty at this university. Among other things, he heads a research department as a "Distinguished Visiting Professor" at the astronomical department of the University of Chicago. Brownlee is co-author of two books with paleontologist Peter Ward : Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe and The Life and Death of Planet Earth (see also Rare Earth Hypothesis ).

Brownlee became known in the 1970s for collecting small interplanetary dust particles ( Brownlee particles ) from high-flying U-2 aircraft . In contrast to larger meteorites, these survive entering the earth's atmosphere without excessive heating and then slowly sink.

Honors

In 1991 the asteroid 3259 was named after Brownlee. A newly discovered mineral also bears his name. Brownleeit is also the first mineral to be found in a comet. He has received the J. Lawrence Smith Medal , the Leonard Medal from the Meteoritical Society, and the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement from the National Academy of Sciences . In 1985 he was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science . He was also accepted into the National Academy of Sciences in 1996 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2007.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ stardust.jpl.nasa.gov
  2. ^ History Channel on youtube.com
  3. ^ University of Washington Astronomy Department
  4. ↑ Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe
  5. ^ The Life and Death of Planet Earth
  6. ↑ 3259 Brownlee (1984 SZ4) ssd.jpl.nasa.gov, accessed December 24, 2011
  7. ↑ Like a rock: New mineral named for UW astronomer on eurekalert.org
  8. ↑ Fellows of the AAAS: Donald Brownlee. American Association for the Advancement of Science, accessed February 22, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Brownlee, Donald E.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Brownlee, Don
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American astronomer and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH 1943