Dr. Lucas Kamp died of cancer on Sunday, March 30, 2014. He had been ill for approximately 1 year, however he continued his work planning for MIRO Rosetta cometary observations and analyzing Galileo NIMS data right up until his death.
Lucas was born on March 15, 1946 in Kingston-on-Thames, England, U.K. He was raised in the Netherlands, and spoke four languages, English, Dutch, German, and French.
Dr. Kamp received an A.B. in Astrophysical Sciences from Princeton University in 1968. Following that degree he received a Masters degree in 1970 and a Ph.D.in 1972 from the University of Chicago, both in Astronomy and Astrophysics.
From 1972-1974, Dr. Kamp was an NRC Research Affiliate at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. His work consisted of research in model stellar atmospheres, spectroscopy, and radiative transfer, specializing in non-LTE effects in early-type stars.
From 1974 – 1980, he was an Assistant Professor of Astronomy at Boston University. There he taught and worked on the analyses of IUE satellite data. Dr. Kamp joined JPL/Caltech in January 1981 where he remained up until his death. During this time he spent two sabbaticals at Oxford University where he and Professor Fred Taylor modelled near-infrared thermal emission emanating from Venus’s deep atmosphere and surface. During his time at JPL, he worked on numerous spacecraft projects including Voyager, Galileo, Viking orbiter, EPOXI, Rosetta and JUNO. He was a major contributor to the NIMS effort, particularly in the geometric and photometric aspects of NIMS hyperspectral image cubes.
Dr. Kamp was an author or co-author of 190 scientific publications. He received awards from NASA for his work on Cassini, Galileo, Rosetta and EPOXI. He received the NASA Individual Exceptional Service Medal for contributions to Galileo NIMS data processing in October 2003.
Prepared by S. Gulkis, B. Carlson, R. Lopes
Feodor Velichko, the Leading Researcher of Institute of Astronomy of Kharkiv National University (Ukraine) died suddenly on Oct 1, 2013 in the age of 56. He was an expert in photometry and polarimetry of asteroids and comets and took part in many international observing programs devoted to physical studies of small bodies.
I have been informed that Dr. Gary B. Hansen passed away late Thursday evening, September 26, from complications of ALS. He died while sitting at his computer, working on some science or technical issue. This was a highly appropriate setting for Gary. Gary was a hard working and very dedicated scientist who contributed to a number of parts of the Planetary Sciences. He loved the work and the science. Working, I am sure, is where he wanted to be (“with his boots on,” so to speak).
Our colleague and friend Bishun Khare died quietly on August 20 at the age of 80. Bishun is widely known for his early work on organic solid residues (tholins) related to the aerosols in planetary atmospheres and the interstellar medium, performed for many years at Cornell University in collaboration with Carl Sagan. Their 1984 paper gave the optical constants of Titan tholin from the X-ray to microwave region, and has served as a fundamental input to modeling work that included planetary surfaces in addition to atmospheric aerosols. That key paper has received well over 300 citations, and has stimulated much additional research on tholins, both in the US and in Europe. In 1996, Bishun moved from Cornell to NASA Ames Research Center on a Senior National Research Council fellowship, and subsequently joined the SETI Institute. He continued his research on many topics in his Ames lab, and mentored a great number of students, including supervising the thesis work of graduate students. Bishun was a patient, kind, and sharing individual, who loved to talk about science, especially the organic materials in Nature and those he could synthesize in his lab.
Bruce Murray, former JPL Director, co-founder of the Planetary Society, and Caltech Emeritus Professor passed away on August 29.
It is with great sadness that we note the unexpected passing of
It is with great sadness that we announce the death from brain cancer Dr. Jeffrey K. Wagner, passed away July 8. He received a Bachelor of Science in astronomy from Penn State University in 1974 and a Ph.D. in geology and planetary sciences from the University of Pittsburgh in 1980. Wagner was a Professor of Astronomy and Geology at Bowling Green State University Firelands College for 30 years. Jeff’s name is familiar to everyone in the field of spectroscopy of planetary surfaces. His seminal work on the ultraviolet reflectances of planetary materials, which formed his Ph.D dissertation, opened a new field in planetary spectroscopy. He was the author of the book “Introduction to the Solar System,” which was published in 1991 and often used in the classroom by his students.