NASA Kepler Scientist Honored by National Academy of Sciences

Jan. 07, 2013

J.D. Harrington
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-5241
j.d.harrington@nasa.gov

Michele Johnson
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
650-604-4789
michele.johnson@nasa.gov


RELEASE: 13-009

NASA KEPLER SCIENTIST HONORED BY NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

WASHINGTON -- William Borucki, science principal investigator for
NASA's Kepler mission at the agency's Ames Research Center at Moffett
Field in California, is the recipient of the 2013 Henry Draper Medal
awarded by the National Academy of Sciences.

Borucki is honored for his founding concept and visionary leadership
during the development of Kepler, which uses transit photometry to
determine the frequency and kinds of planets around other stars.

"This is a commendable recognition for Bill Borucki and the Kepler
mission," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for the
Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "It
is well deserved and a tribute both to Bill's dedication and
persistence and the fantastic and exciting results from Kepler."

Kepler is the first NASA mission capable of finding Earth-size planets
in or near the "habitable zone," the region in a planetary system
where liquid water can exist on the surface of an orbiting planet.
Kepler is detecting planets and possible candidates with a wide range
of sizes and orbital distances to help scientists better understand
our place in the galaxy.

"It has been a privilege to participate in the initial steps in the
search for life in our galaxy. I would like to thank all who have
worked with me to make this possible," said Borucki.

Borucki earned a Master of Science degree in physics from the
University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1962 and joined Ames as a space
scientist that same year. The results of Borucki's early work
developing spectroscopic instrumentation to determine the plasma
properties of hypervelocity shock waves was used in the design of the
heat shields for the Apollo mission. In June, Borucki celebrated 50
years of service at NASA.

The Henry Draper Medal is awarded every four years for an outstanding,
recently published contribution to astrophysical research and carries
with it an award of $15,000.

The award will be presented at a ceremony April 28, during the
National Academy of Sciences' 150th annual meeting in Washington.
Ames manages Kepler's ground system development, mission operations
and science data analysis. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena, Calif., managed Kepler mission development. Ball Aerospace
and Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo., developed the Kepler flight
system and supports mission operations with JPL at the Laboratory for
Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado in
Boulder.

The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore archives, hosts and
distributes the Kepler science data. Kepler is NASA's 10th Discovery
Mission and is funded by NASA's Science Mission Directorate at the
agency's headquarters.

For information about the Kepler mission, visit:


http://www.nasa.gov/kepler


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