✨Ed Stone, former director of JPL and longtime @NASAVoyager project scientist, has passed away.
Image: NASA/JPLIt was the Voyager probes that allowed scientists to reach beyond the Earth-Moon system and explore the planets in the outer solar system.
Nicola Fox, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA, remembered Stone as a "trailblazer" who "dared mighty things."
"Ed took humanity on a planetary tour of our solar system and beyond, sending NASA where no spacecraft had gone before," Fox said.
According to NASA, he said becoming the Voyager project scientist was the best decision of his life.
> Science
NASA is mourning the passing of Ed Stone, the scientist who made invaluable contributions to the Voyager mission.
The American agency announced today that Edward Stone passed away on June 9 at the age of 88, leaving a deep impression on the space science community.
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Ed Stone, former director of JPL and longtime @NASAVoyager project scientist, has passed away. He will forever be an inspiration to all who #DareMightyThings. https://t.co/ds5TriLwAj pic.twitter.com/Gq6ewkPQ1z — NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) June 11, 2024
He was the former director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and worked on the Voyager mission till his retirement in 2022 after taking it up as the sole project scientist in 1972.
It was under Stone's leadership when the two Voyager probes (launched in 1977) discovered active volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io and an atmosphere rich with organic molecules on Saturn’s moon in the later years. The probes also discovered many moons around the outer solar system planets.
Edward Stone. Image: NASA/JPL
It was the Voyager probes that allowed scientists to reach beyond the Earth-Moon system and explore the planets in the outer solar system.
“Ed will be remembered as an energetic leader and scientist who expanded our knowledge about the universe — from the Sun to the planets to distant stars — and sparked our collective imaginations about the mysteries and wonders of deep space,” JPL director, Laurie Leshin said.
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Nicola Fox, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA, remembered Stone as a "trailblazer" who "dared mighty things."
"Ed took humanity on a planetary tour of our solar system and beyond, sending NASA where no spacecraft had gone before," Fox said. "Thank you, Ed, for everything.”
ALSO SEE: Voyager 1 Is Sending Data For The First Time In Over Six Months, NASA Announces
Apart from the Voyagers, the late scientist also worked on nine NASA missions. Interestingly, he will now be remembered as the one of the few scientists who worked on the probes that have been closest to the Sun (the Parker probe) and the farthest ones (the Voyagers) to humans.
According to NASA, he said becoming the Voyager project scientist was the best decision of his life.
During his active years, Stone saw the first rover - Sojourner - land on Mars in 1996 and the launch of the Cassini mission in 1997.
