ASK OCE — May 29, 2007 — Vol. 2, Issue 3

Two NASA scientists, Edward C. Stone and Emmett Chappelle, have been recognized for their outstanding lifetime achievements.

Aviation Week named Dr. Edward C. Stone the winner of the Philip J. Klass Award for Lifetime Achievement at its 50th annual Laureate Awards, which are given for outstanding achievements in aviation, defense, and aerospace.

Dr. Stone was a Principal Investigator on nine NASA spacecraft missions and a co-investigator on five others. He has been the Project Scientist for the Voyager I and Voyager II deep space probes since 1972. Following the launch of the two spacecraft five years later in 1977, Dr. Stone coordinated the efforts of eleven disparate teams of scientists studying Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

While with NASA, Dr. Stone received a number of high-profile awards, including the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal in 1986 and 1996; the National Space Club Science Award; the American Philosophical Society Magellanic Award; the National Medal of Science Award, and the COSPAR Award for Outstanding Contribution to Space Science. In 1996, an asteroid (5841) was named after him. He is the David Morrisroe Professor of Physics and Vice Provost for Special Projects at California Institute of Technology.

All Laureate Awards in the space category went to members of the Stardust team: Don Brownlee, Stardust Principal Investigator (Department of Astronomy, University of Washington); Tom Duxbury, Stardust Project Manager (Jet Propulsion Laboratory); Peter Tsou, Stardust Deputy Project Investigator (Jet Propulsion Laboratory); and Joseph Vellinga, Stardust Program Manager for Lockheed Martin Space Systems.

The Laureate Award event was held on March 20, 2007, at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. The honor was conceived 50 years ago to recognize the extraordinary achievements of individuals and teams in the aerospace and aviation disciplines.

Emmett Chappelle was named one of 16 of this year’s inductees into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Chappelle and his fellow honorees were inducted during ceremonies on May 4-5, 2007, in Akron, Ohio. He was specifically chosen for his work with Lyophilized Reaction Mixtures, which revealed that a specific combination of chemicals causes all living organisms to emit light. His discovery, known as bioluminescence, brought about important breakthroughs in the fields of biology and chemistry.

His research efforts led to the development of remote sensing of vegetation health through laser-induced fluorescence. He also developed innovative techniques used to detect bacteria in urine, blood, spinal fluids, drinking water, and foods.

Chappelle’s work also hastened the development of laser-induced fluorescence as a means to detect plant stress. This technique allows scientists to ascertain crop health and measure productivity based on the amount of light crops emit, creating data that can be used to improve food production through effective planting, irrigation, and fertilization patterns.

Chappelle first began working with NASA in 1963 while a senior biochemist at the Hazelton Laboratories in Falls Church, Virginia. In 1966, he joined Goddard Space Flight Center as an exobiologist and later as an astrochemist. Chappelle retired from Goddard in January 2001.

Chappelle has received fourteen United States patents and numerous awards for his work, including the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Award. His publication credits include 50 conference papers and more than 35 peer reviewed science or technical articles.