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a Colleagues at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory said Claudia
Alexander was particularly keen on engaging the public in space science. In her
spare time, she wrote two books on science for children.
Claudia Alexander, a NASA scientist who oversaw the dramatic
conclusion of the space agency's long-lived Galileo mission to Jupiter and
managed the United States' role in the international comet-chasing Rosetta project, died July
11 at Methodist Hospital of Southern California in Arcadia. She was 56.
The cause was breast cancer, said her sister, Suzanne
Alexander.
During nearly three decades at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, Alexander was known for her research on
subjects including solar wind, Jupiter and its moons, and the evolution and
inner workings of comets.
JPL scientist Claudia Alexander, pictured in 2014, was the
U.S. manager for the international comet-chasing Rosetta project. (Gina Ferazzi
/ Los Angeles Times)
She was the last project manager of Galileo, one of the most
successful missions for exploring the distant reaches of the solar system.
Alexander was leading the mission when scientists orchestrated its death dive
into Jupiter's dense atmosphere in 2003, when the spacecraft finally ran out of
fuel after eight years orbiting the giant planet.
Most recently, she was Rosetta's U.S. project manager,
coordinating with the European Space Agency on the orbiter's journey to
rendezvous with the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet as it circles the sun.
Colleagues said Alexander was particularly keen on engaging
the public in space science.
She spearheaded Rosetta's
efforts to involve amateur astronomers through social media and
recognize the value of their ground-level observations of the spacecraft's path
toward deep space. In particular, she spurred the creation of a Facebook group
where members of the amateur community post comments on their sightings and
interact with her and other scientists.
“Claudia's vision was to engage and empower the amateur
community via various social media… a new wrinkle on the concept” of public
engagement in NASA’s missions, said Padma A. Yanamandra-Fisher, a senior
research scientist with the Space Science Institute who coordinated the
outreach.
I was a pretty lonely girl. I was the only black girl in
pretty much an all-white school and spent a lot of time by myself -- with my
imagination.- Claudia Alexander
She "had a special understanding of how scientific
discovery affects us all, and how our greatest achievements are the result of
teamwork, which came easily to her," JPL director Charles Elachi said in a
statement. "Her insight into the scientific process will be sorely
missed."
Alexander was born in Vancouver, Canada, on May 30, 1959.
She moved to the Silicon Valley with her family when she was 1 and grew up in
Santa Clara. Her father, Harold Alexander, was a social worker and her mother,
Gaynelle, was a corporate librarian for chip-maker Intel.
As an African American in a predominantly white community,
Alexander felt isolated. Writing became a refuge for her.
According to the obituary: 'She wanted to study journalism
at UC Berkeley, but her parents "would only agree to pay for it if I
majored in something 'useful,' like engineering," she said in an interview
for the Rosetta website.' Fortunately, her parents steered her...
"I was a pretty lonely girl," she recalled in a
feature for the University of Michigan's Engineering Magazine. "I was the
only black girl in pretty much an all-white school and spent a lot of time by
myself — with my imagination."
She wanted to study journalism at UC Berkeley, but her
parents "would only agree to pay for it if I majored in something
'useful,' like engineering," she said in an interview for the Rosetta
website.
During college she became an engineering intern at NASA's
Ames Research Center near San Jose. But she found herself drawn to the space
facility and visited it as often as she could. Her supervisor eventually
arranged for her to intern in the space science division.
She went on to earn a bachelor's degree in geophysics at UC
Berkeley and a master's in geophysics and space physics at UCLA. At the
University of Michigan, she wrote her doctoral thesis on comet thermophysical
nuclear modeling and earned a PhD in atmospheric, oceanic and space sciences.
In 1986, she joined JPL as a team member for Galileo, which
was still years from launching.
In 2000, she became Rosetta's U.S. project scientist at the
relatively young age of 40.
"She was always looking to improve the project and make
things flow better," said Paul Weissman, an interdisciplinary scientist on
Rosetta. "Europeans can be difficult about collaborations. Claudia would
get people to open up and work together."
In 2003, she became Galileo project manager, guiding efforts
to destroy the venerable spacecraft to prevent it from accidentally crashing
into and contaminating any of Jupiter's moons.
She had also served as a science coordinator on the Cassini
mission to Saturn.
In her spare time, Alexander wrote two books on science for
children and mentored young people, especially African American girls.
"She wanted children of color to see themselves as scientists," her
sister Suzanne said.
A fan of the steampunk movement in science fiction,
Alexander wrote and published short stories in the genre. She wore the
Victorian-style clothing associated with steampunk fashion when she taped a TED
talk on how to engage youths in math and science. Her lecture will be released
later this year.
Alexander was never married and had no children. Besides her
mother and sister, she is survived by a brother, David Alexander.
