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Candice Hansen-Koharcheck

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Candice Hansen
Born
Pasadena, California
NationalityAmerican
Alma materCalifornia State University (BS)
University of California, Los Angeles (PhD)
Known forJunoCam
Scientific career
InstitutionsJPL, Planetary Science Institute

Candice Joy Hansen-Koharcheck is a planetary scientist. She is responsible for the development and operation of the JunoCam, for which she received the NASA's Outstanding Public Leadership Medal in 2018.

Education and career

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Hansen received her Bachelor of Science in Physics from California State University, Fullerton in 1976.[1] While here she was taught by Dorothy Woolum, who had worked on the Apollo program.[2] This led her to pursue a career in planetary science.[2] After graduating Hansen started graduate school at the University of Arizona, but left to work NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).[2] Here, she worked on the Voyager mission as part of the Voyager Imaging Team.[2] She designed the imaging sequences for the flybys with Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.[3] From 1981 to 1984, when the Voyager was between Saturn and Uranus, Hansen worked at German Space Operations Center in Oberpfaffenhofen.[4] While working at JPL, Hansen completed a Master of Science in planetary physics (1989) and her PhD in Earth and Space Science (1994) at UCLA.[1][5]

In 1990 Hansen started working on the Cassini mission as part of the Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) investigation team, where she is still co-investigator.[1][3] Also in 1990, Hansen co-designed the command sequence for the famous Pale Blue Dot photograph taken by Voyager 1, together with Carolyn Porco. She received the 2002 JPL Exceptional Leadership Award for her involvement in the planning of the Jupiter flyby.[6] Hansen is part of the team within the Cassini mission that studies the plumes on Enceladus, one of Saturn's moons.[7][8] This research has confirmed the idea that there are subsurface bodies of water on Enceladus.[8] For her work on the water vapor plumes on Enceladus, Hansen received the Edward Stone Award in 2007 and the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal in 2009.[1][9]

Hansen retired from the JPL in 2010, but continues her work as senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona.[3]

Hansen is currently deputy Principal Investigator for the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.[10][11] As part of HiRISE, Hansen studies the seasonal carbon-dioxide ice on Mars.[12] She ran experiments on earth using dry ice to study the possibility of carbon dioxide ice to be responsible for the gullies that were seen in the HiRISE images. She also co-authored a book titled 'Mars: The Pristine Beauty of the Red Planet', a collection of HiRISE images.[13][10]

Hansen is a collaborator on the Juno mission, and she is responsible for the JunoCam, the first interplanetary outreach camera.[14][15][16] The camera has produced the first close-up images of Jupiter's polar region.[17][18] It was also used to capture images of volcanic plumes on Io, one of Jupiter's moons.[19][20] For her work on the JunoCam, she received the NASA Outstanding Public Leadership medal in 2018.[10]

Awards

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  • 2002 JPL Exceptional Leadership Award for her involvement in the planning of the Jupiter flyby in the Cassini mission.[6]
  • 2007 Edward Stone Award for work on the water vapor plumes on Enceladus.[9]
  • 2009 NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal for work on the water vapor plumes on Enceladus.[1]
  • 2018 NASA Outstanding Public Leadership medal for work on JunoCam.[10]
  • 2023 Geological Society of America G.K. Gilbert Award.[21]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Dr. Candice Hansen". Planetary Science Institute. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  2. ^ a b c d Niebur, Susan (2011-01-04). "Candice Hansen: Get involved with an instrument team". Women in Planetary Science: Female Scientists on Careers, Research, Space Science, and Work/Life Balance. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  3. ^ a b c "Dixie Forum hosts presentation on Cassini mission to Saturn". Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  4. ^ "Department of Physics and Astronomy - Bullitt Lecture 2017". www.physics.louisville.edu. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  5. ^ MSFC, Jennifer Wall. "NASA - Overcoming Obstacles on Earth and in Space". www.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  6. ^ a b "Awards for Excellence - 2002". Solar System Exploration: NASA Science. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  7. ^ Malik, Tariq; March 9, Space com Managing Editor |; ET, 2006 12:57pm (9 March 2006). "Cassini Finds Signs of Liquid Water on Saturn's Moon". Space.com. Retrieved 2019-02-09. {{cite web}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ a b NASA. "NASA Cassini Spacecraft Captures Ocean-Like Spray at Saturn Moon". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  9. ^ a b "The Edward Stone Award Recepients(sic) | Science and Technology". scienceandtechnology.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  10. ^ a b c d "PSI's Hansen-Koharcheck Honored By NASA For JunoCam Project Leadership". www.spaceref.com. 30 August 2018. Retrieved 2019-02-09.[permanent dead link]
  11. ^ "HiRISE | About Us: Principal and Co-Investigators". www.uahirise.org. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  12. ^ "Grooves in Mars dunes likely from dry ice, not water". Futurity. 2013-06-17. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  13. ^ "Mars – UAPress". 12 July 2017. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  14. ^ "Meet the scientist behind these stunning images of Jupiter". PBS NewsHour. 2018-09-11. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  15. ^ Stirone, Shannon. "The Woman Who Sees Space First – Space Time". Medium. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  16. ^ Gill, Victoria (2018-12-13). "Juno snaps giant Jupiter polar storms". Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  17. ^ Orton, Glenn S.; Hansen, Candice; Caplinger, Michael; Ravine, Michael; Atreya, Sushil; Ingersoll, Andrew P.; Jensen, Elsa; Momary, Thomas; Lipkaman, Leslie (2017). "The first close-up images of Jupiter's polar regions: Results from the Juno mission JunoCam instrument". Geophysical Research Letters. 44 (10): 4599–4606. Bibcode:2017GeoRL..44.4599O. doi:10.1002/2016GL072443. ISSN 1944-8007. S2CID 133963617.
  18. ^ Ellis, Emma Grey (2016-09-02). "NASA's Juno Spacecraft Discovers Curiosities at Jupiter's Poles". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  19. ^ "Juno mission captures images of volcanic plumes on Jupiter's moon Io". Southwest Research Institute. 2018-12-31. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  20. ^ redazione (3 January 2019). "Eruzione vulcanica su "Io", la luna di Giove: lo spettacolo visibile dallo spazio" (in Italian). Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  21. ^ "G.K. Gilbert Award". GSA Planetary Geology Division. Retrieved 19 September 2023.