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Builders, Researchers, Explorers

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NASA's mission attracts and encourages excellence in these kinds of people.

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Sadly, the NASA Goddard community

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has lost four giants in recent months.

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As an agency tasked to rely on one-of-a-kind technology,

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NASA relied on Phil Sabelhaus

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to put that technology in place. 

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Most recently a project manager for Landsat 9, 

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Phil was a passionate project manager for some of 

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the most storied scientific missions in the agency,

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including TOMS-EP, Landsat 7,

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Landsat 8, and Aqua. 

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He also worked for a time as the project 

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manager of the James Webb Space Telescope. 

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While JWST may be the biggest mission to his name,

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Phil helped lead NASA Goddard into a new era

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of Earth observations, overseeing missions

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that largely re-defined what it meant to study

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our home planet. 

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The recipient of numerous prestigious awards

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Phil's inimitable style demanded excellence from 

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his team with a minimum of formality.

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Where his signature style leaned toward sandals and blue jeans,

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Phil's technical acumen and compelling leadership abilities

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enabled NASA Goddard to stay on the forefront of remote sensing technologies. 

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Engineers make things work. 

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The best engineers make things work with other things. 

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Marty Davis was that kind of an engineer. 

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A member of Goddard’s family for more than fifty years,

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Marty was the go-to guy when it came to GOES

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As project manager, Marty oversaw all aspects of the program, 

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from design to on-orbit checkout and everything in-between.

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GOES is the backbone of the nation's weather forecasting system,

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and when he took the job to oversee that vital program

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Marty came with a formidable portfolio. 

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Before building observatories to look down at Earth, 

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Marty worked on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory,

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peering out to distant reaches of the cosmos. 

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The recipient of many awards including NASA's highest,

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the Distinguished Service Medal,

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Marty also found time to strut 

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and fret at the footlights of Goddard's 

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beloved Music and Drama club,

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known affectionately as MAD. 

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Astrophysics is essentially an untouchable science, 

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with researchers studying forces and events that defy 

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easy categorization or comparison. 

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NASA's Neil Gehrels, however, turned those elusive scientific mysteries 

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into something living and breathing. 

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A rock climber away from his lab,

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Neil was recipient of a long list of prestigious professional awards. 

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Neil specialized in gamma-ray astronomy,

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helping to develop both instrumentation 

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as well as profound scientific insights.

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His career includes stints as Principal Investigator for the Swift Mission,

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Project Scientist for the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory,

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and Project Scientist for WFIRST, just to name a few.

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Elected chair of the National Academy of Sciences Astronomy Section,

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Neil's name appears more than 600 academic articles

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and journal publications. 

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It would be too easy to stop 

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at the showiest part of Piers Sellers's biography.

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A three flight NASA astronaut,

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Piers Sellers was a champion for Planet Earth,

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acting as both explorer of the highest order,

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as well as a tireless leader tasked with empowering 

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other researchers to push back the frontiers of big questions. 

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A PhD in biometeorology,

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Piers came to work at NASA Goddard 

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long before he earned his place in the 1996 astronaut class. 

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His dreams of space required that he first become a naturalized 

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citizen of the United States, something he added in 1991 

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to his shared British citizenship. 

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His research into how the Earth's biosphere and atmosphere 

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interact had a substantial impact on

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the growing field of multi-modal climate modeling,

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using data inputs from aircraft, 

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satellites, and ground based research.

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But his relentless drive to help science 

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better understand how to protect 

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and preserve a healthy planet 

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most profoundly underscores his legacy. 

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In a recent New York Times opinion piece,

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Piers commented about his optimism for humanity 

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to make the kinds of decisions that will preserve 

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the stability of our fragile home. 

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"History is replete with examples 

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of us humans getting out of tight spots," he wrote. 

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As a decorated spacewalking astronaut 

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he understood the great potentials for getting out 

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of tight spots better than most. 

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NASA means exploration

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and NASA means excellence. 

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These four excellent explorers 

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will be missed and remembered.

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