From: LARRY KLAES (ljk4_at_msn.com)
Date: Wed Jul 07 2004 - 13:52:51 PDT
----- Original Message -----
From: NASANEWS_at_Ames<mailto:NASANEWS_at_Ames>
To: ames-releases_at_lists.arc.nasa.gov<mailto:ames-releases_at_lists.arc.nasa.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2004 2:00 PM
Subject: NASA'S DAVID MORRISON WINS PRESTIGIOUS SAGAN MEDAL FOR 2004
Kathleen Burton July 7, 2004
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
Phone: 650/604-1731 or 604-9000
E-mail: Kathleen.M.Burton_at_nasa.gov<mailto:Kathleen.M.Burton_at_nasa.gov>
Dr. Ellis D. Miner
Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS), Washington, D.C.
Phone: 818/354-4450
E-mail: ellis.d.miner_at_jpl.nasa.gov<mailto:ellis.d.miner_at_jpl.nasa.gov>
RELEASE: 04-65AR
NASA'S DAVID MORRISON WINS PRESTIGIOUS SAGAN MEDAL FOR 2004
The Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) has awarded its 2004 Carl
Sagan Medal to NASA scientist Dr. David Morrison.
The Sagan Medal is awarded annually by the DPS, the world's largest
organization of planetary scientists, to an active member researcher
for long-term excellence in communicating planetary science to the
public. Morrison will receive the award at the organization's annual
meeting to be held Nov. 8-12, 2004, in Louisville, Ky.
"We are honored by David's award," said G. Scott Hubbard, director of
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. "A doctoral student
of Carl Sagan, David is that rare breed of scientist who combines
research depth with the ability to popularize technical topics to
non-scientists."
Morrison is the senior scientist for the NASA Astrobiology Institute
(NAI), an international research consortium with central offices
located at NASA Ames in the heart of California's Silicon Valley.
Throughout his distinguished science career - as an expert on solar
system small bodies and an as investigator for numerous spacecraft
missions, including Voyager and Galileo - Morrison has
enthusiastically dedicated himself to sharing the excitement of
planetary exploration with the public. For two decades, he generated
a highly praised, widely used series of educational slide and
information sets, featuring the best planetary images available. He
also authored popular books about the Voyager flybys of Jupiter and
Saturn.
Morrison has given hundreds of public lectures and appeared on
numerous radio and television broadcasts, explaining planetary
science in everyday language. As president of the Astronomical
Society of the Pacific (ASP) in the early 1980s, Morrison devoted
himself to encouraging and supporting its educational work. He also
chaired the ASP Long-Term Aims Committee, which conceived goals and
activities for public outreach that are still followed today.
Morrison is a co-author of one of the first textbooks in planetary
science, 'The Planetary System.' He and several co-authors also are
successors in the continuation and revision of the original George
Abell series of astronomy textbooks. These books still reach students
worldwide. For many college students, these texts have provided the
basis for their only college science course.
In addition, Morrison has been instrumental in illuminating the
The DPS, a division of the American Astronomical Society based in
http://www.aas.org/~dps/dps.html For more information about the NAI, please visit:
http://nai.arc.nasa.gov -end-
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: Wed Jul 07 2004 - 14:00:53 PDT
scientific basis for potential hazards due to asteroid and comet
impacts, through refereed papers and popular articles and books. He
is responsible for creating NEO News, an e-mail newsletter with about
800 subscribers. He created
and implemented the impact hazard Website,
http://impact.arc.nasa.gov/
Morrison coordinates educational activities for the institute, paying
special attention to the content of undergraduate astrobiology
courses in this emerging, interdisciplinary field.
Washington, is the largest organization of professional planetary
scientists in the world. More information about the annual DPS
meeting and this year's prizewinners, including a photographic image
of Morrison, can be found on the DPS Web site at:
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Also, the NASA Ames News homepage at URL,
http://amesnews.arc.nasa.gov
in AP Leaf Desk format minus embedded captions
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