Edward J. Weiler (born 1949) was the Associate Administrator for the

Science Mission Directorate The Science Mission Directorate (SMD) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is one of the six directorates that constitute NASA. Its responsibility is to define and direct research into scientific questions of interest, shari ...

of the

National Aeronautics and Space Administration The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the United States's civil space program, aeronautics research and space research. Established in 1958, it su ...

until his retirement on September 30, 2011.

Career

Edward J. Weiler received his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...

from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

in 1976. Prior to joining NASA, Weiler was a member of the

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

research staff. He joined Princeton in 1976 and was based at the Goddard Space Flight Center as the director of science operations of the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory-3 (COPERNICUS). Weiler was hired by Nancy Grace Roman as a staff scientist at NASA Headquarters in 1978 and was promoted to the Chief of the Ultraviolet/Visible and Gravitational Astrophysics Division in 1979. He also served as the Chief Scientist for the

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the Orbiting Solar Observatory, first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most ...

from 1979 until 1998. Before his 1998 appointment as Associate Administrator, he served as the Director of the Astronomical Search for Origins Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. He had served as the Associate Administrator for NASA's Space Science Enterprise from 1998 to 2004. In 2000, Weiler oversaw both the cancellation of a decade-long-considered mission last called the Pluto Kuiper Express and the initiation of a low-cost Pluto mission similar in structure to the

Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous ''Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous – Shoemaker'' (''NEAR Shoemaker''), renamed after its 1996 launch in honor of planetary scientist Eugene Shoemaker, was a robotic space probe designed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laborator ...

in November of the year. The latter Pluto mission had a launch target window in 2006 and a $500 million budget originally; it ultimately developed successfully into the

New Horizons ''New Horizons'' is an Interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary space probe launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research Institut ...

craft to fly by and study Pluto and its moons and, if possible, multiple

Kuiper Belt The Kuiper belt ( ) is a circumstellar disc in the outer Solar System, extending from the orbit of Neptune at 30 astronomical units (AU) to approximately 50 AU from the Sun. It is similar to the asteroid belt, but is far larger—20 times ...

objectives beyond. Weiler took over leadership of the Goddard Space Flight Center as its 10th Center Director on August 1, 2004. He was named Associate Administrator of the

on May 7, 2008, by Administrator Michael D. Griffin. He had been appointed as interim chief of the directorate on March 26 from his position of Center Director of

Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C., in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959, as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weiler, Edward J. 1949 births American planetary scientists Living people Princeton University faculty NASA astrophysicists Goddard Space Flight Center people Northwestern University alumni Scientists from Chicago

Career

See also

References

External links