Joseph Veverka (born 1941) is the James A. Weeks Professor of

Physical Sciences Physical science is a branch of natural science that studies non-living systems, in contrast to life science. It in turn has many branches, each referred to as a "physical science", together is called the "physical sciences". Definition ...

, professor of

Astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...

. His research area is in

planetary sciences Planetary science (or more rarely, planetology) is the scientific study of planets (including Earth), celestial bodies (such as moons, asteroids, comets) and planetary systems (in particular those of the Solar System) and the processes of their f ...

, with a focus on physical studies of satellite surfaces and planetary rings. Veverka was the principal investigator on the

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

Discovery Program The Discovery Program is a series of Solar System exploration missions funded by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) through its Planetary Missions Program Office. The cost of each mission is capped at a lower level t ...

mission

CONTOUR Contour may refer to: * Contour (linguistics), a phonetic sound * Pitch contour * Contour (camera system), a 3D digital camera system * Contour Airlines * Contour flying, a form of low level flight * Contour, the KDE Plasma 4 interface for tab ...

, a co-investigator of the '' Deep Impact'' space mission to Comet

Tempel 1 Tempel 1 (official designation: 9P/Tempel) is a periodic Jupiter-family comet discovered by Wilhelm Tempel in 1867. It completes an orbit of the Sun every 5.6 years. Tempel 1 was the target of the ''Deep Impact'' space mission, which photogr ...

, and is the principal investigator on the

Discovery Mission of Opportunity,

Stardust-NeXT ''Stardust'' was a 385-kilogram robotic space probe launched by NASA on 7 February 1999. Its primary mission was to collect dust samples from the coma of comet Wild 2, as well as samples of cosmic dust, and return them to Earth for analysis ...

. He received the 2001

National Air and Space Museum Trophy The National Air and Space Museum Trophy was established in 1985. The trophy presented to the winners is a miniature version of "The Web of Space," a sculpture by artist John Safer. The National Air and Space Museum presents this trophy annually ...

and has the asteroid 2710 Veverka named after him.

Education

Veverka was born in

Pelhřimov Pelhřimov () is a town in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument reservations, urban monument reser ...

, Czechoslovakia in what is now the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. In 1948 his family fled the communist regime going first to France and then to Canada in 1951. He grew up in

Cochrane, Ontario Cochrane is a town in northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is located east of Kapuskasing, northeast of Timmins, south of Moosonee, and north of Iroquois Falls. It is about a one-hour drive from Timmins and Kapuskasing, the other two major population ...

. Veverka received his B.S. in

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. He received his

Ph.D. 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 ...

in 1970 from Harvard University, where he was a student of

Fred Whipple Fred Lawrence Whipple (November 5, 1906 – August 30, 2004) was an American astronomer, who worked at the Harvard College Observatory for more than 70 years. Among his achievements were asteroid and comet discoveries, the " dirty snowball" hy ...

Career

Veverka was a

postdoc A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary academ ...

and research scientist at the

Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) in La Cañada Flintridge, California, Crescenta Valley, United States. Founded in 1936 by Cali ...

working on the

Mariner 9 Mariner 9 (Mariner Mars '71 / Mariner-I) was a robotic spacecraft that contributed greatly to the exploration of Mars and was part of the NASA Mariner program. Mariner 9 was launched toward Mars on May 30, 1971, from Spaceport Florida Launch Comp ...

project. He than became the principal investigator on NASA's Comet Nucleus Tour (

) mission, a co-investigator of the NASA Deep Impact mission to

comet Tempel 1 Tempel 1 (official designation: 9P/Tempel) is a List of periodic comets, periodic Jupiter-family comet discovered by Wilhelm Tempel in 1867. It completes an orbit of the Sun every 5.6 years. Tempel 1 was the target of the Deep Impact (spacecraft) ...

, and the principal investigator on the NASA

Stardust-NExT ''Stardust'' was a 385-kilogram robotic space probe launched by NASA on 7 February 1999. Its primary mission was to collect dust samples from the coma of comet Wild 2, as well as samples of cosmic dust, and return them to Earth for analysis ...

mission to comet Tempel 1 in 2011. Veverka has been a faculty member at Cornell University since 1970. He was chair of the Department of Astronomy at the university from 1999 - 2007. He has served several times on the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

Committee for Planetary Exploration (COMPLEX), serving as chair in 2007-2010. He is a member of the Space Studies Board and current Chair of the Primitive Bodies Panel of the Decadal Studies for Planetary Exploration.

Personal life

Veverka is married to astronomer Ann Harch. He is a fan of

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

; his favorite are operas by

Vincenzo Bellini Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (; ; 3 November 1801 – 23 September 1835) was an Italian opera composer famed for his long, graceful melodies and evocative musical settings. A central figure of the era, he was admired not only ...

. His other hobby is cooking.

Awards and honors

Veverka has been awarded the 2011

Whipple Award The Fred Whipple Award, established in 1989 by the Planetary Sciences Section of the American Geophysical Union, is presented to an individual who makes an outstanding contribution to the field of planetary science. The award was established to ho ...

and the 2013 Gerard P. Kuiper Prize for his contributions to planetary science.Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society 2013 Prize Recipients (http://dps.aas.org/prizes/2013) Retrieved 2013-07-13. He is the recipient of the 2001

for leadership during the NEAR mission and in 1979 he was awarded the NASA medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement for his investigations of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

's moons Phobos and

Deimos Deimos, a Greek word for ''dread'', may refer to: In general * Deimos (deity), one of the sons of Ares and Aphrodite in Greek mythology * Deimos (moon), the smaller and outermost of Mars' two natural satellites Fictional characters * Deimos (comi ...

References

External links

Cornell Astronomy Department

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20100617113847/http://deepimpact.umd.edu/science/bios/jveverka.html Deep Impact
Welcome from Principal Investigator, Joe Veverka
{{DEFAULTSORT:Veverka, Joseph 1941 births Living people Cornell University faculty American planetary scientists American people of Czech descent People from Pelhřimov Harvard University alumni Queen's University at Kingston alumni