Winifred Sawtell Cameron (December 3, 1918 – March 29, 2016) was an American astronomer. She worked at

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 ...

in Maryland for most of her career, and compiled the Lunar Transient Phenomena (LTP) database. She was involved in the Gemini and

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

programs.

Early life

Winifred J. Sawtell was born in

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, adjacent to Chicago. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, 26th-most populous municipality in Illinois, with a population of 54,318 as of the 2020 census. Oak Park was first se ...

, the daughter of Amos Alexander Sawtell and Mildred Winifred Shields Sawtell. Her father was an accountant. She was a Girl Scout, and graduated from

Oak Park and River Forest High School Oak Park and River Forest High School (OPRF) is a public four-year high school located in Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. It is the only school in Oak Park and River Forest District 200. Founded in 1871, the current school building ope ...

in 1936. She earned a bachelor's degree and a teaching credential at

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois, United States. It was founded as "Northern Illinois State Normal School" in 1895 by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld, initially to provide the state with c ...

in 1940, and completed a master's degree in astronomy at

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

in 1952.

Career

After college, Sawtell worked at Weather Forecasts, Inc. in Chicago, from 1943 to 1946, and again from 1949 to 1950. She taught astronomy at

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in South Hadley, Massachusetts, United States. It is the oldest member of the h ...

from 1950 to 1951. She was a researcher at the

United States Naval Observatory The United States Naval Observatory (USNO) is a scientific and military facility that produces geopositioning, navigation and timekeeping data for the United States Navy and the United States Department of Defense. Established in 1830 as the ...

from 1951 to 1958, analyzing

sunspots Sunspots are temporary spots on the Sun's surface that are darker than the surrounding area. They are one of the most recognizable Solar phenomena and despite the fact that they are mostly visible in the solar photosphere they usually affe ...

. In 1959, Winifred Cameron and her husband both joined NASA's new Goddard Space Flight Center, where she was a lunar expert and head of Data Acquisition and Analysis. She compiled the Lunar Transient Phenomena (LTP) database, still in use. She was astronomer-on-base at

Cape Canaveral Cape Canaveral () is a cape (geography), cape in Brevard County, Florida, in the United States, near the center of the state's Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. Officially Cape Kennedy from 1963 to 1973, it lies east of Merritt Island, separated ...

during two Mercury flights, and an advisor on the Apollo Moon landings. She was the only woman scientist in attendance at the international Lunar Geological Field Conference in Oregon in 1965. She gave frequent talks on her work to civic organizations, schools, and amateur astronomers. In 1974, Cameron was a technologist at the National Space Science Data Center in

Greenbelt, Maryland Greenbelt is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and a suburb of Washington, D.C. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 24,921. Greenbelt is the first and the largest of the three experimental ...

. She retired from NASA in 1984, but continued working on the LTP database. She was a member of the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

, the

American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...

, the

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, Atmospheric science, atmospheric, Oceanography, ocean, Hydrology, hydrologic, Astronomy, space, and Planetary science, planetary scientists and enthusiasts that ...

, and the

Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers The Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers (ALPO or A.L.P.O.) is an international scientific and educational organization established in March 1947 in the United States by Walter H. Haas, and later incorporated in 1990. ALPO is an organizat ...

Personal life

Winifred Sawtell married fellow astronomer Robert Curry Cameron in 1953. They had two daughters, Selene and Sheri. Robert died in 1972. Winifred died in 2016, aged 98, in Lehigh Acres, Florida. There is an asteroid named 1575 Winifred, after Cameron; and she named a lunar crater Cameron in memory of her husband.

References

External links

Obituary
from ''The News-Press'', April 19, 2016. *W. S. Cameron
"Analyses of Lunar Transient Phenomena (LTP) Observations from 557–1994 A.D."
An academic paper by Winifred S. Cameron. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Winifred 1918 births 2016 deaths American women astronomers Scientists from Oak Park, Illinois Indiana University Bloomington alumni Northern Illinois University alumni Mount Holyoke College faculty