[meteorite-list] JPL's Jon Giorgini Honored With Masursky Award

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:32:57 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <200810140032.RAA16610_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2008-193

JPL's Jon Giorgini Honored With Masursky Award
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
October 13, 2008

PASADENA, Calif. -- Jon Giorgini, an engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., has received the prestigious Harold
Masursky Award, presented by the American Astronomical Society's
Division for Planetary Sciences.

The Masursky Award recognizes individuals for outstanding service to
planetary science and exploration through engineering, managerial,
programmatic or public service activities. Giorgini runs JPL's Horizons
system, an online database that can generate locations and orbits for
the almost half-million known celestial bodies in our solar system.

The award citation states in part: A specialist at the NASA Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Jon developed and implemented the on-line
Horizons system that is used by the international scientific community
to generate accurate ephemeris information for the 450,000 currently
known objects in the solar system. This includes the sun, planets, their
moons, asteroids, comets, and many spacecraft... This system is used by
observers, researchers, and mission planners to plan observations and
track the targets of space and ground-based telescopes, as well as
spacecraft. Since its inception in October 1996, the Horizons system has
responded to more than ten million requests (on average, more than 2200
per day) received from 300,000 unique locations.

Giorgini, a senior engineer in JPL's Solar System Dynamics Group, was a
navigator for the Magellan spacecraft during its mapping of Venus
(1991-1993), developing and implementing the new navigation methodology
for the first interplanetary aerobrake. He created JPL's "On-Site Orbit
Determination" system -- software used at the Goldstone and Arecibo
planetary radar sites to track and update the orbits of radar targets.
He then returned to navigation for the Mars Global Surveyor aerobrake
planning and interplanetary phases (1995-1997), followed by the
Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission navigation and radio science
teams (1997-2001). As a member of the asteroid radar observing team
(1994-present), he is responsible for orbit analysis and predictions
used to operate radar tracking systems at Goldstone and Arecibo. He has
worked on more than 290 asteroid radar targets since 1994 and is
co-discoverer of 27 asteroid satellites. He discovered the potential
Earth impact hazard posed by the asteroid 1950 DA, and developed methods
to assess dynamics and impact potential over centuries. Giorgini is
author or co-author of 99 research papers and four book chapters.

Giorgini's outside activities have included climbs of Mount Kilimanjaro
and Vinson Massif, the highest mountains in Africa and Antarctica. He
has practiced martial arts and kickboxing for the last 22 years.

Giorgini's previous awards include the JPL 2007 Ed Stone Outstanding
Research Paper Award, a NASA Space Act Award and a NASA Exceptional
Service Medal. The International Astronomical Union named asteroid "6775
Giorgini" in his honor in 1996.

Giorgini has a Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering from
Iowa State University, Ames; and a Master of Science degree in aerospace
engineering, specializing in celestial mechanics, from the University of
Texas, Austin. He has worked at JPL for 17 years.

For more information on JPL, visit: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov .

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Media contact: DC Agle 818-393-9011,
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
agle at jpl.nasa.gov

2008-193
Received on Mon 13 Oct 2008 08:32:57 PM PDT