Linda Spilker
{{short description|American planetary scientist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Linda Spilker
| birth_name = Linda Joyce Bies
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1955}}
| birth_place =
| nationality = American
| fields = Planetary Science
| workplaces = Jet Propulsion Laboratory
| alma_mater = {{plainlist|
- California State University, Fullerton (B.A.)
- California State University, Los Angeles (M.S.)
- University of California, Los Angeles (Ph.D.)
}}
| doctoral_advisor = Christopher T. Russell
| thesis_title = Wave structure in planetary rings
| thesis_year = 1992
| awards = {{plainlist|
- NASA Exceptional Service Medal (2013)
- NASA Group Achievement Awards (2011, 2009, 2000, 1998, 1982–1989)
- NASA Scientific Achievement Award (1982)
}}
}}
Linda Spilker is an American planetary scientist who served as the project scientist for the Cassini mission exploring the planet Saturn. Her research interests include the evolution and dynamics of Saturn's rings. She is presently the Project Scientist for the Voyager missions. {{Cite web |last=Spilker |first=Linda |title=JPL Science: Linda Spilker |url=https://science.jpl.nasa.gov/people/spilker/ |access-date=2024-02-17 |website=science.jpl.nasa.gov |language=en}}
Career
Spilker received a B.A.in Physics from California State University, Fullerton in 1977 and an M.S. in Physics from California State University, Los Angeles in 1983. She obtained a Ph.D. in Geophysics and Space Physics from UCLA in 1992. She joined the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1977, initially working on the Voyager missions that were launched the same year. She became a Cassini mission scientist in 1990. In 1997, she was the editor of a NASA publication that summarizes the mission's legacy. In 2010 she became the Cassini mission project scientist, a role in which she directed the entire team's scientific investigations. She has appeared as herself in multiple television documentary programs, including several in the PBS Nova series.
Honors and awards
See also
References
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{{cite web|title=Linda Spilker|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1995978/|website=IMDb}}
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Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni
Category:California State University, Fullerton alumni
Category:Recipients of the NASA Exceptional Service Medal
Category:American planetary scientists