John A. O'Keefe (astronomer) facts for kids

John Aloysius O'Keefe III (born 1916, died 2000) was a brilliant scientist who studied planets and space geology for NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration). He worked at NASA from 1958 to 1995.

O'Keefe and his team discovered something amazing about Earth's gravity using data from the Vanguard 1 satellite in the late 1950s. They found that Earth wasn't perfectly round; it had a slight "pear shape." This discovery made big news and even appeared in the "Peanuts" comic strip! Because of this, O'Keefe is known as the "father of space geodesy," which is the science of measuring Earth's shape and gravity from space.

He also had another cool idea in 1956: a scanning microscope. Plus, he helped discover the YORP effect. This effect explains how sunlight can make small space objects, like asteroids, spin faster or slower.

About John O'Keefe's Life

His Early Years

John O'Keefe was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, on October 13, 1916. He was the oldest of four children. He finished high school at Phillips Exeter Academy. Then, he went to Harvard University, just like many of his family members before him. He earned a degree in astronomy in 1937.

He continued his studies at the Harvard College Observatory and later at the Yerkes Observatory at the University of Chicago. He earned his Ph.D. in Astronomy in 1941. While he was still a student in 1938, he made his first big discovery. He found that clouds of solid carbon caused strange dips in the light from a star called R Coronae Borealis. After getting his doctorate, he taught math and physics for a year at Brenau University.

Working for the Army Map Service

When World War II started, O'Keefe couldn't join the military. So, he became a civilian worker for the Army Map Service Corps of Engineers. He helped create better maps for the war. He continued this important work during the Cold War. One of his best students there was William M. Kaula, who later became an expert in using satellites to study Earth's shape.

His Time at NASA

O'Keefe joined NASA in December 1958. He became a leader in the Theoretical Division at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. He spent the rest of his career there.

During the early Apollo program, O'Keefe was a key person in creating America's lunar science program. He helped bring astrogeologist Eugene Merle Shoemaker to work with NASA. Shoemaker helped develop a geology program for the Apollo astronauts. Shoemaker even called O'Keefe the "godfather of astrogeology." In 1997, Shoemaker and his wife named asteroid 6585 after O'Keefe.

Before humans landed on the Moon, O'Keefe had a theory about tektites. Tektites are natural glass objects found in different places around the world. He thought they were pieces of rock shot out from volcanoes on the Moon. He believed powerful, hydrogen-fueled lunar volcanoes could have launched them to Earth.

After the Moon landings, some early lunar samples seemed to support his idea. For example, a sample from Apollo 12 had a similar chemical makeup to some tektites. However, most other Moon data later showed that tektites likely came from Earth. Today, almost all scientists agree that tektites are formed when large meteorites or comets hit Earth. This is supported by many types of evidence, and most tektite fields can now be linked to known impact craters on Earth.

Even though his tektite theory wasn't fully proven, some of O'Keefe's ideas about how tektites form are still discussed by scientists today.

In 1992, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center gave O'Keefe its highest honor, the Award of Merit. He had to retire in 1995 because of Parkinson's disease.

John O'Keefe's Family Life

While studying at the Yerkes Observatory, O'Keefe met Martha Sylvia Tulane. They later married and settled in Chevy Chase, Maryland. They had three sons and six daughters. Their second son, Roy Tulane O'Keefe, was born in 1946. Roy joined the Army in 1965 and later served as a medic in the Special Forces. Sadly, he passed away in Vietnam in 1968 during the Tet Offensive. All of O'Keefe's children attended Blessed Sacrament grade school. His sons also attended the Abbey School in Washington, D.C. O'Keefe was Roman Catholic.

His Passing

John O'Keefe passed away on September 8, 2000, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He died from complications of liver cancer and Parkinson's disease. His wife and children were with him.