Linda A. Morabito facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Linda Morabito
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Morabito pictured after her discovery of Io volcanism, in front of a model of the Voyager spacecraft at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She is holding a print of the image that enabled her to make the discovery.
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| Born | November 21, 1953 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater | University of Southern California |
| Known for | Discovering volcanism on Io |
| Children | 1 |
Linda A. Morabito (born November 21, 1953) is a famous astronomer. She made a huge discovery on March 9, 1979, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She found active volcanism (volcanoes erupting) on Io, one of Jupiter's moons.
At the time, Linda was working on the Voyager deep space mission. She was looking at pictures taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft. These pictures were used to help the spacecraft navigate. While checking one image of Io, she saw a giant cloud, about 270 kilometers (168 miles) tall, coming off the moon. She quickly realized it was a volcanic eruption!
This was the first time anyone had ever seen active volcanoes on another body in our solar system, besides Earth. Many scientists think her discovery is one of the most important from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's planetary exploration program. Today, Linda Morabito teaches astronomy at Victor Valley College. She also wrote a book about her life and discoveries.
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Early Life and Family
Linda Morabito was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Her family moved to the United States in 1961. From a young age, Linda felt like she was meant to be an astronomer. She was very smart and even skipped a year of elementary school because she knew so much. When she was in ninth grade, she wrote a school paper titled "My Job in the World: Astronomer."
Linda Morabito married David Meyer in 2008. He is also an astronomy professor. Linda has one son, Ryan Hyder, who is a musician. She also has three grandchildren: Robert, Nathan, and J.D.
Career in Astronomy
Linda Morabito studied at the University of Southern California (USC). She earned her degree in astronomy in 1974. Before finishing her degree, she started working at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) during the summer. After graduating, she got a full-time job there.
In March 1979, while working at JPL, she made her amazing discovery. She was looking at a picture of Jupiter's moon Io taken by Voyager 1. She noticed something strange: a bright "crescent" shape sticking out from the moon's edge. Linda came up with different ideas and tested them to figure out what it was. She soon realized it was a huge plume of gas and dust erupting from Io's surface – a volcano! Her discovery was announced to the world just a few days later, on March 12, 1979.
Later, Linda worked at The Planetary Society from 1997 to 2004. There, she helped create educational programs. She even got students involved in the Mars Exploration Rover mission. This mission used the Spirit and Opportunity rovers to explore Mars.
Since 2007, she has been an associate professor of Astronomy at Victor Valley College, where she teaches students about space. She also worked on the Viking mission to Mars in 1977. She helped with an experiment using data from the Viking landers and orbiters. Linda has given many talks about astronomy for over 30 years. She has also appeared in science documentaries and was a regular guest on TV talk shows in Canada.
Honors and Awards
Linda Morabito has received several special awards for her work:
- NASA Group Achievement Award for her part in the Voyager Flight Operations and Navigation Team.
- NASA Group Achievement Award for her work on the Voyager Mission Operations System Design.
- NASA Group Achievement Award for her contributions to the Voyager Mission Design.
- An Individual Certificate of Appreciation from NASA. This was for her important work in improving image processing and for discovering the volcanoes on Io.
- She was recognized by Aviation Week & Space Technology for her important contributions to aerospace.
- The International Astronomical Union honored her by naming an asteroid after her: Asteroid 3106 Morabito. This was to celebrate her discovery of volcanic activity on Io.
See also
In Spanish: Linda A. Morabito para niños
