Loren Acton facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Loren Wilber Acton
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| Born | 7 March 1936 |
| Status | Retired |
| Alma mater | Montana State University, (BS) University of Colorado, Boulder, (PhD) |
| Occupation | Solar X-ray Physicist |
| Space career | |
| Lockheed Payload Specialist | |
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Time in space
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7d 22h 45min |
| Missions | STS-51-F |
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Mission insignia
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Loren Wilber Acton is an American scientist born on March 7, 1936. He is a physicist who studies the Sun. Dr. Acton flew into space on the Space Shuttle mission STS-51-F. He was a special crew member called a Payload Specialist. This means he was in charge of specific experiments during the flight.
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Early Life and Education
Loren Acton was born in Lewistown, Montana. He went to Montana State University. In 1959, he earned a bachelor's degree in Engineering Physics. Later, he studied at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He received his PhD in astrophysics in 1965. Astrophysics is the study of space using physics.
Career as a Space Scientist
Dr. Acton worked as a senior scientist. He was at the Lockheed Palo Alto Research Laboratory in California. His main job was to study the Sun and other space objects. He used special instruments in space for his research.
Flying on the Space Shuttle
He was chosen as a payload specialist for a mission called Spacelab 2. This happened on August 9, 1978. After seven years of training, he finally flew into space. His mission was STS-51-F/Spacelab-2 in 1985.
During this mission, Dr. Acton traveled over 2.8 million miles. He orbited Earth 126 times. He spent more than 190 hours in space.
Researching the Sun
Dr. Acton is now a retired professor at Montana State University. He helped start the Solar Physics group there. This group studies the Sun. They use support from NASA and the NSF. They also help run satellite missions that study the Sun.
Dr. Acton was a lead scientist for an experiment called the Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT). This was part of the Yohkoh mission. The Yohkoh mission was a project with Japan, the US, and the UK. It focused on studying powerful events on the Sun. These include solar flares and eruptions. It also looked at how the Sun's outer atmosphere, called the corona, gets very hot.
The Sun's corona gives off X-rays. The Yohkoh mission took detailed X-ray pictures. This helped scientists understand why the Sun has a corona. It also helped explain why the corona's brightness changes. This change is linked to the Sun's 11-year sunspot cycle.
Public Service
In 2006, Dr. Acton ran for a political office. He wanted to be a state representative for Montana's District 69. He ran as a Democratic candidate. However, he did not win the election.
Awards and Recognition
Dr. Acton has received several important awards for his work:
- In 2000, he won the George Ellery Hale Prize. This award is from the Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical Society.
- In February 2020, he was named a Legacy Fellow. This is an honor from the American Astronomical Society.
- In 2017, the Japanese government gave him an award. It was called The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon.
