Lucy-Ann McFadden facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lucy McFadden
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| Alma mater | Hampshire College (BA) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MS) University of Hawaiʻi (PhD) |
Lucy-Ann Adams McFadden (born in 1953) is an American astronomer and planetary scientist. She works for NASA, which is the United States' space agency. Lucy McFadden also started the Science, Discovery & the Universe Program at the University of Maryland. She even created a science program for kids called the Explore-It-All Science Center!
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About Lucy McFadden
Lucy McFadden was born in New York City in 1952. She studied many interesting subjects in college. She earned a bachelor's degree from Hampshire College in 1974. Later, she received a master's degree in earth and planetary science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1977.
Her Advanced Studies
Lucy McFadden continued her education and earned a Ph.D. in geology and geophysics. This advanced degree was from the University of Hawaiʻi in 1983. Her Ph.D. paper was about how different asteroids reflect light. This helped scientists understand what they are made of and where they came from.
Working with Space Missions
Lucy McFadden has worked on many exciting space missions at NASA. She was an investigator for the Dawn mission. This mission explored 4 Vesta and Ceres, which are large objects in the asteroid belt. She also worked on the Deep Impact and EPOXI programs. These missions studied comets and exoplanets.
Other Important Roles
Lucy McFadden has been a science team member for the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission. This mission studied an asteroid up close. She also joined expeditions to find meteorites. These included the ANSMET expedition in Antarctica and the Almahata Sitta meteorite expedition in Sudan. She has also led programs for higher education at NASA Goddard. Plus, she directed the education program for the Deep Impact and Dawn missions. This means she helped teach people about these amazing space explorations.
Recognized Achievements
Lucy McFadden has received many awards and honors for her important work. These awards celebrate her contributions to science and space exploration.
Awards and Honors List
- 2015 – She became an AAAS Fellow in Astronomy. This is a special honor from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
- 2012 – She received the NASA Group Achievement Award for the Dawn Vesta Operations Team.
- 2011 – She received another NASA Group Achievement Award for the EPOXI Science Team.
- 2009 – She earned the National Science Foundation Antarctica Science Service Medal.
- 2009 – She received two more NASA Group Achievement Awards: one for the EPOXI Project Team and another for the Dawn Science Operations Team.
- 2005 – She received the Space Frontier Foundation Vision to Reality Award as part of the Deep Impact Team.
- 2005 – She won the Best Presentation Award from the Geological Society of Washington.
- 1987 – An asteroid was named 3066 McFadden in her honor! This is a very special way to recognize her work.
