{"id":141056,"date":"2022-10-25T11:29:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-25T15:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?migration=converted-node-483524"},"modified":"2023-09-07T17:31:24","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T21:31:24","slug":"edward-stone-retires-after-50-years-as-nasa-voyagers-project-scientist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/centers-and-facilities\/jpl\/edward-stone-retires-after-50-years-as-nasa-voyagers-project-scientist\/","title":{"rendered":"Edward Stone Retires After 50 Years as NASA Voyager\u2019s Project Scientist"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-none \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/1-ed-stone-1041.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1041\" height=\"760\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/1-ed-stone-1041.jpg?w=1041\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"Ed Stone in 2019\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/1-ed-stone-1041.jpg 1041w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/1-ed-stone-1041.jpg?resize=300,219 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/1-ed-stone-1041.jpg?resize=768,561 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/1-ed-stone-1041.jpg?resize=1024,748 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/1-ed-stone-1041.jpg?resize=400,292 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/1-ed-stone-1041.jpg?resize=600,438 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/1-ed-stone-1041.jpg?resize=900,657 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1041px) 100vw, 1041px\" loading=\"eager\" \/><\/a><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\"><div class=\"hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0\">Ed Stone in 2019, in front of a scale-model of the Voyager spacecraft at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. <strong>Credits: NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/strong><\/div><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p><em>Stone\u2019s remarkable tenure on NASA\u2019s longest-operating mission spans decades of historic discoveries and firsts.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Edward Stone has retired as the project scientist for <a href=\"https:\/\/voyager.jpl.nasa.gov\/mission\/\" rel=\"noopener\">NASA\u2019s Voyager mission<\/a> a half-century after taking on the role. Stone accepted scientific leadership of the historic mission in 1972, five years before the launch of its two spacecraft, <a href=\"https:\/\/solarsystem.nasa.gov\/missions\/voyager-1\/in-depth\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Voyager 1<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/solarsystem.nasa.gov\/missions\/voyager-2\/in-depth\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Voyager 2<\/a>. Under his guidance, the Voyagers explored the four giant planets and became the first human-made objects to reach interstellar space, the region between the stars containing material generated by the death of nearby stars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Until now, Stone was the only person to have served as project scientist for Voyager, maintaining his position even while serving as director of NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California from 1991 to 2001. JPL manages the Voyager mission for NASA. Stone retired from JPL in 2001 but continued to serve as the mission\u2019s project scientist.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-none \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/e1-stone-w-voyager-model-1977-1041.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1041\" height=\"697\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/e1-stone-w-voyager-model-1977-1041.jpg?w=1041\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"Ed stone, second from left, and other members of the Voyager team\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/e1-stone-w-voyager-model-1977-1041.jpg 1041w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/e1-stone-w-voyager-model-1977-1041.jpg?resize=300,201 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/e1-stone-w-voyager-model-1977-1041.jpg?resize=768,514 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/e1-stone-w-voyager-model-1977-1041.jpg?resize=1024,686 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/e1-stone-w-voyager-model-1977-1041.jpg?resize=400,268 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/e1-stone-w-voyager-model-1977-1041.jpg?resize=600,402 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/e1-stone-w-voyager-model-1977-1041.jpg?resize=900,603 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1041px) 100vw, 1041px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\"><div class=\"hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0\">Ed stone, second from left, and other members of the Voyager team pose with a model of the spacecraft in 1977, the year the twin probes launched. <strong>Credits: NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/strong><\/div><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt has been an honor and a joy to serve as the Voyager project scientist for 50 years,\u201d Stone said. \u201cThe spacecraft have succeeded beyond expectation, and I have cherished the opportunity to work with so many talented and dedicated people on this mission. It has been a remarkable journey, and I\u2019m thankful to everyone around the world who has followed Voyager and joined us on this adventure.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Linda Spilker will succeed Stone as Voyager\u2019s project scientist as the twin probes continue to explore interstellar space. Spilker was a member of the Voyager science team during the mission\u2019s flybys of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. She later became project scientist for NASA\u2019s now-retired Cassini mission to Saturn, and rejoined Voyager as deputy project scientist in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jamie Rankin, a research scientist at Princeton University and a member of the Voyager science steering group, has been appointed deputy project scientist for the mission. Rankin received her Ph.D. in 2018 from Caltech, where Stone served as her advisor. Her research combines data from Voyager and other missions in NASA\u2019s heliophysics fleet.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-none \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/e2-stone-news-conference-1986-1041.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1041\" height=\"691\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/e2-stone-news-conference-1986-1041.jpg?w=1041\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"Ed Stone, left, talks to reporters at a news conference\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/e2-stone-news-conference-1986-1041.jpg 1041w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/e2-stone-news-conference-1986-1041.jpg?resize=300,199 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/e2-stone-news-conference-1986-1041.jpg?resize=768,510 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/e2-stone-news-conference-1986-1041.jpg?resize=1024,680 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/e2-stone-news-conference-1986-1041.jpg?resize=400,266 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/e2-stone-news-conference-1986-1041.jpg?resize=600,398 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/e2-stone-news-conference-1986-1041.jpg?resize=900,597 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1041px) 100vw, 1041px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\"><div class=\"hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0\">Ed Stone, left, talks to reporters at a news conference to announce findings from Voyager 1\u2019s flyby of Uranus in 1986. <strong>Credits: NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/strong><\/div><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>The twin Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977, on a mission to <a href=\"https:\/\/solarsystem.nasa.gov\/missions\/voyager-1\/in-depth\/\" rel=\"noopener\">explore Jupiter and Saturn<\/a>, ultimately revealing never-before-seen features of those planets and their moons. Voyager 1 continued its journey out of the solar system, while Voyager 2 continued on to Uranus and Neptune \u2013 and remains the only spacecraft to have visited the ice giants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><i><em>Explore the Voyager mission\u2019s 45-year journey with NASA\u2019s interactive <a href=\"\/\/eyes.nasa.gov\/apps\/orrery\/#\/home\u201d\">Eyes on the Solar System<\/a>. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech <\/em><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following this \u201cgrand tour\u201d of the outer planets, the Voyager Interstellar Mission began. The goal was to exit the heliosphere \u2013 a protective bubble created by the Sun\u2019s magnetic field and outward flow of solar wind (charged particles from the Sun). Voyager 1 crossed the boundary of the heliosphere and entered interstellar space in 2012, followed by Voyager 2 (traveling slower and in a different direction) in 2018. Today, as part of NASA\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/voyager.jpl.nasa.gov\/mission\/timeline\/#event-a-once-in-a-lifetime-alignment\" rel=\"noopener\">longest-running mission<\/a>, both spacecraft continue to illuminate the interplay between our Sun, and the particles and magnetic fields in interstellar space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEd likes to say that Voyager is a mission of discovery, and it certainly is,\u201d said Suzanne Dodd, Voyager project manager. \u201cFrom the flybys of the outer planets in the 1970s and \u201980s, to the heliopause crossing and current travels through interstellar space, Voyager never ceases to surprise and amaze us. All those milestones and successes are due to Ed\u2019s exceptional scientific leadership and his keen ability to share his excitement about these discoveries to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Among the many honors bestowed on him, Stone has been a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 1984. He was awarded the National Medal of Science from President George H.W. Bush in 1991. When Stone was interviewed on the late-night TV show \u201cThe Colbert Report\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/jpl\/news\/ed-stone-colbert-20131204.html\" rel=\"noopener\">in 2013<\/a>, NASA arranged for host Stephen Colbert to present him with the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the agency\u2019s highest honor for a nongovernment individual. In 2019, he received the <a href=\"https:\/\/voyager.jpl.nasa.gov\/news\/details.php?article_id=113\" rel=\"noopener\">Shaw Prize in Astronomy<\/a> from the Shaw Foundation in Hong Kong for his work on the Voyager mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>More About the Mission<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A division of Caltech in Pasadena, JPL built and operates the Voyager spacecraft. The Voyager missions are a part of the NASA Heliophysics System Observatory, sponsored by the Heliophysics Division of the Science Mission Directorate in Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information about the Voyager spacecraft, visit:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/voyager\">https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/voyager<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Calla Cofield<\/strong><br> Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.<br> 626-808-2469<br> <a href=\"mailto:calla.e.cofield@jpl.nasa.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">calla.e.cofield@jpl.nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2022-161<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stone\u2019s remarkable tenure on NASA\u2019s longest-operating mission spans decades of historic discoveries and firsts. Edward Stone has retired as the project scientist for NASA\u2019s Voyager mission a half-century after taking on the role. Stone accepted scientific leadership of the historic mission in 1972, five years before the launch of its two spacecraft, Voyager 1 and [...]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":144503,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nasa_hds_core_meta_l10n":"en-US","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_editor":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_contacts":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_topic":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_linked_locations":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_related_articles":[],"hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_id":"","hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_type":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_x":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_y":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_gallery_images":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2860,2837,9421,9422,2797],"news-tags":[],"internal-terms":[8605,12642,8612],"coauthors":[12651],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Edward Stone Retires After 50 Years as NASA Voyager\u2019s Project Scientist","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/centers-and-facilities\/jpl\/edward-stone-retires-after-50-years-as-nasa-voyagers-project-scientist\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/centers-and-facilities\/jpl\/edward-stone-retires-after-50-years-as-nasa-voyagers-project-scientist\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/1-ed-stone-1041.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/1-ed-stone-1041.jpg"},"articleSection":"NASA Centers & Facilities","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jet Propulsion Laboratory"}],"creator":["Jet Propulsion Laboratory"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"NASA","logo":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/themes\/nasa\/assets\/images\/nasa-logo.svg"},"keywords":["Missions","Voyager Program","Jet Propulsion Laboratory","Heliophysics","Voyager 1","Voyager 2"],"dateCreated":"2022-10-25T15:29:00Z","datePublished":"2022-10-25T15:29:00Z","dateModified":"2023-09-07T21:31:24Z"},"rendered":"<meta name=\"parsely-title\" content=\"Edward Stone Retires After 50 Years as NASA Voyager\u2019s Project Scientist\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-link\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/centers-and-facilities\/jpl\/edward-stone-retires-after-50-years-as-nasa-voyagers-project-scientist\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-type\" content=\"post\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-image-url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/1-ed-stone-1041.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-pub-date\" content=\"2022-10-25T15:29:00Z\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-section\" content=\"NASA Centers & Facilities\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-tags\" content=\"Missions,Voyager Program,Jet Propulsion Laboratory,Heliophysics,Voyager 1,Voyager 2\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-author\" content=\"Jet Propulsion Laboratory\" \/>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/nasa.gov\/p.js"},"read_time":4,"time_ago":"2 years","featured_image":{"id":144503,"file":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/1-ed-stone-1041.jpg","title":"1-ed-stone-1041","alt":"Ed Stone in 2019","caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141056"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141056"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141056\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":401778,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141056\/revisions\/401778"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141056"},{"taxonomy":"news-tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-tags?post=141056"},{"taxonomy":"internal-terms","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-terms?post=141056"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=141056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}