"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."
– Carl Sagan (1934-1996)
Learn more about Carl Sagan:
CARL SAGAN was the David Duncan Professor of Astronomy and Space
Sciences and Director of the Laboratory for Planetary Studies at Cornell
University. He played a leading role in the American space program
since its inception. He was a consultant and adviser to NASA since the
1950's, briefed the Apollo astronauts before their flights to the Moon, and was an experimenter on the Mariner, Viking, Voyager, and Galileo
expeditions to the planets. He helped solve the mysteries of the high
temperatures of Venus (answer: massive greenhouse effect), the seasonal
changes on Mars (answer: windblown dust), and the reddish haze of Titan
(answer: complex organic molecules).
For his work, Dr. Sagan received the NASA medals for Exceptional
Scientific Achievement and (twice) for Distinguished Public Service, as
well as the NASA Apollo Achievement Award. Asteroid 2709 Sagan
is named after him. He was also awarded the John F. Kennedy
Astronautics Award of the American Astronautical Society, the Explorers
Club 75th Anniversary Award, the Konstantin Tsiolkovsky Medal of the
Soviet Cosmonauts Federation, and the Masursky Award of the American
Astronomical Society, ("for his extraordinary contributions to the
development of planetary science…")
As a scientist trained in both astronomy and biology, Dr. Sagan has made pioneering contributions to the study of planetary atmospheres, planetary surfaces, the history of the Earth, and exobiology.
He was cofounder and President of The Planetary Society, the largest space-interest group in the world.
Dr. Sagan is known around the world for his popular science books and for the award-winning 1980 television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, which he narrated and co-wrote.
