Carl Sagan
Carl Sagan was born on November 9, 1934 in Brooklyn, New York (“Carl Sagan, 2007”). After graduating from Rahweh High School in 1951, Sagan spent his university years at the University of Chicago, earning a Bachelor’s degree in 1955, a Masters’ degree in physics in 1956, and a doctorate in astronomy and astrophysics in 1960 (“Carl Sagan, 2007”). As an undergraduate, Sagan spent time working in the laboratories of the famous geneticist H.J. Muller (“Carl Sagan, 2007”). Sagan worked at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Laboratory from 1962 to 1968, and transferred to Cornell University in 1971 (“Carl Sagan, 2007”) where he became the director of the laboratory for planetary studies (“Carl Sagan, 2007”). From 1972 to 1981, Sagan held the post of associate director of the Center for Radio Physics and Space Research (“Carl Sagan, 2007”).
Sagan left an outstanding legacy when he died in 1996 of pneumonia. He discovered the high temperatures on the planet Venus (“Carl Sagan, 2007”), and contributed to the first Mariner missions of Venus (“Carl Sagan, 2007”). Sagan is best remembered, however, for his extensive research on the possibilities of extra-terrestrial life (“Carl Sagan, 2007”). He was a high-profile advocate of SETI (“Carl Sagan, 2007”).
Sagan, also, was the writer of many popular science books, the writer and co-presenter of the television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, and published over 600 scientific papers and articles (“Carl Sagan, 2007”).
Pascal Lee
Pascal Lee is the co-founder and chairman of the Mars Institute, a planetary scientist at SETI, and the principal investigator of NASA’s Houghton-Mars project (“Mars Institute”, 2006; “Pascal Lee, 2007). Lee holds an ME in Engineering Geology and Geophysics from the University of Paris, a MS, and a PhD that he obtained from Cornell University in 1997 (“Mars Institute”, 2006). In the past, Lee has participated in several flyby missions, has acted as an associate on the Mars Observer’s camera team, and has worked with a team of scientists for the Mars Polar Lander (“Pascal Lee, 2007”). His current research focuses on Mars, asteroids and craters, the history of water on Mars, and on geologic and physical conditions allowing life to develop on other planets (“Mars Institute”, 2006). Lee resides on Devon Island in Northern Canada, where he works on the Houghton-Mars project.
Stephen Braham
Stephen Braham is the senior researcher for the MarsCanada project, and the Chief Field Engineer of the Houghton-Mars project (“Mars Institute”, 2006). Born in 1964 in London, Braham received his degree in Mathematics from London’s Imperial College in 1985 (“Mars Institute”, 2006). In 1990, Braham received his PhD in theoretical physics from Penn State (“Mars Institute”, 2006). In 1991, Braham moved to Vancouver where he began working with the University of British Columbia Theoretical Physics Gravity group (“Mars Institute”, 2006). There, Braham created one of the first ever websites, and founded PolyLAB group (“Mars Institute”, 2006). His current research on the Houghton-Mars project on Devon Island, in Arctic Canada, focuses on human and robotic space exploration systems, and interplanetary networking systems (“Mars Institute”, 2006).
Frank Drake
Frank Drake was born in Chicago, on May 28th, 1930. He enrolled at Cornell University on an Electronics Scholarship, and studied astronomy (“Frank Drake”, 2007). After serving briefly as the electronics officer on the USS Albany, Drake went to graduate school at Harvard to study radio astronomy (“Frank Drake”, 2007). Drake’s career in radio astronomical research continued at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, and later, at the Lated Jet Propulsion Laboratory (“Frank Drake”, 2007). Drake conducted the 1st ever radio search for extra-terrestrial intelligence, known as Project Ozma, in 1960 (“Frank Drake”, 2007). He found no evidence of ET signals (“Frank Drake”, 2007). Drake is best known, however, for his Drake Equation, that stated that the number of extra-terrestrial civilizations is between 1 and 1 000 000. A Professor at Cornell University, and director of the NAIC, Drake led a long and fruitful academic career. He is also remembered as the founder of SETI. Although his great work did not mount to the discovery of extra-terrestrial life, his formulae and theories have greatly impacted the science world.
