American physicist (1927–2023)
Virginia Tower Norwood
Norwood in 1950
Born Virginia Tower
(1927-01-08 ) January 8, 1927New York City, U.S.
Died March 26, 2023(2023-03-26) (aged 96) Education Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS )Occupations Aerospace Engineer inventor physicist Known for Contribution to Landsat Program "The Mother of Landsat" Spouses
Larry Norwood
(
m. 1947, divorced)
Maurice Schaeffer
(died 2010)
Children 3
Virginia Tower Norwood (January 8, 1927 – March 26, 2023) was an American aerospace engineer, inventor, and physicist.[ 1] She was best known for her contribution to the Landsat program ,[ 2] having designed the Multispectral Scanner [ 3] [ 4] which was first used on Landsat 1 . She has been called "The Mother of Landsat" for this work.[ 5]
^ "Virginia T. Norwood, Engineer Responsible for First Landsat Multispectral Scanner, Receives 2021 ASPRS Lifetime Achievement Award" . Landsat Science. Retrieved June 30, 2021 .
^ Dragoon, Alice (June 29, 2021). "The woman who brought us the world" . MIT Technology Review. Archived from the original on July 4, 2021. Retrieved June 30, 2021 .
^ Rocchio, Laura (August 7, 2020). "Virginia T. Norwood: The Mother of Landsat" . Landsat Science. Retrieved June 30, 2021 .
^ Pennisi, Elizabeth (September 10, 2021). "Meet the Landsat pioneer who fought to revolutionize Earth observation". Science . 373 (6561): 1292. doi :10.1126/science.acx9080 . S2CID 239215521 .
^ Radde, Kaitlyn (March 31, 2023). "Virginia Norwood, a pioneer in satellite land imaging, dies at age 96" . NPR . Retrieved April 2, 2023 . When asked if she liked the nickname Mother of Landsat , she told NASA: 'Yes. I like it, and it's apt. I created it; I birthed it; and I fought for it.'