William J. (Bill) Borucki (born 1939) is a space scientist who worked at the NASA Ames Research Center.[1] Upon joining NASA in 1962, Borucki joined the group conducting research on the heat shield for Apollo program spacecraft.[1] He later turned his attention to the optical efficiency of lightning strikes in the atmospheres of planets, investigating the propensity that these lightning strikes could create molecules that would later become the precursors for life.[2] Subsequently, Borucki's attention turned to extrasolar planets and their detection, particularly through the transit method.[2] In light of this work, Borucki was named the principal investigator for NASA's Kepler space telescope mission, launched on March 7, 2009[1] and dedicated to a transit-based search for habitable planets.[1] In 2013, Borucki was awarded the United States National Academy of Sciences's Henry Draper Medal for his work with Kepler. In 2015 he received the Shaw Prize in Astronomy.[3]
- ^ a b c d "Kepler: William Borucki". Kepler: A Search for Habitable Planets. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. December 31, 2009. Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
- ^ a b Jonas Dino, ed. (March 29, 2008). "William J. Borucki" (Press release). National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
- ^ "Announcement and Citation: The Shaw Prize in Astronomy 2015". The Shaw Prize. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015.