Director of UA lunar/planetary lab dies
Michael Drake, director of the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Lab and head of a NASA space mission to sample an asteroid and return a sample to Earth by 2023, died Wednesday.
He was 65.
Drake, a geologist and planetary scientist, spent most of his career at the University of Arizona, where he earned a reputation as a “star” in the field of cosmochemistry, said Joaquin Ruiz, dean of the College of Science.
“He was a great guy,” said Ruiz. “His students loved him, his colleagues have loved him and he was a lot of fun to be with.”
Ruiz said Drake was a guiding force in the university’s Phoenix Mars Lander mission before landing the NASA grant for the asteroid rendezvous.
He continued to chalk up accomplishments, said Ruiz, even after an illness last year that led to a liver transplant.
“The man was ill. He was running the planetary science department and was still able to secure an $800 million grant for the UA,” said Ruiz.
“He was larger than life.”
Drake planned for the OSIRIS-Rex mission to an asteroid to be handed off eventually to a younger group of scientists.
In an interview last year, Drake said he chose his team with an eye toward mixing experienced scientists with younger ones, like his co-principal investigator Dante Lauretta.
The spacecraft is not scheduled to launch until 2016 and would return a sample to Earth in 2023.
UA President Eugene Sander called Drake “simply just a dynamic, bright guy. Talk about pulling out the blocks upon which this university was built. He’s going to be missed.”
Similar Posts:
- F1 Visa Rejected Student’s Message to You and Visa Officers
- Changing how gifted students think
- Opening doors to computing skills for students with visual impairment
- Perfect Web Pitch to Prospective Students: Why Choose FHU?
- Professor Wendy Hall speaks
