astronomy

Miriam Baltuck

Miriam Baltuck is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Miriam Baltuck rather than just read about it. In short: Miriam Baltuck (born 1954) is an Australian American geologist. She was a program manager of the Solid Earth and Natural Hazards program at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Washington, DC.

Key takeaways

Miriam Baltuck belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Miriam Baltuck to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Miriam Baltuck from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Miriam Baltuck (born 1954) is an Australian American geologist. She was a program manager of the Solid Earth and Natural Hazards program at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Washington, DC. She later moved to Australia where she became director of the Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex (CDSCC), part of the Deep Space Network of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), located at Tidbinbilla in the Australian Capital Territory.

Education Baltuck obtained her B.S. degree from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. degree from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1982. Her graduate work included oceanographic research cruises, geologic field mapping, and laboratory geochemical analyses.

Career Baltuck began her career as an assistant professor of geology at Tulane University in New Orleans. In 1986 she moved to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) where she managed the Solid Earth and Natural Hazards program in the Land Processes Branch of the Earth Science Division under Shelby Tilford. During this time she was the program scientist for the SIR-C and SRTM Space Shuttle missions, and represented NASA in Airborne Geophysics, Natural Hazards and Global Change research activities. Baltuck was appointed to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in 1994, chairing a multi-agency National Earthquake Strategy Working Group. Later in 1997 she moved to Australia to take up a post as NASA representative at the US Embassy in Canberra, working to foster cooperation between NASA programs and space activities in Australia, Oceania, and Southeast Asia. She participated in the successful negotiation of the US-Australia Free Trade Agreement in 2004. After a period in 2005 as Director of University Advancement at the Australian National University, Baltuck was appointed Director of the Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex (CDSCC) in 2006. Baltuck participated in the Global Forest Observations Initiative, developed to foster satellite Earth observations for national forest monitoring systems in a multinational framework. In 2005 a minor planet 5701 was designated Baltuck in her honor.

Honors

NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, 1995 NASA Office of Mission to Planet Earth Director's Award, 1996, 1997 NASA Office of External Relations Director Awards, 1998–2003 US Department of State Superior Honor Award, 2004 The Australian National Emergency Medal 2021

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Miriam Baltuck

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Miriam Baltuck claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Miriam Baltuck before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Miriam Baltuck ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Miriam Baltuck

In research: Miriam Baltuck appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Miriam Baltuck in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Miriam Baltuck is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1954 births, 20th-century American geologists, Deep space networks, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Miriam Baltuck outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Miriam Baltuck in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Miriam Baltuck means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Miriam Baltuck out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Miriam Baltuck in simple terms?

Why does Miriam Baltuck matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Miriam Baltuck?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Miriam Baltuck.