astronomy

William J. Borucki

William J. Borucki 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 William J. Borucki rather than just read about it. In short: William J. (Bill) Borucki (born 1939) is a space scientist who worked at the NASA Ames Research Center.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

William J. (Bill) Borucki (born 1939) is a space scientist who worked at the NASA Ames Research Center. Upon joining NASA in 1962, Borucki joined the group conducting research on the heat shield for Apollo program spacecraft. 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. Subsequently, Borucki's attention turned to extrasolar planets and their detection, particularly through the transit method. In light of this work, Borucki was named the principal investigator for NASA's Kepler space telescope mission, launched on March 7, 2009 and dedicated to a transit-based search for habitable planets. 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.

Education and career Born in Chicago in 1939, Borucki grew up in Delavan, Wisconsin. He studied physics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, earning a master's degree in the subject 1962. Following this, Borucki joined the Hypersonic Free Flight team conducting research on design for Apollo program heat shield, that was designed to protect the spacecraft and their occupants from being destroyed by the heat of re-entry into the atmosphere. After his work for Apollo, Borucki studied meteorology at San Jose State University, earning a master's degree in 1982. That year, Borucki began studies at NASA into the nature of lightning, using satellites equipped with instrumentation he helped design in order to discover what fraction of the energy in this lightning went into the production of prebiotic molecules. As a part of this research, Borucki conducted analysis based on observations from space probes in order to find the frequency of lightning on other planets within the Solar System.

By 1984, Borucki's attention had turned to the search for extrasolar planets by use of the transit method, which involves observing the periodic dimming of the star in order to detect the signature of a planet blocking some of its light as it passes in front. In that year and subsequently in 1988, Borucki organized workshops of scientists in order to determine the best methods for achieving transit-based detections of exoplanets, and also worked closely with the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop photometers that could achieve the sensitivity desired. At the Lick Observatory, Borucki demonstrated the techniques required for extrasolar planet detection by the transit method, and later constructed a ground-based proof-of-concept for a space telescope designed to hunt for planets. Until his retirement in July 2015, Borucki was the chief investigator for the Kepler space telescope, designed to hunt for exoplanets with the transit method. The telescope has detected 3253 confirmed planets and thousands of likely planet candidates as of December 6, 2022. For his work, he has received the NASA Outstanding Leadership Award, the Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award in 2009, and the NASA Systems Engineering Excellence Award in 2010, and the Lancelot M. Berkeley Prize for Meritorious Work in Astronomy in 2011. He received the 2013 Henry Draper Medal from the United States National Academy of Sciences "For his founding concept, unflagging advocacy, and visionary leadership during the development of NASA's Kepler mission, which has uncovered myriad planets and solar systems with unforeseen and surprising properties." and the 2015 Shaw Prize in Astronomy for "his conceiving and leading the Kepler mission, which greatly advanced knowledge of both extrasolar planetary systems and stellar interiors." In 2016, he was named as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Personal life William Borucki married the former Josephine Julia Joyce in 1963. They met while both were students at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin. They have three daughters; Virginia (Joy), Monica, and Stella, five grandchildren; Georgia, Jack, Sydney, Kira, and Madeline, and two step grandchildren; Carina and Marcus (through Stella).

Awards Source:

2020 Elected a Legacy Fellow of the American Astronomical Society in 2020 2017 Elected member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences 2016 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 2016 Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science 2015 Frank Drake Award for Innovation in SETI 2015 Shaw Prize in Astronomy, Shaw Foundation 2015 Trophy for Current Achievement, National Air and Space Museum 2015 NASA Ames Fellow 2014 Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy, National Space Club 2013 Space Award, The World Technology Network 2013 Career Achievement Award, Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal given by U.S. President Obama 2013 Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, NASA Honor Award 2013 Henry Draper Medal, National Academy of Sciences 2012 Nelson B. Jackson Aerospace Award, National Space Club; Kepler Team 2012 Vision to Reality Award, Space Frontier Foundation 2012 Maria and Eric Muhlmann Award, Astronomical Society of the Pacific; Kepler Team 2012 Space Science Award, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; Kepler Team 2012 George W. Goddard Space Science Award, SPIE 2012 John L. "Jack" Swigert, Jr., Award for Space Exploration, Space Foundation 2012 Laureate Award for Space, Aviation Week 2011 Lancelot M. Berkeley Prize for Meritorious Work in Astronomy, American Astronomical Society 2011 Public Service Leader of the Year, Harvard Club of San Francisco 2011 Professional Award, Astronomical Association of Northern California 2010 Outstanding Leadership Medal, NASA Honor Award 2010 NASA Software of the Year Award, NASA Software Advisory Panel 2010 Systems Engineering Excellence Award, NASA's Office of the Chief Engineer 2010 Group Achievement, NASA Honor Award; Kepler Team 2009 Breakthrough Award, Popular Mechanics 2005 Scientist or Researcher, Ames Honor Awards 2000 Group Achievement Award, NASA Honor Award; Astrobiology Team 1999 Superior Accomplishment, NASA Ames Award; Vulcan Project 1998 Group Achievement Award, Cassini Program Huygens Atmospheric Structure Instrument Team, NASA 1987 Excellence for Center Productivity, Quality, and Safety Award, NASA Ames 1967 Apollo Mission Achievement Award, NASA

References

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Illustrations

William J. Borucki: William J. Borucki (date unknown). — William J. Borucki (date unknown).

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with William J. Borucki

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what William J. Borucki 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 William J. Borucki 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 William J. Borucki 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 William J. Borucki

In research: William J. Borucki 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 William J. Borucki 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: William J. Borucki is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1939 births, American people of Polish descent, Benjamin Franklin Medal (Franklin Institute) laureates, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for William J. Borucki 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 William J. Borucki in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what William J. Borucki 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 William J. Borucki out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is William J. Borucki in simple terms?

William J. (Bill) Borucki (born 1939) is a space scientist who worked at the NASA Ames Research Center.

Why does William J. Borucki 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 William J. Borucki?

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 William J. Borucki.