It's been a year of grieving for astrophysics pioneers. First, Stephen Hawking this summer, then Riccardo Giacconi [0] just weeks ago, and now Nancy Roman. (Gia

It's been a year of grieving for astrophysics pioneers. First, Stephen Hawking this summer, then Riccardo Giacconi [0] just weeks ago, and now Nancy Roman. (Giacconi directed the Hubble's "earth base" Space Telescope Science Institute for 12 years.) It's hard to overstate the importance of the Hubble. It empowered physicists to prove that the universe is not only expanding but accelerating in its expansion (commemorated in the 2011 Nobel Prize). Its beautiful images also captured the popular imagination of people, inspiring myself and others to pursue scientific careers. To those wondering why she deserves credit, from the NYTimes writeup [1]: ''' It was Nancy in the old days before the internet and before Google and email and all that stuff who really helped to sell the Hubble Space Telescope, organize the astronomers, who eventually convinced Congress to fund it, “ Edward J. Weiler, Dr. Roman’s successor as chief scientist for the Hubble, told the Voice of America in 2011. [...] In addition to coordinating the efforts of astronomers and engineers in their development of the Hubble, Dr. Roman wrote testimony for NASA representatives making the case for the Hubble before Congress and she pitched the project to the Bureau of the Budget. [...] Dr. Roman also took part in development of the Cosmic Background Explorer, a satellite launched in 1989 that confirmed the Big Bang theory of the universe’s creation. [...] She later joined the United States Naval Research Laboratory, specializing in radio astronomy, and was recruited by NASA in 1959, a year after it was founded. [...] "The idea of coming in with an absolute clean slate to set up a program that I thought was likely to influence astronomy for 50 years was just a challenge that I couldn’t turn down,” she recalled in her National Air and Space Museum interview. [...] Dr. Roman retired from NASA in 1979 but continued as a consultant as work progressed toward the Hubble’s launching. ''' [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/13/science/riccardo-giacconi-dead.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/13/science/riccardo-giacconi... [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/30/obituaries/nancy-roman-dies-at-93.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/30/obituaries/nancy-roman-di...