173:. His father, Harold McComas, was a World War II Veteran, who went to college and law school through the GI Bill. His mother, Hazelyn McComas, nee Melconian, was the descendant of Armenian/Lebanese refugees who fled the genocide from Beirut to Ellis Island. McComas is severely dyslexic, and didn’t start to learn how to read until the 4th grade. He discussed his dyslexia in childhood and how it led him to space science in a 2014 talk entitled “A Personal Journey from “Slow” to the interstellar Frontier.” McComas received his undergraduate degree in physics from
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McComas holds seven patents and is author of over 800 scientific and technical papers in the refereed literature, spanning topics in heliospheric, magnetospheric, solar, and planetary science as well as space instrumentation and mission development. Together these have garnered over 50,000 citations.
276:(NAC 2013 - 2015) and served and then chaired the NAC Science Committee (2010 - 2015). He chaired NASA's Solar Probe Science and Technology Definition Team (2003 -2008), NASA's Sun-Earth Connections Advisory Subcommittee (SECAS) 2000–2003, and J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Committee (1997-1999).
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229:– Integrated Science Investigation of the Sun instrument suite (ISOIS), and the Ulysses Solar Wind Plasma Investigation (SWOOPS) instrument. He is lead co-investigator for the
153:. He received the National Academy of Science's 2023 Arctowski Medal, European Geosciences Union 2022 Hannes Alfven Medal, SCOSTEP 2022 Distinguished Scientist Award, a
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and on the board of directors of the J. Robert
Oppenheimer Memorial Committee and of the Dyslexic Advantage, a non-profit focused on the strengths of the dyslexic mind.
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117:. He is noted for his extensive accomplishments in experimental space plasma physics, including leading instruments and missions to study the
272:(SSB) and Committee on Increasing Diversity and Inclusion in the Leadership of Competed Space Missions. He was previously a member of the
93:(born May 22, 1958) is an American space physicist, Professor of Astrophysical Sciences, and leads the Space Physics at Princeton Group at
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248:(MMS), Cassini-Huygens Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS), GENESIS discovery mission, POLAR Thermal Ion Dynamics Experiment (TIDE), and
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Midsized
Explorer. At Los Alamos he was also principal investigator for a series of Magnetospheric Plasma Analyzers (MPAs) in
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in 1985 and 1986. He began his space physics career in 1980 with early development work on the SWOOPS instrument at the
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233:(ACE) Solar Wind Electron, Proton, Alpha Monitor (SWEPAM), and Solar Wind Around Pluto (SWAP) instrument on
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McComas serves on the PPPL Board of
Directors and Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) Science Associates
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Recipient of the
Scientific Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Physics Distinguished Scientist Award (2022)
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from 2016 - 2024 and previously
Assistant Vice President for Space Science and Engineering at the
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McComas is also co-investigator on the JUNO mission and led the design and development of the
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McComas also previously served on the advisory committee for the Scobee
Education Center at
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113:(UTSA), and was the founding director of the Center for Space Science and Exploration at
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Advanced
Composition Explorer; Solar Wind Electron, Proton, and Alpha Monitor (SWEPAM)
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He was the
Princeton University Vice President for the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab
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Space
Science Award, and the American Geophysical Union 1993 Macelwane Medal.
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225:(Two Wide-Angle Imaging Neutral-atom Spectrometers) missions, as well as the
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Recipient of the EGU Hannes Alfvén Medal for plasma physics research (2022)
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Los Alamos
National Laboratory Center for Space Science and Exploration
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for the NASA / ESA Ulysses joint space mission. He moved to SwRI, in
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space scientist and Principal Investigator of multiple space missions
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Professor of Astrophysics sciences,space physicist, senior executive
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for pioneering contributions to experimental space physics (2023)
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni
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NASA Solar Probe Science and Technology Definition Team
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Outstanding Science Education Partner of the Year Award
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NASA; New Horizons; Solar Wind Around Pluto Instrument
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University of Texas Faculty Appointments and Titles
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American Association for the Advancement of Science
197:, Texas, in 2000 and Princeton University in 2016.
215:Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP)
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312:Recipient of the 2014 COSPAR Space Science Award
244:(JADE) Instrument and is co-investigator on the
349:Recipient of 19 NASA Group Achievement Awards
638:University of California, Los Angeles alumni
486:NASA; POLAR; Thermal Ion Dynamics Experiment
531:"J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Committee"
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497:Los Alamos Magnetopheric Plasma Analyzers
508:NASA Advisory Council Science Committee
270:National Academies' Space Science Board
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242:Jovian Auroral Distribution Experiment
307:NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal
187:University of California, Los Angeles
175:Massachusetts Institute of Technology
155:NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal
66:University of California, Los Angeles
62:Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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418:"NASA Solar Probe Plus Instruments"
177:in 1980, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in
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464:NASA; CASSINI; Plasma Spectrometer
395:Patents Observer; David J. McComas
111:University of Texas at San Antonio
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246:Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission
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643:21st-century American physicists
406:Google Scholar; David J. McComas
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260:Boards and advisory committees
219:Interstellar Boundary Explorer
191:Los Alamos National Laboratory
115:Los Alamos National Laboratory
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231:Advanced Composition Explorer
588:"COSPAR Space Science Award"
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103:Southwest Research Institute
7:
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345:American Geophysical Union
336:American Geophysical Union
268:He recently served on the
628:Scientists from Milwaukee
356:, named after him in 2018
324:American Physical Society
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339:James B. Macelwane Medal
105:, Adjoint Professor of
334:Recipient of the 1993
315:Recipient of the 2012
211:Principal Investigator
560:dyslexicadvantage.org
274:NASA Advisory Council
95:Princeton University.
254:geosynchronous orbit
171:Milwaukee, Wisconsin
169:McComas was born in
50:Milwaukee, Wisconsin
354:172090 Davidmccomas
281:San Antonio College
266:Board of Directors
227:Parker Solar Probe
157:in 2015, the 2014
151:Parker Solar Probe
91:David John McComas
20:David John McComas
574:"Arctowski Medal"
317:Adler Planetarium
305:Recipient of the
292:Recipient of the
287:Awards and honors
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594:on 2014-09-24
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149:/SWEPAM, and
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68:(M.S., Ph.D.)
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46:(age 66)
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596:. Retrieved
592:the original
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475:NASA GENESIS
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426:. Retrieved
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235:New Horizons
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38:May 22, 1958
618:1958 births
221:(IBEX) and
209:McComas is
195:San Antonio
119:heliosphere
612:Categories
598:2014-09-16
541:2014-09-16
428:2014-09-16
361:References
213:of NASA's
179:Geophysics
123:solar wind
42:1958-05-22
352:Asteroid
165:Biography
139:Ulysses
109:at the
107:Physics
64:(B.S.)
40: (
556:"Home"
309:(2015)
159:COSPAR
143:SWOOPS
99:(PPPL)
52:, U.S.
250:IMAGE
223:TWINS
185:from
135:TWINS
181:and
131:IBEX
127:IMAP
121:and
35:Born
147:ACE
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