MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
Contact: Gabrielle Birchak-Birkman (818) 393-4359
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 26, 2001
JPL NAMES MANAGER OF MICROWAVE LIMB SOUNDER
Dennis Flower of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena,
Calif., has been appointed manager of NASA's Earth Observing
System Microwave Limb Sounder, a project to study atmospheric
ozone chemistry.
He will oversee the development of the Microwave Limb
Sounder instrument and its delivery to NASA's Aura spacecraft,
proposed for launch in June 2003. Aura, a five-year mission, is
third in a series of Earth-observing satellites that study
Earth's land, ocean, and atmosphere.
"At present, the biggest threat to ozone is the presence of
chlorine from chlorofluorocarbons. It is at peak level," Flower
said. "Even though the use of chlorofluorocarbons has been
banned, it will take 50 to 100 years for chlorine to decay to its
natural concentration. This mission will monitor the Antarctic
ozone hole and take measurements of trace gases to help us
understand ozone chemistry in our upper atmosphere."
The new instrument, he said, will cover a broader range and
will enable study of ozone chemistry in more detail than its
predecessor, the Microwave Limb Sounder on NASA's Upper
Atmosphere Research Satellite now in orbit.
Flower has been with JPL since 1976. He received his
bachelor's degree in physics from Imperial College in London, and
holds a doctorate in physics from London University.
Flower lives in La Canada, Calif. and enjoys golfing with
his three sons.
The Earth Observing System Microwave Limb Sounder is part of
NASA's Earth Sciences Enterprise, a long-term research program
dedicated to understanding how human-induced and natural changes
affect our world.
JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of
Technology in Pasadena.
#####
1-26-2001 GABB
#2001-018