After a nearly half-century career in research and teaching, Larry Esposito, the University of Colorado’s longest-serving planetary science professor, is stepping down.
When Professor Esposito joined the University of Colorado in 1977, NASA was less than 20 years old and was just beginning its exploration of the solar system. “Planetary scientist” was just becoming a real profession. Esposito had just earned his Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and was ready to play a role.
At that time, CU Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) then employed a few dozen scientists and engineers and built its space hardware components in a warehouse on 55th Street in East Boulder. He also joined the Astrogeophysics Department, now called Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences (APS). Today, LASP has grown to more than 700 employees, and the APS department now teaches planetary science to hundreds of students in the largest astronomy major program in the country.
This growth was due in part to Esposito’s teaching and research, which has spanned the topics of planetary rings, planetary atmospheres, and spectroscopic instrumentation, while maintaining active programs in both theory and observation. Saturn’s rings and the Venus atmosphere have been two points of particular focus, in a career spanning 48 years. In fact, using the Imaging Photopolarimeter on NASA’s Pioneer Saturn mission, Esposito and his team discovered a tenuous new ring around Saturn in 1979. The unusual kinks and dynamic nature of Saturn’s “F Ring” continue to fascinate nearly 50 years later. Dr. Esposito also published two editions of the Cambridge book Planetary Rings.
One of the highlights of Esposito’s career was leading the UltraViolet Imaging Spectrograph on NASA’s Cassini mission to Saturn. This do-all instrument was built by LASP in the 1990’s and spent more than a decade orbiting Saturn. One of the most amazing accomplishments was confirming that the small moon Enceladus was so geologically active that vast plumes of water vapor were erupting from its south pole.
Esposito’s research impact has been widely recognized: He won the Division for Planetary Sciences early career Harold C. Urey Prize in 1985, received the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement in 1986, and was named a Fellow of American Geophysical Union in 2006.
On the teaching side, Espositor has taught popular classes on “The Search for Life in the Universe,” “Planets, Moons and Rings,” and a unique CU class, “Space Science Policy and Practice,” as well as a wide variety of graduate courses.
Although his contributions in the classroom, and his mentoring of early career scientists, will be missed, we will still see Larry around LASP, as he continues research projects, student advising, writing papers and proposals, and advising NASA and ESA.
Esposito’s colleagues will gather to celebrate his career and achievements on Wed., June 18, at 10:30am, in the LASP Space Science Building (SPSC).
By Nick Schneider, LASP researcher and professor in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder
Founded a decade before NASA, the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder is revolutionizing human understanding of the cosmos. LASP is deeply committed to inspiring and educating the next generation of space explorers. From the first exploratory rocket measurements of Earth’s upper atmosphere to trailblazing observations of every planet in the solar system, LASP continues to build on its remarkable history with a nearly $1 billion portfolio of new research and engineering programs.
