Quick Facts
Biography
Linda Spilker is an American planetary scientist who is the Cassini mission Project Scientist. Her research interests include the evolution and dynamics of Saturn's rings.
Career
Spilker got a B.A. and M.S. in Physics from the California State University, Fullerton, in 1977 and 1983, respectively. She obtained a Ph.D. in Geophysics and Space Physics from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1992. She joined the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1977, initially working on the Voyager missions that were launched the same year. She became a Cassini mission scientist in 1990. In 1997, she was the editor of a NASA publication that summarizes the mission's legacy. Since 2010, she has been the Cassini mission project scientist, a role in which she directs the entire team's scientific investigations.
Honors and awards
- NASA Exceptional Service Medal (2013)
- NASA Group Achievement Award (2011, 2009, 2000, 1998, 1982-1989)
- NASA Scientific Achievement Award (1982)