During his years at NSSDC, he has served as an acquisition scientist for the Atmospheric Explorer and the Dynamics Explorer missions. In this role, he interacted with data providers in assuring the delivery to NSSDC of the right data, on the right media, in the right formats, and with the documentation and software needed to make the data correctly and independently usable. The DE data, in particular, are now network-accessible--thanks to the efforts of Dick and several other NSSDC staffers.
Dick also served as creator or co-creator of many documents issued by NSSDC over the years, including the "Report on Active and Planned Spacecraft and Experiments" documents of the early 1980s; several of NSSDC's Data Catalogs of the mid to late 1980s (specific to certain disciplines); and all the NSSDC Data Listings of the 1990s. These documents, originally produced in paper copy only, are being partially replaced now by network-accessible and searchable information bases. They played a vital role in informing the NSSDC customer community of its data and services before the widespread use of networks.
Dick will enjoy his retirement in the Washington, DC, area with his wife Naomi. We will miss his gentle and helpful ways, and his products and productivity, here at NSSDC.
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Author:Miranda Beall