Claudia Alexander, PhD, was a geophysicist and planetary scientist at NASA. She earned her doctorate in atmospheric, oceanic and space sciences from the University of Michigan in 1993. Alexander worked at the United States Geological Survey and the Ames Research Center, before joining NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory where she worked for 30 years. In 2000, she became the last project manager of NASA’s Galileo mission to Jupiter, overseeing its plunge into Jupiter’s atmosphere in 2003. Alexander was also project scientist of NASA’s role in Rosetta, the European Space Agency mission to study and land on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. She was a strong advocate for women in STEM, mentoring girls interested in science and technology. She also wrote children’s science books, including some fo the “Windows to Adventure” series. After her death in 2015, a feature on Comet 67P was named “Claudia Alexander Gate” in her honor.
