Webster Cash's passion for space began when he saw his first planetarium show as a child. Now, as the principal investigator for one of NASA's future exoplanet mission proposals, Cash is on the cutting edge of ideas that could help change our perception of the universe.
You could say that science runs in Rachel Akeson's family. The daughter of two scientists, she knew she was going to be an astronomer by the time she was a third-grader. Now, in addition to having her hands full with her own young children, Akeson is studying young stars as they develop their own planetary families.
"I just do it for the pictures," laughs Dr. David Imel as he points to the myriad posters of stars and galaxies hanging from the walls in his office at Caltech. But the picture Imel wants to see most doesn't exist yet - a pale blue dot orbiting a distant star. Another Earth.
Beth A. Biller overcame her fear of math to pursue her career as a serious astronomer. Her research has helped produce some of the sharpest images of extrasolar worlds ever obtained.
Where are the other Earths? Answering that question is just the first step in NASA's long-range quest to look for life around stars beyond our solar system, according to Dr. Wes Traub. And to answer it, he says, we have to go into space.
Robert Ligon is an engineer, not an astronaut. Nonetheless, his work takes place on an otherworldly landscape miles above the Earth, where the air is thin and clear. He is part of a team that is pushing the technology envelope to aid in NASA's search for new worlds.
JPL physicist Ken Brown aims high. Twice named All-American in track and field, he placed 12th in the 1992 U.S. Olympic Trails qualifier in high jump. Now, he has his sights set on even loftier goals - building an instrument to spot hard-to-see planets outside our solar system and inspiring students to join in the quest.
Neil deGrasse Tyson, one of the world's most popular lecturers on astronomy, talks about the PBS "Origins" series, public perceptions of science, and the childhood influences that led him to become a scientist and an ambassador to the cosmos.
Astronomers have been discovering large planets around other stars by the dozen in recent years, but are there really any other places that look like Earth out there? In a recent interview, planet-hunter extraordinaire Geoff Marcy said the answer may be closer than you think.
