Mar 11 2009
From The Space Library
Astronomer Arthur D. Code died in Madison, Wisconsin, at the age of 85. A designer of space observatories, Code had worked with a team of scientists from NASA and the Smithsonian Astrophysics Observatory in 1968, to send into orbit a bat-shaped satellite—the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 2 (OAO 2). Although the original OAO craft had failed in its 1966 mission, OAO 2 had succeeded, yielding information about the composition of stars, comets, and galactic gases. Intended to last a year, the OAO 2 mission had remained operational until 1973. OAO 2 had sent back data indicating that young stars in the constellations Scorpius and Orion are far hotter than previously thought and, therefore, are likely aging more quickly than astronomers had previously believed. OAO 2 successor craft included OAO 3 and NASA’s HST. Following the OAO 2 mission, Code had taught at the University of Wisconsin, where he had refined his designs and had analyzed data retrieved from subsequent satellites. In 1990 he and a team of students had sent an ultraviolet-detecting telescope to orbit aboard Space Shuttle Columbia; the team had used the device to study polarized ultraviolet light. Code had served as president of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) and had been a member of the NAS. NASA had awarded him its Distinguished Public Service Medal in 1992.
Jeremy Pearce, “Arthur Code, Astronomer and Professor, Dies at 85,” New York Times, 23 March 2009.
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