From Midwood to Mars: NASA Scientist and BC Alum Keeps His Eyes on the Stars

8/15/2007

Just as the school year was winding down, Brooklyn College Education students got a unique lesson in how the earth is heating up. The students participated in a nationally televised videoconference about global warming by NASA scientist and Brooklyn College alumnus Joel Levine. The event, held at the WEB building, was the last in a series of four videoconferences Levine presented to schools and colleges nationwide about the planet earth, global warming, and the evolution of the planets.

Levine appeared on a TV monitor in the classroom from NASA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Students were able to send e-mails to Levine with their questions during the conference.

The conferences are a direct result of Levine's interest in Brooklyn College's Fecker telescope and observatory. Levine first viewed the planet Mars through the telescope as a teenager in the 1950s, sparking his lifelong passion for astronomy. Now the Senior Research Scientist at the NASA Langley Research Center, Levine is hoping to ignite those same passions in current Brooklyn College students.

Levine was contacted by faculty members Leah Sarasohn and Stanley Wolfe about the state of disrepair of the Fecker telescope while inquiring about the feasibility of making the instrument functional again. The telescope and observatory were built at the same time as the College but have been dormant since the observatory was closed in 1987 due to declining student interest in astronomy.

"After my discussion with Leah, I suggested offering NASA's videoconference to Brooklyn College as a way of promoting interest in astronomy," Levine said. "It's an interactive conference and allows teachers as well as students working in the science field an opportunity to interact with a NASA scientist."

NASA initially developed the program with the National Alliance of Black School educators. "We contacted them to reach underrepresented student populations," Levine said, "and now we've opened it to teachers and educators across the nation."

With the help of prospective donations from private citizens, Levine hopes the telescope that inspired him to become a leading scientist at NASA will be brought back into use and help future Brooklyn College students either find their life's calling or simply have some fun.

Levine first heard about the Brooklyn College observatory and its telescope in the 1950s while attending Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn. At that time, the College had a free night when the public could enter and use the observatory.

"Here was this fantastic telescope in the middle of New York City that gave me the chance to look at so many things in the sky," said Levine. "Fifty years later I was appointed as the chief scientist in the Mars scout program with a budget of a billion dollars a year. I can trace the evolution of my career to the observatory at Brooklyn College. The telescope and observatory had a profound impact on my life."

Since 2002, Levine has served as the principal investigator of the proposed NASA Langley ARES Mission to Mars. ARES was a finalist for the first Mars Scout mission in 2003. The Mars Scouts are a component of the Mars Exploration program in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA headquarters. Levine will serve as the Mars Scout program scientist from Langley.

"I can honestly say my training at Brooklyn College was outstanding and prepared me well for a long career in science," Levine said. "Without Brooklyn College I would not be the chief scout of the MARS program today."