FYI Mario Acuna callsign: LU9HBG -pk.

-----Original Message----- From: James E. Gass Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 11:01 AM To: Minetto, Fred A. (GSFC-6950) Cc: GARC-BB Subject: Re: WA3NAN: Passing of Mario Acuna

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Fred,

That's [sad] news. Mario was a part of the heart and soul of the science community here at Goddard for a very long time. A real pioneer in space magnetometry.

Jim N3CJN

Fred Minetto wrote:

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This message traffic is of, by and for members and friends of the NASA Goddard Amateur Radio Club (GARC) and WA3NAN.

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To all of GARC,

Mario Acuna passed away last night, in the comfort of his home, surrounded by his family and loved ones. He leaves a devoted wife, Barbara; sons Jamie, Andrew, and Daniel; daughter Marta, and five grandchildren, with more on the way. He passed peacefully, content with all that life afforded him.

A good man, scientist, and fellow Ham radio operator. He will be missed.

Fred KB3PEE

________________________________________ From: On Behalf Of GSFC-PAO Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 3:05 PM To: gsfc_all@listserv.gsfc.nasa.gov Subject: Center Director Mourns Passing of GSFC Employees

Colleagues:   It with profound sadness to inform you that Goddard has tragically lost several members of its family in the past few days.   Dr. Mario Acuña, a Senior Astrophysicist in the Planetary Magnetospheres Lab, passed away last night, in the comfort of his home, surrounded by his family and loved ones. Dr. Acuña was world renown for his work in magnetic fields and plasmas in the solar system, and is one of most prolific and accomplished scientists to ever work at Goddard. He has been an Instrument Scientist, Co-Investigator or Principal Investigator in multiple NASA and ESA missions such as Pioneer, Voyager, Mariner, Giotto, Tether, ISPM, and many others, and the Principal Investigator or Lead Scientist for the magnetometer investigations on the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous Mission, Mars Global Surveyor, Lunar Prospector, Messenger and STEREO. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2007 and was honored by NASA with numerous prestigious awards including the GSFC John C. Lindsay and Moe I. Schneebaum Memorial Awards, the Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement, the Distinguished Service Medal and a Presidential Meritorious Rank Award. His death follows a valiant fight against multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood. He leaves a devoted wife, Barbara; sons Jamie, Andrew, and Daniel; daughter Marta, and five grandchildren.   [snip] Words cannot adequately express the deep and abiding sorrow we all feel upon hearing of the loss of our friends and colleagues. Each, in his or her own way, made a lasting contribution to making Goddard what it is today, and we will miss them terribly.   Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families and friends.     Rob Strain Center Director Goddard