NASA space missions named after UChicago scientists

In 2017, Prof. Emeritus Eugene Parker became the first living person to have a NASA mission named after him: The Parker Solar Probe.

This honor extends UChicago’s legacy of excellence in astronomy and astrophysics throughout the past century. Parker joined fellow UChicago scientists Edwin Hubble, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Nancy Grace Roman, Enrico Fermi and Arthur Holly Compton, who all received the honor of a named spacecraft posthumously.

NASA space missions named after UChicago scientists 1/12

Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope
Enrico Fermi
Chandra X-ray Observatory
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
Compton Observatory
Arthur Compton
Hubble telescope
Edwin Hubble
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope
Nancy Grace Roman (PhD’49)
Artists concept of a small spacecraft approaching the surface of the sun with streamers of fire
Prof Eugene Parker in a suit stands in front of a sign reading "A Mission to Touch the Sun." He is holding a small model of a spacecraft. NASA project scientist Nikki Fox is visible to the side, looking delighted.
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The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope detects gamma rays, the most energetic form of electromagnetic radiation. Launched in 2008 to study high-energy environments in space, the telescope has made valuable discoveries involving black holes, gamma-ray bursts, solar flares, pulsars, dark matter and cosmic rays.
Photo courtesy of NASA