kb/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolyn_Porco-2.md

title	chunk	source	category	tags	date_saved	instance
Carolyn Porco	3/3	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolyn_Porco	reference	science, encyclopedia	2026-05-05T13:28:01.532694+00:00	kb-cron

=== Interviews and articles === Porco has given numerous interviews in print media on subjects ranging from planetary exploration to the conflict between science and religion (for example, Newsweek and the journal The Humanist). She has been profiled many times in print, beginning in the Boston Globe (October 1989), The New York Times (August 1999, September 2009), the Tucson Citizen (2001), Newsday (June 2004), for the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (2006), in Astronomy Now (2006), in Discover Magazine (2007), and also online on CNN.com (2005) and Edge.org. Prior to Cassini's launch, she was a strong and visible defendant of the usage of radioactive materials on the Cassini spacecraft. She is a supporter of a plan for human spaceflight toward the Moon and Mars, and in an op-ed piece published in The New York Times, she highlighted the benefits of a deep-space-capable heavy launch vehicle for the robotic exploration of the Solar System. Porco has advocated for prioritizing the exploration of Enceladus over Europa.

=== Other === Popular science articles by Porco have been published in The Sunday Times, Astronomy, the Arizona Daily Star, Sky & Telescope, American Scientist, and Scientific American. She is active in the presentation of science to the public as the leader of the Cassini Imaging Team, as the creator/editor of the website where Cassini images are posted. She writes the site's homepage "Captain's Log" greeting to the public. She is an atheist.

== Awards and honors == In 1999, Porco was selected by The Sunday Times (London) as one of 18 scientific leaders of the 21st century, and by Industry Week as one of 50 Stars to Watch. In 2008 she was chosen to be on Wired magazine's inaugural 'Smart List: 15 People the Next President Should Listen To.' Her contributions to the exploration of the outer Solar System were recognized with the naming of Asteroid (7231) Porco which is "Named in honor of Carolyn C. Porco, a pioneer in the study of planetary ring systems...and a leader in spacecraft exploration of the outer solar system." In 2008, Porco was awarded the Isaac Asimov Science Award by the American Humanist Association. In May 2009, Porco received an Honorary D.Sc. degree from Stony Brook University, of which she is an alumna. In September 2009, Porco was awarded The Huntington Library's Science Writer Fellowship for 2010. That same month, New Statesman named her as one of 'The 50 People Who Matter Today.' In October 2009, she and Babak Amin Tafreshi were each awarded the 2009 Lennart Nilsson Award in recognition of their photographic work. The award panel's citation for Porco reads as follows:

Carolyn Porco combines the finest techniques of planetary exploration and scientific research with aesthetic finesse and educational talent. While her images, which depict the heavenly bodies of the Saturn system with unique precision, serve as tools for the world's leading experts, they also reveal the beauty of the universe in a manner that is an inspiration to one and all. In October 2010, Porco was awarded the 2010 Carl Sagan Medal for Excellence in the Communication of Science to the Public, presented by the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences. In 2011 she won the Distinguished Alumni Award from the California Institute of Technology, the highest honor regularly bestowed by Caltech. In 2012, Porco was named one of the 25 most influential people in space by Time magazine. Porco received the Sikkens Prize for her "exceptional contribution to a realistic and colourful image of the universe" in 2020, which was presented on October 2, 2022.

== Musical interests ==

Porco is fascinated by the 1960s and The Beatles and has, at times, incorporated references to The Beatles and their music into her presentations, writings, and press releases. She visited 20 Forthlin Road, Liverpool, Paul McCartney's teenage home, after it opened as a Beatles Museum in 1995. The first color image released by Cassini to the public was an image of Jupiter, taken during Cassini's approach to the giant planet and released on October 9, 2000, to honor John Lennon's 60th birthday. In 2006, she produced and directed a brief 8-minute movie of 64 of Cassini's most spectacular images, put to the music of the Beatles, in honor of Paul McCartney's 64th birthday. And in 2007, she produced a poster showing 64 scenes from Saturn. Porco is also interested in dance and fascinated with Michael Jackson. In August 2010, she won a Michael Jackson costume/dance contest held in Boulder, Colorado. Quotes of Porco's were used in the production of "The Poetry of Reality (An Anthem for Science)", "A Wave of Reason", "Children of Africa (The Story of Us)", and "Onward to the Edge!" by Symphony of Science.

== See also == List of women in leadership positions on astronomical instrumentation projects

== References ==

== External links ==

CarolynPorco.com – Official website Pangea Day opening speech by Carolyn Porco Scientist at Work: Carolyn Porco, 2009 profile by Dennis Overbye Carolyn Porco at TED "This is Saturn" (TED2007) "Could a Saturn moon harbor life?" (TED2009) Podcast on the Cassini mission by Carolyn Porco Sasha Sagan interviews Carolyn Porco Archived October 24, 2021, at the Wayback Machine