This is my first posting on UMSF! Although I have most recently been working in the microwave region of the spectrum, involving students with the use of a Goldstone radio telescope, I am best known for my discovery of the volcanic activity on Io.

My discovery of volcanic activity on Jupiter’s moon Io took place on March 9, 1979 at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. At the time I was serving as Cognizant Engineer over the Optical Navigation Image Processing System on the Voyager Navigation Team. What I found in a picture of Io taken by Voyager 1 has been described as the largest discovery of the planetary exploration program. It is now part of a larger picture defining a new category of worlds which may have geologic activity and potentially life, powered by gravitational tidal forces.

I have always intended to tell the story of how I made my discovery and how my life led me to this historic find, but it was not my destiny to have just one story to tell. Twenty-five years after my discovery, I learned that my past held a secret which took some of the most profound capabilities of the human mind to endure. I began a “journey” through time, as profound and compelling as my lifelong “journey” through space. As a scientist who once dreamed of traveling into space and reporting back on my findings, I am now reporting back. Please join me on my website www.lindamorabito.com if you are interested in reading an unforgettable memoir “Parallel Universes, A Memoir from the Edges of Space and Time.”

Will keep you posted on the progress of Parallel Universes.

Linda Morabito

Belated congrats Linda on your discovery. I remember the occasion well.

I remember watching you retell it on the BBC flagship series 'The Planets'

A hell of a time to have been involved in it - thanks for visiting UMSF !

I have your picture on my National Geographic!

Welcome to UMSF!!

For those who haven't seen it there was a great interview by A.J.S. Rayl at TPS in 2002 for the 25 anniversary of Voyager:

http://www.planetary.org/explore/topics/vo...ries_kelly.html

Welcome to UMSF (nice to another UMSFer with an Io plume as their avatar

If it weren't for what you found, I'd probably be just out of law school by now...

An honor to "meet" you, Linda! I remember the plume discovery well, and the picture of you with the discovery image. Good times!!!

Holy Cow, it's Linda Morabito!

Hello Ms. Morabito, and may I echo the welcome to UMSF.

Yours is a wonderful story.

Best Regards,
Jay Gallentine

Welcome, I remember you from Cosmos!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv-ioxGNx30

Welcome, Linda!
This is a little present for you, a processed version of most famous eruption picture with some noise/artifact reduction--

It is truly wonderful to be welcomed like this by UMSF! I teach at college now the very things that were first observed in that ONIPS room some time ago, and for the very first time. Voyager redefined our perception of the solar system, and now our perception of worlds beyond that. Thanks so much for the gift of that spectacular image of Io, dilo! I am appreciating each and every response.

Linda

Remember the TV news announcement of the discovery of volcanic eruptions on Io as it was yesterday.
As a Voyager navigation engineer Linda Morabito was checking faint background stars in the spacecraft's line of departure...

Perhaps the most beautiful aspect of this discovery is that it represents one of the greatest triumphs of theory in the last quarter of the 20th century. The theoretical prediction of Io's vulcanism came out in print in Science a week to the day _before_ those op-nav photos were snapped.

Peale, S.J., Cassen, P. and Reynolds, R.T., Science, _203_, 892-894 (Mar 2, 1979)

Melting of Io by Tidal Dissipation

Abstract. The dissipation of tidal energy in Jupiter’s satellite Io is likely to have melted a major fraction of the mass. Consequences of a largely molten interior may be evident in pictures of Io’s surface returned by Voyager 1.

Quoting from the article itself: "The surface of the type of body postulated here has not yet been directly observed, and although the morphology of such a surface cannot be predicted in any detail, one might speculate that widespread and recurrent surface volcanism would occur"

Welcome, Linda! I well remember this thread from 2007: http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=3855 ...because it lead me to find and watch an entire mid-80s BBC 'Horizon' documentary on Voyager, which included an interview with you. (Not sure if it's the same one as in Cosmos?) I then spent an entire evening watching the hour-long show in 10 minute chunks on YouTube. It's a shame they don't make TV like that any more.

Imipak, hello! Thinking way, way back, I do not believe what was televised in England as Horizon was Cosmos, but rather an episode of Nova; the first one that I was in. I remember I had friends in England at the time who were seeing it coincident with what was presented in the U.S.

And thank you, you have all made me feel very welcome. Indeed, Stanton Peale made an exceptional prediction!

It is nearly a year since my last post! It is very good to be back, and I have linked here from my website ever since.

At the last meeting of the Orange County Astronomers, two members there asked to begin working with and viewing data from any missions allowing public access to their imaging data. I felt that this was the place to come for an overview of what might be available to these astronomy enthusiasts!

I was speaking at the OCA about the release of my book. "Parallel Universes, A Memoir from the Edges of Space and Time" by Linda Morabito Meyer is now available on Kindle. You can read about the book on Amazon.com by searching on Linda Morabito. Amazon offers any future updates to the book at no cost for those who do acquire it. You can check out Linda Morabito's Space Place on Facebook for more details.

I am enjoying the telling of two remarkable stories in the life of one astronomer! My very best wishes to all, as I recall how warmly I was welcomed here! Hope to read some suggestions as to where imaging data is available for the public to view and to seek new finds.

Happy New Year to everyone here! Linda

Hi Linda - I still remember how amazed I was by your discovery when it was first announced!

The best place to go for answers to your question is the Planetary Society website, where Emily Lakdawalla has set up an excellent set of resources:

http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/amateur/

There you can find information on what is available, how to get it and how to work with it. Nobody does this better than Emily.

There is also a section of UMSF on this topic, http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showforum=57

Please encourage your colleagues to post their results here.

Phil

Linda, Belated congratulations on your discovery, it's amazing to think of the excitement and significance of what you found...,

Phil, thank you! These two individuals will be extremely happy to receive the links! They are anxious to get to work! Eoincampbell, thank you as well. That is the perspective that I always share with my college students; the significance of what was seen that has transformed our ideas of worlds that are very much alive and may provide future discoveries of life on other worlds. Very best to you both and everyone on UMSF!

Hi, very belated congratulations on your discovery.

(I just wanted to echo "Holy cow, it's Linda Morabito!!!" yet again...your discovery is legendary to us!;))

Yes - greetings Linda. Thanks for posting this thread. I can say you've been a heroine of mine - learning about your discovery while watching the Cosmos series.

Carl Sagan had helped spearhead the Viking Intern program that I participated in. Too bad I wasn't at JPL though for the Voyager days to have met you back then.

Steve

Maybe lightning would strike twice for us?

Would the Kepler folks let Linda look over some of their data?

Stopping by here always makes me feel so welcome! You guys are fantastic! Lightening did strike twice in a way, a group of my students at The Planetary Society commanded the MGS MOC to a specific area - mid-latitude on Mars. There the students discovered dark boulders on white sandy terrain. No planetary scientist could explain how they got there, in the location and configuration that they are in. I remember one of the young student's excitement at coming to the U.S. and doing this work and indicating he felt a discovery might result. I tried to temper his enthusiasm just slightly by explaining the rarity of finds, and yet he was the one who adjusted the pointing based on context pictures he was shown at Malin Space Science Systems, and hence the find was made.

Kepler is a revolution. What a time in Space Exploration!

Thank you all for your kind comments here!

Steve,

When were you there? And in what area? I worked on Viking as well.

For anyone in the UK, BBC's "The Planets" its on tonight at 11.20 on BBC2. I think this episode features a bit about the discovery of Io's volcanoes and an interview with Linda.

Here is Linda Morabito's presentation at the Orange County Astronomers monthly meeting - January 2011.
"One Astronomer's Journey Through Space and Time"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxAQRLV_Tg0

I was 15 in 1966 and a BIG Star Trek fan.

Dave

Greetings Indeed, Linda!

Voyager 1 at Jupiter was such a paradigmn changer. What a revelation it was to see that image of you and Io with the bright volcanic plumes.

Remember avidly awaiting the pulications from Science News and Aviation Week back in those ancient pre-WWW days.

Glad you found UMSF.

Welcome aboard!

Craig

Sunspot, Dave, Craig, Thanks so much! Someone from the UK messaged me on FB and was telling me they saw me on TV. Thanks for letting me know what they saw! Yes, those were the days and a very special time. I think what has taken place since then feels like an exponential growth of new insight from the amount of spacecraft data coming in; viewing so many parts of our particular perspective on the universe from Earth in such high resolution. Those who love this exploration are really connecting via WWW's incredible places like UMSF! Those were the days, but these days so many mysteries are giving way. Unprecedented time then, but now too.

For all the forum's young whippersnapper members who weren't around in those heady Voyager days, this is a rather iconic picture of Linda... hope you don't mind me putting this famous pic up on here, I'm sure this will bring back a lot of memories for the members who were there when the discovery was made...

Click to view attachment

Sunspot, it's great to see that picture here! It was a very difficult picture to get the rights for, in order to include it in my memoir. National Geographic did not have the rights for it, although it appeared in their January of 1980 issue. Eventually, National Geographic was given the rights on a one time basis to offer them to me. I am very glad about that!

Dave posted the url for my presentation at OCA above. I did use a Star Trek theme. Star Trek was a medium for writers to take a look at challenging issues of the time when the series was made. In a way I did the same thing for the OCA presentation. The memoir deals with some very difficult issues, as well as the remarkable world of space exploration that I call home. That, is not a difficult issue. It has taken an enormous amount of courage to come forward with the story of my life, but I have already seen the amount of good that it has done for those whose lives it has already touched.

Your forum here is probably the best there is. I contribute to the public's knowledge about space on Linda Morabito's Space Place on Facebook! I always feel that your members are doing exceptional work and with the new "photojournal" that Emily is creating, I will be working to get the word out about what goes on here!