Pilot killed in small plane crash was NASA scientist

[Buster's Uncle]

Pilot killed in small plane crash was NASA scientist
Associated Press  13 hours ago



LOS ANGELES (AP) — The pilot of a small plane that crashed at a Los Angeles intersection was a NASA and Jet Propulsion Labs researcher who helped determine that there was once water on the surface of Mars, his colleagues said.

Alberto Behar, 47, of Scottsdale, Arizona, died instantly when his single-engine plane nosedived shortly after takeoff Friday from Van Nuys Airport, the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner said Saturday.

Behar worked for 23 years at JPL in Pasadena and also held a research professor post at Arizona State University. He worked on two Mars missions and spent years researching how robots work in harsh environments like volcanoes and underwater.

As part of the NASA team exploring Mars with the Curiosity rover, Behar was responsible for a device that detected hydrogen on the planet's surface as the rover moved.

"His career was dedicated to better understanding Earth and the other planets," JPL Science Division manager Michael Watkins in a statement.

In 2010, he designed a camera that captured a tiny shrimp-like creature swimming deep beneath the Antarctic ice sheet, a highly unexpected find.

Colleagues said he was valued for bridging the divide between scientists trying to study an inhospitable environment and engineers whose robots could survive there.

"From his submarines that peeked under Antarctica to his boats that raced Greenland's rivers, Alberto's work enabled measurements of things we'd never known," NASA scientist Thomas Wagner said in a statement. "His creativity knew few bounds. He is, and will forever be, sorely missed."

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

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Information from: KNBC-TV, http://www.nbc4.tv/

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http://news.yahoo.com/pilot-killed-small-plane-crash-nasa-scientist-003820594.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory dies in small plane crash
Reuters  14 hours ago



LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A 47-year-old scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory who worked on robotic systems for exploring Mars and extreme environments on Earth has died in a small plane crash in Los Angeles, officials said on Saturday.

Alberto Behar spent 23 years at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory where he worked on instruments for the rover Curiosity which landed on Mars in 2012 and the Mars Odyssey orbiter that launched in 2001, the Pasadena, California-based institution said in a statement.

The crash involved a single-engine Lancair aircraft that went down in unknown circumstances shortly after take off from Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles on Friday, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said in an email.

A limited liability company under Behar's name was listed as an owner of the plane in an FAA registry.

Behar's work included developing robotic systems for measuring ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland with the use of submarines, ice rovers and boats, according to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

"From his submarines that peeked under Antarctica to his boats that raced Greenland's rivers, Alberto's work enabled measurements of things we'd never known. His creativity knew few bounds," NASA headquarters scientist Thomas Wagner said in a statement.

When Behar in 2009 submerged a small camera 600 feet (183 meters) beneath an ice sheet in the Antarctic they captured images of a shrimp creature swimming beneath the ice, which surprised him and fellow researchers.

Behar, aside from working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, also was a research professor at Arizona State University.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; editing by Andrew Hay)


http://news.yahoo.com/scientist-nasas-jet-propulsion-laboratory-dies-small-plane-023712466.html