Dr. Ralph Lorenz’s broad scientific and engineering experience has enabled him to make numerous noteworthy contributions to the scientific understanding of several different planetary bodies. His scientific focus is planetary surface-atmosphere interactions, and his fieldwork in the desert regions of Earth has informed and enabled his analysis of aeolian processes on other bodies in the solar system. He has conducted scientific analyses that have enriched our understanding of dust devils on Mars and dunes on Titan, and contributed to such exotic discoveries as lightning on Venus. Furthermore, Ralph has been involved in the life cycle of flight investigations including concept formulation, mission and system design, science planning, observation design, instrument development, data analysis, and publication of results.

Much of the uniqueness of Ralph’s work flows from the innovative sensor platforms used in his scientific investigations and analyses, including probes, landers, balloons, penetrators, drones, and boats. He was a Cassini Radar team member and coinvestigator on the Huygens probe’s Surface Science Package. He is a science team member of the InSIGHT mission to understand Mars’s interior and is the Dragonfly Mission Architect. In addition, he is a science team member and the Payload Experiment Lead for the Venus Atmosphere Structure Investigation on the DAVINCI mission to Venus.

Ralph is a prolific writer, sharing his knowledge with technical and nontechnical audiences. He has first authored almost 200 peer-reviewed publications and has coauthored numerous others. He has also penned many books, including books about planetary climate research (Exploring Planetary Climate: A History of Scientific Discovery on Earth, Mars, Venus and Titan), aerodynamics (Spinning Flight: Dynamics of Frisbees, Boomerangs, Samaras, and Skipping Stones), multiple books about Titan (e.g., Lifting Titan’s Veil: Exploring the Giant Moon of Saturn) and spacecraft (e.g., Cassini-Huygens Owners’ Workshop Manual), as well as coauthoring a book on aeolian processes on planetary bodies (Dune Worlds: How Windblown Sand Shapes Planetary Landscapes).

Ralph truly has an unparalleled breadth of knowledge and impact on planetary science. His overall excellence exemplifies the essence of the Fred Whipple Award.

—Debra Buczkowski, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md.

I am deeply honored by the recognition expressed in the Whipple Award, and a little surprised, as I feel that all I have really done is work on what seem like fun and interesting problems. As some may know, I am not reticent to express critique of scientific ideas, and am not always gentle in doing so, so I particularly appreciate my colleagues who have nevertheless persisted in putting together nomination materials. Although I don’t believe I had close personal interaction with Fred Whipple, one of the moments that set me (at age 16) on a course to work in this field was the apparition of comet Halley in 1986, during which the European Giotto spacecraft made a daring close encounter, protected from dust impacts by a Whipple shield. This theme, of spacecraft and instruments interacting with planetary environments, is perhaps what has defined my career. I was lucky indeed to start that career on the epic Cassini-Huygens project right at its beginning in 1990, and I have had the great fortune to have worked on various international spacecraft projects since then, as well as in field, laboratory, and theoretical investigations. The range of disciplines and techniques in the planetary sciences is what makes it such an intellectually stimulating enterprise. But what makes it fun, of course, are the people, the many brilliant colleagues, too many to list here (and including several previous Whipple awardees), with whom I’ve puzzled over new images and data, or toiled in the crucible of mission proposals, or changed tires on desert field trips. It is a joy to work with you all! —Ralph D. Lorenz, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md.