Louis Dill Friedman (born July 7, 1941) is an American astronautics engineer and space spokesperson. He was born in New York and raised in the Bronx. Dr. Friedman was a co-founder of

The Planetary Society The Planetary Society is an American internationally-active non-governmental nonprofit organization. It is involved in research, public outreach, and political space advocacy for engineering projects related to astronomy, planetary science, a ...

with Carl Sagan and Bruce C. Murray.

Education and career

In 1961, he earned his Bachelor of Science in

applied mathematics Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a combination of mathemati ...

and

engineering physics Engineering physics, or engineering science, refers to the study of the combined disciplines of physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, and engineering, particularly computer, nuclear, electrical, electronic, aerospace, materials or mechanical en ...

at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. In 1963, he graduated at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

with a Masters of Science in

engineering mechanics Applied mechanics is the branch of science concerned with the motion of any substance that can be experienced or perceived by humans without the help of instruments. In short, when mechanics concepts surpass being theoretical and are applied and e ...

. In 1971, he graduated with a Ph.D. from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

with a thesis entitled, ''Extracting Scientific Information from Spacecraft Tracking Data.''The Planetary Society
He worked for

AVCO Avco Corporation is a subsidiary of Textron which operates Textron Systems Corporation and Lycoming. History The Aviation Corporation was formed on March 2, 1929, to prevent a takeover of CAM-24 airmail service operator Embry-Riddle Compa ...

Space Systems Division from 1963 to 1968. From 1970 through 1980, he was with the

Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...

(JPL) leading the Advanced Planetary Studies and the post-

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

Mars Program. Other projects at the JPL include Mariner-Venus-Mercury, Planetary Grand Tour ( Voyager), Venus Orbital Imaging Radar (

Magellan probe The ''Magellan'' spacecraft was a robotic space probe launched by NASA of the United States, on May 4, 1989, to map the surface of Venus by using synthetic-aperture radar and to measure the planetary gravitational field. The ''Magellan'' p ...

Halley's Comet Halley's Comet or Comet Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, is a short-period comet visible from Earth every 75–79 years. Halley is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and thus the on ...

Rendezvous-Solar Sail, and the

Mars Program The Mars program was a series of uncrewed spacecraft launched by the Soviet Union between 1960 and 1973. The spacecraft were intended to explore Mars, and included flyby probes, landers and orbiters. Early Mars spacecraft were small, and launche ...

Projects, Print, and Speeches

* ''Human spaceflight : from Mars to the stars.'' Univ. of Arizona Press, Tucson 2015, . *''Star Sailing: Solar Sails and Interstellar Flight'', Louis Friedman, John Wiley & Sons Inc., 1988, , 146 pgs. *Project Director of the Solar Sail mission by The Planetary Society and Cosmos Studies: Cosmos I *Part of the technical team on the Mars Balloon and

Mars Rover A Mars rover is a motor vehicle designed to travel on the surface of Mars. Rovers have several advantages over stationary landers: they examine more territory, they can be directed to interesting features, they can place themselves in sunny pos ...

for The Planetary Society *Asked to participate in both Congressional and Administrative reviews for American and Russian space missions *2004 Congressional Hearings on Space:

United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation The United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is a standing committee of the United States Senate. Besides having broad jurisdiction over all matters concerning interstate commerce, science and technology policy, a ...

–

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

Future Space Missio
”Think Bigger About Mars”
Louis Friedman, June 27, 2000
”A Space Nerd Responds”
Louis Friedman, August 13, 2007

Popular Mechanics, September 2007

Associations

– Executive Director and author of World Watch in th
Planetary Report
*

Sigma Xi Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is a highly prestigious, non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a junior faculty member and a small group of graduate students in 1886 ...

* American Astronautical Society *Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science *

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA is the U.S. representative on the International Astronautical Federation and the International Council of ...

– Congressional Fellow 1978-79

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Friedman, Louis Living people Cornell University College of Engineering alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Engineering alumni American aerospace engineers People from the Bronx 1941 births MIT School of Engineering alumni Engineers from New York (state) Planetary scientists