Loren Wilber Acton (born 7 March 1936) is an American physicist who flew on

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...

mission

STS-51-F STS-51-F (also known as Spacelab 2) was the 19th flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program and the eighth flight of Space Shuttle ''Challenger''. It launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on July 29, 1985, and landed eight days later on Aug ...

as a Payload Specialist for the Lockheed Palo Alto Research Laboratory. He is also the father of

Cheryll Glotfelty Cheryl is a female given name common in English speaking countries. There are several prevailing theories about its etymology. The most common is that it has Italo-Celtic roots and is an Anglicisation, Anglicised version of either the French name ...

, a leading ecocritic.

Early life and education

Acton was born in

Lewistown, Montana Lewistown is a city in and the county seat of Fergus County, Montana, United States. The population was 5,952 at the 2020 census. Lewistown is located in the geographic center of the state, southeast of Great Falls and northwest of Billings. Fir ...

. He received a bachelor of science degree in Engineering Physics from

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 6 ...

in 1959, and a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

in Astro-Geophysics from the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sys ...

in 1965.

Career

Acton was a senior staff scientist with the Space Sciences Laboratory, Lockheed Palo Alto Research Laboratory,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. As a research scientist, his principal duties included conducting scientific studies of the Sun and other celestial objects using advanced space instruments and serving as a co-investigator on one of the

Spacelab Spacelab was a reusable laboratory developed by European Space Agency (ESA) and used on certain spaceflights flown by the Space Shuttle. The laboratory comprised multiple components, including a pressurized module, an unpressurized carrier, ...

2 solar experiments, the

Solar Optical Universal Polarimeter Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate ...

. He was selected as one of four payload specialists for Spacelab 2 on August 9, 1978, and after seven years of training he flew on

/ Spacelab-2 in 1985. At mission conclusion, Acton had travelled over 2.8 million miles in 126 Earth orbits, logging over 190 hours in space. Acton is married and has two children. In 2006 he ran in an election to be the state representative of Montana's District 69, as a Democratic candidate. In the event, he lost to the Republican incumbent, Jack M. Wells of Belgrade. Acton is currently a retired Research Professor of Physics at

, where he was responsible for the formation of the Solar Physics group and the Space Science and Engineering Laboratory. The MSU solar group carries on an active research program under

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

and

NSF NSF may stand for: Political organizations *National Socialist Front, a Swedish National Socialist party *NS-Frauenschaft, the women's wing of the former German Nazi party *National Students Federation, a leftist Pakistani students' political gr ...

support and is actively involved in day-to-day operation and scientific utilization of satellite missions for studies of the Sun. Acton was a principal investigator for

Soft X-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 Picometre, picometers to 10 Nanometre, nanometers, corresponding to frequency, ...

Telescope (SXT) experiment on the Japan/US/UK Yohkoh mission The Yohkoh mission focused on the study of high-energy solar processes, such as

solar flares A solar flare is an intense localized eruption of electromagnetic radiation in the Sun's atmosphere. Flares occur in active regions and are often, but not always, accompanied by coronal mass ejections, solar particle events, and other solar phe ...

eruptions Several types of volcanic eruptions—during which lava, tephra (ash, lapilli, volcanic bombs and volcanic blocks), and assorted gases are expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure—have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often ...

and the heating of the corona. The primary emission of the extremely hot outer atmosphere of the sun, the solar corona, is at X-ray wavelengths. The extended duration, high resolution, X-ray imagery from Yohkoh contribute to the study of why the sun has a corona at all and why it varies in intensity so strongly in response to the 11-year sunspot cycle.

Awards

*2000

George Ellery Hale Prize The George Ellery Hale Prize, or Hale Prize, is awarded annually by the Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical Society for outstanding contributions over an extended period of time to the field of solar astronomy. The prize is named in ...

by the

Solar Physics Division The Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washi ...

of the

American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...

*Recognized in February 2020 as Legacy Fellow of

*2017 The

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...

, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon by

Japanese government The Government of Japan consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and is based on popular sovereignty. The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947. It is a unitary state, c ...

References

External links

NASA BiographyLoren Acton Academic HomepageMontana State University Solar Physics GroupMontana State University Physics DepartmentMontana State UniversityWorld Championship in Cooperation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acton, Loren 1936 births Living people 21st-century American physicists Science teachers People from Lewistown, Montana University of Colorado alumni Montana Democrats Montana State University alumni NASA civilian astronauts Lockheed Martin people American astronaut-politicians Space Shuttle program astronauts Fellows of the American Astronomical Society