[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 154 (Tuesday, November 30, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2013]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                 HONORING THE LIFE OF DR. BRIAN MARSDEN

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                         HON. DANA ROHRABACHER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 30, 2010

  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Madam Speaker, Dr. Brian Marsden directed the Minor 
Planet Center, MPC, at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in 
Cambridge, Massachusetts for nearly 30 years, where he kept track of 
the thousands of daily asteroid and comet observations from around the 
world. The responsibility of keeping track of these near-Earth objects, 
and potentially the fate of all humanity, could not have been in better 
hands than those of this capable, conscientious scientist.
  Dr. Marsden became interested in astrophysics at the early age of 
five, when his mother displayed to him that method by which eclipses 
could be predicted in advance. His teen years were spent calculating 
forecasts of astronomical phenomena--long before modern computers or 
even calculators were available. By the time he was an undergraduate 
student, he had achieved an international reputation for the accuracy 
of his predictions of comets and for a number of new discoveries.
  One of the most outstanding examples of his predictive prowess can be 
seen in his calculation of the return of comet Swift-Tuttle. The 
scientific consensus was that the comet would return in 1981, almost 
120 years after it was last seen, but Dr. Marsden analyzed the 
available data and projected correctly that it would not return to the 
inner solar system until late 1992, over a decade later than previously 
expected. Swift-Tuttle has the longest period of any comet whose return 
has been successfully predicted.
  Dr. Brian Marsden passed away on November 18, 2010. His soaring 
accomplishments have made this planet a safer place, and his legacy 
will live on for centuries.

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