Dennis C. Reuter and the LEISA Team Science and Environment Finalist
Staff Scientist
Goddard Space Flight Center
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Greenbelt, Maryland
Dennis Reuter designed a device, along with Donald Jennings, to study the material make-up of the surfaces of distant planets and other celestial bodies. His team at Goddard Space Flight Center then built the system, which was carried past Pluto by the New Horizons spacecraft in 2015.
“Dennis and his team spent decades developing this instrument that has changed our view of the outer solar system and its components,” said Lucy-Ann McFadden, a physical scientist at Goddard.