Peter Chee Chen

Peter Chee Chen, a distinguished NASA scientist and advocate for space exploration, devoted husband, and father, passed away at 78 from a stroke.

Born on October 10th, 1945 in Chendgu, Szechaun (China), to Eli and Marion Chen, Peter emigrated as a child to Hong Kong to escape the Chinese Civil War, and his family ultimately set roots in Toronto, Canada. Despite a tumultuous childhood, Peter was an exemplary student named an Ontario Scholar, enabling him to attend the University of Toronto where he studied Physics and Math. Peter then obtained his PhD in astronomy from Case Western Reserve in 1979, where he distinguished himself by building his own computer-controlled spectrophotometer for his thesis entitled "A Study of the Polarization of Red Variable Stars''. As a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas, Austin, he worked with Dr. Robert Tull to improve the Coudé Spectrograph at McDonald Observatory and with Dr. David Evans to develop high-speed portable microprocessor-based photometers for lunar occultations.

From 1983-1996, Peter worked for Computer Sciences Corporation to develop software, testing, calibrations, and support mission operations for the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope at NASA, Goddard, which would remain Peter's intellectual home for his 41-year career as a space scientist. UIT was a space telescope deployed in the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle, where it was able to capture never-before-seen views of the universe in the near and far UV wavelengths which are normally filtered out by Earth's atmosphere. UIT was launched twice, first in 1990 as part of the ASTRO-1 mission on STS-35 and again in 1995 as the ASTRO-2 mission on STS-67. For both missions, Peter was in charge of remotely operating and troubleshooting the computer-controlled instruments on UIT which he helped develop. The treasure trove of unique astronomical images captured by these missions enabled astronomers to better understand how galaxies are formed by clusters of hot, new stars only visible in the UV spectrum, resulting in several key publications where Peter was the lead author.

Since 1996, Peter has remained at NASA as a research scientist for the Catholic University of America, dedicating his efforts to developing technologies for next-generation robotic telescopes on the moon that could detect earth-like planets around other stars. These technological improvements included: a superconductor-bearing system that would enable lunar telescope repositioning without mechanical parts that would jam in the lunar dust; ultra-lightweight composite mirrors that could be cost-effectively delivered on small commercial rockets; and a recipe for "moon cement" building materials that could be fashioned from mixing carbon-nanotubes and lunar regolith (soil). Much of this work was a labor of love for Peter, using surplus materials from retired NASA projects and carried out with the help of amateur astronomer volunteers and college interns, whom Peter enjoyed introducing to space science. These inventions resulted in multiple patents, papers, and several spin-off companies, including Peter's own company Lightweight Telescopes, Inc.

Peter had many interesting hobbies. A lifelong enthusiast of martial arts and photography, he had a black belt in Tae-Kwan Do, and made many of his own NASA publicity photos to advocate for lunar exploration, including an iconic picture of one of his early lunar telescope prototypes on a balance next to a kitten of the same weight. He was particularly active in amateur astronomy organizations, in particular the Goddard Astronomy Club and the Howard Astronomical League.

Peter is survived by his beloved wife of 48 years: Anne Hsueh Chen; his sister Jean married to Bill Eng; his four children: Alan married to Alene Onion, Eric, Heather, and Cynthia; and his two grandchildren: Lyra and Otto.

A celebration of Peter's life will be held on Friday, June 28th at 2 pm at Oakland Mills Meeting House Room 202 5885 Robert Oliver Place Columbia, MD 21045.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Howard Astronomical League http://www.howardastro.org/

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