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William Borucki

! scientist · # tag · @ author
1939- · Astronomy, exoplanetology, space research
American scientist, the visionary and leader of the Kepler mission, which discovered thousands of exoplanets using the transit method. He fought for funding for the project for over 20 years, facing repeated rejections, but managed to prove the feasibility of his idea.

Biography

Worked at NASA's Ames Research Center. In the 1980s, he proposed using the transit photometry method to search for exoplanets. His proposals were repeatedly rejected, but he built laboratory prototypes, demonstrating the accuracy of the method. In 2001, the Kepler mission was finally approved. The launch took place in 2009, and the telescope revolutionized planet hunting. Borucki retired in 2015. Laureate of the Shaw Prize and the Bower Award.

Key discoveries

💡 Borucki's proposal for the Kepler mission was rejected five times over a decade. To convince skeptics, he built his own photometer with CCD sensors in the laboratory and proved that the method works.
Quote: "We have gone from not knowing whether there are planets the size of Earth to understanding that there are more of them than stars."
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Related tags
exoplanetphotometrytransit method
Related laws
Kepler's third law
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David Charbonneau

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