Dianne K. Prinz

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Dianne Kasnic Prinz
A white woman with short dark hair cut in bangs, wearing a white collared shirt; photo is printed in blue ink in original source
Dianne K. Prinz, from a 1978 publication of the Federal Women's Program
Born
Dianne Kasnic

(1938-09-29)September 29, 1938
Economy, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedOctober 12, 2002(2002-10-12) (aged 64)
Arlington, Virginia, U.S.
Occupation(s)Scientist, physicist, astronaut
AwardsNavy Meritorious Civilian Service Award (2001)

Dianne Kasnic Prinz (September 29, 1938 – October 12, 2002) was an American scientist, a physicist with the United States Naval Research Laboratory. She trained as an astronaut, and was mission communicator for STS-51-F.

Early life and education[edit]

Dianne Kasnic was born in Economy, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Joseph J. Kasnic and Anna Mae Kosyrich Kasnic. Her father was a farmer, steelworker and coal miner.[1][2] "My father always appreciated scientific things, even though he only went to the seventh grade," she explained in 1978. "We had a small farm and there were lots of chemicals around so I got interested in chemistry."[3] She graduated from Ambridge Area High School in 1956,[4][5] and the University of Pittsburgh in 1960. She earned a PhD in physics at Johns Hopkins University in 1967.[6] Her dissertation was titled "Strength-half-width Products of Self-broadened Lines in the 6.3 Micron Band of Water Vapor".[7]

Career[edit]

Prinz was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Maryland from 1967 to 1971. In 1971, she joined the Naval Research Laboratory as a research physicist. Her title at retirement in 2000 was Head of the Solar Radiation Section, Solar Physics Branch, Space Science Division of the Naval Research Laboratory. Much of her work involved studies of solar irradiance. She was a volunteer for the Navy Community Outreach Program, speaking to students and community groups about the laboratory's work.[1] She was a fellow of the Washington Academy of Science, and vice president of the National Capital Section of the Optical Society of America.[6]

Prinz trained as an astronaut beginning in 1978,[5] the first woman trained by NASA as a payload specialist. She was often mentioned as a possible "first American woman in space,"[2][5][8] but she never went into space. She was mission communicator for the Spacelab 2 mission in 1985,[1][9] supporting the SUSIM-UARS.[10][11]

Prinz shared in the Navy Award of Merit for Group Achievement in 1985, and the NASA Public Service Group Achievement Award in 1987. She received the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award in 2001.[6]

Publications[edit]

Prinz was author or co-author of dozens of scientific papers and technical reports, and published her research in journals including Science,[12] Icarus,[13] Optical Engineering,[14] Journal of Applied Physics,[15] Advances in Space Research,[16] Astronomy & Astrophysics,[17] Solar Physics,[18] The Astrophysical Journal,[19] Metrologia,[20] Journal of Geophysical Research,[21] and Geophysical Research Letters.[22]

  • "Observations of the O I 1304-A airglow from Ogo 4" (1971, with R. R. Meier)[21]
  • "Ogo-4 observations of the Lyman-Birge-Hopfield emission in the day airglow" (1971, with R. R. Meier)[23]
  • "High spatial resolution photographs of the sun in Lα radiation" (1973)[24]
  • "Lyman-α imagery of Comet Kohoutek" (1974, with C. B. Opalt, G. R. Carruthers, T. L. Page, and R. R. Meier)[13]
  • "Comet Kohoutek: Ultraviolet Images and Spectrograms" (1974, with C. B. Opalt, G. R. Carruthers, and R. R. Meier)[12]
  • "The Spatial Distribution of LYMAN-a on the Sun" (1974)
  • "Space‐resolved spectra of laser‐produced plasmas in the XUV" (1976, with U. Feldman, G. A. Doschek, and D. J. Nagel)[15]
  • "A high precision Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor for the wavelength region 120–400 nm" (1981, with M. E. VanHoosier, J-D. F. Bartoe, Guenter Brueckner, and J. W. Cook)[18]
  • "Optical design of a near-ultraviolet coronagraph for a sounding rocket platform" (1994, with Clarence M. Korendyke and Dennis George Socker)[14]
  • "Solar ultraviolet spectral-irradiance observations from the SUSIM-UARS experiment" (1995, with G. E. Brueckner, L. E. Floyd, P. A. Lund, and M. E. VanHoosier)[20]
  • "Solar UV irradiance variation during cycles 22 and 23" (2002, with L. E. Floyd, P. C. Crane, and L. C. Herring)[16]

Personal life[edit]

Dianne Kasnic married fellow scientist Gary Prinz; they later divorced. Dianne K. Prinz died from cancer in 2002, aged 64 years, in Arlington, Virginia.[6][25]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Zielinski, Graeme (October 19, 2002). "Dianne K. Prinz". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Peterson, Karen (1978-11-19). "Female Physicist Undaunted by Spacelab Assignment". The Pantagraph. p. 45. Retrieved 2022-03-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Boodman, Sandra G. (1978-08-24). "Spacelab 2". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-03-23.
  4. ^ "Prinz, Dianne Kasnic". Ambridge Area School District. Retrieved 2022-03-23.
  5. ^ a b c Rankin, Edwina (1979-03-31). "Spacelab Scientist Sends Area Pupils into Orbit". The Pittsburgh Press. p. 2. Retrieved 2022-03-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b c d Cook, John William; Howard, Russell Alfred (2003-12-01). "Obituary: Dianne K. Prinz, 1938-2002". Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. 35 (5): 1469–1470. Bibcode:2003BAAS...35.1469C.
  7. ^ Dianne (Kasnic) Prinz. Strength-half-width Products of Self-broadened Lines in the 6.3 Micron Band of Water Vapor. Johns Hopkins University, Laboratory of Astrophysics and Physical Meteorology, 1966.
  8. ^ "Woman Could Go Into Space". The Times. 1978-08-13. p. 33. Retrieved 2022-03-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Naval Research Lab Woman Chosen for Spacelab Project". Women in Action. 8: 6. November–December 1978.
  10. ^ Wayne, Tiffany K. (2011). American Women of Science Since 1900. ABC-CLIO. pp. 773–774. ISBN 978-1-59884-158-9.
  11. ^ Floyd, L. E.; Cook, J. W.; Herring, L. C.; Crane, P. C. (2003-05-01). "SUSIM'S 11-year observational record of the solar UV irradiance". Advances in Space Research. Chemistry, Dynamics and Layered Structures of the Atmosphere. 31 (9): 2111–2120. Bibcode:2003AdSpR..31.2111F. doi:10.1016/S0273-1177(03)00148-0. ISSN 0273-1177.
  12. ^ a b Opal, C. B.; Carruthers, G. R.; Prinz, D. K.; Meier, R. R. (1974-08-23). "Comet Kohoutek: Ultraviolet Images and Spectrograms". Science. 185 (4152): 702–705. Bibcode:1974Sci...185..702O. doi:10.1126/science.185.4152.702. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 17736377. S2CID 45497893.
  13. ^ a b Carruthers, G. R.; Opalt, C. B.; Page, T. L.; Meier, R. R.; Prinz, D. K. (1974-12-01). "Lyman-α imagery of Comet Kohoutek". Icarus. 23 (4): 526–537. Bibcode:1974Icar...23..526C. doi:10.1016/0019-1035(74)90015-3. ISSN 0019-1035.
  14. ^ a b Korendyke, Clarence M. (1994-02-01). "Optical design of a near-ultraviolet coronagraph for a sounding rocket platform". Optical Engineering. 33 (2): 479. Bibcode:1994OptEn..33..479K. doi:10.1117/12.152194. ISSN 0091-3286.
  15. ^ a b Feldman, U.; Doschek, G. A.; Prinz, D. K.; Nagel, D. J. (April 1976). "Space‐resolved spectra of laser‐produced plasmas in the XUV". Journal of Applied Physics. 47 (4): 1341–1350. Bibcode:1976JAP....47.1341F. doi:10.1063/1.322838. ISSN 0021-8979.
  16. ^ a b Floyd, L. E.; Prinz, D. K.; Crane, P. C.; Herring, L. C. (2002-06-01). "Solar UV irradiance variation during cycles 22 and 23". Advances in Space Research. 29 (12): 1957–1962. Bibcode:2002AdSpR..29.1957F. doi:10.1016/S0273-1177(02)00242-9. ISSN 0273-1177.
  17. ^ Crane, P. C.; Floyd, L. E.; Cook, J. W.; Herring, L. C.; Avrett, E. H.; Prinz, D. K. (2004-05-01). "The center-to-limb behavior of solar active regions at ultraviolet wavelengths". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 419 (2): 735–746. Bibcode:2004A&A...419..735C. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20040012. ISSN 0004-6361. S2CID 121833428.
  18. ^ a b VanHoosier, M. E.; Bartoe, J.-D. F.; Brueckner, G. E.; Prinz, D. K.; Cook, J. W. (December 1981). "A high precision Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor for the wavelength region 120?400 nm". Solar Physics. 74 (2): 521–530. Bibcode:1981SoPh...74..521V. doi:10.1007/BF00154535. ISSN 0038-0938. S2CID 120699039.
  19. ^ Prinz, D. K. "The Spatial Distribution of LYMAN-a on the Sun." The Astrophysical Journal 187 (1974): 369-376.
  20. ^ a b Brueckner, G. E.; Floyd, L. E.; Lund, P. A.; Prinz, D. K.; VanHoosier, M. E. (December 1995). "Solar ultraviolet spectral-irradiance observations from the SUSIM-UARS experiment". Metrologia. 32 (6): 661–665. Bibcode:1995Metro..32..661B. doi:10.1088/0026-1394/32/6/53. ISSN 0026-1394. S2CID 250834887.
  21. ^ a b Meier, R. R.; Prinz, D. K. (1971-07-01). "Observations of the O I 1304-A airglow from Ogo 4". Journal of Geophysical Research. 76 (19): 4608–4620. Bibcode:1971JGR....76.4608M. doi:10.1029/ja076i019p04608. ISSN 0148-0227.
  22. ^ Chandra, Sushil; Lean, Judith L.; White, Oran R.; Prinz, Dianne K.; Rottman, Gary J.; Brueckner, Guenter E. (1995-09-15). "Solar UV irradiance variability during the declining phase of the solar cycle 22". Geophysical Research Letters. 22 (18): 2481–2484. Bibcode:1995GeoRL..22.2481C. doi:10.1029/95gl02476. ISSN 0094-8276.
  23. ^ Prinz, D. K.; Meier, R. R. (1971-09-01). "Ogo-4 observations of the Lyman-Birge-Hopfield emission in the day airglow". Journal of Geophysical Research. 76 (25): 6146–6158. Bibcode:1971JGR....76.6146P. doi:10.1029/ja076i025p06146. ISSN 0148-0227.
  24. ^ Prinz, D. K. (January 1973). "High spatial resolution photographs of the sun in L? radiation". Solar Physics. 28 (1): 35–42. doi:10.1007/BF00152909. ISSN 0038-0938. S2CID 121784147.
  25. ^ Croft, Melvin; Youskauskas, John (2019-02-01). Come Fly with Us: NASA's Payload Specialist Program. U of Nebraska Press. p. 136. ISBN 978-1-4962-1226-9.
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