Finley Wins NASA Public Service Medal

 

Paul Finley is the brother of LeadsOnline’s CEO Dave Finley.

This story really has nothing to do with criminal investigations, but we were so darned proud we had to post it!

 

For Project Engineer Paul Finley, receiving the NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal is all about gratitude and validation. "It's quite an honor to be recognized for my mission operations work," said Finley. "But it's really a tribute to the hundreds of people at Ball Aerospace who worked so hard on the Spitzer Space Telescope and the great job they did designing and building the assembly."

 

Finley, who received the award at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. last month, added, "It shows that our customer is still impressed with how well the hardware is functioning and the science Spitzer is still producing."

The NASA medal is granted to a non-government employee who has provided exceptional contributions to NASA's mission. Finley has been tracking telemetry and predicting mission lifetime since Spitzer's August 2003 launch.

 

The telescope has already exceeded its two-and-a-half-year life requirement, exploring the deepest corners of space for three years in its drift-away orbit. "It looks like we're going to get more astronomical data than anyone expected because we've been able to extend the mission life," said Finley.

 

A scientist to the core, Finley strives to get as much science out of a mission as possible. "Paul is a great resource to have on your team," said Greg Johnson, manager of cryogenics and thermal engineering. "He is versatile, dependable, resourceful and highly motivated."

 

Some of the science from Spitzer is impacting future missions like the James Webb Space Telescope, which uses the thermally favorable orbit and radiative cooling ideas pioneered by Spitzer.

 

"The Ball Aerospace engineers who built such a reliable and flexible system should feel proud," said Finley. "Their work has been validated."

 

Finley insists part of anyone's success is how they handle challenges along the way. Finley thrives on challenges and loves to wrap his mind around many problems simultaneously. "I guess I like learning lots of new things all at once," he said. While earning his doctoral degree in physics at the University of Massachusetts, he discovered that low-temperature physics gave him the best opportunity for learning everything about design, research, manufacturing, and test to the end product. "The cryogenics students did it all," he said, adding that it was his cryogenic experience that led him to a career in aerospace.