Microwave Pioneers: Charles Elachi, "Dare Mighty Things"

Abstract

This is the fifth article in our continuing series of biographical pieces with a technical lean (two in vol. 1, issue 1, and one each in vol. 1 issue 2 and issue 3). The subject of this paper is noted microwave radar remote sensing pioneer and National Aeronautics and Space Administration Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA/JPL) Director, Dr. Charles Elachi. Without a doubt, Dr. Elachi almost single-handedly pioneered the field of active microwave remote sensing from space. His early work on aircraft imaging radar and the deployment of microwave synthetic aperture techniques for ocean and land surveying led to a series of groundbreaking Space Shuttle missions and opened up whole new fields of research for oceanographers, geologists, planetary scientists, geophysicists, and even archeologists. Elachi's scientific and engineering accomplishments quickly led him up a long ladder within the NASA/JPL community, eventually landing him in the Director's chair. The title of the article reflects his mantra for success, both personally and for the institutions he played such a large role in.