Charles Sonett, pioneer space scientist, dies at 87

[SUSAN J. SILVESTRI]

Source: Kimberly Matas Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Saturday, October 8, 2011 12:00 am

Pioneering space scientist Charles "Chuck" Sonett, the first head of the University of Arizona's department of planetary sciences, has died. He was 87.

Sonett, who had Parkinson's disease, died just after midnight Oct. 1. Per his wishes, there will be no public memorial.

He made significant discoveries during his career and was involved in spacecraft missions - including the Pioneer Program, the Explorer Program and the Apollo Program - that dramatically advanced the scientific community's understanding of the solar system.

Sonett was recruited in 1973 to head the then-new UA interdisciplinary department of planetary sciences and serve as director of the UA Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. He built research and education programs that became internationally recognized, according to the UA.

In 1992, Sonett was named a regents' professor - the highest academic rank at the school. A year after his 2003 retirement, the UA dedicated the Dr. Charles P. Sonett Space Sciences Building.

Sonett was born in Pittsburgh and spent his childhood in the desert town of Trona, Calif., near Death Valley. His teen years were spent at Hollywood High School, where his interest in astronomy led him to the Los Angeles Amateur Astronomical Society.

Sonett majored in physics at the University of California Los Angeles, but put his studies on hold to enlist in the military after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. During combat patrol in France, Sonett stepped on a German mine. His wounds required a battlefield amputation of his left leg.

His military decorations include the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. After leaving the service, Sonett completed his studies, earning a Ph.D. from UCLA.

Sonett joined the space race after graduation, eventually working as NASA's chief of sciences for lunar and planetary programs in Washington, D.C., then heading the space sciences division at the NASA Ames Research Center in California, where he was principal investigator on Explorer 33 and 35, Lunar Orbiter Magnetometer Experiment.

In 1969, Sonett received NASA's Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal for unusually significant scientific contribution toward achievement of aeronautical or space exploration goals.

"He always went forward, never complaining," said his wife of 63 years, Virginia Sonett. "He always had an artist's sense of his science. In his studies he was always aware of the poetry inherent in our universe."

Sonett's interests outside of work extended to art, music, sailing, photography and writing poetry.

"Chuck was quite a Renaissance man," his wife said. "Besides science he could speak on just about any subject, including art and music. He could talk to anyone on their interest level."

In addition to his wife, Sonett is survived by two children, Eric Sonett and Maria Eastman, and four grandchildren. He also is survived by his sister, Katherine Sonett Kahrs.

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