Dr. Ellis Miner

Astronomer

Dr. Ellis Miner, an astronomer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory since 1965, has worked on missions to Saturn and six other planets. “Whenever we investigate a planet in detail,” he says, “we discover answers to a lot of questions, but we inevitably raise even more new questions.”

They recently gathered for a family reunion – a tough feat for a family that large, Miner joked. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, he has served in leadership roles and taught high school students at early morning seminary. Miner has also penned books on Uranus and Neptune. He served as the science manager for the Saturn-bound Cassini mission for nearly a decade and is currently a member of the Earth and Planetary Sciences Division Staff and co-director of the NASA Solar System Exploration Education and Public Outreach Forum.