JPL Mourns Death of Claudia Alexander, Who Helped Lead Galileo, Rosetta Space Projects

JPL is mourning the death of Claudia Alexander, an admired scientist who helped lead both the Galileo mission and the international Rosetta comet mission.

Alexander passed away last Saturday after a 10 year battle with breast cancer. She was 56.

“The passing of Claudia Alexander reminds us of how fragile we are as humans but also as scientists how lucky we are to be part of planetary science,” said Dr. James Green, Director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division. “She was an absolute delight to be with and always had a huge engaging smile when I saw her. It was easy to see that she loved what she was doing. We lost a fantastic colleague and great friend. I will miss her.”

Born in Canada and raised in Northern California’s Silicon Valley, Alexander joined JPL soon after completing graduate school and worked there for 29 years.

JPL officials said two memorial services are planned, one in Los Angeles on July 25 and another in San Jose on Aug. 8.

The memorial service in Los Angeles will be at 11 a.m. at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles in the Hall of LIberty.