Andreas Gerasimos Michalitsianos
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Andreas 'Andy' Gerasimos Michalitsianos (May 22, 1947 – October 29, 1997) was a Greek-American astronomer and a NASA astrophysicist.
Born in Alexandria, Egypt on May 22, 1947, Andreas grew up with his mother, who spoke little English and shortly, with his father. He moved with his family to New York City in 1949 and lived in the Queens borough before going to college. Andreas' father, Gerasimos Michalitsianos, was a sea captain of the Greek molasses tanker S.S. Foundation Star. Gerasimos died however, after his ship was caught up in a hurricane and sunk on September 24, 1952 off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia, in which Andreas' father died shortly after of pneumonia after he and some of the crew had been rescued by the United States Coast Guard. Andreas showed an early interest in astronomy and physics from the age of 16, in which he won a science contest and earned his bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Arizona in 1968, working at the nearby Kitt Peak National Observatory to help pay off his college debts.
Andreas then received a full scholarship and earned his Ph.D. in astrophysics from Cambridge University, Churchill College in 1976 while doing research at the California Institute of Technology, and worked at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center from the 1970s until his death. Michalitsianos was involved with such projects as the Hubble Space Telescope and was the deputy project manager for NASA Goddard's the International Ultraviolet Explorer, in which he won several awards for his contributions. In 1989 he was selected by NASA to become an astronaut onboard the space shuttle, but Michalitsianos declined the offer. Michalitsianos eventually went on to become Chief of the Solar Physics Division at Goddard Space Flight Center in early 1997.
Michalitsianos died on October 29, 1997 in Baltimore, Maryland after a long struggle with brain tumor. He is survived by a wife, two daughters, a sister, and one son, whom reside in Severna Park, Maryland.
A landbased robotic telescope on the island of Kefalonia in western Greece is named after him. The telescope is utilized by such institutions as the University of Athens.
