Physics Researcher Dan Klinglesmith Passes Away

July 29, 2019


'Dr. Dan the Astroman' was well-known for local outreach efforts, in addition to scientific discoveries

 

SOCORRO, N.M. – Longtime NMT professor and researcher Dr. Daniel A. Klinglesmith III passed away Saturday, July 27, 2019, at a hospital in Albuquerque after a short battle with cancer. As recently as last Saturday he had performed a science demonstration for youngsters at the Magdalena Village Library.

Dan KlinglesmithDr. Klinglesmith had long served as a research scientist for the Magdalena Ridge Observatory. He had also served as the faculty advisor for the Etscorn Campus Observatory, well-known for its year-round public programs and for hosting the Summer Science Program for high school students. Dr. Klinglesmith was central to the long-established annual Enchanted Skies Star Party, now based in Magdalena, and he recently served with Magdalena's Chamber of Commerce.

Dr. Klinglesmith was recently a co-discoverer of the binary nature of at least three asteroids – in other words, that the asteroids had moons. Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff honored Dan by naming a recently discovered asteroid Klinglesmith in his honor, a fact that was relayed to him on his last day in Magdalena, July 21. "That is neat!" exclaimed Dan.

From 2012 to 2015 Dr. Klinglesmith led a group of students who were observing and characterizing asteroids at the Etscorn Campus Observatory.  During this period they published 29 papers and obtained rotational periods for over 100 asteroids. Those observations represents the first time that the Tech group has identified a binary asteroid, Klinglesmith said.

Named (3841) Dicicco, the asteroid was listed in the September 2014 edition of the Minor Planet Bulletin as a potential target for observation.

An article on the NMT website in February 2015 quoted Klinglesmith as saying, “Minor Planet Bulletin always publishes a list of which asteroids are in position to be observed now. We went over the list and took a chance. Lo and behold, it had a short rotational period and we observed it for many nights.”

“I took images and it had a nice 3.6 hour rotation when I started,” Klinglesmith said. “Then all of a sudden the data went to heck. I thought that it might be an indication of a binary asteroid … and it was.”

That project was part of a three-year grant from NASA to identify the shapes of asteroids. The funding comes through the N.M. Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, or EPSCoR. Seven students at Tech worked on the project. Collectively, they have published 29 papers, with each student publishing at least one single-author paper.

Dan and his widow, Gerry, have been well known for their volunteer work in Magdalena, Socorro County, and beyond. He was active in both the Boy and Girl Scouts, educational outreach, and astronomy, working with John Briggs at the Lyceum in Magdalena.

Dr. Klinglesmith started his career at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., where he worked for 30 years. He was the head of image processing for the IUE satellite, which launched in 1978. He first visited New Mexico Tech in 1987-88 while on sabbatical from NASA. He worked on the JOCR telescopes on the Magdalena Ridge to observe Halley’s Comet.

After retiring from NASA, he and his wife Gerry moved to Socorro in 1996 where he worked for New Mexico Tech teaching astronomy. He retired from MRO in 2011, but remained on the staff working on Environmental Monitoring System up to the end.

“Dr. Dan the Astroman,” as he was often known, went on to become a masterful weaver after studying at Ghost Ranch in the early nineties. He remained active in the Socorro Fiber Arts Guild, and loved to travel. He went everywhere from a scuba diving cruise where they were able to see a full eclipse to learning more about weaving styles globally. Some of his favorite activities were to eat chocolate, drink whiskey, and make terrible puns. He could cocoa up a pun in a flash, particularly when whiskey was involved.

Dan and and his wife, Gerry, share a birthday, and it was using this as an excuse that he asked Gerry out for their first date, a right he earned through a poker game with friends. Married for 56 years, he certainly won that game.

Dr. Klinglesmith is survived by his wife, Geraldine “Gerry” S. Klinglesmith; his children Dan Klinglesmith IV and wife, Lauree, Chrissie Devinney and husgand, Ed, Jimmy Klinglesmith and wife, Alison, and Michael Klinglesmith and wife, Kelly; his grandchildren Daniel Klinglesmith V, Nicholas Klinglesmith, Zachery Klinglesmith, Hannah Devinney, and Liam Devinney, and his great-grandson, Daniel Klinglesmith VI.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Socorro Rotary Foundation, PO Box 972, Socorro, NM 87801. Please designate “Imagination Library” on the memo line.

Details about services will be provided when times and locations are set.

– NMT –