Mike Freilich
NASA Administrator Statement on the Passing of Mike Freilich
“Mike Freilich, passionate explorer and former director of NASA’s Earth Science Division: “Our planet has lost a true champion with the passing of Mike Freilich. NASA sends our condolences to his loved ones, and the entire NASA Family shares their loss. “As the head of NASA Earth Science, Mike was known for his diligence and an unwavering commitment to accuracy and making sure the science was strong. His oversize passion for all things related to expanding knowledge about the complex systems of our planet saw an incredible diversity of missions launch on his watch. Mike never avoided the tough decisions, but his deep expertise and innate love of science helped our agency to innovate and expand the ways it observes our home planet.”
This is saddening news — Mike was a deeply experienced and steady handed steward of the NASA Earth Sciences Division for many years. Among his many achievements, I was fortunate to work with him on deploying the Orbital Carbon Observatory 3 satellite on the International Space Station. Mike’s space acumen led him to take advantage of OCO-2 spares, following successful deployment of OCO-2 in orbit, in order to assemble and deploy OCO-3 at a relatively small marginal cost thus further increasing the science return.
Thank you for all your valuable contributions to furthering the understanding of Earth Sciences Mike.