Louise Spilker

For more than four decades, Linda J. Spilker has worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, building a career around the study of planets, moons, and rings in the outer solar system. She is a JPL Fellow, senior research scientist, and planetary scientist, and has served in major leadership and science roles on both the Cassini and Voyager missions.

She spent decades on the Cassini mission, including as Cassini Project Scientist, helping lead an international team of hundreds of scientists. Her research has included thermal infrared studies of Saturn’s rings, with a focus on questions about their origin and evolution. Before that, she worked on Voyager, contributing to science planning and analysis during one of NASA’s most iconic eras of planetary exploration.

Alongside her mission work, she has also supported the broader planetary science community through advisory and leadership roles and by mentoring younger scientists. Her academic background includes degrees in physics and a doctorate in geophysics and space physics, reflecting the strong scientific foundation behind a career devoted to exploring the solar system.