Alexander Konopliv
Dr. Konopliv was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1960 and received a bachelorÕs degree in aerospace engineering and mechanics from the University of Minnesota in 1982. In that same year, he received a masterÕs degree in aerospace engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and in 1986, he earned a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Konopliv has been involved in planetary gravity analysis since 1991 as a member of the Planetary Gravity Analysis Group in the Navigation Systems Section of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Currently, he is processing the Magellan Doppler tracking data and combining it with the Pioneer Venus Orbiter tracking data to produce a 75th degree and order spherical harmonic gravity field model. This high resolution gravity field model will be made available to the Magellan science team for geophysical investigation. Dr. KonoplivÕs work on the lunar gravity field from the reduction of Apollo and Lunar Orbiter data provides the basis for determining the lunar orbit maintenance requirements for Lunar Prospector. This gravity field model was also used by the Clementine mission during operations for real-time orbit determination of the spacecraft. Dr. Konopliv has authored or co-authored a dozen papers on planetary gravity fields and celestial mechanics.
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