Baruch S. “Barry” Blumberg, recipient of the 1976 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, was the founding director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI). When Blumberg passed away suddenly of a heart attack at age 85 on April 5, 2011, it was a huge loss for the astrobiology community.

This month, the journal Astrobiology features a tribute to Barry Blumberg written by current NAI Director, Carl Piltcher. The article is freely available on the journal’s website, and provides a background of Blumberg’s remarkable life, his groundbreaking research, and his unforgettable contribution to astrobiology.

Pilcher (2015) Explorer, Nobel Laureate, Astrobiologist: Things You Never Knew about Barry Blumberg. Astrobiology, Vol. 15(1).