Sean Solomon, former principal investigator for the NASA Astrobiology Institute team at the Carnegie Institution, has been selected to receive the National Medal of Science.

Solomon is now the Director of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, and serves as principal investigator for NASA’s MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) mission. MESSENGER is the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury and is currently completing a second extended mission at the Solar System’s inner-most planet. Additional NASA missions in which Solomon has been involved include the Magellan mission to Venus, the Mars Global Surveyor mission, and the GRAIL mission to the Moon.

The National Medal of Science was created in 1959 and is the highest scientific honor in the United States. Recipients are selected by the President of the United States from a pool of nominees based on their outstanding contributions to science and engineering.