BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Today marks the 50th anniversary of arguably the greatest scientific feat in humanity’s history as the crew of Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin of Apollo 11 slipped the surly bonds of Earth on its way to the inaugural lunar landing.
Everyone remembers Armstrong’s immortal words upon stepping upon the Moon’s surface, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” to rank as the first word’s from a human on the lunar surface.
However, the first words from the Moon following the termination of the Apollo missions with Apollo 17 on December 9-17, 1972, have a connection to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) men’s water polo team via National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scientist Michael Wargo.
Wargo, who passed away on August 4, 2013 of a heart-related problem in his home in Alexandria, Va., was chief exploration scientist for NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission.
He had many remarkable contributions to exploration science throughout his 20-year career at NASA as he was known as a science ambassador to the public, and for his ability to decipher complex science for students and nontechnical audiences.
Working in a primarily engineering directorate at NASA, Wargo asserted common goals across disciplines within the agency. He was passionate about scientific discoveries to enable human exploration in deep space, and worked with planetary researchers around the world to develop robotic discovery missions.
“Mike’s passion for exploration and planetary science was an inspiration to us all,” said William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “His enthusiasm permeated every part of his career, and helped fuel our global desire to learn more about our solar system.”
Born in 1951 and a native of Clairton in western Pennsylvania, Wargo graduated from MIT, with a bachelor’s degree in earth and planetary science. A member of the lacrosse and water polo teams for the Engineers, he rode motorcycles and was a scuba diver and rock climber. His sense of humor was legendary as was his hearty laugh and booming voice, which colleagues in NASA later nicknamed “Radio-Free Wargo.”
Following his bachelor degree time at MIT, he received a doctorate in materials science from the school in 1982. At MIT, he was recognized with the John Wulff Award for excellence in teaching and the Hugh Hampton Young Memorial Fund Prize for exhibiting leadership and creativity while maintaining exceptionally broad and interdisciplinary interests.
The Wargo family connection to MIT is profound as brothers John, Michael, David and Robert (from oldest to youngest), became the first generation of their family to go to college. Further, all four of them graduated from MIT, an accomplishment so profound that the school presented their parents with an award in 1978 for “exemplary parenthood.”
He began his career at NASA in 1991 by turning a fledgling microgravity research division into a world-class program. NASA drew on Mr. Wargo’s ability to explain complex scientific findings in straightforward terms as a spokesman at agency news conferences. He received numerous awards including NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal and seven group achievement awards.
As chief exploration scientist, Wargo was a leader in the development of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Lunar CRator Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, which launched together to the Moon in 2009. LRO remains in orbit, relaying high-resolution science observations, while LCROSS intentionally impacted the Moon to dig up and eject subsurface material for compositional analyses. The missions have revealed a surprisingly active Moon with water molecules and a water cycle (appropriate for a former water polo player), and found evidence that the lunar soil within shadowy craters is rich in useful volatiles. Building on these discoveries, NASA is developing several CubeSat orbital missions (Lunar Flashlight, LunaH-MAP, and Lunar IceCube) to better identify the location and abundance of water-ice on the Moon, and Resource Prospector, a rover and instrument suite currently in formulation, to prove the capability to harvest lunar resources.
He was a member of the team that is planning the next robotic mission to Mars in 2020 and worked gathering crucial scientific information needed to allow humans to be sent safely to the moon, Mars and near-Earth asteroids. Much of his work has helped develop a “road map” for human and robotic space exploration for the next two decades.
On October 9, 2013, his was the first voice heard from the Moon since Apollo 17 as he stated in a recording of the LCROSS mission state, “The true spirit of these missions is that science enables exploration and exploration enables science.” The broadcast date — October 9 — was chosen because it was the fourth anniversary of the LCROSS project that found water on the moon — appropriate for a former MIT water polo player.
For his work and his reputation, NASA created the Michael J. Wargo Exploration Award, which is given to a scientist or an engineer who has “significantly contributed to the integration of exploration and planetary science throughout their career.” The accolades joined The Shoemaker Distinguished Scientist medal, the Susan Mahan Niebur Award and the Angioletta Coradini Award as all honors that recognize outstanding achievement in exploration science.
The winners of the awards are nominated by their academic peers and are selected by the Director of the Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) – an institute that recognizes the integration of exploration and science.
Although he left Earth and his voice departed the Moon’s surface, his name will forever be attached to the Moon. In January 2018, the International Astronomical Union – the naming authority for celestial bodies which reserves the naming of Moon craters for deceased astronauts and cosmonauts, as well as deceased scientists and polar explorers who have made outstanding or fundamental contributions to their field – bestowed on him the honor of naming Wargo Crater – an 8.6-mile (13.8 km) diameter impact crater sitting on the northwest edge of Joule T crater, on the far side of the Moon.
The formation of Wargo crater had a big impact on its surroundings. An asteroid measuring several thousand feet in diameter slammed into the steeply sloping rim of Joule T crater (24 miles or 38 km in diameter) at hyper-velocity (3 to 12 miles per second) forming a crater over 3,000 feet (914 meters) deep. Massive amounts of instant magma crested the lower eastern rim and spread across the floor of Joule T.
A significant impact on the Moon – appropriate for a man who made a bigger impact on space exploration, the advancement of science and the quest to continue reaching new heights.
