Michelle Thaller, live! Sortof.

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If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know that I

a) like Spitzer Space Telescope

b) like to educate people, and

c) especially kids.

So it was really cool when I stumbled on this wonderful animation of my dear friend Michelle Thaller, Education and Public Outreach manager for Spitzer, being interviewed by kids at SpacePlace.

If you’re wondering what she looks like unanimated (and she’s one of the most animated people I know), then here you go:

That was us in Chicago a couple of years ago. It was windy, so my shirt kept puffing out, and had nothing to do with the vast amount of good Chitown food I stuffed myself with that week.

November 2nd, 2006 5:27 PM by Phil Plait in Astronomy, Cool stuff, Humor, NASA, Science | 24 comments | RSS feed | Trackback >

24 Responses to “Michelle Thaller, live! Sortof.”

  1. 1.   Supernova Says:

    Hey, that was really cool! I liked the commercials for Spitzer. :)

  2. 2.   Mark Martin Says:

    Ah, I see you were out front of Adler Planetarium for that photo. What was the event?

  3. 3.   Michael A. Burstein Says:

    Wow. Michelle and I went to college together, and then we taught Astronomy together at CTY for three summers. Seeing her on the blog was a blast from the past.

    I’ve emailed her a hello at the last address I have for her, but if you talk to her again soon, please tell her I send my greetings.

  4. 4.   H L M Says:

    Astronomers are allowed to look this good?

  5. 5.   Lorne Ipsum Says:

    Only the female ones.

  6. 6.   Steve Eaton Says:

    From the same site, I learned that Kip Thorne used to play saxophone and clarinet! So did I (studied saxophone in college before switching to physics and astronomy), and so did one of my physics professors! Cool. The ties between music and science are incredible.

  7. 7.   Mariam Says:

    hey, thanx for the info (:

  8. 8.   Mariam Says:

    much appreciated ;)

  9. 9.   ThinCritter Says:

    Those cartoons are really cool Phil.

    So when are they going to interview you?

    Like, it shouldn’t be that hard to draw a ping pong ball eith glasses on it :-)

  10. 10.   DJ Says:

    Holy Nova!, your doctor friend is purty.

  11. 11.   RAF Says:

    Good interview, she DOES have the “excitement” of space deep in her being…

    Quoting Michelle from the interview…

    “I really believe that everybody in the world should be able to look at space the way we do, to know about distant planets, distant galaxies. To me there is nothing more important than telling people what we are discovering..”

    This is such a “basic truth” that it makes me a bit sad to think of those who will never understand (for whatever reasons) the magnificance, and beauty of the Universe.

  12. 12.   Thomas Siefert Says:

    Yeah, I got a puffy shirt too…. honestly…

  13. 13.   icemith Says:

    Well I spent a couple of hours following all the links and as a consequence e-mailed the link to enable my granddaughter (14) to hopefully foster a greater interest in Astronomy. With her high school assignments covering a widely diverse (oops – Tautology) field, I hope she can utilise the site for inspiration.

    Yeah, I was impressed with Michelle Thaller’s work and admire the company she has. More power to her. Gee Phil, you have cool Friends.

    Ivan.

  14. 14.   Nigel Depledge Says:

    HLM said:
    “Astronomers are allowed to look this good?”

    Lorne Ipsum said:
    “Only the female ones.”

    Hey, c’mon, guys, the BA’s hardly Quasimodo.

  15. 15.   Nigel Depledge Says:

    Thomas Siefert said:
    “Yeah, I got a puffy shirt too…. honestly…”

    Careful, there, Thomas – some people might start calling you a puff… :)

  16. 16.   Nigel Depledge Says:

    Hey, my smiley didn’t work!

    That preceding reply was meant to be tongue-in-cheek, BTW.

  17. 17.   Thomas Siefert Says:

    Nigel Depledge, They already do :-(

  18. 18.   Gary Ansorge Says:

    Steve Eaton:
    Yeah, music and math talent overlap the same areas of the brain. For instance, I’ve found it quite difficult to solve differential equations in my head while at the same time drumming to the edge of magic(sorry for the rip off there Mickey HArt).

    Doh!!!

    GAry 7

  19. 19.   CR Says:

    Cool, a Mickey Hart fan!

    So, guys on this thread… Michelle Thaller may have once had a crush on Carl Sagan, but how many of us have a crush on her? :-)

  20. 20.   Mike Says:

    Ding! And there’s an entry in the Loomis-Michael Observatory log books to prove it.

  21. 21.   John Says:

    Ever since I first saw Michelle on Universe, I’ve wished that I lived where I could attend any classes taught by her. She reminds me of all of my very best teachers – from grade school through college. Animated and with an absolute love for the subject. This comes through to the student and they respond.

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  24. 24.   Michelle Thaller Says:

    Thank you sooo much. Being an education person at NASA can be a little ego-deflating. Yes!!

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