Bradford A. Smith

Bradford A. Smith (September 22, 1931 – July 3, 2018) was an American astronomer and an associate of the International Astronomical Union. He was employed by the Voyager program, and discovered the moon Bianca (which orbits Uranus) on January 23, 1986.

He was an Associate Professor of Astronomy at New Mexico State University, a Professor at the University of Arizona, and a Research Astronomer at the University of Hawaii.^{[citation needed]}

Through his work of astronomy he was a team member or team leader of the imaging subsystems of several US and international space missions. The missions were Mars Mariners 6,7, and 9. Viking, Voyager 1 and 2, and the Soviet Vega and Phobos missions. With the Voyager 2 mission he discovered Bianca.^[1][2]

He soon changed his interest to extrasolar planetary systems, investigating circumstellar debris disks as a member of the Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS experiment team. Smith has four times been awarded the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement.^[3][4] He was a member of the IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature and was Chair of the Task Group for Mars Nomenclature.^[1][5][2] He died in Santa Fe on July 3, 2018 from complications of myasthenia gravis.^[6]

He has co-written three books:

• Strom, Stephen E.; Smith, Bradford A. (2015). Earth and Mars: A Reflection. The University of Arizona Press. ISBN 9780816500383. ^[2]
• Palen, Stacy; Kay, Laura; Smith, Bradford; Blumenthal, George (2014). Understanding our Universe (Second ed.). ISBN 978-0-393-93631-5. ^[5]
• Kay, Laura; Palen, Stacy; Smith, Bradford; Blumenthal, George (2013). 21st Century Astronomy (Fourth ed.). W. W. Norton. ISBN 978-0393918786.