Brian O'Leary
Brian Todd O'Leary (January 27, 1940 – July 28, 2011) was an American scientist, author, and former NASA astronaut. He was a member of the sixth group of astronauts selected by NASA in August 1967. The members of this group of eleven were known as the scientist-astronauts, intended to train for the Apollo Applications Program - a follow-on to the Apollo Program, which was ultimately canceled. In later life he became an advocate of utilizing exotic energy sources to resolve humanity’s energy problems.
Personal
O’Leary was born and raised in Boston, and credits a teenage visit to Washington, D.C. with inspiring the patriotism that drove his efforts to become an astronaut.[1] Climbing the Matterhorn, running the Boston Marathon and becoming an Eagle Scout were among his pre-astronautic activities. O’Leary had two children.
Education
O’Leary graduated from Belmont High School, Belmont, Massachusetts, in 1957; received a bachelor of arts degree in physics from Williams College in 1961, a masters of arts in Astronomy from Georgetown University in 1964, and a doctor of philosophy in astronomy from the University of California at Berkeley in 1967.
Organizations
O’Leary became a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1975. Other organizations are: 1970-1976, secretary of the American Geophysical Union’s Planetology Section; 1977, team leader of the Asteroidal Resources Group, NASA Ames Summer Study on Space Settlements; 1976–1979, member of the nominating committee of the American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences; 1983–1985, chairman of the board of directors of the Institute for Security and Cooperation in Space; 1990, founding board member of the International Association for New Science; 2003 founding president of the New Energy Movement; 2007-, Fellow, World Innovation Foundation.
Astronaut program
While attending graduate school in astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, O’Leary published several scientific papers on the Martian atmosphere.[2] O’Leary’s Ph.D. thesis in 1967 was on the Martian surface.[3] Soon after completing his Ph.D. thesis, O'Leary was the first astronaut specifically selected for a potential manned Mars mission when it was still in NASA's program plan projected for the 1980s as a follow-on to the Apollo lunar program.[4] O’Leary was the only planetary scientist-astronaut in NASA’s astronaut corps during the Apollo program.[5] O’Leary resigned from the astronaut program in April 1968, and cited several reasons for resigning in his The Making of an Ex-Astronaut, which included the cancellation of the Mars program in early 1968.
Academic career
After O’Leary’s resignation from NASA, Carl Sagan recruited him to teach at Cornell University in 1968, where he researched and lectured until 1971. While teaching at Cornell, he studied lunar mascons.[6] O’Leary subsequently taught astronomy, physics, and science policy assessment at several academic institutions, including the University of California at Berkeley School of Law (1971–1972) Hampshire College (1972–75) and Princeton University (1976–1981).[7]
O’Leary was a member of the Mariner 10 Venus-Mercury TV Science Team.[8] The team received NASA’s group achievement award for its participation.[9]
O’Leary authored several popular books and more than one hundred peer-reviewed articles in the fields of planetary science, astronautics, and science policy.[10] He was one of the more visible scientists who participated in Gerard K. O'Neill and the L5 Society's plans for an orbiting city.[11] O’Leary suggested that Earth-approaching asteroids and the moons of Mars would be the most accessible space-based resource for space colonies.[12] O’Leary was among the earliest to coordinate observations and interpretations of stellar occultations by planetary satellites and asteroids.[13] O’Leary also wrote and edited popular books on astronomy and astronautics.[14] During the 1970s and 1980s, O’Leary was a regular contributor to the magazines Omni, Science Digest, New Scientist, Astronomy, and Sky and Telescope.
Political activities
O’Leary became politically active early in his career. He participated in a demonstration in Washington, D.C. in 1970, to protest the war in Cambodia. Richard Nixon administration officials invited O’Leary and his fellow Cornell professors into the White House to present their grievances and their meeting appeared as the lead story of CBS Evening News on May 9, 1970.[15] O’Leary was Morris Udall’s energy advisor during his 1975-1976 campaign for U.S. president, and served under Udall as a special staff consultant on energy for the U.S. House Interior Committee subcommittee on energy and the environment in 1975-1976.[16] O’Leary advised other U.S. presidential candidates, including George McGovern, Walter Mondale, Jesse Jackson, and Dennis Kucinich.
During those years, he also immersed himself in several controversies relating to NASA’s objectives, including its manned lunar landings, the Space Shuttle, and the weaponization of space.[17] O’Leary promoted a joint manned mission to Mars between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.[18] O’Leary twice traveled to the Soviet Union in the late 1980s to promote the peaceful exploration of space. O’Leary participated in a peace cruise along the Dnieper River in the Ukraine with the first Westerners to visit the area in decades.[19]
Moon landing controversy
O'Leary once stated that it was "remotely" possible some footage from the Apollo moon missions could have been created in a studio environment to avoid embarrassment on NASA's part. This started a controversy over O' Leary's beliefs whether the moon landings were real or not. In March 2001, O'Leary appeared briefly in Fox TV's "Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon," stating that "I can't say for sure 100%, whether these men walked on the moon. It is possible that NASA could have covered it up, just in order to cut corners, and to be the first to allegedly go to the moon." This has been a question of many hoax advocates for years but O' Leary remained quiet about the Moon program saying that he had "no interest" in rejoining the debate.
Alternative Beliefs
A remote viewing experience in 1979[20] and a near-death experience in 1982[21] initiated O’Leary’s departure from orthodox science. After Princeton, O’Leary worked in the space industry at Science Applications International Corporation in Hermosa Beach, California, beginning in 1982.[22] O’Leary refused to work on military space applications, which resulted in losing his position there in 1987.[23]
Beginning in 1987, O’Leary increasingly explored unorthodox ideas, particularly the relationship between consciousness and science, and became widely known for his writings on “the frontiers of science, space, energy and culture.”[24] He lectured extensively since the 1980s on science and consciousness, in places such as the Findhorn Foundation, Esalen Institute, Omega Institute, Unity Churches, Religious Science churches and Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres. He extensively traveled internationally during his investigations, which included visiting scientific laboratories and mystics such as Sathya Sai Baba. In the mid-1990s, O’Leary began to write about his investigations regarding innovative technologies that allegedly utilize energy sources that science does not currently recognize (also called new energy), and how those technologies can transform the planet and the human journey.[25] O’Leary believed there is an extraterrestrial presence on Earth, its relationship to those potentially transformative technologies, and their conjoined organized suppression.[26] O’Leary also participated in the Face on Mars issue.[27]
In 2003, O’Leary founded the New Energy Movement.[28] Shortly after his new energy colleague Eugene Mallove was murdered in 2004,[29] O’Leary moved to Ecuador, where he resided for the rest of his life. He continued to travel and publicly lecture on the subject of new energy and planetary healing.[30] In 2007, O’Leary presented a paper titled, "Renewable and Unconventional Energy for a Sustainable Future: Can We Convert in Time?", at the International Energy Conference and Exhibition in Daegu, S. Korea.[31] With his artist wife Meredith Miller, in 2008 he co-established the Montesueños Eco-Retreat in Vilcabamba, Ecuador, which is devoted to “peace, sustainability, the arts and new science.”[32] In 2009, O’Leary published the Energy Solution Revolution.[33] In 2010, O’Leary published “The Turquoise Revolution”.[34]
Declining Health and Death
O'Leary credited a natural anti-cancer salve named Cansema, made by American businessman, inventor, manufacturer and promoter of various herbal products Gregory Caton, with removing a skin cancer tumour on his back, contracted whilst in his 60s; he even wrote a testimonial for Caton to use in the promotion of this product. After having his second heart attack in 2010, he died at his home of intestinal cancer in Vilcabamba, soon after diagnosis.
References
- ^ O’Leary, B. (2009). The Energy Solution Revolution. Bridger House Publishers, Inc.. pp. 176–177. ISBN 9780979917646.
- ^ Among the papers on Mars published before O’Leary’s astronaut selection were: Rea, D.G.; O'Leary, B.T. (1965). "Visible Polarization Data of Mars". Nature 206 (4989): 1138–1140. Bibcode 1965Natur.206.1138R. doi:10.1038/2061138a0. ; O'Leary, B. (1965). "A Revised Upper Limit of NO2 in the Martian Atmosphere". Publ. of the Astronomical Soc. of the Pacific 12 (456). http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19660081599_1966081599.pdf. ; Rea, D.G.; O'Leary, B.T.;,Sinton, W. M. (1965). "Mars: the origin of the 3.58- and 3.69 mu bands in its infrared spectrum". Science 147 (3663): 1286–1288. Bibcode 1965Sci...147.1286R. doi:10.1126/science.147.3663.1286. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/147/3663/1286.abstract. ; O'Leary, B.T; Rea, D.G. (1965). "The influence of topography on the formation of temporary bright patches on Mars". Science 155 (3760): 317–319. Bibcode 1967Sci...155..317O. doi:10.1126/science.155.3760.317. PMID 17792055. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/155/3760/317.abstract.
- ^ O’Leary’s Ph.D. thesis: O'Leary, B.T. (1967). Mars: Visible and Near-Infrared Studies and the Composition of the Surface. Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley. http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19680002126_1968002126.pdf. Abstract in: Astronomical Journal. American Institute of Physics. 1967. p. 317.
- ^ http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/oleary-bt.html. O'Leary, B. (1970). The Making of an Ex-Astronaut. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0671772856. In that autobiographical account, O'Leary describes his astronaut selection committee interview in which his unique Mars credentials and willingness to risk a two-year hazardous mission to Mars were discussed.
- ^ Shayler, D.; Burgess, C. (2006). NASA’s Scientist-Astronauts. Springer Praxis Books. p. 154. ISBN 0387218971.
- ^ O'Leary, B.T. (1968). "The influence of lunar mascons on its dynamical figure". Nature 220 (5174): 1309. Bibcode 1968Natur.220.1309O. doi:10.1038/2201309a0. ; O'Leary, B.T.; Campbell, M. J. and Sagan, C. (1969). "Lunar and planetary mass concentrations". Science 165 (3894): 651–657. Bibcode 1969Sci...165..651O. doi:10.1126/science.165.3894.651. PMID 17780710. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/165/3894/651.extract. ; Malcolm J. Campbell; Brian T. O'Leary, and Carl Sagan (1968). "Moon: two new mascon basins". Science 164 (3885): 1273–1275. Bibcode 1969Sci...164.1273C. doi:10.1126/science.164.3885.1273. PMID 17772565. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/164/3885/1273.abstract.
- ^ Shayler, D.; Burgess, C. (2006). NASA’s Scientist-Astronauts. Springer Praxis Books. p. 524. ISBN 0387218971.
- ^ Bruce C. Murray; Brian O'Leary, et al (1974). "Venus: Atmospheric Motion and Structure from Mariner 10 Pictures". Science 183 (4131): 1307–1315. Bibcode 1974Sci...183.1307M. doi:10.1126/science.183.4131.1307. PMID 17791373. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/183/4131/1307.short. ; Bruce C. Murray; Brian O'Leary, et al (1974). "Mercury's surface: preliminary description and interpretation from Mariner 10 pictures". Science 185 (4146): 169–179. Bibcode 1974Sci...185..169M. doi:10.1126/science.185.4146.169. PMID 17810511. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/185/4146/169.abstract. ; Brian O'Leary (1975). "Venus: vertical structure of stratospheric hazes from Mariner 10 pictures". Journal of Atmospheric Science 32 (6): 1091–1100. Bibcode 1975JAtS...32.1091O. doi:10.1175/1520-0469(1975)032<1091:VVSOSH>2.0.CO;2. ISSN 1520-0469. ; O'Leary, "Comments on Mariner 10 and Ground-based UV observations of Venus”, Conference on the atmosphere of Venus, Goddard Institute for Space Studies, October 1974, pp. 63-68, and in same publication: O'Leary, "Stratospheric hazes from Mariner 10 limb pictures of Venus", pp. 129-132.
- ^ http://history.nasa.gov/SP-424/app-d.htm
- ^ http://www.brianoleary.info/cv.htm
- ^ O’Leary, Brian T.; O’Neill, Gerard K. (1979). "Space manufacturing, satellite power and human exploration". Interdisciplinary Science Reviews (Maney Publishing) 4 (3): 193–207. Bibcode 1979ISRv....4..193O. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/maney/isr/1979/00000004/00000003/art00003;jsessionid=1b1ecysoa7w9a.alice. ; O'Neill, Gerard K.; Driggers, G., O'Leary, B. (1980). "New Routes to Manufacturing in Space". Astronautics and Aeronautics 18: 46–51. ; O'Leary, B. (1982). Space Industrialization – Volume 1. 1. CRC Press. ISBN 0-8493-5890-6. ; O'Leary, B. (1982). Space Industrialization – Volume 2. 2. CRC Press. ISBN 0-8493-5891-4.
- ^ O'Leary, B. (1977). "Mining the Apollo and Amor Asteroids". Science 197 (4301): 363–366. Bibcode 1977Sci...197..363O. doi:10.1126/science.197.4301.363-a. PMID 17797965. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/197/4301/363.1.abstract. ; O’Leary, Brian (1983). James D. Burke and April S. Whitt. ed. "Mining the Earth-Approaching Asteroids for Their Precious and Strategic Metals". Advances in the Astronautical Sciences. Proceedings of Princeton Conference on Space Manufacturing (San Diego: American Astronautical Society) 53: 375–389. ; B. O’Leary (1984). Christopher McKay. ed. "Phobos & Deimos as Resource & Exploration Centers". The Case for Mars II. presented at the 2nd Case For Mars conference, Boulder (Boulder, CO: American Astronautical Society) 81-164: 225–245. ; B. O’Leary (1989). Christopher McKay. ed. "Mars 1999: A Concept for Low-Cost Near Term Human Exploration and Propulsion Processing on Phobos and Deimos". Case for Mars III (Ameran Astronautical Society) 204. ; Brian O’Leary (1985). "Rationales for Early Human Missions to Phobos and Deimos". In Mendell, W.W.. Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century. Lunar and Planetary Institute. p. 154. ISBN 0942862023. ; O'Neill, G.; O’Leary, B., eds (1977). Space Manufacturing from Nonterrestrial Materials - in Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics. vol. 57. AIAA. ; Billingham, John; Gilbreath, William; O’Leary, Brian, eds (1979). Space Resources and Space Settlements. SP-428. NASA. http://settlement.arc.nasa.gov/spaceres/index.html. ; Brian O’Leary; Michael J.Gaffey; David J.Ross; Robert Salkeld (1979). "Retrieval of Asteroidal Materials". Space Resources and Space Settlements. SP-428. NASA. pp. 142–154. http://www.nss.org/settlement/nasa/spaceres/IV-2.html
- ^ Taylor, G.E.; O'Leary, B. (1971). "Occultation of Beta Scorpii C by Io on May 14, 1971". Nature 234 (5329): 405–406. Bibcode 1971Natur.234..405T. doi:10.1038/234405a0. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v234/n5329/abs/234405a0.html. ; O'Leary, B. (1972). "Frequencies of Occultations of Stars by Planets, Satellites, and Asteroids". Science 175 (4026): 1108–1112. Bibcode 1972Sci...175.1108O. doi:10.1126/science.175.4026.1108. PMID 17797390. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/175/4026/1108.short. ; B.T. O'Leary; T.C. Van Flandern (1972). "Io's triaxial figure". Icarus 17: 209–215. Bibcode 1972Icar...17..209O. doi:10.1016/0019-1035(72)90057-7. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WGF-47317MS-1Y1&_user=10&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F1972&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=74d7640e73e11ad639dedddfbfd617e9&searchtype=a. ; R.W. Carlson; B. O’Leary, et al (1973). "An Atmosphere on Ganymede from Its Occultation of SAO 186800 on 7 June 1972". Science 182 (4107): 53–55. Bibcode 1973Sci...182...53C. doi:10.1126/science.182.4107.53. PMID 17829812. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/182/4107/53.abstract.
- ^ Brian O’Leary (1981). The Fertile Stars. Everest House. ISBN 0-89696-079-X. ; Beatty, J. Kelly; O'Leary, Brian; Chaiken, Andrew, eds (1981). The New Solar System. Cambridge University Press and Sky Publishing Corp. ISBN 0521238811.
- ^ CBS Special - "Colleges, Cambodia, and Confrontation", which originally aired on May 9, 1970
- ^ Shayler, D.; Burgess, C. (2006). NASA’s Scientist-Astronauts. Springer Praxis Books. p. 524. ISBN 0387218971.
- ^ O'Leary, B. (April 25, 1977). "Topics – Science – Or Stunts – On the Moon?". The New York Times. ; O'Leary, B. (January 20, 1971). "The Wild Blue Space Shuttle". The New York Times. ; O'Leary, B. (February 16, 1972). "Do We Really Want a Space Shuttle?". The New York Times. ; O'Leary, B. (April 6, 1981). "Space Hawks: Military Race to Keep Shuttle Flying". The Globe and Mail. ; O'Leary, B. (January 22, 1984). "Wanted: A Space Program that will Fly into the Future". Los Angeles Times. ; O’Leary testified at the space authorization hearings in the U.S. Senate; Congressional Record, June 29, 1971.
- ^ O'Leary, B. (September 3, 1986). "Will U.S. Join Russians for a Trip to Mars in 1998? / The benefits, both scientific and economic, of a joint-manned Martian expedition are incalculable". San Francisco Chronicle. ; O'Leary, B. (1987). Mars 1999 – Exclusive Preview of the U.S. – Soviet Manned Mission. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books. ISBN 0811709825.
- ^ "Peace Cruise on the Dnieper". Soviet Life: 16. February 1990.
- ^ O'Leary, B. (1989). Exploring Inner and Outer Space. Berkeley, California: North Atlantic Books. pp. 6–9. ISBN 155643068X.
- ^ O'Leary, B. (1989). Exploring Inner and Outer Space. Berkeley, California: North Atlantic Books. pp. 131–132. ISBN 155643068X.
- ^ Shayler, D.; Burgess, C. (2006). NASA’s Scientist-Astronauts. Springer Praxis Books. p. 524. ISBN 0387218971.
- ^ O’Leary, B. (2009). The Energy Solution Revolution. Bridger House Publishers, Inc.. pp. 180–181. ISBN 9780979917646.
- ^ Shayler, D.; Burgess, C. (2006). NASA’s Scientist-Astronauts. Springer Praxis Books. p. 524. ISBN 0387218971. ; O'Leary, B. (1989). Exploring Inner and Outer Space. Berkeley, California: North Atlantic Books. ISBN 155643068X. ; O'Leary, B. (1993). The Second Coming of Science. Berkeley, California: North Atlantic Books. ISBN 155643152X.
- ^ O'Leary, B. (1996). Miracle in the Void. Kihei, Hawaii: Kamapua’a Press. ISBN 096478260X. ; O'Leary, B. (2003). Re-Inheriting the Earth. self-published. ISBN 0939040379.
- ^ In 2005, O’Leary wrote the forward to Steven Greer’s Hidden Truth, Forbidden Knowledge (Crossing Point, 2006, ISBN 0-9673238-2-7), which is concerned with the extraterrestrial presence on Earth and related free energy, anti-gravity and other exotic technologies.
- ^ O'Leary, B. (1990). "Analysis of images of the Face on Mars and possible intelligent origin". Journal of the British Interplanetary Society 43: 203–208. Bibcode 1990JBIS...43..203O. ; Brian O’Leary (1998). "Carl Sagan and I: On Opposite Sides of Mars". The Case for the Face. Adventures Unlimited Press. pp. 40–44. ISBN 0932813593
- ^ http://newenergymovement.org/speakers.php#oleary.
- ^ http://www.infinite-energy.com/whoarewe/gene.html.
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3cBOq5-nZw - Project Camelot interview.
- ^ http://www.brianoleary.info/Renewable%20and%20Unconventional%20Energy%20for%20a%20Sustainable%20Future%20v2.html
- ^ http://www.montesuenos.org/.
- ^ O’Leary, B. (2009). The Energy Solution Revolution. Bridger House Publishers, Inc.. ISBN 9780979917646.
- ^ ”The Turquoise Revolution” (http://www.brianoleary.info/TheTurquoiseRevolution.pdf) was the cover story for the September/October 2010 issue of Infinite Energy Magazine (http://www.infinite-energy.com/iemagazine/issue93/index.html).
External links
Biography
O'Leary's brief NASA career is chronicled in the book "NASA's Scientist-Astronauts" by David Shayler and Colin Burgess.
Persondata |
Name |
Oleary, Brian |
Alternative names |
|
Short description |
|
Date of birth |
1940-01-27 |
Place of birth |
Boston, MA |
Date of death |
2011-07-28 |
Place of death |
Vilcabamba, Ecudaor |