Jonathan Eberhart

A legend among science writers, Jonathan Eberhart covered the birth and adolescence of space exploration for Science News from 1960 to 1991. He was the Space Sciences Editor for Science News and won the American Association for the Advancement of Science Writing Award for his coverage of the Viking mission to Mars. He was forced to retire from his journalism career in 1991 due to advancing mutiple sclerosis, and died from complications of the disease on February 18, 2003.

The Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society created the Jonathan Eberhart Planetary Sciences Journalism Award in his honor, awarded annually since 2009. Past recipients include The Planetary Society's own Emily Lakdawalla.

Obituary information from Science News.