He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Helga, his children Kirsten and Erik, and his granddaughters Brooke and Danielle.
Born in Germany in 1933, Dr. Niemann graduated from the University of Michigan and spent over 38 years as a Researcher and then as the Head of the Atmospheric Experiment Branch and the Laboratory for Atmospheres at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. He worked on the Pioneer Venus Mission and was a Principal Investigator on Jupiter’s Galileo Probe and on the Huygens Probe on Saturn’s Cassini spacecraft.
His many awards include NASA’s Distinguished Service Medal for his career contributions in mass spectrometry, the Lindsay Award for Goddard scientists who achieve major scientific advances, and the Al Seiff Memorial Award for outstanding contributions to the understanding of atmospheres of planets or moons through the use of high-speed probes that enter those atmospheres.
A memorial gathering will be held on Thursday, July 18, 2013 from 5-7 pm with a funeral service at 6pm at the Witzke Funeral Homes, Inc., 5555 Twin Knolls Road, Columbia, MD 21045. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Gilchrist Hospice Care at www.gilchristhospice.org/giving or sent to 5537 Twin Knolls Road, Suite 434, Columbia, MD 21045.
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