Anny-Chantal Levasseur-Regourd
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Anny-Chantal Levasseur-Regourd | |
|---|---|
 Levasseur-Regourd in 2015 | |
| Born | 16 April 1945 |
| Died | August 1, 2022 (aged 77) |
| Alma mater | École normale supérieure Cachan |
| Occupation | Astronomer |
Anny-Chantal Levasseur-Regourd (16 April 1945[1] – August 1, 2022) was a French astronomer known for her research on comet dust and interplanetary dust.[2]
Levasseur-Regourd was a student at the École normale supérieure Cachan, and completed a PhD in 1976 on satellite observations of zodiacal light, under the direction of Jacques Blamont.[3] In 1977, Levasseur-Regourd was the only woman among 53 finalists for the ESA astronaut program, although she never went to space. She became a professor at Pierre and Marie Curie University in 1985, and retired as professor emeritus in 2013.[2]
She was the principal investigator for the Giotto Optical Probe Experiment, part of a mid-1980s ESA space mission to explore Halley's Comet.[2][4] The instrument was still active during the probe's flyby of 26P/Grigg–Skjellerup and was used to make the first estimate of how close the flyby was.[5]
