Kim Weaver – Astrophysicist and Pioneer in X-ray Astronomy

When Kim Weaver looked up at the stars from her father’s campground in Monongalia County, she was inspired to find out what was out there.  By her early 20s, this WVU graduate had already discovered a galaxy.  She was also among the first scientists in the world to study Black Holes, using an X-ray telescope built at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.  Her discoveries helped to launch whole new fields of astronomy.

Dr. Weaver is the author of The Violent Universe: Joyrides Through the X-Ray Cosmos, which explains more about the universe to a general audience.  And for many years she’s been the public face of NASA at Goddard, appearing in many films and television programs.

We travel with Weaver back to her father’s campground, where she spent her childhood summers working – sweeping floors, riding her bike, and most of all, looking at the night sky.