During the three decades of flights, operations, instrument development, and scientific analysis and investigations, many individuals contributed to the effort and success of Explorer. Below we list individuals who were involved with Explorer with a very brief description of their efforts. With the passage of time and the loss of institutional memory we regret that some people may have been unintentionally omitted.

Joachim Kuettner – was probably the person who first suggested the use of a sailplane for research within the Explorers Club and was instrumental in the transfer of Explorer to ESSA/NCAR for scientific research. He fostered the success of Explorer at NCAR throughout his life.

J. Doyne Sartor – leader of the Cloud Physics Program at NCAR, recognized the scientific potential of a sailplane for cloud physics research and was instrumental in promoting Explorer within NCAR and the cloud physics community and developing the sailplane program at NCAR.

Vim Toutenhoofd – as accomplished pilot and scientist successfully made the flights of Explorer into a valuable research tool for investigations of growing cumulus congestus clouds and small thunderstorms. His meticulous oversight and documentation of sailplane operations, instrumentation, and flights into cumulus congestus clouds provided the basis for groundbreaking discoveries.

Ted Cannon – conceived the idea and developed the capability of using the cloud particle camera for directly taking in-situ photographs of cloud droplets and precipitation particles in clouds from the sailplane. His dedicated effort as scientific observer in Explorer and as camera system troubleshooter both in the air and on the ground made in-situ measurements of cloud hydrometeors a reality.

Jim Dye – was scientific lead for the Explorer effort after late 1970, his desire for and development of high quality, reliable measurements and keen interest in cloud microphysical and electrical processes led to the incorporation of cutting edge and innovative instruments and pursuit of scientific investigations with Explorer.

Dan Breed – first participated with Explorer as a student at CSU. At NCAR with his knowledge of scientific issues and of aircraft flight and operations he soon become the leader and manager of sailplane operations while making valuable contributions to the scientific investigations as well. During the last several years of the sailplane endeavors at NCAR, Dan led the sailplane effort including oversight, operations, and science.

Charles Knight – as leader of the Cloud Physics Program at NCAR after 1973 and as a key investigator in NHRE he oversaw, contributed to and participated in the sailplane effort in NHRE. His interest in and desire for direct observations of ice particles and hail contributed to scientific achievements of Explorer.

Andrew Heymsfield – made key contributions utilizing Explorer observations to better understand the microphysical processes in cumulus congestus clouds including the existence of adiabatic cores and ice formation. He used Explorer measurements to establish values of important parameters for use in cloud models.

Louis Breyfogle – system and development engineer for the early sailplane efforts. He was the first ground station operator with responsibility for data processing.

Jack Fink – system and development engineer for the sailplane from 1970 into the late 1980s. His vision and oversight and driving force for the entire sailplane system was key to Explorer success. His development with Peter Johnson of the Multiple Aircraft Position System (MAPS) provided critical measurements for all aircraft in CCOPE and all later Explorer flights in New Mexico and elsewhere.

Peter Johnson – operations manager and scientist for the sailplane from ~1974 into the early 1980s. Worked with technical staff to install and evaluate instruments on Explorer and worked on processing and analysis of measurements. His finding that Explorer temperature measurements in updraft cores were often adiabatic was a significant discovery that changed the thinking about mixing in deep cumulus clouds. He was co-developer along with Jack Fink of MAPS.

Ilga Paluch – using the reverse flow temperature measurements from Explorer coupled with the sailplane flight capabilities, demonstrated in a fundamental way that penetrative updrafts were the main source of mixing in the upper parts of CuCg clouds. At that time models used oversimplified assumptions about entrainment occurring from horizontal mixing between the cloud and the environment.

Gerhard Langer – developer and scientist of the continuous millipore filter ice nuclei sampler mounted on Explorer for measuring and detecting natural ice nuclei and AgI and organic seeding materials.

Bill Winn and Dan Jones – from New Mexico Tech were an integral part of the Explorer team starting with CCOPE. The excellence of the electric field measurements made from Explorer are a direct result of their dedication and demand for the very highest standard of instrumentation and measurement.

Andrew Weinheimer – came to NCAR as a Postdoc and was deeply involved in the development, analysis and publication of the measurements of particle charge in association with images of particles from the 2D gray-scale probe.

Walter Grotewald - instrument machinist whose machinist capabilities and innovative ideas of construction created many of the specialized instruments flown on Explorer. One could present an idea for a device to Walter which would lead to a highly functional beautiful, artistic looking instrument.

Dan Marshall – a technician/associate scientist within the NCAR Research Aviation Facility who during the first few years was variously the back seat observer, pilot and technician for Explorer. He was the main person who installed the Cannon cloud particle camera in the sailplane.

Norm Zrubek – FAA certified aeronautical engineer in the NCAR Research Aviation Facility who designed the structural changes and mounting structures to accommodate instruments for Explorer over many years.

Dick Friesen – a student, then technician/assistant in the very early years of the Explorer at NCAR. He assisted with sailplane operations as well as with integration of instruments into Explorer.

Dick Taylor – a key technician during the early years of Explorer at NCAR. He was also a frequent back seat observer on board Explorer in the early 1970s.

Chuck Abbott – made major modifications to the electrostatic disdrometer developed at MIT to make it a flight worthy instrument and participated in later studies with Dye that unfortunately showed that the disdrometer under-sized larger droplets.

Roger Schreck – developer of the ice particle decelerator/collector, a simple 1¼ in. diameter tube with about a 60-degree rounded bend at the end that permitted collection of ice particles in a silicone oil filled bottle chilled by dry ice. The collected ice particles were examined with a microscope after flights.

Mike Spowart – electrical engineer who worked on all electrical aspects on Explorer and was particularly instrumental in the development of on-board digital recording and for the sophisticated data stream of images and charge information from the PMS 2D imaging/charge probe.

Dewitt Harrison – electrical engineer who worked from early 1970s to mid 1980s on all aspects of the Explorer wiring, analog and digital recording and instrument systems. He sometimes acted as ground station operator.

Jeff Bogen - worked on all aspects of wiring, installation of instruments and hardware, and problem solving on the sailplane from the mid 1980s into the 1990s.

Tom Gardner – worked on many aspects of sailplane wiring and especially with the 2DQ device.
Joanne Parrish – a programmer who developed programs for processing the recorded data and producing plots for analysis and interpretation of measurements. Joanne developed specialized software for display and analyzing of images from the 2D imaging probe and the 2D-Charge device.

Robin Vaughan – played a key role in developing coding and then modifying the software programs that processed the recorded data and allowed the production of myriads of plots which supported much of the research that was done over a couple of decades of the sailplane investigations.

Paul Lawson – worked with Explorer as a student at CSU in the mid 1970s, then in 1981 as the pilot/scientist of Explorer during the Cooperative Convection, Precipitation, Electrical (CCOPE). He also worked on analysis of some measurements from CCOPE and in the late 1980s participated in discussions about the possibility of acquiring a motorized sailplane.

Bruce Miller – was contract pilot for Explorer from 1983 through 1995. He participated in the 1984 and 1987 field experiments in New Mexico, the 1991 research flights during CAPE in Florida, and the research flights in NE Colorado in 1995. His flying ability and interest in the science was instrumental in Explorer success. He also was the pilot for the filming of Explorer in the IMAX film “Stormchasers”.

Dave Younkin – was the main contract tow plane pilot for Explorer from early 1970s through the 1995 flights. He was always part of the team.

Technical support staff - Larry McElhaney, Bill Booten, Larry Baker, Remy Kolb, Bob Begy, and more

Students – there were many students who were involved in the sailplane effort and especially in the determination of particle concentration, size, and type from the tens of thousands of feet of cloud particle camera film and millions of particle images. They often ran routine data processing programs for specific dates and times and analyzed preliminary results and often assisted in sailplane operations.