Guenter E. Brueckner was a solar physicist who spent much of his career at the US Naval Research Lab. His life's efforts included research into aspects of the sun relevant to radio signal quality, terrestrial weather, space weather and applications of plasmas such as in fusion energy. He is known for work on coronal mass ejection

Coronal mass ejection

A coronal mass ejection is a massive burst of solar wind, other light isotope plasma, and magnetic fields rising above the solar corona or being released into space....

s; various innovations in solar observing optical systems, in particular the Skylab

Skylab

Skylab was a space station launched and operated by NASA, the space agency of the United States. Skylab orbited the Earth from 1973 to 1979, and included a workshop, a solar observatory, and other systems. It was launched unmanned by a modified Saturn V rocket, with a mass of...

 mission, design and development (with John-David F. Bartoe

John-David F. Bartoe

John-David Francis Bartoe is an American astrophysicist. He is the Research Manager for the International Space Station at NASA's Johnson Space Center. He provides oversight for the Program Manager concerning the research capability, research hardware, and research plans of the ISS...

) of the Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SUSIM) on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite

Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite

The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite was a NASA-operated orbital observatory whose mission was to study the Earth’s atmosphere, particularly the protective ozone layer. The satellite was deployed from Space Shuttle Discovery during the STS-48 mission on September 15, 1991...

 (UARS); and for being the principal investigator for the LASCO instrument.

In the 1970s, he worked with Richard Tousey

Richard Tousey

Richard Tousey was an American astronomer. He was a pioneer in the observation of the sun from space.In 1960 he was awarded the by the OSA....

 to make several notable observations including the coronal mass ejection

Coronal mass ejection

A coronal mass ejection is a massive burst of solar wind, other light isotope plasma, and magnetic fields rising above the solar corona or being released into space....

s mentioned above, lithium

Lithium

Lithium is a soft, silver-white metal that belongs to the alkali metal group of chemical elements. It is represented by the symbol Li, and it has the atomic number 3. Under standard conditions it is the lightest metal and the least dense solid element. Like all alkali metals, lithium is highly...

 ion

Ion

An ion is an atom or molecule in which the total number of electrons is not equal to the total number of protons, giving it a net positive or negative electrical charge. The name was given by physicist Michael Faraday for the substances that allow a current to pass between electrodes in a...

s in solar flare

Solar flare

A solar flare is a sudden brightening observed over the Sun surface or the solar limb, which is interpreted as a large energy release of up to 6 × 1025 joules of energy . The flare ejects clouds of electrons, ions, and atoms through the corona into space. These clouds typically reach Earth a day...

s, and various other things.