In the early 1990s, Nozette, as part of the Strategic Defense Initiative's 'Brilliant Pebbles', conceived the idea (and then led the mission) of the Clementine spacecraft as a means to both provide a test bed for the development of lighter, more cost effective advanced space technology, as well as to obtain data for the Moon.[8]
Nozette and colleagues' bistatic radar results from Clementine claimed to support the discovery of water on the south pole of the Moon. Although the significance of the result was questioned,[9][10] measurements made by subsequent Lunar missions have supported the hypothesis that the Moon holds substantially greater reserves of water than had been thought based on Apollo program results and confirmed Nozette's original findings.[11][12][13] The engineering model of the Clementine spacecraft, which Nozette worked on, hangs in the Air & Space Museum in Washington, DC.[14]
Nozette worked as a technical consultant for Israel Aerospace Industries between 1998 and 2008. After he left the government job, Nozette was heavily involved in India's extraterrestrial Moon probe, Chandrayaan-1. He was a principal investigator of the Mini-RF instrument on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and a co-investigator on Chandrayaan-1.[7] Nozette was also the president, treasurer and director of the Alliance for Competitive Technology (ACT), a non-profit organization that he organized in March 1990. In 2006 ACT acted for Mississippi State University in bringing together MSU and British microsatellite manufacturer SSTL to form Infinisat as part of a $20m earmark in the FY05 and 06 NASA budget for NASA Stennis Space Centre courtesy of Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran. ACT was also involved with the $40m earmark in the same budget, courtesy of Alabama Senator Richard Shelby, for MSFC’s lander programme.[17][18]
Espionage and arrest
Nozette was under investigation by the Justice Department for possible fraudulent billing on a NASA contract by a nonprofit corporation he ran, "Alliance for Competitive Technology". An agent for the NASA inspector general had found billing to NASA for expenses including, among other things, three mortgages, nine credit cards, a tennis club, pool cleaning, and the Mercedes-Benz Credit Corporation.[19] Documents found by the Justice Department while investigating these irregularities included classified documents and an e-mail in which Nozette "threatened to take a classified program on which he worked to an unnamed foreign country or Israel." This information was passed along to the FBI.
In September 2009, Nozette began receiving phone calls from a person claiming to be an agent of Mossad. In reality this was an undercover FBI agent. Nozette expressed a willingness to exchange American intelligence for financial rewards. His first payment was received upon his answers to a list of questions regarding American satellite technology for public access GPS.[16] The information he claimed he would hand over included classified information. A folder left for this contact in a post office box contained "information classified as both top secret and secret that concerned US satellites, early warning systems, means of defense or retaliation against large-scale attack, communications intelligence information, and major elements of defense strategy."[1] The United States Department of Justicecriminal complaint, however, does not charge that "the government of Israel or anyone acting on its behalf committed any offense under U.S. laws."[3][20] Nozette's contention is that this was a sting set up as the result of being forced to co-operate in a planned sting of senior political leadership responsible for NASA funding in Mississippi and Alabama. This is documented in his pardon plea.[21]
According to the criminal complaint, Nozette told his espionage contact that his parents were Jewish,[6] and therefore claimed a right to return under Israel's Law of Return. He also asked allegedly for two million dollars and a passport.[3][22]
Nozette reached a plea bargain with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to a single count of espionage, as well as pleading guilty earlier to the charges of fraud and tax evasion.[19][22] The prosecution of the fraud and tax evasion case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael K. Atkinson from the Fraud and Public Corruption Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorney Kenneth C. Vert from the Department of Justice’s Tax Division.[23] He was sentenced to thirteen years of prison. Held in custody since his arrest in 2009, Nozette received credit for the time he had already served. Nozette was released on November 13, 2020.[24]
1995 Space Frontier Foundation Vision to Reality Award
X-Prize Foundation New Spirit of St. Louis Award
Selected publications
Spudis, Paul D.; Bussey, B.; Lichtenberg, C.; Marinelli, B.; Nozette, S. (2005). "mini-SAR: An Imaging Radar for the Chandrayaan 1 Mission to the Moon". Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. 26: 1153.
^Stewart Nozette, "The Clementine Mission" Abstracts of the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Vol 26, 1995, p. 1061, doi:1995LPI....26.1061N (web versionArchived 2012-10-25 at the Wayback Machine)
^ abToby Harnden, "Top US scientist accused of trying to spy for Israel," The Daily Telegraph, 19 October 2009(web versionArchived 2019-07-10 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 19 October 2009).
^The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's FY2006 Budget Request: Description, Analysis, and Issues for Congress (fas.org)
^ abJim McElhatton, "Prominent scientist pleads guilty to attempted espionage," Washington Times," Sept 7, 2011. web versionArchived 2011-09-08 at the Wayback Machine
^ abScott Shane, "Ex-White House Scientist Pleads Guilty in Spy Case Tied to Israel," New York Times, September 8, 2011, p A22 (web versionArchived 2017-10-16 at the Wayback Machine)
^Office of Public Affairs | Noted Scientist Sentenced to 13-Year Prison Term for Attempted Espionage, Fraud and Tax Charges | United States Department of Justice
