NASA creates Carl Sagan fellowships

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency says it's created Carl Sagan Postdoctoral Fellowships in Exoplanet Exploration, designed to inspire the next generation of astronomers.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials said the program will allow talented young scientists to follow in the path of the late Carl Sagan, a noted astronomer and popular science communicator.

NASA notes planets beyond our solar system, called exoplanets, are being discovered at a rapid pace, with more than 300 having been found. Sagan, decades before any exoplanets had been found, predicted the existence of such worlds.

The postdoctoral fellowship program will award stipends of approximately $60,000 per year, for a period of up to three years, to selected postdoctoral scientists.

"NASA's science-driven mission portfolio, its cultivation of young talent to pursue cutting-edge research and the decision to commit its genius to a question of transcendent cultural significance, would have thrilled Carl," said Ann Druyan, Sagan's wife and collaborator. "That this knowledge will be pursued in his name … is a source of infinite pride to our family."

The selection of Sagan fellows will be announced in February.