Mario Acuña (March 12, 1940 – March 5, 2009) was an Argentine research scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in the Space Plasmas and Planetary Magnetospheres Branches, and then as a Senior Astrophysicist.

degree in humanities and economics from the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, an MSEE degree from the Universidad Nacional de Tucumán in 1967, and a Ph.D. in Space Physics from the Catholic University of America in 1974.

[7] His research laboratory was involved in the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program in which they collected weather data for the military, as well as leading the world in development of scientific instruments that measure physical phenomena.

Dr. Acuña died March 5, 2009, aged 68, of Multiple Myeloma at his home in Bowie, Maryland.

Dr. Acuña's blog is occasionally updated by his family members, and documents some of the personal experiences of dealing with his illness.