Carl Grillmair, NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal awardee, fatally shot at 67.

Exam-focused facts from the 23 February 2026 current affairs briefing.

Key facts

Carl Grillmair, 67, was found shot dead on his porch in Llano, Antelope Valley on 16 February 2026.
He was a research scientist at Caltech's Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC).
Grillmair received NASA's Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal in 2011 for his 2007 paper detecting water on an exoplanet.
His research focused on dark matter, Milky Way structure, stellar populations and exoplanets.
Freddy Snyder, 29, was arrested and charged with Grillmair’s murder, carjacking and first-degree burglary.
On 20 December 2025 Grillmair had called deputies to remove Snyder from his property.