question: When was the American astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist died who's introduction is in The Space Gods Revealed?
answer: December 20, 1996
context: Title: Bad Astronomy
  Passage: Bad Astronomy: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Astrology to the Moon Landing "Hoax" is a non-fiction book by the American astronomer Phil Plait, also known as "the Bad Astronomer".  The book was published in 2002 and deals with various misunderstandings about space and astronomy, such as sounds being audible in space (a misconception because in the vacuum of space, sound has no medium in which to propagate).
  Title: Jennifer Wiseman
  Passage: Jennifer J. Wiseman is an American astronomer.  She received her bachelor's degree in physics from MIT and her Ph.D. in Astronomy from Harvard University in 1995.  Wiseman discovered periodic comet 114P/Wiseman-Skiff while working as an undergraduate research assistant in 1987.  She is currently a Senior Astrophysicist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, where she previously headed the Laboratory for Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics.
  Title: Iosif Shklovsky
  Passage: Iosif Samuilovich Shklovsky (Russian: Ио́сиф Самуи́лович Шкло́вский ; sometimes transliterated "Josif, Josif, Shklovskii, Shklovskij") (July 1, 1916 – March 3, 1985) was a Soviet astronomer and astrophysicist.  He is remembered for work in theoretical astrophysics and other topics, as well as for his 1962 book on extraterrestrial life, the revised and expanded version of which was co-authored by American astronomer Carl Sagan in 1966 as "Intelligent Life in the Universe".
  Title: NGC 1614
  Passage: NGC 1614 is the "New General Catalogue" identifier for a spiral galaxy in the equatorial constellation of Eridanus.  It was discovered on December 29, 1885 by American astronomer Lewis Swift, who described it in a shorthand notation as: pretty faint, small, round, a little brighter middle.  The nebula was then catalogued by Danish-Irish astronomer J. L. E. Drayer in 1888.  When direct photography became available, it was noted that this galaxy displayed some conspicuous peculiarities.  American astronomer Halton Arp included it in his 1966 "Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies".  In 1971, Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky described it as a "blue post-eruptive galaxy, compact patchy core, spiral plumes, long blue jet SSW".
  Title: 13123 Tyson
  Passage: 13123 Tyson, provisional designation 1994 KA, is a stony Phocaea asteroid and an asynchronous binary system from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 10 kilometers in diameter.  It was discovered on May 16, 1994, by American astronomer Carolyn Shoemaker and Canadian astronomer David Levy at the Palomar Observatory in California, United States.  The asteroid was named for Neil deGrasse Tyson, American astrophysicist and popular science communicator.
  Title: 4065 Meinel
  Passage: 4065 Meinel, provisional designation 2820 P-L, is an asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers in diameter.  It was discovered on 24 September 1960, by Dutch astronomer couple Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten on photographic plates taken by Dutch–American astronomer Tom Gehrels at Palomar Observatory, California.  The asteroid was named for American astronomer Aden Meinel.
  Title: Delta Lyrae cluster
  Passage: Delta Lyrae cluster is a sparse open cluster of stars located about 1,220 light years away in the northern constellation of Lyra.  Centered on the member star Delta Lyrae for which it is named, it was first suspected in 1959 by American astronomer Charles B. Stephenson, then was later concluded not to exist by German astronomer Werner Bronkalla in 1963.  However, subsequent photometric observations at the Palomar and Mount Wilson observatories led American astronomer Olin J. Eggen to demonstrate that there was an actual cluster, at least for the observed stars down to absolute magnitude +5.5.  Eggen's study found at least 33 members.
  Title: Carl Sagan
  Passage: Carl Edward Sagan ( ; November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, science popularizer, and science communicator in astronomy and other natural sciences.  He is best known for his work as a science popularizer and communicator.  His best known scientific contribution is research on extraterrestrial life, including experimental demonstration of the production of amino acids from basic chemicals by radiation.  Sagan assembled the first physical messages sent into space: the Pioneer plaque and the Voyager Golden Record, universal messages that could potentially be understood by any extraterrestrial intelligence that might find them.  Sagan argued the now accepted hypothesis that the high surface temperatures of Venus can be attributed to and calculated using the greenhouse effect.
  Title: The Space Gods Revealed
  Passage: The Space Gods Revealed: A Close Look At The Theories of Erich von Däniken is a book written in 1976 by Ronald Story, with an introduction by Carl Sagan.  It was written as a refutation to the theories and evidence in Erich von Däniken's most famous work, "Chariots of the Gods? ", almost page by page.
  Title: Carl Sagan Memorial Award
  Passage: The Carl Sagan Memorial Award is an award presented jointly by the American Astronautical Society and The Planetary Society to an individual or group "who has demonstrated leadership in research or policies advancing exploration of the Cosmos."  The annual award, first presented in 1997, was created in honor of American astronomer, astrobiologist and science popularizer, Carl Sagan (1934–1996).
citations: Carl Sagan The Space Gods Revealed