. | . |
IXPE Team Profile; LASP at Colorado-Boulder by Rick Smith for MSFC News Huntsville AL (SPX) Jan 09, 2023
As NASA's Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer mission explores black holes, neutron stars, and other cosmic phenomena - helping to answer fundamental questions about extreme space environments - it relies on the mission operations team at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, or LASP. Some 700 people - engineers, scientists, mission-operations personnel and data specialists - staff the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, housed on the campus of the University of Colorado-Boulder. For the IXPE mission, LASP flight controllers and support teams monitor and maintain all command and control functions for the spacecraft, as well as planning and scheduling, data integrity, and spacecraft health and safety. "I get very excited about IXPE science results," said LASP flight controller Kacie Davis. "IXPE is unique and groundbreaking because it measures polarized X-ray imagery - tracing light back to its source by precisely measuring its brightness and the direction in which photons flow from the source." Research leads in the IXPE Science Operations Center at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, identify targets and instruct LASP flight controllers to point at them for specific intervals, fine-tune calibrations, and collect the resulting data. All raw-data findings are processed and delivered to the primary IXPE science team within seven days of each completed observation. Most of the cosmic objects IXPE observes are part of a carefully managed, year-long science operations plan, but the LASP team also may get alerted to reposition the spacecraft to observe unique targets of opportunity, known as "TOOs" in mission-ops vernacular. Such phenomena - a new supernova, perhaps, or an overstuffed black hole trying to digest a neutron star - are rare, but the LASP team is quick to respond, at any hour. "It's a lot of work and a quick turnaround, like having a child," said researcher Stephanie Ruswick, who in late 2022 will succeed LASP's current flight director, Darren Osborne. "The other night, my 1-year-old slept through the night... but IXPE did not! Our team is always ready to step up and meet those unanticipated requests."
Trained students on console The summer prior to their junior year, students can enroll in an intensive, 12-week training program to join the team. They train side-by-side with certified LASP command controllers, learning all they can about executing flight operations, monitoring the health of spacecraft in flight, and troubleshooting issues in real time. Each student must complete a checklist of 300 mission-critical tasks on console and pass three written exams. The paid positions don't earn the undergrads course credit at the university, "but it gives them a definite leg up on their career goals," Osborne said. "It's a big commitment." Among those undergraduates now on console is Alexander Pichler, an aerospace engineering senior and the student lead for IXPE. He said there's no substitute for learning in a practical environment like this one, which complements and informs every facet of his classroom education. "It really has been an extraordinary opportunity," said Pichler, now midway through his second year on the LASP team. "Now and then, I step back and think 'I'm sending commands to a spacecraft that's up there right now, helping to expand our understanding of the universe.' It's a truly horizon-widening experience." Davis, who graduated from CU-Boulder in 2020 with a degree in astronomy before joining the mission operations team, agrees. "We're doing brand new things that have never been done before, poking at big questions a lot of people shy away from: How is this possible? How can this exist?" she said. "It's so exciting to be a part of it - helping to further a larger scientific conversation."
Webb reveals Milky Way-like galaxies in early universe Austin TX (SPX) Jan 06, 2023 New images from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) reveal for the first time galaxies with stellar bars - elongated features of stars stretching from the centers of galaxies into their outer disks - at a time when the universe was a mere 25% of its present age. The finding of so-called barred galaxies, similar to our Milky Way, this early in the universe will require astrophysicists to refine their theories of galaxy evolution. Prior to JWST, images from the Hubble Space Telescope had never ... read more
|
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |