WE ARE THE EXPLORERS

This past year I came across a work study job offer to be a MESA Mentor. MESA stands for Math Engineering Science and Achievement and is a program at the college level that works with middle schools and high schools to gather interest in these fields. Most recently I had a student ask about NASA shutting down. He said his dad told him that it was a waste of time and energy for him to want to be an astronaut because NASA was no longer sending people into space. And now we have a dilemma: Do I flat out tell the kid that his father is wrong and make the parent look like a meany or keep the boys hopes down? 


Well I came across that answer and I thought that I would share this with all of you. If you don't get chills then you must not be an EXPLORER!

Why do we explore? Simply put, it is part of who we are, and it is something we have done throughout our history. In NASA’s new video, “We Are the Explorers,” we take a look at that tradition of reaching for things just beyond our grasp and how it is helping us lay the foundation for our greatest journeys ahead. Written and Produced by Josh Byerly and John Streeter. Voiced by Peter Cullen.

Credit: NASA

Pillars of Creation

No matter what you believe there is no denying that the pictures from this article are about the coolest since slice bread. I mean come on it's like baby photos of the universe.

Where is the Space Cat?

New View of Eagle Nebula’s ‘Pillars of Creation’

2021: International X-ray Observatory

An artist's conception of the International X-ray Observatory.  Credit: Chris Meaney, NASA.

Before I had done my research on this telescope I was super jazzed about possibly working on this during the summer. This was a joint effort between NASA, European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). But like most things these days, when it comes to the recession in America, we as a nation have pulled out of agreement. 


In my previous blog I had talk about this being one of the projects that I wanted to work on. So without fail I am still signed up to work on it. Maybe this could mean that they will send me out of the US for the first time??? One can hope.


Quick and Dirty facts on IXO:

IXO will explore X-ray Universe and address the following fundamental and timely questions in astrophysics:

• What happens close to a black hole?
• How did supermassive black holes grow?
• How do large scale structures form?
• What is the connection between these processes?

IXO has a single large X-ray mirror assembly and an extendible optical bench with a focal length of ~20 m, and a suite of focal plane instruments.

Performance Requirements

Parameter	Requirement	Science Drivers	Instruments
Mirror Effective  Area	3 m2 @1.25 keV  0.65 m2 @ 6 keV  0.015 m2 @ 30 keV	Black Hole Evolution Strong gravity Strong gravity
Spectral Resolution (FWHM), FOV, bandpass	ΔE = 2.5 eV,  2 arcmin,  0.3 – 7 keV ΔE = 10 eV,  5 arcmin,   0.3 – 7 keV ΔE =150 eV, 18 arcmin,  0.1– 15 keV E/ΔE = 3000, point src,  0.3 – 1 keV	Galaxy Cluster Evolution Cosmic Feedback Black Hole Evolution Cosmic Web	XMS XMS WFI/HXI XGS
Angular Resolution	5 arcsec HPD,   0.3 – 7 keV 5 arcsec HPD,   0.3 – 7 keV 30 arcsec HPD,  7.0 – 40 keV	Cosmic feedback, Black Hole Evolution Strong Gravity	XMS WFI/HXI WFI/HXI
Count Rate	106 cps with < 10% deadtime	Neutron Star  Equation of State	HTRS
Polarimetry	1% MDP, 100 ksec, 5×10-12  cgs (2–6 keV)	Strong Gravity	XPOL

Hey I can read these now!  Plot of the effective area of the IXO mirror and focal plane instruments compared to those of current X-ray observatories, showing the large improvement at all energies. Credit: NASA/GSFC 

Plot of the spectral resolution of the IXO calorimeter and grating (lower limit) compared to current X-ray observatories. The bottom panel shows the emission lines of the various elements in the energy range 0.1-3.0 keV (color) and their sum (black). Credit: NASA/GSFC.

To demonstrate the orbit NASA came up with a clever picture:

IXO's planned orbit and distance from Earth

As you can see there is a fundamental question that arises here: What if it breaks? We are way to far away from IXO to get there and back in any sort of reasonable amount of time. Or sadly more likely: What if I never works? Houston we are a dead stick! 

And there is the rub. Maybe this is why NASA pulled out when this X-Ray telescope was just starting to make some headway. Or maybe the financial strain was just too much for the economy. Whatever the reason there are more and more projects like these that are being swept under the rug and I believe that it is our job as scientist to make sure they have their day!

Hubble's Successor, the James Webb Space Telescope: Deployment Animation

Thought you all would enjoy this!

NASA Internships: Hardware vs. Data Crunching

The setting June 27th of 2011, hot outside and I hide inside during the afternoon killer heat. I open my email to confirm my travel plans with my friend on the East Coast. Feeling pretty low after all the rejection letters I got from NASA I almost did not open that email. But I clicked it and boy I am glad I did!

Part of Something Special

Blocked by the guy in red!

I got the NASA Motivating Undergraduates in Science and Technology (MUST) Scholar award that summer. I traveled to the other side of the US for the first time in my life. Part of that package is I receive an internship with NASA this summer at one of their ten centers. I have now come to my dilemma of this story: Hardware or Data Crunching. 


I know that I will be doing my internship at Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland but there seem to be two flavors of Astro Internship. Right now I am in favor of working on the International X-Ray Observatory Mirror Technology Development. It is NASA's next major X-ray space telescope, will explore the universe to develop a better understanding of black holes, galaxy clusters, and the evolution of matter and energy. (Next blog post will have more details) This is something that I cannot already do in the lab at UCR. Then there is the Wide-field Imaging Interferometry Testbed (WIIT) that is an operating optical interferometer which is being used to develop and explore the practical limitations of techniques for imaging complex scenes at high angular and moderately high spectral resolution. 


Both would be great and add to my experience but what would you choose?