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Mn Space Grant Consortium home page A Publication of the
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Fall 2001Table of Contents
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BSU Professor, John O. Annexstad, to RetireProfessor Annexstad, Associate Director of the Minnesota Space Grant Consortium at Bemidji State University, will retire after teaching Geoscience (Geology) there since 1986. Annexstad's teaching assignments have included geophysics, planetary and space science, general geology, earth science, comparative planetology, oceanography, glacial and Pleistocene geology, astronomy, science technology and society, and honors integrative seminars. His research interests have included meteorites, Antarctic glaciology, geomagnetics, geophysical processes and cosmic materials. 
Before coming to Bemidji State University, Annexstad was employed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration at the Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas as a staff scientist. His last NASA assignment included engaging in future mission science planning, Antarctic research, and interagency/international cooperative science efforts. Dr. Annexstad received numerous honors and awards beginning in 1958 and then throughout his entire career. Most recently, he received Special Recognition, Antarctic Exploration from the Explorers club in 1991. In 1991 Dr. Annexstad became one of the original Affiliate members of the MnSGC. His contribution will be missed. 
2001 Sverdrup Visiting Scientist ProgramThis past April, Augsburg College held the 2001 Sverdrup Visiting Scientist Lecture Program featuring Dr. Christopher P. McKay. Dr. McKay is a Planetary Scientist with the Space Science Division at the NASA Center in Ames. The lecture program lasted two days including formal presentations, informal conversations and lunch with Augsburg students and staff, and opportunities for the general public to hear and interact with Dr. Christopher McKay. Dr. McKay's lecture was titled "From Antarctica to Mars: The Search for Life in Cold and Dry Places." In his speech Dr. McKay stated that: "There is good evidence that early in its history, Mars had liquid water, more active volcanism, and a thicker atmosphere. The main question in the exploration of Mars, then, is the search for an independent origin of life on that planet. Ecosystems in cold, dry locations on Earth - such as the Antarctic - provide examples of how life on Mars might have survived and where to look for fossils."
Hypervelocity Microparticle AcceleratorConcordia College located in Moorhead, Minnesota is home to one of the world's four and United States' only hypervelocity microparticle accelerators. This machine, brought to Concordia in 1975 by NASA scientist Otto Berg, has seen little use since the early 1990s, but that's about to change. Concordia College physics Professor, Heidi Manning, and California Institute of Technology graduate student, Daniel Austin, hope to use the accelerator to study dust. The accelerator will charge up dust particles and propel them at 4,320 to 43,200 miles an hour. This dust Manning and Austin wish to study, however, is interplanetary dust. Dust described as "tiny, talcum-powder-sized bits of cosmic dust constantly encountering the planets and moons in the solar system" by Manning. This cosmic dust, presumably left over from our solar system's creation, has enough force to churn soil and create craters.
Austin spent the month of July at Concordia testing an instrument he built to analyze the composition of dust in space called a flight mass spectrometer with the accelerator. Austin's instrument is nicknamed the Dustbuster. Austin hooked up his 2-pound Dustbustuer to Concordia's dust accelerator and sent iron and copper spheres (five times smaller than a red blood cell) flying. When the iron and copper dust hit a surface in the Dustbuster, the impact transformed the elements of dust into charged ions, which were then separated by mass. The data, information on what elements were present and their quantity, was collected on a computer and will take months to analyze. On initial inspection it appears that the Dustbuster did its job. "It was even sensitive enough to pick up contaminants,"Austin said. The Dustbuster is being considered for a comet fly-by mission in 2004. Because comets were formed at the same time as the solar system, data collected on dust from the tail of a comet would be "like taking a sample out of a 4 billion-year history," says Austin. Manning also wants to use the accelerator to better understand the impact of dust. Her research includes developing experiments to test many different materials. The first experiment was with imploded copper wire. "The dust must be identifiable by size and make-up as we need electrical charges to establish a range," says Manning. All kinds of substances, including compounds found in over-the-counter inhalers, will be used as test materials. Planetary and lunar surfaces will need to be recreated to shoot the dust at. Manning wants to study how dust particles affect icy moons with no atmospheres. The magnitude of Manning's research has yet to be determined, but her goal isn't to become a famous scientist, just to have her students see and appreciate physics. Although the dust accelerator has been sitting dormant for the past few years, Manning and Austin have changed that. NASA has also shown an increased interest in the accelerator. According to Carl Bailey, a physics professor emeritus at Concordia who worked with Austin in July, "the dust business is picking up." Article excerpted from Hope Hanson's Concordia Alumni News article, "Always in Awe" and Sarah Coomber's The Forum article, "Out of this world."
Bemidji State University Updates:32nd Lunar and Planetary Science ConferenceBemidji State University's Space Grant Program sponsored 10 undergraduate and 2 graduate students to attend the 32nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, hosted annually in Houston, Texas, March 12 - 16, 2001. Several undergraduate students participated in the poster sessions held on Tuesday and Thursday evenings of the conference. Diane Mason and William Caddy presented a poster on "The Beaches of Lake Agassiz, an Analog for Martian Shorelines." Luke Probst presented "A Prolific Meteorite Stranding Surface: The Allan Hills Revisited." John Chambers and Richard Hassing presented a poster that's been an ongoing project with several undergraduates at BSU, led by graduate student Brandy Toft, entitled "Are Cosmic Sherules found in Glaciogenic Sediments? A New View on an Ongoing Investigation." 2nd Annual Astrobiology ConferenceLuke Probst, senior, attended the 2nd annual Astrobiology Conference in Washington D.C. on April 10-12, 2001. Luke had an internship this summer at Johnson Space Center, working directly with Kathie Thomas-Keprta and Carl Allen. Luke studied desert varnish. Luke is attending Rice University in Houston this fall to pursue a doctoral program in space physics and astronomy. Luke has done public outreach for the space studies program at BSU. This spring he lectured to Bagley elementary students about BSU's space studies program and space exploration. Good luck to Luke in the future as he hopes to participate in the astronaut program! BSU's Annual Rocket Shoot ProgramBSU's annual rocket shoot program with Solway Elementary has expanded its program this year to include two additional schools, Bagley Elementary and Nevis Elementary. TEAM Industries, MnSGC & BSU Space Studies Program corporate sponsor is also sharing in the duties of rocket assembly and launching. TEAM is donating employees to help along side of BSU students in helping students assemble rockets. The rockets were launched at all three elementary schools in May 2001. NASA Aerospace Education Services Program AESPThe NASA Aerospace Education Services Program is a nationwide program designed to enhance educator awareness and understanding of scientific research and technological development. The NASA Center AESP Offices for Minnesota and Wisconsin are as follows:
University of Minnesota Logo to Fly in Space?Duane Carey, NASA astronaut, graduated with a Masters Degree in 1982 from the University of Minnesota. Mr. Carey has spent the past 19 years in the Air Force and is currently an astronaut at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. His first space flight is scheduled for January 17, 2002. Their mission will be to perform an upgrade of the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA allows the astronauts to fly small articles (pennants, flags, etc.) to space for organizations which have special meaning to the astronauts on board. Mr. Carey would like to fly something for the Aerospace Engineering department at the University of Minnesota! His wish is to give a little something back to the institution which provided him an education which “served him well over the years.”
Minnesota FIRST LEGO LeagueInformation about Minnesota FIRST LEGO League (MFLL) can be found at: https://hightechkids.org/. Or contact the Minnesota FIRST LEGO at 612-781-2203 or by email at: info@hightechkids.org. Minnesota FIRST LEGO League is sponsored by INSciTE (Innovations in Science and Technology Education). Other support comes from Honeywell Labs, Benilde - St. Margaret’s School, Honeywell Foundation, Medtronic Foundation, ADC Foundation, 3M Foundation, Retek, MTS Systems and Alliant Techsystems.
Announcements
2001 ~ 2002 Consortium-Wide Scholarship Recipients
2001 Undergraduate Symposium Abstracts
MEASURING THE ELECTRON SCATTERING CROSS SECTION OF GASEOUS TARGETSDan Kaffine and Dr. Marty Johnston The goal of our research is to use atomic theory and apply it to practical, industrial uses. Towards this end, we are measuring total electron-atom scattering cross-sections that are relevant to plasma etching processes used in microchip manufacturing. By using an electron gun apparatus, total scattering cross-sections of various species of gas can be found. Using those numbers as a baseline, theoretical physicists can subtract theoretical cross-sections, so those cross-sections that are impossible to measure or calculate can be determined. Before testing of unknown gases can be done, the system must be calibrated. By comparing results of neon cross-sections with previously published results, the calibration of the system can be ascertained. Now that the calibration of our system with neon gas is completed, the total cross sections of other gases important to the microchip industry can be found. We will be presenting on the total electron-atom scattering cross sections of neon gas and discussing our future plans. INCREASING THE RESOLUTION OF TOTAL SCATTERING CROSS-SECTION MEASUREMENTS BY IMPLEMENTATION OF TIME-OF-FLIGHT TECHNIQUESJessica Klaers and Dr. Marty Johnston The current work in our laboratory focuses on measuring total scattering electron cross-sections for plasma physics applications. In this poster I will present how we will improve the resolution of our system by implementation of time-of-flight (TOF) techniques. With the introduction of TOF methods, the error should drop to 3% with an energy resolution of 4 x 10 -3 eV, as opposed to the current resolution of 0.5 eV. The bulk of this research was done in order to customize the TOF experimental design to fit our current set-up. Previous TOF methods were researched and ideals from a variety of sources are employed. Such ideas will be presented and include the design of the deflection plates, the beam-sweeping technique, the role of the system electronics, as well as the calibration of the energy scale.
SWIRLING WINDS: CREATING A TORNADO VORTEX CHAMBERTodd Klein, Keith Ludwig, and Dr. Paul Ohmann The tornado is one of the most destructive forms of Mother Nature's wrath. In the U.S. alone, multitudes of tornadoes annually devastate hundreds, if not thousands, of square miles of land. Yet, despite the fact that tornadoes are fairly common, the mechanisms and mechanics of these awesome storms are not well understood. In an effort to shed light upon the mysterious inner workings of tornadoes, we are constructing a laboratory tornado vortex chamber with a design adapted from the work of Church and snow. This device will be used to model the formation of tornadoes so as to study the atmospheric conditions associated with their development (such as shearing winds, updraft velocities, surface friction, etc.). The resulting data will be used to construct computational simulations of tornadoes in the hopes that, with a more complete understanding of the mechanics behind vortex formation, better detection and early warning devices can be developed. ULTRA HIGH VACUUM MOLECULAR BEAM EPITAXY CHAMBER Bradley Motl Augsburg College's first ultra high vacuum molecular beam epitaxy chamber, completed in July of 2000, was only the beginning. We next tested the chamber to pump down to a desirable pressure and then turned on the two thermal evaporators for the first time. This presentation will show the methods of expanding the chamber's capabilities and also the deposition of our first thin magnetic films. ULTRA HIGH VACUUM CHAMBERTaher Omar Thin films are the underlying technology of all magnetic media, such as tape drive devices, magnetic RAM (computer memory) and hard drives. The goal of this project was to construct and develop an ultra high vacuum (UHV) molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) chamber. This chamber will provide the necessary clean, low-pressure environment for creating thin magnetic films. Currently, we have achieved pressures of 1 -8 Torr. Films can not be made until the pressure within the chamber of 10 -10 Torr.
DEVELOPMENT OF A NOVEL COMPACT SOURCE OF POLARIZED ELECTRONSMike Preiner and Dr. Marty Johnston In typical polarized electron scattering experiments, only one type of polarization (longitudinal or transverse) is needed. However, for a source of polarized electrons that is to be used with several scatteringexperiments, it would be advantageous to be able to create both longitudinal and transverse polarization. At the University of St. Thomas (in collaboration with the University of Nebraska, Lincoln), we have developed a source of both longitudinally and transversely polarized electrons that is ~ 1/10 the size of a convectional source. We have used a GaAs source combined with a unique electrostatic lens system tat allows the extraction of both types of polarized electrons. Details of the design, manufacturing and construction of the polarized electron source, electrostatic lens system, and necessary ultra-high vacuum system will be presented along with preliminary results. SPIN-POLARIZED TETRAHEDRAL MAGNETO-OPTICAL TRAPSPeter Steinhoff, Shane M. Tysk, Randall Schuh, and Dr. Paul
Feng We discuss our experiments with a spin-polarized atom trap. The apparatus consists of four converging laser beams in a region of non-uniform magnetic field inside an ultra-high vacuum chamber containing a tenuous rubidium vapor. The lasers are slightly detuned below the resonant frequency of rubidium. Atoms in the trap are bombarded by light from all directions, but to a moving atom, light from the head-on direction appears Dopper-shifted up toward the resonant frequency. Thus, it is more probable for that atom to absorb those on-coming photons, causing its momentum to decrease. Through this "Doppler-cooling," we reduce the temperature of our atomic sample to about 100 microKelvin. In a conventional magneto-optical trap (MOT), this ~ 1mm³ cloud of about 106 atoms is unpolarized, but we are developing variants of the MOT in which the spins of the trapped atoms are aligned. |
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Last modified Friday, 09-Aug-2019 08:55:44 CDT
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