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I cannot emphasize what a valuable and unique experience the NASA Academy has to offer. Throughout the summer, I was exposed to some of the top members of the space industry and gained new insights into the workings of a NASA field center. I had the chance to watch astronauts train in Marshall's neutral buoyancy tank, see a Shuttle main engine test firing, tour Spacelab mission control and witnessed the construction of a module for the International Space Station. The nine-week program was an excellent preparation for a career in the space sciences.
Currently, the Marshall Center is responsible for a wide variety of NASA projects, ranging from production of propulsion elements for the Space Shuttle to management of Spacelab science research missions and other Space Shuttle payloads. Marshall is NASA's Center of Excellence for Propulsion, and it provides NASA with a wealth of technical expertise in the design of space hardware. The Center's research laboratories and test facilities are among the finest in the world. As an Academy intern, I was taken behind the scenes of these facilities and allowed to experience first hand the internal workings of a field center.
Throughout the summer, the emphasis was about 70% on research while the remaining time was spent learning about various aspects of NASA. Each week, we were given the opportunity to talk with and question outstanding individuals in the space agency through the "fireside chats" program. We discussed various aspects of the space program such as technology transfer, the role of the private workforce in the aerospace industry, program development, fiscal/legal support and the future of the space program.
The Academy included a weekend in Space Camp at the U.S. Space Rocket Center, various tours of the Marshall research labs and even a trip to see a Shuttle launch. Due to the delay in the launch of STS-69, we were unable to attend the Shuttle launch, but we still went on a tour of Kennedy Space Center. We were taken on a VIP tour into the VAB and had a chance to see new tiles being put on the Space Shuttle Columbia.
I was given the opportunity to work on a couple of different projects during my stay at Marshall. The first part of the summer, I worked on the proposed Impulsive Solar Imaging Spectrometer (ISIS) mission, which is set for launch by the year 2000. ISIS will use a three axis pointed Fourier telescope (i.e., a spatial modulation collimator) in conjunction with a EUV spectrometer to image the sun and sky in gamma-rays and hard x-rays. My mentor, Dr. Johnathan Campbell, and I concentrated on the number of spatial frequencies measured vs. the sensitivity needed for imaging weak sources and found that two spatial frequencies will allow substantial gains in sensitivity.
The majority of my summer research was spent on a laser concept for removal of orbital debris. The project, now known as ORION, will use a ground-based, repetitively-pulsed laser to transmit a high intensity beam (on the order of 108 W/cm2) on the target. The debris particle then propels itself via the reaction force produced by the laser-driven ablation jet. The effect of an impulse on the orbit of a particle depends on a number of factors such as the magnitude and direction of the impulse, the object's mass, the geocentric distance and speed at the time of the impulse and the angle at which the object is climbing with respect to the horizontal.
As part of my research at Marshall, I produced a program to calculate the minimum altitude an object needs to be brought down to assure rapid re-entry. It was originally thought that a perigee altitude of ~400 km would be enough to eliminate most objects, but it now seem that ~100 km is more realistic.
Again, I would like to stress how valuable my experience with the NASA Academy has been and what a lasting effect it has had on my career plans. Thanks to the MnSGC, Dr. Greg Ojakangas (UMD Geology) and everyone at Marshall for making this summer great!
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