Sunday, June 2, 2019
By:
Intern’s Log
Stardate 72883.9
“Breaking news: scientists have discovered how to shove an entire month into seven days,” something I wouldn’t be surprised to hear after this last week in D.C. In a blinding flash of faster-than-light travel, I’ve driven from Greensboro, North Carolina, to George Washington University in D.C, watched two of my college friends get married, gotten an official NASA access badge for my work at Goddard Space Flight Center, and been thrown into the relentless 200 mile-per-hour whirlwind of research, and, in the midst of it all, I found some time to get out on the river and kayak with the other interns. Let’s hit the rewind button:
This week marked my first week of research off the campus of High Point University. Within an hour of my arrival at Goddard Space Flight Center this Tuesday, I was introduced to my advisers—Adrian Southard and Larry Hess—as well as the other scientists and engineers working to administer and design the project that will joyfully consume the next 10 weeks of my summer. That project: the MiniEPMA, or mini- electron probe micro analyzer. With both ‘mini’ and ‘micro’ in the name, you can understand that it’s quite small. The MiniEPMA device is essentially an x-ray spectrometer that uses carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in cold cathode field emission to bombard a sample with high-energy electrons. The apparatus would be perfect for high-resolution spectrometry on the moon, comets, asteroids, or generally any airless body.
Suggestion to any future interns working on the MiniEPMA project: do any and all readings before you arrive! Coming in with an understanding of the project and the science behind it was unbelievably helpful and is what allowed me to get a running start.
The rest of that week saw me busy with my first assignment, and, thankfully, ended with my first reward: the Detector Development Laboratory (DDL). Larry surprised me on Friday with a trip into the clean room to get a jump-start on microscopy for the CNTs: I had to put on a full bunny suit, with two pairs of isolating boots, face masks, and a double-layer of gloves. The DDL seemed like one of those movies where they show scientists wading around in big white suits operating massive ambiguous devices, except it was real life: the scientists knew what they were doing, the devices had names, and the science was serious. I was floored, almost literally a few times (it’s weird to walk in those suits; I’ll get pictures for next week’s blog). After spending a little over five hours in the DDL and missing my usual bus to get home, I walked away with the first measurements of my summer.
Ah, but what is a good week without good people? Possibly rivaling my excitement to dive into my research at Goddard is my excitement to get to know all of the other AIP interns. It seems like we’ve already spent so much time together touring the city and hanging out! Bubble Tea at the National Mall? Check. Milkshakes at Captain Cookie? Check. Kayaking the Potomac? Double Check. Jackbox and card games? Double-Double Check. What’s next? Who knows.
Signing off,
Nolan Roth