University Calendar
NASA’s Work in Exoplanet Hunting Satellites and Robotic Servicing of Satellites
March 27, 2019,
3:00 pm - 4:30 pm
Location
Center for Environmental and Life Sciences - 110
SponsorPhysics & Astronomy DepartmentPosted InCollege of Science and Mathematics
Physics and Astronomyhttps://www.montclair.edu/physics-astronomy/
Dr. Kevin Miller, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Abstract:
An overview of three missions connected with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center at the present time:
- NASA’s flagship mission, the James Webb Space Telescope, is nearing its 2021 launch date. The James Webb, which is considered the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, will orbit at the Earth-Sun Lagrange Point Two where it will peer back in time, using infrared detectors, to the beginnings of our Universe.
- NASA is conducting pioneering work in the field of robotic satellite servicing in earth orbit. The RESTORE-L project, which is slated for a 2021 launch date, is expected to pave the way for the inception of robotic assembly for deep space exploration as well as the commercialization of satellite servicing.
- The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has been orbiting the Earth actively searching for new planets since April of 2018. The discoveries that TESS has made to-date have benefited from a careful characterization of the refractive lens assemblies on its science instruments.
The presentation will provide a detailed description of how the index of refraction of the glasses used to fabricate the TESS lens assemblies were measured at Goddard to an accuracy that enables the ability to make exoplanet discoveries hundreds of light years from Earth.