Science lead for more than 30 of 50 total career flights aboard NASA’s SOFIA, managing the instrument & scientific operations teams from proposals to in-flight operations; managed documentation, deliverables, and program requirements.

Instrument and Support Scientist for the High-resolution Airborne Wideband Camera Plus (HAWC+), a facility instrument aboard NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). HAWC+ started life as HAWC, developed by Al Harper at Yerkes Observatory/University of Chicago, but was upgraded before flight by a team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory led by Darren Dowell.

HAWC+ was a far-infrared camera and imaging polarimeter in five broad bands between 50 and 240 microns, with spatial resolutions of ~5 – 20 arcseconds with fields of view ~2 – 10 arcminutes, respectively. HAWC+ utilized three 31x40 pixel arrays of transition edge sensors, cooled by an adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator to an operating temperature of about 0.1 – 0.2 K.

Supported HAWC+ through initial delivery, commissioning, and formal acceptance.

Science Highlights

  • Multiwavelength Polarimetric Observations of OMC-1 Paper
  • Polarimetry of M82 and NGC 253 Paper
  • Magnetic Field Geometry in M51 and NGC 891 Paper

Images

HAWC+ unofficial mascot, Henery Hawk HAWC+ in the choo-choo lab configuration HAWC+ onboard SOFIA for flights