07 Jun Isaias Gutierrez, LASP, Week 1

Hey everyone, My name is Isaias Gutierrez and I was fortunate enough to be able to have an internship at LASP ( The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics) in Boulder Colorado with CU. Im interning with Alex Birck under Dmitry Vorobiev and Briana Indhal. We are also working alongside many undergraduate and graduate students and learning about their college experiences which is very exciting!rnrn

Dmitry Vorobiev, Briana Indahl, and Alex Sico working on the CubeSat SPRITE

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This first week we got to do some exciting things like going into the clean room on our first day, working on a practice deployment mechanism for the satellite SPRITE  and starting a new project on asteroid samples but other than that there was a lot of touring and training. We learnt all the safety protocols and procedures for the chemicals which included learning how to handle hazardous materials to protect ourselves and others while maintaining regulatory compliance with state laws, and preventing the contamination of anything else in the lab. For the clean room, we learnt how to follow strict contamination control protocols to prevent dust, oils, and microbes from damaging sensitive spaceflight hardware. And finally, ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) so we can have proper grounding protocols to prevent static electricity from destroying sensitive electronic components on any of the hardware.

rnOther than the trainings, on the first few days we sat in meetings about the planning of the CubeSat SPRITE (which is going to study how gas and radiation interact in deep space through the use of an ultraviolet spectrograph, and is going to test new technology for future missions), went into the clean room to see how the process of working on the satellite goes, went to coffee talks, and started a program named ASTRO Academy, which bridges concepts learned in the classroom to real projects at LASP.rnrn

Practice deployment mechanism for the solar panels on the CubeSat Sprite (PAM)

rnrnThe project that we worked on was a practice deployment mechanism for the solar panels on the CubeSat SPRITE. We created this because the solar panels are spring-loaded to open and a nylon string is threaded through to keep it closed until it gets to space. Once in space an electrical current is passed to burn the wire and allow the panel to shoot open. The string is very delicate and needs to be tied in a specific way, so in order to practice the knot without damaging the hardware in the satellite we created a model to practice on.rnrnAnother project we started on the last day was a camera/UV system to analyze asteroid samples via UV light. This week we built the stand where we will analyze the samples and downloaded the software onto the computer we are using. We started this project on Friday and will work on this a lot more next week.rnrnOutside the lab, we are settling with our host family, Jean and Eben Coulter, and getting familiar with their house alongside with Boulder. Figuring out how their fridge works took us a while but we have it down now, and is filled with Chobani yogurts. We have explored the neighborhood and getting accustomed to the big city life. On Friday night we soaked in the warm Boulder community as we walked the “famous” Pearl Street. We also toured the NSF NCAR Mesa Laboratory (Visitor Center), where we learned all about the atmosphere with their amazing interactive displays while we absorbed the breathtaking views of the Flatirons. I skated around and toured the CU campus for the first time and almost died going down a gnarly hill wayyy too fast.rnrn

CU Boulder campus sunset

rnrnThroughout the week we made healthy breakfast, lunches, and filling dinners like tacos, ravioli, and grilled brats. We packed every lunch except for Friday because of an unexpected department cookout. We had what felt like hundreds of hotdogs, chili-dogs, and brats with tens of different types of chips and drinks. Everyone sat around the outdoor tables and I felt very accepted into the LASP community and think im going to have a very fun next couple of weeks.rnrnIn general, I’ve learned and experienced many things throughout the week and couldn’t be more grateful for this amazing opportunity with the incredible LASP program!rnrn rnrn rnrn rnrn