Monday, December 12, 2011

Long Duration Balloon Animals

So I was as surprised as anyone when I found out that I was supposed to be working while I was down in Antarctica. I know, a shock right?! Was it so wrong to think that people go down there to have raging euro rave parties? Let's just say I got some bad information before I left for the trip (who'd have thunk that I'd find bad info on the internet...is nothing sacred?!?). Anyhow, my task at hand was beyond taking pictures and writing a blog. For the past 3 years I've been doing grad research at the University of Arizona. Specifically, I'm a slave..I mean a student researcher at Steward Observatory (essentially the astronomy dept).

In a nutshell, the project is a balloon telescope. So what's a balloon telescope? Is it just a balloon that's shaped like a telescope? Was it created by a balloon animal artist or clown? Well the answer to most of those questions is yes! A large part of it is definitely balloon shaped and though the team mostly consists of engineers, astronomers, and physicists, we're essentially just clowns with degrees! Example 1: these are literally the only 3 pictures of me working down there.

From Mike's Bi-Polar Adventure
From Mike's Bi-Polar Adventure
From Mike's Bi-Polar Adventure

Not even kidding. Hammering a gym weight, wearing a garbage bag, and wearing my huge jacket while sitting at my computer. And yes I graduated from clown college.

The best way to explain this project is that it is a radio astronomy telescope which will be flown from a high elevation balloon. The balloon, which will be launched in Antarctica, will carry the telescope to about 120,000' where it will remain for anywhere from 2 weeks to a month. There are some key reasons why a telescope would be launched on a balloon in Antarctica. First off, the elevation which the balloon flies is basically in space. At 120,000' the absorption due to molecules in the atmosphere is gone. Compared to a space telescope (which as you've guessed is also in space (you're so smart!)), it is literally an order of magnitude (10 times) less expensive. You also can retrieve the telescope when it's done flying whereas in a space telescope, it's out there for good and fixing it is out of the question if something doesn't work. Launching balloons from Antarctica is particularly efficient compared to launching elsewhere on Earth. The reason is that when the balloon flies, it will circle the pole, and can be made to land practically in the same place that you launched it! Pretty cool huh?

Though I pretend to be a lot of things in life, being an astronomer is not one of those things. Regardless, here is my understanding of the science this telescope is doing. The telescope will fly for between 2 weeks and a month. The name of the combined instrument is the Stratospheric Terahertz Observatory (STO). While in the air, it will be doing a galactic survey of the Milky Way galaxy. While observing at wavelengths that are a nearing 1 millimeter, the targets are nebulae, or gas clouds. Gas clouds are the precursors to stars. As the gas cloud collapses due to its own gravity, its energy level increases and the star ignites. Observations have been made regarding the thermal nature of the outside of these gas clouds, but little has been done to characterize the inside. This is what STO is able to accomplish: it can generate a thermal map of the interior of these gas clouds. In doing so, astronomers hope to learn more about how stars are formed. The underlying science is essentially cosmology, or the study of the origins of our universe. Whoooh! I hope you got all that :) My job as an engineer is much simpler to explain: to use my inability to socialize and communicate effectively to put the instrument together. Done and done!

The facility itself is a very cool place called LDB, the Long Duration Balloon facility. LDB is actually an off-site facility which is located about 6 miles from McMurdo station. Whereas McMurdo is on an Island (Ross Island), LDB is located on an ice shelf (Ross Ice Shelf). So every morning, the whole team commutes 40 minutes on the largest bus known to man to a balloon launching facility that's been built on a floating chunk of glacial ice. Besides all the ridiculous stuff, it's pretty much no different than my normal work life in Tucson.

3 comments:

  1. Is it a little having a permanent facility on an ice shelf?

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  2. nope the ice shelf is very stable. the sea ice melts every year but the ice shelf only shifts a little. apparently it's moving 300 ft per year but it is quite stable

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