Flights

Einstein Observatory (HEAO-2) :
Mission dates: November 12, 1978 – April 1981
Mission: First imaging x-ray telescope in space, operating in the 0.2-20 keV band.
Instrument: Focal Plane Crystal Spectrometer (FPCS)
Bragg crystal spectrometer for high resolution x-ray spectroscopy.
Participation: Wrote flight control, data processing and analysis software. Maintained three-shift data processing operations. Responsible for calibration of the FPCS using laboratory and on-orbit data from observations of the Crab Nebula. Performed observations of Crab Nebula and studied x-ray absorption of the ISM.

Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) :
Mission: Solar observations.
Mission dates: December 2, 1995 –
Instrument: Solar EUV Monitor (SEM)
Monitors the solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) He II line (λ=30.4 nm).
Participation: Fabricated 200 nm-period gold mesh transmission gratings.

Chandra X-ray Observatory :
Mission dates: July 23, 1999 –
Mission: X-ray telescope operating in the 0.1-10 keV band.
Instrument: High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer (HETGS)
Transmission grating spectrometer for high resolution x-ray spectroscopy.
Participation: Fabricated 200 and 400 nm-period gold transmission gratings.

Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) :
Mission dates: March 25, 2000 – Dec. 2005
Mission: Observations of Earth’s magnetosphere.
Instrument: Medium Energy Neutral Atom imager (MENA).
Imaging of magnetosphere using neutral atom emission in the 1-30 keV band.
Participation: Fabricated 200 nm-period gold nanofilters to block Solar Lyman UV radiation (λ=121.6 nm).

Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES N, O, P (13-15)) :
Mission dates: GOES N, May 24, 2006; GOES O, June 27, 2009;
GOES P, March 4, 2010.
Mission: Observations of Earth and space weather.
Instrument: Space Environment Monitor (SEM)
Monitors five solar EUV bands between λ=8-130 nm.
Participation: Fabricated 200, 400, and 600 nm-period gold mesh transmission gratings.

Two Wide-Angle Imaging Neutral-Atom Spectrometers (TWINS A, B) :
Mission Dates: TWINS-A, 5/2005; TWINS-B, 7/2006
Mission: Tomographic neutral atom imaging of Earth’s magnetosphere.
Instrument: Neutral Atom Imager.
Imaging of magnetosphere using neutral atom emission in the 1-30 keV band.
Participation: Fabricated 200 nm-period gold nanofilters to block Solar Lyman a UV radiation (λ=121.6 nm).

Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) :
Mission Date: Feb. 11, 2010 –
Mission: Observations of the Sun as source of space weather.
Instrument: Extreme ultraviolet SpectroPhotometer (EVE/ESP).
Monitors four solar EUV bands between λ=17-38 nm.
Participation: Fabricated 200 nm-period gold mesh transmission gratings.

Marshall Grazing Incidence X-ray Spectrograph (MaGIXS) :
Mission Date: July 30, 2021 (sounding rocket)
Mission: Investigate first ionization potential (FIP) effect in sun’s corona.
Instrument: Variable-period grazing-incidence reflection grating.
Observe the sun in λ=0.6-2.4 nm soft x-ray band.
Participation: Fabricating variable-period blazed reflection grating.

Arcus – High-resolution x-ray grating spectrometer (Arcus)
Mission: High-resolution soft x-ray grating spectrometer mission.
Mission dates: 2028-2030 (MIDEX proposal, selected for Phase A)
Instrument: Critical-Angle Transmission Grating Spectrometer (CATGS)
High resolution blazed soft x-ray transmission grating spectrometer.
Participation: Developing lightweight, efficient, alignment- and temperature-insensitive, large-area, high-resolution soft x-ray transmission grating arrays.

Lynx X-ray Observatory (X-ray Surveyor) (Lynx)
Mission: Surveyor concept study for 2020 Astrophysics Decadal Review
Mission dates: 2030-40s
Instrument: Critical-Angle Transmission Grating Spectrometer (CATGS)
High resolution blazed soft x-ray transmission grating spectrometer.
Participation: Developing lightweight, alignment-insensitive, large-area, high-resolution soft x-ray transmission grating arrays.
Instrument: X-ray Telescope Mirror Assembly
Participation: Developing sub-arcsecond figure-correction, film stress compensation, (ion-implantation, thermal oxide patterning, laser microstressing) and assembly (ThermoYield actuators, etc.) technologies.

International X-Ray Observatory (IXO)
Mission: High-throughput x-ray spectroscopy telescope.
Mission dates: 2020 (cancelled)
Instrument: Critical-Angle Transmission Grating Spectrometer (CATGS)
High resolution blazed soft x-ray transmission grating spectrometer.
Participation: Developing lightweight, alignment- and polarization-insensitive, large-area, high-resolution soft x-ray transmission grating arrays.
Instrument: Flight Mirror Assembly (FMA)
Wolter foil optic x-ray telescope
Participation: Developing air-bearing glass slumping technology for high-accuracy thin foil mirror shaping.

Micro Arcsecond X-ray Imaging Mission (MAXIM)
Mission: x-ray interferometry
Mission dates: 2030?
Participation: Mission study team.

Generation-X (Gen-X)
Mission: high-throughput, high resolution x-ray telescope
Mission dates: 2030?
Participation: Mission study team.

Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA)
Mission: gravity telescope
Mission dates: 2020 (cancelled)
Participation: Mission study team.