Skip to main content

‘It’s a lot of fun to do this!’: Photonics, Mars, and the ‘Mohawk man’



Curiosity is spotted on parachute by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on its descent to the surface. Image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech

It’s hard not to have noticed the glee among those interested in space exploration and in fact science in general this week, following the successful deployment on the ground of the Curiosity rover by NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). If you missed it, check out the video and coverage on MSNBC.

There are plenty of photonic instruments on the Curiosity, from the fancy cameras that are sending back pictures, to the laser rock-blaster that is making smoke for analysis by the (photonic) spectrometer.

Optics and photonics are also making possible incredible front-page images, taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, of the lander parachuting to the surface.

The team who has worked for nearly nine years to make the landing and now the mission happen include NASA staff as well as contractors.

One of the latter, Ken Edgett, was a speaker at a Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) briefing Tuesday morning. He is senior research scientist for Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, designers of three of the cameras on Curiosity, and principal investigator for the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) investigation on the MSL.

Like many involved with the mission, Edgett’s excitement was obvious. “It works, it’s awesome, and we can’t wait to open it and see what else we can see,” he said at the briefing.

Specifically, what had worked was that the MAHLI camera had already returned the first color image from Curiosity despite not even being fully deployed on its two-meter robotic arm yet. The photo, showing the north rim of Gale Crater, was taken with the dust cover (and plenty of dust) still in place. MAHLI can focus from 2.1 cm to infinity, and has a transparent dust cover that opens and closes as necessary.

That is exciting. It’s also exciting to ponder just how many ways technology from the mission, as with all space missions, will be spun off for innovations that solve the world’s health, energy, communication, security and other challenges, and stimulate industry in the process.

Individuals involved are happy to use the Curiosity landing as an opportunity to share the important contributions of optics and photonics -- even if they haven’t planned to be in the spotlight.

For NASA’s Bobak Ferdowsi -- dubbed “the Mohawk man” -- the opportunity to promote science has come via a hairstyle.

His distinctive Mohawk haircut was selected for the event by a vote of his NASA colleagues, and was captured in news clips that generated major waves on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Asked about the extensive attention his hairstyle was attracting, Ferdowsi told a WhatsTrending interviewer, "It's a lot of fun to do this ... if my Mohawk helps encourage more kids to get involved in science, that’s great ."

Whatever it takes, the Curiosity landing on Mars is definitely an event worth using as a time to celebrate the contributions of science to making Earth a better place to live.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ten Ways to Celebrate the first International Day of Light

The first International Day of Light (IDL) is less than a month away. A global initiative highlighting the importance of light and light-based technologies, communities around the world are planning events celebrating IDL on 16 May. First Place Winner of the 2017 SPIE IDL Photo Contest SPIE will participate in outreach events local to our community in Bellingham, Washington, attend the inauguration in Paris, France, and host an IDL reception for our conference attendees at SPIE Optical Systems Design in Frankfurt, Germany taking place May 14-17. SPIE is also supporting local events in 13 different communities from the US to India, Canada to South Africa, who were awarded SPIE IDL Micro Grants to create activities that highlight the critical role light plays in our daily lives. Do you need some ideas on how to show your appreciation of light on the 16th? Here is our top ten list of ways you can celebrate IDL 2018: 1. Throw a Celebration:  Light up your party with light an

#FacesofPhotonics: NASA Intern Elaine Stewart

MIRROR, MIRROR: Elaine with the JWST at Goddard Space  Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland Meet Elaine Stewart: chemical engineering student, world-traveler, intern at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and this week's SPIE Face of Photonics. Elaine is fascinated by space exploration and how optics impacts our ability to "study distant stars that have never been seen before." Her research has taken her around the world -- from Bochum, Germany, where she studied material science and engineering at Ruhr-Universität, to Houston, Texas, to work on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) while it was under cryogenic vacuum chamber testing, to Melbourne, Australia, where she studied biochemical and product engineering at the University of Melbourne in 2017. And, when she's not busy traversing the globe, she is focusing on graduating from the University of Delaware in 2019 with a Bachelor's in Chemical Engineering. Elaine makes a point of remaining an active

Taking a Deep Dive into the World of Biophotonics

Gavrielle presents her research in Ven SPIE Student Member Gavrielle Untracht is pursuing her PhD at The University of Western Australia. She had the chance to participate in the 9th International Graduate Summer School in Biophotonics this past June on the island of Ven between Sweden and Denmark. At the school, sponsored by SPIE, invited experts from around the globe gave extended presentations on topics like tissue optics, strategies for cancer treatment using lasers, and entrepreneurship in photonics. Attendees also had the opportunity to present their current research projects, results, or ideas. Gavrielle shares her experiences of the summer school with this community in the following guest blog post. I recently returned from a week of great discussions and beautiful weather at the 9th Biophotonics Summer School on the Isle of Ven, Sweden. This experience, made possible (in part) by SPIE, was an invaluable opportunity for networking and a deep dive into the world of bi