Education: Ph.D., Engineering Physics, University of Virginia, 2007 B.S., Applied Physics, Stevens Institute of Technology, 2000 Research Interest: Planetary Atmospheres and Magnetospheres Surfaces and Exospheres at Solar System Icy Satellites Spaceflight Instrumentation Laboratory Surface Science, Optics and Astrophysics Europa Clipper mission MASPEXCo-Investigator & Cassini mission planetary scientist Current students: Joanna Wedemeyer
Education: B.A. in Biology; minors in Physics and Math, Augustana University, 2016 M.Sc. in Physics, Minnesota State University, Mankato, 2020 Research Interests: Spectrophotometry of planetary surfaces Fun Fact: Formula 1 enthusiast Dissertation Advisor: Ujjwal Raut
Education: B.A. in Astronomy and Physics (it's one degree) from Boston University, graduated Spring 2019 Research interests: Planetary Atmospheres, Evolution, and Formation Fun Facts: Amateur Jazz Pianist I've built lots of things out of wood from scratch Dissertation Advisor: Randy Gladstone
Michael Starkey was recently featured in a Physics Today article regarding a paper he wrote on an interplanetary shock.
General Description High vacuum chamber for UV detectors and instruments Combined with a class 10000 clean tent the UV calibration lab can support prototype development and flight instrument testing/calibration Lab Capabilities Able to pump down past 10-6 Torr 4 degree of freedom chamber positioning system Hollow cathode UV source Accepts multiple source gasses (Ar, Ne, CO2, H, He) Monochromater selects zero or first order UV flux from 30 to 550 nm
General Description Lab space dedicated for testing ion optics and the breadboarding and development of prototype Multi-Bounce Time-Of-Flight (MBTOF) mass spectrometers Houses the Time-of-Flight Development Chamber Lab Capabilities Flow hood and ESD workbenches Time-of-Flight Development Chamber: Bakeable to 120° C Can pump down to ~10-8 Torr Multiple viewports
General Description The SwRI Ultraviolet Reflectance Chamber (SWURC) is a state of the art UV reflectometer chamber and data acquisition system that can measure the bidirectional reflectance from 115 to 180 nm over various reflectance angles. UV reflectance spectroscopy is a valuable tool for studying airless planetary surfaces. However, the lack of laboratory measurements of materials at far-UV wavelengths has limited the interpretation of remote sensing UV data from the Moon, asteroids, comets, etc. The SwURC provides laboratory-based vacuum UV reflectance measurements of water frost/ice, lunar soils, simulants, and analogs to support interpretation of UV mapping data from current UV [...]
General Description 1680 ft2 general purpose humidity laboratory housing several small projects Lab Capabilities Space Ice (SPICE) Chamber (upper left): Studies ice surfaces during substrate exposure to ions, gasses, and volatiles Small chamber for fast pumpdown (~10-7 Torr), temperature control to cryogenic levels, simple positioning system, Bruker Fourier Transform InfraRed (FTIR) spectrometer Polar Regolith Environment Molecular Impact Simulation Experiment (PREMISE) (upper right): Simulates volatile and gas trapping in regolith and cometary impacts Manual rotary feedthrough, Kimbal Physics sample chamber (upper right inset), temperature control (-100° - 120° C), UV quartz viewport Cave Mass Spectrometer (CMS) (lower left): Portable mass spectrometer for the [...]
General Description For developing instruments related to deep space and outer planet organic analysis Development of inlet systems, analytical columns, separation techniques, and mass spectrometers Houses the Multi-Dimensional Chromatography Instrument (GC×GC) (left) and the Resistively-Heated Thermal Modulator Development Instrument (right) Lab Capabilities GCxGC Instrument: Agilent 7890 Gas Chromatograph Secondary oven inside, external cryo-cooler Flame Ionization Detector (FID) to detect organics and a Quad-Jet Dual Stage Thermal Modulator for high resolution Resistively-Heated Thermal Modulator Development Instrument: Agilent 6890 Gas Chromatograph Two Stage Resistively Heated and Liquid Cooled Thermal Modulator Flame Ionization Detector (FID)
General Description Contains equipment and facilities for the purpose of simulating conditions unique to planetary atmospheres throughout the solar system Lab Capabilities Planetary Atmosphere Simulator (left image) can mix up to five gasses at a particular temperature, pressure, and flow rate Trochoidal-focusing Mass Spectrometer (bottom right) Agilent 7890A Gas Chromatograph (top right) one of two gas chromatographs High pressure oven capable of 100 Atm pressure and 500° C to simulate the surface of Venus Continuous flow fume hood operation monitored and protected by alarm
