Going to NASA Social! | Eur Ing Dr James P. Howard II Going to NASA Social! | Eur Ing Dr James P. Howard II

Dr James P. Howard, II
A Mathematician, a Different Kind of Mathematician, and a Statistician

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Going to NASA Social!

Good news, everyone!

I’ve been accepted to participate in the NASA Social program on November 3rd, in a day called “Space Lasers.” This is going to be awesome and I will spend the day at Goddard Space Flight Center and:

  • Tour the facility where the laser instrument on NASA’s ICESat-2 satellite – called ATLAS, for Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System – is undergoing testing before its 2018 launch
  • See the Global Ecosystem and Dynamics Investigation (GEDI – pronounced “Jedi”) instrument as it is being built. GEDI launches in 2019 to the International Space Station, where it will obtain NASA’s first high-resolution laser ranging observations of the 3D structure of Earth.
  • Learn how all different types of NASA engineers and scientists use lasers for everything from studying the Earth, to space communications, to guiding robotic servicing missions.
  • Experience one of NASA’s current communications networks in 360 degrees using virtual reality glasses and see a demonstration of laser communications technology. Participants will learn about how NASA plans to use lasers to communicate with spacecraft in the future.
  • Visit Goddard’s laser ranging facility at night to see a ground laser measure the paths of Earth-orbiting satellites, supporting both Earth science and missions.

Listen, I said space lasers. So follow me on Twitter or Instagram to get more of space lasers than anyone can take on November 3rd and the following days.

Image by NASA, of the James Web Space Telescope, which we won’t be seeing.