March 8, 2021: Calibration of Space Instrumentation and Correction of Space Flight Data - One of the Many Ways in Which Space is Hard

March 8, 2021
4:00 p.m.
Dr. Alexander Barrie, Aurora Engineering
For Zoom credentials, please email cloan@vt.edu
Faculty Host: Dr. Michael Philen

Abstract: Spacecraft operate in a constantly evolving, harsh environment. They are bombarded by radiation, huge temperature swings, and meteoroids. They are power, space, and mass constrained, and there is no way to probe the hardware once it's launched. How can we ensure that the data we are presenting to the science community is accurate? Dr. Barrie will talk about his experience as the operations lead for the Fast Plasma Investigation, the primary science payload on the NASA’s flagship Magnetospheric Multiscale mission. The seminar will cover some of the challenges encountered with taking measurements in space and how they can be overcome. Specifically, the focus will be on instrument calibration and data correction -  the step by step process of taking raw, corrupted data and turning it into a clear picture of what’s going on in Earth’s magnetosphere.

Bio: Dr. Barrie obtained his PhD in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Colorado, and his BS and MS right here at Virginia Tech. He worked for the Air Force Research Lab on advanced electric propulsion concepts, before moving to NASA’s Goddard space flight center to work on space flight missions. At Goddard, he ran the Space Plasma Instrumentation Facility, which tests and calibrates space flight hardware before transitioning to run flight operations for the Fast Plasma Investigation on the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission. Recently, he has focused on advanced algorithms for improving data quality for current and future space missions. Today he is going to talk about some of the methods used in spacecraft data operations, stepping through an example data correction pipeline.