{"id":9,"date":"2015-05-26T21:58:39","date_gmt":"2015-05-26T21:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/magazine.hmc.edu\/spring-2015\/?p=9"},"modified":"2015-08-28T10:34:44","modified_gmt":"2015-08-28T17:34:44","slug":"seeing-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.hmc.edu\/spring-2015\/seeing-stars\/","title":{"rendered":"Seeing Stars"},"content":{"rendered":"

It takes a lot to send a space<\/strong>\u00a0telescope a million miles from Earth. Billions of dollars. Years of hard work. A dedicated team of scientists and engineers. Attention to many, many details.<\/p>\n

The task only becomes more complex when it involves the most powerful space telescope ever built. Just ask Allison Barto \u201998, who has been working toward the 2018 launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) since 2002.<\/p>\n

For the first 10 years, the physics alumna and JWST program manager at Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. was a systems engineer for the international collaboration led by NASA. Barto helped design the optical systems for the space-based observatory that will study the formation of galaxies, stars and planets in the early universe.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Allison Barto \u201998 shown with a model of the James Webb Space Telescope.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now, as her company fulfills its role as primary provider of the mirrors, positioning actuators and controls needed to focus on distant objects, Barto is instrumental to ensuring that JWST\u2019s optical systems will perform as required. She heads the team delivering the telescope\u2019s optical assemblies to NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center as part of Northrop Grumman\u2019s Prime Contractor team and has been responsible for seeing the mirror manufacturing and testing process through a 14-stop, 11-state journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the complexity of the project\u2014its scale, how much new technology we had to develop. The more complicated something is, the more fun it is for me,\u201d Barto says. \u201cMy work allows me to combine my passion for solving hard problems and my background in astrophysics to a program that is going to expand our knowledge of the universe in ways we can\u2019t predict today.\u201d<\/p>\n

My work allows me to combine my passion for solving hard problems and my background in astrophysics to a program that is going to expand our knowledge of the universe in ways we can\u2019t predict today.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Allison Barto ’98<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The launch of the Hubble Space Telescope 25 years ago demonstrates why getting the optics right is essential. Once in orbit, Hubble first provided images that were blurry. NASA discovered that a slight flaw in the telescope\u2019s primary mirror was distorting the view\u2014a problem that took nearly four years to fix and required repairs never undertaken in space before.<\/p>\n

As Hubble\u2019s successor, JWST will feature a much larger primary mirror\u2014it will span more than 21 feet\u2014and will offer both a wider field of view and higher-resolution images. Infrared technology and a larger light-collecting area will allow the telescope to take a closer look at the early universe, the formation of the first galaxies and the dust clouds \u00a0where stars and planetary systems continue to form. Its optical systems must be not only precise but also able to withstand the harsh conditions of space. That calls for the 18 hexagonal segments of JWST\u2019s primary mirror to function together properly at -370 degrees Fahrenheit.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

The last requirement presents a major challenge because the mirror segments will be folded up, fitted onto a rocket for launch and then reassembled in space. She explains, \u201cWe can test each mirror segment very well, but we can\u2019t test the full aperture of the integrated telescope during ground testing. NASA has a philosophy of \u2018test as you fly.\u2019 You need to have an exact configuration to be certain it meets the requirements in space. In this case, it was impossible to test the exact way it\u2019s going to fly. But it\u2019s got to work in flight since there is no way to fix an error when the telescope is in orbit at L-2 nearly one million miles away. So how do we give ourselves that confidence? I pulled together a roadmap to show how we can utilize testing at various levels of integration to build and validate a model of the system with the accuracy necessary to show we will meet science requirements after on-orbit commissioning. Through a series of detailed component tests and key system-level cross check tests we were able to show the community that the performance uncertainty at launch will be sufficiently low.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barto considers that testing and verification roadmap her greatest contribution to the project. The work also earned her the Women in Aerospace Achievement Award in 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people make amazing contributions to the industry, and I was honored to be mentioned among them,\u201d says Barto. \u201cWhile the stimulating work provides all the gratification I need, I do think it\u2019s important to have opportunities to highlight women in the field to help women and young girls have a window into success and a counterpoint to all the male examples.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Barto helped design the optical systems for the space-based observatory that will study the formation of galaxies, stars and planets in the early universe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Barto was a young girl, she imagined a different career for herself. She recalls being a 9- year-old on a family trip to Mount Rainier, listening to a park ranger talk about the formation of stars. Barto says, \u201cI decided then that I should get a PhD in astrophysics. That became my singular goal, and it\u2019s why I went to Mudd.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barto\u2019s plans shifted during her senior year after a professor helped her land a summer position at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Lab. She says, \u201cThat opened my eyes to what else could be out there. My original plan was to be on the science side of astrophysics, and I\u2019m glad I got an undergraduate physics degree. It teaches you how to think and solve problems you may not have approached before. But I realized engineering was a better fit for me. I really value working as part of a large, diverse team with experts in a wide variety of disciplines. Working in aerospace\u00a0was a good way to marry my passion for space with work in an environment I like. We\u2019re always building a \u2018first of a kind,\u2019 so I\u2019m always learning something new. In fact, most of the systems engineers we have on JWST are big-picture thinkers with a physics background. It was my passion for getting my arms around the whole system that eventually led me from systems engineering to management.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

These days, Barto\u2019s work hours are filled with preparations for telescope-level optical testing and completing the final hardware. By the end of 2015, the mirrors will be installed and integrated into the backplane that gives them a stable spine and that also carries additional optics and instruments for the telescope. Afterward, Barto and her colleagues at Ball, Northrop Grumman and NASA will test the mirrors in a huge thermal vacuum chamber, simulate their in-orbit alignment and analyze their range of performance.<\/p>\n

Barto takes satisfaction in seeing a long-term project from initial concept through final product, but she admits the wait for JWST\u2019s launch has been long. When it finally happens, she expects to experience a mix of excitement and pride. \u201cI\u2019ll be proud that we\u2019ve launched and gotten through all the challenges,\u201d says Barto. Even though she finds the most satisfaction in the day-to-day problem solving, she admits, \u201cI\u2019ll be excited when we finish on-orbit optical alignment and see the first images.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It takes a lot to send a space\u00a0telescope a million miles from Earth. Billions of dollars. Years of hard work. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":444,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.hmc.edu\/spring-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.hmc.edu\/spring-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.hmc.edu\/spring-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.hmc.edu\/spring-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.hmc.edu\/spring-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.hmc.edu\/spring-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.hmc.edu\/spring-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.hmc.edu\/spring-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.hmc.edu\/spring-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.hmc.edu\/spring-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}