Title<\/strong>: Operations Project Scientist for Hubble Space Telescope; Ground System Scientist for Roman Space Telescope; and a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Fellow and Principal Investigator for the Artemis-Enabled Stellar Imager (AeSI) NIAC Study.
Formal Job Classification<\/strong>: Astrophysicist
Organization<\/strong>: Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics Laboratory, Astrophysics Division, Science Directorate (Code 667)<\/p>\n
![\"Ken](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/profile-photo-dec2015-cropped.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard?<\/strong><\/p>\n As the operations project scientist for Hubble Space Telescope, I represent the astronomical community to the project management and help ensure that Hubble produces the best quality science possible consistent with other project requirements like cost and schedule.<\/p>\n I am also the ground system scientist for Roman Space Telescope, a role that entails overseeing the design and operation of the ground system and advising management to ensure we maximize the science.<\/p>\n As a NIAC fellow and principal investigator for the AeSI mission concept study, I am studying the possibility of building a large baseline UV-optical interferometer on the lunar surface in conjunction with the Artemis campaign.<\/p>\n What is your educational background?<\/strong><\/p>\n In 1977, I graduated from Wesleyan University with a bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s in astronomy. In 1983, I graduated from The Ohio State University with a Ph.D. in astronomy. That same year, I took a post-doctoral research position at the University of Colorado in Boulder.<\/p>\n What brought you to Goddard?<\/strong><\/p>\n While at the University of Colorado, my mentor told me about an opportunity at Ball Aerospace to help put a new detector into one of Hubble\u2019s instruments. I helped calibrate that detector for the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS) while in my research position. As a result, the University of Colorado offered me a new position at Goddard to help coordinate the development of the GHRS ground system.<\/p>\n Doing the extra work for Ball Aerospace while with the University of Colorado was an unusual path to take, but it led to my job at Goddard. The lesson here is do not be afraid of an unusual career path because a nontraditional path may lead to a great opportunity.<\/p>\n What is the most interesting thing you do as the operations project scientist for Hubble?<\/strong><\/p>\n I get to be deeply involved in one of NASA\u2019s flagship missions and help astronomers all over the world explore the leading edge of astronomy. I agreed to take this position for only three years in the early \u201990s, but it has remained so exciting, challenging, and rewarding that I am still involved today. Working for Hubble has been an amazing experience and a constant delight. Being involved with enabling Hubble\u2019s ground-breaking science and astronomy has been extraordinarily rewarding for me for more than three decades now.<\/p>\n How did your work on Hubble lead to your involvement in bringing the Roman project forward?<\/strong><\/p>\n My experience in Hubble\u2019s operations and ground systems led me to get involved with the same for Roman at a very early stage. I was involved in developing the early concepts for Roman and helping it get selected as an official NASA mission. I was in the right place at the right time again. This is another example of taking advantage of an opportunity as it presented itself.<\/p>\n What is your role as the NIAC fellow and principal investigator for the AeSI mission concept study?<\/strong><\/p>\n I was recently selected as a NIAC fellow to study the possibility of building an interferometer on the surface of the Moon<\/a> in conjunction with the Artemis campaign. An interferometer is an array of telescope mirrors that work together. A large baseline means that the outer diameter of this array will be about one-third of a mile. We are investigating whether the Artemis infrastructure makes building this on the Moon competitive with, or better than, building such a telescope in free-space.<\/p>\n NIAC fellows are selected to lead visionary studies for technically challenging mission concepts and technologies. We are selected under a NASA-wide program that offers three levels of study. My 2024 Phase One NIAC study is one of only 13 accepted in 2024<\/a>. We proposed our study four years in a row before we were finally awarded the study this year, reinforcing the lesson that persistence and patience are often needed to achieve great things.<\/p>\n You do a lot of outreach. What is your message?<\/strong><\/p>\n I do a lot of public outreach, in particular for Hubble, Roman and our new NIAC program. This includes talks and exhibit tables at middle schools, high schools, astronomy societies, and large sci-fi and pop culture conventions, including DragonCon and AwesomeCon.<\/p>\n I try to convey to the audience the excitement of the science results from our various missions and about NASA\u2019s plans for future missions. At schools, I often talk about paths to working at NASA and the job of working here. I point out that NASA needs people with a wide variety of skills, not just scientists and engineers. I usually conclude with an informal question-and-answer period.<\/p>\n One the most fun parts of my job is talking to people. I enjoy enabling Goddard\u2019s world class science, but I really enjoy seeing a kid\u2019s eyes light up with excitement when explaining some of our cool discoveries.<\/p>\n What is your message as a mentor?<\/strong><\/p>\n I have mentored people from high school through post-doctoral fellows. I try to give them the benefit of some of the lessons I have learned. I tell them not to be afraid to take nontraditional paths and to take a risk if you see something interesting because it might lead to something even better. I also tell them to look for and take advantage of such opportunities and I try to give them opportunities to be part of investigations, to help write papers and to feel involved so that they experience the excitement of a Goddard and technical career in general.<\/p>\n Most of the people I have mentored have gone on to very exciting careers in astronomy and related fields. Perhaps the most unexpected and exciting result of mentoring for me was a Harvard undergraduate studying astronomy who turned into a deep-sea explorer, a scientist of a different sort. \u00a0<\/p>\n What are your hobbies and interests?<\/strong><\/p>\n I am an amateur photographer of landscapes and also of my everyday experiences and travels. I am also very enthusiastic about all things related to Disney and Star Trek. My Disney fandom includes loving the films and also traveling to their theme parks as often as life permits. If I was not an astronomer, I like to think I might have become a Disney Imagineer, someone who conceives of and designs their attractions and experiences.<\/p>\n As a Trekkie, I attend sci-fi and pop culture conventions, and now I give science talks at them too. I know the science adviser to the modern Star Trek series, and we talk constantly about the synergies between Trek and NASA. I have met over the years a fair number of the stars from all of the series. After 50 years of fandom, this is very neat. Star Trek has always inspired me!<\/p>\n<\/a><\/figure><\/a><\/figure>