Tagged by Kikalee May 1, 2006
Posted by spacemom in : Weblogs , 1 comment so farI’ve been tagged by Kikalee. How cool! Johnny has put a twist on this meme, so here it is!
I want you to think of 5 things that people
typically don’t know about your profession OR some questions people
have asked you that you thought, "Well, no one has ever asked me that
question, but I’m sure it’s something many people think about"
You are an astronomer, COOL! What do you do?
I actually have the oh-so-not-cool title of "computer specialist"
which means, "not a PhD". I work on a team of 4 people that work on
the commanding of the ACIS instrument on the Chandra X-ray
Observatory. We basically make sure our instrument is safe and we are
constantly working on getting the most science for the buck (I think
it costs something like $1M per second to operate the spacecraft, yet
we still cost LESS than the Iraq war by a ton!)
So, you have the coolest job on the planet!
No, sorry. I often sit in front of a computer either taking data and smooshing it to death trying to analyze something small or I am writing memos about analyzing the data. Ok, I admit, there are cool parts. I am on duty once every 4 weeks. This means I review the command load for the next week. These are the commands sent to the spacecraft to take the data. We are only in contact with the spacecraft a few times a day, so we create a week’s worth of commands, review it and send it up. However, I also need to respond to spacecraft or instrument emergencies. That can be a pain during bath time or at 4am, when these things generally seem to happen. Before Kids, I would also go observing at ground based telescopes for research. That is much harder to do now and I let Dr. Jay do that. But man, that was fun to hang around Kitt Peak or Cerro Tololo.
How did you get this job?
I majored in astronomy/planetary sciences and physics for my bachelors degree. I then stayed an extra year before applying to grad schools. I ended up deciding to stay with Dr. Jay instead of taking Ohio State’s offer. In staying with Dr. Jay, I decided to get a Master’s degree in astrophysics instead of getting a PhD. When he was hired for his job,I flooded the Center for Astrophysics for jobs, and got hired for a data jockey job. I have switched jobs three times since I got here.
I hear you went to Hawaii on the government’s dollar?
Yep! You heard it here first! Many astronomical meetings are held in places that people want to come to. Why? So people come to them! Also, in this case, the organizer works at the University of Hawaii. We often travel to cool places for meetings because astronomy is a small field with a large international contingency. I am technically a government worker because I am employed by the Smithsonian Institution and the Chandra moneys come from a contract with NASA. (follow all of that). Even with all of that fun sounding stuff, I am not truly a "federal" because I am payed from the "trust fund" for theSmithsonian, not from "federal". Very confusing, but the upshot is I get my money from the National Finance Center run by the Department of Agriculture (yeah, that’s what’s wrong with our country, the Farmers run the money).
Really, did work pay for your trip?
Actually, yes and no. I also do some scientific research as part of my job. To actually observe with Chandra, you have to propose and if you win the time (after a group of scientists review your proposal), then you get money to pay for your research. This money (called a grant) can be used to pay for computers to work on the data, hiring a data jockey to work on the data or travel to meetings to discuss the data or to meet with your collaborators. In that case, I used research money to go to Hawaii. And I did work. In May, when I go to Orlando, I am on Chandra money because this is straight for my job. I am presenting results from a project I am working on for ACIS.
