Hello everyone! My name is Patty Minnehan and I was fortunate enough to get my Pinternship at LASP(Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics) at Boulder, Colorado. I started my internship Monday and I work 9:30-5:00 Monday through Friday. I am working with Dmitry Vorobiev as well as a number of other undergraduate and graduate students here.
I started my first day doing several courses on ESD protocol, Cleanroom protocol, and Hazmat protocol. After finishing these trainings I was able to work in the lab on several projects, the first being the cleaning of the clean tent. After fully gowning up as to not contaminate anything we began cleaning using the isopropanol solution. This whole process lasted all of Tuesday. Since then fellow Pintern Liam Intemann and I have worked on setting in place a glass fiber inside a vacuum(figure 2) to observe UV light through the microscope connected(A world’s first!). We first began this process by opening up the second stage of the vacuum(figure 3) to adjust the stage where the fiber sits and make sure it is properly aligned. This entire time it was required that we keep a clean environment because items inside the vacuum most remain clean in order for it to function. After this we had to calibrate the microscope to the fiber and make sure the fiber was clean. This involved subtle adjustments of both the microscope and the stage where it was held. Finally, we could place the fiber inside the vacuum(Figure 1) in order to test the fiber for UV light. This is an ongoing process and has not yet been completed. In addition to all the work I’ve gotten to participate in I have also been able to learn about SPRITE, the current cube satellite project. I got to see the anechoic chamber where the antenna is tested as well models and the makeup of SPRITE.
Outside of the lab Liam and I have been exploring Boulder. We ride to and from work on our bikes. The ride is about 30 minutes and includes great views of the Flat Irons and other parts of Boulder. Also the NBA Finals are currently taking place and have been very fun to watch. Go Celtics!
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