University researchers lead space tech developments with NASA's aid

If the space science community were the night sky, Princeton might just be the North Star. From the conception of space telescopes to rocket propulsion, the University has contributed seminal advancements to the study of space for decades. And there is no end in sight.

"Princeton is a small academic institution by size but has traditionally played a disproportionately large role in space science and technology," said Edgar Choueiri, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and chief scientist at the University's Propulsion and Plasma Dynamics Laboratory.

"There is a long and vigorously continuing tradition of NASA-sponsored work at Princeton in various areas including propulsion, spacecraft dynamics, astronomy, astrophysics, geophysics, planetary science and biology," he said.

In the past few months, this research has received national recognition. On Dec. 18, NASA announced the naming of a major new space telescope after Lyman Spitzer, the late University astrophysics professor who first presented the idea of placing telescopes in space.

The next day, Science magazine declared various astrophysical advances, many with their origin at the University, as the "Breakthrough of the Year."

The most prominent of these discoveries involves the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), named after late University physics professor David Wilkinson, who devised the project.

WMAP is a satellite that maps cosmic microwave background radiation, the remnants of light emitted shortly after the Big Bang. Results from the satellite will help scientists determine the size, age, structure and fate of the universe, according to NASA's website.

Besides WMAP, one of the most exciting current University collaborations with NASA is a planned mission named Terrestrial Planet Finder. In a decade, NASA hopes to place a telescope in space that will enable scientists to search for Earth-like planets around other stars.

NASA has already provided University researchers with about a million dollars in grants, MAE assistant professor Jeremy Kasdin said.

"The idea is to find [out] if planets somewhat like earth exist around nearby stars," astrophysics professor Edwin Turner said. "We don't know if they exist, despite all the science fiction."

Since the stars are billions of times brighter than the planets around them, detecting the planets is a very difficult task, Turner said.

"It's sort of like seeing a firefly while staring at a searchlight," he said. "So we're developing bigger, better optics to suppress bright light.

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"It's a fun project, a very longterm project — one that addresses one of the most fundamental questions we have," he said.

In addition to telescope technology, University professors have been researching more efficient forms of rocket propulsion. For the past 13 years, Choueiri has received funding from NASA to study plasma thrusters — rockets that use plasma, or ionized gas, for propellant instead of a combustible fuel. This greatly enhances rocket efficiency, he said, and makes manned long-distance journeys to other planets possible.

As a continuation of his research, Choueiri recently submitted a three-year, 4.3 million dollar proposal to NASA to develop the next generation of high-power plasma rockets for robotic and human exploration of space.

"If selected, the proposal would make a huge difference in the role Princeton plays for NASA and the viability of such plasma thrusters for NASA's planned human exploration of Mars and beyond," Choueiri said.

Perhaps someday the first flag placed on Mars will have a little orange in it.