xiv
telescope, and work with John Vallegra, whose Ph.D. thesis depended on the success of the mission, and others assembling the rest of the balloon payload. I already
knew I loved building things from summers working construction jobs, and building and launching model rockets. Growing, preparing, and testing the mercuric
iodide crystals at the heart of the X-ray detectors and getting them to work in the
laboratory gave me great pleasure. I am at heart an optimizer, and I wanted those
detectors to have the best energy resolution and efficiency possible. At the time, I
did not realise I was also learning the essential elements of a field called systems
engineering, and also project management. As a physicist working alongside other
students who were studying mechanical engineering and electrical engineering,
we had to perform all the duties that are required to engineer and manage any
high-tech project.
After about a year of work we packed up and delivered the little X-ray telescope to the National Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas in early summer of 1980. I had just graduated but wanted to see the project through, at least my
part of making sure the detectors would perform. Our whole team relocated to
Texas, including our advisor Dr. George Ricker. George went on to build instruments for the Chanda X-ray Observatory, and was Principal Investigator for the
High Energy Transient Observatory-2 and also the Transiting Exoplanet Sky
Survey Explorer. I learned an incredible amount from George about how to manage a group of talented individuals all working towards a high-performance challenge like building and fielding a scientific balloon payload. The biggest impact of
the whole expedition was seeing my first balloon launch there on the plains of East
Texas. In the early morning twilight, I marveled at the teamwork of the NSBF staff
as they laid out the delicate balloon. With the coming of the dawn the team began
to fill the balloon with a bubble of helium until the balloon slowly came to life and
lifted off the launch pad. A huge industrial vehicle, named “Tiny Tim”, held the
payload and drove along to position itself underneath the balloon until the whole
chain of balloon, parachute, and payload were in a straight line up to the sky. At
that moment, Tiny Tim released the payload and slowly the balloon ascended. I
heard the thin polyethylene material rustling as the balloon climbed, heading
towards its destination 130,000 feet above us. For me it was a magical experience – I had discovered the romance of scientific ballooning.
I went on to the University of Chicago in 1981 for my Ph.D., and specifically
selected a group led by Professors Peter Meyer and Dietrich Muller who were
working on projects using scientific balloons to study the composition of highenergy cosmic rays. I flew several balloon payloads while a graduate student at
Chicago and loved every expedition. I was also given a lot of responsibility for the
execution of the missions and this furthered my education in managing groups of
scientists, engineers and technicians, and especially the logistics necessary to perform a scientific expedition. Following my Ph.D. I took a job at the California
Foreword
telescope, and work with John Vallegra, whose Ph.D. thesis depended on the success of the mission, and others assembling the rest of the balloon payload. I already
knew I loved building things from summers working construction jobs, and building and launching model rockets. Growing, preparing, and testing the mercuric
iodide crystals at the heart of the X-ray detectors and getting them to work in the
laboratory gave me great pleasure. I am at heart an optimizer, and I wanted those
detectors to have the best energy resolution and efficiency possible. At the time, I
did not realise I was also learning the essential elements of a field called systems
engineering, and also project management. As a physicist working alongside other
students who were studying mechanical engineering and electrical engineering,
we had to perform all the duties that are required to engineer and manage any
high-tech project.
After about a year of work we packed up and delivered the little X-ray telescope to the National Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas in early summer of 1980. I had just graduated but wanted to see the project through, at least my
part of making sure the detectors would perform. Our whole team relocated to
Texas, including our advisor Dr. George Ricker. George went on to build instruments for the Chanda X-ray Observatory, and was Principal Investigator for the
High Energy Transient Observatory-2 and also the Transiting Exoplanet Sky
Survey Explorer. I learned an incredible amount from George about how to manage a group of talented individuals all working towards a high-performance challenge like building and fielding a scientific balloon payload. The biggest impact of
the whole expedition was seeing my first balloon launch there on the plains of East
Texas. In the early morning twilight, I marveled at the teamwork of the NSBF staff
as they laid out the delicate balloon. With the coming of the dawn the team began
to fill the balloon with a bubble of helium until the balloon slowly came to life and
lifted off the launch pad. A huge industrial vehicle, named “Tiny Tim”, held the
payload and drove along to position itself underneath the balloon until the whole
chain of balloon, parachute, and payload were in a straight line up to the sky. At
that moment, Tiny Tim released the payload and slowly the balloon ascended. I
heard the thin polyethylene material rustling as the balloon climbed, heading
towards its destination 130,000 feet above us. For me it was a magical experience – I had discovered the romance of scientific ballooning.
I went on to the University of Chicago in 1981 for my Ph.D., and specifically
selected a group led by Professors Peter Meyer and Dietrich Muller who were
working on projects using scientific balloons to study the composition of highenergy cosmic rays. I flew several balloon payloads while a graduate student at
Chicago and loved every expedition. I was also given a lot of responsibility for the
execution of the missions and this furthered my education in managing groups of
scientists, engineers and technicians, and especially the logistics necessary to perform a scientific expedition. Following my Ph.D. I took a job at the California
Foreword