Trujillo Alto Resident Martín Garay MacLean Flies High on NASA Mission

ITHACA, NY (07/03/2013)(readMedia)-- What makes up our universe? Trujillo Alto resident Martín Garay MacLean may help us discover the answer. MacLean recently flew a mission on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, also known as SOFIA, an airborne observatory on board a modified Boeing 747-SP aircraft. SOFIA features the Faint Object Infrared Camera for the SOFIA Telescope, or FORCAST, a cutting-edge infrared camera that uses light waves to study how planets, stars and galaxies are formed.

Water vapor in Earth's atmosphere makes studying astronomy with ground-based infrared technology extremely difficult. SOFIA solves this problem by flying over 40,000 feet in the air, above almost all water vapor; this technology will allow scientists to collect data that was nearly impossible to obtain before.

After two decades of development, SOFIA is just about ready to begin collecting data. MacLean flew on one of SOFIA's last test flights before the instrument will be handed over to NASA and the first set of scientific observations begin.

"It was like being in a sci-fi movie," he said. "It was exhilarating to think that I was flying on a plane that had been cut open on one side in order to fit a 17-ton telescope, and that I was witness to the organization and ingenuity that had taken place for the advancement of science."

A physics major at Ithaca College, MacLean contributed to the SOFIA project by improving and testing software that ensures that FORCAST is collecting data correctly. He was also in charge of monitoring the software during the flight.

While MacLean's flight went smoothly for the most part, the FORCAST team did face a little turbulence. SOFIA usually flies high above the clouds, but they hit a massive storm that forced them to change their course. Just when they thought they had passed all turbulence, the plane encountered a patch of air with a lower density and the plane suddenly dropped 600 feet. Thankfully, the flight was still a success and MacLean wasn't phased.

"We're talking about a huge, $1 billion plane being flown by NASA pilots, who were at one point Air Force pilots, so I felt pretty safe. It sounds scary, but it was in fact very awesome-it was like being in a laboratory on top of a roller coaster."

MacLean got the opportunity to be a part of the project after working with Ithaca College professor Luke Keller, a key member of the FORCAST team, and learning to program on IDL, a programming language commonly used in astrophysics.

"On the mission I was able to see how things I learned in physics courses and in the research I've been doing are applied in the real scientific world. It was mind-blowing to think that some of the things I had done in the lab and the classroom were in the computer controlling this telescope being used by NASA."

MacLean plans to continue working with FORCAST until he graduates from Ithaca College in December. He hopes to study astro-particle physics in graduate school, but he is also interested in continuing his work with SOFIA after graduation. Whatever his future plans, MacLean's contribution will surely lead the way for future astronomers.

For more information on SOFIA, visit professor Luke Keller's blog at www.ithaca.edu/frequent_flyer.

Posted Wednesday July 03, 2013 at 10:00 am by Ithaca College
Last Updated Wednesday July 03, 2013 at 10:00 am