Profile

I have been living the The Netherlands (Holland) since 1991, where I work at ESA’s large research and test centre (ESTEC) . I speak fluent Dutch and like singing in choirs as a hobby to distract me from the stresses of space deadlines! As a nerdy science type I was never much interested in languages. But since coming here have  surprised myself that learning a new language is not as hard as I thought. Working in a multinational environment has also been very stimulating and rewarding. My favourite TV series is The Big Bang Theory (of course) although I don’t own a TV.

http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2009/05/Herschel_telescope_and_sun-shield2
Here’s a picture of me (at left) during final measurements and inspections of the Herschel Telescope in the test centre at ESTEC before it was shipped to French Guiana for launch in 2009.
This was probably one of the most exciting and interesting periods of my career. We were all very conscious of the scientific importance of this mission and the challenges we had to face to get the telescope ready for flight. It is the largest single optical mirror (3.5 m diameter) so far launched into space.
The mirror (and in fact the entire telescope structure) is made from a very tough ceramic material called Silicon Carbide. We choose this material because it has a very low Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE). The reason for this is because the telescope operated at about – 210 Deg C (or 80 Kelvin). We therefore could be sure that the size and shape did not change by much between room temperature and it operating temperature in space.
Why was it so cold, you might ask? Well, this is because we were trying to measure very very faint infra-red (IR or heat or thermal) radiation from cool dust star formation regions of our galaxy (The Milky-Way) and more distant galaxies in the early Universe. If the telescope was too warm it’s own heat radiation would be too strong for us to see the very faint objects in the sky. That was also the reason why the telescope was so large, so we could grab as many IR photons as possible.

I would travel to Galway myself to present it to the school and to give an inspirational talk to the pupils. We still have not had an Irish Astronaut, maybe the next one shall come from Galway!
I will suggest to the school that they either invest the money in physics equipment for the laboratory and they initiate an annual award (perpetual trophy) to be given to the top physics student in 5th year. That student then has to inspire and motivate her fellow students year to win the prize for the following year.