Daniel J. Gershman, PhDPostdoctoral Research Fellow NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Mechanical Engineering

Dan Gershman works as both a space physicist and engineer focusing on technology development and data analysis of charged particle instrumentation. Dan graduated from Cornell University in Electrical and Computer Engineering with a minor in Mechanical Engineering. After teaching mathematics and integrated science for a year in Guyana, South America, Dan attended the University of Michigan, where he received a Ph.D. in Space and Planetary Physics, a joint degree from the Physics department and the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences. In addition to developing new technology for the neutral mass spectrometer, Dan became a member of the Fast Imaging Plasma Spectrometer team on the MESSENGER spacecraft which has been in orbit around Mercury since March 2011. Dan currently works as a member of the MMS/FPI team at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, focusing on the detailed conversion of raw instrument measurements into physically relevant units using laboratory data collected from an unprecedentedly large suite of ion and electron sensors.

Space: The Ultimate Laboratory

4 PM Thursday, February 12 Room 245, 110 Cummington MallRefreshments served at 3:45 PM

Junior Faculty Candidate Lecture SeriesHost: Michael Mendillo

Space provides a near-pristine laboratory for studying plasma physics. In situ particle sensors, complemented by electromagnetic field measurements, allow us to study plasma dynamics at all spatial scales, from interplanetary distances to individual particle motion ranges. However, as the compelling scientific questions approach increasingly small scales, the limitations of existing technologies present significant challenges to the scientific returns of space missions. A deep knowledge of the technical design and behavior of instrumentation, coupled with an intimate understanding of the scientific demands, allows for the development of innovative technologies that deliver precision and accuracy while meeting the tremendous challenge of design for space. Here, we provide an introduction to particle instrumentation in space and present examples of unwanted ‘features’ that can arise due to necessary design trade-offs to meet mass, power, and volume constraints. We further consider technical and analytical calibration innovations for the Fast Plasma Investigation Suite (FPI) on the Magnetospheric å Mission (MMS). FPI consists of an unprecedented 32 ion and 32 electron sensors spread across four spacecraft observatories, and will provide the highest ever spatial and temporal resolution measurements of space plasmas. The development of large quantities of sensors transformed space instrumentation from a prototype-driven into a production-driven design process. Key innovations in both laboratory and in-flight calibration activities will be presented that will enable MMS to study the smallest scales in Earth’s space environment.