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Right now, the observatory is functioning very well. We have had very few cases where the system has gone into safe mode, and our only difficulties have had to do with the space weather, where there was a huge burst of radiation from the sun, which affected the functioning of the observatory. But otherwise, it's doing very well. In fact, when we fly these space observatories, they all have redundant systems, so that if one critical component fails, it can be replaced by another one. We haven't had any such failures yet, and we are still using the first string of all of the equipment on board. So we have been very lucky.
While we're on the ground of course, we had many challenges, many difficulties. We ran into several problems we had to solve, but since we have gone to orbit, the observatory has behaved very well. In fact, we are doing better than we expected, because the efficiency of utilization of the observatory is higher than we had hoped for. So we are returning more science data than we had expected.
We had a group of about 20 people writing software for three years that is specifically designed to take the raw data from the instruments, and apply all the various calibrations and corrections and adjustments, and put them into a format that we are used to working with as scientists. This was one of our biggest challenges.
After its successful launch, the challenge for the planners of Akari is how quickly they can turn its raw data into science-grade data. That was an area where we were a little bit slower than we had hoped, but we are now doing quite well and the data flowing from Spitzer are very easy to work with. We continue to improve the data processing.
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I have learned from having worked on three or four space missions that the most exciting science is not what you expect but what you don't expect. However, I am very hopeful that Akari's ability to survey the whole sky at a greater sensitivity than we've had before, and in a wider band of wavelength, will reveal new types of astronomical objects and will give us a better appreciation of how the various types of objects, the various kinds of galaxies for instance, evolve over the course of the history of the universe. Surveying the whole sky will reveal possibly new types of objects that we had not anticipated, either in the Milky Way or outside the Milky Way. I'm sure that we will also get a much clearer picture of the properties of these objects, and their evolution, and their contribution to the history of star formation in the universe. That would be my expectation, and I'm sure there will be greater surprises we have not expected.
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I think scientific research in general, and astronomy in particular, belongs to all humanity, not just to one nation or another. It is very important for every nation to bring its contributions and make itself more visible. From that point of view, it is a positive development for world astronomy to have our Japanese colleagues bring to the table their contribution, the Akari satellite. I wish them every success, and I know that every astronomer who has been involved in these kinds of missions appreciates the importance of this moment and the amount of investment, especially the human investment, that goes into making this mission happy. Everybody is rooting for Akari to be a great success.
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George Helou
Director of the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, and
Senior Research Faculty, California Institute of Technology
Deputy Director, Spitzer Science Center
Born in Lebanon, Dr. Helou majored in physics at the American University of Beirut. After graduation, he moved to the United States, and obtained a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Cornell University. He held appointments at the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory in Italy and at Cornell University in New York, before joining the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 1983. He has been involved in many infrared astronomical satellite projects, such as IRAS and ISO. Currently, he is Executive Director of the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at Caltech, and Director of the NASA Herschel Science Center. In addition to his research as an astronomer, he leads planning for NASA's astronomical missions. His love of stars has hardly changed since his childhood in Lebanon, and he still enjoys looking at the night sky. |
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