Sunday, June 7, 2020
By:
I can confidently say that I am going to enjoy my summer with NASA! So far, I have attended several orientations with all types of interns, including both from NASA and from SPS. I have interacted many times with the SPS interns; they are amazing people and I look forward to working alongside them for the next 10 weeks. We have made many efforts to get to know each other, even playing games over Zoom in the evening. I was worried that being restricted to online communication would hinder us, but now I think we will be just fine.
Regarding my work with NASA, I have chatted at length with my advisor, Dr. Adrian Southard. We will be working on a project that aims to develop a fluid trap for detecting life in icy environments. I am excited to work with him because he had a similar background to mine, in that both of us entered college wanting to do theory-based work and ended up finding a passion for the experimental process instead. One of my goals for this internship was to make connections at NASA and find out more where my interests lie, and Dr. Southard told me that he would help introduce me to as many of his fellow project heads as possible.
I purchased an airbrush kit for this project, and Dr. Southard's first task for me was to perform experiments into the droplet size that it produced when sprayed onto a plate. The goal is to ultimately apply a solvent onto a surface and to search for various organic molecules. Earlier this week, I set up a small paint range in my bedroom that I could use to perform several trials with the airbrush. I happened to have a hobby vice clamp that was perfect for holding the pen at precisely the right angle, and I bought a digital microscope to analyze the droplets. I decided to corellate the droplet size with air compressor PSI, and found a pretty clear negative corellation (I attached the graph below). I wrote my results up in a formal, lab-style report, which is probably more than necessary but I want to be as professional as possible. This is my first major internship, and I want to contribute as much as I can to it!
Overall, I am excited to speak with my advisor again and will report back next week!
Alex Mikulich