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Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics

Team

Brian Fleming

Pricipal Investigator

Dr. Brian Fleming is a Research Professor in the Astrophysics and Planetary Sciences department at the University of Colorado and the Principal Investigator of SPRITE. Dr. Fleming has a broad range of research interests, ranging from understanding the transfer of energetic radiation between galaxies and the IGM, to the interplay between exoplanets and their host stars. All of these are tied together by the development of new and innovative instrumentation and technologies for astronomy to help us answer the outstanding questions currently beyond our reach. SPRITE is one such instrument – merging advanced mirror coatings and detectors of the type needed for LUVOIR to reach unprecedented LUV sensitivities, all while demonstrating the potential of the ultra low-cost cubesat platform. Dr. Fleming is also the optical designer and project scientist of the NASA cubesat CUTE, the deputy study lead and designer of the LUVOIR UV multi-object spectrograph LUMOS, as well as the PI or PS of a number of sounding rocket instruments and technology development projects. He’s a proud Alaskan and enjoys fishing, early 19th century sailing vessels, and playing board games with his wife and three kids.

Email: brian.fleming “at” colorado.edu

Kevin France

Kevin France

Co-Investigator

Dr. Kevin France grew up in West Virginia before moving to Boston for college. After another few years of academic nomadery, he settled at the University of Colorado in Boulder where he lives with his wife (a novelist and lawyer), son (an expert on identifying specific train lines of the Mountain West and avid builder of pillow forts), and aged Tibetan spaniel (a meditator). Currently, Kevin is an assistant professor of astrophysics and planetary science at CU and a founding member of the Colorado Ultraviolet Spectroscopy Program (CUSP). Outside of work, Kevin spends as much time as possible in the mountains and high plains of Colorado hiking, biking, skiing, and running (without achieving mastery of any of them). When he is at work, Kevin’s research focuses on exoplanets and their host stars, protoplanetary disks, and the development of instrumentation for ultraviolet astrophysics. He was a member of the Hubble Space Telescope-Cosmic Origins Spectrograph instrument and science teams, a member of the LUVOIR Science and Technology Definition Team, is a regular guest observer with Hubble, and is the principal investigator of NASA-supported sounding rocket and small satellite programs to study exoplanet atmospheres and flight-test critical path hardware for a future UV/optical missions.

Website: https://cos.colorado.edu/~kevinf/

Dmitry Vorobiev

Research Scientist

Dr. Vorobiev works on the development of new observational techniques and instruments, in spectroscopy and polarimetry. In particular, he is working to enable multi-object spectroscopic capability on space-based telescopes.

Jack Williams

Electrical Engineer

Jack designs, tests, and integrates the electronics for several projects at CUSP including the SPRITE CubeSat, the control of MEMS micro-mirrors, and the DEUCE and INFUSE sounding rockets. His interests include electromagnetics, space exploration, and any math or physics topic within the bounds of a poorly defined Goldilocks Zone of complexity and utility.

Stefan Ulrich

Mechanical Engineer

Nick DeCicco

Software/Electrical Engineer

Dana Chafetz

Mechanical Engineer

Rick Kohnert

Project Manager

Cai Cash

Graduate Studentg

Cai is a first year physics PhD student studying computational UV astrophysics. They are currently working on the SPRITE project science team! In their spare time, they enjoy knitting, listening to podcasts, and stargazing.

Alex Tompkins

Graduate Student

Alex Tompkins is an Aerospace Engineering MS student working as a systems engineer for SPRITE.

Fiona Bell

Graduate Student

Fiona is a first year Creative Technology and Design graduate student working on external communications for CUSP. She is an outdoor enthusiast, tea addict, and music afficianado.

Raymie Fotherby

Undergraduate Student

Raymie is an undergraduate pursuing a major in Mechanical Engineering. She is working on the thermal engineering aspects of SPRITE.

Zayna Sheik

Undergraduate Student

Zayna is an undergraduate at CU Boulder pursuing a double major in Astronomy and Technology, Arts and Media through the Engineering College. She is interested in scientific communication and the graphic arts and is working with LASP to combine those fields.