In the summers of 2003, 2004 and 2005 I had the opportunity to be part of the United States Air Force Space Scholars Program. This program allows selected college students from across the country to work directly on some of the space related projects that are being researched, developed, and studied by the Air Force. Projects include such things as studying the effects of Earth's ionosphere on communications, researching thin-film solar cells, working on the development of small satellites, and many other things.

The project that I worked with in 2003 was the Solar Mass Ejection Imager. SMEI, as it is usually called, is one of two instruments on the Coriolis satellite. Photos of the sun are taken by SMEI's three cameras and are sent back to earth to be analyzed by humans and computers. Part of my job was to develop software that can be used to check for unwanted changes in SMEI's operation.

Sunspot, New Mexico - home to astronomers, students, deer, raccoons, and miller moths. The landscape is beautiful, and the science is fascinating. I hope to have a photo gallery posted soon, but in the mean time, please visit the National Solar Observatory online at www.nso.edu.