TED2019
Erika Hamden: What it takes to launch a telescope
Filmed:
Readability: 3.7
1,678,684 views
TED Fellow and astronomer Erika Hamden leads the team building FIREBall, a telescope that hangs from a giant balloon at the very edge of space and looks for clues about how stars are created. She takes us inside the roller-coaster, decade-long journey to get the telescope from an idea into orbit -- and shows how failure is inevitable when you're pushing the limits of knowledge.
Erika Hamden - Astrophysicist
TED Fellow Erika Hamden builds telescopes, with a focus on the ultraviolet, and develops sensor technology to make telescopes more efficient. Full bio
TED Fellow Erika Hamden builds telescopes, with a focus on the ultraviolet, and develops sensor technology to make telescopes more efficient. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:13
I'm an astronomer who builds telescopes.
0
1070
2721
00:16
I build telescopes because,
number one, they are awesome.
number one, they are awesome.
1
4563
3961
00:21
But number two,
2
9281
2049
00:23
I believe if you want to discover
a new thing about the universe,
a new thing about the universe,
3
11354
3708
00:27
you have to look at the universe
4
15086
1532
00:28
in a new way.
5
16642
1228
00:30
New technologies in astronomy --
6
18378
1849
00:32
things like lenses, photographic plates,
7
20251
3598
00:35
all the way up to space telescopes --
8
23873
2415
00:38
each gave us new ways to see the universe
9
26312
3092
00:41
and directly led to a new understanding
10
29428
2705
00:44
of our place in it.
11
32157
1150
00:46
But those discoveries come with a cost.
12
34663
2375
00:49
It took thousands of people and 44 years
13
37450
3641
00:53
to get the Hubble Space Telescope
from an idea into orbit.
from an idea into orbit.
14
41115
3809
00:57
It takes time,
15
45380
1523
00:58
it takes a tolerance for failure,
16
46927
1818
01:00
it takes individual people
17
48769
1938
01:02
choosing every day not to give up.
18
50731
2770
01:06
I know how hard that choice is
because I live it.
because I live it.
19
54247
2949
01:09
The reality of my job is that I fail
almost all the time and still keep going,
almost all the time and still keep going,
20
57220
6058
01:15
because that's how telescopes get built.
21
63302
2382
01:18
The telescope I helped build is called
22
66754
1839
01:20
the faint intergalactic-medium
red-shifted emission balloon,
red-shifted emission balloon,
23
68617
5256
01:25
which is a mouthful,
24
73897
1619
01:27
so we call it "FIREBall."
25
75540
1355
01:28
And don't worry, it is not going
to explode at the end of this story.
to explode at the end of this story.
26
76919
3759
01:34
I've been working on FIREBall
for more than 10 years
for more than 10 years
27
82137
2511
01:36
and now lead the team
of incredible people who built it.
of incredible people who built it.
28
84672
3437
01:40
FIREBall is designed to observe
some of the faintest structures known:
some of the faintest structures known:
29
88481
4390
01:44
huge clouds of hydrogen gas.
30
92895
2880
01:48
These clouds are giant.
31
96435
1299
01:49
They are even bigger than
whatever you're thinking of.
whatever you're thinking of.
32
97758
2538
01:52
They are huge,
33
100320
1185
01:53
huge clouds of hydrogen that we think
flow into and out of galaxies.
flow into and out of galaxies.
34
101529
3320
01:57
I work on FIREBall
35
105521
1848
01:59
because what I really want
is to take our view of the universe
is to take our view of the universe
36
107393
3184
02:02
from one with just light from stars
37
110601
3164
02:05
to one where we can see and measure
every atom that exists.
every atom that exists.
38
113789
5368
02:11
That's all that I want to do.
39
119711
1481
02:13
(Laughter)
40
121216
1992
02:15
But observing at least some of those atoms
41
123232
2210
02:17
is crucial to our understanding
of why galaxies look the way they do.
of why galaxies look the way they do.
42
125466
3771
02:21
I want to know
43
129261
1342
02:22
how that hydrogen gas
gets into a galaxy and creates a star.
gets into a galaxy and creates a star.
44
130627
3988
02:27
My work on FIREBall started in 2008,
45
135909
2607
02:30
working not on the telescope
but on the light sensor,
but on the light sensor,
46
138540
2898
02:33
which is the heart of any telescope.
47
141462
2079
02:36
This new sensor was being developed
by a team that I joined
by a team that I joined
48
144153
2786
02:38
at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
49
146963
1904
02:41
And our goal was to prove
that this sensor would work really well
that this sensor would work really well
50
149710
4156
02:45
to detect that hydrogen gas.
51
153890
1760
02:48
In my work on this,
52
156618
1373
02:50
I destroyed several very,
very, very expensive sensors
very, very expensive sensors
53
158015
6996
02:57
before realizing that
the machine I was using
the machine I was using
54
165035
2107
02:59
created a plasma that shorted out
anything electrical that we put in it.
anything electrical that we put in it.
55
167166
3802
03:03
We used a different machine,
there were other challenges,
there were other challenges,
56
171414
2769
03:06
and it took years to get it right.
57
174207
1977
03:08
But when that first sensor worked,
58
176208
2644
03:10
it was glorious.
59
178876
2198
03:13
And our sensors are now 10 times better
than the previous state of the art
than the previous state of the art
60
181098
3907
03:17
and are getting put into
all kinds of new telescopes.
all kinds of new telescopes.
61
185029
2948
03:20
Our sensors will give us a new way
to see the universe and our place in it.
to see the universe and our place in it.
62
188001
4898
03:26
So, sensors done,
63
194035
2085
03:28
time to build a telescope.
64
196144
1326
03:29
And FIREBall is weird
as far as telescopes go,
as far as telescopes go,
65
197494
3614
03:33
because it's not in space,
and it's not on the ground.
and it's not on the ground.
66
201132
2992
03:36
Instead, it hangs on a cable
from a giant balloon
from a giant balloon
67
204148
3488
03:39
and observes for one night only
68
207660
3025
03:42
from 130,000 feet in the stratosphere,
69
210709
2759
03:45
at the very edge of space.
70
213492
2767
03:48
This is partly because the edge of space
is much cheaper than actual space.
is much cheaper than actual space.
71
216283
4876
03:53
(Laughter)
72
221183
1244
03:54
So building it, of course, more failures:
73
222451
3616
03:58
mirrors that failed,
74
226908
1169
04:00
scratched mirrors that had to be remade;
75
228101
1953
04:02
cooling system failures,
76
230666
1271
04:03
an entire system that had to be remade;
77
231961
2167
04:06
calibration failures, we ran tests
again and again and again and again;
again and again and again and again;
78
234731
6097
04:12
failures when you literally
least expect them:
least expect them:
79
240852
2414
04:15
we had an adorable but super angry
baby falcon that landed
baby falcon that landed
80
243290
3906
04:19
on our spectrograph tank one day.
81
247220
1900
04:21
(Laughter)
82
249144
1029
04:22
Although to be fair,
this was the greatest day
this was the greatest day
83
250197
2190
04:24
in the history of this project.
84
252411
1592
04:26
(Laughter)
85
254027
1183
04:27
I really loved that falcon.
86
255234
2266
04:30
But falcon damage fixed, we got it built
87
258209
3152
04:33
for an August 2017 launch attempt --
88
261385
2225
04:35
and then failed to launch,
89
263634
2130
04:37
due to six weeks of continuous rain
in the New Mexico desert.
in the New Mexico desert.
90
265788
4780
04:42
(Laughter)
91
270592
2528
04:45
Our spirits dampened, we showed up again,
92
273144
1964
04:47
August 2018, year 10.
93
275132
2603
04:50
And on the morning of September 22nd,
94
278247
3040
04:56
we finally got the telescope launched.
95
284611
2435
04:59
(Applause)
96
287501
4713
05:04
I have put so much of myself --
my whole life -- into this project,
my whole life -- into this project,
97
292238
4722
05:08
and I, like, still can't believe
that that happened.
that that happened.
98
296984
2949
05:12
And I have this picture that's taken
right around sunset on that day
right around sunset on that day
99
300663
3717
05:16
of our balloon,
100
304404
2754
05:19
FIREBall hanging from it,
101
307182
1197
05:20
and the nearly full moon.
102
308383
1638
05:22
And I love this picture.
103
310045
1245
05:23
God, I love it.
104
311314
2206
05:27
But I look at it,
105
315092
1152
05:28
and it makes me want to cry,
106
316268
1430
05:30
because when fully inflated,
these balloons are spherical,
these balloons are spherical,
107
318751
4262
05:35
and this one isn't.
108
323037
1516
05:36
It's shaped like a teardrop.
109
324577
1976
05:38
And that's because there is a hole in it.
110
326577
3325
05:43
Sometimes balloons fail, too.
111
331104
2029
05:45
FIREBall crash-landed
in the New Mexico desert,
in the New Mexico desert,
112
333856
2352
05:48
and we didn't get the data that we wanted.
113
336232
2305
05:50
And at the end of that day,
I thought to myself,
I thought to myself,
114
338561
3937
05:54
"Why am I doing this?"
115
342522
1650
05:57
And I've thought a lot
about why since that day.
about why since that day.
116
345545
3014
06:01
And I've realized that all of my work
has been full of things
has been full of things
117
349202
4432
06:05
that break and fail,
118
353658
1482
06:07
that we don't understand and they fail,
119
355164
2555
06:09
that we just get wrong the first time,
120
357743
2258
06:12
and so they fail.
121
360025
1463
06:13
I think about the thousands
of people who built Hubble
of people who built Hubble
122
361512
2573
06:16
and how many failures they endured.
123
364109
1953
06:18
There were countless failures,
heartbreaking failures,
heartbreaking failures,
124
366086
3133
06:21
even when it was in space.
125
369243
1682
06:22
And none of those failures
were a reason for them to give up.
were a reason for them to give up.
126
370949
3567
06:27
I think about why I love my job.
127
375541
1547
06:29
I want to know what
is happening in the universe.
is happening in the universe.
128
377112
2427
06:31
You all want to know
what's happening in the universe, too.
what's happening in the universe, too.
129
379563
2796
06:34
I want to know what's going on
with that hydrogen.
with that hydrogen.
130
382383
2334
06:37
And so I've realized
that discovery is mostly a process
that discovery is mostly a process
131
385891
3479
06:41
of finding things that don't work,
132
389394
1839
06:43
and failure is inevitable when
you're pushing the limits of knowledge.
you're pushing the limits of knowledge.
133
391257
3743
06:47
And that's what I want to do.
134
395024
1606
06:49
So I'm choosing to keep going.
135
397010
2447
06:51
And our team is going to do
136
399960
1682
06:53
what everyone who has ever
built anything before us has done:
built anything before us has done:
137
401666
4183
06:57
we're going to try again,
138
405873
1236
06:59
in 2020.
139
407133
1180
07:00
And it might feel like a failure today --
and it really does --
and it really does --
140
408648
4955
07:05
but it's only going to stay a failure
141
413627
2281
07:07
if I give up.
142
415932
1606
07:09
Thank you very much.
143
417562
1228
07:10
(Applause)
144
418814
6279
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Erika Hamden - AstrophysicistTED Fellow Erika Hamden builds telescopes, with a focus on the ultraviolet, and develops sensor technology to make telescopes more efficient.
Why you should listen
Dr. Erika Hamden is a professor of astrophysics at the University of Arizona. Her observational focus is on measuring and mapping diffuse hydrogen around galaxies and within star forming regions in our own galaxy. Her current projects include FIREBall, a UV balloon-borne telescope; KCRM, a spectrograph for the Keck telescope; and Hyperion, a UV space telescope she is currently developing. Her work is driven by a desire to know and understand more about the universe around us.
Hamden received a bachelor's from Harvard in 2006 and a PhD from Columbia in 2014, both in astrophysics. She has held an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow and the R.A. and G.B. Millikan Prize Postdoctoral Fellow in Experimental Physics at the Caltech. She was awarded a Nancy Grace Roman Technology Fellowship for her detector work in 2016. She worked as a chef for a year before beginning grad school and has a serious yoga practice.
Erika Hamden | Speaker | TED.com