{"id":102247,"date":"2019-08-27T09:40:35","date_gmt":"2019-08-27T13:40:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=102247"},"modified":"2019-09-26T06:29:27","modified_gmt":"2019-09-26T10:29:27","slug":"ucf-student-working-as-image-analyst-for-nasas-osiris-rex-asteroid-recovery-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-student-working-as-image-analyst-for-nasas-osiris-rex-asteroid-recovery-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½ Student Working for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Recovery Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"
While many students spent their summer break at the beach or working to earn tuition money, Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½ physics<\/a> student Jennifer Nolau spent her break analyzing thousands and thousands of digital images beamed to her from an asteroid millions of miles from Earth.<\/p>\n Curled up in her favorite pajamas with her laptop in her off-campus apartment, the 25-year-old from South Florida, spent about 10 hours a week analyzing boulder and rock images from asteroid Bennu, the site of NASA\u2019s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer) mission. The first American mission of its kind has sent a spacecraft to the asteroid and is currently analyzing where to best grab a sample of its surface to bring back to Earth.<\/p>\n The mission is important because the sample may provide information for the understanding of the origins of the solar system. What scientists learn may also help devise a way to deflect dangerous near-Earth asteroids.<\/p>\n \u201cI still can\u2019t believe it,\u201d Nolau says. \u201cThis is just so mind-blowing. I mean I\u2019m an undergrad and here I am part of this NASA mission. I\u2019m making connections here that will help me establish my career when I graduate. The people I\u2019m working with are amazing. I\u2019m still pinching myself.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is just so mind-blowing. I mean I\u2019m an undergrad and here I am part of this NASA mission. I\u2019m making connections here that will help me establish my career when I graduate.” \u2014 Jennifer Nolau, Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½ student<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Road Almost Missed<\/strong><\/p>\n Nolau originally was on track to become a nurse or doctor.<\/p>\n \u201cI was a biomed major, but then I took organic chemistry and was like, no way, this is not for me,\u201d she says with a laugh. \u201cBut I always liked physics and I love Star Wars<\/em>. Yeah, geeky I know. I took [physics] Professor [Humberto] Campins\u2019 class last year and I knew I had found my place. I switched majors and here I am.\u201d<\/p>\n Nolau is pursuing a bachelor\u2019s degree in physics with a planetary sciences emphasis and a minor in mathematics<\/a>. That\u2019s one of the reasons she is right for the image-analysis job.<\/p>\n She spends hours looking at images to determine the size and location of each of the rocks and boulders within the pixel set she examines. It involves a lot of math and precision. The images are pulled down from the spacecraft and then sent to her computer. When she\u2019s done with her work, she sends her data back to the mission\u2019s science team at the University of Arizona.<\/p>\n