When the European Space Agency launches its mission to explore Jupiter’s moons in 2022, the ambitious effort will stay connected to Earth thanks in part to the work of Missouri S&T student Katelyn Brinker.
As an intern last summer at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Brinker helped write the software for an ultraviolet spectrograph that will be aboard ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft. The instrumentation will capture close-up views of Jupiter’s three largest moons as part of the expedition and, thanks to Brinker’s work, transmit that information back to Earth.
It likely won’t be the last time Brinker’s work will provide us with a deeper look at space. The graduating senior who is a double major in computer engineering and electrical engineering has her sights set on a career focused on creating technology to enable future extraterrestrial exploration. She wants to build spectrometers, cameras and other instruments for future space missions.
Brinker also wants to develop nondestructive testing techniques to make space exploration safer, and she’s learning those techniques as an undergraduate research assistant in Missouri S&T’s Applied Microwave Nondestructive Testing Laboratory.
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Reviewed 2017-06-08