Sigrid Close (born 1971) is a professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. Her primary research interest is the

space environment Space environment is a branch of astronautics, aerospace engineering and space physics that seeks to understand and address conditions existing in space that affect the design and operation of spacecraft. A related subject, space weather, deals ...

with particular focus on meteoroids, meteors, and orbital debris, and their interaction with spacecraft and spacecraft operations.

Career

Professor Close's research involves space weather detection and modeling for improved spacecraft designs, and advanced signal processing and electromagnetic wave interactions with

plasma Plasma or plasm may refer to: Science * Plasma (physics), one of the four fundamental states of matter * Plasma (mineral), a green translucent silica mineral * Quark–gluon plasma, a state of matter in quantum chromodynamics Biology * Blood pla ...

for ground-to-satellite communication systems. These topics fall under the Space Situational Awareness (SSA) umbrella that include environmental remote sensing using satellite systems and ground-based radar. Her current efforts are the MEDUSSA (Meteoroid, Energetics, and Debris Understanding for Space Situational Awareness) program, TALIS (Tomographic Array for Lightning and Ionospheric Studies) using ground-based and space-based RF sensors, and using ground-based radar data to characterize the meteoroid population and its threat to spacecraft. She was a member of two NRC panels, in 2010 examining options for detecting and countering near-Earth objects, and in 2011 assessing NASA's meteoroid and orbital debris programs.

Awards and honors

* In 2010, she won an NSF Career Award and a Hellman Faculty Fellowship award for her meteor research. * In 2013 she was selected for a DoE Early Career Award for her work on hypervelocity impact plasmas, and also awarded a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. * She was the inaugural Science Guest of Honor at the

ArmadilloCon ArmadilloCon is a science fiction convention held annually in Austin, Texas, USA, since 1979. As the second longest running science fiction convention in Texas, it is sponsored by the Fandom Association of Central Texas and is known for its empha ...

science fiction and fantasy literary convention in 2014. * In 2017 she was recognized by the American Geophysical Union with the Space Physics and Aeronomy Richard Carrington (SPARC) Education and Public Outreach Award. for significant and outstanding impact on students' and the public's understanding of geophysical science through education and outreach activities. * Asteroid 11009 Sigridclose, discovered by astronomer

Schelte Bus Schelte John "Bobby" Bus (born 1956) is an American astronomer and discoverer of minor planets at the Institute for Astronomy (Hawaii), Institute for Astronomy of the University of Hawaii and deputy director of NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility ...

at the

Siding Spring Observatory Siding Spring Observatory near Coonabarabran, New South Wales, Australia, part of the Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics (RSAA) at the Australian National University (ANU), incorporates the Anglo-Australian Telescope along with a coll ...

in 1981, was named in her honor. The official was published by the

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Function ...

on 13 April 2017 (). * In 2018 she was selected as a NIAC fellow for her research titled "Meteoroid Impact Detection for Exploration of Asteroids (MIDEA)", and in 2021 she was selected as a NIAC fellow for her research titled "Exploring Uranus through Sustained CubeSat Activity Through Transmitted Electromagnetic Radiation (SCATTER)".

Television

In 2011, Professor Close co-hosted season three of National Geographic Channel's ''Known Universe'' documentary series along with David E. Kaplan, Andy Howell, Michael J. Massimino, and Steve Jacobs. She was interviewed on the

Nova ScienceNow ''Nova ScienceNow'' (styled ''NOVΛ scienceNOW'') is a spinoff of the long-running and venerable PBS science program ''Nova''. Premiering on January 25, 2005, the series was originally hosted by Robert Krulwich, who described it as an experiment ...

''Can We Make It to Mars?'' episode in 2011 and the

Nova A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramati ...

''Chasing Pluto'' special in 2015.IMDB - "NOVA" Chasing Pluto (TV Episode)
/ref>

References

External links

*
Stanford School of Engineering Faculty Profile

Space Environment and Satellite Systems Laboratory

{{DEFAULTSORT:Close, Sigrid Living people 1971 births Northern Lehigh High School alumni Stanford University Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics faculty Recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers