• Question: Can you do forms of engineering to do with space?

    Asked by anon-28131 to Amy, Grant, Martin, Shawn, Usman on 13 Mar 2013.
    • Photo: Martin Archer

      Martin Archer answered on 13 Mar 2013:

      Yep, I have engineers who work in my group on how to build instruments for new space missions. It’s engineers that typically build stuff that goes into space and scientists that advise them on what the requirements of the spacecraft are. So they really go hand in hand for space science.

    • Photo: Shawn Domagal-Goldman

      Shawn Domagal-Goldman answered on 13 Mar 2013:

      Yeah we need just about every kind of engineer! Electronics engineers, software engineers, mechanical engineers, power engineers, materials engineers and many more. There’s even a kind of engineer called a “systems engineer” that helps figure out how all these other engineers work together and make sure a change in one part of the spacecraft doesn’t mess something up in another part of the spacecraft.

    • Photo: Grant Kennedy

      Grant Kennedy answered on 13 Mar 2013:

      Absolutely, space science is very strongly driven by what we see out there in the Universe, so we need to build instruments to get observations, and we need engineers to do it.
      g

    • Photo: Amy Tyndall

      Amy Tyndall answered on 13 Mar 2013:

      At the telescopes, too, engineers are vital for its operation. Without them, nothing would work! It’s thanks to them that not much time observing our stars is lost if something breaks down.

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