So I’ve been at NASA for a few weeks now, so far it’s been great with every day being surprisingly motivational and inspiring. I’m getting to grips with the new lab and I’m slowly learning where everything is kept, I’ve also made it through the intense series of training programs NASA has for everything from working with nanomaterials to general waste disposal. NASA puts everything on a central learning platform called SATURN (by the way, everything has cool spacey names) and there is training for almost every aspect of science. I’ve also been exposed to some of the cooler equipment here. There is a large underground facility (in fact it’s a nuclear bunker) where UCSC (University of California Santa Cruz) have invested in a state of the art SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) and TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy) as well as loads of other analysis equipment, this is one of my favorite areas because I love using SEM, partially because its like playing a video game with all the controls, but mostly because of how powerful it is to be able to see things, so far I’ve managed to look at some of the catalyst I’ve been making at x200,000 magnification to see how big the particles are. For those who have never used SEM before, the whole process of looking at a sample is a lot like using google maps, you can move around the sample and zoom in from a top down point of view, although we can also change the orientation of the sample to look at things from different angles. I’ve also had a chance to put my samples in the TEM. This microscope can look at things at a higher magnification than SEM and when we looked close at the nanoparticles we began to see the lines of atoms appearing on the particles, this always makes me really excited because when I think about it, I’M SEEING ACTUAL ATOMS!

The other cool part about being here is that every time we have a meeting about the project, I keep hearing conversations about things like ‘launch costs’ and ‘gravitational effects’; I’ve never been exposed to an environment like this before so I’m still a little star-stuck by some of the conversations! I’ve also noticed that coffee is a big deal here, there are so many good coffee places, the best I’ve tried so far is at a place called ‘Peets’, which is a chain that started here in the Bay Area. Their coffee is great, and the one local to NASA has been combined with a really good sandwich shop called Specialties so we tend to head there most days for lunch and meetings… and morning coffee… and afternoon coffee…

The project I’m researching on here is extremely cool, we’re developing  a device that  has the function of an artificial leaf- it can potentially replace the current life support systems on board spacecraft like the International Space Station. I’m mostly playing around with the materials on the catalyst, and so I get to do lots of interesting synthesis as well as analysis of the chemical composition (so that I can see why a particular batch of catalyst is working well, or even IF it’s working at all). I’m also getting trained up on techniques like 3D printing to allow me to help with the prototyping of the device into which the catalyst will go. Ames has a facility called the ‘Space Shop’, which is a location containing lots of useful equipment for rapid prototyping. They have advanced 3D printers, laser cutters and lots more prototyping equipment, as well as a wealth of knowledge about how to use everything. The first thing I learned to make was a 3D printed NASA logo and a laser engraved Space Shop membership badge made of Aluminum (haha, only joking, Aluminium). I thought this was a pretty fun idea to train users how to use the machines by making their own membership cards; the range of equipment here is great!

After waking up on my first morning, I was stood looking out of the window (which overlooks most of silicon valley), the first thing that caught my eye, aside from the amazing view, was humming birds bathing in the small waterfall that runs into the Koi pond (I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen humming birds before!). In fact, all the wildlife is amazing here! From eagles soaring high over our house to the families of deer and coyotes that stroll down our driveway.

So far my favorite location is Half Moon Bay, a gorgeous stretch of coastline just south of Mavericks (yeah, until I came to California Mavericks and Yosemite were just versions of OS X), with golden sand, blue sea, huge rolling waves and horses galloping down the coastline… (this actually happened as I was on FaceTime with my family- they were suitably impressed). I’m also torn over what my favorite view has been since I arrived, it’s close between the sunset over the horizon as we were driving down ‘Pacific Highway 1′ and the sunset from Hunters Point (which is the top of a hill in the (apparently mountain lion infested) country park behind our house).

Living in Silicon valley is full of techey surprises; a group of us from the mansion were planning on heading out for some drinks at a rock & roll bar, but because this is America and everything is really far apart, someone has to drive. When determining who was to be designated driver, rather than resorting to rock paper scissors, someone grabs their phone and quickly codes a random number generator in python to select the driver!

It’s also great going running here, apart from the heat- the streets at the bottom of the hill are all really nice to run along and the gardens all seem to have plants that I’m not used to seeing. I also found an eccentric fountain that’s about half way through my run, which always seems to be beckoning me to jump in and cool down. Of course the first thing you have to do after running is swing by chipotle (this completely lived up to my expectations having never tried it before). The post-run food here always feels extremely well-earned; we basically live up a mountain so the last 300 meters are pretty intense, so I feel I definitely deserve something deliciously unhealthy!