The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

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Megan Richardson Lin

Center for Astrophysics

Chandra Flight Operations Manager

Megan Richardson Lin

megan.lin@cfa.harvard.edu

About

Megan Richardson Lin is the Flight Operations Manager for the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. She has over 15 years of experience in space and airborne mission operations. She previously served as the Engineering Manager, Mission Lead and Project Manager for the Mars Science Laboratory as well as Project Manager for the Airborne Snow Observatory.

M.S. Engineering UCLA, B.S. Mechanical Engineering Northeastern

Telescopes and Instruments

Chandra

The Chandra X-ray Observatory is NASA’s flagship X-ray observatory, providing essential data on everything from the environment surrounding newborn stars to the emissions from hot plasma inside galaxy clusters. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), as part of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, manages Chandra’s day-to-day operations, providing spacecraft control, observation planning, and data processing for astronomers. Chandra is one of NASA’s orbiting Great Observatories, along with the Hubble.

Visit the Chandra Website

SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy)

Earth’s atmosphere protects us from harmful radiation, but it also blocks a lot of light useful for astronomy. For that reason, NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) built the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) to fly aboard a modified commercial aircraft capable of flying above 99% of the light-blocking atmosphere. SOFIA is a powerful, general-purpose infrared observatory used to study the birth of new stars, planetary nebulas and supernova remnants, the atmospheres of Solar System objects, and many more. The American portion of SOFIA management is handled by the Universities Space Research Association (USRA), a private educational corporation consisting of over 100 institutions, including the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian.

Visit the SOFIA Website