TED Talks Daily What it takes to launch a telescope | Erika Hamden
May 30, 2019
Erika Hamden, a TED Fellow and visionary astronomer, leads the revolutionary FIREBall project—a telescope suspended from a balloon at the edge of space. She shares her thrilling decade-long journey of building this groundbreaking instrument, filled with both technological challenges and personal triumphs. Hamden candidly discusses the inevitability of failure in scientific endeavors, drawing inspiration from historic projects like the Hubble telescope to emphasize resilience. Join her as she reveals the magic of exploring the universe and the relentless pursuit of knowledge.
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New Perspectives and Perseverance
- To discover something new about the universe, you must look at it in a new way.
- New technologies lead to new understandings, but discoveries require time, tolerance for failure, and persistence.
Sensor Development Challenges
- Erika Hamden's work on Fireball began in 2008, focusing on developing a new light sensor.
- She destroyed multiple expensive sensors before discovering the machine she used created a plasma, shorting them out.
Telescope Construction and Falcon Encounter
- Fireball is a unique telescope hanging from a balloon at the edge of space.
- The team faced numerous setbacks, including mirror scratches, cooling system issues, and even a falcon landing on the spectrograph.