Sigrid Elschot
{{Short description|American academic}}
Sigrid Elschot (born 1971) is a professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford University.[https://profiles.stanford.edu/sigrid-close Stanford Profiles - Sigrid Elschot] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203195206/https://profiles.stanford.edu/sigrid-close |date=2024-02-10 }} Her primary research interest is the space environment with particular focus on meteoroids, meteors, and orbital debris, and their interaction with spacecraft and spacecraft operations.
Career
Professor Elschot's research at Stanford University explores the effects of space weather on spacecraft and the role of electromagnetic waves in satellite communications. Her work supports space situational awareness by advancing remote sensing techniques using both satellite-based sensors and ground-based radar. She investigates plasma interactions relevant to signal transmission, as well as hypervelocity impacts on spacecraft using experimental methods such as dust accelerators and light-gas guns, complemented by Particle-In-Cell simulations. Additionally, she utilizes radar observations to study space debris and meteoroid populations and examines hypersonic plasma phenomena associated with atmospheric re-entry.[https://aa.stanford.edu/people/sigrid-elschot Stanford Aeronautics and Astronautics - Sigrid Elschot]
Prior to joining Stanford, she was a technical staff member at MIT Lincoln Laboratory and a project leader at Los Alamos National Laboratory.[https://asteroidday.org/people/sigrid-close/ Asteroid Day - Sigrid Close] She was a member of two National Research Council panels, in 2010 examining options for detecting and countering near-Earth objects,[http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12842 National Academies - Report Examines Options for Detecting and Countering Near-Earth Objects] and in 2011 assessing NASA's meteoroid and orbital debris programs.[http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=13244 National Academies - NASA Needs Strategic Plan to Manage Orbital Debris Efforts; Risks Increasing for Satellites, Space Station] She also has contributed to the Hoover Institution through involvement in panels on national security[https://www.hoover.org/events/national-science-technology-and-security-roundtable-meeting National Science, Technology, and Security Roundtable Meeting] and as a subject matter expert in space for their Stanford Emerging Technology Review.[https://setr.stanford.edu/news/deeper-dive-space A Deeper Dive into Space]
In 2018 she was selected as a NIAC fellow for her research titled "Meteoroid Impact Detection for Exploration of Asteroids (MIDEA)",[https://www.nasa.gov/general/niac-2018-phase-i-and-phase-ii-selections/ NIAC 2018 Phase I and Phase II Selections] 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)".[https://www.nasa.gov/general/niac-2021-phase-i-phase-ii-and-phase-iii-selections/ NIAC 2021 Phase I, Phase II and Phase III Selections] These studies explore mission concepts for potential exploration of asteroid composition and ice giant magnetospheres using swarms of small satellites coordinated around a mothership.[https://phys.org/news/2024-07-swarms-orbiting-sensors-asteroid-surface.html Swarms of orbiting sensors could map an asteroid's surface][https://www.nasa.gov/general/exploring-uranus-through-scatter/ Exploring Uranus through SCATTER]
Awards and honors
- In 2010, she won an NSF Career Award[http://engineering.stanford.edu/news/sigrid-close-closing-mystery-impedes-space-exploration Stanford Engineering - Closing in on a mystery that impedes space exploration] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508070040/http://engineering.stanford.edu/news/sigrid-close-closing-mystery-impedes-space-exploration |date=2013-05-08 }} and a Hellman Faculty Fellowship award[http://www.hellmanfellows.org/fellows/sigrid-close/ Hellman Fellows >> Sigrid Close]{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927095237/http://www.hellmanfellows.org/fellows/sigrid-close/ |date=2021-09-27 }} for her meteor research.
- In 2013 she was selected for a DoE Early Career Award[https://www.energy.gov/science/articles/sigrid-elschot-then-and-now-2013-early-career-award-winner Sigrid Elschot: Then and Now / 2013 Early Career Award Winner] for her work on hypervelocity impact plasmas, and also awarded a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.[https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/12/23/president-obama-honors-outstanding-early-career-scientists President Obama Honors Outstanding Early-Career Scientists]
- She was the inaugural Science Guest of Honor at the ArmadilloCon science fiction and fantasy literary convention in 2014.[http://www.armadillocon.org/d36/guests.shtml ArmadilloCon36 - Guests]
- In 2017 she was recognized by the American Geophysical Union with the Space Physics and Aeronomy Richard Carrington (SPARC) Education and Public Outreach Award.[https://eos.org/agu-news/2017-agu-section-and-focus-group-awardees-and-named-lecturers 2017 AGU Section and Focus Group Awardees and Named Lecturers] 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 at the Siding Spring Observatory in 1981, was named in her honor. The official {{MoMP|11009|naming citation}} was published by the Minor Planet Center on 13 April 2017 ({{small|M.P.C. 103977}}).
Television
In 2011, Professor Elschot 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.[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375408/ IMDB - Known Universe (TV Series 2009– )] She was interviewed on the Nova ScienceNow Can We Make It to Mars? episode in 2011[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1809886/?ref_=ttep_ep1 "Nova ScienceNow" Can We Make It to Mars? (TV Episode)] and the Nova Chasing Pluto special in 2015.[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4689264/?ref_=nm_flmg_slf_1 IMDB - "NOVA" Chasing Pluto (TV Episode)]
References
{{Reflist|refs=
|title = 11009 Sigridclose
|work = Minor Planet Center
|url = https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=11009
|accessdate = 23 March 2022}}
|title = MPC/MPO/MPS Archive
|work = Minor Planet Center
|url = https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/ECS/MPCArchive/MPCArchive_TBL.html
|accessdate = 23 March 2022}}
}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|4365523}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20121113174752/http://engineering.stanford.edu/profile/sigridc Stanford School of Engineering Faculty Profile]
- [http://sess.stanford.edu/ Space Environment and Satellite Systems Laboratory]
- [http://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/february/space-dust-threat-022613.html Stanford scientist closes in on a mystery that impedes space exploration]
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Category:Northern Lehigh High School alumni
Category:Stanford University Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics faculty
Category:Recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers