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This archived information is dated to the 2008-09 academic year only and may no longer be current.

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Center for Space Science and Astrophysics

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Centers, Laboratories, and Institutes

Emeriti: (Professors) Robert Cannon, I-Dee Chang, Daniel B. DeBra, W.Gary Ernst, Von R. Eshleman, Robert A. Helliwell, Bruce B. Lusignan, Ronald J. P. Lyon, Laurence A. Manning, Bradford W. Parkinson, J. David Powell, Peter A. Sturrock, G. Leonard Tyler (Electrical Engineering), Robert V. Wagoner, Alan T. Waterman; (Associate Professor) Bruce B. Lusignan (Electrical Engineering); (Professors, Research) Donald L. Carpenter, Aldo V. daRosa, Antony Fraser-Smith

Director: Robert V. Wagoner

Associate Directors: Umran S. Inan, Roger W. Romani, Philip H. Scherrer

Professors: Roger Blandford (Physics, SLAC), Elliot Bloom (SLAC), Lambertus Hesselink (Electrical Engineering), Umran S. Inan (Electrical Engineering), Steven Kahn (Physics, SLAC), Tune Kame (SLAC), Peter F. Michelson (Physics), Vahé Petrosian (Physics), Roger W. Romani (Physics), Norman H. Sleep (Geophysics)

Associate Professors: Tom Abel (Physics, SLAC), Steve Allen (Physics, SLAC), Sarah Church (Physics), Guenther Walther (Statistics), Howard Zebker (Electrical Engineering, Geophysics)

Assistant Professors: Stefan Funk (Physics, SLAC), Chao-Lin Kuo (Physics, SLAC), Risa Wechler (Physics, SLAC)

Professors (Research): C-W. Francis Everitt (HEPL), Philip H. Scherrer (Physics)

Consulting Professor: Martin Walt (Electrical Engineering)

SLAC Staff Physicist: Grzegorz Madejski

Center Offices: Varian, Room 316

Mail Code: 94305-4060

Phone: (650) 723-1439

Email: danav@stanford.edu

Web Site: http://www.stanford.edu/group/CSSA

The Center for Space Science and Astrophysics is an interdepartmental organization coordinating research in space science and astrophysics. Its members are drawn from the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences in the School of Earth Sciences; the departments of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Electrical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering in the School of Engineering; the departments of Applied Physics, Physics, and Statistics in the School of Humanities and Sciences; the W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory; and the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. Its membership also includes all faculty and appropriate staff at the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, located at SLAC and the Physics department.

Research now in progress covers a wide array of investigations and is approached in a variety of ways, including experiments flown on rockets, satellites, and space probes; ground-based observations made from the Hobby-Eberly Telescope, the Wilcox Solar Observatory, and from national observatories; and theoretical research including computer modeling. Topics currently being studied include cosmology, gamma-ray astronomy, gravitation theory and experiments, including gravitational waves (LIGO, LISA), guidance and control, high-energy astrophysics, ionospheric and magnetospheric physics, microwave and infrared astronomy, planetary sciences, solar physics, solar-terrestrial phenomena, theoretical astrophysics, x-ray astronomy, and the study of life in the universe. Some of these projects involve opportunities for collaboration with scientists at the Lockheed-Martin Research the NASA/Ames Research Center, and the SETI Institute.

Stanford is a member of the Universities Space Research Association, a consortium of universities which operates the Lunar Science Institute in Houston, Texas; the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado; and the San Diego Supercomputing Consortium.

Stanford is the lead institution for the GLAST gamma-ray observatory, Gravity Probe B, and the Solar Oscillations Investigation on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory spacecraft (SOHO). Stanford is also a member of the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Consortium which operates a 10-meter telescope at the McDonald Observatory of the University of Texas. Members are also involved in the design of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST).

The facilities of the center are available to any interested and qualified student, who must be admitted by and registered in a department. The departments of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Applied Physics, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Physics offer opportunities leading to an M.S. or Ph.D. degree for work in space science or astrophysics. The center also offers opportunities to undergraduates who may, for instance, participate in research projects in their junior or senior years, on a part-time basis during the school year or on a full-time basis during the summer. The Astronomy Course Program operates a small student observatory where students may gain practical experience in astronomical observing.

Further information is available from the director.

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