UMEKI conducting experiments at JAXA
UMEKI Takuto of the SATO Toshiki Laboratory, a second-year doctoral student in the Physics Program of the Graduate School of Science and Technology, will conduct research at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Maryland, United States, from mid-August to early November, working on the development of a next-generation space X-ray telescope.
The SATO Laboratory has been collaborating with GSFC on the development of a telescope for XRISM, an X-ray astronomy satellite. UMEKI has also conducted research with OKAJIMA Takashi of GSFC since the fourth year of the undergraduate program. During this research stay, UMEKI will join the X-ray Mirror Laboratory, which conducts research and development on mirrors for X-ray telescopes, with the aim of integrating the university’s proprietary mirror alignment method with advanced telescope development technologies cultivated at NASA. Space X-ray telescopes require multiple mirrors to be aligned with micrometer-level precision in order to observe high-energy celestial objects such as black holes. UMEKI is developing this precision alignment system.
This research is supported by the Graduate School of Science and Technology’s Overseas Research Grant Program and has also been selected for a Young Researcher Incentive Grant from the Public Interest Promotion Association.