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Welcome to the UCSB Experimental Cosmology Group! We are an experimental astrophysics group primarily focused on studies of the early universe and astrophysical applications of directed energy.

Currently active projects

Planck ESA/NASA mission to study CMB anisotropy
Polaris and Greenpol CMB polarization experiment
DE-STAR Directed energy to deflect asteroids and comets
Starlight NASA Directed Energy interstellar mission
SETI Search for advanced extraterrestrial intelligence
Wafercraft NASA Wafer Scale Spacecraft Development
ExtraSolar Travelers (ET) Preparing life forms for interstellar travel
PI – Multimodal Planetary Defense Rapid Response Planetary Defense
Lunar Rover Challenge Student Team designs Lunar Rovers in response to NASA’s Big Idea Challenge

We also have a very active education and outreach program.

List of Group Papers: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Philip_Lubin

The Planck satellite was  launched at 6:12 AM Pacific Thur May 14, 2009

End of Planck: After 4.5 years of successful mapping of the Cosmic Microwave Background, the Planck Satellite was turned off on Wednesday, October 23, 2013, at approximately noon, UTC.  Planck has revolutionized our understanding of the universe with incredibly precise measurements of its fundamental parameters and structure. The last official Planck papers were published in 2020. The list of papers can be found here: https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/planck/publications

Excerpt from the 114TH  CONGRESS REPORT of the HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 2d Session:

“The Committee encourages NASA to study and develop propulsion concepts that could enable an interstellar scientific probe with the capability of achieving a cruise velocity of 0.1c. These efforts shall be centered on enabling such a mission to Alpha Centauri, which can be launched by the one-hundredth anniversary, 2069, of the Apollo 11 moon landing.”

“Therefore, within one year of enactment of this Act, NASA shall submit an interstellar propulsion technology assessment report with a draft conceptual roadmap, which may include an overview of potential advance propulsion concepts for such an interstellar mission, including technical challenges, technology readiness level assessments, risks, and potential near-term milestones and funding requirements”

Available at:  https://appropriations.house.gov/uploadedfiles/hrpt-114-hr-fy2017-cjs.pdf 
page 60.

B-Machine at Night summer 2008 - Barcroft - White Mountain - note Milky Way
View from inside the old dome at WMRS
Sunset over the dome at WMRS
Sunrise at WMRS
NASA Palestine, Texas flight facility - 1980 - note Rai Weiss and David Wlkinson
Entrance to South Pole Dome
Todd gaier and Mike Seiffert at the South Pole
Welcome to the South Pole - "Old Dome"
Welcome to the South Pole - "Old Dome"
C-130 at South Pole awaiting takeoff
South Pole 1988 - structures eventually get buried
South Pole 1988 - Todd Gaier and Jeff Schuster
In the jungle - searching for TMSS payload - Brazil 1985
South Pole ACME-HEMT 1990-91 Combined data set - first CMB horizon scale detection
Downed TMSS Payload in Trees in Brazil - 1985
South Pole - 1988
TMSS-1 with MIT Gondola - Gerald Epstein 1981
COBE satellite launch - VAFB Nov 1989
Tapirai Brazil 1985 - TMSS crash site near Uruguay
ACME-MAX Ft. Sumner
BLAST payload with Jeff Schuster 1991
RAAP Construction UCSB - undergrad crew who built it - 1990
South Pole 1988 - Todd Gaier and Jeff Schuster transferring LHe
South Pole - 1988
South Pole - 1988
"Start of Round the World Race" - South Pole 1988
C-130 on Skis - Ross Ice shelf - McMurdo Nov 1988
Brazil Jungle Recovery of TMSS 1985 - near border with Uruguay - Tapirai Brazil
The "Orb" at the South Pole - with a compact Hummer
The "Orb" at the South Pole - what do you see?
C-130 at South Pole - The engines stay on to keep warm
Flat Plate at South Pole - Todd Gaier adjusting just before deployment on ice - 1988
ACME - SIS at South Pole - 1988
South Pole - 1988
South Pole - 1988
Flying to the South Pole - cockpit of C-130 1988
TMSS - Brazil launch nightime launch attempt Nov 1983
TMSS just before launch - Brazil Nov 1983
ACME just before launch - Ft Sumner, NM 1990
COBE satellite schematic
COBE satellite launch VAFB Nov 1989
Blast - Open Aperture Absolute Spectrometer - balloon payload cryogenic optics - 1990
ACME launch - NASA Ft Sumner, NM
South Pole 1988 - C-130 that did not make it
South Pole 1988 - barber pole is at the actual geographic pole
South Pole 1988 - notice latest fashion
TMSS - 3 mm CMB near full sky map 1984 - all five flights - missing section was from loss of payload in Brazil
TMSS-2 payload with Princeton Group gondola 1981 - Smoot and Lubin during testing
ACME-I launch 1988 - Alfredo Chinguanco and Tiny Tim
UCSB Flag - South Pole 1989
TMSS termination fitting test after termination failure - Brazil 1983
ACME MAX evening launch Ft. Sumner, NM 1993
BEAST with solar panels - NASA 2000
BEAST with solar panels - NASA 2000
Flat plate 15 and 23 GHz experiment - White Mountain 1989
Flat plate 15 and 23 GHz experiment - White Mountain 1989
BEAST payload - night launch attempt - NASA Ft. Sumner, NM 1999
BEAST payload - NASA Ft. Sumner, NM 1999
South Pole Dec 1988
Inside South Pole Station - Dec 1988 - food is stored outside the freezers, people live inside the freezers!
Smoot and Lubin with U2 Anisotropy Experiment - Lima Peru 1978
TMSS Detector 1981
TMSS Brazil launch - Cauchera Paulista Nov 1983 - lost in Jungle subsequently
TMSS Brazil launch - Cauchera Paulista Nov 1983 - lost in Jungle subsequently
1992 MAX launch NSBF Ft. Sumner, NM
1981 at NSBF in Palestine Texas - TMSS launch
BEAST in Ft. Sumner 1999
Brazil Recovery of TMSS 1985
NASA Fort Sumner, NM Launch of ACME-MAX
Beast Lab at WMRS
View of WMRS Barcroft with the Old Dome in the background
WMRS Barcroft Station
Beast Project Launch
Sunrise at WMRS Barcroft station
The old dome and weather station at WMRS
Old Research Dome at WMRS
Current Project on directed energy defense against Asteroids
Research & Mentorship Program Presentations 2014
SPIE Conference 2015
Security Guard at Sedgwick
Enjoying the sunset in anticipation of the eclipse (9/2015)
Lunar eclipse of Sep 27, 2015 from Broida Hall

Group Calendar:

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