July 2022 IMAP Update and Spotlight Feature: Sanae Kubota

July 15, 2022
Professor David McComas Headshot

Dr. David McComas, IMAP PI

June has been fantastic for the IMAP Team. First, we had the first in-person gathering of the IMAP Science Team in nearly a year. APL was a gracious host for a combined A predecessor to IMAP, IBEX is studying how our heliosphere interacts with interstellar space. IBEX created the first maps showing the interactions at that border, and how they change over time./IMAP science meeting that began the week, followed by an IMAP instrument and systems science team meeting. Presentations covered a great number of intriguing research ideas and further increased enthusiasm for what more IMAP will reveal to us about what is happening at the edge of the The bubble-like region surrounding the solar system inflated by the solar wind, shielding the solar system from interstellar radiation., as well as the impact of solar particles in our local neighborhood of space. There was also a tangible elevation of team interaction. It was invigorating to observe the conversations and connections happening between presentations, over coffee breaks and lunch, and at other times – all critical interactions that really were not possible when we had to “meet” online. We also were able to end the week celebrating together the successes earned, those to come, and the incredible IMAP team spirit. 

We are in the heart of critical design review, or CDR, season for the mission, reviewing the final designs and test results of each instrument, and spacecraft subsystems. It's been very successful so far, with nearly all receiving full passes to proceed into their flight model build phases. We are just beyond the halfway mark of completing this critical step in the mission process, so about half of the team is already moving forward toward this next very exciting phase. The last CDR will be for the entire IMAP mission at the end of the year.

It is an immense amount of work for IMAP team members to prepare for CDRs. I am grateful beyond words for their hard work and the results that the team is achieving. I speak often about how the incredible talent and ability found on the IMAP team is what makes this mission possible. The evidence of how much IMAP teamwork is also valued shows in each challenge we overcome, each technical problem we solve, and with each CDR we pass. 

As we test and optimize the instruments and spacecraft subsystems, we also review the design of the whole spacecraft and functionality of each piece to ensure that all the mission requirements are met and that we don’t have any cross-The phenomenon where waves, such as radio signals or light waves, overlap and combine, affecting the accuracy of measurements. This can occur when signals from different sources mix, leading to distortion of data or reduction in the clarity of received information. with other parts. At the recent Science Team meeting, leads updated each other on these needed optimizations. While some information presented in these sessions might be new to some team members, it was not to the critical people in place that maintain both the 50,000 ft view and detailed knowledge of IMAP – the systems engineers.  

These critical team members look at every detail of the mission’s journey from paper to space. They scrutinize each component and create an ever-adapting plan that brings the whole mission together and then keeps it functioning as optimally as possible even post-launch. This includes searching out any real or possible problems and ensuring they are addressed and resolved. It also means accounting for every possible problem and solution at any point. For a mission as complex as IMAP, it is critical that the systems engineers are not only experienced, but truly talented. I believe that we have the best in these roles across essentially all of IMAP. For example, our deputy mission systems engineer, Sanae Kubota, brings her impressive skills and experience to shepherd the whole IMAP mission into a reality. It has been inspiring for me to watch Sanae simultaneously hold and track the immense number of IMAP requirements and design details while maintaining the full mission perspective and goals… Sanae really exemplifies the excellence of the IMAP team! Please enjoy getting to know a little more about her and her work below. 

GO IMAP GO!

 

IMAP Team Spotlight Feature: Sanae Kubota

Parker Solar Probes Team and Launch Vehicle
​Sanae Kubota (center) with Parker Solar Probe's Team and Launch Vehicle

She may not think she is the most fascinating person, but Sanae Kubota is anything but boring. To her, her path to become the deputy mission systems engineer for IMAP has been straightforward and consistent with her goals. Listening to her story, however, reveals her inimitable qualities, talents, and experiences that highlight what an incredible and fortunate addition she is for the IMAP team. 

Mission systems engineers are not unlike orchestra conductors. “You have to take all of the individual implementable parts, integrate them together, and they all need to be able to work well together,” she explains. “To me, it's a really fun phase [Critical Design Review], because we always find the devils in the details.”

 

That might mean detail devils across a subsystem or an instrument, but also between institutions.

“Across institutions everybody's got their own different institutional practices, and in a lot of cases there is vocabulary that goes with it. So, there is a learning curve there, regardless of the communication methods, where you have to make sure that you're actually talking about the same thing. But, you know, that's an interesting experience to just to understand how different institutions work and how they handle things and the process of figuring out the language and getting on the same page. It's a fun learning experience.”  

Launch Team Standing Wearing Headsets
Sanae (left), Launch Day of Parker Solar Probe

So as “conductors,” mission systems engineers ensure that all components are not only harmoniously working together, but also playing the same song. “We work across all of the different areas of the mission…and we work to tie the pieces together. So, we end up seeing interconnectivity that people who work at a more localized level don't necessarily see. While they work to optimize their area, they don't necessarily see all the A measure of the flow of events. how changes within their area may impact other areas. It's our job to see across the Electromagnetic radiation arranged in order of wavelength. A rainbow is a natural spectrum of visible light from the Sun. Spectra are often punctuated with emission or absorption lines, which can be examined to reveal the composition and motion of the radiating source. and look at the bigger picture and see, ‘Is this improvement to your [area] going to be to somebody else’s detriment?’ And [then] what is the right way to balance that to achieve the ultimate mission goals. In my role, at mission level, I want to bring in the other elements.” Sanae reminds us that the orchestra that is the IMAP spacecraft goes beyond the instruments but includes the subsystems and the ground operations on Earth. “It’s everybody.” 

Sanae’s path to the IMAP team starts as a story that may seem like fiction written into a movie or novel, but for her, it was real life. “My story is: this is what I've always wanted to do.” Like many small children, Sanae didn’t know how to answer the question that adults love to plague them with about career hopes before one can even become aware of what all the possibilities are. Once she discovered that working in space-related fields was one of those options, she was sold. 

“When we were kids, my older brother got a telescope and I remember he brought it up onto the roof of our house and brought me up there with him. It wasn't the greatest telescope, but we looked around in the sky. I was probably seven or eight and I think that was the first time, that I can recall anyway, really considering what was out there beyond our planet and it hooked me. I remember I went to the library and found every book that I could and checked them all out and tried to learn everything…it’s what got me hooked on space. I decided about engineering in particular a few years later just realizing I really like building things and figuring out how things work, which applies to science, too. But for me, that's what sent me down the engineering path. I occasionally run into people who knew me as a kid and they're like hey you actually did it!”

Her undergraduate college choice was Johns Hopkins, during which she was also able to intern at the Applied Physics Lab (APL), an experience that would lead her back later in her career.  

“[I] loved my experience when I was an intern. So, when a small company that I worked for after college got these other contracts with APL, I started re-familiarizing myself and at some point, made the jump to come over to APL.”

Team working with computers
Kubota (center) at GSFC with Parker Solar Probe Team Testing for Launch

Sanae worked on a number of missions, including doing risk analysis for the International Space Station and, more currently, as deputy spacecraft systems engineer for Parker Solar Probe. It is her work there which led to the opportunity to work on IMAP.   

“One thing that excites me most about my position is I really enjoy the people that I work with. Systems engineers in particular, because we cover such a broad base, we get to interact with a lot of the team, and I think this team is full of a lot of really great people…I wasn’t on the original IMAP team; I was working on other stuff. When I was given the opportunity and chose to join IMAP, honestly…very much a part of it was that I knew who was on the IMAP team and I wanted to work with this team. That was a big part of the decision.”

While at Johns Hopkins for school, Sanae wasn’t just preparing to become a mission systems engineer in the classroom. She also learned many of her team leadership and management skills as the first, and only, female captain for the men’s varsity rowing team. 

“I think that sports are a very important part of the educational experience in general.  And for me, I was a coxswain for rowing. It's called the Ultimate Team Sport…rowing is a lot like [being a part of an orchestra] in that every little motion that anybody makes affects how the boat will run. As coxswain, it was my job to tie all of that together…the coxswain is the conductor that sits in the boat.  So, for me, that was really probably very good job training. It taught me leadership skills, it taught me leadership skills through adversity, through connecting very different people towards a singular purpose, motivating them in ways that each individual needed to be motivated, working technique issues as each individual needed, but doing it in a way that brought the team together in the best possible way to make the boat flow in the best possible way. Working race strategy, working race strategy on the spot as, you know, other boats were doing their own thing. How do we respond? That I think was instrumental for me developmentally I think for systems engineering training.” 

Sanae Kubota Running

Sanae now also uses her love for running to stay connected with people, relating to others with different experiences and purposes. She has run with the same group for many years, grateful for the team spirit they have built that continues to strengthen all through life challenges and wins.

So, what would feel like the biggest accomplishment moment for the deputy mission systems engineer? It will probably come far long after IMAP has reached L1. 

“My last role, on Solar Probe, was to think about and plan for everything that could go wrong. I think that the lasting impact that that has had on me is that I won't be able to really relax or celebrate probably at least until we have a few orbits under our belt for IMAP.” 

It can be certain, however, that with each The curved path, usually elliptical, described by a planet, satellite, spaceship, etc., around a celestial body, such as the Sun; also called orbital path. around L1, she will be alongside the whole IMAP Team cheering GO IMAP GO!