Week 1 at STScI

I got an internship at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland as a research assistant. I just finished my first week of work and so far I love the place.

An introduction to my workplace first: the Space Telescope Science Institute (or STScI for short) is run by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) for NASA. Basically, STScI is the operations center for the famous Hubble Space Telescope. They handle its data, calibrate its instruments, ensure it runs smoothly and is readily available to do great astronomy research. They even have a very detailed model of it hanging in the lobby, as you can see above.

So far, my impression has been one of a very friendly place. For example, there is a business casual dress code in place. Yes it is widely obeyed, but there are many people at the Institute who dress very casually, even dressing in shorts. This is how informal STScI can be. We were also told time and time again about how it is a place for "free-flowing research," outlining just how relaxed the Institute's environment is.

I am still currently in the training process, getting to know the instruments on Hubble and how they work. In this respect, my colleagues and supervisor have been most helpful. They readily answer my questions and offer me plenty of material to go on with. And given that in total there are only 14 or 15 summer interns, we are each given plenty of attention from our respective supervisors. At the same time, we are not constantly monitored by our supervisors. We do have freedom with respect to what we do and how we manage our schedule.

This is so far my initial impression. There are still 9 more weeks to go and I will be giving more updates (and more pictures!) on the blog as I adapt and get to know more people.