SPIDER Update: We have Lift off

On January 1st 2015, Princeton University research team successfully launched SPIDER, the telescope, over Antarctica.  The telescope will spend around 20 days above the continent studying the early universe.  

""At this early stage things are looking as good as we could hope," said William Jones, an assistant professor of physics at Princeton University, in an email from Antarctica. Jones is the leader of the multi-institution effort to launch the balloon-borne telescope."

Follow the SPIDER’s journey

Rob Ughetta graduated from Princeton University in 1989.

SPIDER Starts Its Journey to Antartica

On September 25th, Princeton University announced they will be sending their SPIDER, a stratospheric spacecraft, to Antarctica.  The craft will spend 20 days orbiting the earth looking for early universe’s remnants.    On the journey SPIDER will be roughly 110,000 feet above the earth looking for pattern, or polarization of gravitational waves produced by the fluctuation of energy and density that resulted from the Big Bang.  SPIDER has been designed to characterize the shape of the “fingerprint” left behind.

The SPIDER team will beginning their journey to Antarctica in mid-October to unpack and settle the craft.  The day of the launch after a three hour ascent SPIDER will remain in contact with the researchers for about 24 hours.  SPIDER will say in orbit until early January when the researchers have about a week to locate the craft before the harsh winter hits.  

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Robert Ughetta is a graduate of Princeton University and is also a large contributor to the alumni association.