Areas of Expertise
Ad Astra can help you
Project Assessment
We have experience with project development, from cradle to grave, for projects big and small. This includes:
- Design Reviews: CDR, PDR, red team reviews, etc.
- Requirements Development
- Science Team Development
- Risk assessment and management
Astrophysical Observatories
From Mauna Kea to Cerro Paranal and all points in between, we have experience with the rigors and challenges of operating in the most extreme environments. Our hundreds of days on-site can help you with:
- Facilities construction
- Facilities management
- Robotic telescopes
Leadership
Effectively managing and inspiring scientific and technical staff can mean the difference between success and failure.
- Management of multi-institutional and multi-national partnerships
- Philanthropy for non-profits
- Staff mentoring
- Executive leadership teams
- Strategic planning for science organizations
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Administrative
Good planning, proper execution can lead to excellent results - but the devil can be in the details. We have been there, and provide guidance on:
- Financial modeling of non-profit operations
- Research staff policy development & implementation
- Research staff management
- Symposium planning, budgeting
Proposal Preparation
Many outstanding ideas fail to get off the ground due to a proposal that misses the mark. We have experience with federal and foundation proposal preparation, serving on review panels, organizing and running review panels, and can help you make the right pitch. Submission and evaluation experience includes:
- DoD DURIP, DARPA
- NASA SBIR/STTR; Astrophysics MIDEX, SMEX, Pioneers, APRA, SAT, XRP, ADAP
- NSF MRI, AAG, ATI
- Private foundation proposal calls
Astrophysical Instrumentation
Instrumentation pushes the limits of optics, electronics, mechanics, design, and fabrication. We can provide feedback from our broad experience that includes the following areas:
- High-resolution imaging instrumentation
- Lunar payloads for science, from CLPS to HLS
- Extreme precision radial velocity instrument and observing program design
- Optical metrology
- Space Domain Awareness observing, including x-GEO / cis-lunar
Space Missions
We have experience with the proposal, development, construction, implementation, and operations of space missions, including:
- Manifested for launch: SPARCS
- Operational: Spitzer, HST, JWST
- Proposals: MoonLITE, SIM
- Concept development: Optimast, TPF, AeSI
Software Development
Guidance for your next observatory or instrumentation project, following data from the sky to the journal article:
- Operations software
- Data reduction pipeline software
- Data analysis