Rodolfo Montez Jr.
I am a scientist in my fifth year at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory working in the Director's Office of NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. My professional duties focus on communicating the intricacies and evolution of our satellite observatory to the scientific community so they can make the best use of our observatory and to highlight some the scientific discoveries made by the community using our observatory. My research focuses on high-energy emission from dying stars like planetary nebulae, nova, and supernova remnants.
About Rodolfo's Cosmic Creations:
This is my CroChandra, it is a crocheted model of the Chandra X-ray Observatory, which is the spacecraft I work for at the CfA. It includes two solar panels (in blue), the main spacecraft body where small thrusters, gyros, and the mirrors exist (in yellow/gold), and the long tube that the X-ray photons need to travel down before reaching the detectors at the end (in grey). There is also a solar shade to block stray light from the sun (grey, bill-looking part). I have made numerous versions, most are residing in the homes of friends and colleagues. The first was large (12") but most are in the 4-5" range, with one tiny one coming in at (~2") and used as a Christmas tree ornament.
Crochet was a very frustrating skill to learn and I tried for months. I started looking at youtube videos and just couldn't do it. Then I added "left-handed" to my searches and it became immediately clear. I am left-handed and was trying to adapt right-handed videos to my left-handed approach as I am used to doing my whole life, but it didn't quite work for crochet (and knitting).