I was in Bothell, WA right before AAS for a NASA LISA Study Team meeting. We put in some time thinking about the Science Ground Segment and the best ways for NASA to enable astrophysicists to extract science from LISA data. It’s really exciting to think about all the amazing stuff that will come from this. This was my first in-person NLST meeting as I joined the team shortly before COVID.

Group picture of 16 scientists in person with 3 virtually projected behind them.
NLST group picture. We were all holding our breaths while we briefly removed our masks for this picture.

Many thanks to our fearless leader, Kelly Holley-Bockelmann, and our host, Joey Key!

Happy to announce that I was just selected as a member of the NLST, which stands for NASA (which stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration) LISA (which stands for Laser Space Interferometer Antenna) Study Team!

The NLST is charged as proxies for the future LISA user community in the US, to provide scientific analysis to inform these discussions as well as the NASA policy and budget formulation processes surrounding LISA.

I am excited to contribute to this effort as gravitational waves in general and LISA in particular are critical scientific opportunities for fundamental physics and astrophysics in both the US and the world.

I am joining a great team and am even looking forward to adding another telecon to my schedule!

Cover of the LISA proposal document showing a representation of the triangular pattern of the planned LISA spacecraft with Earth in the background and a starry field in the far background. The title reads "LISA: Laser Interferometer Space Antenna". The subtitle is "A proposal in response to the ESA call for L3 mission concepts" At the bottom reads: "Lead Proposer: Prof. Dr. Karsten Danzmann"
LISA L3 Mission proposal cover.