Oak Ridge Today

Secretary’s Honor Awards recognize ORNL employees

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Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm speaks at the Secretary’s Honor Awards Ceremony, which was presented virtually. (Photo credit: Jaimee Janiga/ORNL, U.S. Department of Energy)

Oak Ridge National Laboratory employees received Department of Energy Secretary’s Honor Awards from Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm in January for their work on projects related to computer tools and classified information, a new alloy, and the production of plutonium-238 and special components for the Mars Perseverance rover.

The annual awards recognized 21 teams and three individuals for service and contributions to DOE’s mission and to the benefit of the nation, a press release said. More than 50 current employees and recent retirees from ORNL received awards.

“The Department of Energy’s core mission—promoting scientific discovery, maintaining the nuclear deterrent, and remediating environmental harms—have never been more important,” Granholm said. “Our role in tackling the climate emergency and ensuring America’s continued security and prosperity is absolutely critical, and it could not be done without the dedicated and diverse team of world-class scientists, engineers, policy experts, and mission support personnel employed at our headquarters, fields sites, and laboratories across the country.”

The teams and ORNL employees named in achievement awards include:

[Read more…]

Hear from ORNL scientists who worked on Perseverance mission

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Video published on YouTube by Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Three scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will discuss their work this afternoon on technologies for the Perseverance rover, which uses plutonium-238 produced at the lab and will touch down on Mars on Thursday.

Perseverance is scheduled to make its final descent into Jezero Crater on the surface of Mars on Thursday. It’s the first NASA mission that uses plutonium-238 produced at ORNL.

The plutonium-238 is encased in iridium-alloy cladding, and it is insulated by carbon-bonded carbon fiber. It’s used in the heat source module that fuels Perseverance’s multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator. As the plutonium decays, the heat that is released is converted into electricity, charging the rover’s batteries and powering the onboard advanced imaging and sensor systems. (Learn more about the Mars mission here.)

The online event today featuring the three ORNL scientists is hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy, and it is scheduled to start at 3 p.m.

[Read more…]

Robotics: After regional alliance win, Secret City Wildbots will compete in World Finals in Houston

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After a regional alliance win at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville on Saturday, March 24, 2018, the Secret City Wildbots robotics team of Oak Ridge, Team 4265, is headed to the World Finals in Houston in April. (Photo by Angi Agle)

After a regional alliance win at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville on Saturday, March 24, 2018, the Secret City Wildbots robotics team of Oak Ridge (Team 4265) is headed to the World Finals in Houston in April. (Photo by Angi Agle)

 

Information and photos submitted by Angi Agle

KNOXVILLE—After a regional alliance win in Knoxville on Saturday, the Secret City Wildbots robotics team of Oak Ridge is headed to the World Finals in Houston in April.

The Wildbots finished the qualification rounds ranked number eight at Thompson-Boling Arena at the University of Tennessee. That made the Wildbots a team captain, eligible to select two more teams for their alliance.

However, captains select their alliance partners in the first round, with the highest-ranked team picking first. Team 2614, MARS (Mountain Area Robotics) of Morgantown, West Virginia, was the number one seed and selected Team 4265 (the Secret City Wildbots) as their first alliance pick.

The two then agreed upon Team 4306, the Robo Komodos of Franklin, Tennessee, as their third alliance partner. [Read more…]

ORION astronomy club to meet Wednesday at Grove Theater

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The ORION astronomy club presents Linda C. Kah, a University of Tennessee Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences professor, on Wednesday, March 19, at 7 p.m. Her presentation will be on Mars and titled “Curioser and Curioser: The Curiosity Rover’s adventure in Gale Crater.”

This talk will highlight the first 1.5 years of surface mission activities and explore ancient environments of Mars.

This free presentation will be at the Grove Theater. For more information, go to http://orionastronomy.wordpress.com. [Read more…]

Mars Curiosity Rover provides strong evidence for flowing water

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Mars Curiosity Rock Outcropping

Multiple outcroppings of rocks like this one (termed a pebble conglomerate) were observed along the first 275 meters traversed by the rover with the high-resolution Mastcam. (Submitted photo)

KNOXVILLE—Despite satellite images that show vast networks of channels, past Mars rover missions have shown limited evidence for flowing water on Mars.

Now, rocks analyzed by NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover team, including Linda Kah, associate professor of earth and planetary sciences at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, provide solid evidence that Mars had rivers or streams. This suggests that the environment was drastically different than today’s cold and dry conditions, with the potential to support life.

A paper on the team’s findings is published in this week’s edition of Science magazine. [Read more…]