Dr. Roi Rahin
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California
- Maurice Leutenegger
- Lab website
Roi Rahin was chosen to join the NASA Postdoctoral Program at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. He is joining the research group on laboratory astrophysics experiments, an international team that collaborates with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, making several key hardware contributions to the Japanese-led XRISM (X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission), set to launch in 2023.
For his PhD in Observational and Experimental High-Energy Astrophysics at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, he developed GALI (Gamma-ray burst Localizing Instrument), a new detector design for sensing gamma-ray bursts and identifying their direction in the sky with high precision. Previously, only large satellites could achieve such localization, while GALI is the size of a shoe box. Dr. Rahin started by simulating different geometries and eventually designed the GALI laboratory and flight models, performing experiments and simulations for both. The GALI collaboration applied for a patent for this novel invention.
XRISM is a new X-ray telescope designed to understand galactic chemical evolution by examining supernova remnants to detect and measure iron-group elements such as manganese and chromium. Relying on his laboratory expertise with GALI and his experience with X-ray observational astrophysics, Dr. Rahin will use a novel micro-calorimeter X-ray spectrometer to study these elements in the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory during his postdoc. These experiments are crucial for correcting existing models and accurately analyzing the observations made by XRISM.
This research fulfills a dream for Dr. Rahin, who wishes to contribute to Israel’s expanding involvement in space research and exploration, while becoming a significant player in the international effort to explore our universe.