Applied Research Building

About

This nonreflective, echo-free room is called an anechoic (a-nih-KOH-ik) chamber. The chamber is built with radio-wave-absorbing material applied to the walls, ceiling, and floor. The absorptive material – a carbon-filled foam – is designed to keep sound waves from bouncing. The conditions of the anechoic chamber allow researchers to test satellite antennae for their command, control, and data relay performance.

Fast Facts

• In an anechoic chamber, speech sounds muffled, like when your ears need to pop in an airplane.
• The quietest place on Earth is an anechoic chamber built and owned by Microsoft. The measured noise level is -20.3 decibels, 20.3 decibels below the threshold of human hearing. In it, you can hear the sound of your own beating heart, flowing blood, and grinding bones.
• The almost absolute silence in an anechoic chamber gradually manifests into a ringing in your ears.
• Over time, the lack of reverberation in a room like this causes people to lose their balance.

About

Under the direction of research professor and astronomer Michael Lesser, the ITL is a world-leading supplier of advanced scientific imaging sensors for visible, ultraviolet, and x-ray light detection. The most common applications for its imaging technologies are in the fields of astronomy, satellite imagery such as Earth observations, and the manufacturing of electronic devices. What's more, the lab has developed and supports camera systems used on telescopes owned and operated by the University. The lab's industry partners include Lockheed Martin, Ball Aerospace and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, while its federal funding agencies include NASA, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense. The lab at ARB is a clean room, meaning it is designed to filter out airborne particles and pollutants like dust, microbes, and aerosols.

Fast Facts

• The ITL was located off campus prior to the opening of the Applied Research Building.
• The lab has delivered more than 4,000 sensors to scientific and industrial imaging communities across the globe.
• The lab has developed and supports camera systems used on telescopes owned and operated by the University.
• Although UV waves are invisible to the human eye, some insects, including bumblebees, can see them.

Want to collaborate with the Imaging Technology Lab?

Contact Mike Lesser:
mlesser@arizona.edu
520-621-4236

About

This laboratory is a dedicated space for the fabrication of nanosatellites, often called “CubeSats,” and small space instruments, which represent the next generation of technology for space exploration and scientific investigation. The lab is designed to maximize reliability of space hardware by providing a clean environment for assembly. A major benefit of miniaturized satellites is cost and schedule efficiency: they are easier to mass produce and have a standard size and shape, commodifying access to space. They are less expensive to build than traditional satellites and, because of their compact size, they often piggyback on rockets carrying other spacecraft.

Fast Facts

• A typical CubeSat is about the size of a toaster, though the smallest are 4-inch cubes weighing less than 3 pounds.
• CubeSats have become increasingly popular in space exploration over the last two decades, with NASA launching its first CubeSat, GeneSat, in late 2006 and now hundreds are launched per year.
• U of A is expected to launch the CatSat CubeSat later this year.

About

With 40-foot ceilings similar to those found in warehouses, the ARB's high-bay payload laboratory will offer teams of scientists and engineers a dedicated space to assemble high-altitude stratospheric balloons such as the University of Arizona-led, NASA-funded GUSTO mission. These high-altitude balloons are used for critical everyday operations such as providing accurate weather data by measuring and transmitting information on atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity, and wind speed. They can also be used for more sophisticated scientific exploration, as in the case of GUSTO, which will send a balloon to near-space, carrying a telescope that will study the interstellar medium – the gas and dust between the stars, from which all stars and planets originate.

Fast Facts

• Balloon-borne astronomy fills an important gap between ground-based observatories and space telescopes by allowing telescopes and other instruments to reach altitudes where they experience less interference from Earth's atmosphere.
• U of A is home to another high bay facility, located at UA Tech Park at The Bridges, which opened in December 2022.
• Each of the letters of the Hollywood sign overlooking Los Angeles, California is roughly as tall as the high bay facility at the ARB.