Younger: A Sputnik moment is coming
Laboratories Director Steve Younger and Chief Research Officer Susan Seestrom took the stage at the Steve Schiff Auditorium Aug. 26 to discuss “discovery science” and what it means for Sandia. The talk was the latest installment of the New Research Ideas Forum.
Experiments at sun temperature offer solar model solutions
Physicists at Sandia’s Z machine have found that a widely used astronomical model underestimates the energy blockage caused by free-floating iron atoms. Now, Sandia’s experimental opacity measurements can help bloodlessly resolve a major discrepancy in how the 40-year-old Standard Solar Model uses the composition of the sun to predict the behavior of stars.
Sandia opens doors to family, friends
Family Day is a rare opportunity for Sandia’s workforce to show family and friends the critical work they perform in the interest of the nation. This year’s Albuquerque event is Saturday, Sept. 7, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., and the Livermore event is Saturday, Sept. 14, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Man on the moon
On July 20, 1969, nearly 650 million people watched as Neil Armstrong took “...one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind,” when the Apollo 11 mission landed the first man on the moon. This year marks the 50th anniversary of that mission, and Sandia was part of the team.
Family Day memories
Family Day memories are captured in photos from past events.
March 28, 1969: Sandia Labs Completes ‘Crash’ Testing Program for Apollo
Sandia Laboratories is completing a six-month crash program of analysis and safety testing of a cup-sized radioactive heater scheduled for use in Project Apollo.
May 23, 1969: Sandia Helps in Apollo Moon Program
The outstanding scientific achievement of the twentieth century will be placing a man on the moon. Sandia will have, so to speak, a small but important piece of the action.
August 1, 1969: Labs Tested Nuclear Heaters Left on Moon by Apollo 11
Two cup-sized radioisotopic heaters analyzed and safety tested at Sandia Laboratories are part of the instrumentation left on the moon by astronauts of Apollo 11.
Family Day at Sandia
Family Day has been a part of Sandia culture since 1959, when 15,000 participants in New Mexico, 3,100 at the California laboratory and 300 from the Salton Sea Test Site came to Sandia sites to see where people performed important work for the nation.
A day in the life of Sandia — 70 years and counting
To mark the 70th anniversary of President Truman’s letter that inspired Sandia to “… exceptional service,” Lab News photographer Randy Montoya spent a full day chronicling the people and work that make the Labs hum from sun up to sundown.