SPARKS GLENCOE, Md. — The countdown is on. 45 days until...
"We're going to the moon!," exclaimed Dr. Ronald Rosemeier, founder and CEO of Brimrose, a manufacturing company in Sparks Glencoe.
The next time Dr. Rosemeier watches the United States land a piece of equipment on the moon, it'll include something his company designed.
"Growing up in the 50s, when we ended up landing on the moon in 1969, that was such an experience. Everyone was watching it on TV. And then all of a sudden, it was happening so much, that people just got bored. And then we just stopped," Dr. Rosemeier said.
“Now we have other countries going to the moon, China, etc. And so everybody goes, 'gosh we were there first,'" he added.
Finally, we're going back, and a piece of Brimrose is going back with it.
Brimrose designed a spectrometer, which is used to measure specific wavelengths of light to identify different materials. It was selected by NASA to help in its search for water and minerals on the moon.
"Because if you're gonna send somebody to the moon to live, and you don't have water, it ain't gonna happen," said Dr. Rosemeier.
"And also having water and other minerals allows us to be able to launch rockets from the moon. We would not need to bring the materials from earth." said Dr. Jolanta Soos, Brimrose's chief technology officer.
This tiny part of the spectrometer is what makes Brimrose's technology stand out: an AOTF crystal. While the component is making its first lunar appearance, it's not new. Dr. Soos actually designed it about 25 years ago.
"Usually in the scientific community, you start working on something and by the time the community accepts it, it takes some time. It's kind of normal," said Dr. Soos.
Chief engineer Dr. Feng Jin designed the larger system around that small piece of crystal. He had to adjust it to fit NASA's technology. That was all done during the pandemic.
"We never closed," recalled Dr. Soos.
Now, on Christmas Eve, the team will watch as its technology is blasted into space, launching off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force station.
"We're gonna have a party at home. We were thinking of going to Florida but we don't know yet," said Dr. Jin.
"We don't want to run into Santa Claus's sleigh because all these kids won't get their presents and they'll be upset. So we have to be careful," Dr. Rosemeier said with a smile.
It's safe to say the Christmas lists for the team here at Brimrose won't be long this year; this was the best gift many of them could have asked for.
