Sondy - Alessondra Springmann: Planetary Radar Astronomer
Alessondra Springmann, better known as Sondy, is a PhD planetary scientist working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, CO. She is part of Project ESPRESSO, preparing experiments for zero-gravity flights to improve future characterization of asteroid surfaces. She has a doctorate from the Lunar & Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona in planetary sciences, focusing on characterizing asteroids and comets using laboratory and observational techniques.
Previously, she worked on NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission to near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu. Her past work includes two years of planetary radar observations of asteroids at Arecibo Observatory, National Astronomy & Ionosphere Center, Arecibo, Puerto Rico. She has a Master of Science in Earth & Planetary Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor of Arts in Astrophysics from Wellesley College.