LOWELL — You might say that John Noto has his head in the clouds, but you wouldn’t be thinking big enough.
Noto is a space physicist, which means he studies the atmosphere of earth and terrestrial planets and their interaction with the sun. In colloquial terms, he’s what some would call a “rocket scientist.”
When he wasn’t busy being a space scientist or running any one of his several companies, Noto was involved in several innovative local projects. He co-founded Lowell Makes, a creative group where people share ideas and tools, and he mentored residents at Entrepreneurship for All, also known as EforAll, a business incubator.
His many contributions to the community were recognized by Mayor Sokhary Chau and the City Council at their Oct. 18 meeting. After 15 years in Lowell, Noto is moving to Colorado, where he’ll join Orion Space Solutions as chief scientist.
“We definitely have a bona fide scientist in the city of Lowell,” Chau said of Noto during the presentation. “This citation is given in celebration and appreciation for all you’ve done for the city of Lowell.”
Councilor Wayne Jenness seconded that sentiment, adding that Noto leaves a body of work and influence that will outlast his time in the city.
“You are certainly leaving the city in better shape than you found it,” said Jenness. “We’ll miss you greatly but we’ll have constant reminders around the city of everything you’ve done in your time here.“
Part of that legacy is Lowell Makes, a thriving, almost 300-strong community of local artists, engineers, makers and thinkers who collaborate in a shared workshop and laboratory on everything from 3D printing, brewing and cosplay, as well as traditional arts like ceramics, painting, stained glass and wood and metal work.
Two years ago, the nonprofit purchased a 26,000-square-foot building next door to the Western Avenue Studios and Lofts and Navigation Brewing. The purchase gave the maker community a permanent base and expanded the metal shop and spray-painting room, among other spaces.
Noto calls himself “the least artistic person in the world,” but says he brings his mathematical and physics mindset to acquiring high-tech tools for the makerspace, such as a high-end professional laser cutter to cut designs onto almost any surface, and an electron microscope.
Another tool, a resin and high-temperature 3D printer, can print multiple layers to create shapes and textures.
In the early days of the pandemic, members teamed up to 3D print and assemble hundreds of badly needed N95 masks for local hospitals, which passed hospital testing to ensure they worked safety.
“I was always supportive of those industrial machines,” Noto said. “It’s amazing what you can do with them.”
Noto was born in New York City’s Bronx borough and graduated from the University of Rochester with a Bachelor of Science in physics and astronomy. He studied how stars form and fluid and plasma dynamics.
At Tufts University, he “fell in love with” the atmosphere of Earth, Mars, Venus and terrestrial atmospheres, and earned his master’s degree in physics. His doctorate in astronomy (space and astrophysics) is from Boston University.
“The primary thrust of my research has been sensors and space weather,” which Noto said is influenced by solar energy. ”The sun has these storms called coronal mass ejections.”
Noto compared space weather to a windy day at the Cape, in which strong winds create whitecaps on the ocean’s surface.
“The upper atmosphere gets sort of frothy when there’s a solar storm,” Noto explained. “Terrestrial weather has storms and winds coming off of the sun, and it creates these sorts of bubbles and instabilities that can affect communication and navigation.”
The solar bubbles interrupt the data flowing from the orbiting satellites to devices on earth’s surface, such as phones and GPS guidance systems.
“If you’re ever driving in your car, and suddenly your GPS tells you you’re 30 feet to the left of where you know you are, that’s because the line of sight between the GPS in your car or on your phone that the satellite is communicating with has just crossed through a bubble in the atmosphere,” Noto said.
Noto’s work in space physics is in understanding the composition of and formation of those sun bubbles, and developing sensors to collect enough data to more accurately predict space weather.
“My research is fundamentally about the development of these instabilities and the physics behind it,” Noto said. “Why they form, how they form and can we predict them?”
His work predicting solar bubbles and space weather is top of mind for the Federal Aviation Agency. The FAA tracks solar flares to limit air travelers’ exposure to ionizing radiation.
“We fly over the North Pole a lot more now,” Noto said. “And when there’s a big space weather event, the North Pole is where all those extra-charged particles — the ionizing radiation — comes down into the earth’s atmosphere. The FAA has to be aware of that because you don’t want your flight crews to get extra doses of radiation. So, when there’s a big flare, the flights from say, O’Hare in Chicago to Beijing, China, have to fly at lower altitudes. It takes them longer to get there, and they use more fuel.”
Here on Earth, Noto is wistful about his move to Colorado, where he’ll be applying his background and skills to his new job at Orion. He took a moment to reflect on his time in Lowell.
“The city’s citation was beautiful and very heartfelt, and I was overwhelmed by it,” he said.
When asked what he will miss most about Lowell, Noto paused.
“All the people,” he answered. “Nowhere have I lived that I felt so much at home. It’s hard to describe, and it’s difficult to leave.”
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November 06, 2022 at 04:12AM
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Local ‘rocket scientist’ John Noto blasts off to Colorado - Lowell Sun
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