Casual Con is casual
With a lure of curry, we were able to entice our teammate Con to our tent for a hard-hitting interview in which we learned his deepest, darkest secrets. Read on to learn more about Con’s convoluted journey to the U.S. and of his love of meat and flying.
Name: “King Con” Constantine Tsang
Hometown: Hong Kong/Mt. Eliza (Australia)/Matlock (England). I’m a freak.
Current town: Boulder, CO
Background: I did my undergrad in Physics and Space Science at the University of Kent in England, and then went to Oxford University for a PhD in Planetary Physics. Whilst at Oxford I enjoyed punting (a casual boat propelled by means of a long pole in shallow water). It should be noted that Oxford punts from the curved end of the boat, which is correct, unlike Cambridge, which punts from the flat end (totally wrong). As part of my PhD I worked on the Venus Express mission on the VIRTIS instrument team, where I studied clouds and minor species in the atmosphere such as water vapor and carbon monoxide. These species can tell us about wind circulation and atmospheric chemistry that is happening in the deep atmosphere. Once I finished my PhD I stayed at Oxford but changed planets and worked on flight hardware for the ESA’s ExoMars meteorological package going to Mars in 2018. I helped to build and calibrate the wind and temperature sensors. Then I changed research directions yet again and came to the U.S. to work on Io (a very volcanically active moon of Jupiter) at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) where I am today. I’m doing a lot of ground-based observations of Io to better understand how ices on the surface and the many volcanoes relate to its atmosphere. Most of my current work uses data from telescopes such as IRTF and Gemini (both in Hawaii), the Hubble Space Telescope, and SOFIA (an airborne observatory). More broadly, I wanted to come to the U.S. because the planetary science community here is much bigger and I can broaden my horizon and learning. Aside from Io, I’ve had the good fortune to work on NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, observing the thin lunar atmosphere, and NASA’s New Horizons mission that just flew past the Pluto system. That was some ride!
Why ANSMET?: For three main reasons: 1.) Antarctica is such a beautiful place and I’ve always wanted to come see it; 2.) In retrospect I wish I had done more geology during my education. Since I learn by doing, ANSMET is a great opportunity to learn how to do fieldwork. It’s great to get out of the office and do something with my hands–outdoors planetary science! 3.) I always like to diversify my planetary knowledge, since it’s important in this field to have a broad base of understanding. And the only way to understand something is to do it.
Tell us about the patch that you made for us: My Christmas present to the ANSMET team was a mission patch with all of our names on it. My friend and colleague Dan Durda designed it (thanks Dan!). I thought it would be nice to have something to remember this unique experience by, not knowing if I’ll ever be back here again–and of course it’s not a mission until there’s patch!
Family: My lovely wife Sharon was born in England and plays the flute and piano. I also named my skidoo after her! We met as undergraduates on the same degree course. We have a son, Rupert, who will be age 3 in March. He’s very cute and thinks daddy is with the penguins. Recently he said he wants the penguins to go away so daddy can come back (scarred for life?). Rupert loves cars and fire engines. We also have a dog named Lilac who is a poodle-maltese mix, or Maltipoo in the parlance of the U.S. We adopted him from the Humane Society a few years before having Rupert. Having a dog is good practice for having kids! My parents are retired in England in the Peak District, and I have a younger sister, Jessica, who’s a fashion designer.
Hobbies: FLYING! I fly gliders, or sailplanes in the old vernacular. Although I’ve flown powered aircraft, I’m not rated on them. Gliders are awesome because it’s like flying like a bird–it’s purest flying you can do. You can also pull a 4-G turn without breaking the plane. It’s very quiet, and you can soar for hours if you catch thermals and mountain waves. Gliding is similar to sailing in many ways–it’s a personal, sporting challenge to master yourself, your machine and the elements. It differs from powered flight because the goal isn’t to get from point A to point B. I started flying at around age 15 with my dad on gliders, and with the Royal Air Force program to get kids hooked on flying (it worked). For a while I thought I might even have become a fighter pilot but planetary science eventually won out.
If you could have one super power, either flying or being invisible, which would you choose?: Since I already fly all the time as a pilot, I would choose being invisible.
I recently saw you eating a lunch that consisted entirely of ham. What’s your deal with meat?: I love meat, what more is there! I have nothing against vegetables, I love them too (hmmm…. bok choi) but I love meat more. I’m not bothered knowing where it comes from. In Hong Kong where I was born, there is a “wet market” where you can buy meat and seafood. All the animals are still alive, and they kill/gut it in front of you when you buy it. I took Sharon there but she didn’t much like it! The smell was pretty strong. I made a pork roast for Christmas that everyone liked [Nina’s note: His exact words were “Everyone likes my Christmas meat.”].
Favorite restaurant: Vlados in Melbourne, Australia. It has a fixed menu: 1.) Small meat plate with things like small sausages, livers, etc.; 2.) Main Course is the steak; 3.) Desert is strawberries and ice cream. The only thing you need to choose are the cut, the temperature and what wine you would like to complement the meat, that’s it.
Spirit animal?: Chipmunk? I see them a lot. Or maybe a soaring falcon? [Nina’s note: In honor of Con’s chosen spirit animals Morgan has dubbed him Chipcon, a combination chipmunk-falcon.]
Tell us about your hair: If it gets really long, it becomes a Chinese afro. Not cool.
Little known fact: I collect die cast airplanes, which I started collecting as an undergrad. I used to make model planes when I was younger, but I don’t have time for that anymore.
Con’s message to the world: Fly like an eagle. Don’t be a 2×4.
Deepest darkest secret: I need to visit the poo tent now.
–Posted by Nina by a toasty warm propane flame, south Miller Range, 11 January 2016