A childhood fascination with reflected light sparked a career in space science. There's weather up there? Physics and fine arts craftsmanship combine in cutting-edge research.

John Harlander is a physicist and designer of optical instruments for astronomy and space physics including for NASA's recently-launched Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) satellite. Physicist and designer of a NASA optical instrument that was deployed on the Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, mission. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx