Events for November 28, 2023
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SERC Seminar
Tue, Nov 28, 2023 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Astronautical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: David Miller, NASA-JPL
Talk Title: If You Cannot Create Space in Your Lab, Create Your Lab in Space
Abstract: Experimentation is an essential step in maturing technology. Whether it is to measure new phenomena, assess the repeatability and reliability of components, calibrate simulations, determine performance limits, identify operational drivers, or to demonstrate to a decision-maker that the technology works in an operational environment, those experiments must be conducted in an operationally authentic environment. For space, those environments include thermal, radiation, vacuum, lighting conditions, orbital dynamics, the “view,” and long-duration micro-gravity. The first four can be tested to some fidelity in ground-based chambers but the latter three require testing in space.
Analogous to a wind tunnel, testing in long duration micro-gravity allows a formative technology to be tested, under nominal and (more importantly) off-nominal conditions, without harm to the technology, the operator and the platform. This talk will illustrate the use of Shuttle, Mir and the International Space Station as research platforms for maturing space technology whose behavior is dependent upon long duration micro-gravity. This will be done through the lens of three evolvable research facilities that the presenter’s laboratory at MIT developed over the past three decades.
Biography: David W. Miller is the former Director of the Space Systems Laboratory and the Jerome C. Hunsaker Professor (Post Tenure) in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at M.I.T. Prof. Miller has played an engineering role in the development of space-based apertures. He has built and operated a dozen space flight experiments spanning Shuttle, Mir, ISS, and free flyers. He was a member of the JWST Product Integrity Team and the Vice Chair and S&T Chair of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board. He served two and a half years as NASA's Chief Technologist at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC and three years as Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at the Aerospace Corporation. He is currently the Chief Technologist for the Astronomy and Fundamental Physics Directorate at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and an AIAA Fellow and member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Host: ASTE Department
Location: Hedco Petroleum and Chemical Engineering Building (HED) - 116
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Dell Cuason
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SERC Seminar
Tue, Nov 28, 2023 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Astronautical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Charles L. Gustafson, UC Berkeley
Talk Title: Transformational Communications Satellite, Lessons Learned
Abstract: The Transformational Communications Satellite Program (TSAT) was an ambitious military program that existed from 2003-2009. It looked to combine existing frequency hopped communications methods with internet protocols and laser communications to provide military users with significant new capabilities. It was ultimately canceled in 2009 prior to fully entering development. This talk will provide an overview of intended capabilities and lessons learned from the program.
Biography: Charles L. Gustafson is the former Senior Vice President of the Engineering and Technology Group at The Aerospace Corporation, a non-profit consulting company working on government satellite and launch systems. His entire career was spent at Aerospace, during which he worked on a number of communication and remote sensing satellites, launch systems, and intelligence community programs. He served as a member of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board for four years, including one year overseeing the science and technology review process. He holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from UC Berkeley.
Host: ASTE Department
Location: Hedco Petroleum and Chemical Engineering Building (HED) - 116
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Dell Cuason
