DATE:

Friday, September 29, 2023

TIME:

3:30 PM

LOCATION:

GMCS 314

SPEAKER:

Dr. Pablo Machuca, Visiting Assistant Professor, Aerospace Engineering, San Diego State University

ABSTRACT:

International efforts are once again focused on the exploration and exploitation of the Moon, and of space resources on asteroids, comets, and beyond. Small spacecraft have also become increasingly popular and capable over the past decade, and they will play an important role in this so-called new era of space exploration: either as standalone missions or as companions to larger spacecraft. The first technology-demonstration interplanetary missions have recently been launched, and small spacecraft are recognized today as a promising solution to maximize scientific return while keeping mission costs low.This seminar highlights international efforts to exploit small-spacecraft technology for the exploration of cislunar (Earth-Moon system) and deep space. Technical aspects and main challenges of small-spacecraft mission analysis will be discussed,with a focus on the design of trajectories and development of autonomous capabilities within the system constraints of small-spacecraft platforms.

Bio: Pablo Machuca is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor within the Department of Aerospace Engineering at San Diego State University. Pablo completed his Ph.D. on “Mission Design for Asteroid Exploration Using Autonomous CubeSats” at Cranfield University (United Kingdom) in 2021. He then joined University of California San Diego as a postdoctoral researcher on“Cislunar Space Domain Awareness” in 2021, and completed a second postdoc at Massachusetts Institute of Technology on “Space Debris Modeling and Propagation” in 2022.

Pablo’s research interests include astrodynamics in dynamically complex environments and autonomous guidance, navigation and control, with applications to interplanetary exploration, and small-spacecraft mission analysis and systems design.

HOST:

Satchi Venkataraman

VIDEO: