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 After several years of work, the Mars Gravity Biosatellite Program, a joint educational and research activity between MIT and Georgia Tech closed down. At Georgia Tech, SSDL students had primary responsibility for the design and development of the entry, descent and landing system for this mission. Since 2005, the following SSDL graduate and undergraduate students participated in this endeavor: Zach Putnam, Scott Francis, Grant Wells, Ashley Korzun, Elizabeth Deems, Christine Hartzell, Laura Place, Scott Martinelli, Kyle Hott, Tony Yu, Brandon Smith and Jessica Juneau. At the program's conclusion, the design had progressed beyond a PDR readiness level and the team was focused on design, fabrication and test of several heatshield options in partnership with engineers at NASA Ames Research Center. In 2008, a paper on the Mars Gravity EDL system was presented at the 6th International Planetary Probe Workshop. In addition, a Mars Gravity Biosatellite systems overview was presented at the 58th International Astronautical Congress in 2007. The Georgia Tech team is thankful for this flight program experience and is looking forward to new adventures and collaborations.
Entry, descent and landing system architecture results developed by SSDL graduate students were featured in an August 2009 Astronomy magazine article entitled Next Step Mars?
Congratulations to SSDL graduate student Ian Clark who completed his Ph.D. in May 2009 and graduated in the summer semester. His dissertation is entitled, "Aerodynamic Design, Analysis and Validation of a Supersonic Inflatable Decelerator."
SSDL graduate student Mike Grant and his co-authors were awarded the Best Atmospheric Flight Mechanics paper at the 47th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting (January 2009 in Orlando, FLA). His paper, AIAA 2009-0522, is entitled, "Smart Divert - A New Entry, Descent and Landing Architecture," and was conducted in collaboration with personnel at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory. This is the third consecutive year that an SSDL student has won an AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics best paper award and the second such award for Mike.
Congratulations to SSDL graduate students Adam Brinckerhoff, Zarrin Chua, Chris Cordell, Allison Hutchings, Chris Marsh and Bala Radharamanan who each completed their M.S. in May 2009.
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SSDL graduate student Ian Clark prepares his tension cone inflatable aerodynamic decelerator model for testing in the NASA Glenn Research Center 10'x10' Supersonic Wind Tunnel.
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Under the direction of Professor Spencer, Georgia Tech students Luke Walker, Mandy Pietruszewski, Katie Milway and Sarah McNeese built, integrated and tested aspects of their nanosatellite at high altitude during a recent balloon launch from Boulder, CO. The above image was taken during the Georgia Tech flight test. This work is sponsored by the AFRL University Nanosat Program.
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Professor David Spencer was awarded the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal in June 2009 for his work as Deputy Project Manager of the Phoenix Mars Scout mission.
In 2009, Professor Braun began service as an Associate Editor for the AIAA Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets and on the Advisory Council for The Planetary Society.
In Fall 2009 and Spring 2010, SSDL faculty and/or graduate students will be giving technical presentations on our research at the AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Meeting (Chicago, IL), AIAA Space 2009 Conference (Pasadena, CA), 60th International Astronautical Congress (Daejeon, South Korea), 48th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting (Orlando, FLA), IEEE Aerospace Conference (Big Sky, MT), 6th Multidisciplinary Optimization Specialists Conference (Orlando, FLA) and the 7th International Planetary Probe Workshop (Barcelona, Spain).
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