SHOOT FOR THE STARS

Kelly Smith, Assistant Director, Department of Space Engineering Space Science and Engineering Division

Southwest Research Institute

January 2016

HOW DO WE SPARK INTEREST IN MATH

AND SCIENCE?

• Lack of understanding of what Scientists and Engineers really do

• We think the iPHONE just materialized on its own!

• MATH and Science are HARD…not for me!

• I cannot imagine myself doing anything STEM related…

• No money in it!

Why Choose STEM field, or college for that

matter?

(thoughts from a father of three and husband

of an elementary teacher turned librarian)

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Why Choose College?

• College is not cheap Costs continue to rise

Strain on personal and family finances

• Skills are very important in obtaining a job today One and Two year college/technical

programs (Nursing, Technician, Web Designer, Computer Specialist, Construction Engineering and more)

Four year college [Teacher, Engineer (automotive, aerospace, energy, etc.), Mathematician, Physicist, BS Nursing, Finance, Business and more]

• Unemployment (25 years and over) High School, No College 8.4%

Some Colleg or Associates Degree 6.9%

College Graduate 3.8%

Overall rate of 8%

• Young graduate unemployment High School Graduate – 16%

College Graduate – 9.4%

Engineering 2% Source: Time Magazine

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Salary Information (Pew Research)

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Inspiration (Questions I Pose to Students)

• Do you like math and science?

• Do you like helping people?

• Do you like building things?

• Do you love to take things apart, whether or not you know how to put them back together?

• Do you like solving problems?

• Do you wonder about Stars, Planets, Aliens, your Friends?

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What Do Engineers Do … with Math and Science?

• Design things that go – Planes, Trains, Automobiles, Ships and Spacecraft

• Design things to fix people – Knees, hips, artificial limbs

– Medical equipment, heart lung machines, medicine dispensers and much more

• Design better weapons for our police and military

• Design computers and software

• Design buildings, bridges, roads

• Better question is, “What do engineers not do?”

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MATH and SCIENCE = STRONG FOUNDATION

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My Background (or why there is always hope)

• Born: Edinburg, small town in South Texas

• High School: New Braunfels, Texas

• College:

– BS in Mechanical Engineering - Texas A&M

– MS in Mechanical Engineering - Stanford University

• Jobs: General Dynamics in Fort Worth Co-op Engineer while at

A&M (now Lockheed Martin), NASA Langley Research Center (first job out of college), Southwest Research Institute (hit the BIG TIME)

• Hobbies: Cars, Woodworking, Fishing, Swimming, Computers, Sports, Scouts

• Moral of this story: MATH AND SCIENCE EMPOWERED ME!

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Southwest Research Institute®

• Founded in 1947 as an Independent,

Nonprofit, Applied Engineering and

Physical Sciences Research and

Development Institution

• Broad Technological & Scientific Base

• 1200 Acre Campus in San Antonio, Texas

• Over $500M in annual revenue (FY12)

roughly 50:50 government and industrial

• ~$7M in Internal Research (FY12)

• Just Under 3000 employees

• Over 990 patents and 35 R&D 100 awards

• 2.2 million ft2 of Laboratory & Office Space

Mission Statement

Benefiting government, industry and the public through innovative science and technology

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• Provides space science and engineering capabilities for NASA and other partners

• ~$100M annual revenue (FY12)

• 336 employees ~100 PhD Scientists

~100 Engineers

Other staff • Analysts

• Technicians

• Planners

• Administrative

• Major office in Boulder, CO and smaller one in Durham, NH

• 135k sq ft of Lab and office space in San Antonio Extensive space instrument and

spacecraft development , test, integration, and operations

Science data analysis, modeling, theory capabilities and support

Space Science and Engineering Division

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Organizational Structure

• Space Science Department: key role in NASA space

physics and planetary missions; investigates solar system,

astrophysical phenomena; observational and theoretical

• Newly added EOSD at University of New Hampshire

• Space Systems Directorate: Leading developer of processors, command and data handling systems and related space flight electronics; system and subsystem design, fabrication, and testing; SwRI processors have flown on more than 30 space missions w/o on-orbit failure

• Planetary Science Directorate (Boulder, CO): basic observational, modeling and theoretical research; active in scientific and instrumentation components

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Full Spectrum Space Asset Development

Science Missions

• Large and Small Mission Program Management and/or Mission Systems Engineering

Payload & Instruments

• Science, technology

driven development

• Wide-spectrum of

missions

• Payload integration

and accommodation

Mission Operations

• Mission design and

orbit determination

• Spacecraft

commanding

• Science data

processing &

distribution

Courtesy ESA/Astrium

Ltd.

Spacecraft

• Developed advanced concepts for

small, nano, and CubeSat class

vehicles

Spacecraft Avionics

• Turn key spacecraft

processing solutions

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• The Rosetta Stone was the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics

• Rosetta can be the key to our understanding of the origin and evolution of the

Planetary System

• Rosetta launched: 2 March 2004, flew to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko,

arrived in August 2014

• A small Lander, Philae, was deployed onto the comet – NOVEMBER 2014

• SwRI Contributed the IES Instrument and the ALICE UV Imager

ROSETTA - The Comet Mission

Alice – Ultraviolet Spectrograph

IES - ION Electron Spectrometer

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DEEP IMPACT - Mission Details

• 6-year NASA mission funded November 1999

• To create crater and observe impact of collision with comet

• Impacted Comet Tempel 1 on July 4th, 2005

• SwRI Role: Avionics, Software, Power Distribution

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DEEP IMPACT: SwRI Contribution

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2011 Mars Science Laboratory

Search for habitable environments, and

signs of building blocks of life

• Remote sensing instruments (beyond MER)

• Contact Instruments (beyond MER

capabilities)

• Analytical Instruments (new: biogeochemistry,

mineralogy, isotopes… “following the Carbon”)

• Precision landing an order of magnitude better

than MER, and including some degree of

hazard detection/avoidance

• Several km roving and science research

capability, enabled by nuclear power

(mm-RTG)

• Launched 11/11

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Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity

• Size of a MiniCooper

• Remote Controlled

• 9 Science Instruments on Curiosity

• I Helped Design a Radiation Detector (RAD) Help make sure Astronauts Can

Survive on Mars

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RAD Instrument

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SwRI Contribution to MSL – Radiation

Assessment Detector (RAD) with Window

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• Measure Radiation Environment from launch to operations on Mars in preparation for manned missions

• Less than 2 kg (4.4 lb)

• Less than 5 watts power consumption

• Survive Launch Environment (Vibration, Thermal, etc)

• Operate, failure free, for 5 years

• Meet planetary protection guidelines

• Many More Requirements

• ~$16M before science operations (~1/3 of that contributed from European Space Agency, Germany’s DLR (their NASA) and in collaboration with University of Kiel, Germany)

Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD)

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CURIOSITY ROVER SELF IMAGE

SwRI RAD Window

PASS THE POTATOES!!!!

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RAD Instrument – Detector Technology

• RAD utilizes scintillating detectors and solid state detectors to measure radiation types and energy levels

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Pre Launch Test Requirements (a few of them)

RSH PU Functional Test

RSH PU Fab/Assy

RSH PU Perf. Testing

Deliver PF RSH To SwRI

REB EM Functional Test

REB EM Fab/Assy

REB EM EM Emissions

RAD EM Integration

RAD EM Complete

REB FM Functional Test

REB FM Fab/Assy

REB FM PF T/C

RSH FM Functional Test

RSH FM Fab/Assy

RSH FM PF T/C

RAD FM Integration

RAD FM EMI/EMC

RAD FM Perf. Baseline

RAD FM PF Vibe (7.9 grms)

RAD FM FA T/V (-55/+70)

RAD FM Calibration

RAD FM Complete

RAD EGSE

RAD EGSE

EM RAD BNL Characterization

RAD FM PF Shock/Acoustic

PER TRR Prior to Each Env. Test

Engineering (Prototype) Unit

Flight Unit

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RAD VIBRATION Test – ENGR/TECH/MORE

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RAD Thermal Vacuum Test – ENGR/TECH/MORE

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MSL Top 3 Science Discoveries – First Year

#1. A Suitable Home for Life

Ancient Mars could have the right chemistry to have supported living microbes. Curiosity

found carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur – key ingredients necessary for life

– by studying many rocks that formed in water. The first sample from inside a rock also

revealed clay minerals and not too much salt, which suggests fresh, possibly drinkable

water once flowed there.

#2. Evidence of an Ancient Streambed

Smooth and rounded rocks found by Curiosity likely rolled downstream for at least a few

miles. They look like a broken sidewalk, but they are actually layers of exposed bedrock

made of smaller fragments cemented together. They tell a story of a steady stream of

flowing water about knee deep.

#3. Radiation Could Pose Health Risks for Humans

The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) instrument on Curiosity found

that two forms of radiation pose potential health risks to astronauts in

deep space. One is galactic cosmic rays (GCRs), particles caused by

supernova explosions and other high-energy events outside the solar

system. The other is solar energetic particles (SEPs) associated with

solar flares and coronal mass ejections from the sun. NASA will use Curiosity's data to design missions to be safe for human explorers.

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http://mars.nasa.gov/msl/

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MSL How to get to Mars Video

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MSL Soup to Nuts Video

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MSL Digging in the Dirt Video

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Cool Video Kids Like – Engineers at Work

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If I can do it…anyone can…especially you!

Any questions?