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Lee Stone

Brain Function through the Eyes of the Beholder

Our eyes are critical sensors that provide endless data that our brains use to create reality. They also drive our need for exploration; our desire to visit the cosmos is born of our view of the night sky. The Visuomotor Control Laboratory (VCL) at NASA Ames conducts neuroscience research to understand the link between eye movements and brain function to provide an efficient and quantitative means to monitor human perceptual performance. The VCL in the Human Systems Integration Division aims to make dramatic improvements in mission success through analysis, experimentation, and modeling of human performance and human-automation interaction to advance human-centered design and operations of complex aerospace systems. Dr. Lee Stone elaborates how this research is conducted and how it contributes to NASA’s mission and human spaceflight.

Abstract:
Eye-movement researchers in the 1960s and 70s were at the vanguard of bioengineering with their computational models of oculomotor behavior based on classical control theory. Their linear-system negative-feedback view of motor control resonated at the time with the dominant theory that human vision for action and perception are segregated from movement controlled by neural circuits, which are completely separate from the pathways controlling higher-order perception and cognition. Research in the Visuomotor Control Laboratory (VCL) at NASA Ames has disrupted this simple view and has revealed a fundamental link between perceptual/cognitive processing and eye-movement behavior. Starting with basic research to demonstrate that shared neural signals drive both eye movements and the visual understanding of the world, the work ultimately evolved into applied research to develop and validate a non-invasive rapid test for assessing brain function based on eye movements alone. The VCL is now exploring the use of this technology as a sensitive screen for sub-clinical brain injury or pathology with potential aerospace and earth-based applications, such as evaluating spaceflight-induced visual impairment, sports-related head impacts, or military blast exposures.

Biography:
Lee Stone received his B.A. in Biophysics in 1980 from the Johns Hopkins University where he took the medical school neuroscience course in which he was greatly influenced by Dr. David A. Robinson’s lecture on linear system theory models of eye-movement control, showing that neural input-output functions could be quantitatively modeled to predict dynamic oculomotor behavior. Inspired by this, he received an M.S. in Engineering in 1983 from the University of California at Berkeley for the development and behavioral testing of a non-linear dynamic model of primate eye movements. He went continued research, earning a Ph.D. in 1987 in Neuroscience from the University of California at San Francisco for neurophysiological studies of the role of the cerebellum in the control of voluntary smooth eye movements in primates. After a postdoc in the Human Factors Division at Ames under Dr. Beau Watson, who introduced him to the art of human psychophysical measurements, he took a research position in the Life Science Division at Ames in 1990, where he also served as Project Scientist for the RHESUS project. In 1995, he transferred to the Human-Systems Integration Division were he established the Visuomotor Control Laboratory, which has been funded by NASA’s Human Research Program and the NSBRI, as well as the Air Force and ONR, to perform research on human sensorimotor control and to develop and validate neuroscience-based human-systems technologies, all with an eye towards predicting and mitigating the impacts of altered aerospace environments on human performance.

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Christina Ngo

It’s a Fluid World

The world around us consists of fluids in motion. Visualizing and understanding fluid motion has given us insight into many disciplines including aeronautical design, next generation spacecraft and ground vehicles, evolution of stars, weather patterns, ocean currents, plate tectonics and even blood circulation. The Fluid Mechanics Lab at NASA Ames Research Center uses various visualization techniques to optimize the design of aircraft and allow for more efficient, cost-effective vehicles. NASA Ames has a strong history in aeronautics, hosting the largest wind tunnel in the world and other state-of-the-art aeronautics facilities that support fundamental research in fluid dynamics. Christina Ngo describes the groundbreaking research conducted by NASA Ames’ Experimental Aero-Physics Branch and details how researchers study aerodynamic performance.

Abstract:
This presentation will showcase the dynamic research that is conducted in the Experimental Aero-Physics Branch (AOX) at NASA Ames Research Center. The Fluid Mechanics Lab (FML), which is part of the AOX branch, is home to several experimental facilities including six small-scale wind tunnels, a low-speed water channel and a laser optics lab. The branch is an essential part in the development of advanced experimental techniques including pressure sensitive paint, particle image velocimetry and oil film skin friction, to name a few. This presentation will provide an overview of some of the techniques commonly used by members of AOX and how these techniques are combined to get a full understanding of the aerodynamic performance of the model under investigation. FML researchers make contributions to both the discovery of unknown territories outside our planet and making life on earth more sustainable with projects such as Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE), space exploration probes, Mars Science Lab (MSL) parachute testing, fuel efficient air vehicles (ERA), hybrid rockets, and even reducing drag on trucks.

Biography:
Christina Ngo received her BS in mechanical engineering with a concentration in aerospace from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in 2013. Currently, she works in the Fluid Mechanics Lab as a research engineer focusing on rocket buffet analysis, motion control and aerodynamics. Christina first came to Ames as an intern in 2009 and later gained experience in design, structural analysis, and aeronautics at Pratt and Whitney, Hamilton Sundstrand and SpaceX. While doing her undergrad, she worked as a research assistant with UCSD/Stanford in developing a Y-graft used in the Fontan surgery for children with congenital heart disease. She has been invited as an honorarium speaker for SPAWAR, UCSD, TedX and several Teachers in Space Conferences.

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Ruth Globus

Flying through the Ages: Rodent Research for Human Health

In our quest to bring humanity to the stars, we learn about ourselves, fundamental biology and how to extend our lives. Rodents are a model organism to study the short and long term effects of space travel. NASA Ames has a long history of conducting and developing the tools needed to implement space biology investigations. Building on its space shuttle experience, NASA Ames has developed the Rodent Research Habitat for the International Space Station, allowing for more frequent and longer duration space-based investigations. Dr. Ruth Globus’ seminar takes us into the world of rodent research in space and explains how it can support human health.

Abstract:
As humans, we evolved, developed, grew and now function in a continuous 1-gravity environment. Habitation in space poses unique challenges to human cells and organ systems. Biomedical research with rodents (primarily mice and rats) can help to unravel molecular, cellular and physiologic mechanisms and to test candidate interventions that mitigate the adverse effects of space on humans, such as muscle atrophy, bone loss and cardiovascular deconditioning. One favored hypothesis that may explain the detrimental effects of spaceflight on humans is that reduced mechanical loading in microgravity accelerates aging. Rodents provide a relevant model system to study this problem as they age ~40 times faster than humans. Now scientists from both public and commercial sectors can conduct rodent experiments on the International Space Station (ISS) using a new capability developed primarily at NASA Ames. Early results from the maiden voyage of the Rodent Research project on the ISS reveal that long duration effects of spaceflight appear to be far different than those of short duration missions. Thus, Rodent Research experiments on the ISS usher in a new era for exploration and biological discovery in space.

Biography:
Dr. Ruth Globus is a space biologist studying how the space environment influences mammalian cell biology and physiology, with a focus on the skeleton and osteoporosis. She was awarded her undergraduate degrees in biology and sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz and her doctorate degree in endocrinology from the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Globus has worked at NASA Ames Research Center as a principal investigator in the Space Biosciences Division since 1993. She co-directs the Bone and Signaling Laboratory, where students, postdoctoral scholars and scientists perform hypothesis-driven research, working with mice and cultured cells as model systems. In addition to her activities as a research scientist, in the past she has led NASA project science activities, such as the ARC Centrifuge Facilities (Space Biology Program) and the Artificial Gravity project (Human Research Program). Currently, she serves as lead project scientist for the Rodent Research project, providing scientific guidance for the development of a newly established capability to perform long duration experiments on the International Space Station.

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José Funes

A Cosmic End: from the Earth to the Universe

Throughout history, humans have used religion and science to explain the world, the universe and the origin of life. At times, these may have been seen as two different camps, polarizing the methodology by which to study where we came from and where we are going. Our future lies in our ability to understand Earth and the universe beyond. Will all life end with Earth, or is life a common phenomenon in the universe? Father Doctor José Funes provides insight on cosmology from the Vatican.

Abstract:
Motivated by curiosity about the end of the universe, José Funes has tried to consider the cosmic end at different scales. The question of the end of the universe is one of the big questions, which cut across human cultures: Where are we? Where did we come from? Where are we going? The scientific method is not the only approach for addressing such questions, but it is certainly an important one. We can think about the universe’s past and future only from its present, and only from the data we have collected and interpreted. We have quite a good picture of the early universe, but it remains a bit uncertain to predict its future scientifically. Our predictions depend on the different scales of time and space that we consider. Eventually, in the very distant future, the universe will be shredded. It is moving toward a final state in which it will be cold and dark. Obviously, this long-term scenario would be hostile to the existence of life. This prospect poses many questions. If our location in the universe is crucial for life, will all life end with Earth? Or is life a common phenomenon in the universe? What will happen to life trillions and trillions of years from now, when the universe will fade? If there are other universes, will life survive in those places?

Biography:
Fr. Dr. José Funes is a Jesuit priest, Director of the Vatican Observatory and a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. He was born in 1963, in Cordoba, Argentina. He completed his Masters’ degree in Astronomy at the National University of Cordoba, and received a Doctorate in Astronomy at the University of Padua, in Italy. He earned a bachelor degree in Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and a Masters’ degree in Philosophy at Universidad del Salvador in San Miguel, Argentina. Fr. Dr. Funes joined the Vatican Observatory as a staff astronomer in 2000. In 2003 he was appointed Adjunct Assistant Astronomer in the Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona. Fr. Dr. Funes was appointed Director of the Vatican Observatory by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006. He has organized several international scientific conferences and Vatican Observatory Summer Schools in Astrophysics for graduate students. His field of research includes the kinematics and dynamics of disk galaxies and star formation in the local universe. Along with more than 80 scientific publications, he is co-editor of two volumes of proceedings of two conferences on the formation and evolution of disk galaxies. Fr. Dr. Funes proposed to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences a Study Week on Astrobiology, and was co-editor of the book resultant volume of proceedings in that meeting. Fr. Dr. José Funes is also co-editor and author of a book concerning challenges that Science poses to Theology.

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Jeremy Vander Kam

Burn to Shine: Experiences and Lessons from the Orion Heat Shield

NASA’s mission to push the limits of human exploration to beyond low earth orbit and to Mars will take humans farther than ever before. Achieving these goals requires collaborations and development of new technology. NASA Ames’ expertise in re-entry technology is helping develop the architecture to achieve these goals. The Orion Heat Shield is an example of the materials and technology development needed to sustain heating rates far greater than missions returning from the International Space Station. Jeremy Vander Kam describes details working with this engineering and scientific marvel.

Abstract:
The Orion Heat Shield is the largest ablative Heat Shield ever built. While there are no moving parts, the Heat Shield is one of the most complex design problems on Orion and provides numerous opportunities to learn about the design and certification of complex systems by large, distributed teams. Technical challenges such as cracking, mass reduction, complex manufacturing, and the inability to test at scale interact with programmatic challenges of budget, schedule, and team dynamics. Several specific experiences are presented, including cracks in the EFT-1 Heat Shield, post-flight analysis of the only recovered ablative system publicly available, and the evolution of a new design for future missions.

Biography:
Jeremy Vander Kam is the deputy Thermal Protection System (TPS) manager for Orion. Jeremy started on Orion as the TPS Risk Manager, under the TPS Advanced Development Project (ADP) in 2006 and has since overseen the full lifecycle of the Orion TPS design, which recently culminated in the EFT-1 flight test in December, 2014. For the EFT-1 flight, Jeremy supported recovery operations from the US Navy recovery ship and performed the first TPS inspections of the EFT-1 vehicle. Prior to Orion, Jeremy developed engineering design software tools for launch systems in the Space Launch Initiative (SLI) Program. Jeremy joined NASA Ames in 2000 as a contractor and transitioned to the civil service in 2003. Jeremy received a B.S in both Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering in 1998 and an M.S. in Engineering in 2000 from U.C Davis.

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Andy Weir

The Martian: How Science Drove the Plot

Science fiction stories inspire us to dream big and imagine the impossible while leaving us with blueprints for the future and cautionary tales. Classics works of science fiction imbed into the mind of society suggesting new and creative ideas to invent the future. Science inspires science fiction, and NASA makes science fiction a reality. NASA’s Journey to Mars sets a goal beyond anything humanity has ever reached. With this monumental vision, we outline the parameters needed for survival. We put ourselves into the spacesuit of a Martian explorer and design what they need. In his novel, The Martian, Andy Weir communicates a quest for survival– a thought experiment in innovation and ingenuity. Andy Weir describes how science drove the plot of The Martian, illuminating the connectivity between science fiction and science fact.

Abstract:
Science-fiction authors have to put extra effort into avoiding the sci-fi “uncanny valley.” Readers accept, without question, high fiction concepts like faster-than-light travel, telepathy, aliens, etc. But if a story shows people walking around on Mars without spacesuits, that’s too much for readers to bear. Huge violations of physics are okay, but small ones ruin the story. “The Martian” is a technically accurate sci-fi, so tons of research and constant double-checking of math had to be done. Anything else would have been ruinous to the reader’s suspension of disbelief. Along the way, the math revealed plot points that would have otherwise never happened. It exposed flaws in the protagonist’s plans, leading to a much more interesting story than if real-world physics and math have been hand-waved.

Biography:
Andy Weir was first hired as a programmer for a national laboratory at age 15 and has been working as a software engineer ever since. He also is a lifelong space nerd and a devoted hobbyist of subjects like relativistic physics, orbital mechanics, and the history of manned spaceflight. The Martian is his first novel.

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Kevin Reynolds

Affordable Airplanes: Modular Design and Additive Manufacturing

Necessity drives innovation, and combining diverse fields yields innovative solutions that advance the capability of our technology. In the field of unmanned aerial vehicles for science, researchers are looking for longer flight times and increased payload capability. At NASA Ames, a project called FrankenEye combines salvaged, unmanned air systems (UAS) parts with 3D printed materials to resurrect old aircrafts and updates them with a new mission objective – collecting data from volcanoes. Benefits of the additive manufacturing approach include a decrease in development time and project costs and an increase in survivability, efficiency, capability, and endurance. Kevin Reynolds describes a technology hybrid that serves as a unique approach for optimizing flight parameters.

Abstract:
Traditionally, fuel cost has been regarded as a dominant parameter affecting the design and operation of aircraft systems. More fuel-efficient aircraft designs represent an emerging opportunity to begin refocusing attention on production costs and mission requirements where innovative manufacturing methods and cost-effective hardware and software can play a more prominent role. Trade studies and multidisciplinary optimization are used to inform design decisions toward making aircraft systems more affordable, even to the point of being expendable. This talk will explore opportunities and challenges for aircraft designers and project managers to leverage modular design and additive manufacturing to significantly reduce the cost of producing new unmanned aircraft systems that meet mission requirements. The battery-powered NASA unmanned aerial system (UAS) referred to as the FrankenEye will be used to illustrate new capabilities enabling lower cost production of new aircraft designs optimized for NASA Earth Science missions. Modular designs can be used to accelerate the pace of innovation and technology adaptation while minimizing system redundancy and material waste. Additive manufacturing methods such as 3D printing, electroplating, and direct lamination are investigated for their potential to significantly increase the stiffness to weight of parts while reducing development time and cost potentially by an order of magnitude. Opportunities for unmanned aircraft and more capable future aircraft systems will be discussed that leverage lessons learned from FrankenEye and other historically relevant aircraft.

Biography:
Kevin Reynolds is a civil servant aerospace engineer at NASA Ames Research Center with prior experience in the aerospace industry. In 2010, he began his career at Ames as a graduate intern from Stanford University supporting a 6-month Innovative Partnerships Program seedling fund under the leadership of senior researcher Dr. Nhan Nguyen. Reynolds later graduated from Stanford with a dual MS degree in Aeronautics and Mechanical Engineering as a National Science Foundation and Stanford Graduate School of Business INSIGHT program fellow. Following graduation, Reynolds joined NASA Ames as a civil servant performing optimization studies for flexible wing concepts and 3D printed unmanned aerial systems, also serving in leadership roles related to these topics. He is the recipient of Ames’ Early Career Researcher Award in 2014. Kevin received a dual BS in Physics and Mathematics with a minor in Electronics as a math and science scholar at Norfolk State University.

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Chuck Duff

Taking the Rearview Mirror Test and Passing with Flying Colors!

A strong mission guides actions and conduct, and focused guidelines can help achieve great objectives. Chuck Duff is the Director of Center Operations at NASA Ames Research Center, one of the nation’s premiere aerospace research laboratories. Break-through aeronautics and space exploration R&D and leading edge missions would not be possible without great Center operations support. Chuck Duff shares the rules that he has learned through his rich career at NASA and the United States Air Force.

Abstract:
In a government career of military and civilian agency experiences, Chuck Duff reflects on whether or not he passes the “Rear View Mirror Test.” Looking over the many lessons learned while striving for excellence, he outlines his rules of conduct with examples outlining snapshots of his career. Duff has a long career spanning more than 30 years in field and Headquarters environments within civilian and military agencies. In accumulation of his experience, these stories contribute to a greater vision, the goal of creating a strong career, achieving great things with integrity.

Biography:
Chuck Duff currently serves as the Director of Center Operations at NASA Ames Research Center. In his current role, he increases operational and fiscal responsibility through nomination and competitive selection with the global leader in science, technology, aeronautics and space exploration. He has served many roles at NASA over the last 20 years including Procurement Officer and Director of Safety and Mission Assurance. Previously, he worked from the United States Air Force. He was the sole Air Force Action Officer responsible for developing, coordinating and implementing Air Force actions relative to the Department of Justice “Ill Wind” procurement fraud investigation. He has a bachelors of arts in political science from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. Duff has earned certificates from the Harvard JFK School Senior Executives in National and International Security (2011), Business Management (2008), Leadership for the 21st Century (2004) and also Senior Executive Fellows (1988).

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NACA Panel

The NACA: A Hundred Year Legacy

Understanding the past provides insight into our identity and NASA’s history lies within NACA, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. NACA was established on March 3, 1915 in order to promote aeronautical research and was the source behind our air superiority during WWII. NACA’s culture of conducting cutting edge research became the spirit of NASA and laid the foundation for America’s leap into space. The Panel delves into the legacy of the NACA.

Abstract:
The NACA is the DNA of NASA. One hundred years ago, on the eve of World War I, Congress established the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) “to supervise and direct the scientific study of the problems of fight, with a view to their practical solution.” Over the ensuing four decades, NACA research drove the growth of American aviation and laid the foundations for America’s leap into space. In 1958 the three NACA Laboratories– Ames, Lewis, and Langley– formed the nucleus of NASA and the NACA heritage within NASA remains strong, especially in aeronautics. NACA early support of commercial aviation may serve as an analogy for how the government can support commercial space moving forward. This panel of NACA legends all joined the NACA in their youth. Jack Boyd will start by describing how the NACA style of research organization was unique and what it accomplished. Walter Vincenti and Vic Peterson will address three topics: How to describe the NACA research-culture historically, the transition to NASA, and how the NACA legacy is fundamental.

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Jason Crusan

Pioneering Space: Not Your Great-Great- Grandparent’s Manifest Destiny

Exploration is an innate characteristic of the human species. It spreads our civilization, launching voyages into the unknown and is important for our survival. NASA enables our expeditions beyond Earth by embarking on long-term efforts of “pioneering space” for this and future generations. It will develop the ability for humans to go farther and stay longer in space with an ever-decreasing need to be reliant on Earth. Jason Crusan, Director of Advanced Exploration Systems Division at NASA Headquarters, describes what the future of pioneering space will look like in the galactic Wild West.

Abstract:
For anyone who studied American history, the term “pioneering” conjures thoughts of covered wagons, prospecting for gold and blazing the Oregon Trail. Of heading out into the unknown to explore not knowing what challenges lie ahead or what perils may be encountered on the journey. NASA is bringing this pioneering concept into the 21st century in the same way, with a deep-space twist. Humans will once again venture out into the vastly unknown, braving unforeseen obstacles to discover new possibilities— but instead of the covered wagons and horses, picture in-space habitats, robotic scouts, advanced life support systems, and the ability to harvest building-block materials along the way. Picture the largest rocket ever constructed and the beginning of the new covered wagon—a deep-space crew vehicle with extended habitats coming as well. Imagine prospecting for valuable resources on the moon and Mars, rather than in the American west. This is what pioneering of space looks like. It’s NASA sending humans farther into the solar system than ever before; it’s American companies routinely sending crew and cargo to the International Space Station; it’s commercial industry developing capabilities to land on the moon to harvest those resources. This is pioneering space. This is what will enable a Journey to Mars.

Biography:
Mr. Crusan is the principle advisor on technology and innovation approaches leading to new flight and system capabilities for human exploration. Leveraging public-private partnerships, industry, international partners, and academia, he leads more than 500 civil servants within AES across all NASA Centers, developing and maintaining critical human spaceflight capabilities; maturing new integrated systems, instruments, and ground systems; and delivering critical multi-million dollar flight hardware for NASA. He manages and leads innovative technology development strategies, system acquisition strategies, contracting mechanisms, joint investment models, and partnerships. Crusan was previously Chief Technologist for Space Operations and was part of the Mini-RF Program, which flew two radar instruments to map the lunar poles, search for water ice, and demonstrate future NASA communication technologies. Currently he also serves as the Director of the Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation, which advances open innovation methodologies within the U.S. government. Crusan earned bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and physics, a master’s in computer information systems, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in engineering management at George Washington University. He is married and has two children.

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Dava Newman

Town Hall Meeting with the NASA Deputy Administrator

Dr. Newman was nominated in January by President Obama, confirmed by the Senate in April and sworn in on Friday, May 15, 2015.

Prior to her tenure with NASA, Newman was the Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge. Her expertise is in multidisciplinary research that encompasses aerospace biomedical engineering.

Newman’s research studies were carried out through space flight experiments, ground-based simulations, and mathematical modeling. Her latest research efforts included: advanced space suit design, dynamics and control of astronaut motion, mission analysis, and engineering systems design and policy analysis. She also had ongoing efforts in assistive technologies to augment human locomotion here on Earth.

Newman is the author of Interactive Aerospace Engineering and Design, an introductory engineering textbook published by McGraw-Hill, Inc. in 2002. She also has published more than 250 papers in journals and refereed conferences.

As a student at MIT, Newman earned her Ph.D. in aerospace biomedical engineering in 1992 and Master of Science degrees in aerospace engineering and technology and policy in 1989. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Notre Dame in 1986.

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Temple Grandin

Helping Different Kinds of Minds Solve Problems

Advancement in science and technology is accelerated by having a diverse team working together on a common goal. Disruptive ideas that lead to innovation typically start with individuals that have a vision that does not conform to the accepted view. At NASA, we maximize innovation and success by embracing diversity of thought and approach — science and engineering, missions and mission support, and beyond.

Dr. Temple Grandin is professor of animal science at Colorado State University. In her NASA Ames Summer Series Colloquium, Dr. Grandin describes different methods of thinking in pursuit of fostering better communication.

Abstract:
People will be better able to solve problems if they understand that different people think differently. This may explain the constant battle of techies against suits or why artists hate accountants. The lecture will cover three different types of thinking: 1) photo/realistic visual (good at industrial design); 2) math/pattern (good at engineering and computer programming); and verbal/word (good at linear thought) when the different minds work together they can complement each other. If a visual thinker had been on the design team for the Fukushima nuclear power plant, the accident might have been prevented. Another topic of discussion will be top down vs. bottom up thinking. Top down thinkers tend to overgeneralize and bottom up thinkers are associative and may get weighed down in details. When top down and bottom up thinkers work together and understand their differences, they can be great at problem solving. Recognizing that different kinds of minds exist is the first step in fostering better communication.

Biography:
Temple Grandin is a professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University. Facilities she has designed for handling livestock are used by many companies around the world. She also has been instrumental in implementing animal welfare auditing programs that are used by McDonalds, Wendy’s, Whole Foods, and other corporations. Her latest book, Animals in Translation, has been on the New York Times Bestseller List and she has appeared on numerous TV shows such as 20/20. Larry King Live, and Prime Time. Other books include: Thinking in Pictures, Livestock Handling and Transport, and The Autistic Brain.

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Robert Swan

Leadership on the Edge

When challenged by extreme situations we gain insight about our surroundings, and more importantly about ourselves. We gain an appreciation for the importance of teamwork and leadership. At NASA we push the envelop of science and technology to explore extreme environments and reveal the unknown for the benefit of all humankind. Our successes are dependent on vision, teamwork, leadership and our ability to adapt lessons learned to new situations. Robert Swan, OBE (Order of the British Empire), FRGS (Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society), is the first person to walk to both the North and South Poles. In his Summer Series Colloquium, Sir Swan shares lessons learned on teamwork and leadership gained from his quest to the poles and his goal to ensure the preservation of Antarctica.

Abstract:
Having experienced leadership and team cooperation in some of the world’s most hostile environments, Robert Swan, OBE applies the lessons he has learned as a polar explorer to inspire bold management practices and effective communication styles. Comparing his icy experiences to boardroom maneuvers, Swan will share his take on the new models and sustainable solutions that business leaders need to meet the challenges ahead. Robert understands the enormity of a 50-year mission, and has created operational and business strategies over the years to sustain such an undertaking. As the first person to walk to both the North and South Poles unassisted, Swan’s unwavering determination to bring dreams to reality is passionate and infectious, and he personifies the idea that “anything is possible.” But as great feats are rarely achieved by a single individual, Robert will share how a team which understands its strengths and weaknesses can pull together to achieve the seemingly impossible. Robert further explores the subtleties of selecting a powerful team and reveals why diversity is vital in team selection. Key highlights from this lecture include: inspiring conversation about teamwork, leadership, and future thinking for business, society, and the environment.

Biography:
Robert Swan, OBE is the world’s first person to walk to both the North and South Poles. He earned his place alongside the greatest explorers in history by accomplishing this feat by age 33. His 900-mile journey to the South Pole, ‘In the Footsteps of Scott,’ stands as the longest unassisted walk ever made on earth.

During Swan’s Antarctic expeditions, his team survived near-death encounters as the oceanic ice melted prematurely due to climate change. His eyes also permanently changed color due to prolonged UV exposure under the hole in the ozone layer.

These experiences helped shape Swan’s life goal: to ensure the preservation of Antarctica, the Earth’s last great wilderness. He founded 2041, an organization dedicated to this goal. Key initiatives include partnership since the early 1990s with the United Nations World Summit for Sustainable Development, and a wide range of global and local environmental missions which have inspired youth around the world to become sustainable leaders and promote the use of renewable energy.

Since 2003, Swan has led annual expeditions to Antarctica with students and business executives to heighten awareness of the Antarctic and build advocacy to ensure its survival as a wilderness. His teams have also helped design and build the world’s first Antarctic renewable energy education station.

Swan has served as Special Envoy to the UNESCO Director General and as a UN Goodwill Ambassador for Youth. In recognition of his work, Her Majesty the Queen awarded him the high distinction of OBE, Officer of the Order of the British Empire and the Polar Medal.

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Rhea Seddon

Rats, Folks, and Jellyfish: Studying Life in Space

Space Biology is an integral part of Human Space Exploration, Astrobiology and is a window into the workings of Earth bound life. The environment in space consists of variables that are novel for Earth based species. These include, but are not limited to, gravitational and radiation environments that are not naturally found on our planet. While these disruptive factors may pose a risk for human long-term deep space voyages, they also provide new insights and opportunities for understanding life on Earth and beyond.

Space Biology is an integral part of the genetics of NASA Ames Research Center. Astronaut Dr. Rhea Seddon was key to the early life sciences research conducted on the Space Shuttle. She was a mission specialist for STS-51-D (Discovery) and STS-40 (Columbia; Spacelab Life Sciences-1), and a payload commander for STS-58 (Columbia; SLS-2). Dr. Seddon describes her experiences and insight gained from being a physician, astronaut and educator.

Abstract:
Dr. Rhea Seddon was an astronaut with NASA for 19 years and performed some of the earliest, most extensive and most sophisticated life sciences operations done on the Space Shuttle. In her talk she will describe the challenges of performing scientific research in space. From single, simple studies done in the middeck of the Orbiter to multiple, integrated experiments done on humans and other living organisms in the large Spacelab, she will discuss what was accomplished and how. For the first time data was collected on men and women on the same mission in order to compare the differences between the sexes. Forty eight rats provided hundreds of inflight samples for the first time. Investigators were able to compare the results with the human studies to determine whether these animals were good models of human systems. The many differences between scientific experiments done in ground-based labs and those done in weightlessness will be pointed out. The contributions made by many dedicated scientists and personnel at Ames Research Center contributed greatly to the understanding of life in space.

Biography:
A veteran of three Space Shuttle flights, Dr. Rhea Seddon spent 19 years with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In 1978 she was selected as one of the first six women to enter the Astronaut Program. She served as a Mission Specialist on flights in 1985 and 1991 and as Payload Commander on her final flight in 1993. After leaving NASA in 1997, Dr. Seddon was the Assistant Chief Medical Officer of the Vanderbilt Medical Group in Nashville, for 11 years. There she led an initiative aimed at improving patient safety, quality of care, and team effectiveness by the use of an aviation-based model of Crew Resource Management. With LifeWings Partners, LLC she taught this concept to healthcare institutions across the United States. A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Dr. Seddon completed her MD degree and a residency in General Surgery at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine. In 2015 she was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame and published her memoir Go For Orbit.

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Tom Edwards

NASA Ames’ Role in the Future of Exploration, Science, and Aeronautics

At NASA Ames Research Center, we conduct research and develop the technologies that push the envelope of NASA aeronautics and space exploration missions; we change the way humanity sees and interacts with the world. At Ames, we use the agency’s strategic vision as a guide and a goal for the innovations developed by our core capabilities and collaborations. Dr. Edwards presents NASA’s strategic vision and using examples will demonstrate how our core capabilities are an integral part of NASA’s future.

Abstract:
NASA Ames supports a wide variety of missions the agency undertakes and provides leadership in charting the course for the future. This presentation will give an overview of NASA’s strategic vision in six key areas: Earth science, aeronautics, journey to Mars, International Space Station, space technology and solar system and beyond. Next, a description of Ames’ core capabilities is provided: Advanced Computing and IT Systems, Intelligent/Adaptive Human and Robotic Systems, Aerosciences, End-to-End Low-Cost Aerospace Missions, Space, Earth and Life Sciences, Astrobiology, Air Traffic Management, and Entry, Descent, and Landing Systems. These competencies are traced to the NASA strategic vision through examples of current and emerging work that relates Ames to NASA’s future.

Biography:
Dr. Edwards is Deputy Center Director of NASA Ames Research Center, with responsibility for research in aeronautics, science and exploration technology. He also is responsible for the operation of national R&D facilities and maintaining strategic partnerships in the US and internationally. He began his career with NASA in 1983, and has served in a variety of research and managerial assignments in fields including computational fluid dynamics, aircraft design, aerothermodynamics, information technology and aviation operations. Most recently, he was director of Aeronautics at Ames. Edwards is a graduate of Princeton University, with master’s and PhD degrees in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University. As a Sloan Fellow, he holds a master of science in management from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Edwards is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

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Justin Kasper

Sending a Probe into the Atmosphere of Our Sun

Our sun consistently emits massive amounts of energy in all directions into the cold void of space. It produces the energy that sustains life on our planet and can produce flares that threaten our space-based assets. Understanding the forces that lead to solar flares and solar wind is important for the advancement of NASA’s space science and exploration missions. Dr. Justin Kasper, from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, describes the mission and objectives of NASA’s next heliophysics mission, the Solar Probe Plus spacecraft; a mission that will repeatedly dive past the sun to obtain the first direct samples of the solar atmosphere.

Abstract:
In the 60 years since the dawn of the Space Age we have sent robotic probes to explore the atmosphere of every large object in the solar system except for the sun. Why is this? The near-sun environment presents unique challenges for a spacecraft, with intense sunlight and heat that could melt normal materials in seconds, bursts of particle radiation from solar flares that can trip up flight computers, and orbital speeds unlike any object launched into space to date. While concepts for a solar probe have existed for decades, and in fact predate NASA itself, it is only within the last decade that our technological capabilities have caught up with our desire to send a mission to the sun. In 2018, we will finally embark on this historic journey with the Solar Probe Plus spacecraft, a NASA mission that will repeatedly dive past the sun to obtain the first direct samples of the solar atmosphere. The mission will be reviewed, with a focus on the physics of the solar corona and the design of instruments capable of both making the necessary measurements and of surviving the solar encounters.

Biography:
Justin Kasper is an associate professor at the University of Michigan and a research associate of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. He designs sensors for spacecraft that explore extreme environments in space from the surface of the sun to the outer edges of the solar system. He is interested in understanding the forces that lead to solar flares and the solar wind, a stream of particles heated to millions of degrees in the sun’s atmosphere, or corona. He leads instruments on spacecraft near Earth that continuously monitor the flow of the solar wind about the Earth. He is the principal investigator for the SWEAP Investigation, an international team of scientists and engineers building sensors that will collect samples of the sun for the NASA Solar Probe Plus spacecraft, a mission of exploration that will make history in 2018 as the first human-made object to plunge into the solar corona. In 2010, he received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers. In 2011, he was awarded the Popular Science Brilliant 10, awarded annually to ten researchers under the age of 40 who represent the best of what science can achieve and demonstrate America’s continuing cutting-edge research.

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William Colburn

Destroy Saturn V! and other Apollo Topics

NASA’s Apollo program consisted of iconic missions that ushered in the Space Age. Apollo brought us to the moon, irreversibly proving our ability to leave our home planet Earth for another destination in our solar system. It was a momentous program, requiring massive technology, logistical and engineering developments to achieve mission success. William Colburn describes challenging design constraints from his work for the Saturn V rocket and the Apollo program.

Abstract:
Destroying the Saturn V was not the subject of terroristic activities, but a dire need. The Apollo Command Module needed to be protected from destructive shock and temperature in the event of an aborted launch. Communities nearby (within a 1,000 mile radius!) also must have been protected from the possibility of a partially fueled vehicle landing and spilling thousands of gallons of propellants. Complicating the above requirements was the extreme volume of propellants and the computed power if mixed and detonated, the equivalent of about 400,000 pounds of TNT or a sub-nuclear blast. The speaker will address the design issues and the final solution and offer some anecdotal comments on both this Propellant Dispersion System and other Apollo Ordnance Components he designed and brought to production and delivery.

Biography:
Following three years at NSA surveying the USSR’s developments in rocketry, Colburn joined industry and became a technical expert on aerospace pyro devices as a staff engineer. He designed five mission critical systems for the Saturn V and the Apollo Program aiding the first flight to the moon. The Saturn V would have used the Propellant Dispersion System Bill designed in the event of an air-aborted launch. For every flight from the beginning, Colburn’s Type VI pressure cartridges blew the 280 pound cover from off the parachute storage area allowing parachutes to be deployed on earth landing. The long Reach Detonator initiated the Docking Ring Separation so the Lunar Ascent Module could be left in orbit about the moon. His reefing line cutters were used in testing the Little Joe vehicle which launched the test command module’s escape system. Colburn also worked at Thiokol, in Huntsville, in solid rocket motor ignitors, the advanced design group on Solid Propellant Orbiter, Divert Thrusters and Attitude Control Systems using Solid Propellant Gas Generators.

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Patricia Parsons-Wingerter

Fractal-Based Mapping of Vascular Patterning For Human Space Exploration

If you can visualize a process you can better understand the laws that govern it. Visualization enables the diagnosis and prediction of potential risks in biological and physical systems. The vascular system is a super highway used by complex biological organisms to sustain life. The imaging of vascular responses to the variables encountered in the space environment may expand our fundamental understanding of and help design the tools used to advance human space exploration and terrestrial life. Dr. Patricia Parsons-Wingerter illuminates the research behind mapping vascular systems for multiple uses including human spaceflight.

Abstract:
Vascular systems are essential to humans and other higher life forms on Earth for the distributed communication of functions such as metabolism and immunity among distant cells and tissues. This research and discovery story on vascular patterning began with our experimental observations that each molecular regulator of vascular remodeling such as VEGF induces a ‘fingerprint’ or ‘signature’ vascular pattern that is spatiotemporally unique. Blood vessels respond dynamically to environmental cues, including gravity and cosmic radiation, through genetic and other molecular signaling pathways. Consequently, when mapped and quantified by NASA’s innovative VESsel GENeration Analysis (VESGEN) software, remodeling vascular patterns offer insightful read-outs of dominant molecular signaling targeted by drug and therapeutic development. Essentially unlimited numbers of ‘virtual’ biological information dimensions are being integrated with the vascular geometric (Euclidean) and dynamic dimensions of space and time. We are now using VESGEN to help understand and ameliorate vision impairments in astronauts and terrestrial adults diagnosed with a blinding disease. Vascular remodeling in other tissues and organisms investigated by VESGEN include coronary vessel development, gastrointestinal inflammation, leaf vein patterning relevant to photosynthesis, and insect wing venation of relevance to long-duration space exploration missions.

Biography:
Dr. Patricia Parsons, a research biomedical engineer, is lead innovator for NASA’s VESGEN software, a multi-disciplinary, beta-level enterprise involving scientists, engineers and IP experts from high school to senior science levels. She joined NASA in 2001 and was recently re-assigned from the John Glenn Research Center to the Space Biosciences Division at Ames to further VESGEN development with new collaborations in space biology, imaging and data science, fluid mechanics and potentially spacecraft environmental design and monitoring. As a principal investigator she conducts hypothesis-driven research on the role of vascular remodeling integral to development and disease in humans and other higher terrestrial organisms, including astronaut health during long-duration missions. Dr. Parsons earned her Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the Johns Hopkins University in 1992 with a biomedical tissue engineering thesis, and began developing the VESGEN software prototype in 2000 while a postdoctoral scientist and junior faculty at the University of Washington, Seattle.

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