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Jin-Woo Han

Vacuum Electronic in a Nanometer Era

Modern space vehicles rely on transistors. Radiation tolerance of space electronics is critical for space exploration beyond low Earth orbit. NASA Ames Research Center is investigating ways to overcome this issue using vacuums. Dr. Jin-Woo Han’s presents advancements in the use of vacuums to improve radiation immunity in space circuitry.

Abstract:
In space applications, the radiation tolerance is unique reliability concerns. Total ionization does (TID) is attributed to immobile charges locally generated in dielectric regions such as gate oxide and shallow trench isolation, which results in cumulative degradation. Single event effect (SEE) is caused by free charges generated in semiconducting region such as channel, which often causes momentary abnormality. The radiation needs to traverse some distance in the channel to release its energy and liberate electrons from silicon atom. Therefore, the only approach to completely avoid the radiation effects is utilizing nothingness. With this regard, a vacuum is considered as the gate dielectric as well as the channel. Radiation immunity of transistor is a critical in space electronics. The radiation tolerance is relevant to properties of materials consisting of the transistor. In this talk, vacuum is introduced as replacement of channel or dielectric in the transistor. The vacuum channels, combined with the gate-all-around structure are provided. Their radiation immunities are experimentally assessed.

Biography:
Jin-Woo Han is a research scientist at USRA/NASA Ames Research Center where he is developing beyond-CMOS devices such as exploratory transistor/memory and sensors. His research experience includes overall research and development aspects from design, simulation, layout, process integration, fabrication, characterization, and modeling. Currently, he is developing nano-scale vacuum channel transistors, physically unclonable function, and electronic nose. In 2016, he was named as recipient of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers from the White House. Dr. Jin-Woo Han received his Ph.D. degree with highest honors from KAIST, Korea, in 2010.

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Mark Kasevich

Quantum Mechanics at Macroscopic Scales

The underpinning of the universe is quantum mechanics. It can be used to explain the observed particle and wave nature of atoms. Atom interferometry uses the wave characteristics of atoms to investigate fundamental physics and advance our understanding of the macroscopic world. NASA is working with Dr. Mark Kasevich to apply this technology to advance astrophysics and improve navigation. In his seminar, Dr. Kasevich delves into the world of atom interferometry, gravitational waves and quantum sensors.

Abstract:
Quantum mechanics is a foundation of physics, chemistry and materials science. Still, there is an ongoing debate about the emergence of the classical, macroscopic world from the well-understood microscopic world of quantum mechanics. We contribute to this discourse by demonstrating quantum superposition of massive particles at the distance (0.5 m) and time scales (2 s) of everyday life, thereby advancing the state-of-the-art of atom de Broglie wave interferometry by nearly two orders of magnitude [1]. In addition to testing a central tenet of quantum mechanics, we pave the way for new precision tests of gravity, including the possible observation of gravitational waves and tests of the equivalence principle. In related experimental work, we demonstrate that entangled clusters of approximately 1000 atoms can be used to achieve 10-fold improvement in the sensitivity of quantum sensors based on atomic transitions; the levels of performance achieved could not have been realized with any competing (non-entangled) method [2].
[1] Kovachy, et al., Nature 528, 530 (2015).
[2] Hosten, et al., Nature 529, 505 (2016)

Biography:
Mark Kasevich is a Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Stanford University. He received his B.A. degree (1985) in Physics from Dartmouth College, a B.A. (1987) in Physics and Philosophy from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and his Ph.D. (1992) in Applied Physics from Stanford University. He joined the Stanford Physics Department faculty in 1992. From 1997-2002, he was a member of the Yale Physics Department faculty. He returned to Stanford in 2002. His current research interests are centered on the development of quantum sensors of rotation and acceleration based on cold atoms, application of these sensors to tests of General Relativity, investigation of many-body quantum effects in Bose condensed vapors, investigation of quantum-enhanced imaging and measurement methods, and investigation of ultra-fast laser-induced phenomena. He co-founded AOSense, Inc. (2004) and serves as the company’s Consulting Chief Scientist.

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Vytas SunSpiral

SUPERball: A Biologically Inspired Robot for Planetary Exploration

Nature is a major source of inspiration for robotics and aerospace engineering, giving rise to biologically inspired structures. Tensegrity robots mimic a structure similar to muscles and bones to produce a robust three-dimensional skeletal structure that is able to adapt. Vytas SunSpiral presents his work on biologically inspired robotics for advancing NASA space exploration missions.

Abstract:
Exploration and Innovation both require bold leaps into the unknown, beyond the boundaries of current knowledge and experience. Exploring the unknown frontiers of space requires resilient and adaptable robots capable of surviving the unexpected, qualities which humans excel at. Moving beyond the traditional designs for rigidly constructed fragile robots, Vytas draws inspiration from the flexible tensile network of muscle and tendons of our bodies to develop a new class of “Dynamic Tensegrity Robots.” His current project, SUPERball, is intended to survive high-speed landings without an airbag, and thus enable exploration of treacherous terrains where slipping and falling is an unavoidable possibility. These new robots break the rules of traditional robotics engineering, requiring innovation at all levels of mechanical design, actuation, sensing, and control strategies. Modern neuroscience provides insights into how decentralized rhythmic controllers can enable self-organizing control strategies for this new class of biologically inspired robot and provides insight into our core human qualities of thought, motion, inspiration, and our essential ability to see connections between people and ideas which is at the heart of innovation.

Biography:
Vytas SunSpiral is an entrepreneurial researcher moving fluidly between leading startups and building research labs to explore cutting edge robotic and AI technologies. He is a Fellow of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program,, and currently leads the Dynamic Tensegrity Robotics Lab (DTRL) within the Intelligent Robotics Group at NASA Ames Research Center. His research spans a multi-disciplinary fusion of robotics, physiology, AI, mechatronics, and neuroscience, with the goal of understanding human intelligence via the foundational role that motion plays in our evolution. This quest led to a fundamental new approach to robotics that has the potential to reinvent how we explore the solar system. He is an author of ~50 journal and conference articles and was a contributing author of the 2013 Roadmap for US Robotics. Over the last 20 years he has also been the Founder, CTO, and Advisor to multiple startups, including Mobot, which sold the worlds first commercially available autonomous tour guide robots. Vytas holds a Masters in Computer Science and a BA in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University.

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Kenneth Cheung

Building Blocks for Aerostructures

Strong, ultra-lightweight materials are expected to play a key role in the design of future aircraft and space vehicles. Lower structural mass leads to improved performance, maneuverability, efficiency, range and payload capacity. Dr. Kenneth Cheung is developing cellular composite building blocks, or digital materials, to create transformable aerostructures. In his presentation, Dr. Cheung discusses the implications of the digital materials and morphing structures.

Abstract:
In recent years, there have been advances in making and using composite materials in aircraft structures, as well as advances in designing future aircraft that can adapt to changing flight conditions by such techniques as changing the shape of their wings. What if those technologies could be combined such that super strong, lightweight composite structures also are able to be flexible and change their shapes as needed during a flight?

New analytical and manufacturing tools have driven the development of architected lattice materials, which revolutionizes centuries-old truss and space-frame engineering methods. Kenny and his team has shown scalable methods for manufacturing such ultra-light and stiff materials by reversible assembly of building block systems that also enable novel mechanical behaviors previously too difficult to achieve with conventional manufacturing methods. Ames is now applying this to shape morphing aerostructures through the Mission Adaptive Digital Composite Aerostructures (MADCAT) Project, under ARMD’s Convergent Aeronautics Solutions (CAS) program. Recent project activity includes free flight testing of a span-wise twist morphing wing aircraft following successful wind tunnel experiments.

Biography:
Dr. Kenny C. Cheung helps to run the ARC Coded Structures Laboratory (CSL), which conducts research on the application of building-block based materials and algorithms to aeronautical and space systems. This includes shape morphing aircraft, under the MADCAT project (co-lead with Sean S. Swei), and scalable space infrastructure. As a member of the Ames CCT staff, he serves as the technical lead on advanced materials and manufacturing.

Before joining NASA, Kenny received his PhD from MIT, where he showed that digital material strategies could be used to make stiff, strong and lightweight materials, and new kinds of robots. He has papers and patents on topics ranging from high performance composite material manufacturing systems to synthetic protein folding algorithms and surgical devices. He is particularly fond of applying rapid prototyping to test ideas that can change the status quo in design, based on physical first-principles analyses.

Kenny also has been a part of the global fab lab network for many years; fab labs are a global grassroots community-driven technology education effort that is based on the notion that anyone, anywhere (regardless of prior education) has the ability to design and produce their own technological solutions. He has taught others to install and tune rapid prototyping equipment in labs on almost every continent, and given workshops on community wireless networking (internet across borders), rapid prototyping machines that make rapid prototyping machines, and environmentally friendly fiber composite materials.

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Charles Bolden

Exploration and the Journey to Mars

We are honored to host NASA Administrator Charles Bolden as part of the NASA Ames 2016 Summer Series.

Biography:

Maj. Gen. Charles Frank Bolden, Jr., (USMC-Ret.) was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the 12th Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He began his duties as head of the agency on July 17, 2009. As Administrator, Bolden leads a nationwide NASA team to advance the missions and goals of the U.S. space program.

At NASA, Bolden has overseen the safe transition from 30 years of space shuttle missions to a new era of exploration focused on full utilization of the International Space Station and space and aeronautics technology development. He has led the agency in developing a Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft that will carry astronauts to deep space destinations, such as an asteroid and Mars. He also established a new Space Technology Mission Directorate to develop cutting-edge technologies for the missions of tomorrow. During Bolden’s tenure, the agency’s support of commercial space transportation systems for reaching low-Earth orbit have enabled successful commercial cargo resupply of the space station and significant progress toward returning the capability for American companies to launch astronauts from American soil by 2017. Bolden has also supported NASA’s contributions toward development of developing cleaner, faster, and quieter airplanes. The agency’s dynamic science activities under Bolden include an unprecedented landing on Mars with the Curiosity rover, launch of a spacecraft to Jupiter, enhancing the nation’s fleet of Earth-observing satellites, and continued progress toward the 2018 launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope.

Bolden’s 34-year career with the Marine Corps also included 14 years as a member of NASA’s Astronaut Office. After joining the office in 1980, he traveled to orbit four times aboard the space shuttle between 1986 and 1994, commanding two of the missions and piloting two others. His flights included deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope and the first joint U.S.-Russian shuttle mission, which featured a cosmonaut as a member of his crew.

Prior to his nomination as NASA administrator, Bolden was Chief Executive Officer of JACKandPANTHER LLC, a small business enterprise providing leadership, military, and aerospace consulting, as well as motivational speaking.

Born Aug. 19, 1946, in Columbia, S.C., Bolden graduated from C. A. Johnson High School in 1964 and received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical science in 1968 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps. After completing flight training in 1970, he became a Naval Aviator. Bolden flew more than 100 combat missions in North and South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, while stationed in Namphong, Thailand between 1972 – 1973.

Bolden earned a Master of Science degree in systems management from the University of Southern California in 1977. In 1978, he was assigned to the Naval Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Md., and completed his training in 1979. While working at the Naval Air Test Center’s Systems Engineering and Strike Aircraft Test Directorates, he tested a variety of ground attack aircraft until his selection as an astronaut candidate in 1980.

Bolden’s NASA astronaut career included technical assignments as the Astronaut Office Safety Officer; Technical Assistant to the Director of Flight Crew Operations; Special Assistant to the Director of the Johnson Space Center in Houston; Chief of the Safety Division at Johnson (where he oversaw efforts to return the shuttle to flight safely after the 1986 Challenger accident); lead astronaut for vehicle test and checkout at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida; and Assistant Deputy Administrator at NASA Headquarters. After his final shuttle flight in 1994, he left NASA and returned to active duty with Marine Corps operating forces as the Deputy Commandant of Midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy.

In 1997, Bolden was assigned as the Deputy Commanding General of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in the Pacific. During the first half of 1998, he served as Commanding General of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force Forward in support of Operation Desert Thunder in Kuwait. He was promoted to his final rank of major general in July 1998 and named Deputy Commander of U.S. forces in Japan. He later served as the Commanding General of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, Calif., from 2000 – 2002. He retired from the Marine Corps in 2003. Bolden’s many military decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in May 2006.Bolden is married to the former Alexis (Jackie) Walker of Columbia, S.C. The couple has two children — Anthony Chè, a colonel in the Marine Corps, who is married to the former Penelope McDougal of Sydney, Australia, and Kelly Michelle, a plastic surgeon at the Howard University Hospital in Washington

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Thomas Barclay

Microlensing and the K2 Experiment

Innovation is the ability to create a new idea, device or method from what already exists. It is even more innovative when it arises from what is considered to be waste. The NASA Ames Kepler mission revolutionized the way we see our place in the universe by demonstrating that planets are a common occurrence. When the Kepler mission ended, the team took the satellite that was considered to be useless and created a new innovative approach and platform to investigate a wide array of astronomy subfields called the K2 mission. Dr. Thomas Barclay presents the K2 mission and the microlensing experiment.

Abstract:

The NASA Kepler mission was launched in 2009 with the goal of detecting planets orbiting other stars. The scientific impact of this mission has been almost without peer, fundamentally changing the picture we have of our place in the Galaxy. After four years the Kepler mission ended and the telescope was repurposed as the K2 mission in 2014. K2 has emerged as an unlikely jewel in NASA’s astrophysics portfolio, facilitating scientific discoveries in a wide array of astronomy subfields, including galaxies, supernovae, open clusters, active galactic nuclei, Solar System planets and exoplanets.

During the summer of 2016, the K2 mission is undertaking a unique science experiment. Microlensing events occur when stars and planets pass in front of a background star and bend its light revealing the hitherto undetected foreground body. Observing a patch of sky close to the Galactic center simultaneously from Earth and the Kepler spacecraft is allowing scientists to see different lensing patterns which stem from the minutely different angle that Earth and Kepler perceive the background star. The K2 microlensing experiment will yield new Jupiter-like planet detections as well as many short-timescale microlensing events, which are indicative of free-floating planets. The parallax measurements will allow for the direct measurement of the masses of and distances to the lensing systems.

Dr. Barclay will share the story of how scientists and engineers worked around the clock to salvage the mission after its reaction wheels malfunctioned, turning it into a highly successful mission that is revolutionizing many fields of astronomy. He will discuss his experiences working on the Kepler and K2 Missions searching for other Earths, and will highlight the latest results from the K2 microlensing experiment that will pave the way for NASA’s WFIRST mission.

Biography:

Dr. Thomas Barclay is a Senior Research Scientist working for the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute. He is the Principal Investigator of a NASA co-operative agreement that provides funding to run the Kepler/K2 Guest Observer Office where he serves as Director. His primary scientific interests lie in the analysis of data from space and ground-based telescopes to infer properties of exoplanets and their host stars.

Dr. Barclay grew up in the city of Sheffield in Northern England, UK. His undergraduate studies were performed at the University of Leeds, UK where he obtained a Bachelors degree in Physics with Astrophysics in 2006. His Masters thesis work was performed at the Jodrell Bank Observatory, part of the University of Manchester. He obtained a Master of Science degree in 2007 for work to understand Galactic dust emission. He then moved to Northern Ireland for his doctoral studies where he worked at the Armagh Observatory. He was co-supervised and was awarded his Ph.D. by University College London in 2011. His research involved understanding the population of rare white dwarf binaries.

After his postgraduate studies, he was appointed to the Kepler Guest Observer Office at NASA Ames Research Center, California as a research scientist. In 2014 he was promoted to Director of the Kepler/K2 Guest Observer Office. His team provides critical support to the scientific community to enhance output from Kepler and K2 data sets.

Several notable discoveries were led by Dr. Barclay, including the detection of the smallest known exoplanet, a world smaller than Mercury, and the characterization of the first super-earth-sized planet orbiting close to its stars habitable zone. He continues to work on finding and understanding new planets in addition to working to improve our understanding of how they form.

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Terry Fong

Planetary Exploration Reinvented

The allure of deep space drives humanity’s curiosity to further explore the universe, but the risks associated with spaceflight are still limiting. Technological advancements in robotics and data processing are pushing the envelope of Human planetary exploration and habitation. Dr. Terry Fong describes how we are reinventing the approach to explore the universe.

Abstract:

During the past 50 years, we have learned to explore and work in space. Much of what we know about the solar system we owe to observations and sampling made by robotic spacecraft, landers, planetary rovers and astronauts. As we look to the future, however, there is ample opportunity to reinvent planetary exploration: to develop new techniques and systems that will enhance and enable discovery.

This talk will describe how the NASA Ames Intelligent Robotics Group (IRG) is working to reinvent planetary exploration. First IRG’s development of robots for human exploration will be presented. These robots are designed to perform work before, in parallel, and after human activity. Next, how IRG is building automated planetary mapping systems to process the enormous amount of data that NASA collects from orbit will be shown. Finally, how IRG is changing the way ground control software is created, particularly for supporting science operations will be discussed.

Biography:

Dr. Terry Fong is the Director of the Intelligent Robotics Group at the NASA Ames Research Center and is Project Manager of the NASA Human Exploration Telerobotics (HET) project, which tests advanced systems on the International Space Station. Fong ialso is deputy element lead for the NASA Resource Prospector Mission lunar rover. From 2002 to 2004, Fong was the deputy leader of the Virtual Reality and Active Interfaces Group at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL). From 1997 to 2000, he was Vice President of Development for Fourth Planet, Inc., a developer of real-time visualization software. Fong has published more than one hundred papers in space and field robotics, human-robot interaction, virtual reality user interfaces and planetary mapping. Fong received his B.S. and M.S. in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University.

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Ophir Frieder

Searching Harsh Environments

Analysis of selective data that fits our investigative tool may lead to erroneous or limited conclusions.  The universe consists of multi states and our recording of them adds complexity.  By finding methods to increase the robustness of our digital data collection and applying likely relationship search methods that can handle all the data, we will increase the resolution of our conclusions.  Dr. Ophir Frieder presents methods to increase our ability to capture and search digital data.

Abstract:

Searching documents comprising of images, text, signatures, tables, etc., often available only in scanned hardcopy formats, remains a challenge. Yet programs, such as NASA’s Mission Assurance System (MAS), that require complete and efficiently obtained relevant information, would greatly benefit by processing such complex documents.

We describe a complex document information-processing approach that integrates “point solution” (mature) technologies, such as readability enhancement, OCR, signature matching, handwritten word spotting, and search and mining techniques to analyze “real world” complex documents. A prototype of our approach validates the adage that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”.

Searching poorly spelled and grammatically challenged environments, including user reporting systems like NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) and foreign language collections, is complicated. By segmenting, fusing, and filtering, we increase accuracy and enable previously unsupported name searches in the Archives Section of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Within the medical domain, automated term corrections can reduce transcription errors.

Finally, we search and analyze social media. By searching and mining such data, unknown or unexpected trends are detected. We explore and demonstrate the validity of the approach in the healthcare space.

Biography:

Ophir Frieder holds the Robert L. McDevitt, K.S.G., K.C.H.S. and Catherine H. McDevitt L.C.H.S. Chair in Computer Science and Information Processing and previously served as the Chair of the Department of Computer Science at Georgetown University. He is also Professor of Biostatistics, Bioinformatics and Biomathematics in the Georgetown University Medical Center. In addition to his academic positions, he is the Chief Scientific Officer for UMBRA Health Corp. (UHC).

His research interests focus on scalable information retrieval systems spanning search and retrieval and communications issues in multiple domains. He frequently consults for industry and government and for key intellectual property litigation; his systems are deployed in commercial and governmental production environments worldwide. In 2007, Springer Science and Business Media designated his co-authored book entitled “Information Retrieval: Algorithms and Heuristics” with the “Top Selling Title” award. He is the recipient of the 2007 ASIS&T Research in Information Science Award and a recipient of the 2008 IEEE Technical Achievement Award. He is a Fellow of the AAAS, ACM, IEEE and NAI.

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Elizabeth Nyamayaro

How to Create a Social Movement

Political activism is a tool used to create change, shining light on areas needing to be revisited.  Humanity is at its best when we focus on our similarities while celebrating and promoting our differences; it is key to our survival.  At NASA Ames, workforce diversity results in innovation and risk reduction. In her presentation, Ms. Elizabeth Nyamayaro uses the HeForShe movement as an example of factors that drive a successful movement and discuss gender equality.

Abstract:

How to create a Movement: Corporations and brands can learn from causes and even passionate individuals when it comes to mobilizing people around an important single issue, and creating a mass movement. Elizabeth Nyamayaro, Senior Advisor to Executive Director of UN Women and the driving force behind the groundbreaking HeForShe initiative, which made headlines after a passionate launch speech by British Actor Emma Watson on September 20th 2014, will share insights into the initiative’s success drivers. With at least one man in every single country in the world signing on to initiative within its first week of launch, HeForShe has become one of the most important social movements in the world today, and has been subject to more than 2 billion conversations online, with offline activities reaching every corner of the globe. www.HeForShe.org

Biography:

Elizabeth Nyamayaro is Senior Advisor to Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women and the Head of the HeForShe Initiative, a global solidarity movement which seeks to engage men and boys as advocates for gender equality. A strong advocate for women rights and economic empowerment, Ms. Nyamayaro has worked at the forefront of Africa’s development agenda for more than a decade in both the public and private sector, and previously held positions with UNAIDS, World Health Organization and the World Bank. Prior to UN Women, she was Director External Affairs & Policy, Africa and part of the Corporate Strategy Office at Merck. Born in Zimbabwe and a Political Scientist by training, Ms. Nyamayaro holds a MSc in Politics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Norman Mineta

We are pleased to host the Honorable Norman Y. Mineta as part of the NASA Ames 2016 Summer Series.

Mr. Mineta is the former U.S. Secretary of Transportation, the former US Secretary of Commerce, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives and the former Mayor of San Jose.

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Barbara Block

Sushi and Satellites: Tracking Predators Across the Blue Serengeti

The Earth’s oceans cover the majority of the surface area of our planet, yet our understanding of the marine ecosystem is limited. Dr. Block presents her work studying tunas, billfishes and sharks utilization of the ocean.

Biography:

Dr. Barbara A. Block holds the Charles and Elizabeth Prothro Professorship at Stanford University. Her research is focused on how large pelagic fish utilize the open ocean. She and her team have pioneered the successful development and deployment of electronic tags on tunas, billfishes and sharks that enable following these highly migratory fish in the oceans. Dr. Block is co-founder with the Monterey Bay Aquarium of the Tuna Research and Conservation Center the only facility in North America holding tunas for research. The lab studies bluefin and yellowfin tunas from a whole organism to genome perspective with interests in physiology of migrations, thermogenesis, cardiac biology, energetics and reproduction. The combination of lab and field research has led to a rapid increase in the understanding of movement patterns, population structure, physiology and behaviors of pelagic fish and sharks as they move across the planet. Block and her tuna team have deployed more than 2,300 electronic tags on tunas (bluefin, yellowfin and albacore) in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and performed genetic and isotopic analyses that provide insight about physiology, migrations, population structure, ecology and management models for tunas’ in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Block was a co-chief scientist for the Tagging of Pacific Predators program (TOPP), organized under the Census of Marine Life. This international program, the largest electronic tagging program on the globe, succeeded in placing 4,000 electronic tags on 23 predators in the California Current to better understand how pelagic animals (tunas, sharks, sea turtles seabirds, seals and whales) use the North Pacific ecosystem. She earned her B.A. at the University of Vermont, and began her oceanographic career at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in 1979 with Dr. Francis G. Carey. She earned her Ph.D. in 1986 at Duke University and a postdoc at the U. Pennsylvania. She was an assistant professor at the University of Chicago (1989-1993) and joined the Stanford faculty in 1994. Block and her team have published over 200 peer reviewed papers, and has received numerous awards including: the NSF Young Investigator Award, a MacArthur Fellowship, a Pew Fellowship for Marine conservation, a Rolex Award for Enterprise. She is the 2016 recipient of the Benchley Award in Ocean Conservation. Block founded the TAG A Giant Foundation to elevate the science and conservation initiatives for bluefin tuna globally in 2006. She is committed to science communication and has helped by establishing with the Monterey Bay Aquarium the center open ocean exhibit in 1994, the Tuan Center – the only scientific facility to hold bluefin tuna in the US and numerous science museum exhibits on ocean science. Block has directed, written and collaborated on five films, the newest just aired- with critical acclaim on Discovery’s Shark week called Blue Serengeti. The film highlights the results from her White shark research program, and provides the audience with her vision for creating a World Heritage Site off North America’s western shores.

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Eugene Tu

Dynamics and Flow: From Ames Intern to Center Director

We are honored to host our Center Director Dr. Eugene Tu as part of the 2016 Summer Series.

Biography:

Dr. Eugene L. Tu is the center director at NASA’s Ames Research Center, where he leads a staff of civil servants and contractors in providing critical research and development support that makes NASA’s and the nation’s aeronautics and space missions possible. 

Tu was most recently director of Exploration Technology at Ames, a position he held from November 2005 until his selection as Ames center director in May 2015. There he led four technology research and development divisions, including two of NASA’s critical infrastructure assets: the consolidated arc jet testing complex and the agency’s primary supercomputing facility.

Tu began his career as a research scientist conducting computational fluid dynamics research on the steady and unsteady aerodynamics of complex aircraft configurations. After progressing through various research and managerial positions in such fields as computational aerodynamics, information technology (IT), and high performance computing and communications, he was selected as the deputy program manager for the agency’s IT Base Research Program in 1997. In 1998, he was selected as the program manager for the agency-level High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) Program and led both IT Base and HPCC programs. In 2001, the two programs were combined into the Computing, Information and Communication Technology (CICT) Program and Tu was selected as the CICT Program Manager. In 2002, he was selected into the Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program (SESCDP) and served in the Office of Biological and Physical Research at NASA Headquarters in 2003, and as the acting director for the Information Sciences and Technology Directorate at NASA Ames in 2004. After receiving his SES certification in 2005, he was selected as the director of Exploration Technology at Ames.

Tu earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1988, and both his master’s degree and doctorate in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University in 1990 and 1996, respectively. He is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Tu received the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal in 2000 and the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Executive in 2009. Tu lives in Fremont, California, with his wife (Kathy) and three children, and his hobbies include attending sporting events, playing music, traveling and motorsports.

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Michael Flynn

Synthetic Biological Membrane

Full understanding leads to creation capability, which results in customization capacity.  Synthetic biology uses our knowledge of biology to engineer novel biological devices or organisms that can perform tasks not found in nature.   For Human space exploration, synthetic biology approaches will reduce risk, mass carried and increase Human reach. Michael Flynn discusses the International Space Station (ISS) water recycling and his current work on developing a water filtration system capable of self-repair.

Abstract:

The International Space Station (ISS) is a test bed for the technologies that will be used to travel to Mars and beyond.  The lessons learned from operating the ISS provide valuable direction to future research and technology development programs.  One of the most critical and complicated subsystems on ISS is the life support system. The life support system keeps the crew alive by recycling both air and water.  The ISS water recycling system has been operating since 2009 and one of the main lessons learned is that reliability is a key technology performance metric.  In the long run reliability is a key cost driver and is a critical factor in insuring crew safety.  For long duration missions such as the exploration of Mars, where resupply of spare parts from Earth is difficult if not impossible, reliability is even more important.  This presentation will cover research into improving the reliability of ISS systems.  It will discuss research into the development of a biomimetic membrane materials that provides self-regeneration capabilities for water recycling systems.  It will also cover research into past failures of the ISS water recycling system caused by astronaut bone loss and the build-up of trace contaminates in the cabin.

Biography:

Mr. Flynn is principal investigator (PI) in water recycling technology development at NASA Ames Research Center.  He has over 25 years of experience in the development of advanced life support system, astrobiology, and fundamental space biology.  He has over 100 peer reviewed publications in the field.  He has received two R&D 100 Awards, a Wright Brothers Medal, an Arch T. Calwell Merit Award and an AIAA best space architecture paper award. Mr. Flynn has a BS in mechanical engineering from San Francisco State University.

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Jason Dunn

The Future of Making Things in Space

Manufacturing of tools is why Humans survive.  Inkjet printer technology has revolutionized the world of printing anything and led to 3D printers that allow rapid prototyping and manufacturing of tools.  Getting materials to space is costly and the ability to manufacture on demand will make space exploration and space utilization more robust and affordable. Jason Dunn discusses Made In Space’s achievements in bringing 3D printers to the International Space Stations and their future role in space exploration.

Abstract:

Made In Space is the only company to off-world manufacture, having built the first objects ever made in space in 2014. With two operational 3D printers on the International Space Station, Made In Space provides commercial space manufacturing services to NASA, government agencies, and commercial users. 

Jason Dunn, cofounder and CTO of Made In Space, will share the story of Made In Space along with some recent highlights. His talk will also outline the company’s vision for the future of making things in space for both benefit to space exploration as well as life on Earth.

Biography:

Jason founded Made In Space in 2010 as a result of analyzing the best possible approaches to enabling a fully sustainable form of space colonization. With a core focus on space manufacturing, the company has since built, flown, and operated the first and second 3D printers in space. Installed on the International Space Station, the first Made In Space Zero Gravity 3D printer began space manufacturing in November 2014. Today Made In Space operates the second-generation 3D printer on the ISS, called the Additive Manufacturing Facility, enabling groups across the planet to have hardware manufactured in space.  Additionally, Made In Space is working with NASA in the development of the Archinaut Program, to enable in-space robotic manufacturing and assembly of large space structures.  Jason serves as the Chief Technology Officer, overseeing the deployment of the founding vision into the technical path of the projects, as well as development of the technology roadmap for the company.

Jason holds two degrees in Aerospace engineering from the University of Central Florida, has studied at the Singularity University Graduate Summer Program, and is an internationally recognized speaker on the topics of space exploration, advanced manufacturing, and the theory of disruption. He serves on the UCF College of Engineering and Computer Science Dean’s Advisory Board, the Advisory Council to the Waypaver Foundation, and on the Board of Directors for the Future Space Leaders Foundation. In 2014, Jason and his three co-founders were recognized by Forbes on the prestigious 30 under 30 list for manufacturing.

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Penelope Boston

Subsurface Astrobiology: Cave Habitats on Earth, Mars, and Beyond

In our quest to explore other planets, we only have our own planet as an analogue to the environments we may find life. By exploring extreme environments on Earth, we can model conditions that may be present on other celestial bodies and select locations to explore for signatures of life. Dr. Penelope Boston, the Director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute at Ames, describes her work in some of Earth’s most diverse caves and how they inform future exploration of Mars and the search for life in our solar system.

Abstract:
The surface of Earth is covered in a highly conspicuous biosphere including humans and all the organisms that support us. But an even more biodiverse hidden realm extends into the planet’s crust to at least 5-10 km depth. Natural caves and mines (anthropogenic caves!) give us a window into this hidden planet-within-a-planet that is home to microorganisms that eat rock, transform minerals and metals, and can live in extreme temperatures and chemical conditions that would be lethal to humans. They produce a staggering array of exotic biomolecules including new potential antibiotics, pharmaceuticals and enzymes. These talents show us what Earth life is capable of and serves as a model in developing missions to conduct our search for life on other planets. We have suggested that the subsurface of Mars is the best place to look for extant life on that planet and perhaps also for extinct life biosignatures. Cavities formed on icy bodies, or even the Ocean Worlds themselves, may resemble caves as systems more than any other model on Earth. Studying some of Earth’s most spectacular caves reveals how life can operate underground in extreme conditions that may be present on other Solar System bodies.

Biography:
Penelope Boston is the new director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute at ARC (May 2016). From 2002-2016, she served as associate director of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute (Carlsbad, NM) and professor and Chair of the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (Socorro, NM). Research areas include geomicrobiology and astrobiology in extreme environments (especially caves and mines, hot and cold deserts, high latitudes and altitudes); geological processes creating caves on other planets and moons; human life support issues in planetary environments; and use of robotics and other technologies to assist exploration and advance science in extreme Earth and extraterrestrial environments.

Author of 160+ technical and popular publications, editor of four volumes, her work has featured in ~200 print and broadcast media items. She served on the NRC Space Studies Board, NASA Planetary Protection Subcommittee and External Council of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts. Boston is recipient of the 2010 Lifetime Achievement in Science Award (National Speleological Society), Fellow of the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts, a recent Phi Beta Kappa Distinguished Visiting Lecturer (2013-2014), and recipient of the Caving Legend Award from Ft. Stanton Cave Study Project/BLM. She holds a PhD from the University of Colorado, Boulder in Microbiology and Atmospheric Chemistry, earned on an Advanced Studies Program Fellowship at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (Boulder, CO, and was a National Research Council/NASA Post-doctoral Fellow at NASA Langley Research Center (1986-1987).

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Alan Stern

The Exploration of Pluto by New Horizons

Interplanetary exploration is essential for the long-term survival of our species. Robotic space exploration allows us to advance our knowledge of our solar system and beyond. Dr. Alan Stern talks about the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the scientific knowledge gained through the exploration of the icy worlds at the edge of our solar system.

Abstract:
New Horizons is NASA’s historic mission to explore the Pluto system and the Kuiper Belt. New Horizons is the first mission in NASA’s New Frontiers program. The fastest spacecraft ever launched, New Horizons left Earth on 19 January 2006. After a gravity assist flyby of Jupiter in February 2007, it made the first exploration of the Pluto system—3 billion miles from Earth—last year, culminating with a highly successful flyby inside the orbits of all five of Pluto’s moons on July 14th. PI Stern will describe the history of the mission, the encounter with planet Pluto and its system of satellites, and the major scientific discoveries made to date, the public reaction to the flyby. He will then describe the proposed extended mission for New Horizons to explore the Kuiper Belt through at least 2021.

Biography:
Dr. Alan Stern is a planetary scientist, space program executive, aerospace consultant and author. He leads NASA’s New Horizons mission to the Pluto system and the Kuiper Belt. In both 2007 and 2016, he was named to the Time 100. In 2007, he was appointed NASA’s chief of all science missions. Since 2009, he has been an Associate Vice President and Special Assistant to the President at the Southwest Research Institute. Additionally, from 2008-2012 he served on the board of directors of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education, and as the Chief Scientist and Mission Architect for Moon Express from 2010-2013. From 2011- 2013, he served as the Director of the Florida Space Institute. Dr. Stern currently serves as the chief scientist of both World View, a near-space ballooning company, and of the Florida Space Institute. In 2007 and 2008, Dr. Stern served as NASA’s chief of all space and Earth science programs, directing a $4.4B organization with 93 separate flight missions and a program of over 3,000 research grants. During his NASA tenure, a record 10 major new flight projects were started and deep reforms of NASA’s scientific research and the education and public outreach programs were put in place. His tenure was notable for an emphasis on cost control in NASA flight missions that resulted in a 63% decrease in cost overruns.

Since 2008 Dr. Stern has had his own aerospace consulting practice. His current and former consulting clients include Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, Naveen Jain’s Moon Express Google Lunar X-Prize team, Ball Aerospace, Paragon Space Development Corporation, the NASTAR Center, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, and the Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Stern also is the CEO of two small corporations—Uwingu and The Golden Spike Company—and serves on the board of directors of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. Dr. Stern is the Principal Investigator (PI) of NASA’s $723M New Horizon’s mission toreconnoiter Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. New Horizons launched in 2006 and arrives at Pluto in July 2015. Dr. Stern also is the PI of two instruments aboard New Horizons, the Alice UV spectrometer and the Ralph Visible Imager/IR Spectrometer.

His career has taken him to numerous astronomical observatories, to the South Pole, and to the upper atmosphere aboard various high performance NASA aircraft including F/A-18 Hornets, F-104 Starfighters, KC-135 Zero-G, and WB-57 Canberras. He has been involved as a researcher in 24 suborbital, orbital, and planetary space missions, including 9 for which he was the mission principle investigator; and he has led the development of 8 scientific instruments for NASA space missions. In 1995, he was selected as a space shuttle mission specialist finalist, and in 1996 he was a candidate space shuttle payload specialist. In 2010, he became a suborbital payload specialist trainee, and is expected to fly several space missions aboard XCOR and Virgin Galactic vehicles in 2016-2017.

Before receiving his doctorate from the University of Colorado in 1989, Dr. Stern completed twin master’s degrees in aerospace engineering and atmospheric sciences (1980 and 1981), and then spent six years as an aerospace systems engineer, concentrating on spacecraft and payload systems at the NASA Johnson Space Center, Martin Marietta Aerospace, and the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado. His two undergraduate degrees are in physics and astronomy from the University of Texas (1978 and 1980).

Dr. Stern has published more than 230 technical papers and 40 popular articles. He has given more than 300 technical talks and more than 150 popular lectures and speeches about astronomy and the space program. He has written two books, The U.S. Space Program After Challenger (Franklin-Watts, 1987), and Pluto and Charon: Ice Worlds on the Ragged Edge of the Solar System (Wiley 1997, 2005). Additionally, he has served as editor on three technical volumes, and three collections of scientific popularizations: Our Worlds (Cambridge, 1998), Our Universe (Cambridge, 2000), and Worlds Beyond (Cambridge, 2003).

Dr. Stern has more than 25 years of experience in space instrument development, with a strong concentration in ultraviolet technologies. He has been a Principal Investigator in NASA’s UV sounding rocket program, and was the project scientist on a Shuttle-deployable SPARTAN astronomical satellite. He was the PI of the advanced, miniaturized HIPPS Pluto breadboard camera/IR spectrometer/UV spectrometer payload. Dr. Stern is also the PI of the Alice UV Spectrometer for the ESA/NASA Rosetta comet orbiter, launched in 2004, and served as the PI of the LAMP instrument on NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission, which launched in 2009. He has served as a Co-Investigator on numerous NASA and ESA planet missions.

Dr. Stern’s academic research has focused on studies of our solar system’s Kuiper Belt and Oort cloud, comets, the satellites of the outer planets, the Pluto system, and the search for evidence of solar systems around other stars. He has also worked on spacecraft rendezvous theory, terrestrial polar mesospheric clouds, galactic astrophysics, and studies of tenuous satellite atmospheres, including the atmosphere of the moon.

Dr. Stern is a fellow of the AAAS, the Royal Astronomical Society, and is a member of the AIAA, AAS, IAF, and the AGU; he was elected incoming chair of the Division of Planetary Sciences in 2006. He has been awarded the Von Braun Aerospace Achievement Award of the
National Space Society, the 2007 University of Colorado George Norlin Distinguished Alumnus Award, the 2009 St. Mark’s Preparatory School Distinguished Alumnus Award, Smithsonian Magazine’s 2015 American Ingenuity Award, and the 2016 Sagan Memorial Award of the American Astronautical Society.

Dr. Stern’s personal interests include running, hiking, camping and writing. He is an instrument-rated commercial pilot and flight instructor, with both powered and sailplane ratings. He and his wife Carole have two daughters and a son; they make their home near Boulder, Colorado.

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Jeffrey Manber

Private Space Stations’ New Chapter in Exploration

(Canceled)

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Bethany Ehlmann

Early Mars: A View from Rovers and Orbiters

Water signatures include geological changes and life. Surface and orbital interplanetary robotic missions are critical for obtaining knowledge on atmospheric, surface and subsurface conditions of planets in our solar system. Dr. Ehlmann talks about Mars data collected from orbital and rover missions and their implication for our understating of Mars past and present water environments.

Abstract:
The last decade of high resolution orbital imaging spectroscopy and rover exploration of Mars has revealed nearly a dozen distinct aqueous, potentially habitable environments, ranging from lacustrine to hydrothermal to weathering, preserved in the rock record from 4Ga onward and identified by diverse secondary minerals. These environments varied in space and time and do not necessarily imply a continually warm early Mars, but rather a warm and wet subsurface with intervals of more clement conditions that allowed liquid water availability at the cold surface. In this talk, recent results in this area will be treated: e.g., the geochemistry of lake waters, the sequestration of atmospheric volatiles in rocks (e.g. carbonates), and needed future measurements.

Biography:
Bethany Ehlmann is an assistant professor of planetary sciences at Caltech and research scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Her research focuses on the composition of planetary surfaces, tracing evidence of water-related processes throughout the solar system, infrared spectroscopy, remote sensing techniques and instruments, and unraveling Mars’ environmental evolution. She was a student science collaborator on the Mars Exploration Rovers (Spirit and Opportunity), is co-investigator on the CRISM imaging spectrometer on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, is Participating Scientist on the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover, is an affiliate of the Dawn Science Team for its Ceres investigation, and is part of the science team of the upcoming Mars 2020 rover.

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