FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE WEBINAR
Advancing Medical Technology with Suborbital Rocket-Powered Vehicles
Speakers:
- George Pantalos, Ph.D., University of Louisville
- Kathleen Karika, Director for Research Operations, Virgin Galactic
- Ryan Dibley, Flight Opportunities Campaign Manager
June 7, 2023
Abstract
This month’s webinar features a discussion with Dr. George Pantalos, an experienced Flight Opportunities-supported researcher and Kathleen Karika, Director for Research Operations at Virgin Galactic. Dr. Pantalos will highlight his previous flight test experience assessing a method of red blood cell storage for transfusion therapy in space across different suborbital platforms, as well as his upcoming flight test with Virgin Galactic as a TechFlights 2022 awardee. Join the webinar to hear more about integration and technical lessons learned and the value of iterative testing to advance technologies that support long-duration spaceflight – both from a researcher and a flight provider perspective. Flight Opportunities team members will also speak about key takeaways from helping suborbital payload teams get ready for flight.
This session aligns with the June 7 Mandatory Preliminary Proposal deadline for TechFlights 2023. Researchers are encouraged to submit their proposals early and attend the session to learn about flight testing best practices.
Download the slides
Speaker Bios
Dr. George Pantalos has been a cardiovascular explorer for over 45 years and has collaborated with NASA to understand cardiovascular adaptation to the weightlessness of space flight and the return to Earth. He has been a professor of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery and a professor of bioengineering at the University of Louisville, in partnership with Jewish Hospital and Norton Children’s Hospital, since July 2000. George has flown 60 research missions on parabolic flights and led the development of a cardiovascular diastolic function experiment – including an instrumented artificial heart beating on a circulation simulator – that flew twice on the Space Shuttle Discovery. Other reduced gravity research projects have included delivery of effective chest compressions for CPR as well as organ perfusion in zero gravity, in addition to the development of a surgical capability for exploration space missions, which flew with Virgin Galactic in May 2021. George is currently working on his next suborbital flight experiment, with two additional research missions on parabolic flights.
Kathleen Karika is the director for research operations at Virgin Galactic. Virgin Galactic is an aerospace and space travel company that provides opportunities for research and scientific exploration in a suborbital space environment. In this role, Kathleen is responsible for business development for research and professional astronaut missions. She works closely with the U.S. government, international governments, academia, and industry to fly their research to space. Prior to joining Virgin Galactic, Kathleen led capture activities for significant international government satellite pursuits at Maxar. She has also held positions at Lockheed Martin, Avascent, NASA Ames Research Center, and the U.S. House of Representatives Science, Space, and Technology Committee. Kathleen holds a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematical Sciences and a Master of International Affairs from Texas A&M University. She has served on the Board of Directors for the American Astronautical Society since 2014, previously as the Vice President of Education and Young Professionals and currently as the Vice President of International. She was also the President of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Space and Satellite Professionals International (SSPI). She is based out of Virgin Galactic’s Washington, DC office.
With almost two decades of experience at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, Ryan Dibley brings a rich technical background to his role as campaign manager for the Flight Opportunities program. Ryan manages flight campaigns for technology payloads flying with Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, Astrobotic/Masten Space Systems, and Zero Gravity Corporation. Prior to this role, he served as chief engineer on the subscale towed glider air launch system at NASA Armstrong, and much of his earlier experience involved flight tests of different varieties.
