Mason Peck

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Mason Peck is an associate professor at Cornell University and former NASA Chief Technologist. [1] [2] [3] His immediate predecessor in the NASA position was Bobby Braun.

Peck has published in various aerospace sub-disciplines including; air-bearing spacecraft simulation, [4] [5] low-power space robotics, [6] [7] hopping rovers, [8] and Lorentz-augmented orbits. [9]

Peck was awarded $75,000 in 2007 by NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) to study how a large fleet of microchip-size space probes in Earth orbit might propel themselves into the Interplanetary Transport Network; and thence as far as Jupiter's moon Europa. This was to be achieved by exploiting the Lorentz Force, enabled by using photovoltaics to maintain an electrostatic charge while orbiting in Earth's magnetic field. [10] [11]

Peck has served on the advisory board of Mars One since February 2014. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hall-effect thruster</span> Type of electric propulsion system

In spacecraft propulsion, a Hall-effect thruster (HET) is a type of ion thruster in which the propellant is accelerated by an electric field. Hall-effect thrusters are sometimes referred to as Hall thrusters or Hall-current thrusters. Hall-effect thrusters use a magnetic field to limit the electrons' axial motion and then use them to ionize propellant, efficiently accelerate the ions to produce thrust, and neutralize the ions in the plume. The Hall-effect thruster is classed as a moderate specific impulse space propulsion technology and has benefited from considerable theoretical and experimental research since the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ion thruster</span> Spacecraft engine that generates thrust by generating a jet of ions

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pulsed inductive thruster</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reaction wheel</span> Attitude control device used in spacecraft

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aerobraking</span> Spaceflight maneuver

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laser propulsion</span> Form of beam-powered propulsion

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aerocapture</span> Orbital transfer maneuver

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spacecraft electric propulsion</span> Type of space propulsion using electrostatic and electromagnetic fields for acceleration

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregory Chamitoff</span> Canadian born engineer and NASA astronaut (born 1962)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert D. Braun</span> American engineer and academic

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Isaac Michael Ross is a Distinguished Professor and Program Director of Control and Optimization at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. He has published a highly-regarded textbook on optimal control theory and seminal papers in pseudospectral optimal control theory, energy-sink theory, the optimization and deflection of near-Earth asteroids and comets, robotics, attitude dynamics and control, orbital mechanics, real-time optimal control and unscented optimal control. The Kang–Ross–Gong theorem, Ross' π lemma, Ross' time constant, the Ross–Fahroo lemma, and the Ross–Fahroo pseudospectral method are all named after him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asteroid Redirect Mission</span> 2013–2017 proposed NASA space mission

The Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM), also known as the Asteroid Retrieval and Utilization (ARU) mission and the Asteroid Initiative, was a space mission proposed by NASA in 2013; the mission was later cancelled. The Asteroid Retrieval Robotic Mission (ARRM) spacecraft would rendezvous with a large near-Earth asteroid and use robotic arms with anchoring grippers to retrieve a 4-meter boulder from the asteroid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Powtawche Valerino</span> American mechanical engineer

Powtawche N. Valerino is an American mechanical engineer at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She worked as a navigation engineer for the Cassini mission.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swati Mohan</span> American aerospace engineer

Swati Mohan is an Indian-American aerospace engineer and was the Guidance and Controls Operations Lead on the NASA Mars 2020 mission.

References

  1. Montalbano, Elizabeth (November 9, 2011). "NASA Names Cornell Professor To CTO Position". InformationWeek . Retrieved 2011-11-11.
  2. Hand, Eric (November 8, 2011). "Chipsat pioneer named NASA's chief technologist". Nature Publishing Group . Retrieved 2011-11-11.
  3. Weaver, David; Friedlander, Blaine (2011-11-08). "NASA Administrator Names Peck Agency's Chief Technologist" (Press release). NASA. 11-374. Archived from the original on 2022-04-18. Retrieved 2011-11-11.}
  4. Jana L. Schwartz; Mason A. Peck; Christopher D. Hall (2003). "Historical Review of Spacecraft Simulators" (PDF). Proceedings of the AAS/AIAA Spaceflight Mechanics Meeting, no. AAS 03-125.
  5. Peck, M. A.; Miller, L.; Cavender, A. R.; Gonzalez; et al. (2003). "An Airbearing-Based Testbed for Momentum Control Systems and Spacecraft Line of Sight (AAS 03-127)" (PDF). Advances in the Astronautical Sciences. American Astronautical Society. 114: 427–446. ISSN   0065-3438. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-04-25.
  6. Peck, Mason A (15–18 Aug 2005). "Low-Power, High-Agility Space Robotics". AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference Proceedings. San Francisco, CA: 1–2. doi:10.2514/6.2005-6243. ISBN   978-1-62410-056-7 . Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  7. Mason A. Peck; Michael A. Paluszek; Stephanie J. Thomas; Joseph B. Mueller (2005). Control-Moment Gyroscopes for Joint Actuation: A New Paradigm in Space Robotics. 1st Space Exploration Conference: Continuing the Voyage of Discovery. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.120.1438 . doi:10.2514/6.2005-2522. AIAA 2005-2522.
  8. Peck, Mason A. (11–15 Feb 2001). "Dynamics of a gyroscopic hopping rover". Proceedings of the 11th Annual AAS/AIAA Space Flight Mechanics Meeting. Santa Barbara, CA. pp. 1369–1389. ISBN   0-87703-487-7.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. Streetman, Brett; Peck, Mason A (May–Jun 2010). "General Bang-Bang Control Method for Lorentz Augmented Orbits" (PDF). Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets. 47 (3): 484–492. Bibcode:2010JSpRo..47..484S. doi:10.2514/1.45704. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-11-03. Retrieved 2011-11-11.
  10. Mone, Gregory (August 2007). "Mmmm, Space Chips". Popular Science . 271 (2).
  11. "Cornell To Study Planetary Magnetic Fields Propulsion Research Under NASA Grant". SpaceDaily.com. Feb 28, 2007. Retrieved 2011-11-11.
  12. "We're pleased to welcome Dr. Mason Peck to our advisory board..." Google+ . Mars One. 24 February 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.