Events/Courses - Event View

The year 2024 has had a level of space activity that has not been seen since the height of the space race of the 1960s. New launch vehicles and new spacecraft that have been in the works for more than a decade have been unveiled, some successfully and some not so successfully. The course will begin with the background that led to all this activity, including a brief description of the interplay between NASA and congress.  Significant events are expected in the Artemis program to send astronauts to the moon and eventually to Mars. New developments in the business of space either have been or are about to be revealed, including new rocket companies, privately trained astronauts, and private space stations. Solar sailing has long been recognized as an efficient means of space propulsion. It has only recently seen actual use for satellites. A NASA mission is now demonstrating a small solar sail. Space activity is also taking place in Europe, India, and China. All of this will be described in varying detail. Other topics that will be covered include the Voyager spacecraft, Elon Musk’s Starlink communications network, and Jeff Bezos’s competing Kuiper network.

   Dr. Timothy Barrows received his Bachelor’s degree from Princeton in 1966 and a doctorate from MIT in 1971. He worked at Draper Laboratory for 38 years before retiring in 2021. His last decade at Draper was spent on NASA’s Artemis program. He is the lead author of a recent book, Dynamics and Simulation of Flexible Rockets. 

   Derek Webber will be a guest lecturer, providing his unique insights into future opportunities for private space activity. Derek, a former aerospace consultant and lecturer, is the author of Lunar Commerce: A Primer.