Batch-fabricated Miniaturized Hardware for Low-Cost Space Missions
Event details
| Date | 10.07.2014 |
| Hour | 14:00 |
| Speaker | Dr Luis Fernando Velásquez-García, MIT |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
Miniaturized spacecraft (1 – 10 Kg) have been actively investigated for over two decades as they could substantially reduce mission costs, provide redundancy, and significantly increase launch rates. Miniaturized satellites can be used to implement very flexible and versatile dense constellations, capable of missions such as real-time global surveillance, communications, and large-aperture interferometry. The challenges of miniaturized satellite subsystems include the creation of efficient large arrays of scaled-down elements; microelectromechanical systems and nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS, respectively) have the potential to enable a nanosatellite technological revolution by making it possible to produce low-cost, batch- fabricated, and rugged miniaturized space hardware.
This talk will focus on the topic of MEMS/NEMS miniaturized hardware for spacecraft using two examples of large arrays of scaled-down elements that work together towards increasing the net throughput of the device to enable higher performance. The first example is a planar array of electrospray emitters, intended as a space thruster. In this example, micro and nanotechnology make it possible to develop a very efficient space thruster (low plume divergence, self- neutralization, efficient ionization), capable of spanning a wide range of Isp, and able to produce thrust levels attractive for several scaled-down satellite missions. The second example is a miniaturized retarding potential analyzer (RPA) intended as scientific payload. In this example, MEMS technologies enable an ion energy distribution sensor that outperforms conventional RPAs in terms of resolution and minimum Debye length, greatly extending the range of plasmas that can be measured.
Bio: Dr. Velásquez–García is a principal investigator with the Microsystems Technology Laboratories of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he leads a group that conducts fundamental and applied research on systems composed of arrays of miniaturized elements that harness high electrostatic field phenomena, e.g., field emission, electrospray, plasma, and X-rays, for high-throughput nanomanufacturing, energy, space, and healthcare applications. He is the co-chair of PowerMEMS 2015, i.e., the 15th International Conference on Micro and Nanotechnology for Power Generation and Energy Conversion Applications; PowerMEMS is arguably the leading conference specialized on all aspects of energy conversion and processing at the miniature, micro, and nano scales.
This talk will focus on the topic of MEMS/NEMS miniaturized hardware for spacecraft using two examples of large arrays of scaled-down elements that work together towards increasing the net throughput of the device to enable higher performance. The first example is a planar array of electrospray emitters, intended as a space thruster. In this example, micro and nanotechnology make it possible to develop a very efficient space thruster (low plume divergence, self- neutralization, efficient ionization), capable of spanning a wide range of Isp, and able to produce thrust levels attractive for several scaled-down satellite missions. The second example is a miniaturized retarding potential analyzer (RPA) intended as scientific payload. In this example, MEMS technologies enable an ion energy distribution sensor that outperforms conventional RPAs in terms of resolution and minimum Debye length, greatly extending the range of plasmas that can be measured.
Bio: Dr. Velásquez–García is a principal investigator with the Microsystems Technology Laboratories of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he leads a group that conducts fundamental and applied research on systems composed of arrays of miniaturized elements that harness high electrostatic field phenomena, e.g., field emission, electrospray, plasma, and X-rays, for high-throughput nanomanufacturing, energy, space, and healthcare applications. He is the co-chair of PowerMEMS 2015, i.e., the 15th International Conference on Micro and Nanotechnology for Power Generation and Energy Conversion Applications; PowerMEMS is arguably the leading conference specialized on all aspects of energy conversion and processing at the miniature, micro, and nano scales.
Practical information
- General public
- Free
Organizer
- Prof. Herbert Shea
Contact
- Schafer Isabelle <[email protected]>