Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771
ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM
Monday, April 28, 2008 / 3:30 PM, Building 3 Auditorium
Marc Rayman
"Now Flying Through a Solar System Near You: The Dawn Mission to the Asteroid Belt"
ABSTRACT -- NASA's latest venture into the solar system is the ambitious Dawn mission, launched in September 2007. The spacecraft will orbit both Ceres and Vesta, which are among the last unexplored worlds in the inner solar system. They are the two most massive residents of the asteroid belt, that vast collection of bodies between Mars and Jupiter. Ceres is so large that it is included in the new category of dwarf planets, along with Pluto. The alien landscapes Dawn will reveal should provide humankind with a new perspective on the solar system. Remnants from the time that the planets were formed, Ceres and Vesta hold clues that will help scientists understand the dawn of the solar system.
Dawn will be the first spacecraft ever to orbit an object in the asteroid belt and the first ever to orbit two targets. Such a mission would be impossible without the use of ion propulsion, a technology that has mostly been in the domain of science fiction, but which was tested extensively on the successful Deep Space 1 mission, paving the way for Dawn.
Marc Rayman will describe the Dawn mission and its use of ion propulsion as well as its two exotic destinations. He also will share the excitement of operating a spacecraft in deep space.
SPEAKER -- Dr. Marc D. Rayman is Dawn Mission Manager and Project Systems Engineer at JPL. He earned an A.B. in Physics from Princeton University where he concentrated in astrophysics and cosmology. He received his M.S. in nuclear physics from the University of Colorado, Boulder and his Ph.D. at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics where he conducted experimental tests of special relativity and atomic and laser physics. Since joining JPL in 1986, Dr. Rayman's work has spanned a broad range, including optical interferometry missions for detecting planets around other stars, a Mars sample-return mission, a Mars laser altimeter, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and laser-based systems for deep-space communications. In 1994 he helped formulate NASA's New Millennium Program to characterize highly advanced and risky technologies for subsequent space science missions by flying them on dedicated test flights. The first mission, Deep Space 1, was launched in October 1998, and he worked on it from its inception in 1995 to its conclusion in 2001, ultimately serving as Project Manager. Among his NASA awards are two Exceptional Achievement Medals and the Outstanding Leadership Medal. Asteroid (10050) Rayman was named in recognition of his contributions to space exploration.