“Human Space Exploration: Risks and Challenges”
Presented by:
Dr. Mrityunjay Singh
President, American Ceramic Society
Chief Scientist, Ohio Aerospace Institute
Friday, February 12, 2016 – 10:00 a.m.
IMS Room 20
Sponsored by the Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Abstract: Since the dawn of civilization, curiosity and exploration has been known to culminate in major turning points in human history and has led to social advancement of civilizations. Space exploration has fueled curiosity and driven social advancements but has been quite challenging and risky. In this presentation, an overview of technical challenges and risks in human space exploration will be presented. Advanced repair and refurbishment technologies are critically needed for the thermal protection system of current space transportation systems as well as for future launch and crew return vehicles. There is a history of damage to these systems from impact during ground handling or ice during launch. In addition, there exists the potential for in-orbit damage from micrometeoroid and orbital debris impact as well as different factors (weather, launch acoustics, shearing, etc.) during launch and re-entry. In this presentation, reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) leading edge repair technology developed after the accident of space shuttle Columbia during Return to Flight will be presented. In addition, various issues and challenges during in-space repair and refurbishment will be discussed.
Bio: Dr. Mrityunjay Singh is Chief Scientist, Ohio Aerospace Institute, Cleveland, Ohio. He is President of the American Ceramic Society and Governor of Acta Materialia, Inc. He is Academician of the World Academy of Ceramics, Italy, and currently serves as Vice President of the International Board of the Academy. He received his Ph.D. in Metallurgical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology – BHU, Varanasi, India, in 1983 and did his post-doctoral work at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY. He is a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society, ASM International, Institute of Materials, Minerals, and Mining (IOM3), UK, and American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He was awarded Distinguished Life Membership of Alpha Sigma Mu – Materials Engineering Honor Society in 2014. He is Honorary Fellow of Indian Institute of Ceramics and also received honorary membership from Materials Research Society of India. He has received Honorary Doctorate from Nagaoka University of Technology in Japan. He is the recipient of more than sixty-five national and international awards, including four R&D 100 awards, FLC Technology Transfer Awards, EDI Innovation Award, NASA Public Service Medal, NASA Silver Snoopy Award, Order of the Enterprise Award from NASA, two NorTech Innovation Awards, and numerous NASA Group Achievement Awards. He has edited/co-edited forty-five books/proceedings and seven journal volumes, authored/co-authored fourteen book chapters/invited reviews and more than two hundred-seventy papers in journals and proceedings. He has delivered numerous keynote and plenary presentations in international conferences, forums, and workshops all over the world. He has chaired/co-chaired numerous international conferences and currently serves on the advisory boards and committees of more than fifteen respected international journals and technical publications.
For more information, contact: Lorri Lafontaine/Department of Materials Science and Engineering at (860) 486-4620/lorri.lafontaine@uconn.edu.