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MAE Colloquium: Elaine Petro (University of Maryland), "Refuelable Spacecraft: The Development and Space Mission Implications of a Water-Propelled Plasma Thruster"

Tuesday, January 30, 2018 at 4:00pm

Kimball Hall, B11

MAE Colloquium: Elaine Petro (University of Maryland), "Refuelable Spacecraft: The Development and Space Mission Implications of a Water-Propelled Plasma Thruster"

ABSTRACT
    Here on Earth, we often take for granted the infrastructure that enables our everyday transportation and mobility. Can you imagine what driving would be like if we didn’t have refueling stations distributed conveniently along our routes? Or what if we didn’t have the technology to refuel at all and could only use one tank of gas for the entire life of our vehicle? This is the reality for our spacecraft today and we literally have astronomical distances to cover. This limitation has profound implications for the design of space missions and the cost of space travel. We are in the midst of the second great wave of space exploration that is being spurred by technological advances and economic opportunities. There is a push toward launch vehicle reusability to reduce the cost barrier to orbit. The next logical step is to develop reusable spacecraft, which can remain in orbit for years and complete various missions. As space missions are inherently mass-constrained, the ability to refuel is an essential requirement. To make this a reality, we need to co-design both infrastructure throughout our solar system and new spacecraft propulsion technology. 
    I am particularly interested in designing technologies that can make use of in-situ resources: materials that are abundant in space. This talk details one such system: an electrically-powered, water-propelled plasma rocket. Water makes a compelling propellant as it is the 3rd most abundant molecule in the universe, is found in some form on every planet-moon group in our solar system, and is more easily captured and stored than gaseous species. Through theoretical modeling and laboratory testing, a water-propelled thruster has been demonstrated as a feasible propulsion device for modern space missions. The compatibility and efficiency of this system with other common and harvestable propellants will be explored through future work. A refuelable architecture such as this would enable new space missions, both to exotic places in the outer solar system and close to home in Earth orbit. The propulsion technology is one piece of a larger system architecture that must be developed in collaboration with experts in astrodynamics, space systems, planetary science, and more.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
    Elaine Petro is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. She has been pursuing research on a water-propelled plasma thruster as a member of the Space Power and Propulsion Laboratory. Elaine has been named an ARCS Scholar, National Science Foundation and Amelia Earhart fellow, and was recognized as one of Aviation Week & Space Technology’s Twenty20s emerging leaders in aerospace in 2016. Petro is also a member of the UMD Clark School Future Faculty Program and was named “Best Teaching Assistant” by the UMD Aerospace Department and AIAA Student Chapter in 2013 and 2014.
    Prior to graduate studies at UMD, Petro worked on the MAVEN Mars Orbiter and James Webb Space Telescope missions at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Elaine has also had experience at the NASA/Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory through the Planetary Science Summer School (PSSS) and as an intern with Lockheed Martin on the Hubble Space Telescope program. In graduate school, she served as the President of the UMD Aerospace Graduate Student Advisory Committee (GSAC) and on the UMD Women in Aeronautics and Astronautics (WIAA) Executive Board as the VP of Community Development. Beyond academics, Elaine is passionate about STEM outreach and communication.

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