Seminars

For decades, space exploration has conjured visions of advanced technology. However, for much of our history, spaceflight has made limited use of autonomy and onboard computational capability. This has changed in the past few years, particularly at more distant locations or in applications where the number of collaborative sensors is large. This seminar will review the systems trade between ground-in-the-loop and autonomous operations from a risk perspective, discuss recent advances in space exploration enabled by autonomy, and highlight the new class of spaceflight missions possible in the coming decade. The speaker’s experience working with the Mars Perseverance, Ingenuity, DART, Parker Solar Probe and Dragonfly teams will be highlighted.

Bio: Dr. Robert D. Braun is a space systems engineer, technologist, and organizational leader. He has contributed to the formulation, development, and operation of multiple space flight missions and is a recognized authority in hypersonics technology and entry, descent and landing systems. Dr. Braun serves on the executive leadership team of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory with responsibilities that span all civil and national security space activities at the Lab. He is also a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Braun previously served in executive positions at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the University of Colorado Boulder, and NASA, and has previously served on the faculty of Georgia Tech, CU Boulder and Caltech. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the AIAA and AAS, and the author or co-author of over 300 technical publications. Among numerous recognitions, he has been a member of three teams that were each awarded the Collier Trophy.