Speaker: Dr. Julie Castillo-Rogez, JPL planetary scientist
Topic: NASA Near Earth Object Missions
Our August speaker is Dr. Julie Castillo-Rogez, a JPL planetary scientist specializing in water-rich objects from a modeling and experimental perspectives applied to the formulation, design, and planning of planetary missions. She is the principal science investigator at JPL for the NEA Scout mission.
Talk summary: NASA Near Earth Object Missions ongoing and in development and NEA Scout, a planned mission by NASA to develop a controllable low-cost CubeSat solar sail spacecraft capable of encountering near-Earth asteroids. The CubeSat will use stainless steel alloy booms to deploy an aluminum-coated plastic film sail – thinner than a human hair and about the size of a racquetball court. The large-area sail will generate thrust by reflecting sunlight. NEA Scout will launch on Artemis I for a two year mission to image a near earth asteroid.