8:00 PM - Call to order and introduction of tonight's program:

Speaker:

Bryan Palaszewski, NASA Glenn Research Center

Presentation:

“Apollo 11 50th Anniversary- The Journey to the Moon”

Abstract:

During July 1969, the world was changed by the feats of the Apollo 11 crew. The lunar landing was the culmination of years of work by over 400,000 people across the United States. The entire world watched as the astronauts flew to the Moon, landed, and safely returned. When it was completed in 1972, the Apollo Program resulted in 6 successful lunar landing missions and returned over 830 pounds of lunar dust and rock. The NASA presentation will discuss the planning for the lunar missions, the options that were considered, and some of the numerous scientific results. Also, a short discussion will be presented on NASA’s new plan for a human lunar return.
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Bio:

Our speaker has worked at the NASA Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field since 1989 and is currently directing research on high performance propellants and atmospheric entry. He is currently conducting analyses for the NASA Office of the Chief Technologist investigating nanometer-scale propellant additives for metallized gelled fuels for many space mission applications. Recently, he led work related to human Mars entry, descent, and landing (EDL) where supersonic retro-propulsion (rocket deceleration) is planned for the final descent to the planet’s surface. He is also investigating the mining of outer planet atmospheres and the challenges and benefits for future ambitious space missions. Another past focus of his research is in nanoparticle metal additives for gelled liquid fuels, and solid hydrogen for atomic propellants for launch vehicles and interplanetary missions. For six years, he led many studies of advanced space systems for orbital and interplanetary travel at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. He was also the lead propulsion subsystem engineer on the Ocean Topography Experiment (TOPEX) for three years, as well as being involved other flight projects such as the Galileo Mission to Jupiter and the Cassini Mission to Saturn. He holds a Master of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the City College of New York. He has received the AIAA Sustained Service Award in 2004, and was chair of the AIAA Nuclear and Future Flight Propulsion Technical committee for 3 years beginning in 1997 and was also chair of this committee for the 2nd time from 2008 to 2011..