Cislunar Space - Challenges For Operational Use

In the 1950's, reaching the moon was the pinnacle for space exploration. The US and Soviet Union raced to be the first to reach the moon, to survey the moon, and to land on the moon. The race ended in 1969 with the landing of Apollo 11, and by 1975 spaceflight to the moon virtually ceased. The moon was forgotten. Fast forward 40 years and the moon is coming back into focus. Spurred in part by the Artemis missions and the prospect of semi-permanent habitations, humans (and robots) are going back to the moon. The prospect of spacecraft travelling to and from the moon poses significant challenges to the current space architecture. Chaotic dynamics, sensing limitations and an increased ability to move around are all some of the difficulties researchers are facing. This talk provides an introduction to the cislunar domain and discusses some of the ongoing efforts at UB to address some of these problems.

Dr. Christopher Nebelecky is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and also a Senior Research Scientist with CUBRC. He focuses on the development of estimation and data fusion algorithms for space related applications. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University at Buffalo specializing in the application of adaptive estimation techniques in support of improved space situational awareness.