Presented By: Aerospace Engineering
Chair's Distinguished Lecture: Ultralight Coilable Structures for the Space Solar Power Project
Sergio Pellegrino
Professor of Aerospace and Civil Engineering
Jet Propulsion Laboratory Senior Research Scientist
Co-Director, Space-Based Solar Power Project
California Institute of Technology
In 1968, Peter Glaser envisaged kilometer-scale space systems comprising solar collectors and transmitting antennas that would beam power to the earth from geostationary orbit, but for many years that dream remained elusive. In this talk, I will discuss the Caltech Space Solar Power Project’s pursuit to conceive, design, and demonstrate a scalable vision for a constellation of ultralight, modular spacecraft that collect sunlight, transform it into electrical power, and wirelessly beam electricity to the earth. The basic module of these future solar power systems is a scalable plate-like square spacecraft that can be tightly coiled for launch and reliably deployed in space. Its structural concept combines origami packaging techniques and coilable shell structures built from ultrathin composite laminates that support photovoltaic and antenna elements. I will present our research on the packaging, deployment and stability of these structures of unprecedented lightness. I will conclude by showing proof-of-concept physical models for an upcoming demonstration in space.
About the speaker...
Sergio Pellegrino is the Joyce and Kent Kresa Professor of Aerospace and Civil Engineering at the California Institute of Technology, JPL Senior Research Scientist and Co-Director of the Space Solar Power Project. Pellegrino’s general area of research is the mechanics of lightweight structures, focusing on packaging, deployment, shape control and stability. He has authored over 300 technical publications on these topics, including the recently published book Forms and Concepts for Lightweight Structures, co-authored with Koryo Miura. Pellegrino is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of AIAA and a Chartered Structural Engineer. He is currently President of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures and Chairman of the Aerospace Historical Society.
Professor of Aerospace and Civil Engineering
Jet Propulsion Laboratory Senior Research Scientist
Co-Director, Space-Based Solar Power Project
California Institute of Technology
In 1968, Peter Glaser envisaged kilometer-scale space systems comprising solar collectors and transmitting antennas that would beam power to the earth from geostationary orbit, but for many years that dream remained elusive. In this talk, I will discuss the Caltech Space Solar Power Project’s pursuit to conceive, design, and demonstrate a scalable vision for a constellation of ultralight, modular spacecraft that collect sunlight, transform it into electrical power, and wirelessly beam electricity to the earth. The basic module of these future solar power systems is a scalable plate-like square spacecraft that can be tightly coiled for launch and reliably deployed in space. Its structural concept combines origami packaging techniques and coilable shell structures built from ultrathin composite laminates that support photovoltaic and antenna elements. I will present our research on the packaging, deployment and stability of these structures of unprecedented lightness. I will conclude by showing proof-of-concept physical models for an upcoming demonstration in space.
About the speaker...
Sergio Pellegrino is the Joyce and Kent Kresa Professor of Aerospace and Civil Engineering at the California Institute of Technology, JPL Senior Research Scientist and Co-Director of the Space Solar Power Project. Pellegrino’s general area of research is the mechanics of lightweight structures, focusing on packaging, deployment, shape control and stability. He has authored over 300 technical publications on these topics, including the recently published book Forms and Concepts for Lightweight Structures, co-authored with Koryo Miura. Pellegrino is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of AIAA and a Chartered Structural Engineer. He is currently President of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures and Chairman of the Aerospace Historical Society.
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