ROBOTS IN SPACE

By Dr. Mansoor Ahmed

Associate Director, Astrophysics Projects
Division at NASA Goddard Space Flight
Center

Mr. Mansoor Ahmed, a Pakistani astrophysicist, who has been
associated with NASA for almost 35 years and is currently serving
as the associate director of the Astrophysics Projects Division, as
well as the programme manager for the Physics of the Cosmos
programme and the Cosmic Origins programme at NASA Goddard
Space Flight Center, Maryland.
Mr Ahmed has spent most of his career working at the Hubble
Space Telescope (HST) programme in different capacities,
including as flight operations manager and the project manager
for HST operations.
He was the deputy project manager of the James Web Space
Telescope (JWST) and the project manager of the Laser
Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission, a collaborative
endeavour between NASA and the European Space Agency.
Date: Thursday Nov 28, 19 11:30AM
Venue: Library Conference Room
Abstract
Today, we build satellites for one time use. Without the
possibility of servicing, a single failure can deem the
satellite obsolete. A new paradigm needs to be pursued
that allows the refurbishment of satellites. This talk
focuses on how robots can enhance satellite utilization,
space exploration and search for life and what has been
done at NASA in this pursuit.