Seminar: Robots for Moon, Mars, and The Space In Between - Oct. 5
Rudranarayan Mukherjee
Chief Architect, Katalyst Space
Monday, Oct. 5 | 2:30 P.M. | AERO N250
Abstract: When we picture space robotics, Mars rovers and the ISS robotic arm usually steal the show. Yet the past decade has sparked a quiet revolution in how robots enable novel science and national security missions. This talk discusses emerging applications for space robotics, moving from Earth-observation and deep-space astrophysics servicing to planetary exploration and national interest. Highlighting end-to-end terrestrial analog demonstrations (robots assembling trusses, solar panels, radars, and optical telescopes, servicing satellites, and hazardous terrain mobility and logistics), we will dissect the tight coupling required across hardware-software co-design, flight autonomy, AI/ML, and high-fidelity modeling and simulation. We conclude with a roadmap for scaling these systems and actionable pathways for researchers, engineers, and innovators to enter the domain.
Bio: Dr. Rudranarayan Mukherjee is a space robotics authority who served as principal investigator for NASA, NOAA, JPL, DARPA, CDC, DIU, SDA and other national stakeholders. During nearly two decades at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), he served as JPL’s lead for In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) and on the NASA Strategic Capability Leadership Team for RPO-D/C (rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking/capture). His technical leadership experience includes the full spectrum of robotic system development and projects such as Mars Curiosity rover, Mars and Lunar Sample Return, Habitable Worlds Observatory, DARPA’s Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites among others. He also led high profile activities such as the NASA In-Space Assembled Telescope study and contributed heavily to US policy on ISAM by founding the the Space SMART Think Tank. An elected member of the ASME Technical Committee on Multibody Dynamics and Nonlinear Systems, he currently serves as Chief Architect at Katalyst Space Technology (Broomfield, CO), leading ISAM flight mission implementations, one for spacecraft deorbiting and another for robotic assembly for power-beaming.
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