Edward Belbruno (born August 2, 1951, as a U.S. Citizen in
Heidelberg, Germany) is an artist, mathematician and scientist whose interests are in
celestial mechanics
Celestial mechanics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the motions of objects in outer space. Historically, celestial mechanics applies principles of physics (classical mechanics) to astronomical objects, such as stars and planets, to ...
, dynamical systems, dynamical astronomy, and aerospace engineering. His artistic media is paintings, and his artwork in the NASA collection, Charles Betlach II collection, and exhibited in Paris, Rome, Los Angeles, Washington DC, New York City, Minneapolis, Shanghai, WeiHai, and Princeton.
Belbruno received his associate degree from
Mitchell College
Mitchell College is a private college in New London, Connecticut. In Fall 2020 it had an enrollment of 572 students and a faculty of 68. Admission rate was 70%. The college offers associate and bachelor's degrees in fourteen subjects.
Academ ...
, his Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
and his PhD in mathematics from New York University's
Courant Institute
The Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences (commonly known as Courant or CIMS) is the mathematics research school of New York University (NYU), and is among the most prestigious mathematics schools and mathematical sciences research cente ...
in 1981, where his mentor was mathematician
Jürgen Moser
Jürgen Kurt Moser (July 4, 1928 – December 17, 1999) was a German-American mathematician, honored for work spanning over four decades, including Hamiltonian dynamical systems and partial differential equations.
Life
Moser's mother Ilse Strehl ...
.
He was employed by the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States.
Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...
from 1985 to 1990 as an orbital analyst on such missions as
Galileo,
Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan ( or ; pt, Fernão de Magalhães, ; es, link=no, Fernando de Magallanes, ; 4 February 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is best known for having planned and led the 1519 Spanish expedition to the East ...
,
Cassini,
Ulysses
Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature.
Ulysses may also refer to:
People
* Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name
Places in the United States
* Ulysses, Kansas
* Ulysse ...
,
Mars Observer
The ''Mars Observer'' spacecraft, also known as the ''Mars Geoscience/Climatology Orbiter'', was a robotic space probe launched by NASA on September 25, 1992, to study the Martian surface, atmosphere, climate and magnetic field. During the int ...
, and others. During that time, he laid the foundations for the first systematic application of
chaos theory to space flight originally called
fuzzy boundary theory, which allows for the construction of very low energy paths for spacecraft.
In 1990 Belbruno applied his ideas for
low energy transfer
A low-energy transfer, or low-energy trajectory, is a route in space that allows spacecraft to change orbits using significantly less fuel than traditional transfers. These routes work in the Earth–Moon system and also in other systems, such as ...
orbits to the Japanese lunar probe
Hiten Hiten may refer to:
* Hiten (name), Indian given name
* Hiten (spacecraft), Japanese lunar probe
*Tennin
, which may include , , and the specifically female version, the , are a divine kind of spiritual beings found in Japanese Buddhism, the ...
, which had been designed only for lunar swing-by and had suffered a failure of the Hagoromo lunar orbiter. The main Hiten probe lacked the fuel to enter lunar orbit using a conventional
Hohmann transfer trajectory, but Belbruno was able to devise a ballistic capture trajectory that would put it in lunar orbit using only a negligible amount of fuel. The probe entered lunar orbit in 1991, the first time that Belbruno's ideas had been put to the test.
Belbruno had first proposed using a low-energy transfer orbit for a JPL probe in 1988. However, he faced a great deal of skepticism, and found himself in conflict with engineers. He had also expected to make no progress on ''Hiten'', but the Japanese proved receptive to his ideas and called ballistic capture an "amazing result." He left JPL in fall of 1990 and took a position at
Pomona College
Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became t ...
.
[Belbruno, Edward. ''Fly me to the moon: an insider's guide to the new science of space travel''. Princeton University Press, 2007.]
Belbruno is president and founder of the company Innovative Orbital Design, Inc., based in
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...
and holds patents on routes in space. He consulted on the rescue of the
Asiasat-3 communications satellite for Hughes, although a different trajectory was ultimately used for the rescue.
Belbruno's books include ''Fly Me to the Moon'' and ''Capture Dynamics and Chaotic Motions in Celestial Mechanics''. He is a consultant with the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and has made appearances on NBC's
''Today Show'' and NPR's ''
Studio 360
''Studio 360'' was an American weekly public radio program about the arts and culture hosted by novelist Kurt Andersen and produced by Public Radio Exchange (PRX) and ''Slate'' in New York City. The program's stated goal was to "Get inside the ...
'' entitled "Propelled to Paint".
In 2013, Belbruno gave a
TED
TED may refer to:
Economics and finance
* TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar
Education
* ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association
** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey
** Transvaal Education Depa ...
talk on his math, art, and science at TEDxJacksonHole 2013 Disrupt, which featured engaging visionaries and storytellers who shared ideas worth spreading centered around the theme of DISRUPT. The event was held before a packed house on October 5, 2013, at the Center for the Arts.
The abstract expressionist paintings of Ed Belbruno reflect both inner and outer realities. Belbruno is self-taught and draws inspiration from his subconscious and his personal life, but is also deeply influenced by his research in math, science, and astrophysics. Belbruno was featured at the Shanghai Art Fair, November 2–5, 2017 and the West Contemporary Arts Appreciation Society exhibition, in Weihai in 2018. An exhibition of his work at Agora Gallery (530 West 25th Street, New York) on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019 included a screening of the documentary "Painting the Way to the Moon" and special guest Neil deGrasse Tyson.
A documentary by Jacob Okada called "Painting the Way to the Moon" explores the life, art, and science of NASA-JPL mathematician, Ed Belbruno, and includes a discussion on the nature of scientific creativity with Neil deGrasse Tyson. It won Best Feature Documentary at the Philip K. Dick, Boston Sci-Fi, and NYLA Film Festivals.
Belbruno was awarded the
Humboldt Research Award
The Humboldt Prize, the Humboldt-Forschungspreis in German, also known as the Humboldt Research Award, is an award given by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany to internationally renowned scientists and scholars who work outside of G ...
in November, 2017 in recognition for his “Accomplishments in Research and Teaching in Mathematics as Applied to Celestial Mechanics, Astrodynamics and AstroPhysics”. The Humboldt Research Award is Germany's most prestigious award in mathematics and sciences which supported Belbruno in a yearlong stay in Germany at the University of Ausburg.
Currently, Belbruno is a Clinical Professor of Mathematics at
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.["About YU]
on the Yeshiva Universit ...
and a Visiting Research Collaborator at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
.
See also
*
Interplanetary Transport Network
The Interplanetary Transport Network (ITN) is a collection of gravitationally determined pathways through the Solar System that require very little energy for an object to follow. The ITN makes particular use of Lagrange points as locations wh ...
References
External links
*
Ed Belbruno's Official Art Fan PageSpaceRoutes.com2007-10-08 audio interview with Ed Belbruno on low-energy transferGiant Impact Hypothesis of Moon formation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belbruno, Edward
20th-century American mathematicians
21st-century American mathematicians
1951 births
Living people
NASA people
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences alumni
Pomona College faculty