The Space Systems Laboratory (SSL) is in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

in Cambridge, MA. Its mission is to develop the technology and systems analysis associated with small spacecraft, precision optical systems, and

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ( ...

technology research and development.

History

A previous

Space Systems Laboratory (Maryland) The Space Systems Laboratory (SSL) is part of the Aerospace Engineering Department and A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland. The Space Systems Laboratory is centered on the Neutral Buoy ...

was founded at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

in 1976, by faculty members Renee Miller and J.W. Mar. In 1990, lab director Dr. Dave Akin moved the lab to the University of Maryland. The current Space Systems Laboratory was founded in 1995 at MIT. It begun as a part of the Space Engineering Research Center (SERC). The laboratory has a practice of Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate (CDIO), working to provide students hands-on learning as a part of their coursework. One of the laboratory's flagship research testbeds,

SPHERES The Synchronized Position Hold Engage and Reorient Experimental Satellite (SPHERES) are a series of miniaturized satellites developed by MIT's Space Systems Laboratory for NASA and US Military, to be used as a low-risk, extensible test bed for the ...

, began in 1999 as an undergraduate senior design project.

People

The current directors of the SSL are Rebecca Masterson and Prof. Richard Linares. The principal research scientist is Alvar Saenz-Otero. Former director Prof. Dave Miller is now faculty for the laboratory. Long time staff include Marilyn Good and Paul Bauer. Faculty members include: *Dr. Daniel Hastings *Dr. Jeffrey Hoffman, former NASA Astronaut *Dr.

Olivier de Weck Olivier L. de Weck (born 1968) is the Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics and Engineering Systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He has authored and co-authored more than 400 peer-reviewed publications. He is a Fellow ...

*Dr. Kerri Cahoy *Dr.

Sara Seager Sara Seager (born 21 July 1971) is a Canadian-American astronomer and planetary scientist. She is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is known for her work on extrasolar planets and their atmospheres. She is the aut ...

, a

MacArthur Fellow The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...

*Dr. Richard Binzel

Projects

OSIRIS-REx OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) is a NASA asteroid-study and sample-return mission. The mission's primary goal is to obtain a sample of at least from 101955 Bennu, a carbona ...

's REXIS *ROAM: Relative Operations for Autonomous Maneuvers *ReCon *iSAT *Advanced Telescope Concepts

ISS Research

** Zero Robotics, a competition for middle and high school students on the

**VERTIGO (Visual Estimation and Relative Tracking for Inspection of Generic Objects) **RINGS (Resonant Inductive Near-field Generation System) *MACE II

CubeSats

*MicroMAS (Micro-sized Microwave Atmospheric Satellite) *MicroMAS-2 *ExoplanetSat *inflated antenna

Space Shuttle Research

*Middeck 0-Gravity Dynamics Experiment (MODE), STS-48 *Middeck Active Control Experiment (MACE), STS-67 *Dynamic Load Sensor (DLS),

STS-62 STS-62 was a Space Shuttle program mission flown aboard . The primary payloads were the USMP-02 microgravity experiments package and the OAST-2 engineering and technology payload, both in the orbiter's cargo bay. The two-week mission also featu ...

Partners

MIT Lincoln Laboratory The MIT Lincoln Laboratory, located in Lexington, Massachusetts, is a United States Department of Defense federally funded research and development center chartered to apply advanced technology to problems of national security. Research and dev ...

*Aerospace *

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

*NASA's

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 ...

DARPA The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Ad ...

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

Space Systems Laboratory Space Systems Laboratory is a name commonly used by university laboratories engaged in the research of technologies used for human activities in space. Examples include: * Drexel Space Systems Laboratory at the Drexel University in Philadelphia, ...

(Maryland) *

Aurora Flight Sciences Aurora Flight Sciences is an American aviation and aeronautics research subsidiary of Boeing which primarily specializes in the design and construction of special-purpose Unmanned aerial vehicles. Aurora has been established for 20+ years and th ...

Draper Laboratory Draper Laboratory is an American non-profit research and development organization, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts; its official name is The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc (sometimes abbreviated as CSDL). The laboratory specialize ...

Associated NASA Programs

*Small Satellite Technology Initiative (SSTI) *

New Millennium Program New Millennium Program (NMP) was a NASA project with focus on engineering validation of new technologies for space applications. Funding for the program was eliminated from the FY2009 budget by the 110th United States Congress, effectively leading ...

*International Space Station Technology Testbed Program

Alumni

While the students go off to a wide variety of careers, many SSL graduates have gone to NASA's

. In particular, several have been on the Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) teams of Mars missions. Allen Chen and Dr. Swati Mohan announced the touchdown of the

Mars Science Laboratory Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is a robotic space probe mission to Mars launched by NASA on November 26, 2011, which successfully landed ''Curiosity'', a Mars rover, in Gale Crater on August 6, 2012. The overall objectives include investigati ...

and

Mars 2020 Mars 2020 is a Mars rover mission forming part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program that includes the rover '' Perseverance'', the small robotic, coaxial helicopter '' Ingenuity'', and associated delivery vehicles. Mars 2020 was launched from ...

rovers, respectively. The laboratory also has strong ties to the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

, with several students coming from the

USAF Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Unit ...

. Dr. Miller worked with the Academy to create fully funded graduate scholarships to MIT for graduates of its

FalconSAT FalconSAT is the United States Air Force Academy's (USAFA) small satellite engineering program. Satellites are designed, built, tested, and operated by Academy cadets. The project is administered by the USAFA Space Systems Research Center under ...

program.

In the news

A 2014 paper from PhD candidate Sydney Do and several additional SSL graduate students received world-wide attention for its assessment that astronauts wouldn't be able to survive in the

Mars One Mars One was a small private Dutch organization that received money from investors by claiming it would use it to land the first humans on Mars and leave them there to establish a permanent human colony. From its announcement in 2012 to its ...

project's design more than a few couple of the months. The analysis was performed based on publicly available information of the design.

References

{{reflist Space research Massachusetts Institute of Technology