Friday, September 23, 2005
Professor Mason Peck to address AIAA 3rd Region 1 Conference November 5

Monday, September 19, 2005 Peck to be Plenary Speaker at the 3rd AIAA Region 1 Conference. Professor Mason Peck has been invited to address the 3rd AIAA Region 1 Conference. He will speak about Cornell’s CUSat nanosatellite project, a two–year effort to design build and launch a pair of in-orbit inspection satellites.  CUSat will demonstrate how one spacecraft can diagnose the health and configuration of another, a capability that will help enable commercial, government, and manned space missions envisioned for the coming decades.  The project has received seed funding from the University Nanosatellite Program at the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and will be designed, built, and operated primarily by Cornell students. One of the two spacecraft will capture three-dimensional imagery of the other with the help of carrier-phase differential GPS algorithms devised by Professor Mark Psiaki’s research group.  The duo’s unique combination of orbit mechanics and attitude dynamics offer a new way to field a robust, effective inspection system. Peck will give his plenary lecture on November 5. For more information about the CUSat project, including sponsorship opportunities, please see http://cusat.cornell.edu/.