Magnetic fields play a role in the lives of stars from before they are born until after they die. They affect the collapse of interstellar clouds, and control flow on and off a new star from the beginning. As the star becomes visible, we see very strong surface fields, and the accretion onto the star is magnetically funneled. Young stars remain very active - hundreds of times more than the current Sun, and can be significantly covered by starspots. This can alter or strip planetary atmospheres, and may be a real problem for the most common star/planet pairs. As most stars age, magnetic winds slow them down, which also acts to reduce the fields. Stellar winds and flares reach out and impact planets, whose protection depends in part on their own magnetic fields. The Sun-Earth connection has become more important for us as technology develops. When stars leave the main sequence the form of their outflows, and finally planetary nebulae, can have magnetic imprints. Finally, compact objects left after stellar death can have very strong fields, and they are essential to pulsars.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory builds robotic spacecraft that explore the solar system. Dr. Paul Backes will present current robotics efforts at JPL including for flight projects and research activities. The Mars Science Laboratory mission’s Curiosity rover is driving toward Mount Sharp where we plan to acquire and analyze rock samples taken by a robotic arm mounted powder drill. Recent research developed a new rock core sampling and handling system for acquiring and caching samples in the planned Mars 2020 rover mission which could be returned to Earth in a subsequent mission. A wide variety of research is being performed for various sponsors including perception and autonomy for boats, perception for robotic mules, autonomous robotic manipulation, and gripping feet for climbing on walls and ceilings. JPL developed the Robosimian robot to compete in the DARPA Robotics Challenge trials in December 2013 and won the opportunity to be funded for another year and compete in the DRC finals.

Paul Backes is the Group Supervisor of the Robotic Manipulation and Sampling group at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, where he has been since 1987. He received the BSME degree from U.C. Berkeley in 1982 and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University in 1987. Dr. Backes received the 1993 NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal for his contributions to space telerobotics, 2004 NASA Software of the Year Award, and 2008 IEEE Robotics and Automation Award. He is currently the Co-Investigator for autonomy and control for JPL’s Robosimian robot in the DARPA Robotics Challenge program, Initiative lead for small body sampling, Principal Investigator for an in-space robotic assembly research activity, and Lead for controls and autonomy for the Mars 2020 rover mission sampling and caching subsystem.

We will be introducing several of the events for the semester including but not limited to: speakers, field trips, and group projects.

Come meet other members of SES-B while playing board games and talking about space!
Interact with SES-B officers and talk about the future of the club.

During the meeting, we will introduce our goals for the club and discuss the events and projects planned for this semester. We will also take time to address any questions you may have.
It would help us to have an official head count so please RSVP and stay tuned on the event's Facebook page.

We hope to see you there!