Lunch hour lectures repository Spring 2011
- Who enjoys shopping in Ikea?
- Building scientific models with computers
- Stabilising the global population: Where next for the Millennium Development Goals for health and nutrition?
- Lisbon, 1939-45: the untold story of Portugal and the Jewish refugees
- Homophobia: a global phenomenon
- Landing on a planet at 600 miles per hour
- From prehistory to the London blitz: foreshore archaeology and a rising river
- Sex education via the media: promises and pitfalls
- Will robots take over the world?
- The origins of the ‘ndrangheta of Calabria: Italy’s most powerful mafia
- Genetic testing in the 21st century: Should we screen the human embryonic genome before implantation?
- Sex, Drugs, the Internet and Juries
- Should the brain be left to neuroscientists?
- Great 2 meet u IRL :-) Twitter and digital identity
- Would you give your right arm to protect your heart?
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Landing on a planet at 600 miles per hour
14 February 2011
Tuesday 8 February
Professor Alan Smith (UCL
Mullard Space Science Laboratory)
Unmanned
robotic missions are essential for understanding the planets within our solar
system. Current missions comprise of gentle landings combined with rovers to
explore the local region. Due to the expense of such missions, and their
sometimes unsuitability as scientific outposts, UCL’s Mullard Space Science
Laboratory is developing Planetary Penetrators, which aim to land on planets at
very high speed, penetrating the planet and implanting equipment just below the
surface.
This lecture discusses the
engineering difficulties of ensuring delicate instrumentation remains intact
and operable after such high impact and highlights the biggest hurdle of
all - convincing the space agencies to adopt the equipment in the first place!
With a whole solar system waiting to be
explored, this talk describes the UK Penetrator Programme -
where we've been, what we've achieved and the opportunities for the
future.
Page last modified on 14 feb 11 15:59
