"For years our program has aimed not only to present the progress of astronomy, but to give an opportunity to our members to hear, see, and visit with eminent scientists who actually are contributing to the ever-widening horizon of our knowledge of the universe. ”
1947 CAS brochure by Dr. Jason J. Nassau
The Cleveland Astronomical Society
LECTURE NEWS: MEETINGS:
2024 - 2025
The Cleveland Astronomical Society Lecture Series
has announced the lineup of speakers for the 103rd Season.
LECTURE: Flying on Another World: Ingenuity’s Mission on Mars The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was the first and only aircraft to operate from the surface of another planet, exploring the Jezero Crater on Mars over the course of nearly three years from 2021-2024. In this talk I will focus on how Ingenuity came to be and the many challenges of developing an aircraft unlike any other from scratch. Ingenuity’s mission on Mars was to consist of up to 5 demonstration flights over benign, pre-scouted terrain, but was unexpectedly extended after the first few flights. I will discuss how the Ingenuity operations team was able to turn Ingenuity into a long-range explorer without warning or advance preparation.
BIOGRAPHY: Dr. Håvard F. Grip is the Robotics Technologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, and the Flight Control and Aerodynamics Lead for the Mars Helicopter . Dr. Håvard F. Grip received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Engineering Cybernetics from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in 2006 and 2010 respectively. Prior to joining JPL in 2013, he performed research at the SINTEF Research Group in Trondheim, Norway; Daimler AG (Mercedes-Benz) in Stuttgard, Germany; and Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, in areas including nonlinear and distributed control design, nonlinear state estimation, and navigation.