The Ohio State University

Abstract:
A spacecraft (s/c) mission's scientific purpose often dictates the required dynamics of the s/c and is usually defined in terms of the s/c attitude (pointing direction and/or orientation) and orbit (translational motion and/or position in space). As such, analysis of the s/c system dynamics is required to implement an appropriate attitude and orbital determination (estimation) and control system. Several s/c missions (in collaboration with the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center) are discussed along with the role that system dynamics and control play in the mission. Research projects include: comparative orbital control techniques for formation flying spacecraft about the Earth/Moon and Sun L‐2 libration point, the relative position estimation of the (former) NASA Constellation‐X telescope mission, orbit and nutation determination and control of the NASA Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS) Mission spacecraft, and the Lunar surface navigational capabilities of the Celestial Navigation (CelNav) technique as part of the NASA Lunar Navigational Determination System (LaNDS).

Bio:
Dr. May‐Win Thein received her B.S. and M.S in Mechanical Engineering from Lehigh University in 1991 and 1992, respectively. She then received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (specializing in System Dynamics and Control) from Oklahoma State University in 1999. Immediately thereafter, Dr. Thein became an Assistant Professor at the University of New Hampshire in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. She obtained tenure at UNH in 2005 and is now an Associate Professor. Dr. Thein's area of research includes spacecraft attitude and orbital determination and control with Variable Structure Systems applications to nonlinear state estimation and control. She is a member of ASME, IEEE, AIAA, SWE, and SAE.