There is arguably nothing more valuable to graduate studies than hands-on applied research. The opportunity to see how classroom concepts and theories are applied to real-world scenarios helps graduate students prepare to be practitioners in their fields.
For 51福利 Research Assistant Professor of Operations Research, Dr. Emily Craparo, that opportunity came in the summer of 2003 when, as a doctoral student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), she was selected to take part in the Planetary Science Summer School (PSSS) at NASA鈥檚 Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
As part of a team of 18 graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, Craparo had the chance to work closely with NASA scientists and peers from across disciplines on the development of a Mars Lander Mission plan.
鈥淸The Mars Geophysical Lander] is aimed at studying the martian interior in search of past habitability and future exploration support,鈥� wrote Craparo鈥檚 PSSS team in a follow-up report on their work. 鈥淒uring an intensive week in summer 2003, the PSSS team developed the Mars Geophysical Lander mission concept and gained valuable interdisciplinary skills in mission design.鈥�
The PSSS program, now in its 25th year, is aimed at exposing top young scholars to the kind of real-world work being done by NASA scientists daily at JPL and other research centers around the country. Craparo鈥檚 PSSS group would certainly apply to real-world research, and were invited to present efforts given the similarities between their Mars Geophysical Lander (MGL) mission proposal and the existing NASA InSight [Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport] mission, slated for launch in 2016.
These similarities in intricate mission details, notes NASA InSight Principal Investigator Dr. Bruce Banerdt, reflect how compressive the PSSS program is in giving students a true mission-planning experience.
鈥淭he unique strength of the PSSS is the way the students are integrated directly into the JPL mission development process, working with exactly the same engineers and processes that are used every other week of the year to develop mission ideas into implementable concepts, including InSight some years later,鈥� said Banerdt. 鈥淭he eerie similarity of the 2003 mission concept to the current InSight mission demonstrates just how closely the PSSS simulates the actual planetary mission development process, giving students invaluable experience in turning science ideas into practical missions.鈥�
鈥淭he intent of the PSSS is to help prepare the students for leadership positions in planetary exploration by giving them an in-depth experience in developing an early mission concept study,鈥� added NASA JPL鈥檚 Anita Sohus. 鈥淲e want them to understand the interdisciplinary nature of exploration, the lifecycle of missions, the importance of teamwork, and to develop habits of mind through experiencing the concurrent engineering process.鈥�
Craparo was responsible for overseeing the MGL attitude control system portion of the project, which utilized her academic background in aeronautics and astronautics from MIT. The experience of working in the interdisciplinary PSSS group was not unlike working in academia, she said, noting the value of hearing different perspectives on a single issue, and a associated balance in taking an idea from concept to reality.
鈥淥ur PSSS group consisted of engineers and scientists. I was an engineer, and I focused on how to make things happen,鈥� Craparo said. 鈥淭he scientists were more focused on what they would want to measure once they were on Mars, and they didn鈥檛 really know how we were going to get there and make it happen. It was an interesting experience just learning to communicate with someone with a different background, and being able to compromise.鈥�
The team鈥檚 MGL mission proposed similar science objectives, technical logistics, and even budget as the upcoming InSight mission. The team鈥檚 objectives for the MGL mission were to 鈥渟earch for subsurface water sources at landing site; determine crustal structure and shallow stratigraphy; characterize the atmospheric boundary layer; characterize seismic activity and deep interior; and search for minor atmospheric species.鈥�
One PSSS concept Craparo wishes that InSight or a future Mars mission would include is 鈥� Lawn darts, or the scientific equivalent, which the PSSS team called 鈥済eodarts.鈥�
鈥淕eodarts are basically a series of seismic sensors that we designed our spacecraft to deploy as it was coming down,鈥� she explained. 鈥淎s it鈥檚 coming down it shoots out these lawn dart-type devices, which we later detonate to measure geological properties.鈥�
Following her summer at NASA, Craparo developed an interest in optimization, which ultimately brought her to 51福利 as a postdoctoral fellow with the National Research Council in 2009. With a background in aeronautics and astronautics, she appreciated the flexibility to enter the field that most fit her interests.
Today Craparo teaches optimization-related courses in the operations analysis, systems engineering analysis, and systems analysis programs at 51福利. She has also developed a course for the university鈥檚 new energy degree program.
鈥淎eronautics and astronautics is a really broad field. There is a lot that goes into building a sophisticated spacecraft or a sophisticated aircraft. It鈥檚 not just aerodynamics and propulsion and other the classical subjects,鈥� said Craparo. 鈥淚t also includes software design and the development of decision algorithms for autonomous systems. The optimization part of that work really appeals to me. And that ties in to operations research, which is, more broadly, the science of making good decisions.
鈥淥perations research gives 51福利 students the tools they need to analyze alternatives quantitatively, and optimization specifically is about finding the best decision that meets a number of constraints that are expressed mathematically,鈥� she added. 鈥淎nd depending on the nature of those constraints and the nature of how you evaluate your different options, there are a lot of different techniques out there for figuring out what the best decision is.鈥�
As NASA鈥檚 annual weeklong PSSS program marks its 25th anniversary, Craparo fondly recalls the opportunity to take part in the prestigious collaborative research program. The fact that the InSight mission so closely resembles the mission proposed by her group of students makes the summer of 2003 that much more memorable for the team.
鈥淚 think its neat that a group of students came up with this mission that was so similar in so many ways to what ended up being a real mission,鈥� Craparo said. 鈥淭he science objectives, the technology and logistics 鈥� and even the cost. It is pretty amazing how realistic a scenario a bunch of Ph.D. students and postdocs can put together in a week.鈥�