Public Lecture by Professor Charles Elachi

CoE Distinguished Speaker Lecture Series

Lecture by Prof Charles Elachi from California Institute of Technology, USA at Lecture Theatre 1, NS3-02-09, 11.30am to 12.30pm, 21 Feb 2018

Title

The Golden Age of Exploration

Speaker

Dr. Charles Elachi is Professor (Emeritus) of Electrical Engineering and Planetary Science at the California Institute of Technology. From 2001 to 2016, he was the Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Vice President of California Institute of Technology. During his 16-year tenure, he oversaw the development and operations of over 45 flight missions and instruments.

He has been a Principal Investigator on a number of NASA-sponsored studies and flight projects including the Shuttle Imaging Radar series (Science Team Leader), the Magellan Imaging Radar (Team Member), the Cassini Titan Radar (Team Leader) and a Co-Investigator on the Europa Sounding Radar.

In 1989, Dr. Elachi was elected to the National Academy of Engineering and has served on a number of academy committees. Dr. Elachi has received numerous awards, including the Aviation Week Lifetime Achievement Award (2016), 2016 National Space Trophy, Association of Space Explorers (ASE) Congress Crystal Helmet Award (2012), National Academy of Engineering Arthur M. Bueche Award (2011), Space Foundation J.E. Hill Lifetime Space Achievement Award (2011), the America’s Best Leaders by U.S News & World Report and the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government (2006), the Royal Society of London Massey Award (2006), and the IEEE Medal of Engineering Excellence (1992).

In 1988, the L.A. Times selected him as one of "Southern California's rising stars who will make a difference in L.A." In 1989, Asteroid 1982 SU was renamed 4116 Elachi in recognition of his contribution to planetary exploration.

Abstract

JPL missions have visited every planet in our solar system. Over the past 17 years, three rovers have explored Mars in coordination with a number of orbiters. Samples have been brought to Earth from a comet tail as well as the solar wind. Saturn and its moons have been studied extensively by Cassini. Planets have been discovered around neighboring stars. Many new insights in our planet’s environment have been acquired.

The speaker will describe, from firsthand experience, the excitement and impact of these discoveries and the challenges and risks of future missions.