Local Man Designs NASA Spacecraft Trajectory
Posted October 28, 2013 at 5:50 am by Tim Dustrude
Mike Loucks Designs Trajectory and helps guide NASA’s LADEE Spacecraft to Lunar Orbit – Click for larger photo
Mike Loucks of Friday Harbor, owner of Space Exploration Engineering Corporation (SEE), designed and helped implement the trajectory that was used by NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) to get from launch on Sep. 6, to lunar commissioning orbit on Oct. 13.
Mike Loucks
Loucks designed the trans-lunar and lunar orbit capture portion of LADEE’s trajectory. He was on-site at the NASA/Ames control center from launch on Sept 6, through the final Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) maneuver on Oct. 13 and served as the trajectory lead and a member of the flight dynamics team during that time.
Loucks also designed trajectories for the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission which launched in 2008, and the Orbview-II spacecraft which launched in 1997.
See the official Press Release for more info.
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