About Me:
I’m Justin Albright, a senior in aerospace engineering, and I will graduate in May 2012. By pursuing undergraduate research with Dr. Wie, I am building skills that will serve me well as I continue my graduate education. I intend to remain at ISU for my MS as I study bio-inspired aerodynamics under the guidance of Dr. Hu.
Research:
My research pertains to the atmospheric reentry of a ballistic vehicle, specifically the return to Earth of a probe containing an asteroid sample. To this end, I am attempting to develop a program that implements a modified version of Chapman’s theory of planetary entry. The goal is to allow a user to input a velocity at the Earth’s sphere of influence and have the program return potential entry corridors, landing sites, and the necessary delta-V. A natural expansion of the work would be to allow multiple passes through the atmosphere prior to reentry and to impose limits on the vehicle’s deceleration and heating.