December 13, 2011
Dr. Ryan Russell joins the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics as an Assistant Professor in the Spring 2012 semester.
Russell recently served as an Assistant Professor at Georgia Institute of Technology, where his research interests included space flight mechanics/astrodynamics, efficient software implementation, orbit estimation, optimal control of nonlinear systems, and general trajectory designs for spacecraft missions to low-Earth orbit.
Prior to entering academia, Russell served as a member of the Guidance, Navigation and Control Section of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and was involved as mission designer and orbit determination analyst for projects such as Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter, Chandra, Spitzer, Ulysses, Terrestrial Planet Finder, and limited roles on Cassini and Dawn.
Russell has worked on proposals and advanced concepts for space missions to Earth, the Moon, Mars, comets, asteroids and the moons around Jupiter and Saturn. He also supported internal research on developing technologies such as low-thrust trajectory optimization and science orbit design at planetary moons.
Russell is the author or co-author of dozens of journal, conference, and other technical publications, and has received awards and honors from NASA, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and American Astronautical Society. He received his doctorate degree in aerospace engineering from The University of Texas at Austin.
