In this installment of Science Study Break Dr. Glenn Lightsey, professor in the Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the Cockrell School of Engineering, tackles the real and unreal of navigating vehicles — like the USS Enterprise — in space as portrayed in the television and film productions of the Star Trek franchise.
Dr. Lightsey specializes in the dynamics and control of space vehicles using avionics sensors such as the Global Positioning System for navigation and attitude determination. He is the founder and director of the Satellite Design Lab at The University of Texas, which designs, builds and operates satellites with undergraduate and graduate students.
About Science Study Break
Pop culture and the academy collide as Science Study Break features researchers from The University of Texas at Austin discussing the science reality in books, television and film. Past presentations have examined bioterrorism and its treatment in the Fox thriller “24,” artificial intelligence gone wild in “2001: A Space Odyssey,” the comic realities of Spider-Man and epidemiological models for the proliferation of zombies.
Science Study Break takes place twice each semester and is generously supported by the University Federal Credit Union.
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