Walt of Southwest Research Institute

Developing advanced spacecraft avionics and scientific instruments for unmanned space missions is a particularly challenging endeavor that requires solutions accommodating many conflicting design constraints including:

• State-of-the-art technologies for data, signal, and image processing,
• High-reliability hardware and software requirements,
• Long-duration missions involving dormant and operational periods,
• Extreme physical, electromagnetic, and radiation environments,
• Size, weight, and power limitations,
• High Technology Readiness Level (TRL) designs, and
• Proven flight heritage.

The purpose of this lecture is to discuss these design considerations, illustrated by several examples from past and current unmanned space missions.

Biography:

Walt Downing is the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio, Texas.  SwRI is an independent, non-profit organization that conducts contract research and development in the physical sciences and engineering disciplines.  Space science and engineering are one of SwRI's largest and most widely recognized areas of technical activity.  SwRI principal investigators have led several well-known and published missions including the New Horizons mission to Pluto, the Juno mission to Jupiter, and the Lucy mission to the Trojan Asteroids.  SwRI has also provided a wide array of scientific instruments, avionics, and flight controllers on a large number of unmanned space missions.

Walt received a BSEE from Southern Methodist University and an MBA from the University of Texas at San Antonio.  He is a licensed professional engineer in the states of Texas and Florida.  He is an IEEE Life Senior Member and past president of the Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society.

Address:San Antonio, Texas, United States