Episode 80: Butler Hine talks about paving the way for robotic space exploration

STEM-Talk

Dawn Kernagis and Ken Ford

Nutrition, Alternative Health, Science, Health & Fitness, Natural Sciences

4.7 • 706 Ratings

🗓️ 1 January 2019

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Our guest today is Dr. Butler Hine, the Flight Project Manager and Chief Technologist for Engineering at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. Butler is also a senior research scientist and a colleague of Ken and Dawn at IHMC. Butler is currently the project manager for NASA’s Arcus mission, which is an X-ray observatory that has a possible launch date of 2023. The mission will include a high-resolution X-ray grating spectrometer that will study the hot gas that is the dominant component of the normal matter in the Universe, much of which has not yet been directly seen. In today’s interview, we discuss: [00:03:57] How Butler became interested in astronomy and started building telescopes as a youth. [00:08:37] How Butler wound up managing the robotics lab at NASA. [00:11:55] The challenges of trying to change the thinking of the science community about ways to adapt technology to science. [00:17:34] Artificial intelligence and data mining. [00:26:59] The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer mission, also known as LADEE. [00:30:07] The concept of modularity in spacecraft design. [00:41:58] The scientific goals of NASA’s Arcus mission, which Butler is currently managing. [00:45:58 The complexity of developing a robotic platform for space or lunar exploration [00:51:24] The future of robotic space exploration.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to STEM Talk.
0:01.0	Stem Talk.
0:02.0	Stem Talk.
0:03.0	Stem Talk.
0:04.0	Stem Talk, where we introduce you to fascinating people who passionately inhabit the scientific
0:11.0	and technical frontiers of our society.
0:14.0	Hi, I'm your host, Don Cornagus, and joining me to introduce today's podcast as a man behind the
0:19.0	curtain, Dr. Ken Ford, IHMC's director and chairman
0:22.2	of the double secret selection committee that selects all the guests who appear on STEM Talk.
0:25.9	Hi, Don, great to be here today. Our guest is Dr. Butler Hein, who is a flight project
0:31.6	manager and chief technologist for engineering at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View,
0:37.1	California. Butler is also a
0:39.0	senior research scientist and a colleague of ours here at IHMC. Currently, Butler is the project
0:44.5	manager for NASA Arcus Mission, which is an X-ray observatory that could possibly launch in
0:51.0	2023. Before we get to today's interview with Butler, we have some housekeeping to take care of.
0:56.0	First, we really appreciate all of you who have subscribed to STEM Talk,
1:00.0	and we are especially appreciative of all the wonderful five-star reviews that have been piling up.
1:03.0	As we announced in several earlier episodes, the Double Secret Selection Committee
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1:20.2	at IHMC.us to claim your official STEM Talk t-shirt.
	...

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