Dr. Ryan's Home Page
Publications
Educational Activities


Dr. Shannon Ryan
Postdoctoral Fellow


E-mail: [email protected]

EXPERIENCE

USRA Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI)
NASA Johnson Space Center, Hypervelocity Impact Technology Facility (HITF)
Houston, USA
Postdoctoral Researcher, Feb 2008 – Current

Develop, test and evaluate new concepts for micrometeoroid and orbital debris (MMOD) shielding using experimental and numerical methods. Provide support to program offices (e.g. Shuttle, ISS) for assessing and minimizing MMOD risk to manned space missions. Develop tools for performing mission risk assessments.

Topics of Research

  • Hypervelocity impact performance of periodic sandwich structures, composite materials and ballistic fabrics
  • Damage mechanisms in space hardware and materials subject to hypervelocity impact
  • Ballistic limit equations for predicting failure limits of MMOD shielding configurations
  • Augmentation of existing MMOD shield configurations for enhanced safety of manned spacecraft
  •  

    Fraunhofer Institute for High-speed Dynamics, Ernst-Mach-Institute (EMI)
    Freiburg, Germany
    Project Scientist, Dec 2003 – May 2007

    Provide planning, execution and analysis of hypervelocity impact studies investigating risk analysis for spacecraft subject to impact by space debris. Develop numerical models, and perform numerical simulation of hypervelocity impact on spacecraft structures in support of experimental programmes.

    Topics of Research

  • Spacecraft perturbations related to hypervelocity impact-induced disturbances
  • Vulnerability of spacecraft components to orbital debris and micrometeoroid particles
  • Dynamic material characterization, damage evaluation and material modeling of composite materials subject to impact at hypervelocities
  • Meteoroid/Orbital Debris (M/OD) risk analysis
  •  

     

    Back to LPI Scientific Staff Page

    Last updated
    February 4, 2009