Dr. James W. Ashley

Dr. James W. Ashley Speaking Topics

• To Fly a Drone on Mars

  The Ingenuity Helicopter was the first aircraft ever to fly on another world. It is the reason the first flight location on Mars is named Wright Brothers Field. Billed originally as a ‘tech demo’ to find out if such a craft could actually lift off in the thin martian atmosphere, it had a maximum of 5 flights in its original set of objectives. Now after 72 successful flights and a transition from tech demo to scientific asset, the Ingenuity Rotorcraft has a special place in aviation history, and has paved the way for future generations of helicopters on other worlds in the Solar System.

  Dr. Ashley was a Downlink and Campaign Implementation Lead for Ingenuity, one of only a small group of scientists to work alongside the engineers on the helicopter, and will outline the challenges and thrills of flight on another world.

  • We will relive the encouraging feeling of being present at the dawn of a new era in aviation.
  • We will experience the inspiration that comes through ‘daring mighty things'.
  • We will look to the future and imagine the opportunities as we explore together.

• New Visions of Underground Living and Exploration on the Moon

  While the relatively short-duration activities of the Apollo missions regarded radiation, micrometeorites, solar wind, temperature extremes, and the vacuum of space as acceptable occupational hazards, any long-term human presence on the Moon will require greater management of these risks. Fortunately, protection from most surface hazards may be found naturally and inexpensively inside accessible subsurface voids (i.e. caverns) when shielding from a few meters of ceiling rock is present. Regarded as mere possibilities for at least 145 years, candidates for such caves have been appearing in new images collected by orbiting platforms, and examined with enough detail to suggest captivating possibilities for their future use in supporting habitation, science, tourism and general operations in the long term. Dr. Ashley will explore some of these images and discuss possible mechanisms for cave formation (speleogenesis) on the Earth and Moon, with thoughts for how we might best explore and use these natural assets in the future.

  • We will learn the details of the Artemis return to the Moon over 50 years after the end of Apollo.
  • We will find out where the caves are location and ask together whether any of these features might be appropriate for future exploration/habitation.
  • We will think about caves on other worlds throughout the solar system in rock and ice, and ask what kinds of processes lead to their formation.

Near Earth Objects and the Impact Hazard

In February 2013 a 17-meter diameter asteroid detonated in the atmosphere over Chelyabinsk, Russia, sending hundreds of people to hospitals for treatment from exposure to shattered glass windows. A small increase in the mass, velocity, or entry angle of this object could have resulted in a dramatic increase in the impact energy and resulting destruction. Is there anything that can be done to prevent such events from occurring in the future?

Dr. Ashley’s company Minor Planet Research, Inc. has co-discovered 13 near-Earth asteroids at Lowell Observatory, and has consulted for several History and Discovery Channel documentary programs on this subject. He will outline our current state of understanding, risk assessment strategies, and available technologies for mitigation.

This is a dramatic program with Discovery Channel animations about a topic that is ever timely because like other natural hazards it does not go away. Ironically, it is one that we might be able to do something about to prevent.

• We will learn how asteroid impacts have punctuated geologic history and effected life on Earth.
• We will explore the role that comets and asteroids have played in meteorite science.
• We will visit some of the technologies being discussed for responding to an object on a collision course.

What Meteorites Found on Mars tell us about Martian Climate History

The pursuit of an answer to the time-honored question ‘Are we alone in the universe?’ leads scientists down many paths that cross a multitude of disciplines. In the planetary sciences, the quest often results in the careful engineering of robotic spacecraft designed to answer specific questions about the habitability of the planets they are sent to explore. Mars is a world that is both easily accessible at reasonable costs and potentially habitable. We are interested in the role that water may have played in Mars' geologic history because of its importance to astrobiology. Among the many discoveries made during the Mars Exploration Rover and Mars Science Laboratory missions are more than 60 meteorites that show dramatic signs of water interaction near the martian equator at three spacecraft landing sites. We will take a close look at these rocks and discuss their significance to climate on the Red Planet.

Dr. Ashley proposed the idea that meteorites found on Mars could be useful for addressing climate history on the Red Planet, and conducted his dissertation work on the topic. The current catalog of these special rocks demonstrates proof of concept, and includes the only rock found on Mars imaged sufficiently to create a 3D model for printing a hard copy on Earth (the link for which will be shared at the discussion).

Stars with Trains of Fire and Dews of Blood What Comets Meant to History ― What they Mean to Science

Together with solar and lunar eclipses, comets have spawned curiosity and terror doubtless since humans first looked skyward. Their misty, ghostly nature was understandably unsettling and the cause of confusion, but also a desire for understanding of the heavens which eventually helped to supercharge the field of astronomy and now robotic mission rendezvous.

Dr. Ashley will examine the historical fear of comets, list some of the famous comets of the last few centuries, talk about the latest scientific understanding of what comets are and what they mean to research, and end with a discussion of current comets in the night sky.