In this episode of the Meliora Podcast Student Research Symposium we are joined by Aeronautics and Astronautics student Manisha Mahesh Kumar to discuss her dissertation 'Route Optimisation for Space Debris Removal'.

Manisha discusses her unique approach for space debris removal and remediation with particular focus of SDG9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure and SDG11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. She explains the current state of the space environment and major events that contributed to space debris accumulation. She elaborates on how a satellite moves through space and how the different manoeuvres it makes contribute to the algorithm design. Manisha details how the algorithm can be tailored by the user to suit the mission profile. We also talk about the comparison of this algorithm to existing heuristics with regards to the computational power used and the optimality of the generated route. Finally, we explore her journey throughout completion of this project. To help listeners grasp the complexity of this issue, she suggests visiting AstriaGraph, a platform for visualizing all bodies, including debris, orbiting the Earth in real-time.

AstriaGraph: http://astria.tacc.utexas.edu/AstriaGraph/

The Meliora Podcast Student Research Symposium is part of the 2024 Student Takeover Session where we celebrate the fantastic sustainability research work of our Undergraduate students.

Episode Guest: Manisha Mahesh Kumar

Episode Host: Prof Simon Kemp

Episode Editor: Libby Kale

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