"Every gram of a device makes a huge difference in how much fuel I will have to have on a spacecraft and how many other items I can include as payload on that spacecraft," said Ötügen, whose research is funded by NASA.
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optical microresonator
Volkan Ötügen, senior associate dean of the Mechanical Engineering Department at SMU's Lyle School and director of the SMU MicroSensor Laboratory. [Photo: SMU]
SMU Research Team’s Tiny Sensor May Go to Mars—and Help Spaceships Land Safely
by Dallas Innovates | Staff Report | Jul 19, 2022
A team led by Volkan Ötügen, director of the SMU MicroSensor Laboratory, has developed a velocity-measuring "optical microresonator" that could help spaceships land safely on Mars and other planets. It's only 2 millimeters long—about the width of two sharp pencil points.
"Every gram of a device makes a huge difference in how much fuel I will have to have on a spacecraft and how many other items I can include as payload on that spacecraft," said Ötügen, whose research is funded by NASA.
"Every gram of a device makes a huge difference in how much fuel I will have to have on a spacecraft and how many other items I can include as payload on that spacecraft," said Ötügen, whose research is funded by NASA.
