Meet the editor

Bryan Palaszewski has worked at the NASA Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field since 1989 and is currently directing research on high performance propellants and atmospheric entry. He is currently conducting analyses for the NASA Office of the Chief Technologist investigating nanometer-scale propellant additives for metallized gelled fuels for many space mission applications. Recently, he led work related to human Mars entry,

descent, and landing (EDL) where supersonic retro-propulsion (rocket deceleration) is planned for the final descent to the planet's surface. He is also investigating the mining of outer planet atmospheres and the challenges and benefits for future ambitious space missions. For six years, he led many studies of advanced space systems for orbital and interplanetary travel at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. He was also the lead propulsion subsystem engineer on the Ocean Topography Experiment (TOPEX) for three years, as well as being involved in other flight projects such as the Galileo Mission to Jupiter and the Cassini Mission to Saturn. He holds a Master of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the City College of New York. He has received the AIAA Sustained Service Award in 2004, and was chair of the AIAA Nuclear and Future Flight Propulsion Technical committee for three years beginning in 1997 and was also chair of this committee for the second time from 2008 to 2011.

Contents

**Section 1**

**Section 2**

Space Debris

**Section 3**

and Origins

*by Bryan Palaszewski*

*by Colin Sydney Coleman*

*by Ayodele Abiola Periola*

Introductory Chapter: Planetology

*by Bryan Palaszewski*

**Preface III**

Introduction **1**

**Chapter 1 3**

Planetary Exploration **7**

**Chapter 2 9**

**Chapter 3 35**

**Chapter 4 53**

**Chapter 5 65**

Computational Musings **105**

**Chapter 6 107**

Generic Computing-Assisted Geometric Search for Human Design

Technologies for Deviation of Asteroids and Cleaning of Earth Orbit by

*by Constantin Sandu, Cristian-Teodor Olariu and Radu-Constantin Sandu*

Solar System Exploration Augmented by In Situ Resource Utilization: System Analyses, Vehicles, and Moon Bases for Saturn Exploration

Space Access for Future Planetary Science Missions

*by Klaus Wilhelm and Bhola N. Dwivedi*

Impact Models of Gravitational and Electrostatic Forces
