Dr. Justin Mansell
JPL Postdoctoral Fellow
About
Bio
Justin graduated with a PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Purdue University in 2020. Before joining the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a postdoctoral fellow in the Mission Design and Navigation section he was a visiting professor at Purdue where he taught courses and developed scheduling software for the SNOOPI cube satellite. He has also served as the flight mechanics engineer for the LightSail 2 solar sail and designed mission planning tools for Canadarm2. He is originally from Calgary, Canada.
Education
- PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics, Purdue University, 2020
- MS in Aeronautics and Astronautics, Purdue University, 2017
- BSc Physics, University of Calgary, 2015
Research Interests
Astrodynamics, machine learning, space flight operations, space debris removal
Experience
Professional Experience
- Justin has been a consultant and part-time employee of Vestigo Aerospace, a startup company producing drag sails for mitigating space debris in low Earth orbit.
Achievements
Awards & Recognitions
- Professional Society and External Organization Awards | Purdue Aeronautics and Astronautics Elmer F. Bruhn | Purdue Aeronautics and Astronautics Elmer F. Bruhn Teaching Award (2022)
- Paper Award | American Astronautical Society John V. Breakwell Student Paper Award (2018)
Publications
- J. R. Mansell, E. Rivera, S. Kim, B. R. Nold, J. L. Garrison, M. A. Vega, J. C. Raymond, R. Banting, W. Li, H. Khalifi, R. Bindlish, R. Shah, “Snooping Around: Observation Planning for the Signals of Opportunity P-Band Investigation (SNOOPI), ” Proceedings of the AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites, SSC22-WKVIII-04, Aug. 6-11, 2022,
- J. R. Mansell and D. A. Spencer, “Deep Learning Fault Diagnosis for Spacecraft Attitude Determination and Control,” Journal of Aerospace Information Systems, Vol. 18, No. 3, 2021, pp. 102 – 115.
- J. R. Mansell, D. A. Spencer, B. Plante M. Fernandez, C. T. Gillespie, J. M. Bellardo, A. Diaz, B. Betts, and B. Nye, “Orbit and Attitude Performance of the LightSail 2 Solar Sail Spacecraft,” 2020 AIAA SciTech Forum, AIAA 2020-2177, Jan. 6-10, 2020, Orlando, FL
- J. R. Mansell, S. Dickmann, and D. A. Spencer, “Swarm Optimization of Lunar Transfers From Earth Orbit with Operational Constraints,” The Journal of the Astronautical Sciences, Vol. 67, 2020, pp. 880 – 901.