{"425641":{"#nid":"425641","#data":{"type":"news","title":"From building blocks to building spacecraft: Johnny L. Worthy III","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor Johnny L. Worthy, III, it all started with a box of Space Shuttle-themed Legos.\u00ae\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMy parents say that once I got those Legos\u00ae, I was off. No looking back\u2026I always wanted to be an astronaut after that,\u201d says the 22-year-old AE doctoral student, a recent recipient of a National Science Foundation graduate research fellowship.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt got even worse when I visited the Kennedy Space Center a few years later. But, really, those Legos\u00ae started me. That\u2019s really how I ended up at Georgia Tech.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELegos \u2013 and a whole lot of work.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESince coming to Georgia Tech in 2009, Worthy has had his natural aptitude for math and science put to the test on several occasions. For the most part, he has triumphed but not always. Freshman year, the only class he didn\u2019t ace was aerospace engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThat class was hard, really hard, but my reaction was \u2018I can do better than this.\u2019 I never thought about giving up on aerospace engineering. Never.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHis direction within the field has shifted, however. These days, he\u2019ll tell you that if he doesn\u2019t become an astronaut, he\u2019ll be just as happy to design a better spacecraft. Or a better orbital path for that spacecraft.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI\u2019ve focused a lot on building a base skill set in orbital mechanics - a gateway to the study of design and trajectory of spacecraft,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m just now beginning to enjoy what I\u2019m doing because I\u2019m able to ask more questions about what I\u2019m observing.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUnder the mentorship of his advisor, Dr. Marcus Holzinger, Worthy\u2019s research in AE\u2019s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ssdl.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESpace Systems Design Lab\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;(SSDL)\u0026nbsp; has focused on detecting, tracking and predicting the movement of various objects in space \u2013 space situational awareness \u2013 using both mathematical simulation and direct observation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research team has simulated the orbits of thousands of objects, all in an effort to better predict the environment in which approximately 1100 satellites circle the earth. Worthy has also collected data on objects located through a telescope at different times of day and at different angles.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen we see them and can identify them, the question, then is: what orbit are they in? Is it the same as the ISS [International Space Station]?\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe is particularly drawn to the predictive qualities of his research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe math isn\u2019t straight forward on these simulations \u2013 you are dealing with six dimensions \u2013 but you begin to see relationships between the velocity of the object and its position, and that can help us in a lot of ways,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cKnowing exactly where a satellite is and where it will be can help us avoid collisions, which would be chaotic.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn his\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ae.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/img\/NSF%20Research%20Proposal%20%282%29.pdf\u0022\u003Eapplication for NSF funding\u003C\/a\u003E, Worthy explained the theoretical underpinnings of his approach, which will comprise the bulk of his doctoral work. It is at this point that it becomes crystal clear how far he\u2019s come from his Lego\u00ae days.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBroadly put, his goal is to \u201cdetermine the state of a system in an information-deficient environment\u201d \u2013 an environment that has unobservable or hidden states, like space.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere are many examples of undetermined problems in state estimation,\u201d he writes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOne class of problems in which this method applies is the future position of an object\u2026furthermore, since [the object] could be anything from a threat to a lost child, this research could also enable technologies which improve safety and security in everyday lives.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EJohnny L. Worthy III will be spending his summer at MIT\u2019s Lincoln Labs, where he will contribute to work on space system analysis. Last summer, his work at the same lab focused on missile defense systems.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ctable width=\u0022200\u0022 border=\u00220\u0022 cellspacing=\u00221\u0022 cellpadding=\u00225\u0022 align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003EJohnny L. Worthy III at his desk in\u0026nbsp;AE\u0027s Space Systems Design Lab just days before he left for Massachusetts, where he will be working at MIT\u0027s Lincoln Labs this summer.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"For Johnny L. Worthy, III, it all started with a box of Space Shuttle-themed Legos.\u00ae"}],"uid":"27456","created_gmt":"2015-07-16 12:15:15","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:08","author":"Britanny Grace","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-06-12T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-06-12T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1239","name":"School of Aerospace Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2082","name":"aerospace engineering"},{"id":"135411","name":"Johnny L Worthy"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["communications@ae.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}