Kavya Manyapu

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Kavya Manyapu
Born1987/1988 (age 33–34)[1]
India
Alma materGeorgia Tech,

MIT,

University of North Dakota
EmployerNASA

Kavya K. Manyapu is an Indian–American aerospace engineer and scientist. She currently works at NASA in the Branch for Lunar Exploration missions (Artemis Program) within the Flight Operations Directorate at JSC. She was part of the Boeing team for nearly 10 years that developed the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft. She developed a fabric for self-cleaning space suits that uses carbon nanotubes to repel dust for use in future lunar and Mars missions.

Early life and career[]

Manyapu grew up in Hyderabad, India.[1] When she was 16, her family moved to the United States.[2] She received a bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2006 and a master's degree in aeronautics and astronautics from MIT in 2010.[1][2][3][4] She also holds a diploma in performing arts from Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University.[1] She served as a crew member on multiple Analog/simulated Mars Missions.[1] She joined Boeing in 2010, where she has been working on the CST-100 Starliner, a spacecraft that would transport crew to the ISS.[2] She held multiple roles in this project, including Spacesuit Integration Lead, Flight Test Engineer, Flight Crew Operations and Flight Test Director.[3][4]

She received her PhD in 2017 under the supervision of Pablo de León, becoming the first ever PhD graduate in at the University of North Dakota.[5] During her PhD, she developed patented novel technology, a smart fabric for planetary space suits to address the problem of lunar dust that proved to be a major issue during Apollo missions.[6][5] The fabric contains carbon nanotubes, which repel dust when an electric current is applied to them.[7] She holds five patents on this technology. Early-generation pieces of this fabric were launched into space for testing in April 2019 [5][7] Manyapu became an Adjunct Professor of the Space Studies Department at the University of North Dakota in 2019.[4]

Manyapu is a certified scuba diver and has a pilot's license.[3][8]

Manyapu has received a number of awards for her work. In 2014, she received the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Stellar Award.[9] In 2016, she was one of nine people who won a Future Space Leader award.[10] She was listed in 40 under 40 by Georgia State University in 2020

Selected publications[]

  • Manyapu, Kavya K.; et al. (2017). "Proof of concept demonstration of novel technologies for lunar spacesuit dust mitigation". Acta Astronautica. 137: 472–481. Bibcode:2017AcAau.137..472M. doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2017.05.005.
  • Manyapu, Kavya K.; Peltz, Leora; De Leon, Pablo (2019). "Self-cleaning spacesuits for future planetary missions using carbon nanotube technology". Acta Astronautica. 157: 134–144. Bibcode:2019AcAau.157..134M. doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2018.12.019.

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e Reddy, R. Ravikanth (2014-01-17). "One giant leap for the skies". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  2. ^ a b c "Should the chief builder of the International Space Station be the company that offers taxi service there? Boeing thinks so". Air & Space Magazine. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  3. ^ a b c "For These Engineers, Starliner's Crew Is Top Priority". alum.mit.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  4. ^ a b c "Kavya Manyapu | Department of Space Studies". aero.und.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  5. ^ a b c KVLY. "Fabric from UND-developed space suit to spend year in space". www.valleynewslive.com. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  6. ^ "Self-cleaning spacesuits could help astronauts cope with Martian dust". www.newscientist.com. Retrieved 2019-11-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ a b Stuckey, Alex (2019-04-26). "Self-cleaning space suit could help NASA astronauts avoid harmful dust on moon, Mars". HoustonChronicle.com. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  8. ^ Boeing. "Astronaut Dreams". Retrieved 2019-11-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ "2014 RNASA Stellar Award winners announced". Houston Chronicle. 2014-04-24. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  10. ^ "2016 Future Space Leaders | Iaf". www.iafastro.org. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
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