Lunch-n-Learn: "Problems in Orbital Mechanics and Why We Have Them"
About this Event
"Problems in Orbital Mechanics and Why We Have Them" Lunch-n-Learn with Wes Kelly
AIAA Houston’s next lunch-n-learn is THIS THURSDAY with Maggiano’s catering.
Wes Kelly, Triton Systems LLC, will present “Problems in Orbital Mechanics and Why We Have Them”. Doors open at 11:45am down the street from NASA’s Johnson Space Center at the Gilruth Center. Your ticket gets you a plate of Maggiano’s Little Italy catering and a front row seat at this technical lecture.
EVENT DETAILS:
📅 Date: Thursday, August 27th, 2026
🕔 Time: 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
📍 Location: Gilruth Center (18600 Space Center Blvd, Houston TX 77058) first floor Discovery Room
✨ Cost: $15 for in-person with Maggiano's Little Italy catering; FREE for virtual attendance
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About the lecture:
Much of orbital mechanics application and instruction is based on celestial mechanics as practiced centuries ago, applying iterative methods to converge on an orbital path to a mission destination. Yet with some re-arrangement "time of flight" calculations address current problems such as selecting paths to Mars with simple trades by obtaining analytical solutions and their variants. Our study of Mars flights showed how "time of flight" to Mars can be adjusted ( or traded) considerably with only slight changes in departure velocities from Earth. The methods applied grew out of developments over the last few decades not widely known, allowing analytical solutions where previously mission planners might rely on iterative numerical process obtained by more mysterious means.
About Wes Kelly:
After Air Force service in Europe with a flying unit, Wes Kelly attended the University of Michigan and University of Washington (Seattle) obtaining Bachelor and Master degrees, respectively, in aerospace engineering, doing additional studies in astrophysics.
In the course of his engineering career he spent a significant portion in support of the development of human spaceflight (that is, the Space Shuttle here in Houston in the 1970s and the International Space Station - ISS - in the 1990s, plus a number of payload or launch systems work elsewhere).
As an entrepreneur, Wes and colleagues founded Triton Systems LLC, which developed a partially reusable launch system concept submitted to the ISS resupply competition and later addressed toward small satellite launch.
In recent years he has worked as an adjunct instructor at UHCL teaching astronomy and electives such as exoplanets and orbital mechanics, topics related to today's talk.
Agenda
🕑: 11:30 AM - 11:55 AM
Doors open for lunch and networking
🕑: 11:55 AM - 12:00 PM
AIAA Houston and speaker introductions; Zoom link starts
🕑: 12:00 PM - 12:45 PM
Wes Kelly lecture
🕑: 12:45 PM - 01:00 PM
Questions and conversation
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 0.00 to USD 15.00
