PhD Masaki Nakamiya

Age: 37

Name of my University / Research Institute:

Institute of Space and Astronautical Science

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (ISAS/JAXA)

Kanagawa, Japan

Research period at the TU Darmstadt: December 2013 to November 2015

Dr. Masaki Nakamiya.

Questionnaire to the Research Fellow

My field of research is to develop space missions and the corresponding orbits, as well as the orbit guidance and control.

My most important success in research to date is…

In the past I have for example designed the trajectory for the Japanese spacecraft SPICA (Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics) which will be launched in 2018, using the characteristics of the three-body problem. Also the European Spacecraft GAIA, which will be launched soon, will be stationed near the one of the Lagrange points of the three-body problem defined by the sun and the earth. At ESOC in Darmstadt Dr. Markus Landgraf has been responsible for planning this mission. Since 2005 Dr. Landgraf teaches Spaceflight Mechanics at TU Darmstadt. His lecture is also available in English on the open e-learning platform of the TU openlearnware.tu-darmstadt.de. Dr. Landgraf will serve as my advisor together with Professor Peter Hagedorn

I have chosen the TU Darmstadt to host me as an Alexander-von-Humboldt Research Fellow, because of the expertise of the Dynamics and Vibrations Group of TUD and of the cooperation between TUD (Professor Peter Hagedorn) and ESA/ESOC (Dr. Markus Landgraf). This is a unique combination of a University research environment and the European Space Agency.

Dr. Markus Landgraf, Dr. Masaki Nakamiya and Prof. Dr. Peter Hagedorn.
Dr. Markus Landgraf, Dr. Masaki Nakamiya and Prof. Dr. Peter Hagedorn.

If I were a student today, I would probably place a greater emphasis on studying physics and in particular astrophysics, than I did in my courses.

The perfect balance to a stressful working day for me is to get physical activity, for example walking or jogging through the beautiful forest surrounding the Georg-Christoph-Lichtenberg Haus, the guesthouse of TU Darmstadt.

With the help of my host in Darmstadt I expect to investigate the dynamics around the periodic orbits in the vicinity of the Lagrange point (Halo orbit) by using the stable manifold of the dynamical system theory actively, and to apply them to a method of spacecraft orbit control. This will be done especially, by increasing the number of the degree of freedom by relaxing constraints of the target orbit.

Questionnaire for the host

Guest of: Prof. Peter Hagedorn

Department:

Dynamics and Vibrations Group

Chair of Numerical Methods in Mechanical Engineering (Prof. Michael Schäfer)

You appreciate in your guest / your guest favourably impressed you by…

Masaki Nakamiya is a very hard working young scientist, who also will give input into our different research project. I am very impressed by Dr. Nakamiya’s expertise and open-mindedness. He has a very high potential as a researcher. We will certainly benefit a lot from his stay in Darmstadt.

Prof. Dr. Peter Hagedorn.
Prof. Dr. Peter Hagedorn.