To the Moon: Michigan Tech Alumnus Contributes to Lunar Mission

Aboard a spacecraft orbiting the moon is a little bit of Brandon Dilworth.

His body is comfortably here on Earth. But for the last several years, Dilworth has poured all his professional skill and passion into a game-changing scientific project that is now hitching a ride on the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer. Launched by NASA Sept. 6. LADEE (dubbed “laddie”) left its Earth orbit Oct. 2 and entered a lunar orbit Oct. 6., Soon, the technical project that Dilworth has been working on at MIT Lincoln Laboratory for the last four years will spring into action.

“I’ve supported the Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration since my first day at Lincoln,” he said. “I got my PhD in August 2009, drove out to Massachusetts, and started work the next Monday.”

Since Dilworth earned his master’s and doctorate in mechanical engineering at Michigan Tech, he has been working on equipment that will revolutionize space communication.

The full release is posted on the Michigan Tech news site.

Published in Tech Today.