Biography

Dr. Henry Pernicka is a Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor of Aerospace Engineering in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the Missouri University of Science and Technology.

He holds B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University. His research interests include astrodynamics, libration point orbits, orbital mechanics, spacecraft design, spacecraft mission design, small satellites, CubeSats, satellite attitude dynamics, nonlinear analysis, dynamics and control, and optimization.

Corporate/government experiences include internships at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and The Boeing Company. He is a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), American Astronautical Society (AAS), and the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE).

Dr. Pernicka was the Managing Editor of The Journal of the Astronautical Sciences from 1999-2011. At Missouri S&T Dr. Pernicka is the advisor for the Missouri S&T Satellite research team (M-SAT) that conducts design, integration, test, and flight of small satellites. He has also been the advisor of the campus Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (FSAE) team from Fall 2002 to the present. He has graduated 8 Ph.D. students and 34 master’s students.

Research Interests

Astrodynamics, libration point orbits, orbital mechanics, spacecraft design, spacecraft mission design, small satellites, CubeSats, satellite attitude dynamics, nonlinear analysis, dynamics and control, and optimization.

Education

• 1990 – Ph.D. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Purdue University
• 1986 – M.S. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Purdue University
• 1984 – B.S. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Purdue University