ep. 16: Roberto Carlino; How Space Technologies are Supporting Terrestrial Innovation
In this episode, we strike out into the solar system with Roberto Carlino, a NASA engineer and innovation pioneer with an eye on the space age technologies and systems that will facilitate humanities leap to a multi-planetary species.
As part of Deep Blue Institute interest and advocacy for technologies that support maritime urbanism, or floating cities, we recognize that many of the concepts and tech innovations that support extended space flight and habitation provide the proofs of concept for the solution sets that will facilitate the realization of remote ocean-based habitats serviced by off grid energy, water, and waste systems. Robert unique background and perspective gives us a glimpse into how humanity’s irrepressible drive to explore the solar system, and beyond, is fueling technology breakthroughs and innovation here on Earth.
After a week of meetings and community events in New Orleans, Roberto reflects on what he sees happening in terms of climate tech development and entrepreneurship in the region. He also helps us to contextualize the role of New Orleans’ own NASA Michoud facility in the broader context of the global space industry. There is much to celebrate.
Stay tuned after the closing of the main podcast to hear a bonus discussion about the Fermi paradox. This fascinating though problem explains the discrepancy between the lack of conclusive evidence of advanced extraterrestrial life and the apparently high likelihood of its existence. As a 2015 article put it, "If life is so easy, someone from somewhere must have come calling by now." [Wikipedia]
ROBERTO CARLINO
NASA Ames Research Center
Software/Hardware Test Engineer and Mission Ops Lead
Roberto Carlino is an Aerospace Engineer based at NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California, currently working on cutting-edge projects like the Astrobee free-flying robots and the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) cubesat. More recently, he was selected as primary crew for NASA’s Astronaut Analog mission Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, living and working as an analog astronaut for 45 days while “traveling” to the Martian moon Phobos. In 2022, Roberto was selected among the top 30 candidates for the European Space Agency (ESA) Astronaut selection out of over 22,000 applicants. Roberto began his career at NASA Ames Research Center around 9 years ago, working on small flight projects and NASA mission proposals and later working as a Software Engineer for the mission Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) – follow-on mission of the Kepler Space Telescope – searching for habitable alien planets around the solar neighborhood.
Roberto earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Naples Federico II, in Italy, and Delft University of Technology, in The Netherlands. Additionally, he holds a second master’s degree in ‘Space Systems and Orbital Platforms’ from the University of Rome, La Sapienza.
Outside of work, Roberto pursues several adventurous hobbies aligned with his passion for exploration. He is a licensed private pilot with over 150 hours of flight experience. Roberto also enjoys skydiving, scuba diving, High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), and hiking. Among his passions, he also loves cooking good Italian food, especially Neapolitan Pizza.
Mission crew for NASA’s Human Exploration Research Analog. From left to right: Roberto Carlino, Jennifer Milczarski, Brad Hensley, and Russ Klvacek. Credit: NASA
“Why We Haven’t Found Aliens Yet” A guide to the various explanations for the Fermi Paradox discussed by Roberto in the epilogue to the podcast (after the ending acknowledgments [Reddit]
EPISODE REFERENCES AND LINKS:
Astrobee, NASA’s new free-flying robotic system, will help astronauts reduce time they spend on routine duties, leaving them to focus more on the things that only humans can do.
ACS3 - Solar Sail spacecraft: NASA is developing new deployable structures and materials technologies for solar sail propulsion systems destined for future low-cost deep space missions.
HERA Astronaut Analog mission with NASA: Roberto Carlino was part of a NASA selected crew of four to simulate a mission to Mars. In May of 2022, crew members entered the Human Exploration Research Analog, or HERA, at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Once inside HERA, they lived and worked like astronauts for 45 days while “traveling” to the Martian moon Phobos.
The Fermi Paradox: This fascinating though problem explains the discrepancy between the lack of conclusive evidence of advanced extraterrestrial life and the apparently high likelihood of its existence. As a 2015 article put it, "If life is so easy, someone from somewhere must have come calling by now." [Wikipedia]
Parallels and Comparrison Between Seasteading and Space Exploration Technologies:
BBC Ideas | Floating nations: Is our future at sea? (short BBC vision)
Oceans First; Space Next (longer talk)
If you enjoy the Blue Economy Primer podcast, and would like to support Deep Blue Academy’s non-profit education and research work, please consider making a tax deductible donation today.