Chloe Gentgen

Chloe Gentgen is a PhD candidate whose research focuses on developing critical capabilities to support space exploration, including mission architecture, propulsion systems, and in-situ resource utilization. Her notable achievements include a successful demonstration of in-space refueling through a microgravity experiment; leading MIT’s winning team in the RASC-AL 2022 challenge to design an architecture for propellant production on Mars; and working on a NASA mission proposal to explore Enceladus, a moon of Saturn. Supported by her second MathWorks Fellowship, Chloe will develop a MATLAB-based design methodology framework for planetary exploration, using the future Uranus mission as a case study. Her goal is to offer design modifications to enhance the mission concept currently selected by the National Academies, including identifying new technologies that can increase the spacecraft’s performance and understanding the feasible sequences of fly-bys that will allow the spacecraft to meet its scientific goals at Uranus. Chloe’s path-breaking work has already yielded important contributions to space systems engineering, and her work holds significant potential to advance future explorations of our solar system.