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Klaus, David M

Professor

Positions

Research Areas research areas

Research

research overview

  • Professor Klaus is involved in activities that span various engineering, science and operational aspects pertaining to human spaceflight. He has established a novel academic focus area in this field termed Bioastronautics - the study and support of life in space. His research interests include the conceptual design and evaluation of space habitats, human performance analysis in a spaceflight context, assessment of advanced spacesuit and spacecraft life support system technologies, space systems risk analysis, and gravitational microbiology. Klaus is a faculty affiliate with BioServe Space Technologies and serves as the the Deputy Director for the NASA SmartHab Space Technology Research Institute (STRI) 'Habitats Optimized for Missions of Exploration' (HOME) led by UC Davis. In 2023, his work has primarily focused on addressing the impact of emergent autonomous technologies on deep space habitat self-sufficiency as part of the HOME project; assessing wearable sensors used for astronaut workload and task performance evaluation; and supporting final administrative closeout activities as Executive Director of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation (COE CST), which involved 10 universities and numerous industry affiliates, and concluded in 2022 after a decade+ of research.

keywords

  • Bioastronautics, human spaceflight

Publications

selected publications

Teaching

courses taught

  • ASEN 2004 - Aerospace 4: Aerospace Vehicle Design and Performance
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2018
    Introduction to design and analysis of aircraft and spacecraft. Aircraft topics include cruise performance, wing design, propulsion, stability, control, and structures. Spacecraft topics include rocket staging, orbit selection, launch systems, and spacecraft subsystems. Includes laboratory experiments and team design exercises.
  • ASEN 5016 - Space Life Sciences
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2018 / Spring 2019 / Spring 2020
    Familiarizes students with factors affecting living organisms in the reduced-gravity environment of space flight. Covers basic life support requirements, human physiological adaptations, and cellular-level gravity dependent processes with emphasis on technical writing and research proposal preparation.
  • ASEN 5158 - Space Habitat Design
    Primary Instructor - Fall 2018 / Fall 2019 / Fall 2020 / Fall 2021 / Fall 2022 / Fall 2023
    Utilizes systems engineering methods for designing a spacecraft intended for human occupancy and provides a working knowledge of the technologies used to sustain life. Emphasis is placed on deriving functional requirements from stated mission objectives, developing integrated vehicle schematics, and comparing design options by trade study.
  • ASEN 6950 - Master's Thesis
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2020
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Background

awards and honors

International Activities

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