معرفی
Zoltan Sternovsky is a Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he also serves as a Research Scientist at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP). He holds a PhD in Physics of Ionized Media from Charles University, Prague (2001) and an MS in Physics from the same institution (1998). His research focuses on instrument development for space missions, cosmic dust analysis, lunar plasma environments, and dusty plasma physics. Sternovsky leads projects involving dust analyzers for spacecraft such as STEREO, Cassini, and future missions to Europa and Saturn's rings.
Key research areas include hypervelocity dust impacts, interstellar and interplanetary dust composition, plasma diagnostics, and the design of instruments like the Surface Dust Analyser (SUDA) for Europa's surface mapping. He has contributed to missions like the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP), leading the Interstellar Dust Experiment (IDEX). His work also addresses dust detection via antenna instruments, Faraday cups, and Timepix detectors, with applications to planetary science and heliophysics.
- Awards:
- Outstanding Junior Faculty Award (2016)
- Young Scientist Award (2011)
- Grants & Collaborations: Instrument development for NASA missions, including DESTINY+, HIFI, and MANTIS asteroid tour concept. Active in lunar surface dust transport studies and resource exploration in permanently shadowed lunar regions.
- Labs/Teams: Leads LASP's Dust and Plasma Physics group, collaborating on space instrumentation and planetary exploration projects.
His pioneering work bridges laboratory experiments with in-situ space observations, advancing understanding of cosmic dust dynamics and their implications for planetary formation and heliospheric processes.
