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4 MISSOURI S&T MAGAZINE | SPRING 2011
Hank Pernicka
TITLE • associate professor of mechanical and
aerospace engineering
AT S&T SINCE • 2001
DESIGN TEAMS HE ADVISES • Formula SAE Team,
M-SAT (Missouri Satellite), Miners in Space
LEAST FAVORITE PART OF ADVISING • NASA won’t
let advisors fl y in the near-weightlessness of its
“Weightless Wonder” aircraft (with the Miners in
Space Team). Only students. Bummer.
M-SAT • The satellite team is at the core of Pernicka’s
research (spacecraft design and orbital mechanics), so
advising M-SAT is a natural fi t. The team can compete
every two years, but competition is by invitation only.
The current competition for Missouri S&T began in
January. The team will be testing three satellites —
two cooperative and one not in contact. The project
will help satellites sync orbits with things like space
debris or adversarial spacecraft.
MINERS IN SPACE • Pernicka got a random email
offer from NASA advertising a research program on
the “Vomit Comet,” a fi xed-wing aircraft that provides
near-weightlessness. He sent it on to his students
and they jumped at the chance. They fi rst fl ew an
experiment in 2003, and have fl own a total of six times
now. Proposals for the next program were submitted
in January.
FORMULA SAE • S&T’s Formula SAE Team, typically
ranked in the top 20 out of more than 400 teams
internationally, plans to race in California in June
and compete in the Formula Student Germany race in
August. Students are working now to raise the funds
required to ship a car and a team of students overseas.
Pernicka, whose father was a part-time mechanic,
grew up fi xing cars. “In college, if my car broke, I either
fi xed it myself or walked.” He sees himself as the team’s
cheerleader. “I can still take my car apart and put it back
together, but I can’t design a racecar. The students on the
team teach themselves and really learn a lot from alumni
mentors.”
CURRENT RIDE • A 1971 Corvette. Called a “survivor,”
the car has most of its original parts. Pernicka performs
all of the maintenance himself.
Photo by B.A. Rupert