The Commercially Hosted Infrared Payload (CHIRP) was launched in September 2011, and the mission was recently completed.  CHIRP was a result of a chain of events over the past twenty years, leading to this first remote sensing mission hosted on a commercial geostationary earth orbiting (GEO) telecommunications satellite. The presentation will review the challenges, along with such benefits as a 6:1 cost reduction compared to traditional "dedicated" GEO missions. A government Hosted Payload Office was established to coordinate application of the commercially hosted payload model demonstrated by CHIRP to future missions. We will hear about a planned commercially hosted NASA science mission to illustrate future applications of this approach.

Speaker: Dr Carl Schueler, Schueler Consulting 

After retiring from Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing (SBRS) in 2006, Dr. Schueler consulted until joining Orbital Sciences Corporation in 2008 after leading the Commercially Hosted InfraRed Payload (CHIRP) technical proposal. As CHIRP chief scientist, he coordinated sensor modifications, testing and on-orbit experiment definition. He returned to consulting in Fall 2012. He received a B.S. and M.S. in Physics & Astronomy at Louisiana State University. He joined Troy State University as Professor of Astrophysics in 1973 followed by two years at Hughes Aircraft Company teaching F-14 radar and Maverick missile theory and field repair. He earned a Ph.D. in Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) at UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) in 1980 under a Howard Hughes Doctoral Fellowship. He authored or co-authored over 80 book chapters and papers on remote sensing and instrument design, and served on six National Research Council (NRC) committees, including the 2011 Committee on Sustained Ocean Color Research.

This meeting is sponsored in part by Community West Bank

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