Kyle Higdon
Rarefied Gas Dynamics Computational Fluid Dynamics Engineer @NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
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WORK HISTORY
Rarefied Gas Dynamics Computational Fluid Dynamics Engineer @NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Houston, TX, US
Rarefied gas dynamics specialist responsible for the development of plume impingement analyses and advanced tools supporting space station rendezvous and proximity operations. Develop and maintain the Engineering Model for Plume Impingement in Rarefied Environments (EMPIRE) code used to simulate plume heating for NASA, commercial, or international vehicles visiting NASA assets.Plume Impingement Heating team lead for the Lunar Gateway space station. Completing plume heating analyses of the components docking at the Gateway and integrating plume heating into the Gateway design cycle in coordination with the loads, GN & C, passive thermal, and CAD design groups. Redefined the plume heating requirements for Gateway and managed risks and mitigations addressing plume impingement.Rarefied gas dynamics team lead for the Human Landing System (HLS) collaborations with Blue Origin and SpaceX. Supporting analyses of Blue Moon and Starship aimed at understanding complex plume simulations and sharing DSMC knowledge.Plume Impingement team lead for the Commercial LEO Development Program. Sharing plume impingement lessons learned and best practices with the 9 participating vendors, as well as, supporting requests from the vendors for special analyses.Rarefied gas dynamics lead for the Artemis II Orion proximity operation demonstration.Perform direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) simulations for plume thruster and re-entry analyses using the NASA DSMC Applications Code (DAC).
EDUCATION
The University of Texas at Austin
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
University of Notre Dame
Bachelor's degree
ABOUT KYLE HIGDON
Aerospace engineering Ph.D. in rarefied gas dynamics with experience in space station design, systems engineering and integration, space vehicle rendezvous and proximity operations, hypersonic aerothermodynamic simulation with DSMC and CFD, plume modeling, uncertainty quantification, and thermal protection systems. • Co-developer of the NASA Engineering Model for Plume Impingement in Rarefied Dynamics (EMPIRE) codebase. • Expertise in the analysis of space vehicle plume impingement, including Gateway and commercial LEO space station design • Extensive background in the development of chemically reacting re-entry simulations • Recipient of the NASA Early Career Achievement Medal
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