MEET THE TEAM: DHAKA SAPKOTA, PH.D.
DHAKA’S BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Dhaka Sapkota is an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at Florida Space Institute of University of Central Florida since 2020. He received his PhD in 2020 from University of Miami and specializes in space instrumentation. He helped develop, characterize, and analyze the result from the large area X-ray detector on a series of sounding rocket experiments. In recent years, he has been focused on practical planetary science. He has been working in physical and chemical properties, lunar regolith, mineral concentration/extraction with magnetic and electrostatic beneficiation, landing pad and horizontal construction, and astrobiology.
DHAKA’S RESEARCH
· Principal Investigator on a state funded start-up grant on Space Research Initiative (SRI) on “Properties of Lunar minerals and their use in support of sustainable exploration.” 2022-2024.
· Permaculture: enhancing germination rates and biomass production in plants cultivated in lunar soils. Understanding of plant health and their genetic expression or response to remediated lunar soils.
· Vermiculture: Study of compost worm on a controlled habitat cell to aid in support for vermi-bioremediation of lunar regolith.
· Microwave sintering of regolith: a recipe to produce building blocks.
· Migration behavior of nano-phase Iron as a thermal interaction, metal extraction from regolith.
· Researcher on Ejecta STORM: High Spatio-temporal resolution particle sizer for plume induced ejecta clouds
· Researcher on CLASS (Center for Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science) Planetary Landing Team. Erosion dynamics on rocket plume interaction.
· R&D on lunar mineral concentration and extraction methods and technologies.
DHAKA’S WORK IN THE NEWS
UCF KNIGHTS ARE PART OF NASA’S ARTEMIS PROGRAM TO RETURN TO THE MOON
NEW YORK TO LONDON IN 5 MINUTES? UCF RESEARCHERS WORKING ON HYPERSONIC PROPULSION
UCF HAS MORE THAN A DOZEN RESEARCH PROJECTS AIMED AT RETURNING THE U.S TO THE MOON
DXL-2: STUDYING X-RAY EMISSIONS IN SPACE
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