Roane State professor to discuss his Pluto flyby involvement

In July 2015, the world learned about the flyby of Pluto and its moons by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft.

Ted Stryk, associate professor of philosophy and English at Roane State Community College, is participating in the geology and geophysics investigation of Pluto and its moons for the New Horizons team.

He will discuss the latest findings and the story behind his involvement in probing the dwarf planet and its satellites as the next presenter in the Roane State–Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning Intergenerational Lecture Series. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Stryk will deliver his talk at 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 27, in the City Room, A-111, in the Coffey-McNally Building at Roane State Community College’s Oak Ridge Branch Campus on Briarcliff Avenue.

“The Pluto flyby occurred 50 years to the day after the first planet, Mars, was imaged close up by Mariner 4,” Stryk said. “The flyby marks the completion of the initial reconnaissance of our solar system as we saw it on the eve of the space age.

“I will talk about my experience serving on the encounter team,” he added. “And I will present some of our science results.”

How did he get involved in this NASA mission?

“Leaning on my training in logic, I developed image processing techniques for use on planetary imagery,” he explained. “These techniques caught the attention of the New Horizons team in 2009. I’ve been working with the team ever since.”

Stryk teaches many of the dual enrollment courses at Roane State and develops and teaches online courses for Roane State and the Tennessee eCampus.

He is developing a new course called “Science and the Modern World.”

“It will enable students to explore how scientific thinking and discovery have influenced society and how we see the universe around us,” Stryk said. “This course will bring my two passions together.”

Carolyn Krause is a contributor to Oak Ridge Today.

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