Professor Klaus is involved in activities that span various engineering, science and operational aspects pertaining to human spaceflight. He has established a novel academic focus area in this field termed Bioastronautics - the study and support of life in space. His research interests include the conceptual design and evaluation of space habitats, human performance analysis in a spaceflight context, assessment of advanced spacesuit and spacecraft life support system technologies, space systems risk analysis, and gravitational microbiology. Klaus is a faculty affiliate with BioServe Space Technologies and serves as the the Deputy Director for the NASA SmartHab Space Technology Research Institute (STRI) 'Habitats Optimized for Missions of Exploration' (HOME) led by UC Davis. In 2023, his work has primarily focused on addressing the impact of emergent autonomous technologies on deep space habitat self-sufficiency as part of the HOME project; assessing wearable sensors used for astronaut workload and task performance evaluation; and supporting final administrative closeout activities as Executive Director of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation (COE CST), which involved 10 universities and numerous industry affiliates, and concluded in 2022 after a decade+ of research.
Clinostats and bioreactors..
Gravitational and space biology bulletin : publication of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology.
55-64.
2001
ASEN 2004 - Aerospace 4: Aerospace Vehicle Design and Performance
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2018
Introduction to design and analysis of aircraft and spacecraft. Aircraft topics include cruise performance, wing design, propulsion, stability, control, and structures. Spacecraft topics include rocket staging, orbit selection, launch systems, and spacecraft subsystems. Includes laboratory experiments and team design exercises.
ASEN 5016 - Space Life Sciences
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2018 / Spring 2019 / Spring 2020
Familiarizes students with factors affecting living organisms in the reduced-gravity environment of space flight. Covers basic life support requirements, human physiological adaptations, and cellular-level gravity dependent processes with emphasis on technical writing and research proposal preparation.
ASEN 5158 - Space Habitat Design
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2018 / Fall 2019 / Fall 2020 / Fall 2021 / Fall 2022 / Fall 2023 / Fall 2024
Utilize systems engineering methods to design and analyze a spacecraft intended for human occupancy with functional knowledge of the technologies used to sustain life. Emphasis placed on deriving requirements from stated mission goals and objectives, developing integrated functional schematics into a conceptual design, and analyzing design options by mass/volume estimation, including launch vehicle selection.
