Thilini Rangedera
Papers
2
Total Citations
5
H-Index
2
About
Thilini Rangedera’s research lies at the frontier of in-space construction and resource utilization, where she explores how to build massive structures beyond Earth using extraterrestrial materials. Her most influential work, “Extracting Asteroidal Mass for Robotic Construction” (2013, 3 citations), pioneers methods for harvesting asteroidal resources to enable robotic assembly of large-scale space habitats and infrastructure. Building on this, her foundational paper “System Design of Large Space Structures Using Tailored Force Fields” (2006, 2 citations) introduces the innovative concept of Tailored Force Fields (TFF)—a novel approach to manipulating and assembling objects in microgravity without physical contact. By demonstrating how TFF can guide and position mass from asteroids or the Moon, Rangedera’s work directly addresses a critical bottleneck for human space exploration: the prohibitive cost of launching materials from Earth. Though her citation counts are modest, her contributions are highly specialized and visionary, laying the theoretical and experimental groundwork for future autonomous construction in space. Her research continues to inspire engineers and scientists working toward sustainable, long-term human presence beyond our planet.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Extracting Asteroidal Mass for Robotic Construction3 citations · 2013
- 2System Design of Large Space Structures Using Tailored Force Fields2 citations · 2006