Arthur C. Clarke 2001: a Space Odyssey
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Volume 33, Issue 2 AIAAAIAA HoustonHouston SectionSection www.aiaa-houston.orgwww.aiaa-houston.org April 2008 Arthur C. Clarke 1917 - 2008 2001: A Space Odyssey - 40 Years Later Yesterday’s Tomorrow Artwork by Jon C. Rogers and Pat Rawlings AIAA Houston Horizons April 2008 Page 1 April 2008 T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S From the Acting Editor 3 HOUSTON Chair’s Corner 4 2001: A Space Odyssey - 40 Years Later: Yesterday’s Tomorrow 5 Horizons is a quarterly publication of the Houston section of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. International Space Activities Committee (ISAC) 14 Arthur C. Clarke: A Prophet Vindicated by Gregory Benford 16 Acting Editor: Douglas Yazell [email protected] Book Review (Subject: Ellington Field in Houston) & Staying Informed 18 Assistant Editors: Scholarship & Annual Technical Symposium (ATS 2008) 19 Jon Berndt Dr. Rattaya Yalamanchili Lunch-and-Learn Summary: Mars Rovers by Dr. Mark Adler/JPL 20 Don Kulba Robert Beremand Dinner Meeting Summary: John Frassanito & Associates 21 Lunch & Learn: Sailing the Space Station with Zero-Propellant Guidance 22 AIAA Houston Section Executive Council Membership 23 Chair: Douglas Yazell Inaugural Space Center Lecture Series: Harrison Schmitt of Apollo 17 24 Chair-Elect: Chad Brinkley Past Chair: Dr. Jayant Ramakrishnan Yuri’s Night Houston by AAS, co-sponsored by AIAA Houston Section 26 Secretary: Sarah Shull Constellation Earth, Michel Bonavitacola, AAAF , Toulouse, France 27 Treasurer: Tim Propp Calendar 30 JJ Johnson Sean Carter Cranium Cruncher and a Pre-College Event: Engineer for a Day 31 Vice-Chair, Vice-Chair, Operations Branch Technical Branch Odds and Ends: EAA Houston Chapter 12, James C. McLane, Jr. 32 ESA Astronaut Leopold Eyharts Returns to Houston from ISS 33 Nick Pantazis Dr. Albert A. Jackson Gabe Garrett Dr. Zafar Taqvi Munir Kundawala Sheikh Ahsan Dr. Douglas Schwaab Bill Atwell Svetlana Hanson Ludmila Dmitriev-Odier Gary Cowan William West Horizons and AIAA Houston Web Amy Efting Paul Nielsen Site Matthew Easterly Dr. Michael Lembeck AIAA National Jim Palmer Dr. Kamlesh Lulla Communications Award Linda Phonharath Gary Brown Winner Dr. Jaehyung “Joshua” Ju Chet Vaughan Lisa Voiles Bebe Kelly-Serrato Joel Henry Bob Beremand Dr. Benjamin Longmier Councilors Shirley Brandt 2005 2006 2007 Bob McCormick This newsletter is created by members of the Houston section. Opinions expressed herein other than Aaron Morris by elected Houston section officers belong solely to the authors and do not necessarily represent the Dr. Rakesh Bhargava position of AIAA or the Houston section. Unless explicitly stated, in no way are the comments of Dr. Merri Sanchez individual contributors to Horizons to be construed as necessarily the opinion or position of AIAA, Brenda Weber NASA, its contractors, or any other organization. Please address all newsletter correspondence to Mike Lammers the Editor:[email protected] Ellen Gillespie Lorenn Vega-Martinez Cover: Artwork by Jon Rogers and Pat Rawlings. David Segrera Arthur C. Clarke: born December 16, 1917, died March 19, 2008. Photo: a snapshot of Mr. Clarke taken by Dr. Albert A. Jackson’s friend in 1969 at a dinner More information at: www.aiaa-houston.org/orgchart hosted by the science fiction club The Cepheid Variables at Texas A&M University. AIAA Houston Horizons April 2008 Page 2 Page 3 From the Acting Editor DOUGLAS YAZELL The authors of our feature 2-sided, glossy, color pages so write, edit, or publish, please story have been working on that we can hand it out at our come and join us in this volun- that for a few months. As they events prior to the end of our teer work to be of service to planned, this issue of Horizons AIAA year on June 30, but that our profession. AIAA Houston ? will go online in April of 2008 might not be in our budget. Section membership consists in order to celebrate the anni- of about 1,150 people. Hori- Photo of our Thanks to our assistant editors versary of opening night for zons is online at www.aiaa- next editor Don Kulba, Jon Berndt, Robert the movie 2001: A Space Od- houston.org/horizons. You can Beremand, and Dr. Rattaya yssey. Opening night was always contact us at edi- “Chow” Yalamanchili. Our April 6, 1968. Al Jackson was [email protected]. section’s council of 45 people in touch with Mr. Clarke by e- Below: this plaque is on helps with our newsletter, too, mail to work on nominating display at NASA/JSC’s but special thanks go to these someone as an AIAA Fellow. Rocket Park, outdoors near assistant editors. If you like to Mr. Clarke was an AIAA Hon- the nose of the Saturn V orary Fellow. Mr. Clarke rocket. agreed to help as a reference for that nomination. After Mr. Houston’s second AIAA Clarke died on March 19, Historic Aerospace Site is 2008, at age 90, our editors the 1940 Air Terminal decided to devote this issue of Building at Hobby Airport. Horizons to him as much as A ceremony to unveil its possible. plaque will take place late this 2008 calendar year or Our French sister section in early next year at the mu- Toulouse (AAAF TMP) pro- seum at Hobby Airport duced an article about light (www.1940airterminal.org). pollution for their newsletter, la Gazette. This article was created with our newsletter in mind, too, so it is included here now that I worked on its translation. That translation work was a good education for me. We thank its author, Mi- chel Bonavitacola, and Mr. Philippe Mairet, who brought us together. Our next editor has probably been identified already, and we thank him in advance. Dur- ing this transition period, I enjoy being acting editor, but I need less computer work in my life, not more. This issue will be online by April 25, 2008, followed by our last issue of our AIAA year on June 25, 2008. We will then return to a quarterly schedule. We will look into printing a shorter version of this issue on AIAA Houston Horizons April 2008 Page 3 Page 4 Chair’s Corner DOUGLAS YAZELL, AIAA HOUSTON SECTION CHAIR Our AIAA year is winding down, year. Its leader is our section’s of that annual conference. AIAA and it will end on June 30, 2008, secretary Sarah Shull, who recently Houston Section space operations preceded by a few busy weeks. We returned to our section after taking technical committee chair BeBe will end the year by ensuring our an educational leave of absence Kelly-Serrato attended that confer- section’s annual report is submit- from her job to earn her masters ence and asked one of their most ted at www.aiaa.org by June 30. degree from MIT. We have 30 popular speakers to speak at a On June 25, 2008, our year’s last papers in the competition and about lunch-and-learn at NASA/Johnson issue of Horizons will 85 students attending. Volunteers Space Center during the confer- go online at include about 30 online judges and ence next year, and he agreed, so www.aiaa- 12 oral judges, as well as Linda we are working to build on that houston.org/horizons, Phonharath, our college and co-op beginning. then we will return to chair. SPC 2008 takes place April a quarterly schedule. 18 and 19, 2008, at the Gilruth Our events during that busy week AIAA Distinguished Center and Space Center Houston. were: Lecturer Roger Corporate sponsors are helping Launius of the Smith- greatly to make this event a big Monday, March 10, 2008: lunch- sonian Institute will success. and-learn by Dr. Mark Adler/JPL, be our dinner meeting Mars rovers Spirit & Opportunity speaker on Tuesday, In our next issue of Horizons we June 10, 2008, proba- will report on Yuri’s Night Houston Tuesday, March 11, 2008: dinner bly speaking about, “Key Turning (www.yurisnighthouston.net), led meeting with John Frassanito & Points in the History of the Space in Houston by the American Astro- Associates Age”. That’s our annual honors & nautical Society and co-sponsored awards dinner meeting. by AIAA Houston Section. Local Wednesday, March 12, 2008: communities such as Nassau Bay lunch-and-learn by Nazareth Our section’s Annual Technical invited Bay Area Rally, a big mo- Bedrossian/Draper, Sailing the Symposium will be Friday, May 9, torcycle rally, into Space Center Space Station with Zero- 2008, at the NASA/JSC Gilruth Houston for a few days in order to Propulsive Maneuver (ZPM) Guid- Center (no badges stimulate local businesses during a ance required). The morn- slow season. While the rally was ing keynote speaker there for a few days, our event of Thursday, March 13, 2008: co- will be Wayne Hale/ Saturday, April 12, 2008, was a sponsoring the first of the Space NASA-JSC, who very nice fit to add on to their Center Lecture Series: see recently directed event. SpaceCenterLectureSeries.com space shuttle launches. The lunch- The week of Monday, March 10, The children from Satori School eon keynote speaker 2008, saw us with four events in who attended our March 10 lunch- will be someone four days, two of which took place and-learn about the Mars rovers from the NASA/JSC that week because the speakers participated in the January 2008 lunar lander program were in town for the Lunar and Mars rover competition, a Univer- office. Professor Planetary Science Conference. sity of Houston event that our Daniele Mortari of AIAA Houston Section co- Students from Satori School section supports. Texas A&M University plans to sponsored the last of those 4 events, wrote letters to AIAA and Dr.