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Home , Joe Engle, Lunar Module Eagle, Neil Armstrong, Test pilot

X-Press March 2014 National Aeronautics and Administration

Volume 56 Number 2 March 2014

NeilNeil A.A. Neil A. Hugh L. Dryden Honoring the Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Armstrong Center and the Hugh L. Dryden Aeronautical Test Armstrong Range FlightFlight ResearchResearch CenterCenter

X-Press Editor: Jay Levine NASA Chief, Address: P.O. Box 273, Building 4839 Jacobs Technology, 661-276-3459 Strategic Communications: Edwards, CA 93523-0273 Kevin Rohrer Phone: 661-276-3449 Managing Editor: FAX: 661-276-3566 Steve Lighthill, NASA www..gov/ X-Press March 2014 March 2014 3

Index Armstrong: From Wapakoneta, It’s a time of change, , to the , 4

Flying a big part of Armstrong’s life, 5 but not of our vision, Dryden: Separating the real from the imagined, 6

Reaction Control System, 8 mission or values

Apollo 11: First steps on the Now is a time for change. It also is an opportunity to recommit to our existing vision, mission and moon, 10 values. President signed congressional resolution H.R. 667 Jan. 16 changing the name of Dyna-Soar, 12 the Hugh L. Dryden Flight Research Center to the Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center. This change is an immense honor for our center. was the first man to stand on the moon – The Range, 14 he was also an engineer and a research at this center. While we are changing our name, we will continue to celebrate Dryden’s legacy. The center’s Range support detailed, 16 Western Aeronautical Test Range will be renamed in his honor. Dryden was the director of the Center name changes not National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics from 1949 to 1958 and the first deputy administrator uncommon, 17 for NASA until his death in 1965. Dryden, when asked about the value of flight research with respect to the X-15 program, stated Digital Fly By Wire, 18 that the purpose is, “to separate the real from the imagined and make known the overlooked and unexpected.” To that end, our vision will remain – to separate the real from the imagined through flight. And our mission will remain – advancing technology and science through flight. Cover photo We will recommit to our core values of safety, excellence, teamwork and integrity in all that we do. Center overview by Throughout our history with the NACA and NASA, our ties to the agency and our sources of Carla Thomas, funding have changed and evolved over time. But regardless of the changes the work that we do has ED01-0264-14 remained constant as we fulfill a national need with our capabilities and competencies. Our role remains in the integration of complex flight systems and their safe test and flight operations. Though we have diversified from our core aeronautics base, the work we continue to do in science and space exploration utilizes our ability to understand problems and the connection to flight, to understand the vehicle and to safely clear the flight envelope. As of March 1, we are working on the transition for the name changes to celebrate these two great men. We, as the Dryden – and now the Armstrong – team, have the ability to make complex flight systems work safely. That will not change.

David McBride Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center director

Armstrong Director David McBride talks to U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy at the Board of Trade Outlook Conference. It was announced at the conference when the name changes would be official. ED14-0049-58 The background photo of adminis- NASA/Tom Tschida trative Building 4800 and the X-1E research is by Carla Thomas, ED07-0296-14.

ED14-0049-58 NASA/Tom Tschida X-Press March 2014 March 2014 5 Flying a big part Armstrong’s life Peter Merlin more than 2,450 flight hours Armstrong Public Affairs during his seven years at the center, When Neil Armstrong joined part of the more than 6,000 hours the National Advisory Committee he recorded in piloting more than Armstrong for Aeronautics (NACA), NASA’s 200 aircraft. predecessor, in 1955, he was already After joining the corps an accomplished aviator. Armstrong at the Manned Center From Wapakoneta, Ohio, to the moon was fascinated with aviation from (now NASA’s Johnson Space an early age, experiencing flight for Center) in Houston, Armstrong Neil A. Armstrong, the first step on its surface. the first time at age 5, when he was flew the Northrop T-38A Talon and man to walk on the moon, was Armstrong subsequently held taken for a ride in a Ford Tri-Motor. the Bell Aerosystems Lunar Landing born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, the position of deputy associate At 15 he was taking flying lessons Training Vehicle. Following his on Aug. 5, 1930. He began his administrator for aeronautics NASA at a small airport near his home in NASA career he continued to fly NASA career in Ohio. at NASA headquarters in Wapakoneta, Ohio, and obtained his numerous aircraft from sailplanes Neil Armstrong is pictured at his desk in the pilots’ office in 1960. After serving as a naval aviator Washington, D.C. In that private pilot’s license at 16. to the supersonic B-1B bomber. In from 1949 to 1952, Armstrong position, he was responsible While studying aeronautical 1979 he participated in five record- joined the National Advisory for the coordination and engineering at on setting flights in a Gates Learjet. Committee for Aeronautics, management of overall NASA a Naval scholarship, Armstrong was With the NACA and NASA at or NACA, in 1955. His first research and technology work called to active duty by the Navy in Edwards, he flew the following assignment was with the related to aeronautics. 1949, earning his wings flying jets. types of aircraft: NACA Lewis Flight Propulsion He was a professor of aerospace He deployed to Korea with a naval Laboratory (now NASA Glenn engineering at the University of fighter squadron in 1951 and flew Experimental Research Aircraft Research Center) in . in Ohio between 1971 78 combat missions in an F9F-2 – Bell X-5, Bell X-1B, North For the next two decades, he was and 1979. Between 1982 and Panther from the U.S.S. Essex. American Aviation X-15, NASA an engineer, test pilot, astronaut 1992, Armstrong was chairman Armstrong joined the NACA at Paraglider Research Vehicle and administrator for the NACA of Computing Technologies for what was then known as the Lewis (Parasev), Lockheed NT-33A and its successor agency, the Aviation Inc., Charlottesville, Va. Flight Propulsion Laboratory (now Variable Stability Trainer, Convair National Aeronautics and Space He received an aeronautical the NASA ) NC-131B Flying Simulator Administration. engineering degree from Purdue upon his discharge from the Navy. As a research pilot at the University and an aerospace A few months later, he transferred Fighters – Convair F-102, NACA High Speed Flight engineering master’s degree to the NACA’s High-Speed Flight Convair F-106, Douglas F5D-1, Station – now renamed in his from the University of Southern NASA Station at , Lockheed F-104, North American honor – he was a project pilot . He held honorary serving as an aeronautical research Aviation F-86D, North American Neil Armstrong, from left, and Bill Dana pose in front of a on many pioneering high-speed doctorates from a number of scientist and then as a test pilot at McCall painting at the center. Armstrong and Engle were here to Aviation F-100, McDonnell F-4, aircraft, including the X-15 universities. honor Dana, who in 2005 received his astronaut wings for reaching the the facility that would one day bear McDonnell F-101, Republic rocket plane. During his life he Armstrong was a fellow of the edge of space in the rocket-powered X-15. his name, before joining the NASA F-105, flew more than 200 different Society of Experimental Test astronaut corps in 1962. F-51. models of aircraft, including Pilots and the Royal Aeronautical in 1986 and as chairman of the Royal Geographic Society’s While at the station, which was jets, rockets, helicopters and Society; honorary fellow of the Presidential Advisory Gold Medal; the Federation renamed the Flight Research Center Bombers – Boeing B-47, Boeing gliders. the American Institute of Committee for the Peace Aeronautique Internationale’s in 1959, Armstrong flew 48 different B-29 Armstrong joined the Aeronautics and Astronautics and Corps from 1971-1973. Gold Space Medal; the experimental research, astronaut corps in 1962. He was the International Astronautics Seventeen countries American Astronautical and mission support aircraft. He Trainers – Cessna T-37, Lockheed assigned as command pilot for Federation. decorated Armstrong. His Society Flight Achievement performed stability and control T-33 the mission. Gemini He was a member of special honors included the Award; the Robert J. Collier research, flew chase and support 8 was launched on March 16, the National Academy of Presidential Medal of Freedom; Trophy; the AIAA Astronautics missions, and developed a technique Transports – Douglas C-47, 1966, and Armstrong performed Engineering and the Academy the ; Award; the Octave Chanute for surviving a launch mishap in an Beechcraft C-45, Boeing KC-135 the first docking of two vehicles of the Kingdom of Morocco. the Congressional Space Award and the John J. experimental space plane. He flew a in space. He served as a member of wide variety of conventional aircraft, General Aviation – Cessna L-19 NASA Medal of Honor; the Explorers Montgomery Award. As spacecraft commander for the National Commission on Club Medal; the Robert H. Armstrong passed away but he is better known for his seven Bird Dog, Piper PA-23 Apache, 11, the first manned lunar Before he was accepted as an astronaut and went to the moon, Armstrong Space from 1985-1986, as vice- Goddard Memorial Trophy; on Aug. 25, 2012, following research missions in the rocket- Lockheed JetStar landing mission, Armstrong was a research pilot here. One of the aircraft he flew was the rocket-powered chairman of the Presidential the NASA Distinguished complications resulting from powered X-15, reaching speeds in became the first man to land a X-15 research vehicle. He is seen climbing the stairs to enter the X-15 for Commission on the Space Service Medal; the Harmon cardiovascular procedures. He excess of Mach 5 and altitudes above Helicopters – Hiller H-23, craft on the moon and first to a flight. Shuttle Challenger Accident International Aviation Trophy; was 82. 207,000 feet. He eventually amassed Piasecki H-21 X-Press March 2014 March 2014 7

In 1946 Dryden became assistant director of the Navy’s ordinance bureau, followed in six months by his appointment as associate director. Within another six months, he was selected to succeed George W. Lewis as the NACA’s director of aeronautical Dryden research. The former Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory was named for him and the NASA facility is now called the Glenn Research Separating the real from the imagined Center. By 1949 Dryden had become By Christian Gelzer Section. In 1935 he was one of three the first person to hold the new Armstrong historian Americans invited to participate in position of director of the NACA. The Hugh L. Dryden Aeronautical the Fifth Volta Congress in Rome. Then, the NACA had about 6,000 Test Range is named for a man Eastman Jacobs, of the NACA’s personnel in major facilities at the who was one of America’s most Langley Aeronautical Memorial Ames, Lewis, and Langley research prominent aeronautical engineers. Laboratory, and Theodore von laboratories, at Wallops Island, Va., Dryden was a driving force for Kármán were the other two. and at what was then the High- aeronautics, the National Advisory The Volta Congresses gathered Speed Flight Research Station at Committee for Aeronautics, or extraordinary minds for Muroc, Calif., now known as the NACA, NASA and the agency’s presentations and discussions. The Armstrong Flight Research Center. fifth congress focused on high plan to go to the moon. Gorn described Dryden as, NACA Of significance to Neil A. speeds in Aviation and drew 38 “perhaps the most influential Armstrong Flight Research Center of the world’s greatest minds in civilian figure in American flight NACA Director Hugh L. Dryden presented the NACA Exceptional Service Medal to the flight and ground crew of the employees, during Dryden’s career the field, including Jacob Ackert, research,” a characterization that X-1A rocket plane research project at the NACA High Speed Flight Station on Nov. 26, 1956. From left are Dryden, he approved of the establishment Ludwig Prandtl, Geoffrey Ingram held fast until the end of his life. X-1A research pilot Joe Walker, B-29 mothership pilot Stan Butchart and X-1A crew chief Richard Payne. of a permanent aeronautics center Taylor and Adolf Busemann. From the start of his tenure he here. In 1938 Dryden was invited to saw the need for – and followed The launch of Sputnik alarmed association with the NACA was Dryden became NASA’s revered From an early age it was clear present the Wilbur Wright Lecture through on the delivery of – neither Dryden nor his immediate more than Congress could accept elder statesman of science and that Dryden was extraordinary. He at the Institute of Aeronautical new facilities for supersonic and colleagues. This may not have when it came to selection of the shared with the administrator the entered Johns Hopkins University Sciences. He read, “Turbulence and hypersonic as well as high altitude been to his benefit in the end, new administrator. That job went management of a multi-billion when he was 14, graduated with the Boundary Layer,” a summary of research and the participation in however, at a time when hysteria to T. Keith Glennan, then president dollar program to develop space honors three years later and earned the research to that point, including such research with a raft of new swept the nation. That wasof Case Institute of Technology – vehicles, advance space-related a master’s degree in physics at the his own work. The onset of World and exotic aircraft. particularly true with the launch who accepted the job only on the sciences, enable humans to travel age of 17. He took a job at the War II brought Dryden new Many of the aircraft were flown of Sputnik II barely a month after condition that Dryden would be out to the moon and back and National Bureau of Standards, responsibilities in both research from the flight research center that the first satellite went up. Many his deputy. Despite relegation to carry out extensive aeronautical or NBS, then one of only three and leadership and he eventually shared Dryden’s name for more looked for someone to blame: a less prominent position, Dryden research. Dryden also served as federally funded research agencies led the Navy’s Bureau of Ordinance than 30 years. One of the most Dryden seemed an ideal culprit. remained unwavering in support chief U.S. negotiator for early in the U. S. Dryden continued Experimental Unit. There, his famous of these aircraft was the It did not help that he remained for both aeronautics and space and historic agreements with the taking additional graduate courses group successfully developed the North American Aviation X-15. unflappable in the face of all this; understood well the importance on the peaceful use at Johns Hopkins in fluid dynamics Bat, an aircraft-launched gravity An air-launched rocket plane so did President Eisenhower, but that going to the moon and back of space. NACA and earned his doctorate in applied bomb capable of self-correction designed to reach 200,000 feet the blame could be more easily represented, even when others Dryden succumbed to illness in physics at 20 years old in 1919 Hugh L. Dryden was a key figure in Aeronautics research and a driving force in flight, or a guided missile. The and hypersonic speeds, the three fixed on Dryden. The president around him saw it with less vision. December 1965. President Lyndon to become one of the youngest behind the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, or NACA, NASA Bat was the only American guided X-15A research vehicles eventually only reluctantly gave into Dryden said in the early : Johnson, long an admirer of Dryden, students to ever to receive such a and the plans for the moon mission. This image shows Dryden when he was missile used in combat during reached Mach 6.7 and 354,200 pressure from a host of special “It is important to realize that the stated publicly: “Whenever the first degree from that institution. serving as director of the NACA. the war, which was credited with feet. It became the first vehicle to interests for some visible reaction real values and purposes are not American space man sets foot on Dryden soon became head of the sinking several enemy vessels. exit Earth’s atmosphere, fly back to the Sputniks, and signed in the mere accomplishment of the moon or finds a new trail to a Aerodynamics division of the NBS of Dryden’s work in the mid-1920s aircraft then flying could reach less Starting in late 1945 Dryden joined to a landing, and fly back again legislation creating a new agency a man setting foot on the moon, new star, he will know that Hugh where “he and [Dr. Lyman] Briggs investigated airfoil characteristics than 300 mph. His data was used von Kármán in Europe where, now to space during the flight research to lead the nation’s response, the but rather in the great cooperative Dryden was one of those who gave obtained the first U.S. wind-tunnel at air speeds at and just beyond by the NACA and contributed to wearing military uniforms, they program from 1959 through 1968. National Aeronautics and Space national effort in the development him knowledge and illumination.” data showing lift and drag for the speed of sound. Dryden also development of the laminar flow were part of advance teams visiting During a preliminary review of Administration. NASA unfolded of science and technology which The center once named for Dryden airfoils above the speed of sound,” is credited with coining the word wings used on the famed P-51 recently uncovered flight research that program in 1956, Dryden from the NACA in October 1958. is stimulated by this goal. This now is named for Neil Armstrong, wrote former center historian transonic to describe airflow at Mustang fighter of World War II. laboratories. For his meticulous laid out the X-15’s purpose: “… to Although Dryden was national enterprise … is an activity the first human to set foot on the Michael Gorn. It helped establish speeds approaching Mach 1, or By 1934 Dryden was named and laborious work documenting separate the real from the imagined instrumental in its creation, of critical impact on the future of moon and an immediate benefactor the young man’s reputation in the about 600 to 761 mph depending chief of the Mechanics and Sound their discoveries, Dryden was problems [of hypersonic flight] and should be credited as one this nation as an industrial and of much of Dryden’s knowledge field, but it also portended his on altitude, temperature and Division of the NBS, which awarded the National Medal of and to make known the overlooked of the forces ensuring it be a military power and as a leader of in aeronautics, hypersonics and leadership as well, he added. Some atmospheric conditions. The fastest included his own Aerodynamics Freedom. and the unexpected problems.” civilian agency that emerged, his the free world.” . X-Press March 2014 March 2014 9

tion of the Iron Cross simulator late in 1956, two long steel I-beams balanced on a universal joint and ballasted to the same inertial ratios as the X-1B. The center of gravity was at the pivot point while the Reaction “cockpit” was located a similar distance from the center of gravity as the X-1B’s cockpit. The pilot’s seat was perched on the I-beam. The pilot had a heading indicator, an artificial horizon and a sideslip indicator. Control came from nitrogen jets mounted in opposing pairs: two pointing up and down (for pitch control), two more pointing right and left (for yaw control) – all on the rear arm of the Iron Cross; Control two roll jets, pointing up and down, mounted on the right arm. At the end of each arm was a crash bar, a steel strip with a skid at its end to keep the Iron Cross from pranging on the hangar floor. Stan Butchart and the other High Speed Flight Station pilots be- gan flying the Iron Cross, among them a relatively new member to the pilot’s group, Neil A. Armstrong. In time the engineers had an System aluminum box added to the cockpit, eliminating visual cues so the pilots could only fly on instruments. But if they were to go beyond the theoretical they would have to put their idea onto an airplane. Keeping control of an NACA They selected the Bell X-1B, a second-generation design that used the same wing, horizontal tail and XLR11 rocket engine as the first Neil A. Armstrong pilots the Iron Cross simulator in 1956. NACA generation X-1 rocket plane, but with a fuselage just over four-and-a- aircraft at the edge of The Iron Cross simulator was encased to eliminate a pilot’s visual cues in order half feet longer (the maximum length that would still fit in the bomb to focus on the instrumentation. bay of the B-29 launch aircraft). Work on the X-1B’s RCS installation space required new began in February 1957, which had to be shoehorned into the aircraft chambers, then a third soon after, followed by a complete set of RCS since it wasn’t part of the initial design. A single pair of roll thrusters firings. After shutting down the final chamber Armstrong again fired thinking – enter the was mounted in the left wingtip; the yaw thrusters were in the rear all the RCS rockets. He noted that although the X-1B was flying at a fuselage, placed ahead of the tail assembly. Pitch thrusters were oddly relatively high dynamic pressure during all of the thruster firings, RCS HSFS engineering staff located: one under the forward fuselage, the other just above the rock- effectiveness was pronounced. He made a successful deadstick landing et nozzle. The thrusters were powered by 90 percent concentrated hy- on the lakebed. By Curtis Peebles drogen peroxide, forced over silver-coated stainless steel screens. The The resumption of the X-1B RCS flights was originally scheduled for Special to the X-Press hydrogen peroxide decomposed into 1,300 degree Fahrenheit steam May 28, but a preflight inspection of the aircraft found four cracks in the Reaction control systems used on the X-15, the space shuttles and that blasted out the nozzle to produce thrust. bottom of the liquid oxygen, or LOX, tank. These were welded closed. most spacecraft and satellites have their roots in the Mojave Desert. By July 1957, preparations were underway to begin the RCS re- X-rays of the LOX tank were taken on June 4, and when they were exam- Reaction control systems allow maneuvering in space and low-Earth search flights; at this point Armstrong joined Butchart as pilot on the ined, internal cracks were found again. It was time to park the airplane orbit. research project. Armstrong transferred to the HSFS from the NA- permanently and find another platform to continue testing RCS. A group of National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics engineers CA’s Lewis facility (now Glenn) in 1955 and over the next two years The choice was the F-104A, which soon became the JF-104A in rec- at the High Speed Flight Station, now known as the Armstrong Flight flew a wide range of aircraft at the facility. He had been flying the F-51 ognition of its temporary modification. Chief pilot Joe Walker made the Research Center, had an idea in 1956 to control an aircraft at the edge NACA chase plane when the X-1A exploded, had been the co-pilot on the first RCS flight on July 31, 1959, taking it to an altitude of 30,000 feet, of space. P2B-1S launch aircraft on March 22, 1956, when engine number 4 a speed of Mach 0.8. By the time the JF-104 flights were drawing to a Engineers gather in 1956 to see a Iron Cross simulation. In order to begin investigating the advanced concept, Richard lost a that then took out engines numbers three and two in close, the X-15 was beginning its early research flights. The relationship Day, Joe Weil, Donald Reisert, Wendell Stillwell and several other the process, but Armstrong had not yet flown a rocket plane. between the data collected from the JF-104 RCS flights and the final NACA engineers at the HSFS knew they would need a sophisticated Armstrong made his first X-1B flight on Aug. 15, 1957, during design of the X-15’s RCS was clear: the latter had eight yaw and pitch computer to power a flight simulator. The engineers convinced the which the number two rocket chamber failed to light after the aircraft thrusters located on the nose while two roll thrusters were positioned Air Force to acquire and maintain a Goodyear Electronic Differential was released from the launch aircraft. Despite this, he reached a speed near each wing tip. Analyzer, or GEDA, analog computer on base and allow them to use of Mach 1.32 at an altitude of 45,000 feet on the remaining three Because a failure of the RCS at high altitude would lead to the loss of it. cylinders. the X-15, the thrusters were divided into two separate, redundant sys- Day and Weil developed the simulator that featured the world’s first Armstrong’s next tests of the RCS came early in January 1958. But tems. During the JF-104 flights, a reaction augmentation system (RAS) reaction control system. RCS consisted of small thrusters that fired to there were problems getting pressure readings from either the hydro- was tested to increase the stability of the aircraft at low dynamic pressure. stabilize or redirect a vehicle in a vacuum. At that time no human had gen peroxide tank or the RCS itself. In the X-1B cockpit, nestled in North American Aviation, the X-15’s builder, proposed an RAS be added left the atmosphere. But the X-15 was on the way and the engineers the bomb bay at some 25,000 feet, he fired the thrusters. Observers to the aircraft: Armstrong and Walker flew a simulation of the RCS and knew that at its planned peak altitude – expected to be 200,000 feet (it inside the B-29 and in the chase plane confirmed they worked, and agreed that it made the simulation easier to fly. In 1963 an RAS was eventually reached 354,200 feet) – there would be such low dynamic so the crew decided to continue the mission but to launch closer to added to X-15s numbers one and two. By this time, pressure that it would effectively be in space. Reaction controls were Rogers lakebed; that way, if Armstrong was unable to start the rocket had become a reality and RCS was an essential part of every space-bound going to be essential. All this was new – what to use for fuel, how engines he could glide to a lakebed landing. vehicle. much thrust was needed, what were the effects of system lag, what was On Jan. 16 the release was made directly over the intended land- Armstrong was an integral member of the team that developed RCS the control effectiveness and even how the control stick would work. ing area and Armstrong successfully ignited the XLR11. During the from the Iron Cross onward. “If I have seen further,” said Isaac Newton, With NACA pilots in the loop, the engineers ran simulations of the climb he fired each of the six RCS thrusters in turn for one second. “it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Those who travel safely in Bell X-1B on the GEDA to see how it might look. NACA Reaching 45,000 feet, he began the pushover to level flight, flew a space do so on the shoulders of people like Butchart, Day, Weil, Reisert, Satisfied with the initial tests, the engineers saw to the construc- The X-1B reaction control system thrusters are tested in 1958. relatively low-altitude/low Mach profile, shut down two of the four Stillwell, Walker and Armstrong. X-Press March 2014 March 2014 11 First steps on the moon

Apollo 11 Neil Armstrong, and Michael Collins sat atop a V at the on July 16, 1969. The three-stage 363-foot tall rocket with 7.5 million pounds of thrust was used to propel the astronauts into space and into history. The engines fired and Apollo 11 cleared the tower. About 12 minutes later, the crew was in Earth orbit. After 1½ orbits, Apollo 11 NASA received the green light to head for Above, Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong works at an equipment storage area on the lunar the moon. Three days later the crew module. This is one of the few photos that show Armstrong during the moonwalk.Below, Armstrong was in . A day after that, is in the lunar module following his historic moonwalk. Armstrong and Aldrin climbed into the and began the descent, while Collins orbited in the . When it came time to land Eagle in the Sea of Tranquility, Armstrong improvised, manually piloting NASA NASA the ship past an area littered with Crater 308 stands out in this photo from lunar orbit. boulders. During the final seconds Above, Buzz Aldrin poses for a portrait taken by of descent, Eagle’s computer was Neil Armstrong, who can be seen reflected on the sounding alarms. Armstrong later confirmed that desolation.” They explored the visor. At left, Smoke and flames signal the opening The computer was fine – just landing was his biggest concern, surface for 2½ hours, collected of a historic journey as the clears the challenged by the big workload. saying, “the unknowns were samples and took photographs. launch pad. Below, is Aldrin’s footprint on the Aldrin noted, “Unfortunately it rampant,” and “there were just a They left behind an American moon. came up when we did not want to thousand things to worry about.” flag, a patch honoring the fallen be trying to solve these particular Once on the moon, Armstrong crew and a plaque on one problems.” was ready to make the first human of Eagle’s legs. On the plaque is, When the lunar module landed, footprint on another world. More “Here men from the planet Earth only 30 seconds of fuel remained. than half a billion people watched first set foot upon the moon. July Armstrong radioed, “Houston, on television as Armstrong climbed 1969 A.D. We came in peace for here. The Eagle has down the ladder and proclaimed: all mankind.” landed.” Mission control erupted “That’s one small step for a man, Armstrong and Aldrin blasted in celebration as the tension broke one giant leap for mankind.” off and docked with Collins in and a controller told the crew, “You Aldrin joined him and offered Columbia. got a bunch of guys about to turn a simple but powerful description Apollo, page 19 blue, we’re breathing again.” of the lunar surface: “magnificent NASA NASA NASA X-Press March 2014 March 2014 13 Peter W. Merlin was a single-seat, delta-winged fighter Armstrong Public Affairs powered by an afterburning turbojet Long before Neil Armstrong engine. Its wing planform was a earned his astronaut wings he good match to that proposed for the helped develop techniques for X-20. Most important, the Skylancer flying an advanced human crewed was equipped with that spacecraft that nearly surpassed the could fully extend and lock safely into as the first operational position at speeds in excess of 300 winged reentry vehicle. Although knots, or 345 mph. the project was cancelled before Armstrong had the opportunity to ever flying into space, lessons check out in the F5D-1 at NASA’s learned from Armstrong’s research Ames Research Center, Moffett may yet be applicable to future Field, Calif., in September 1960. In spacecraft development. a 2003 interview with biographer Two weeks after the Oct. 4, James Hansen, Armstrong described 1957, launch of Russia’s Sputnik, making several flights at Moffett the world’s first artificial satellite, Field. “I went out and fiddled with U.S. Air Force officials proposed the airplane to see what initial a bold plan to develop a delta- conditions I could get, what airspeed winged craft that would carry I could match and how soon I could astronauts into orbit atop a rocket get the gear down to produce the drag and return to Earth for a runway for the L/D that I needed.” landing like a conventional aircraft. The airplane’s flight characteristics Several disparate projects for were nearly ideal for the Dyna-Soar developing a hypersonic boost- landing simulations and throttle glide vehicle were woven together modifications made it possible into a single program called Dyna- to further lower the L/D ratio by Soar, short for dynamic soaring. reducing idle thrust from 500 pounds Its goal was to design and test a to slightly less than 200 pounds. In spacecraft that would eventually be July 1961 Armstrong performed a capable of performing space-based series of constant-speed, wings-level reconnaissance, satellite repair and gliding approaches to ascertain how maintenance, rescue or military L/D varied with airspeed. By October missions. The first phase of the he had developed an effective abort Illustration courtesy of Erik Simonsen program was to be a demonstration maneuver for use with the X-20. of related technologies during flight This illustration shows the F5D-1 simulating the profile of the X-20 He simulated launch and escape tests of a research vehicle called the Dyna-Soar. Neil Armstrong flew this profile during his days as a Dryden by making a high-speed run at research pilot. X-20. about 1,000 feet above the ground, Several major aircraft work took place in ground- the cockpit windows to withstand then pulling up into a steep climb manufacturers submitted design based simulators, he also flew a the expected environmental to 7,000 feet. While in a vertical proposals with Boeing ultimately series of subsonic maneuvers in conditions during launch and attitude, he chopped the throttle to selected as the winning contractor. a delta-winged F5D-1 Skylancer re-entry. Thermal-structuralidle and extended the speed brakes. The Air Force was responsible for to simulate typical off-the-pad considerations dictated that As his velocity bled off to 260 knots overall direction and funding, escape and landing maneuvers. window areas be minimized, thus Armstrong pulled back on the The X-20 was and NASA agreed to provide The X-20 design waslimiting the pilot’s view of his control stick until the aircraft went technical advice and assistance. optimized for hypersonic flight surroundings, a potential problem inverted and extended the landing never built, but One important aspect of this at high altitudes and had a very during the critical final moments gear. He then rolled into an upright, was participation by two NASA low lift-to-drag, or L/D, ratio. of the landing approach. level attitude, pushed the nose over, Neil Armstrong’s research pilots – Armstrong and In the event of a mishap during In order to simulate Dyna- accelerated to approach speed and Milton O. Thompson – on a six- launch the pilot would have to Soar flight conditions Armstrong landed on a specially marked airstrip member pilot-engineer consulting separate the craft from its launch initially drew upon his experience on Rogers Dry Lake. work on the F5D-1 group that helped develop Dyna- vehicle, transition from vertical flying low L/D approaches in a Armstrong repeated the maneuver

Dyna-Soar Soar flight control systems and to horizontal flight and glide delta-winged F-102 jet fighter. numerous times using different that simulated it piloting techniques. to a safe landing on the nearest Although the Flight Research speed and altitude combinations to Armstrong was tasked with available contingency runway. Center, now the Armstrong simulate a variety of launch escape was a success working on the cockpit layout, The low L/D severely limited Flight Research Center, had an scenarios and four other NASA and and with devising procedures for the unpowered craft’s range, F-102 it was soon to be returned Air Force pilots took turns evaluating use with a launch escape system particularly at low altitudes. to the Air Force, but two Navy his technique. During most of these in case of an emergency shortly Further complicating the pilot’s Skylancers had recently become Illistration courtesy of Erik Simonsen after liftoff. While much of this task was the necessity to design available to NASA. The F5D-1 Dyna-Soar, page 19 X-Press March 2014 March 2014 15

By Jay Levine and aircraft safety during missions, X-Press editor which is especially important during It’s not something people envelope expansion flights. consciously think about every day “The researchers need to be able as they drive past the antenna farm, to see the data after their flight so communication buildings and they can analyze that data and create telemetry dishes near the entrance reports and write technical papers,” to the center. Burkes said. It’s not even in focus walking A lot of coordination is critical with past the control rooms, or looking project staff and instrumentation up before walking into work and engineers. Communication also is seeing the latest in flight research important with the Air Force and projects cruising across the sky. the base control tower to ensure However, NASA’s Hugh L. frequencies are approved to transmit Dryden Aeronautical Test Range, the data. formerly known as the Western Another important and sometimes Aeronautical Test Range, supports challenging part of the range’s everything that flies from here, work is determining the customer’s said Darryl Burkes, range project requirements. manager. “Sometimes the requirements are at The range assets also are used to a very high level and we have to assist assist a number of Air Force research with details to build up the range or sorties with voice communications, control rooms to support mission long-range optics and . The objectives,” he added. range also provides communication For Burkes, the best part of his in space between Earth and the job is easy to identify: “I like to see International Space Station, the ED13-0365-07 NASA/Tom Tschida it all come together and to see the Russian Soyuz spacecraft on flights occur. It’s encouraging to see multi-nation missions and NASA’s Communications technician Richard Batchelor, top, and team lead Mike our support lead to some fantastic commercial partners on missions to Yettaw of Dryden’s Range Operations Branch use a complex array of equip- research objective being met to fly resupply the orbiting space station. ment to monitor and relay data telemetry to and from the International what others only imagine. It’s the The range is located at the Neil A. Space Station and voice communications with its crew. great part about working here.” Armstrong Flight Research Center, The recent Sierra formerly was known as the Dryden Corporation Dream Chaser captive Flight Research Center, and is a carry and release from a helicopter at part of the Edwards Air Force Base Armstrong is a solid example of how complex. ED13-0303-04 NASA/Ken Ulbrich many of the range’s assets are put to Although the control rooms use on a single project. The full moon shines above the Hugh L. Dryden Aeronautical Test Range Communications Facility. and communication assets are the “Dream Chaser used most of the most visible signs of the range’s range’s assets such as the fixed and operations, most of the work is mobile telemetry systems, radar behind the scenes. systems, video systems, fixed and “We do everything from mobile control rooms and range collecting the initial requirements, safety systems to support numerous to determining what’s required of ground tests, captive carry tests and the range, what systems they need free flight,” Burkes said. to use and if we need to develop The range staff also is looking The Range new displays in the control room forward to the challenges of the for them. Sometimes we have to upcoming Adaptive Compliant complete range upgrades to the ED13-0126-1 NASA/Tom Tschida Trailing Edge flap project on the The Hugh L. Dryden Aeronautical Test systems to meet the customer’s Gulfstream-III research aircraft. The requirements, or software upgrades The gold control room is active during a flight of the the center’s Gulfstream- experimental flight research project Range supports everything that flies here, to the MCC (mission control III Adaptive Compliant Trailing Edge flap test bed aircraft. for the Aeronautics Research Mission center) processing.” Directorate is expected to fly near the the Air Force and space communications There is a lot of setup time to end of 2014. make sure everything is working sources in various formats to a The researchers need to be That project is a joint effort before the mission actually occurs, single, time-correlated, composite able to monitor real-time data of NASA and the U.S. Air Force Burkes said. Another key function stream for processing, distribution, to gain clearance to proceed Research Laboratory to determine is ensuring the systems data is real-time display and archival with flight maneuvers. The acquired and merged from multiple storage. MCC works to ensure pilot Range, page 16 X-Press March 2014 March 2014 17 Range... from page 15 Center name changes not uncommon if advanced flexible trailing- engineers, technicians, pilots and National Aeronautics and Space organizations were consolidated. As a edge flaps can improve aircraft Peter Merlin Armstrong Public Affairs administrative personnel assigned Administration on Oct. 1, 1958, result, the center lost its independent aerodynamic efficiency and reduce Although the redesignation of to test the Bell X-1, the first mandated a simple name change status and became the Ames-Dryden airport-area noise. NASA’s Dryden Flight Research supersonic airplane. to the NASA High-Speed Flight Flight Research Facility under the An average project for the range Center as the Armstrong Flight The remote desert post was Station. A much more significant management of NASA’s Ames takes three to six months to plan, Research Center may take some initially intended to be temporary change on Sept. 27, 1959, Research Center at Moffett Field, depending on the complexity. getting used to for long-time but on Sept. 7, 1947, NACA amended the name to the NASA Calif., on Oct. 1, 1981. However, for Burkes several past employees, it is hardly a unique director of aeronautical research Flight Research Center, elevating This institutional pairing ended on projects come to mind for their event. In fact, the center has Hugh L. Dryden officiallythe facility to full center status March 1, 1994, when Dryden Flight excitement and challenges. Two undergone no fewer than 10 name established a permanent facility and reflecting the broader scope Research Center once again became hypersonic X-43A vehicles on two changes since it was first established named the NACA Muroc Flight of aeronautical research being independent. NASA administrator separate flights were air launched by the National Advisory Committee Test Unit. For the next two years undertaken there. Dan Goldin explained that this change successfully from a rocket released for Aeronautics (NACA), NASA’s it was managed by Langley until On March 26, 1976, it was reflected the agency’s commitment from the NB-52B in 2004. The predecessor, on Sept. 30, 1946. becoming independent on Nov. formally named the NASA Hugh L. to reduce layers of management and Orion launch abort system test The facility had humble14, 1949, at which time it was Dryden Flight Research Center in empower organizations to better carry on the Pad Abort-1 rocket flew beginnings as a detachment of renamed the NACA High-Speed honor of Hugh Dryden’s substantial out their missions. from the U.S. Army White Sands the NACA Langley Memorial Flight Research Station. contributions to aeronautics and Exactly two decades later on March Missile Range in 2010. Aeronautical Laboratory in Increasing numbers of projects his efforts to transform the former 1, 2014, NASA redesignated the The X-43A project researched an Hampton, Va., that was deployed and personnel necessitated NACA into the core of the new center as the Neil A. Armstrong Flight integrated supersonic combustion to Muroc Army Air Field (now relocating the entire facility agency, ensuring that NASA would Research Center and the center’s ramjet, or scramjet, engine that Edwards Air Force Base) at Rogers to the northern end of the become a worldwide leader in air test range as the Hugh L. Dryden propelled the aircraft to two speed Dry Lake in the heart of California’s lakebed. The new location was and space exploration. Aeronautical Test Range, honoring records – the first flight at Mach 7 Mojave Desert. The NACA Muroc inaugurated on July 1, 1954, as Five years later, in response the legacies of two men without and the second approached speeds Photo courtesy Mike Yettaw Unit was comprised of scarcely the NACA High-Speed Flight to congressional budget cuts, whom NASA as we know it today near Mach 10. more than a dozen members: Station. Establishment of the some of the agency’s aeronautics might not have existed. “Coordination and setting International Space Station. Long- use it safely,” he said. up agreements with the Point range communications are the Range personnel want their Mugu Naval Station was first. most common support to the ISS customers to succeed. Range Details... from page 16 Then scheduling operations and when spacecraft visit, including the “We are committed to meeting interfacing with Point Mugu Russian Soyuz and cargo deliveries the customer’s requirements and time data and video signals from L-, and S-bands and can transmit Enhanced Flight Termination range operates a Differential Global personnel for developing and from NASA commercial partners making sure they are successful,” support the research vehicle and relay these uplinked commands in either L- Systems transceivers. An extensive Positioning Satellite ground station testing the data links used to such as Orbital Science Corp.’s Burkes said. “We really come data to telemetry processing areas. or S-bands. The antennas track range intercommunication Digital to uplink error corrections to send telemetry data, radar data, Cygnus cargo freighter and Space together as a team to meet the The processed data are displayed targets from horizon to horizon Integrated Communication research vehicles. Downlinked GPS video and voice communications X’s Dragon spacecraft. objectives and we have the detailed at the engineering stations in and are certified for full on- Electronics System consisting information embedded in the aircraft between here and Point Mugu was The range assisted the NASA expertise to upgrade our systems. NASA’s Hugh L. Dryden the mission control center and orbit capability. Downlinked of more than 100, 24-channel- telemetry signal provides positioning necessary,” he said. 747SP Stratospheric Observatory We also are continually looking to Aeronautical Test Range, archived in a post-flight storage telemetry may be received in communication panels, links information to ground controllers. The Pad Abort-1 effort had for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, improve our capabilities, not just formerly known as the area. either analog or digital format. to multiple NASA centers, Federal Aviation Administration challenges of its own in researching with initial envelope expansion maintain them.” Western Aeronautical Test Audio communication networks Mobile operations provide extensive ground-based fiberradar data is also available in the the potential escape system for research for the telescope cavity For example, the recent Range, supports flight research support range research operations, telemetry tracking for test optics and interfaces with the RF range’s mission control center. astronauts that will travel one day door that is closed to protect the upgrade of the seven-meter, operations and low Earth- covering a broad frequency missions outside local airspace communication system. in the Orion capsule. world’s largest flying telescope triplex telemetry antenna with a orbiting missions. spectrum for transmitting and boundaries. Video “Our challenges included and opens to collect the science. C-band tracking capability will The range supplies a receiving voice communications Radar Numerous fixed and mobile the development of a mobile Before the NASA 747SP could create more options for additional comprehensive set of resources and flight termination signals for Communications Two high-accuracy, C-band camera systems acquire video operations facility, or MOF, fly missions, the aerodynamics of frequencies required for flying for controlling and monitoring unmanned aerial vehicles. Video The Radio Frequency (RF) instrumentation data for flight monitoring, safety to meet the customer’s display the door needed to be examined. research missions. of flight activities, real-time monitoring provides real-time and communications facility provides provide time-space positioning and mission control. Range video requirements. We also worked Range personnel also assist with Recent control room upgrades acquisition and reduction of recorded data for the control and more than 30 ultra-high- information on research aircraft systems include a long-range, to interface with White Sands post-flight processing of the SOFIA included new software versions, research data, and effective safety of flight test missions. frequency (UHF) transceivers, and Earth-orbiting spacecraft to broadcast-quality, high-definition Missile Range personnel for data research data. updated workstations and front communication of information 10 very-high-frequency (VHF) the test range mission control optical system providing day and connections from White Sands’ In addition to manned end processing software upgrades. to flight and ground crews. Telemetry transceivers, 2 high-frequency center. Each radar can track targets night visual and infrared coverage of systems to the MOF to allow the aircraft, the range features special These changes significantly Precision radar provides Range telemetry tracking (HF) transceivers and 2 out to a distance of 3,000 nautical local airspace. Other video systems monitoring necessary to conduct accommodations for unmanned air increased the processing tracking and space positioning systems consist of multiple Broadband (100-1,000 MHz, miles with accuracies to 0.0006 provide coverage of the flight line the numerous ground tests and Pad vehicles and systems. capabilities. High definition information on research vehicles fixed antennas at the Neil A. AM and FM) transceivers. In degrees in angle and 30 feet in ramp areas and runways. Mobile Abort-1 launch,” Burkes explained. “We have a range safety station monitors are now in the control and other targets, including Armstrong Flight Research Center addition, the facility also provides range. The radar antennas accept video vans provide coverage in When the shuttles were here for UAVs. We are making sure rooms for higher quality video. satellites. Fixed and mobile and a fleet of mobile systems for an International Space Station acquisition data in various formats, remote areas, with the capability active, the range supported they are operating safely and if they Regardless of what project telemetry antennas receive real- deployment to specified locations. emergency communications record it onsite, and provide post- to relay live-action imagery via space communications. Thathave to activate a flight termination comes next, one thing is clear – The antennas support downlinked system and 4 UHF Inter flight radar data in the appropriate microwave links to the mission Details, page 17 task continues now for the system that they have the ability to the range will be ready. telemetry and video signals in C-, Range Instrumentation Group/ engineering parameters. Thecontrol center or other facilities. X-Press March 2014 March 2014 19

Apollo... from page 11

The crew splashed down Digital Fly By Wire near Hawaii on July 24. President John F. Kennedy’s challenge was met. Men from Armstrong influence seen in modern controls Earth walked on the moon and returned safely home. By Christian Gelzer In an interview years Armstrong historian later, Armstrong praised the “I felt at home. I felt like I was flying something I was used to and it “hundreds of thousands” of was doing the things that it ought to be doing.” So said Neil Armstrong people behind the project. in 1972 during a panel discussion of Apollo astronauts when he “Every guy that’s setting up described how it felt to take control of the Eagle Lunar Module in the the tests, cranking the torque final stages of the descent to the moon’s surface in 1969. This wrench, and so on, is saying, He had trained in three simulators in preparation for that moment: man or woman, ‘If anything the Lunar Landing Training Facility at Langley Research Center in view was goes wrong here, it’s not going Hampton, Va., a giant structure from which a lunar module mockup captured to be my fault.’” from the was suspended via cables and which an astronaut flew to a landing; a In a post-flight press lunar orbit desk-based, or fixed base, simulator; and the Lunar Landing Training conference, Armstrong called prior to Vehicle, a free flying, six-degree of freedom simulator. It was the the flight “a beginning of a a moon LLTV which Armstrong credited in 1972 when he said: “I felt at new age,” while Collins talked landing. home” because it, more than any other simulator, provided him and NASA about future journeys to Mars. the other Apollo astronauts with genuine, lifelike training for landing The F-8 Digital Fly-By-Wire aircraft flew in 1972. The background image, Over the next three-and on the moon. at left, is the computer that powered the controls concept common on today’s a-half years, 10 astronauts Others who landed on the moon felt similarly. , for aircraft. followed in their footsteps. example, remarked: “In my case, there were a couple of times I had , commander to get [the LLTV] stopped and I only had 60 seconds to do it: it’s of the last Apollo mission left not a question of saying ‘reset the simulator; I blew that one.’ There the lunar surface with these is no other way you can get that confidence.” Gene Cernan, who words: “We leave as we came NASA commanded the last Apollo mission to the moon, concluded: “LLTV and, God willing, as we shall training was very valuable because it really put your tail out on the return, with peace and hope line. It was not a simulator you could make a mistake in and then for all mankind.” reset. If you made a mistake, you busted your butt, quite frankly.” What made the LLTV unique among aircraft flying in the world at that time was not merely what it did, it was its control system: three analog computers, for redundancy, that made it a pure fly-by-wire Dyna-Soar... from page 13 Fly by wire... from page 18 vehicle. There was no backup control system for emergencies. The LLTVs were more refined and capable versions of the two tests the airplane’s canopy was fitted with an amber Plexiglas the F-8 Digital Fly-By-Wire aircraft would fly with upgraded computers. earlier Lunar Landing Research Vehicles that arrived at the Flight mask, reducing the pilot’s field of vision to a comparable degree From this aircraft and the program’s technology came the first production fly- Research Center, or FRC, (now Armstrong) in 1964. During the with that of the X-20’s cockpit. While wearing a blue visor, the by-wire aircraft, the General Dynamics F-16 (albeit with analog computers). Then next 2½ years, engineers learned how to work with a pure fly-by-wire pilot could only see through the cut out portions of the mask, came airliners with elements of fly-by-wire control. Finally the first all fly-by-wire aircraft, gaining both experience and confidence in the system. By but with the visor raised the amber transparency allowed nearly airliner, the A-320, made its first flight on Feb. 22, 1987, and began service the 1970 a cluster of engineers from the center wanted to apply what they complete visibility. following year. In addition, the technology recently has migrated to automobiles had learned to a winged aircraft. They initially planned on an analog NASA On Oct. 3, 1961, Armstrong demonstrated the simulated for brakes, cruise control, accelerators and even steering systems. computer, then settled on a digital computer – but by the time FRC It is what was on the inside that counted on the F-8 Digital Fly-By-Wire X-20 launch escape maneuver for Vice President Lyndon B. But here at Dryden Flight Research Center (now Armstrong) digital fly-by-wire engineers Mel Burke and Cal Jarvis travelled to NASA headquarters to aircraft. Johnson, who was visiting Edwards Air Force Base for a special made another major contribution in connection with the Space Shuttle Program. tour. The future seemed bright for the orbital space plane and The F-8 was used to investigate a control challenge called pilot-induced oscillation appeal for project funding they still did not have a suitable computer. portable digital computers then in existence. Armstrong’s involvement with the design phase would have that first surfaced with the space shuttle prototype Enterprise on its last free- The first stop was the Office of Advanced Research and Technology, Designed in the early 1960s, the AGC was the pinnacle of its kind almost certainly assured him an opportunity to fly the craft flight landing after release from a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. A pilot- or OART, then run by none other than Neil Armstrong, who was at the time, with a total memory of 38k, of which 36k was read only. into space. induced oscillation happened when a pilot directed the computer what to do and deputy associate administrator for aeronautics. Told that they still did That’s about the memory of a modern day text document. For what the then did it again because of a lag in completing the pilot’s directions that caused not have a suitable computer, and keen to advance the transfer of engineers at the center planned it was entirely acceptable and before long Unfortunately, the Dyna-Soar was doomed to extinction. control challenges. Because Enterprise and the F-8 shared the same flight control Apollo technology from NASA to industry, Armstrong had the ideal an AGC, with the necessary display and keyboard, was on its way to Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara questioned whether computers, an IBM AP-101, Dryden engineers and pilots were able to figure it out computer, and said: “I just went to the moon and back with one.” California for installation in an F-8. the project should be funded, changing program requirements and solve the problem. Moreover, by 1970 there were several computers readily available. In May 1972 FRC pilot Gary Krier made the first flight in the caused challenges and some officials saw more promise in using “NASA expressed little interest in the idea [of DFBW],” wrote historians Richard Armstrong referred to the , or AGC, one modified airplane, which now had only a fly-by-wire control system and the less costly Gemini capsule. Finally, in December 1963, Hallion and Mike Gorn, until Armstrong, as the deputy director of OART, solved the of which operated the lunar module and and another the command no hydro-mechanical backup, a world’s first. Over the following years McNamara cancelled the Dyna-Soar program. By that time, module. Built for the by Draper Laboratories, these Armstrong had already been accepted for problem of what computer to use for the program. As sure as Armstrong’s footprints computers had the highest mean time between failure rates of any Fly by wire, page 19 and taken his first steps on a path to the moon. endure on the moon, his fingerprints are visible on modern fly-by-wire systems.