Stratolaunch Aircraft Touches Down After Its fi Rst fl Ight
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TRAJECTORIES 96 AEROPUZZLER 8 LOOKING BACK 94 Robot maker What does this plane need? Goddard’s moon treatise and more 2019Y E A R IN R E V IEW Artemis INCLUDING PAGES 16, 42, 45, 61-64, 67, 72, 75 DECEMBER 2019 | A publication of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics | aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org LAUNCHING THE FUTURE OF SPACE From launch to landing, Boeing’s CST-100 St a r line r, one of the nation’s first commercial space capsules, is paving the way for the new space age. Follow us to experience the journey. boeing.com/starliner YEAR IN REVIEW | December 2019 MORE AT aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org B:11.125” T:10.875” S:10” Astronauts Christina Koch, left, and Jessica Meir made history in October when they made the fi rst all-female spacewalk. Page 75. NASA ON THE COVER Stratolaunch, the world’s largest aircraft by wingspan, fl ew for the fi rst time in April. THE YEAR Pages 4, 33, 36. IN REVIEW The most important developments as described by AIAA’s technical, integration and outreach committees aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org | DECEMBER 2019 | 1 24–26 AUGUST 2020 NEW ORLEANS, LA CALL FOR PAPERS The AIAA Propulsion and Energy Forum is the world’s only event that showcases both aeronautics and space propulsion as well as energy technologies at a single venue. AIAA IS SOLICITING PAPERS FOR THE 2020 FORUM IN THE FOLLOWING TECHNICAL DISCIPLINES: › Additive Manufacturing for Propulsion Systems › Hybrid Rockets › Advanced Integrated Intelligent Propulsion › Inlets, Nozzles, and Propulsion Systems Controls Integration › Advanced Mechanical Components › Liquid Propulsion › Advanced Propulsion Concepts › Nuclear and Future Flight Propulsion › Advanced Vehicle Systems › Pressure Gain Combustion › Aerospace Power Systems › Propellants and Combustion › Electric Propulsion (Spacecraft) › Propulsion Education › Energetic Components and Systems › Small Satellites › Energy Conversion Technology › Solid Rockets › Energy-Efficient and Renewable Energy › Thermal Management Technology Technologies › Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Propulsion, Energy, › Fuel and Power Generation Technology and Applications › Gas Turbine Engines › AIAA/IEEE Electric Aircraft Technologies Symposium (26–28 August) › High-Speed Air-Breathing Propulsion SUBMIT AN ABSTRACT BY 11 FEBRUARY 2020 aiaa.org/propulsionenergy/cfp YEAR IN REVIEW AEROSPACE★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ AMERICA DECEMBER 2019, VOL. 57, NO. 11 Adaptive Structures............................................. 9 Materials ........................................................... 11 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Aeroacoustics .................................................... 19 MVCE................................................................. 27 Ben Iannotta Aerodynamic Decelerator Systems ..................... 31 Microgravity and Space Processes .................... 59 [email protected] Aerodynamic Measurement Technology ............. 20 Modeling and Simulation .................................. 28 ASSOCIATE EDITOR Aerospace Power Systems ................................. 45 Multidisciplinary Design Optimization............... 12 Karen Small Aerospace Traffi c Management ......................... 69 Non-Deterministic Approaches .......................... 13 [email protected] Air Transportation Systems................................ 32 Nuclear and Future Flight Propulsion ................ 53 STAFF REPORTER Cat Hofacker Aircraft Design .................................................. 33 Plasmadynamics and Lasers............................. 29 [email protected] Aircraft Operations ............................................ 34 Pressure Gain Combustion ................................ 54 EDITOR, AIAA BULLETIN Applied Aerodynamics ....................................... 21 Propellants and Combustion ............................. 55 Christine Williams Astrodynamics................................................... 22 Sensor Systems and Information Fusion............ 43 [email protected] Atmospheric Flight Mechanics .......................... 23 Small Satellite................................................... 60 EDITOR EMERITUS Balloon Systems ................................................ 35 Society and Aerospace Technology..................... 75 Jerry Grey CFD Vision 2030 ................................................ 70 Software Systems .............................................. 44 CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Communications Systems ................................. 40 Solid Rockets..................................................... 56 Robert van der Linden, Computer Systems ............................................ 41 Space Architecture ............................................ 61 Debra Werner, Frank H. Winter Design Engineering ........................................... 10 Space Automation and Robotics........................ 62 John Langford AIAA PRESIDENT Electric Propulsion ............................................ 46 Space Exploration.............................................. 72 Daniel L. Dumbacher PUBLISHER Energetic Components and Systems ................. 47 Space Logistics ................................................. 63 Rodger S. Williams DEPUTY PUBLISHER Energy Optimized Aircraft Systems.................... 71 Space Resources ............................................... 64 ADVERTISING Flight Testing .................................................... 36 Space Systems .................................................. 65 [email protected] Fluid Dynamics.................................................. 24 Space Tethers .................................................... 66 Gas Turbine Engines.......................................... 48 Space Transportation ........................................ 67 ART DIRECTION AND DESIGN Ground Testing .................................................. 25 Spacecraft Structures ....................................... 14 THOR Design Studio | thor.design Guidance, Navigation and Control..................... 26 Structural Dynamics.......................................... 15 MANUFACTURING AND DISTRIBUTION High-Speed Air-Breathing Propulsion ................ 49 Structures ......................................................... 16 Association Vision | associationvision.com History ............................................................... 74 Survivability ...................................................... 17 Hybrid Rockets .................................................. 50 Systems Engineering ......................................... 18 LETTERS AND CORRESPONDENCE HyTASP .............................................................. 37 Terrestrial Energy Systems ................................ 57 Ben Iannotta, [email protected] Inlets, Nozzles and Propulsion Systems ............. 51 Thermophysics .................................................. 30 Intelligent Systems............................................ 42 Transformational Flight ..................................... 73 Life Sciences and Systems ................................ 58 V/STOL Aircraft Systems .................................... 39 Lighter-Than-Air Systems .................................. 38 Weapon System Effectiveness ........................... 68 Liquid Propulsion .............................................. 52 Aerospace America (ISSN 0740-722X) is published monthly except in August by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., at 12700 Sunrise Valley Drive, Suite DEPARTMENTS 200 Reston, VA 20191-5807 [703-264-7500]. Subscription rate is 50% of dues for AIAA members (and is not deductible therefrom). Nonmember subscription price: U.S., $200; 4 Editor’s Notebook foreign, $220. Single copies $20 each. Postmaster: Send address changes and subscription orders to Aerospace 5 Letters America, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, at 12700 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA, 20191-5807, Attn: A.I.A.A. Customer Service. Periodical postage 7 Flight Path paid at Reston, Virginia, and at additional mailing offi ces. Copyright 2019 by the American Institute of 77 AIAA Bulletin Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., all rights reserved. The name Aerospace America is registered by the AIAA in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Offi ce. 92 Career Opportunities 8 AeroPuzzler 94 Looking Back An unsatisfactory test fl ight poses a question. Do you have the answer? 96 Trajectories aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org | DECEMBER 2019 | 3 EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK 2020 VISION The Stratolaunch aircraft touches down after its fi rst fl ight. Unfinished business Stratolaunch his year displayed a tantalizing mix of technical breakthroughs, human achievements and also vulnerability. Six months after the death of its sponsor, billionaire Paul G. Allen, the Stratolaunch aircraft became the largest plane (by wingspan) ever to fl y when pilots lifted off from Mojave Air and Space Port in California. TThe video is amazing, but wowing us isn’t why Allen, the Microsoft co-founder and self-proclaimed “Idea Man,” formed Stratolaunch Systems Corp. eight years ago. He wanted to prove that satellite launch costs could be slashed by carrying launch vehicles and satellites to an altitude of 35,000 feet and boost- ing them from there. This would prepare the way for “world-altering” satellite applications, to use the company’s words. Still unclear is whether the Stratolaunch fl ight was the start of a new way of business or something that will be remembered as an engineering feat with little long-term signifi cance, akin to the fi rst fl ight of Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose in 1947. The company issued a dryly