Volume 34, Issue 2 AIAA Houston Section www.aiaa-houston.org Summer 2009

Hubble Revisited on NASA’s 50th Anniversary

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 1 Summer 2009

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

From the Editor 3

HOUSTON Life Onboard the ISS 4

Sputnik Declassified 6 Horizons is a quarterly publication of the Houston section of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Aeros and Autos at Ellington Field 7

Dr. Steven Everett Revisiting A Direct Approach 8 Editor AIAA Historic Aerospace Site Ceremony at Hobby Fest: 1940 Air Terminal 12 Assistant Editors Douglas Yazell Jon Berndt The Future of U.S. Planetary Exploration 16 Sean Keefe Don Kulba Bob Beremand Louis Abney Our Section’s Annual Technical Symposium 2009 (ATS 2009) 18 Alan Simon International Activities 22 AIAA Houston Section Executive Council A Lunar Surface Rendezvous Architecture Proposal 28

Chad Brinkley A New Way to Stay In Touch: Facebook 29 Chair Staying Informed 29 Ellen Gillespie Sarah Shull Chair-Elect Secretary A New Light on the Moon 30

Douglas Yazell Jason Tenenbaum (Cover Story) Recollections on the Apollo Lunar Lander 33 Past Chair Treasurer Calendar 34 Nick Pantazis Sean Carter Vice-Chair, Operations Vice-Chair, Technical EAA Corner 35

Operations Technical Conference Presentations/Articles by Houston Section Members 36 Dr. Gary Turner Dr. Albert A. Jackson Melissa Gordon Dr. Zafar Taqvi Joseph Algranti, 1925-2009 38 Linda Phonharath Bebe Kelly-Serrato Munir Kundawala Bill Atwell Richard Edwards, 1933-2009 42 Dr. Doug Schwab Sheikh Ahsan Lisa Voiles William West APR Corner 44 Svetlana Hanson Paul Nielsen Cranium Cruncher 45 Jim Palmer Bob Beremand Dr. Ben Longmier Gary Brown Gabe Garrett Chet Vaughan Horizons and AIAA Houston Web Site Joel Henry Dr. Michael Lernbeck AIAA National Communications Award Winner Matthew Easterly Ludmilla Dmitriev Dr. Steven Everett Dr. Kamlesh Lulla Gary Cowan Amy Efting

Councilors

Tom Propp Natasha Rowell Donald Baker 2005 2006 2007 Rafael Munoz This newsletter is created by members of the Houston section. Opinions expressed herein other than Prerit Shah by elected Houston section officers belong solely to the authors and do not necessarily represent the Holly Feldman position of AIAA or the Houston section. Unless explicitly stated, in no way are the comments of Ansley Collins individual contributors to Horizons to be construed as necessarily the opinion or position of AIAA, Lorenn Vega-Martinez NASA, its contractors, or any other organization. Please address all newsletter correspondence to Irene Chan the Editor:[email protected] More information at http://www.aiaa-houston.org/orgchart Cover: (NASA photograph) Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins photographed the Lunar Module Eagle during a pre-landing inspection, 40 years ago this month.

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Our Professional Duty From the Editor

Featured in this issue are a style ―Lunar orbit rendez- sion. Indeed, in the June issue few of the more controversial vous‖ (LOR) for the unknown of Aerospace America, editor topics that our section has ad- complexity of a precision land- Elaine Camhi posed some rhe- dressed in some time. We get ing and surface refueling and torical questions, asking an update of the latest version resupply. In return, he claims, whether the current approach of DIRECT in an interview an increased ability to ―land to achieving the Vision for with Ross Tierney, who origi- anywhere and leave anytime‖ Space Exploration is the ap- nally conceived of this archi- is obtained. His presentation propriate one. We owe it to tecture, a "re-imagined" ver- generated some debate, both at ourselves and the general pub- sion of the National Launch the conference and after his lic to have an honest discus- System (NLS) system from subsequent seminar, as to its sion of the technical merits of 1991, and was its original pub- feasibility. any idea on the table, above lic face when it was published Ironically, the analogues to and beyond loyalty to a given in October 2006. The system the DIRECT and LSR ap- company, agency, or program. continues to generate some proaches in the initial stages of We are to ―remove our corpo- vigorous dialogue, both on the Apollo were ranked as less rate hats,‖ as Wayne Rast ad- local level within our profes- desirable than the LOR ap- vised during the ATS when sional society and more pub- proach eventually successfully describing our inputs to the licly, as version 3.0 has been executed during that program. decision making in Congress. released on the heels of its Additional proposals for alter- I am proud to have been wit- rebuttal of NASA‘s review of nate access to space with vary- ness to some intense but civil version 2.0. ing degrees of viability also discussions, and hope that they Also in this issue is a re- include a man-rated Delta IV, can continue. port of a Lunch and Learn in various Commercial Orbital Incidentally, details con- which Daniel Adamo, former Transfer Services (COTS) pro- cerning these ideas (and JSC Flight Dynamics Officer, jects, or even a shuttle-derived probably a multitude of others) expanded on his Annual Tech- vehicle. The feasibility of any have been made available to nical Symposium (ATS) pres- of these ideas has yet to be the recently convened entation proposing yet another shown. Augustine commission for alternate to the Constellation However, an ongoing dis- their review. They have also architecture. His approach cussion of the relative merits of established a website through includes a ―Lunar surface ren- these and other potential alter- which anyone can pose sug- dezvous‖ (LSR), which trades nates to Constellation is a gestions, comments or ques- the challenges of an Apollo- healthy trend for our profes- tions at http://www.nasa.gov/ Left: Artist concept of the Altair Lunar lander, courtesy of NASA.

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Event Astronaut Garrett Reisman Talks About Life Onboard the ISS During Expedition 16/17 ALAN SIMON, ASSISTANT EDITOR

Astronaut Garrett Reis- using a flashlight, plastic man (ISS Expedition Mis- pirate sword, and a stowage sions 16/17) shared his fasci- bag. Reisman also showed off nating personal perspectives his many acrobatic feats, about flying onboard the sometimes with background space shuttle and spending music from 2001: A Space three months aboard the In- Odyssey. Additionally, he ternational Space Station proved his skills performing a (ISS) during an exceptional host of eating and drinking presentation at Clear Lake‘s tricks that included gummy Congregation Shaar Hasha- fish and water blobs. lom on January 11, 2009. He Reisman‘s expectations also focused on the influence were far exceeded in every that his Jewish heritage has way during his voyage. He had on his life and career. flew with 19 different crew- Roger Weisman, a local members, including astro- "waist." The body has a grap- Above: Garrett Reisman crew space enthusiast, coordinated nauts and cosmonauts, and ple fixture at one end that can photo the presentation. developed some strong bonds be grasped by the larger Dr. Reisman began with with these individuals. He Space Station Arm, Cana- a short video of his flight launched on STS-123 in darm2 so that Dextre can be aboard the now 10-year old March 2008 and was a mem- positioned at the various ISS and followed with a se- ber of both the Expedition 16 worksites around the Space ries of still imagery. Though and 17 crews. He returned Station. The other end of the Reisman stayed busy with home in June 2008 as a mem- body has an end effector vir- important work during his ber of the STS-124 crew. tually identical to that of three-month stay, he did have Reisman was the first Canadarm2, so that the Dex- a few opportunities to do Jewish crew member on the tre can be stored on Space some fun activities. And International Space Station. Station grapple fixtures, or it those were the activities high- And as Israel celebrated its can be used as an extension Upper right: Dextre, the two- lighted for the engaged audi- 60th Independence Day in to the larger arm. Reisman armed Canadian-built manipula- ence. Perhaps never before May 2008, he sent a greeting claimed he secretly worried tor, assembled by Reisman has juggling been as intrigu- to the people of Israel. "Every that Dextre might go berserk, Below: Israel as seen from orbit ing as when demonstrated time the Station flies over the and he would not know what State of Israel, I try to find a to do. Fortunately for Reis- window, and it never fails to man, Dextre does not have a move me when I see the fa- brain, and someone like Reis- miliar outline of Israel com- man is required to operate the ing toward us from over the robot. horizon," he said. One day during his stay Dr. Reisman‘s primary onboard the station, he and responsibilities were the in- his crewmates attempted mu- stallation of the Japanese tiny from Mission Control. module (which was so large, They had formulated three it had to be carried up in three simple demands: they re- separate pieces) and assembly quired an adjustment in their of the Canadian built robot flight profile that would put called Dextre. Dextre resem- them in an east-to-west tra- bles a headless torso, fitted jectory; they required a hot with two extremely agile 3- tub; and finally, they de- meter-long arms. The 3.5- manded pizza. Fortunately meter-long body pivots at the for Mission Control, these

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demands were coincident He particularly liked the Eif- Upon his return to Earth Below: Baseballs from ceremo- with All Fool‘s Day. fel Tower in Paris; the New after more than three months nial pitch from the ISS to Yankee During the 95-day period York Yankee Stadium, with aloft, his adaptation to gravity Stadium while Reisman worked on the which he has a childhood required only several days, Space Station, various space- connection; San Francisco better than most, possibly craft docked and undocked Bay, which was absolutely because of his relatively short from his temporary home amazing; and Los Angeles, of height. Having made numer- nine times. So, his tour was which he showed an impres- ous post-flight presentations quite busy with many people sive shot. From almost 200 about his experiences, his coming and going. One of miles up, Reisman said that next trip was to Israel, on these visiting craft was the the sky and oceans no longer January 17, where he planned Jules Verne Automated seemed as vast as he once to return an Israeli Presiden- Transfer Vehicle (ATV), thought. Just before a sunrise, tial banner that was signed by which flew selected notes or as the sun would set, he the President of Israel, from the French author and commented that the Earth‘s Shimon Peres, and flown at science fiction pioneer. atmosphere was finally ob- the request of Israeli astro- Reisman explained that servable as it really is—just a naut Ilan Ramon's widow, while performing science tiny sliver. Rona Ramon. initiatives onboard, some- Interestingly, Greg Cha- Dr. Reisman was quite times he conducted experi- mitoff was Reisman‘s re- entertaining. His presentation ments, and sometimes he was placement onboard the Inter- was truly one that was clev- the experiment. Health main- national Space Station. Reis- erly crafted and appealed to tenance is a particular goal man explained that Chamitoff all ages and all backgrounds. for long duration missions, brought up bagels for him. and currently proper health He joked that, even though can only be maintained for the Russians found out about about six months. Obviously, the bagels and the Jewish a mission to Mars that would heritage shared between Reis- take at least two years is not man and Chamitoff, a po- feasible until more research grom was averted! Reisman can be performed and data also quipped about the scru- analyzed. Body mass is meas- tiny he endured before he was ured on-orbit, not by a bath- allowed to fly a Mezuzah that room scale, but by a device he placed above his sleep that measures vibrational station during his stay. (A frequency, whereby mass or Mezuzah is a small, decora- weight can be inferred. To tive case that encloses a piece stay healthy, maintain bone of parchment or paper, in- mass, and keep his muscles scribed with Hebrew verses.) tone, Reisman completed a 2- hour exercise regimen every- Above: Reisman during first STS- day, alternating between a 123 EVA treadmill, resistance devices, Left: Israeli Presidential banner and a stationary bicycle. autographed by Shimon Peres Interestingly, Reisman was wearing a LiveStrong yellow bracelet during an interview with TV personal- ity Stephen Colbert. After returning from space, Reis- man appeared as a featured guest and presented the same bracelet to Colbert in person. Dr. Reisman shared some Earth photos that had significant meaning to him.

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Film Screening Sputnik Declassified DOUGLAS YAZELL, ASSISTANT EDITOR

AIAA Houston Section fresh in his mind. Right: Souvenir postcard handed co-sponsored (according to The President initiated a out at this event the ad on our section‘s web secret study from leaders at site) this excellent event. It the Massachusetts Institute of started at 7:00 PM on Satur- Technology (MIT) to find the day, April 25, 2009, and was best way to accomplish this held at the Aurora Theater at espionage, and spy satellites 800 Aurora Street just south were the proposed solution. of the north 610 loop and just So satellites of this type were west of the I-45 freeway. An a top secret, top level priority enthusiastic crowd of about for the administration years 65 people of all ages paid $10 before the October 4, 1957 each to enjoy the reception, Sputnik launch which film screening, and Q & A stunned the world. session with writer and direc- Furthermore, the Presi- tor Rushmore ―Rush‖ De- dent‘s team concluded that stayed silent about that for Nooyer. The film is a 2007 the Soviet Union might very the rest of their lives, despite episode of the PBS Nova well claim that such a spy the bad impression so many series, ―Sputnik Declassi- satellite over their country others had of them. Shortly fied.‖ might be described by them after the end of the Eisen- The Aurora Theater is a as an act of war and an inva- hower administration, our former church which looks sion of their air space. A US country launched its first like a house from the outside. satellite of that type, or of any such secret spy satellite, Co- Pews fill most of the single type, even a civilian satellite, rona. For many years after room and provide plenty of might well have started a that, Americans had an upper seating. From 7:00 to 8:00 nuclear war initiated by the hand in treaty negotiations PM we could enjoy talking Soviet response. Every nation and related foreign policy. with each other and our guest claimed its airspace in this of honor. RealFilms manner, but how high that (www.realfilms.org) presents airspace extended had not Mr. DeNooyer interviewed such screenings of documen- been determined. the late Mr. Ernst Stuhlin- tary films twice a month Once the Soviets ger (1913 – 2008), a mem- working with Documentary launched first with Sputnik, ber of the von Braun rocket Alliance. President Eisenhower wrote engineering team in Hunts- A central theme was new in secret that they may have ville, Alabama. Rush has a information made public in done us a favor. Since the voicemail recording on his recent years about the Eisen- American government did not cell phone of Mr. Stuhlin- hower administration. He claim our airspace had been ger phoning to say that he worked in secret to keep his violated, we established the saw the show on TV and team focused on aerial spying principal that no country‘s liked it very much. Rush on the Soviet Union to know national air space extended to wants very much to save their nuclear missile and Earth orbits. that for posterity, but he rocket capabilities. The Presi- For decades, the public, has not managed to make a ‖ dent reportedly ―illegally the press and historians con- permanent recording of sent airplanes over the USSR cluded that President Eisen- that message which still to take spy photographs. He hower did not appreciate the resides on his cell phone. was convinced that all sides obvious importance of the Maybe one of our 1150 or would lose in a nuclear war. Space Race. But he and his so members can volunteer He sought the upper hand in administration simply did not to send him some instruc- treaty negotiations so that want to give away the farm tions on how to record that such a war would never start. by disclosing such top secret in a permanent format? The Pearl Harbor attack was policies. They confidently

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Aeros & Autos at Ellington Event DOUGLAS YAZELL, ASSISTANT EDITOR

Ellington Airport invited of the Houston Chapter of the the public to attend Aeros & Experimental Aircraft Asso- Autos 2009 on Saturday, May ciation (www.eaa12.org). 9. This was a family event to This was an amazing raise money for Helpinga- show for a bargain price. The hero.org and the Texas Lions lunch available for purchase Camp. The event lasted from was excellent, and the related 8:00 am to 4:00 pm and the slow-moving line which was weather was perfect. Live needlessly placed partially in music supplemented the food the hot sun is a detail that will and drinks available for pur- be easy to improve next year. chase. Admission was only I recommend this annual $5, and for those who wanted event for anyone. It‘s a great to display an automobile of example of what Houston has some kind, admission was to offer. only $25. The Kissing Sailor from Above: Cars on display the famous photograph was Below: B-17 Flying Fortress from the Lone Star Flight Mu- there, a world-famous celeb- seum rity. One or two hundred cars Bottom, left: Douglas with Richard Sessions’ LongEZ were on display, an amazing Bottom, right: Glenn McDuffie, the famous “kissing sailor” show. The US Army brought its 18-wheeler display to add to the festivities, and the Houston Police Department SWAT team displayed their amazing armored vehicle. Quite a few amazing aircraft were on display, including the B-17 from the Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston. The yellow Long-E-Z with canards near the nose and a propeller in the rear was recently purchased by Richard Sessions, President

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Report Revisiting a DIRECT Approach

In our August 2007 issue culate around the bottom of 10m diameter Core Stage of Horizons we included an the launcher, which then ex- punches a very large hole article on the DIRECT STS periences particularly high through the air, which creates derivative launch vehicle temperatures. The recirculat- a very large low-pressure concept. A lot has happened ing effect is well documented region trailing the Core - and in the intervening time, so we as "Plume-Induced Flow the hot PIFS gasses collect in thought we'd include an up- Separation" or PIFS - there is this region, b) Being 37.5% date. We asked a few ques- a famous picture of Apollo 11 larger than the current SRB's, tions of Ross Tierney — one flying which shows how the Ares-V's 5.5-segment of the "front office" people PIFS often engulfs the entire SRB's produce an awful lot who serve as the public inter- aft area of any rocket (see more hot exhaust gas to recir- face to the team. attached) - and early pictures culate, c) With 6 x RS-68B Horizons: The DIRECT of the white STS-1 External main engines, they produce a team presented DIRECT v3.0 Tank falling away clearly great deal of hot gas which at ISDC recently. Can you show the 'scorching' on the recirculates around the base explain what the major differ- aft dome, again caused by of the Core too, and d) The ences are in this new revi- PIFS. RS-68's use a gas-generator sion, and why the changes Well, the high tempera- cycle, and dump the exhaust were made? tures around the base of the from that overboard - directly Ross Tierney: Early in vehicle caused by PIFS, are into the immediate proximity 2008 the Ares-V develop- known as "Base Heating". It of the base of the vehicle, ment team encountered a seems that Ares-V's Base which contributes to even Below: Exploded diagram of serious issue with their de- Heating environment is par- greater heating. the Jupiter-246 configuration. sign where the exhaust gasses ticularly nasty, due to four In short, the Ares-V pro- from the rocket engines recir- main reasons: a) The large ject found that the Base Heat- ing environment is simply untenable for the Ablative Nozzle material which was to be utilized. The only solution is to switch to a Regenera- tively Cooled Nozzle which pumps cryogenically cooled liquid hydrogen fuel through the nozzle wall to keep it cold. The problem is that the RS-68 was never designed to use a Regen nozzle so the engine will require extensive development to integrate this new feature. DIRECT's Jupiter launchers use a fairly similar approach to Ares-V, although all Jupiters use a smaller 8.4m diameter Core Stage, smaller 4-segment SRB's and half the number of RS-68's - so our PIFS and Base Heating effects are considerably less taxing than Ares-V's. But still, this issue was serious (Continued on page 9)

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quite an impressive feat given Left: Apollo 11 launch, show- the fact that the Core Stage ing flames engulfing the aft propellant capacity has not area of the rocket due to changed. This substantially Plume Induced Flow Separa- improved performance is all tion (PIFS). due to the magic of the high- efficiency 452 sec vacuum Isp produced by the SSME. For Lunar missions, we found something even more impressive: where the older RS-68 configuration needed a very large and powerful 2- engine Upper Stage, an opti- mized SSME-based Core does not. The SSME Core Stage burns longer and pro- duces greater velocities and altitudes before staging. That leaves less work for an Upper Stage to do. And that means the Upper Stage can be made significantly smaller, lighter and doesn't have to be as (Continued from page 8) and development schedule powerful to still serve the enough to concern us. We impacts. Eliminating billions same functions. More impor- spent almost a year investi- in near-term development tantly; reducing the mass of gating alternatives because work more than makes up for the Upper Stage has massive we did not want to suddenly the few tens of millions in per impacts on Lunar TLI per- require a 6-year development -unit production cost differ- formance. For every kilogram program for the RS-68 Regen ences later. of extra mass in the Earth interfering with closing the When we completed our Departure Stage mass, you "gap" after Shuttle. We analysis, we also found a essentially lose 3 kilograms wanted a solution which we significant performance ad- of useful payload mass which could guarantee could be vantage courtesy of the can be sent through TLI. So, fielded operationally some- SSME in this configuration. not only could the tanking be where around 2012/2013. Whereas the old RS-68-based made smaller, but the pair of When we examined all Jupiter-120 could loft around heavy J-2X engines were no of the potential options we 45mT to ISS, the new SSME- longer required. We have a could think of, one stood out based Jupiter-130 can loft (Continued on page 10) head-and-shoulders above the more like 70mT, which is rest: Using the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME). Yes, they are more expensive than the RS-68, but when put into large, regular, production runs the cost is not all that different from the expected cost for the upgraded RS-68 Regen variant. There is no new development work needed for SSME and they do not require human-rating Left: STS-1 External Tank fal- work because they are al- ling away after separation, ready fully qualified for hu- showing the scorching on the man use. That significantly aft dome caused by PIFS. reduces both near-term costs

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(Continued from page 9) is a decision which we intend not work. However, upon number of different designs to leave to NASA if they review the analysis was in DIRECT v3.0's proposal, adopt DIRECT for them- deeply flawed in a lot of dif- but one which we think of as selves. ferent ways. We recently 'best' is a configuration using We really like having wrote a 100 page Rebuttal to a cluster of 6 x RL-10B-2 lots of options to choose from this analysis, identifying all engines (as used by Delta-IV) "down the road". All we of the mistakes and attempt- to make a Jupiter-246 con- really need to decide to build ing to show how they each figuration. It makes for a today is the Jupiter-130 -- negatively affected the final highly efficient (459 sec vac which is the foundation for results of that analysis. A Isp), yet very light-weight everything later. But it isn't corrected analysis has not design which also has a great urgent to decide what con- been performed by NASA at deal of engine-out capability. figuration the Upper Stage this time, although we are All of our current perform- will be. That decision could hoping that the Augustine ance analysis for these con- actually wait a few more Commission will conduct a figurations assume a worst- years. fair assessment this time. case scenario where one of Horizons: Was the DI- Horizons: At this point the six engines fails to start at RECT team contacted by the does it make any sense to all during the ascent portion Obama transition team? "change horses" to another of the launch and then a sec- Ross Tierney: We made a architecture after so much ond of the engines also fails Presentation to the Transition work has already been done? to start for the TLI burn - Team in early January. We Ross Tierney: You touch that would be a pretty bad have chosen not to comment on an extremely important scenario when you think on those discussions. point with your question, a about it, but even in that Horizons: Can you re- point which is so often over- situation, this configuration mind us of who constitutes looked by most people:- can still exceed the Constella- the DIRECT team? Today, we are currently tion Program's TLI perform- Ross Tierney: Currently on the Space Shuttle horse, ance requirements (71.1mT the DIRECT Team consists not the Ares horse. thru TLI) by more than 11% of 69 anonymous NASA/ It seems to me that Ares (79.1mT thru TLI) while Contractor engineers & man- is actually the scenario which meeting all of Constellation's agers from across the nation requires us to 'switch horses'. Ground Rules & Assump- and across the industry. They DIRECT is really just an evo- tions. This engine is already form our "back office" team lution of the current Shuttle in production today and only who do all of the serious design, not a replacement requires human-rating, which number-crunching for us. with a completely new de- we recommend be done as There are currently 9 more sign. part of a program to human- people on the team who form DIRECT plans to re-use rate the Delta-IV Heavy as a the more public "front of- most of the things which have second human launch system. fice", of which Chuck Long- already been done so far. All As I mentioned, there are ton, Steve Metschan and my- of the development teams we a variety of different Upper self are probably the best- need are currently in-place Stage configurations for Jupi- known. and are up-to-speed, so they ter which are also viable: We Horizons: Has NASA are ready to hit the ground have a Jupiter-241 which formally reviewed the Direct running on DIRECT. DI- uses a single J-2X, a Jupiter- concept? If so, what were RECT's plans still need Lock- 244 which would use a clus- their conclusions? heed Martin to build the ter of 4 x RL-60's and we Ross Tierney: NASA Orion spacecraft. Jupiter still also have a Jupiter-247 con- conducted a Performance requires an Instrumentation figuration which uses the Analysis of DIRECT v2.0 Unit, so Boeing's efforts there slightly less powerful RL- back in 2007. The results of will not go to any waste. We 10A-4-2 from the Atlas-V. that report were not published still require an Upper Stage, All offer sufficient perform- for a year, until WIRED so why not modify Boeing's ance and safety, so the decid- magazine obtained a copy of existing contract for that task ing factor really comes down the report. The report con- too? The new & refurbished to cost and schedule, and that cluded that DIRECT would (Continued on page 11)

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(Continued from page 10) discretionary budget alloca- manufacturing and all-new test stands, Launch & Mis- tion are expected over the launch infrastructure if there sion control refurbishment coming years. What this are options which can use and work already carried out means is that NASA's origi- existing equipment in all in modernizing facilities like nal plans are simply not af- those areas?". the Operations & Checkout fordable any longer. The bot- If you ask those two building at Kennedy are all tom line is that we must find questions, then factor in the facilities we intend to use just another, more affordable, political requirements to save as fully as Ares did. We even path to pursue or we will be the Shuttle workforce and the have uses for the new Launch Tower currently being con- structed for Ares-I. And if there is a political need to build the 5-segment SRB's and the J-2X engine, Jupiter can still use them later in the program - as 'upgrades'. We have constructed our proposal in order to minimize the 'waste' all throughout the program. So I would prefer to re- frame the question: Should we still plan to switch horses to Ares, or should we stay on the horse we are currently riding and focus our efforts on improving it and making it safer, more capable and more affordable? Setting technical difficul- ties with Ares aside for a mo- ment, the current architecture is actually in serious jeopardy for a variety of reasons, but primarily the problems are fiscal. When the Vision for Space Exploration was first proposed back in 2005, faced with having to give up performance requirements for Above: Exploded diagram of NASA was promised a vi- the Exploration program alto- the missions which NASA the Jupiter-130 configuration brant budget which would be gether. intends to fly, we are quite increased to the tune of bil- The most logical ways to convinced that any reason- lions of dollars per year in reduce costs are to reduce able analysis of the situation order to help pay for this new requirements. The critical will end-up following a path Vision. The agency pro- question which started DI- very similar to DIRECT's. ceeded to design an architec- RECT in the first place still That is, after all, how we put ture which fitted that prom- applies today: "Why build this proposal together in the ised budget. However, that two new launch systems if first place and it is also what extra funding never tran- you can build one which can drove NASA to precisely the spired. In real terms, NASA's do the same job?". As a cor- same conclusions in 1991 budget has actually reduced, ollary to that, I would also during the NLS program. The twice, since then. Today we add: "Why spend the extra only difference today is that find ourselves in an economy money developing any new Shuttle is going away — very which isn't what it was just launcher which requires all- soon. four years ago and even fur- new boosters, all-new stages, ther squeezes on NASA's all-new engines, all-new

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1940 Air HobbyFest 2009: AIAA Historic Aerospace Site Terminal DOUGLAS YAZELL, ASSISTANT EDITOR aircraft. As organizers dealt with flooding of more than a foot of water in some of these buildings, our ceremony was postponed a few times until we finally succeeded in scheduling it for 3:30 PM. Our AIAA liaison for historic aerospace sites, Emily Springer, was in town from Reston, Virginia, but she needed to leave by 2:00 PM to catch a flight at the Bush Intercontinental Airport north of Houston. Captain A. J. High, a lead museum volun- teer and retired commercial airline pilot, left to attend a wedding in Sugarland, but he returned during our ceremony because the roads were Hobby Fest 2009 at ing this building as an AIAA flooded (Telephone Road and Above: The 1940 Air Terminal Historic Aerospace Site. Airport Boulevard), keeping Museum Hobby Airport was a big suc- cess despite the heavy rain Our brief ceremony was us all at the museum for an (www.1940airterminal.org) in a scheduled for 1:30 PM on extra hour or two and the end photograph from 2009 which decreased attendance. Organizers guessed at a Saturday, April 18, 2009, at of the festivities of that day. crowd size of 1,000 people in the 1940 Air Terminal Mu- We quickly introduced advance if the weather was seum at Hobby Airport. The our main speaker, Mr. Ches- Below: Past Chair Douglas good, but the storm which museum presents an excellent ter A. Vaughan, Chair of our Yazell, Chair Elect Ellen Gilles- arrived was historic in its monthly program on the third AIAA Houston Section his- pie, and Chair of our History intensity, in keeping with our Saturday of each month tory committee in our techni- Committee, Chester Vaughan planned 15-minute ceremony called Wings and Wheels, as cal branch. Mr. Vaughan is (photo by David Gillespie) to unveil the plaque celebrat- described at retired from a distinguished www.1940airterminal.org. NASA career and a later 10- Once a year, this becomes an year career with The Boeing even bigger event, Hobby Company. With Mr. Drew Fest, and this year April 19 Coats (President, Houston was the date. Hobby Fest Aeronautical Heritage Soci- hours were 11:00 AM to 4:00 ety) kindly appearing with PM. The rain came and went him for this presentation, Mr. when some of us arrived at Vaughan spoke about the 11:00 AM. By noon, the rain history of AIAA and our was heavy and the winds AIAA support for this inspir- were strong. Unlike most ing restoration and museum Wings and Wheels events, project, the 1940 Air Termi- Hobby Fest was so big that nal Museum. Mr. Coats men- the lunch meals were served tioned in his remarks that in a different building, the 4th many cities erected similar building as we walked past inspiring buildings during the some hangars displaying golden age of aviation that some remarkable vintage (Continued on page 13)

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(Continued from page 12) saw the flooding on many of they were not able to pre- stretches of frontage road to serve, so Houston‘s heritage our right, parallel to the free- at this site is especially pre- way, we stopped at one point cious for Houstonians, all so that she could abandon her Americans, and people every- car on the shoulder as many where who may one day visit others had done, since she did Above, left: A handshake to symbolize the delivery of the AIAA this new museum. not think her car could pass Historic Aerospace Site plaque: Mr. Drew Coats and Mr. Chester With a final handshake as well as mine when we later Vaughan. to symbolize the delivery of came to our exit, Clear Lake this AIAA plaque, we con- City Boulevard. We changed Above: Museum and Hobby Fest 2009 volunteer Frederick Staf- cluded our ceremony. An our minds, driving to get ford was singled out from among the many volunteers for this inspiring award ceremony closer to our exit before de- award, presented by Drew Coats. Mr. Stafford provided superb followed, with a plaque given ciding about that. Flooding leadership for the last two years. He took on the renovation of the from Mr. Coats to just one of on the frontage roads was not museum’s exhibit hangar. He helped to oversee the renovation of the many volunteers making so bad near our exit, so we the Air Terminal Building and was vital to its success. He is also Hobby Fest 2009 possible. made it safely to our homes a welder and a painter when he can find the time. Museum volunteers left after an unforgettable, his- with caution one at a time toric day. Below: From a crowd of about 50 people, Mr. Coats invited mu- and phoned back to us with seum volunteers to join us for a group photo. reports of which roads were (photos by David Gillespie) open or closed due to flood- ing. When I finally left the museum to go home that night in my big SUV, a mu- seum volunteer, one of my neighbors two blocks from my home in the Houston Clear Lake area, followed me in her sedan with her dog, McDuff, a young and hand- some Bassett Hound. We took Telephone Road north all the way to the South Loop (Interstate Highway 610) where it joined with the I-45 freeway, where we took I-45 South. We kept in touch with our cell phones. When we

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 13 Page 14

AIAA Historic Aerospace Sites

Within a few days, The Smithsonian web site, http://www.airspacemag.com/snapshot/43626647.html, proudly displayed a feature about our brief event and the new AIAA Historic Aerospace Site in Houston, the 1940 Air Terminal Building at Hobby Airport.

Plaque wording: Houston Air Terminal

The 1940 Air Terminal is a beautiful and rare example of classic art deco airport architecture from the golden age of flight. De- signed by noted architect Joseph Finger, the Terminal was built to meet Houston‘s growing role as a major center for air com- merce in the 1930s. Its grand opening by the City of Houston took place on September 28, 1940, at Houston Municipal Airport, now known as Hobby Airport. The 1940 Air Terminal was a destination for early airline service from points across Texas and the United States and international service, beginning in 1948. The 1940 Air Terminal also was at the center of early business avia- tion and general aviation. Within its walls, the 1940 Air Terminal housed rapidly advancing air traffic control and meteorological technology. It served as Houston‘s primary commercial air terminal until 1954.

AIAA Historic Aerospace Sites from the history technical committee, www.aiaa.org:

1. First Aerojet Manufacturing Site, Pasadena, CA 2000 29. Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, FL 2006 2. ―The Rocket Site,‖ Edwards AFB, CA 2000 30. Patuxent River Naval Air Station, MD 2006 3. Dutch Flats Airport, San Diego, CA 2000 31. Picatinny Arsenal, NJ 2006 4. Goddard Rocket Launch Site, Auburn, MA 2000 32. Great Kills Park, Staten Island, NY 2006 5. Kitty Hawk, NC 2000 33. NASA Stennis Space Center, Bay St. Louis, MS 2007 6. Huffman Prairie, Dayton, OH 2000 34. Cincinnati Observatory, Cincinnati, Ohio 2007 7. Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards AFB, CA 2001 35. GE Re-entry Systems, Philadelphia 2007 8. Rocketdyne, Canoga Park, CA 2001 36. FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center, Atlantic City, NJ 9. Arnold Engineering Development Company, Arnold AFB, TN 2008 2001 37. 1940 Air Terminal, Hobby Airport, Houston, TX 2008 10. NASA Langley Research Center 2001 38. NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 2009 11. Allegany Ballistics Lab, Rocket Center, WV 2001 39. Rockwell/North American Industrial Site, Downey, CA 2009 12. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL 2002 40. Igor Sikorsky Airport and Vought-Sikorsky Plant, Bridgeport, CT 13. Oakland Municipal Airport, Oakland, CA 2002 2009 14. North Island Naval Air Station, San Diego, CA 2002 41. Eglin Air Force Base, FL 2009 15. The Boeing Red Barn, Seattle, WA 2002 42. Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory/Calspan, Buffalo, NY Undated 16. Pt. Mugu Naval Base, CA 2003 17. College Park Airport, College Park, MD 2003 International Sites 18. First Thiokol Manufacturing Plant, Elkton, MD 2003 1. First Balloon Launch Site, Annonay, France 2001 19. Bendix Aviation Corporation, Teterboro, NJ 2003 2. First Motorized Flight in Canada, Baddeck, Nova Scotia 2004 20. Purdue University Airport, W. Lafayette, IN 2004 3. Farnborough Research Establishment, UK 2004 21. Aeronautical Concourse of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. 4. Home of Alberto Santos Dumont, Brazil 2005 Louis, MO 2004 5. Woomera, South Australia 2007 22. Reaction Motors, Inc., Denville, NJ 2004 6. Getafe Airbase, Spain 2008 23. White Sands Missile Range, NM 2004 7. Dunsfold Aerodrome, UK 2008 24. China Lake, CA 2005 8. Honeysuckle Creek/Tidbinbilla Tracking Array, ACT, Australia 25. Travelair Airplane Manufacturing Co., Wichita, KS 2005 2009 26. NASA Johnson Space Center, TX 2005 27. Vandenburg AFB, CA 2006 Other 28. Rentschler Field, CT 2006 Tranquility Base, The Moon 2000

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 14 Page 15

Above: Views of the newly renovated rocket park at Johnson Space Center, including the Saturn V building exterior and interior

Left: Little Joe and other displays

Below: The commemorative wall on NASA Road 1 near Space Cen- ter Houston and NASA/JSC, representing the partners on the nearly -completed International Space Station.

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 15 Page 16

Dinner Meeting The Future of U.S. Planetary Exploration DOUGLAS YAZELL, ASSISTANT EDITOR

Systems Manager for the nominees. Chair Chad Brink- Mars Program, Manager of ley received a 2007-2008 the Cassini Science Planning AIAA Special Service Cita- & Operations Element, the tion for his corporate funding Galileo Deputy Sequence skills. Team Chief, and the Voyager The newly elected AIAA Science Sequence Coordina- Houston Executive Council tor for the Uranus & Neptune members in attendance were and much more. He co- introduced for the year start- authored the books Neptune: ing July 2009 – July 2010. the Planet, Rings and Satel- The new 45-person council lites and Planetary Ring Sys- (with 20 elected members) tems. He was the recipient of includes: Past Chair Chad

NASA‘s Exceptional Service Brinkley, Chair Ellen Gilles- Medal for his contributions to pie, Chair Elect Sarah Shull, the Voyager 2 Neptune En- Vice Chair Technical Satya counter and has nine NASA Pilla, Vice Chair Ops Nick Group Achievement Awards. Plantazis, Treasurer Sean Prior to the technical Carter, and Secretary Daniel presentation, the AIAA end Nobles. Our three new Coun- of year awards ceremony cilors are Shirley Brandt, took place. Sean Carter won Irene Chan, and Dr. Michael the Houston Section Out- Lembeck. standing Performance Award Dr. Wessen‘s visit to for his second year as Vice Houston started at Hobby Chair Technical and grass- Airport upon his arrival. Our Above: Dr. Randii Wessen Dr. Randii Wessen, an roots based Annual Technical Past-Chair Douglas Yazell AIAA Distinguished Lec- Symposium. Secretary Sarah took Dr. Wessen for an im- turer, was welcomed as our Shull and Programs Chair promptu guided tour of the honored guest and dinner Melissa Gordon both re- 1940 Air Terminal Museum speaker by a crowd of about ceived Apollo 40th Anniver- (www.1940airterminal.org) 50 people for our AIAA sary globes as special at the airport near one of the Houston Section‘s annual achievement work for their runways. Museum adminis- awards dinner on Friday, contributions during the year. trator Megan Lickliter was June 5, 2009, at the NASA/ Doulas Yazell and Albert our host and other VIPs such JSC Gilruth Center Alamo Jackson were introduced as as Captain A.J. High and Ballroom. this year‘s AIAA Fellow (Continued on page 17) Dr. Randii Wessen has been an employee of the Cali- fornia Institute of Technol- ogy‘s Jet Propulsion Labora- tory for twenty-five years. He is currently the Deputy Man- ager of the Project Formula- tion Office. Prior to this Dr. Right: From left to right, Dis- Wessen was the Navigator tinguished Lecturer Dr. Randii Program System Engineer. Wessen, Chair-Elect Ellen Gil- This program‘s goal is the lespie, Programs Chair Melissa detection of Earth-like plan- Gordon, and Chair Chad Brink- ets around other stars, if they ley. exist. He also was the Tele- communications & Mission

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 16 Page 17

(Continued from page 16) to Hobby Airport the next been sent to Venus, Earth, Drew Coats were there, too, morning. Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. as they prepared for their Planetary exploration is This presentation covered the annual (black tie optional) composed of a number of robotic planetary missions formal dinner which was to evolutionary missions punc- currently in operations at the take place the next evening. tuated by a few revolutionary Jet Propulsion Laboratory Dr. Wessen was able to visit ones. Planetary exploration and those planned for upcom- the AIAA Historic Aerospace has progressed into orbiter ing decades. It included de- Site plaque there before driv- missions that remain in orbit scriptions of missions to ma- ing to NASA/Johnson Space for years at a time, enabling jor planets, minor bodies and Center to see Rocket Park, them to study atmospheric the search for ―Terra Nova,‖ including Houston‘s other dynamics, surface morphol- the search for an Earth-like AIAA Historic Aerospace ogy and magnetospheric sci- planet outside of our Solar Site plaque. Programs Chair ence. Orbiter missions have System. Melissa Gordon and her hus- band drove Dr. Wessen back

Left: Starting July 1, 2009, these council leaders for our section will be (left to right) Chair Ellen Gillespie, Chair Elect Sarah Shull, Secretary Daniel Nobles, Vice Chair Technical Satya Pilla, and Past Chair Chad Brinkley.

Far left: Programs Chair Melissa Gordon presents a Special Service Citation to Chair Chad Brinkley for his fund-raising work last year when he was Chair-Elect. A maxi- mum of five of these citations are awarded in each region each year, and our section received all five of them in our 4-state region last year.

Left: Chair Elect Ellen Gilles- pie presents an Outstanding Contributions and Dedicated Services award to Programs Chair Melissa Gordon.

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 17 Page 18

ATS2009 2009 Annual Technical Symposium STEVEN EVERETT, EDITOR

lic Policy in AIAA, and is relevant to the aerospace currently the Deputy Director community. The Houston for Region IV. section also attempts to per- Mr. Rast began by ex- sonalize the message brought pressing his pleasure at being to Congress by emphasizing able to increase communica- issues of particular impor- tion between the technical tance to the local members, and public policy aspects of such as manned space flight. the chapter and hoped that The main point made in the this would be effective in package presented on Capitol encouraging new involve- Hill, which was reviewed for ment from the local members. the audience by Mr. Rast, He explained that the purpose was the importance of suc-

of the public policy group in cess in balancing shuttle re- AIAA is to formulate the tirement, ISS operation, and organization‘s position on Constellation development. various issues and represent His impression from the visit those viewpoints to Congress was that the Senators under- The AIAA Houston Sec- through formal and informal stood the pertinent issues as Above: Registration table at the tion hosted its 2009 Annual channels, as well as getting well as the concerns ex- 2009 Annual Technical Sympo- Technical Symposium (ATS) members more involved on pressed over the delay in se- sium in the Gilruth building at on Friday, May 15, in the Capitol Hill. lection of a new NASA Ad- the Johnson Space Center. Gilruth Center at Johnson One of the main events ministrator. Space Center. The morning in which the Public Policy The primary challenge began in the Alamo Ballroom group assists is the annual Mr. Rast saw was getting a as Sean Carter and Ellen Gil- Congressional Visit Day, larger number of members lespie, the organizing com- held this year on March 17 engaged in the political proc- mittee co-chairs, acknowl- and 18 for the purpose of ess, many of whom see it as edged the corporate sponsors ―raising awareness of the distasteful, uninteresting, or and welcomed a somewhat long term value that science, too convoluted (a view made sparse crowd of around 60 engineering, and technology all the more ironic by the people. Sean explained how bring to America.‖ During complexity of the work done the local chapter is generally this event, representatives by many in our field.) He structured into operations and meet with various members pointed out that the conse- technical committees. The of Congress to explain the quence of not being involved ATS gives the local section a current and anticipated issues is the leaving of decisions chance to showcase its tech- nical committees, around which each of the technical tracks during the day was organized. Ellen then introduced the morning‘s keynote speaker, Wayne Rast, who spoke about the Public Policy com- mittee in AIAA and gave an overview of this year‘s Con- gressional Visit Day in a speech entitled ―A New Right: Keynote speaker and Washington.‖ Mr. Rast was a AIAA Public Policy committee Congressional Fellow in the member Wayne Rast. mid 1990‘s, has served on the (Continued on page 19) National Committee for Pub-

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 18 Page 19

(Continued from page 18) affecting our livelihoods and ATS2009 careers to those who are less informed or to random chance. He hopes to provide opportunities for communica- tion and involvement through events such as an upcoming dinner with representatives organized by the local chap- ter. In addressing several Left: Apollo X panel, featuring, questions from the audience, from left to right, Ken Young, Mr. Rast pointed out that the Henry Pohl, Glynn Lunney. Congressional Visit represen- Dave Alexander, and Gary tation was for the aerospace Johnson. profession rather than a par- ticular industry or company. He also was hopeful that the League member and Apollo began by remembering those group could influence the veteran Norman Chaffee. members of the Apollo team conclusions from the ongoing Copies of slides presented who had already passed on, review of the NASA budget will be available online at the including Sam Wilson and proposal by the Augustine AIAA-Houston website at Bob Becker. Ken‘s impres- commission. Mr. Rast was http://aiaa-houston.org. sion was that Apollo X was given a token of appreciation After a tasty lunch pro- viewed as an ―orphan‖ as from AIAA by Ellen Gilles- vided as part of the confer- compared with the boldness pie before the first morning ence registration, a panel of Apollo VIII, the historic break. consisting of veterans from nature of Apollo XI, and the The five parallel techni- the Apollo X mission was drama of Apollo XIII. Never- cal tracks that began in the invited to share their back- theless, it was on Apollo X morning and continued until ground and experiences dur- that the test of rendezvous in after lunch featured topics ing that historic era to a Lunar orbit was accom- ranging from career develop- crowd which had grown con- plished, the Lunar Excursion ment to bioastronautics and siderably since the morning. Module (LEM) approached space mission trajectory de- Included on the panel were the surface to within 60 nauti- sign. Among the speakers Ken Young, who facilitated cal miles, and the effect of were local chapter members the discussion, Henry Pohl, Lunar mass concentrations on as well as Rob Landis from Dave Alexander, Gary John- the Lunar orbit was assessed. Ames and NASA Alumni son, and Glynn Lunney. Ken Ken noted that regardless of the rumors of a last minute Left: Norman Chaffee and au- landing attempt by an over- dience members Dr. Steven anxious crew or overly ambi- Everett, Horizons editor tious program management, (wearing a tie), Andrew Hobo- the Apollo X LEM design kan, and (wearing a coat), Wes was too heavy to have ever Kelly of Triton Systems LLC launched again from the Lu- (www.stellar-j.com), whose nar surface. The only anoma- Stellar J rocketplane concept lies of the mission were a was the subject of a past issue trans-Lunar injection burn of Horizons. Mr. Chaffee, a vibration, probably due to past AIAA Houston Section pogo effects, and a sudden Chair (1980 – 1981), spoke unexpected orientation ma- about lessons learned with re- neuver as the ascent stage spect to reaction control system was fired to rendezvous with (RCS) propulsion for Mercury, the command module. It was Gemini, and Apollo. (Continued on page 20)

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 19 Page 20

find South Pacific refueling mission. Along with Orbital ATS2009 sites. In four years, they had Missions Analysis Branch to develop systems that had Chief Ed Lineberry, Alexan- never been built, they had no der travelled to the Cape to vacuum experience, and there find that their briefing was to were problems with instabili- be held after dinner and a ties in the ascent engine, and long day in the simulator by explosions during RCS jet Young, Stafford, and Cernan. firing tests. In the end, That evening during the though, they built a system meeting, John Young was so that was ―faster, better, and tired that he fell asleep and cheaper‖ than any system began audibly snoring. When built subsequently. He attrib- Stafford woke him, he stated uted their amazing success to he was too tired and that the increasingly rare hands- ―Houston will tell me what to on experience of the program do‖ in the event of an emer- managers, a consistent set of gency. Cernan, who was in- Above: Robert Carmody (Continued from page 19) requirements and goals, the censed because it was Young (Lockheed Martin) speaks on the later determined that one of desire the beat the Russians who would have to rescue real-time console tool Power the crew in their bulky suits to the Moon, and the sensitiv- them if they got into trouble, Planning and Analysis Tool had inadvertently changed a ity of the managers to the threatened to dump water (PLATO) that supports the ISS switch setting, which altered concerns of the engineers. over his head if he fell asleep power resource planning and the frame of reference being The next panelist to again. In another incident, forecasting. used by guidance. The sud- speak was Glynn Lunney, Alexander said he was ap- den resulting pitch of the who noted that while the proached by Cernan during capsule prompted the infa- Gemini project seemed to the Apollo XI mission prepa- mous on-the-air exclamation limp through its missions, the rations. He was told that the by Gene Cernan, ―son-of-a- industry had matured enough Apollo X crew had nicked b*, what the h* happened?!‖ to make Apollo an aggressive some of their suit padding in Henry Pohl continued and successful project, mak- the access tunnel, which the discussion by reminiscing ing only four precursor caused a bit of fuzz to float about the events that led up to flights before the Moon land- through the cabin and into the Apollo X mission. He ing. The quick progress was their spacesuits. He claimed it highlighted the rapid pro- possible because many tech- was this that prompted his Below: Svetlana Hanson gresses in navigation technol- nological problems were misinterpreted outburst dur- (Tietronix Software, Inc.) during ogy by pointing out that 25 solved while in Earth orbit ing the Lunar ascent ―Some her overview of the U.S.-Russian years before this mission, the during the former set of mis- of us itch!‖ cooperation in space biology United States was losing a sions, including use of digital Gary Johnson continued and medicine. third of its bomber missions computers, rendezvous, the discussion with lessons he while unsuccessfully trying to guided entry, extravehicular learned as he supported the activity procedures, and electrical power distribution many practical issues. He and sequencing in the Mis- characterized their leadership sion Evaluation Room. Dur- as terrific, competent, deci- ing the Apollo X mission sive, and bold, and noted that after the incident during as- the flight controllers, plan- cent, there was a fuel cell ners and crew had bonded as failure, prompting an evalua- a single team. tion of power saving meas- Dave Alexander related ures that could be taken. A some of the more humorous second failure, jokingly an- incidents he was involved in ticipated by Young, also oc- during the program. He told a curred on the far side of the story of a briefing on Lunar Moon, which turned out to be rendezvous and rescue proce- due only to temperature dures requested by the crew a variations in the sensor. John- few days before the Apollo X (Continued on page 21)

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 20 Page 21

(Continued from page 20) in which he was found casu- small crystal ornament to son said that it was the triple ally reading a textbook im- each in thanks for participat- redundancy that allowed the mediately after his harrowing ing. Doorprizes were distrib- system to ensure mission ejection from the ―flying bed- uted, including a beautiful success and crew survival, a stead,‖ and Young noted that wooden model provided by philosophy referred to now as his pulse rate even during the ATEC and won by Ajay Charts presented by ―fail op, fail safe.‖ However, most stressful missions was Schindel. In closing, Alexan- each speaker will be Johnson noted that weight typically low. One question der also wanted to mention posted on the AIAA savings were possible by addressed the differences in that while they had smart Houston Chapter web- varying the redundancy by the way the ascent module guys and great leaders in- site at aiaa-houston.org system. New technology such reacted during separation volved, he believed that as the fuel cells and AC in- above the surface as opposed ―somebody up there was verters, were triply redun- to the planned ascent from looking out for us.‖ Lunney dant, while proven technol- the surface. It was agreed that noted the irony of the fact ogy such as the electrical the uncertainty of the position that it was the oxygen tank main bus relays had only two of fuel in the tanks used for from Apollo X that was ulti- levels of redundancy. John- ascent while still in orbit was mately placed in the ill-fated son also emphasized the im- indeed a concern. On a side Apollo XIII module, and how portance of manual backup note, Young believed that it an earlier mishap could have systems as a level of redun- was during this rehearsal that caused history to play out dancy. The rendezvous was man had travelled the fastest enabled after the incident relative velocity with respect during ascent because of the to a nearby surface. When capability for manual control asked about the thought proc- by the crew. He pointed out esses that led each panel that during the Skylab pro- member to join the space gram, an incorrectly pulled program, some said they had circuit breaker disabled the joined their respective group gimbal power rather than the because of the convenience auto stabilization control of the opportunity at the time, when a certain interface was but most cited the recent deadfaced before command Sputnik launch and a desire module separation. When to be a part of winning the nothing happened during auto Cold War and beating the re-orientation in preparation Russians to the Moon. very differently if not for luck for reentry, Ed Gibson was As the lunch hour ended, Above: Marlo Graves (Boeing) or providence. In one of the able to orient the spacecraft questions from the eager and highlights the Chinese space most striking closing quotes, under manual direct control attentive audience had to be program and discusses the Pohl recalled that Robert Gil- of the Reaction Control Sys- cut short by Sean Carter, who how local AIAA members can ruth had prophetically said that tem (RCS) and preserve the pointed out that with no Cold participate with our Chinese ―if we ever decide to go back to mission and the crew. War going on now, the sister sections. the Moon, we will find out just The first question as the achievements of the previous how difficult it really was.‖ floor was opened to the audi- generation as represented by After a brief break, the ence was who did the panel the members of this panel had afternoon technical sessions feel was the greatest pilot in become the younger genera- completed another successful the program? While Lun- tion‘s inspiration for becom- Technical Symposium. As ney‘s diplomatic answer dur- ing a part of man‘s explora- usual, the value of the technical ing each mission was ―the tion of space. Young noted information available in the crew that we are now flying,‖ later that things are different panels and presentations was all agreed that Neil Arm- now, but the new generation second only to the opportunity strong was the perfect choice certainly has the potential for to meet and establish contacts for the first man to walk on doing great things as well. Al with other members of our pro- the Moon and an ideal match Jackson, who had organized fession afforded by this annual to fly with Buzz Aldrin. His the panel, mentioned his dif- event. We will all be looking coolness under pressure was ficulty in even assembling forward to another enjoyable demonstrated by the incident this group of men, and gave a event next spring.

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 21 Page 22

International Activities DOUGLAS YAZELL, ASSISTANT EDITOR

International Space Activities (ISAC) Committee Report

Amy Shah, and Leopold Ey- China (Shanghai and Bei- harts. jing). We started our afternoon Bianca Guerro and Amy session with European Space Shah attended as representa- Agency (ESA) astronaut Leo- tives of The Health Museum pold Eyharts making a pres- (www.thehealthmuseum.org), entation about his latest space which is located in the Hous- mission: launching on STS- ton museum district. From 122, bringing the European Memorial Day to Labor Day Space Agency‘s Columbus the museum will present an laboratory module up to exhibit called Facing Mars, speed, returning on STS-123, making its US debut after its and doing much more during arrival from Canada. Details that eventful period on the are available on the internet, International Space Station and it is quite an extensive (ISS) as a member of ISS exhibit. Expedition 16. Svetlana Han- AIAA Houston Section son of Tietronix Software, and our French sister section Left: International Space Ac- The group photo summa- Inc., was our next presenter, l‘Association Aeronautique et tivities Committee, from left to rizes the successful afternoon speaking about, ―Overview Astronautique de France, right, Nelson Brown, David for our section‘s ISAC at our of the US-Russian Coopera- Toulouse – Mid-Pyreneees Hanson, Svetlana Hanson, Jeri section‘s excellent Annual tion in Space Biology and Chapter (AAAF TMP), send Brown, Marlo Graves, Bianca Technical Symposium. From Medicine.‖ Our last presenter our special thanks to ESA Guerrero, Amy Shah, and Leo- left to right, Nelson Brown, was Marlo S. Graves of the astronaut Leopold Eyharts for pold Eyharts. David Hanson, Svetlana Han- The Boeing Company, speak- taking the time from his busy son, Jeri Brown, Marlo ing about AIAA Houston schedule to be with us on this Graves, Bianca Guerrero, Section sister sections in memorable day.

AAAF Election Results

Presented here are the results reau Group Regional important and very inspiring from the elections on May (Regional Group Office). ways. Our section will up- 22, 2009, for officers in our Congratulations from Hous- date these results on our French sister section, the ton, Texas, USA, to these International Space Activi- Association Aeronautique et volunteers and workers who ties Committee (ISAC) web Astronautique de France, continue to be of service to page: www.aiaa- Toulouse – Midi-Pyrenees our profession, making the houston.org/tc/isac. Chapter (AAAF TMP) Bu- world a better place in very

President: Francis GUIMERA, retired, AIRBUS Central Entity

Vice-Presidentst (Aerronautics): Alain CHEVALIER, AIRBUS France

(Continued on page 23)

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 22 Page 23

(Continued from page 22) Vice President (Space): Michel FAUVEAU, retired, CNES

Vice President (Operations + Research & Technology): Alice TORGUE, retired, ONERA

Secretary: Philippe MAIRET, AIRBUS France

Secretary Adjoint: Cristiane BLEMONT, retired, CNES

Treasurer: Guy DESTARAC, retired, AIRBUS France

Accounting: Francis RENARD, retired, AIRBUS France

Honorary President: Jean-Michel DUC, retired, DGA

Honorary Member: Patrick TEJEDOR , AIRBUS Central Entity

Members: Michel AGUILAR, Pierre-William BOUSQUET, Jean-Luc CHANEL, Pierre CONFORTI, Gregory COURBATIEU, Klaas DIJKSTRA, Marie FROMENT, Denis GALL, Delphine GOUR- DOU, Yves GOURINAT, Jacques HUET, Jean-Francois IM- BERT, Marc LABARRERE, Gerard LADIER, Philippe LANDIECH, Paul LEPAROUX, Laurent MANGANE, Olivier MARTY, Jean-Claude RIPOLL, Carole ROMBOLETTI, Manola ROMERO, Etienne ROUOT, Jean-Jacques RUNAVOT

Salaried sectetary: Joelle STELLA

Upper left: Alice Torgue and Francis Guimera, newly elected President of AAAF TMP as of June 2009

Upper right: Beatrice Cartier -Yazell, Alain Chevalier, past President (he served for about five years in a row in that role), and Philippe Mairet, newly elected or re- elected Secretary.

Bottom: Etienne Rouot, Marie Froment, and Douglas Yazell.

Pictures are from June 2008 Yazells’ sister section visit to Toulouse, France, in June of 2008 at the Airbus facility. (Photos by Douglas Yazell)

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 23 Page 24

One of three gifts of this type from our section to members of our French sister section in June of 2008. The sphere sits in a depression on the top of the base cube. When we spin the sphere by hand, we see the globe turn, and the larger glass sphere appears to be motionless. This is from Awards of Distinction in Houston’s Clear Lake area. (Photo: Yazell)

Left to Right: Philippe Mairet, Michel Bonavitacola, Doug- las Yazell, and Laurent Mangane in June 2008 in Toulouse, France, at La Cite de l’Espace, in front of a Mir mockup purchased from Russia. (Photo: Beatrice Cartier-Yazell)

OASIS: Outpost for Advanced Confinement Simulator In- frastructure

I. Space Competition part is found an indispensable tool: the confinement simula- In 2006, the Americans an- tor without which Moon and nounced their intention to Mars bases would be impos- return to the Moon for a near- sible. Earth test of a mission send- ing people to Mars. This de- ―When the United States, cision is due to the desire on China, and India possess their the part of the Americans to permanent installations on the maintain their pre-eminence Moon, will Europeans for- in space, but also to the possi- give their leaders for having bility of mining Helium-3, a failed to accomplish this task, phenomenal source of clean which will reinforce confi- energy. This energy source dence in the future and will tempts all nations, notably lead to new advanced tech- China, who anticipates a Lu- nologies and other major sci- One of the working groups of nar base between 2020 and entific discoveries?‖ (French our French sister section 2030. Parliament, February 2007, AAAF TMP is OES, the Ob- Mr. Cabal and Mr. Revol.) servation and Exploration of Americans and Russians Space, currently led by Mr. alone are not enough to fi- II. The Integrated Confine- Pierre Conforti. An exciting nance 200 billion dollars for ment Simulator project related to their volun- this Lunar exploration. An teer work is OASIS, the Out- implicit sharing arrangement The European Space Agency post for Advanced Confine- has presented itself: heavy (ESA), in the framework of ment Simulator Infrastruc- launchers for the Americans extra-terrestrial exploration ture. The following is a trans- and the Russians, and ―the programs FIPES and lation of their informational rest‖ is left for other space AURORA, finished the first brochure: agencies. In this remaining (Continued on page 25)

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 24 Page 25

(Continued from page 24) lack of physical activity, of water to take along studies (phase A) for the de- the reduction of light, the leads to fuel savings and velopment of a confinement disappearance of objec- more autonomy) simulator. Phase B will be tive points of reference  The Environment launched soon in the form of  The circadian cycle  Survival in an enclosed a competitive dialog.  Obesity world (air, water, food)  Stress  Oxygen factory, inert gas, MEDES (CNES) and Thales  Iatrogenic illnesses light, temperature, hy- studied the approximately 20 (caused by hospital stays, grometry (measurement of existing and specialized con- doctors, drugs or medical atmospheric humidity), finement simulators. This procedures) and their pressure specialization limits research propagation  Recycling and manage- and development and pre-  The study of microbial ment of used water and vents diversification of po- flora between individuals trash s‖. T tential ―user his French  Perturbations in  Evolutionary study of study quickly put together an nycthemeral (daily) antibiotic metabolites, inventory of non-space appli- rhythms medications, or toxins cations conducted in a new  Proliferation of micro-  Simulations of closed kind of simulator, multi- organisms and the ex- ecological systems function or integrated con- change of resistance  Bio-production: recon- finement simulator. genes struction of the food chain

 Easily bringing laborato- in an isolated world, nota- III. A Major Economic Inter- ries online (P3/P4) bly: est  During exterior contami-

nation (for example, Cher- The installation in Europe of  Civil Safety: thanks to nobyl, natural catastro- the integrated confinement the integrated confinement phes, nuclear catastro- simulator will lead to, for this simulator, research and train- phes, etc.) century, a major technologi- ing can be done with:  cal upset equivalent to the In case of required au- first days of the world‘s  Enclosed decontamina- tarky (political self-rule space programs or to the de- tion environments when the government velopment techniques of tele-  Management of crisis controls the economy and communication thanks to situations (terrorism, isolates the nation), for European research and Euro- firefighters, caves, etc.) example, missions to the pean industry.  Validation of protective Earth‘s poles, space mis- spacesuits and protocols sions, etc. This major tool will reinforce for use  Hydroponic farming the position of the European  Training of rescue teams, (climate change, deserts, space sector, today facing training for submarine etc.) competition from emerging teams, etc.  Transgenic studies with- nations which want very out risk of dissemination  Production of vegetable much to welcome this infra-  Aeronautics: for long- proteins, monomers, fi- structure. haul flights (Airbus bers, food with medicinal A380), the scenario in properties, fish farming, IV. Survey of Non-Space the integrated confine- etc. Applications ment simulator would

study:  Health: major sanitary  Fatigue tolerance of  Energy: life in an en- risks are associated with con- equipment and travelers closed world necessitates an finement, for example during (vibration, light, noise, autonomy of energy. The inte- habitation of giant towers of etc.) grated confinement simulator the future, especially for:  Ergonomics and comfort would allow improvement in of the avionic habitat output, storage and recupera- tion of certain energies:  The relation between  Recycling of water (Continued on page 26) certain cancers and the (reduction of the volume

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 25 Page 26

(Continued from page 25)  Training 60% of the potential use of  Testing and perfecting the simulator. The remaining  Solar energy new materials and proce- 40% will be covered by non-  Biomass dures (rovers, equipment, space applications.  Oxygen and hydrogen etc.)  Nuclear energy  Taking advantage of non VII. Financing -space research and ap- To finance feasibility studies,  University training: this plications being con- a European consortium was integrated confinement ducted simultaneously created to apply for the grant- simulator will create: ing of regional, national, and  New degree courses VI. Scientific Tourism European subsidies.  An increase in the num- Around the infrastructure of ber of publications and the integrated confinement Since Europe is late in join- theses simulator, a park or a perma- ing in the development of life  An improved interna- nent exposition will be sciences and planetary explo- tional reputation for uni- charged with: ration, and due to the impact versities and schools in of recent decisions taken the Midi-Pyrenees re-  Organizing international around the world, the support gion of France scientific conferences of all parties and proper fi-

 nancial support is required to V. Survey of Space Applica- Creating playful and educational attractions avoid placing the integrated tions confinement simulator OA- directed to the lay public but also to scholars and SIS outside of Europe. The confinement simulator will allow, during long peri- students  Development of tourism The integrated confinement ods, for a team of a dozen simulator OASIS is one of  Promotion of European people: the last chances for Europe to technology to attract job- rejoin the leading group of supplying companies  Learning to live in an spacefaring nations.

autarky (political self- VII. Support for the Simula- rule and government ―OASIS is also a tremendous tor economic rule for iso- organizing program for the Below: Ariane 5 satellite lated nations) in a closed future of Europe related to launcher rocket and cite de  The European Space world research, teaching, and the l'espace space center, Toulouse, Agency (ESA)  Execution of extrave- economy.‖ France (picture from brochure)  hicular excursions NASA  The Russian Space Sidebar ending the text: Agency  The DLR (The German This integrated confinement Space Agency) simulator will contribute to future extra-terrestrial explo- All of these support the pro- ration. Like the start of the ject of this integrated simula- past century, one of the most tor. beautiful eras in history would be written by Europe- ESA, NASA and the Russian ans, as in the age of the in- Space Agency have con- vention of airplanes, air mail, firmed their intention to use the Ariane rocket, the SPOT the integrated confinement satellites, HELIOS, and many simulator to train their teams more inspiring results of of astronauts and cosmonauts those who dreamed of the with a view to voyages of impossible. extra-terrestrial exploration.

That will correspond to about

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 26 Page 27

AAAF Brochure

Shown below is a translation of the brochure for the OES working group organized by our French sister section in Toulouse, France.

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 27 Page 28

Lunch and Learn A Lunar Surface Rendezvous Architecture Proposal STEVEN EVERETT, EDITOR

and, beginning in 1990, as a also with the Ares V rocket, Flight Dynamics Officer would loft the manned vehi- (FDO). Since his retirement cle, a combined Crew Explo- in 2008, he has been involved ration Vehicle/Descent Mod- in astrodynamics research ule (CEV/DM), to the surface and consulting . This event in the vicinity of the RCM. allowed Mr. Adamo to ex- The modified CEV would pand on the brief introduction also act as the ascent stage to his proposal for a Lunar and would comprise the only Surface Rendezvous (LSR) habitable volume in the sys- architecture for returning to tem. The Lunar orbit rendez- the Moon, as originally deliv- vous would be eliminated ered at the 2009 Annual from the Constellation 1.5 Technical Symposium on architecture, while a techni- May 15. cally challenging refueling After a review of his would be required on the agenda, he stressed that his Lunar surface. However, he approach was driven by the claimed that the nearly two Above: Daniel Adamo presents This Lunch and Learn ―land anywhere, leave any- week period between launch his architecture proposal at the event hosted by our local time‖ philosophy (which he and Lunar landing currently 2009 Annual Technical Sympo- chapter was held in Building noted was subject to change required would be reduced to sium. 16 at Johnson Space Center based on the results from the less than four days and also on June 12 to a crowd which Augustine Commission.) allow a return to Earth at any- rapidly grew to over 40 spec- According to this approach, time within four days. A vari- tators. Douglas Yazell an initial Ares V launch ety of abort scenarios were opened the meeting and would deliver supplies di- described as well, including Technical Committee chair rectly to the Lunar surface burns to return to Earth Dr. Al Jackson introduced the with a vehicle he termed a shortly after Trans-Lunar Below: Two solutions for abort speaker, Daniel Adamo. Mr. Return Consumables Module Injection (TLI) and rescue trajectories at 3 hours after Adamo worked at JSC from (RCM). A subsequent launch, missions in which a second trans-Lunar injection burn. 1979 to 2008 as a contractor, CEV would rendezvous with the original vehicle on an escape trajectory. The in- creased capabilities provided by the Ares V launch would also allow visits to Near Earth Objects (NEO) and even the moons of Mars. Mr. Adamo graciously encouraged questions and comments from the audience after his talk, during which he clarified some of the concepts he presented and discussed some of the risks identified by this proposal. He has pub- lished a white paper which describes this concept further, and which he will be happy to provide upon request at [email protected].

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 28 Page 29

A New Way to Stay in Touch STEVEN EVERETT, EDITOR

If you‘ve kept up with tion, Facebook has reported Anyone can get an ac- the latest Internet trends, that its fastest demographic count on Facebook by signing you‘ve no doubt heard of consists of those 35 years and up at http://facebook.com. You some of the many new social older. can join our chapter group by networking sites. These sites Now the AIAA-Houston searching for ―AIAA - Hous- allow members to find and chapter is trying out this re- ton Section‖ or by invitation stay in touch with friends source as another means of from a current member. The through bulletin board-type communication among our group is being moderated by posts or real-time chats; to members. A group has been Dr. Gary Turner (collegecoop post photos, videos and other established on this site to @aiaa-houston.org) and Mi- links; or to participate in vari- allow members to receive chael Frostad (see the Face- ous discussion groups. While notifications of upcoming book page for contact informa- many of these are primarily events or to discuss topics of tion). Email them for addi- used by the younger genera- interest. tional help.

Staying Informed COMPILED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF

The Augustine Committee for the Review of U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans http://www.nasa.gov/offices/hsf/home/index.html

Space 2.X: The Private Rocket Race Takes Off (Wired Magazine) http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/06/gallery_spacex/

Rebuttal of NASA's October 2007 Direct 2.0 Analysis Findings (18 May 2009) http://www.directlauncher.com/documents/DIRECT_Analysis_Rebuttal_Final_090518.pdf

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Home Page http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project http://www.nasa.gov/topics/moonmars/features/LOIRP/

Personal Spaceflight http://www.personalspaceflight.info/

HubbleSite http://hubblesite.org/

Kibo Japanese Experiment Module http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/jem.html

U.S. Aerospace Trade Surplus Grows ... http://blog.seattlepi.com/aerospace/archives/170381.asp?from=blog_last3

Delays in Planning Could Cost Aerospace Jobs (Chronicle, Brewster Shaw) http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/space/6432239.html

The Critical Need for Increased IT Education in Aerospace Undergraduate and Graduate Programs http://www.personal.psu.edu/lnl/papers/aero_IT_2009.pdf

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 29 Page 30

LPI Lecture A New Light on the Moon ALAN SIMON, ASSISTANT EDITOR

ducting fundamental science. NASA has already sent Currently, NASA is design- people to the Moon and re- ing—at the speed of its fund- turned them as well as a con- ing—a host of spacecraft and siderable number of geologi- booster vehicles in order to cal specimens safely to Earth. replace the Space Shuttle and So, why not set our sights on to send astronauts back to the Mars, or maybe even a Moon. But, is our target the nearby asteroid? Well, for right one, and is the course one reason, the Moon is rela- appropriate? Why go back to tively close—only about the Moon? 240,000 miles away—and it Perhaps in a few months, can be reached within about answers to some of these three (Earth) days. Compare questions may be available. that distance with Mars, and Norm Augustine, a retired the increase can be more than CEO of Lockheed Martin, 100 days. Because of Mars‘ was recently commissioned elliptical orbit, Earth passes by President Barack Obama Mars (opposition) once every to chair a committee that will 26 months. So, to limit the Above: Paul Spudis, expert in Just five years ago, study the CxP and recom- forward and return Mars trip planetary geology and remote President George W. Bush mend how best to send hu- distances, launch windows sensing at the Lunar and Plane- announced his Vision for man explorers beyond Low are constrained, as well as tary Institute Space Exploration (VSE) that Earth Orbit (LEO). mission durations. The chartered a new course for In the mean time, many Moon‘s orbit is also elliptical. US space policy, and a experts today maintain that But the change in distance change in direction for hu- the Moon is the most appro- from the Earth is small, and man space exploration. Ac- priate satellite to explore; and always makes for a relatively cordingly, NASA‘s Constel- their reasons are many. In short duration trip. lation Program (CxP) set as fact, these reasons were made Okay, so getting to the its major goals gaining sig- compelling during a lecture Moon is quick and easy. But, nificant experience in operat- that Dr. Paul D. Spudis deliv- is there anything worthwhile ing away from Earth's envi- ered at the Lunar and Plane- once a crew is there? Dr. ronment, developing tech- tary Institute, on April 23, Spudis contends that the nologies needed for opening 2009: A New Light on the Moon is as interesting as it is the space frontier, and con- Moon. (Continued on page 31)

Right: Graphic illustrating light- ing at the Lunar south pole around Shackleton Crater.

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 30 Page 31

Left: HDTV images from Kaguya satellite confirming inferences from Clementine and SMART-1 images on sunlit peaks in region.

because the surface is bathed like many telescopes, has (Continued from page 30) in solar wind particles and limitations because of the useful. While, to the casual cosmic rays, the regolith environment its instruments observer, the Moon may ap- (Moon dust) holds informa- operate in. The far side of the pear dead and pointless, it tion relative to the Sun as Moon, however, offers a very holds a latency of science, well. The Moon‘s surface is a stable surface for a future inspiration, and resources. complex crust, filled with telescope that would be Because the Moon has no volcanic material that, over shielded from the radio spec- atmosphere and no climatol- the years, has seen very little tra from Earth. And data ogy effects, each impact cra- erosion. Therefore, the re- transmission would still only ter represents a record of golith contains the recorded be on the order of a few sec- planetary history. And as history from millions of years onds. close as the Moon is to Earth, ago. Dr. Spudis claims the we can be assured that what- Interestingly, most Lunar Moon is also a logical step in ever collided violently with impacts occurred about four our evolution of exploration. the Moon—now marked for billion years ago, about the It provides a stepping stone eternity on its surface—also time that life is believed to for human exploration to the collided with Earth, though have started on Earth. Very other bodies in our solar sys- our living planet may have likely, whatever hit the Earth tem. It offers a place to learn deviously covered up the back then also impacted the how to successfully live and crime scene. The Chesapeake Moon, and the impact data is work away from our own Bay Crater, for instance, only still preserved to this day. planet. It is a school for ex- recently discovered in 1983, The Hubble Space Tele- ploration. covers an area twice that of scope (HST) recently was The Moon also holds an Rhode Island and nearly as made anew by the Atlantis abundance of critical re- deep as the Grand Canyon. crew of STS-125, and as- sources, too, that will be However, millions of years of tronomers and laypeople needed to make our way to time passage have allowed alike are excited about the distant satellites. The surface much of it to be filled with potential of new discoveries. likely holds abundant caches sediment today. The forensics Science classrooms across the of water ice. We know today of that impact is almost com- US (and other countries) are that it holds oxygen (O2), and pletely a blur. adorned with amazing photo- metals and others materials, So, the Moon holds graphs of HST images— such as aluminum (Al), iron planetology information that some beyond the most tal- (Fe), and hydrogen (H2), as is relevant to the Earth. And ented artists. But the HST, (Continued on page 32)

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 31 Page 32

launched in June 2009, and it will exchange data with a Chandrayaan-1 pay- load. The LRO mis- sion will focus on the little-known Lunar poles, searching for H2 accumulations and water-ice that are not present at the equato- rial regions—the area Apollo crews explored some 40 years ago. What is so important about finding water ice in the Polar Regions? Water is an ideal com- modity for a source of rocket propellant. And the mining and proc- essing of propellant could then allow ac- cess to Earth geosyn- chronous satellites, making servicing mis- Above: Clementine topographic (Continued from page 31) (MiniSAR), developed by sions much more cost effec- map of the Moon. well as solar wind gases, and Sandia National Laboratories, tive. It could also allow fuel- solar energy particles. is currently mapping the Lu- ing of future exploration ve- The Lunar poles contain nar surface, including the hicles, eliminating the need to some of the largest and oldest poles. The Mini-SAR imag- escape the gravity of impact craters (particularly ing radar, which is aboard the Earth.There are H2 deposits the South Pole). These areas Indian Chandryaan-1 space- contained in the Lunar re- have unique environments craft, has been sending back golith as a result of solar that may have resulted in amazing images for the last wind bombardment. How- unique and complex proc- couple of months. Radio ever, extracting the solar esses. For instance, the waves do not need visible wind hydrogen requires heat- Shackleton Crater floor has light illumination, and there- ing the Lunar material to been in darkness for more fore, imaging can occur con- around 700°C, making ex- than 3.5 billion years. That tinuously. The radar back- traction from water ice much area behaves as a cold trap, scatter signature is quite use- more favorable. whereby temperatures hover ful in determining the pres- Dr. Spudis continues to below 100° Kelvin, and parti- ence or absence of water ice. argue for the benefits of a cles cannot escape. These Although ―eureka‖ has not Lunar settlement over sortie cold traps could hold addi- yet been declared, radar im- missions to the Moon be- tional planetology data that ages have confirmed geologi- cause an outpost will permit has been preserved for bil- cal interpretations that were and enable more exploration lions of years. In contrast, the first derived in 1994 from over the long run. He blogs Clementine spacecraft, flown Clementine images. for Air & Space Magazine. to complete the complex task To leverage the Mini- More information can be of mapping the Moon, has SAR findings, India and the found at http:// found areas on the surface US plan to synchronize their www.lpi.usra.edu/lpi/spudis/. that are almost always in efforts using a payload sunlight. aboard the US Lunar Recon- The Miniaturized Syn- naissance Orbiter (LRO). The thetic Aperture Radar LRO is planned to be

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 32 Page 33

Recollections on the Apollo Lunar Lander Cover Story CAPT. ANDREW HOBOKAN AND DOUGLAS YAZELL, ASSISTANT EDITOR

Apollo 11 Lunar Mod- world, including the press strange feeling as it runs be- ule: Why Eagle? and Grumman‘s work force, tween the fingers. Applica- that LM-6 was chosen. tion instructions included Hobokan was in his of- warnings to never apply more fice in Bethpage, New York, Gold on the Inside of than one coat because there as the NASA Resident the Gemini Adapter was evidence that the subse- Apollo Spacecraft Program quent coat would not adhere Office (RASPO) Manager Hobokan had the Resi- properly. Once the job was when Werner von Braun ar- dent NASA Contracting Offi- done, it measured 0.1! rived for a meeting. To Ho- cer approve a McDonnell Hobokan was called to bokan‘s surprise, George purchase order for several Houston to explain to the Low was also in town for that cans of gold dust from Fort Project Manager about fixing meeting with the three of Knox for use on the Gemini the problem or explaining the them. They wanted to select launch adapter which housed failure related to such high the Lunar Module (LM) to be the fuel cells and the liquid monetary costs. During a used in the first Moon land- hydrogen and the liquid oxy- plane change stop in Kansas, ing. LM-3 or 4 through LM-7 gen tanks. McDonnell had Hobokan called the resident were available. done a lot of analyses which team and told them to have As George Low was said it needed a coating with McDonnell apply a second addressing requirements to be a special property measured coat, despite the instructions met before he would commit at 0.01, and 0.1, for example, to the contrary. to a landing attempt, he made would never be good enough. McDonnell applied the a few comments regarding They had decided that only second coat, and the result backup requirements if we gold would work and submit- was as McDonnell engineer- had a problem in the early ted the purchase request to ing had specified. McDonnell flights of the LM. At one the Resident Office. found that the first coat was point, von Braun shouted at When Robert Gilruth too thin, and the measure- Low, saying something to the heard about it and the price of ment was reading a value effect, ―Backup, backup, the gold dust, he called Ho- related to the white epoxy backup! You JSCs want a bokan and shouted at him in undercoating. The good news backup for everything. At anger, but he never cancelled was transmitted to Houston some point, you must make the order. Hobokan and oth- before Hobokan‘s arrival and up your mind and launch!‖ ers ran their fingers through he was no longer on the George Low asked me the dust once it arrived. It‘s a meeting agenda. how much time KSC said very unique material with a they needed to process a LM. When I told him they keep Left: Apollo Lunar Excursion saying 3 months, but they Module (illustrated by Don have never had a full-up LM Kulba, assistant editor) and no manned LM had been in orbit up to that time, he insisted we give KSC 4 months to be safe, and that put LM-7 too late to be con- sidered. That narrowed it down to LM-5 and LM-6 because LM-4 was too heavy. George Low finally told Werner that we should work internally to do it with LM-5 if everything went well, but we should tell the outside

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 33 Page 34

Calendar July 1 Start of the new AIAA year

July 18 Fly Me to the Moon Saturday, starting at 6:00 PM (This is not an AIAA event) A free Community Celebration of the First Lunar Landing (Apollo 11) Be sure to check out the Facing University of Houston-Clear Lake (UH-Clear Lake) Mars exhibit at the Houston Alumni Plaza, Liberty Park Health Museum http://prtl.uhcl.edu/portal/page/portal/ALR/flyme/lunar_landing/event_info.html 1515 Hermann Drive Houston, TX 77004 UHCL Office of Alumni and Community Relations 281-283-2021 713-521-1515 Recapture the magic, the music and the memory of the moment that marked our Bay Area [email protected] Houston community. Enjoy a 1969 family-style picnic, an outdoor viewing of the first Lu- nar landing on a giant inflatable screen, stargazing with telescopes guided by astronomers, live entertainment, interactive games and activities for all ages, special NASA guests and speakers, space-related giveaways and more.

August 6-7 AIAA Regional Leadership Conference (RLC) Colorado Convention Center Denver, Colorado

August 22 AIAA Houston Section Leadership Retreat After the AIAA Regional Leadership Conference (RLC) Using notes from the RLC as one of our planning resources

September 7 Council meeting [email protected] 281-244-3925 (Past Chair) Probably at Gilruth Center, San Jacinto Room, NASA/JSC 5:30 to 6:30 pm

September 30 September 2009 Horizons due online (www.aiaa-houston.org/horizons)

Facing Mars exhibit closes The Health Museum www.thehealthmuseum.org

Horizons published quarterly, online late March, June, September and December. See http://www.aiaa-houston.org/horizons

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 34 Page 35

EAA Corner EAA Chapter 12 Officers for 2007-2009: President: Richard Sessions, [email protected] Vice President: Phil Perry, [email protected] Treasurer: Terry Ford, [email protected] Secretary: Terry Ford, [email protected] Young Eagles: Dean Doolittle, [email protected]

EAA Chapter 12 Meetings for 2009:

Future Meeting/Event Ideas: Others - Young Eagles, LSA, Alternate Engines, Fly-ins,…. Ideas for or want to give a meeting? Contact Richard at rtses- [email protected]

Scheduled/Preliminary Chapter 12 Event/Meeting Ideas: 01 July 09 - Builder's Visit - Recently completed RV or canard? 05 Aug 09 - Aircraft Antennas – Lance Borden 02 Sep 09 - LaBiche Flying Car (still need to ask) - www.labicheaerospace.com/ 3-5 Dec 09 - EAA Foundation's B-17 Aluminum Overcast in Hous- ton

EAA Chapter 12 Home Page: http://www.eaa12.org/ Above: The new airplane in the collection of Richard EAA National Home Page: http://www.eaa.org/ Sessions (his second plane now hangared at Ellington), a LongEZ shown here at Aeros and Autos on Saturday, May 9, 2009, at Ellington Field.

Left: Navy Skyhawk (illustrated by Don Kulba, assistant editor)

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 35 Page 36

Conference Presentations/Articles by Houston Section Members COMPILED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF FROM AIAA AGENDAS 45th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion AIAA-2009-5360 2 - 5 Aug 2009 Plasma Behavior in the Far Plume Region of a VASIMR Colorado Convention Center, Denver, CO Engine W. Chancery, Ad Astra Rocket Company, Webster, TX; B. Long- AIAA-2009-4897 mier, University of Houston, Houston, TX; L. Cassady, C. Ol- Space- Based Solar Power Prototypes Enabled by a Heavy sen, and J. Squire, Ad Astra Rocket Company, Webster, TX Lift Launcher W. Rothschild and T. Talay, John Frassanito & Associates, Inc., AIAA-2009-5362 Houston, TX; and E. Henderson, NASA Johnson Space Center, VASIMR Technological Advances and Results of 200 kW Houston, TX Operations L. Cassady, J. Chancery, J. Squire, and F. Chang-Diaz, Ad As- AIAA-2009-4899 tra Rocket Company, Webster, TX; B. Longmier, University of On-Orbit Propulsion and Methods of Momentum Manage- Houston, Houston, TX; and M. Carter, Ad Astra Rocket Com- ment for the International Space Station pany, Webster, TX R. Swanson, The Boeing Company, Houston, TX; V. Spencer, S. Russell and K. Metrocavage, NASA Johnson Space Center, Hous- AIAA-2009-5391 ton, TX; U. Kamath, The Boeing Company, Houston, TX Cryogenic Feed- System Thermodynamic Vent System De- sign and Test AIAA-2009-4951 J. Collins, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX High Performance Multilayer Insulation for a Liquid Oxy- gen / Liquid Methane Reaction Control System B. Lusby, S. Flores, E. Hurlbert, K. Romig, and J. Collins, NASA AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics AIAA Modeling and Simulation Technologies AIAA-2009-4948 10 - 13 Aug 2009 Sea- Level Flight Demonstration and Altitude Characteriza- Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois tion of a LOX/LCH4 Based Ascent Propulsion Lander J. Collins, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX AIAA-2009-5668 Integrated Guidance and Fault Tolerant Adaptive Control AIAA-2009-4949 for Mars Entry Vehicle Liquid Oxygen / Liquid Methane Test Results of the RS- 18 M. Marwaha, B. Singh, J. Valasek and R. Bhattacharya, Texas Lunar Ascent Engine at Simulated Altitude Conditions at A&M University, College Station, TX NASA White Sands Test Facility J. Melcher, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX; and J. AIAA-2009-5696 Allred, White Sands Test Facility, Las Cruces, NM Generic Modeling Approach for Math Model Simulators W. Davidson, United Space Alliance, Houston, TX AIAA-2009-5161 Flow Characterization of a New Particle- Impact Ignition AIAA-2009-5699 Facility Progress On and Usage of the Open Source Flight Dynamics M. Crofton, Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, CA; E. Peter- Model, JSBSim sen, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX J. Berndt, JSBSim, League City, TX; and A. De Marco, Univer- sity of Naples “Federico II”, Napoli, Italy AIAA-2009-5359 Exhaust Plume Measurements and Momentum Flux Results AIAA-2009-5773 of the VASIMR VX- 200 An Entry Trajectory Design Methodology for Lunar Return B. Longmier, University of Houston, Webster, TX; E. Bering, Z. Putnam and G. Barton, Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, University of Houston, Houston, TX; J. Chancery, L. Cassady, J. Inc., Houston, TX; and M. Neave, Charles Stark Draper Labo- Squire, and F. Chang-Díaz, Ad Astra Rocket Company, Webster, ratory, Inc., Cambridge, MA TX

(Continued on page 37)

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 36 Page 37

(Continued from page 36) AIAA-2009-5996 AIAA-2009-5801 Automation Interfaces of the Orion GNC Executive Archi- Attitude Stabilization With Network Delay in Feedback tecture Control Implementation J. Hart, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX A. Chunodkar and M. Akella, University of Texas at Austin, Aus- tin, TX AIAA-2009-6001 Perturbation Analysis for Optimal Interplanetary Trajecto- AIAA-2009-5849 ries Six Degree- of- Freedom Dynamical Model of a Morphing X. Bai, J. Junkins, and J. Turner, Texas A&M University, Col- Aircraft lege Station, TX A. Niksch, J. Valasek, T. Strganac and L. Carlson, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX AIAA-2009-6213 Optimal Perimeter Patrol Alert Servicing with Poisson Arri- AIAA-2009-5881 val Rate Nonlinear System Identification of Discrete Systems Using P. Chandler and J. Hansen, U.S. Air Force Research Labora- GlLOMap tory, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH; R. Holsapple, U.S. Air Force M. Marwaha and J. Valasek, Texas A&M University, College Research Laboratory, Wright-Pattersonn AFB, OH; S. Darbha, Station, TX; and P. Singla, State University of New York at Buf- Texas A&M, College Station, TX; and M. Pachter, Air Force falo, Buffalo, NY Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH

AIAA-2009-5883 AIAA-2009-6104 Using Frequency- Response Functions to Investigate String An Autonomous Onboard Targeting Algorithm Using Finite Stability of Cooperative Control Laws Thrust Maneuvers L. Weitz and J. Hurtado, Texas A&M University, College Sta- S. Scarritt and B. Marchand, University of Texas at Austin, Aus- tion, TX tin, TX; and M. Weeks, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX AIAA-2009-5912 A Simulator for Modelling Aircraft Surface Operations at AIAA-2009-6250 Airports A Generalized Dynamic Programming Approach for a De- Z. Wood, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA; S. parture Scheduling Problem Rathinam, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX; Y. Jung S. Rathinam, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX; Z. and M. Kistler, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA Wood, B. Sridhar, and Y. Jung, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA AIAA-2009-5927 Effects of Mass and Size on Control of Large Receiver in AIAA-2009-6254 Aerial Refueling Robust Air- Traffic Control Using Ground- Delays and Re- A. Dogan, C. Elliott, and F. Riley, University of Texas at Arling- routing of Flights ton, Arlington, TX; and W. Blake, U.S. Air Force Research P. Dutta, R. Bhattacharya and S. Chakravorty, Texas A&M Uni- Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH versity, College Station, TX

AIAA-2009-5955 AIAA-2009-6307 A Homotopy Method for Bang- Bang Control Problems A Model Based Hierarchical Approach to Control Design X. Bai, J. Turner, and J. Junkins, Texas A&M University, Col- for Morphing Dynamics lege Station, TX M. Kumar and S. Chakravorty, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX AIAA-2009-5990 Optimal Nonlinear Feedback Control by Using Galerkin AIAA-2009-6312 Approximation Techniques On Camera Calibration for Star Tracker Applications R. Sharma, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL; S. Vadali, D. Woodbury, T. Henderson and J. Junkins, Texas A&M Uni- Texas A&M University, College Station, TX versity, College Station, TX

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 37 Page 38

Joseph S. Algranti, 1925-2009 DOUGLAS YAZELL, ASSISTANT EDITOR

and service in the aerospace engineering department (1969-2009),‖ at Texas A&M University. Our section‘s current history committee chair, Mr. Chester A. Vaughan, was our section‘s Vice Chair of Operations the year before Mr. Algranti served as our Chair and Mr. Vaughan served in that Op- erations role again 3 years later. From the LaGrange, GA, Daily News: ―Joseph Samuel Al- granti, 84, of LaGrange, died Wednesday, April 29, 2009, at Hospice LaGrange. ―Mr. Algranti was born February 8, 1925, in New York, son of the late Samuel Joseph Algranti and Beatrice Carol Algranti. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a BS in Physics. He was a pilot James C. McLane, Jr., James C. McLane, Jr., Dr. Above: NASA Chief Test Pilot in the U.S. Navy and retired called my attention to the Ernest Kistler, Joseph S. Al- Joseph Algranti as a Commander in the Naval recent death of a space pro- granti (1973-1974), and then Reserves. He began his career gram pioneer, Mr. Joseph S. Dr. Leland A. Carlson. Only as a research test pilot in Algranti. Mr. McLane was two other officers are listed in Cleaveland, OH at NACA. our section chair for our 1971 Mr. Algranti‘s council, Secre- Next he moved to NASA at -1972 year, as we can see in a tary Norman H. Chaffee and Langley, VA. From 1962, he document listing past section Treasurer Beverly A. Stead- assumed the role of Chief of officers on the web page for man. Coincidentally, May 6, Aircraft Operations and Chief our history technical commit- 2009, was the date of a retire- Test Pilot at NASA in Hous- tee (www.aiaa-houston.org/ ment tribute for Dr. Leland ton, TX, where he was instru- tc/history). Starting with the A. Carlson, ―after 40 years of (Continued on page 39) 1962-1963 year, our first few dedicated teaching, research, section chairs were Alan J. Chapman, W. Scott Royce, Charles B. Appleman, Phil Sansone, Dr. George M. Low (a late member who was as- sociated with historic deci- sions related to Apollo 8 go- ing to Lunar orbit instead of only to Earth orbit), Alec C. Bond, Jack C. White, Joseph G. Thibodaux (a local resi- dent who recently became an AIAA Fellow, John Stap, Jr.,

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 38 Page 39

(Continued from page 38) that this is a private social and he could no longer con- mental in the training of all group started in 1921 for very trol the vehicle. The LLTV aspects of the space program. experienced pilots. crashed and burned. A flight He retired from NASA in Various NASA web sites readiness review at MSC on 1992, and after retirement, he contain stories and photos of November 26 had found the moved to Chapel Hill and Mr. Algranti, and these are LLTV ready for use in astro- then to LaGrange. our main sources for this arti- naut training, and 10 flight ―Survivors include his cle. Mr. Robert Pearlman‘s tests had been made before wife, Annabelle Algranti of web site, Collect Space the accident. An investigating LaGrange; his children, Dr‘s (www.collectspace.com), board headed by astronaut Debbie and Richard Simmons contains an excellent article Walter M. Schirra, Jr., was of LaGrange, Samuel and about Mr. Algranti at this set up to find the cause of the Marilyn Algranti of Houston, address: http:// accident. And on January 8, TX, and Donald Alaster Cope www.collectspace.com/ubb/ 1969, NASA Acting Admin- of New London, CT; eight Forum38/ istrator Thomas O. Paine grandchildren, Andy, Pat, HTML/001000.html. asked the review board that Anna, Stephanie, Joseph, From this web page, was established in May 1968 Robert, Adrianne, and Nick.‖ ―http://history.nasa.gov/SP- to restudy its findings on the Mr. Algranti was also a, 4009/v4p3b.htm‖, we find May 6 crash of Lunar landing ―Member, Quiet Birdmen,‖ this quote: research vehicle No. 1 according to his biography ―During a routine flight (LLTV-1). from the NASA/JSC Oral of Lunar Landing Training ―Memo, George E. History project (http:// Vehicle (LLTV) No. 1, MSC Mueller, OMSF, NASA, to history.nasa.gov/alsj/Algranti test pilot Joseph S. Algranti Acting Administrator, -Bio.pdf ). A quick internet was forced to eject from the ‗Manned Space Flight search using Google hints craft when it became unstable (Continued on page 40)

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 39 Page 40

drogen lines were first Kohl developed the five- purged, then the engine was cylinder piston pump, driven operated on JP-4 and gaseous by a hydraulic motor, for hydrogen simultaneously. installation in the wing-tip After two minutes of opera- liquid-hydrogen tank. tions on the mixture, Algranti ―Flight experiments with switched to hydrogen alone. the pump extended into 1959. The transition was relatively Three successful flights were smooth and there was no ap- made. Although the pump preciable change in engine speed and discharge pressure speed or tailpipe temperature. varied, the hydrogen regula- The engine ran for about 20 tor maintained a constant minutes on hydrogen. The engine speed during opera- pilots found that the engine tion with hydrogen. All the responded well to throttle transitions from JP-4 to hy- changes when using hydro- drogen, burning hydrogen, gen. When the supply was and transition back to JP-4 almost exhausted, the speed were made without incident. (Continued from page 39) began to drop. As this be- The feasibility of using liquid Above: Joe Algranti and others Weekly Report - December 9, in front of the Lunar Lander came apparent, Algranti hydrogen in flight had been 1968,‘ Dec. 9, 1968; NASA .‖ Training Vehicle (LLTV) switched back to JP-4 and the thoroughly demonstrated Release 69-5, ‗Review Board engine accelerated smoothly From, ―http:// n. 8, 1969.‖ Reconvened,‘ Ja to its operating speed. The www.nasa.gov/centers/ From this web site, engine burning hydrogen had dryden/about/Organizations/ ―http://history.nasa.gov/SP- produced a dense and persis- Technology/Facts/TF-2004- ,‖ 4009/keyev4.htm a note tent condensation trail, while 08-DFRC.html‖ about Ellington Field is the other engine operating on ―From Research to added: JP-4 left no trail. Training ―1968, December 8: Lu- ―On 26 April, Silverstein ―All Apollo mission nar landing training vehicle held a special conference to commanders and their back- No. 1, with MSC test pilot report what had been learned ups flew many hours in the Joe Algranti at the controls, by the Bee project using hy- LLTVs before their Apollo crashed and burned at Elling- drogen in flight. The 175 flights. Their Lunar landing ton AFB, Tex. Algranti attendees heard 7 papers by training also included a three- .‖ ejected safely 19 members of the project week helicopter flight school, This web page, ―http:// team. They covered hydrogen training on the tethered Lunar history.nasa.gov/SP-4404/ch6 consumption, fueling prob- landing simulator at Langley, ‖ -4.htm , contains a report no lems, airplane tankage, air- and practice on the electronic the feasibility of using liquid plane fuel system, and the ground simulator at the hydrogen as propulsion fuel flight experiments. The re- Manned Spacecraft Center. for aircraft. The section of sults were also given in a ―Nearly all of the Apollo text on this web page carries series of research reports astronauts offered high praise a title, ―NACA Research on published later. for the experience -- and con- Hydrogen for High-Altitude ―The first series of fidence -- they gained from t,‖ a Aircraf nd refers to 1950- flights of the hydrogen-fueled their LLTV flight time. 1957, and a larger time pe- B-57 was made with a helium ―As they gained this ex- riod from 1945-1959. Mr. pressurization system to force perience, the astronauts -- and Algranti‘s name is mentioned the liquid hydrogen from the also the instructor pilots -- 10 times in about 2,000 wing-tip tank to the engines. learned to respect and be words on this web page, This required a fairly heavy watchful of the complicated which concludes: tank to withstand the pres- training machines. Out of the ―On 13 February, 1957, sure. Later, a liquid-hydrogen fleet of five, only two remain: the first of three successful pump was developed which LLTV A2, the No. 2 vehicle flights was made and the fuel permitted a reduction in tank from Dryden, and LLTV B3. system worked well. The weight that more than offset The other three were lost in transition to hydrogen was the weight of the pump. Ar- training accidents, but fortu- made in two steps. The hy- nold Bierman and Robert (Continued on page 41)

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 40 Page 41

(Continued from page 40) trical system failure that ―The worth of the LLRV nately all of the pilots ejected knocked out the attitude con- -LLTV program was realized safely and uninjured. trol system. Instructor pilot during the final moments ―The most celebrated Stu Present ejected while the before Apollo 11 astronauts ejection was by Apollo 11 vehicle crashed to the ground. Neil Armstrong and Edwin astronaut Neil Armstrong. On ―The final flight in the "Buzz" Aldrin completed the May 6, 1968, Armstrong was LLTV program was on Nov. first Moon landing in the LM about 30 feet off the ground 13, 1972. The pilot was astro- named Eagle. As the two men in LLTV A1 -- the No. 1 ve- naut Eugene Cernan, who were getting close to the hicle from Dryden -- when was wrapping up pre-launch Moon's surface, Armstrong helium pressure in the propel- training for the Apollo 17 saw they were nearing a lant tanks failed and caused flight that was carried out just rocky area. He disregarded the attitude control system to one month later. It was the the LM's automatic landing quit. As the vehicle began final Apollo mission to the system and switched to man- pitching up and rolling, Arm- Moon. ual control during the last strong ejected. The trainer ―The LLRV Legacy moments of descent. Arm- fell to the ground and ex- ―The staff at Dryden still strong landed the LM on a ploded. looks at the LLRV develop- safer, more suitable spot and ―Seven months later, a ment and research program as was able to report, "Houston, Manned Spacecraft Center an excellent example of how Tranquility Base here...the pilot, Joe Algranti, was flying individuals working in an Eagle has landed." LLTV B1 when gusty winds aerodynamic environment ―Armstrong later said his threw it out of control and he can add a large measure of practice flights in the LLTVs had to eject just seconds be- success to a spaceflight pro- gave him the confidence to fore it hit the ground. ject through mutual coopera- override the automatic flight ―The last accident was tion and a complete under- control system and control on Jan. 29, 1971, when standing of differing engi- Eagle manually during that LLTV B2 was hit by an elec- neering disciplines. epic Apollo 11 mission. ―LLTV A1, one of the two original research vehi- cles, was returned to Dryden where visitors can see it. LLTV B3, the last of the three training vehicles built, is on public display at the Johnson Space Center, Hous- ton, Tex.‖ http:// www.dfrc.nasa.gov/ Newsroom/X-Press/ stories/113001/ ppl_baron.txt.html Bob Baron, during his years working on the LLRV is second from left. From far left are Joseph Schneider, Baron, Jack Kleuver, Joe Algranti, Gene Matranga and Ron Bliley.

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 41 Page 42

Richard P. “Dick” Edwards, 1933-2009

Principal Engineer in System world to help conduct Com- Integration. One of his many petitions for students. Dick notable accomplishments was also perpetually challenged co-authorship of a report to his body and his mind with the President of the United activities that changed States regarding implementa- throughout his life, including tion of engineering recom- running marathons, accumu- mendations after the Chal- lating sufficient Contract lenger accident. His lifetime Bridge masterpoints to earn of service to crewed space- Life Master status several flight was recognized with a times over, snow skiing, hik- Launch Honoree Award and ing steep mountain trails, Silver Snoopy. Throughout Grand Canyon raft trips, and his life, he was involved in sailboat racing. He started learning, earning a MS in racing Ranger 23 "23 Ski- Systems Engineering from doo" in the Southern Califor- Above: Richard Edwards Richard P. "Dick" Edwards UCLA in 1971, studying to- nia PHRF fleet in the early was born October 17, 1933, ward a Doctorate of Business 1990s, engaged in one design in Madison, Wisconsin. He Administration with United racing on Cal 20 "P-C-H," grew up in Madison, cultivat- States International Univer- and sailed "Trick Bag" in the ing a passion for fishing until sity in San Diego in the early J24 Texas Circuit and his family moved to Tucson, 1980s, and Co-Founding Wednesday Night Sailboat Arizona, when he was in high Space Settlement Design races. He is survived by his school. He distinguished him- Competitions for high school brother James "Jim" Edwards self in high school by letter- students in 1984. His volun- of San Diego, son Brad Ed- ing in four sports, then pro- teer service in Southern Cali- wards of Albuquerque, and ceeded to the University of fornia included active mem- loving wife of 23 years Anita Arizona where he studied bership and officer responsi- Gale. He passed away sud- Mechanical Engineering and bilities in the American Insti- denly at the tiller of "Trick focused his sports interests on tute of Aeronautics and As- Bag" near the front of the track and basketball. He tronautics, engineering honor fleet in a Wednesday Night earned a BS in Mechanical society Tau Beta Pi, and the Sailboat Race on Clear Lake, Engineering in 1956, and Judging Policy Advisory near Houston, Texas. The served as a pilot in the Air Committee of the California family asks that in lieu of Force. In the 1960s he State Science Fair. Space flowers, donations be made to worked for several aerospace Settlement Design Competi- the International Space Set- companies in Southern Cali- tions have grown to involve tlement Design Competition, fornia, initially on the Atlas over 1000 students annually c/o AIAA Orange County launch vehicle and later for on six continents; Dick liter- Section. Rockwell legacy company ally travelled around the North American Aviation on the S-II stage of Saturn rock- ets that launched Apollo cap- sules to the Moon, then on 72/2, the first Rockwell satel- lite design. In 1980, he joined the Space Shuttle pro- gram for Boeing legacy com- pany Rockwell International Right: A 2007 SSDC at NASA/ in Downey, California-- JSC Building 9, with high school which transferred him to students mostly from Iowa spend- Houston in 2002, and which ing their weekend here (Photo: he served in various capaci- Yazell) ties until his last day as a

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 42 Page 43

Congratulations STS-125 crew on a successful Hubble servicing mission!

Local speaker, writer and former JSC flight controller Marianne Dyson re- cently related a humorous story illustrat- ing one young student’s understandable misconception about the operation of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The question, which she relayed during a recent press conference and which was answered by astronaut John Grunsfeld, was whether the astronauts could look at objects through the telescope while car- rying out the repairs. He answered that there is no eyepiece on the HST and that the “lens cap” was on during the mis- sion! (Illustration by Horizons art con- tributor Louis Abney.)

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 43 Page 44

APR Corner SCOTT LOWTHER

Well before the Apollo stage derived at least in small the Juno V could carry a total APR Corner is presented by program began – before part from the first stage of the of sixteen astronauts. The cap- Scott Lowther, whose unique NASA even existed – plans Titan ICBM. A LOX/kero sule seems ―backwards‖ to electronic publication is de- were underway to create a stage would initially be used, modern eyes; the pointy end is scribed as a “journal devoted space capsule and launch vehi- but replaced with a hydrogen down while on the booster, to the untold tales of aero- cle using what would become stage when that was available. necessitating a conical fairing spacecraft design.” More in- the Saturn I rocket. In Decem- The reasons given for using the covering the blunt forward formation, including subscrip- ber of 1958, Drs. Von Braun clustered tank arrangement for end. The fairing also covered tion prices, may be found at and Stuhlinger and Mr. Koelle the first stage included the ob- the airlock and solid rocket the following address: of the Army Ballistic Missile vious, such as ease of design abort motors needed to haul Agency (ABMA) presented to development and manufacture the capsule away from the Scott Lowther the National Aeronautics and since these were derived from booster in the event of a fail- 11305 W 10400 N Space Administration informa- existing tanks. Also ease of ure. Somewhat disturbingly, Thatcher, UT 84337 tion on launch vehicle work transportation was described, the capsule also had windows [email protected] then underway at ABMA. Of as the stage could be disassem- on the sides of the cone… in http://www.up-ship.com central importance was the bled and flown in carrier air- essence, in the heat shield. But Juno V, a large launch vehicle craft such as the C-124. This this was, after all, just an art- of 1.5 million pounds thrust, would allow transport of the ist‘s conception of what a Juno Left: Juno V booster rocket as formed by clustering Redstone Juno V booster to launch sites V capsule may look like. presented to NASA in Decem- and Jupiter propellant tanks around the world, without the It is interesting to com- ber, 1958 with engines derived from that need to develop dedicated pare this early, clearly optimis- of the Jupiter and Thor transport aircraft, ships or tic concept for a simple launch Middle: Juno V booster rocket IRBMs. This launch vehicle, barges. vehicle with a massively capa- with manned capsule payload along with much of the staff of A notional manned cap- ble capsule with the current the ABMA would sooner be sule concept was also pre- Ares I/Orion concept. Rght: The sixteen-man capsule transferred to NASA; the Juno sented. Patterned after then- envisioned in December, 1958. V would there be renamed the current Langley capsule de- Note the airlock protruding Saturn I. signs (and clearly influenced from the top, the control flaps, As of late 1958, the Juno by re-entry warhead design the claustrophobic accommoda- V utilized a first stage clearly work, such as that which pro- tions and the windows on the recognizable as that of the duced the Titan II ICBM re- vehicles side. Saturn I, but used a second entry vehicle), the capsule for

AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 44 Page 45

Cranium Cruncher BILL MILLER, SENIOR MEMBER

From last issue, Alan Simon, Gary Turner, Bill Hahn, David Kin, Dustin Ochoa, Ron Ro- lando, Bob Maraia, and Douglas Yazell all correctly calculated the side of the box-beam to be 5.79 units. I appreciate the large number of responders and the diverse solution methods!

Unfortunately, I lost my notes and cannot give a reference for the source of the puzzle at this time, but I will keep looking and provide it in a future issue if possible.

Here is this issue's cruncher:

A solar array is to be constructed of square panels of two types, power producing panels and structural panels. The panels may not be cut but must be used as whole units. The portion of the array which produces power will be square and will be surrounded by a support area made of the structural panels. The four ―stripes‖ of structural panels surrounding the power producing area are all of different widths, each being one panel wider than the next. The narrowest stripe has the power outlet connection in the center of it. The whole assembly con- sisting of power producing panels surrounded by the structural panels is also square.

If 621 structural panels are used, how wide is the structural border on the side of the assem- bly opposite from the power outlet connection?

Send solutions to [email protected]. The answer, along with credits, references, and names of the solvers, will be provided next time.

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AIAA Houston Horizons Summer 2009 Page 46