May/June 2012 Issue

Home , Odyssey Space Research, Pleiades (satellite), Project Morpheus

Volume 37, Issue 7 AIAA Houston Section www.aiaahouston.org May / June 2012 The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Hubble Revisited on NASA’s 50th Anniversary

Morpheus

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 1 May / June 2012

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

From the Chair 3

HOUSTON From the Editor 4

Horizons is a bimonthly publication of the Houston Section Cover Story: Project Morpheus 5 of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Dinner Meeting: 50th Anniversary of AIAA Houston Section 12 Douglas Yazell The 1940 Air Terminal Museum at Hobby Airport 13 Editor Past Editors: Dr. Steven E. Everett The Annual Technical Symposium (ATS 2012) 14 Editing team: Don Kulba, Ellen Gillespie, Robert Bere- mand, Alan Simon, Dr. Steven Everett, Shen Ge Editorial by Shen Ge: Planetary Resources: Flight of Fancy or Real Wealth? 18 Regular contributors: Dr. Steven Everett, Don Kulba, Philippe Mairet, Alan Simon, Scott Lowther Will Europe Participate in the Orion MPCV Project of the USA? 20 Contributors this issue: Dr. Jon B. Olansen, Sean Carter, Raphael Munoz, Michael Frostad Ellington Field, Airport, Spaceport & The Lone Star Flight Museum 22

AIAA Houston Section Yuri’s Night Houston 2012: The 5k Fun Run and Space Day 24 Executive Council Current Events: Launch of Chinese Astronauts, June 15, 2012 26

Sean Carter The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Chapter 12 (Houston) 27 Chair Space Fighter: 1963 (APR by Scott Lowther) 28 Daniel Nobles Irene Chan Chair-Elect Secretary Spirit of Apollo Scholarship Winner Donya Ziraksari 33

Sarah Shull John Kostrzewski Current Events: SpaceX COTS Success & Space Shuttle Replica in Houston 34 Past Chair Treasurer Staying Informed: Rest in Peace, John Llewellyn 36 Julie Read Alan Sisson Calendar 38 Vice-Chair, Operations Dr. Satya Pilla Vice-Chair, Technical Cranium Cruncher by Dr. Steven E. Everett 39 Operations Dr. Gary Turner Technical Section News 40 Shen Ge Dr. Albert A. Jackson IV Melissa Gordon Bebe Kelly-Serrato The Back Cover: Venus Transit 42 Lisa Voiles Dr. Zafar Taqvi Rafael Munoz Bill Atwell Svetlana Hanson Sheikh Ahsan Michael Frostad William West Horizons and AIAA Houston Section Web Site Dr. Benjamin Longmier Paul Nielson AIAA National Communications Award Winner Matthew Easterly Dr. Steven E. Everett Douglas Yazell Gary Brown Gary Cowan Dr. Kamlesh Lulla Joel Henry Ludmila Dmitriev-Odier

Councilors

Ellen Gillespie 2004 2005 2006 2007 Brian Banker Matt Johnson This newsletter is created by members of AIAA Houston Section. Opinions expressed herein other Clay Stangle than by elected Houston Section officers belong solely to the authors and do not necessarily repre- Melissa Kronenberger sent the position of AIAA or the Houston Section. Unless explicitly stated, in no way are the com- Sarah Barr ments of individual contributors to Horizons to be construed as necessarily the opinion or position Donald Barker of AIAA, NASA, its contractors, or any other organization. All articles in Horizons, unless other- Shirley Brandt wise noted, are the property of the individual contributors. Reproduction/republishing in any form Holly Feldman except limited excerpts with attribution to the source, will require the express approval of the indi- Gabe Garrett vidual authors. Please address all newsletter correspondence to editor-in-chief[at]aiaa-houston.org.

www.aiaahouston.org Cover: Morpheus testing. Image credit: NASA.

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Looking Back at our 2011-2012 Year From the Chair SEAN CARTER, CHAIR

Wow! What a year! It’s gone  Yuri’s Night Houston nition of all that came before by too fast. This month of 2012 Fun Run and Cele- us. JSC Center Director Mike June 2012 marks the last bration Event Coats attended with his wife month of my term as your  2012 AIAA Houston and shared warm memories of AIAA Houston Section Chair. Section’s Annual Tech- AIAA and wishes for the next It has been a wild ride to be nical Symposium 50 years of our partnership sure. This year we’ve heard  AIAA Houston Section’s with JSC. from members of Congress, 50th Anniversary Gala the JSC Center Director, and Celebration Please accept my thanks for an impressive cadre of distin- allowing me to serve as your guished speakers. It’s been a busy and fun year. Chair for this great 2011-12 We also marked our 50th year year. I would like to sign off This spring alone, our section anniversary. To celebrate, we by recognizing those who hosted the… brought back members from have been our most consistent  2012 AIAA Region IV throughout our history to members through the years! Student Paper Competi- share stories and give recog- Congratulations! tion 60 Years with AIAA

Dr. Angelo Miele Left: Dr. Angelo Miele in 1987 from our 25th anniversary booklet.

50 Years with AIAA Roy W. Meinke

40 Years with AIAA Thomas E. Diegelman Anita E. Gale

Above: Roy Meinke on March 25 Years with AIAA 27, 2012, at the dinner meeting with guest speaker Douglas Ter- Walter J. Barnett Dr. J. Olusegun Thomas rier. At left is Wes Kelly. Image Charles H. Campbell Victor H. Treat, Jr. credit: Douglas Yazell. Lee A. Coggins Keith D. Zimmerman Toby B. Martin Larry S. Bell Norman N. Parker Dr. Tak Kahto Donald H. Peterson, Sr. Jeffrey S. Osterlund Dr. James H. Stramler Dr. Eric L. Petersen Timothy D. Suit

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From the Editor Weather, Climate, Special Editions & Dreams DOUGLAS YAZELL, EDITOR

“We can say with high confi- as, but not Europe, and Eric In other news, we produced a dence that the recent heat concludes: special edition of Horizons waves in Texas and Russia, for the 50th anniversary of and the one in Europe in “Here’s the real problem. AIAA Houston Section, a 15 2003, which killed tens of Hansen is entirely correct in MB PDF file with 46 pages, thousands, were not natural saying that climate change is extending the 20-page 1987 events — they were caused by happening, that humans are a booklet that celebrated our human-induced climate principal driver, and some 25th anniversary. This is on change.” extreme weather will get our web site, and our new worse. But to obtain political web site is That is a quote from a New movement and public support www.aiaahouston.org instead York Times article, “Game for this issue, there needs to of www.aiaa-houston.org, as Over for the Climate” from be more than dire warnings of July 1, 2012, but it will “op-ed contributor” James about the future. We need to take a while to fully populate Hansen. The New York see effects now in order to the new web site. Times wrote at the end of this spend money to improve the article, “James Hansen di- future. Thanks to Dr. Jon Olansen rects the NASA Goddard and the Project Morpheus Institute for Space Studies “That’s why there’s a great team for this issue’s cover and is the author of Storms of desire among climate activ- story! They are doing inspir- My Grandchildren.” ists to tie climate change to ing work. (Morpheus is the E-mail: extreme weather events. That god of dreams and dreamers.) douglas.yazell[at]me.com Since we have a French sister provides a good reason in the section (www.3af-mp.fr) and pragmatic world of politics to Additional links: For a Horizons archive on a other European contacts, that address a pressing need. national AIAA web site click quote about Europe sticks in http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/clima/ here. my mind. “Unfortunately the science of mission/index_en.htm climate change and extreme Starting July 1, 2012, our new Eric Berger is an outstanding weather isn’t quite yet up to http://www.eea.europa.eu/ web site will be science, space and weather the task, and Hansen, here, themes/climate www.aiaahouston.org, but it reporter for the Houston appears to be overreaching might not be fully populated Chronicle. His Chronicle some.” right away. Thanks to our new SciGuy blog addressed these webmaster Irene Chan! claims about Russia and Tex-

Corrections to page 10 of last issue: See this issue’s Section News page!

Right: Skylon is a design for an unpiloted space plane by the British company Reaction En- gines Limited (REL). Specifica- tions (Skylon C2): Capacity: Potential for up to 30 passengers (in a special passenger module). Caption and image: Wikipedia. Image attribution: GW_Simulations. Since we have a Houston connection, maybe this will make a good Horizons article one day soon?

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Project Morpheus Cover Story DR. JON B. OLANSEN, NASA/JSC

It’s early morning and numer- Left: Morpheus test prepara- ous engineers, rocket scien- tion. Image credit: NASA/Joe tists and various support per- Bibby. sonnel are already hard at work in the field west of JSC’s building 14. The Mor- pheus team is preparing for another tether test – this time with a suite of instruments from the Autonomous Land- ing & Hazard Avoidance Technology (ALHAT) project integrated on board the vehicle. This scene has become a regular occurrence on site at the Johnson Space Center, as the Morpheus project has vides an autonomous, reusa- the aforementioned technolo- worked to fully characterize ble, rocket-powered, terrestri- gies in an integrated flight the performance of its vertical al Vertical Takeoff / Vertical system in the terrestrial envi- test bed in preparation for Landing (VTVL) vehicle for ronment. some approach and landing testing integrated spacecraft tests at KSC later this sum- and planetary lander technol- NASA’s strategic goal of mer. ogies. The integrated Vertical extending human activities Test Bed (VTB) platform across the solar system re- The Morpheus Project began provides a means to develop, quires an integrated architec- in earnest in June 2010, an mature, refine, and demon- ture to conduct human space offshoot of a concept devel- strate advanced technologies exploration missions beyond opment activity called promoting enhanced autono- Low Earth Orbit (LEO). This “Project M” that envisioned my, reliability, safety, reusa- architecture would include demonstrating precision land- bility, In-Situ Resource Utili- advanced, robust in-space ing of a bipedal humanoid zation (ISRU), precision nav- transit and landing vehicles Robonaut on the lunar surface igation and safe landing capa- capable of supporting a varie- via a “green” propellant bilities. ty of lunar, asteroid and plan- lander – all in 1000 days. etary missions; automated Morpheus, named for the The four primary goals estab- hazard detection and avoid- Greek god of dreams and lished for Morpheus include ance technologies to reduce dreamers (though Matrix fans a) technology advancement; risk to crews, landers and may point to Lawrence b) lean development; c) inno- precursor robotic payloads; Fishburne’s iconic character), vative partnerships; and d) and ISRU to support crews continues the lander technolo- education & outreach. Project during extended stays on ex- gy development activity that team members diligently and traterrestrial surfaces and could eventually support hu- continuously pursue all four provide for their safe return man and robotic missions to goals. Pursuing these goals in to earth. NASA’s Advanced any surface. support of NASA’s strategic Exploration Systems (AES) Below: A banner from the development has yielded a portfolio includes several fast The Morpheus Project pro- system capable of advancing -paced, milestone-driven pro- Morpheus web site. Image (Continued on page 6) credit: NASA.

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Morpheus (Continued from page 5) with Kennedy Space Center as well. These attributes make jects that are developing these (KSC) for flight testing; Sten- LOX/methane propulsion an necessary capabilities. Specif- nis for engine testing; Mar- attractive technology when ically, the Morpheus Project shall for engine development the entire spacecraft system is and the ALHAT Project pro- and lander expertise; Goddard considered. LOX and me- vide technological founda- for core software develop- thane are also readily availa- tions for key components of ment; and Langley and the Jet ble and relatively safe and the greater exploration archi- Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) easy to handle, allowing for tecture required to move hu- for ALHAT development. frequent, low-cost ground mans beyond LEO. Commercial partnerships with testing. enterprises such as Jacobs Our project mantra is: while Engineering, Armadillo Aero- ALHAT, the primary Mor- technologies offer promise, space, and Draper Labs have pheus payload, provides the Technologies capabilities offer potential augmented the development second key technology: au- solutions with application and operation of many aspects tonomous precision landing offer promise; for future human explo- of the project. and hazard avoidance. When ration beyond LEO. Mor- landing autonomously on any capabilities pheus provides a bridge Technology Maturation planetary or other surface, the offer solutions for evolving these tech- vehicle must be able to identi- nologies into capable sys- One of the primary technolo- fy a safe landing site that is tems that can be demonstrated gy components of the Mor- free of large boulders, rocks, and tested. Successful imple- pheus Project is a liquid oxy- craters, or highly sloping sur- mentation of these capabilities gen (LOX) / liquid methane faces. will enable access to landing (LCH4) propelled vehicle. sites that were previously The Morpheus LOX / me- A primary objective of Mor- considered to be too hazard- thane propulsion system can pheus in FY12 is to demon- ous to risk a robotic lander provide a specific impulse strate and advance the Tech- mission, much less a human during space flight of up to nology Readiness Level mission. 321 seconds; it is clean- (TRL) of the precision land- burning, non-toxic, and cryo- ing and hazard avoidance Though designed and devel- genic, but space-storable. For capabilities developed by the oped primarily by an in-house future space missions, oxygen ALHAT system. The ALHAT team at JSC, project personnel and/or methane could poten- project has been developing aggressively pursue partner- tially be produced in-situ, an integrated Autonomous ships across other NASA cen- depending on the planetary Guidance, Navigation and ters, commercial entities and surface. The oxygen is com- Control (AGNC) hardware academia in support of Mor- patible on-board with life and software system capable pheus development and test support systems and oxygen / of detecting and avoiding activities. Morpheus and methane systems are being surface hazards and autono- ALHAT have partnerships studied for power generation mously guiding a crewed or robotic space vehicle to a safe Right: Morpheus ignition envi- touchdown within 90 meters ronment characterization test. of a pre-designated planetary Image credit: NASA/Kris Kehe. or asteroid site. ALHAT uses an onboard laser altimeter, a Doppler velocimeter, and a flash Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) for the onboard sensors to perform surface relative navigation and hazard detection. Mor- pheus is designed to carry ALHAT sensors and software supporting tests that will demonstrate an integrated vehicle capability to perform these tasks. (Continued on page 7)

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(Continued from page 6) position to less than one me- any live engine testing. ter, velocity to less than three Morpheus Vehicle Systems cm/second, and attitude In order to design and build knowledge within 0.05 de- rapidly, team members are Operation of a VTB encom- grees. always looking to leverage passes a wide range of ele- existing NASA resources ments and disciplines that are A Thrust Termination System wherever it makes sense. For common to a human space- (TTS) is employed both for example, our software devel- flight development, including range safety and independent opers built our vehicle soft- the spacecraft, ground sys- test termination purposes. ware around Goddard Space tems, payload integration, Flight Center’s flight operations, logistics, (GSFC) Core Left: Morpheus control room. and safety. Flight Software Image credit: NASA. (CFS), a set of re- The Morpheus prototype ve- usable software hicle sizing was predicated on modules in a flexi- a 500 kg payload lunar refer- ble framework that ence mission. The Morpheus can be adapted to 1.5 VTB is a “quad” lander various space ap- design with four tanks, a sin- plications. Starting gle gimbaled engine and an with CFS, we add- aluminum structure beneath a ed custom applica- top deck for mounting GNC, tion code unique to avionics and power compo- the Morpheus vehi- nents and payloads. The pro- cle and mission pulsion system uses an im- design, enabling pinging element-type engine Closing either of two motor- the vehicle to execute planned design, which is film-cooled ized valves in the TTS will flight profiles completely and operates as a blow-down shut off the flow of liquid autonomously, from the time that the operator sends the command for main stage igni- Left: Morpheus 1.5 vehicle. tion through vehicle landing Image credit: NASA. and engine shutdown. Auton- omous flight operations are required for robotic landers at remote destinations, and from the beginning, Morpheus has endeavored to keep the vehicle subsystems and software directly applicable to space flight.

Ground Systems

The VTB Flight Complex (VFC) at JSC includes a 20’ x 20’ concrete pad located on a section of the JSC antenna range near an old Apollo-era antenna tower. About 2000 feet away is the Morpheus oxygen and methane to the control center for on-site field system. The engine is throttle- engine and terminate engine testing at JSC, the small two- able, producing up to 4300 lbf thrust. The commands to initi- story building 18 that was of thrust to control vertical ate thrust termination are sent formerly used for rooftop ascent and descent rates. The from a control unit located in (Continued on page 8) vehicle is able to determine the operations center during

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(Continued from page 7) and software (APS), guid- to test the LOX/methane pro- Morpheus GPS testing and storage. In- ance, navigation and control pulsion system. For tether side this old building, our (GNC), ground control (GC), tests the vehicle is suspended operator workstations use a range safety officers (RSO), from a crane to enable testing GSFC’s Integrated Test and and the flight manager (FM). of the propulsion and integrat- Operations System (ITOS) During tests with payloads ed GN&C without the risk of aboard, a vehicle departure or crash. Right: Morpheus Prop and another Morpheus “free-flights” GNC operators at work in the position demonstrate the fully integrat- Morpheus control room. Image may be ed flight capability of the ve- credit: NASA/Joe Bibby. included, hicle with no restraints. Free- such as one flight safeguards include both for automatic on-board aborts and ALHAT. remotely commanded aborts, Each posi- as well as the redundant and tion is cer- independent TTS that can be tified activated by spotters who through visually determine trajectory specific deviations. training. As a small team, the Morphe- ground software. Like CFS, Certification is also required us Project is able to try differ- ITOS was developed as for three pad crew (PAD) ent management approaches ground control and display positions. PAD-1 is the pad and assess suitability for larg- software for GSFC space ve- crew leader and is responsible er activities. Our lean devel- hicles and is available to other for executing manual vehicle opment philosophy has been NASA projects. operations. PAD-2 and PAD- to prototype and test early and 3 conduct all handling of cry- often, learn, improve, and Ground systems also include ogenic fluids and most other repeat. This helps us avoid propulsion Ground Support consumables. “paralysis by analysis” so that Equipment (GSE). The con- we can maintain our rapid sumables required for an en- Morpheus Testing pace of development. Learn- gine test include liquid oxy- ing from the last test and pre- gen, liquefied natural gas, Morpheus testing includes paring for the next test in an helium, liquid nitrogen, and three major types of integrat- aggressive test schedule is an gaseous nitrogen. A portable ed tests: hot-fire, tether, and important forcing function, ground power cart is used for free-flight. During hot-fire promoting team focus on ex- extended operations, minimiz- testing the vehicle is com- peditiously understanding and ing the internal flight power pletely restrained from move- improving subsystems and the needs. ment and the primary focus is integrated vehicle. The development model of refining the Right: Morpheus pad opera- JSC’s Center Operations pro- design through prototyping tions. Image credit: NASA/Kris vides substantial support to and testing, rather than Kehe. test activities as well, from through exhaustive require- riggers, cranes and transporta- ments definition and analysis, tion assets to emergency ser- has been highly effective for vices and fire protection. the Morpheus project.

Operations Preparing for flight tests at KSC, we’ve gained a lot of The final element of the Mor- operational experience in a pheus system is Operations. short period of time, complet- Nine primary operator posi- ing a couple of dozen field tions are staffed by team tests at JSC over the past year members: test conductor and a half. The test early, test (TC), operator (OPS), propul- (Continued on page 9) sion (PROP), avionics, power

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(Continued from page 8) ways. During each test, we dynamic than expected. It often philosophy has resulted stream mission telemetry, may have appeared as a test Morpheus in the team conducting 6 hot- voice loops, and video from failure, but the team took the fire and 17 tethered tests to the Morpheus testing control opportunity to critically review the throttle valve control and made a number of im- Left: Morpheus hot fire test. provements in that design. Image credit: NASA/Kris Kehe. Additionally, the GN&C team was able to collect dynamic motion data that would not have otherwise been available during a normal test. Just six days later, the team had made the repairs and conducted a well-behaved Tether Test 3. As originally envisioned, these videos were posted to the internet with a description of what happened during each test.

Every test has the potential to

Left: Morpheus ignition. Image credit: NASA/Joe Bibby.

date. The first several tests center to JSC’s Mission Con- demonstrated the basic inte- trol Center (MCC). From grated vehicle capability and there, data and video can be allowed the team to wring out made available to internal and the ground systems and oper- external networks for NASA ations. In late 2011, many personnel and the general upgrades were made based on public. Social media sites lessons learned from the ini- (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, tial flight test campaign, and etc.) are also regularly used. Morpheus 1.5 testing began in We even have an iMorpheus February 2012. Since then, app (developed by a co-op) initiate small grass fires, pri- tests have focused on tuning that graphically depicts vehi- marily due to spalling of the the GN&C performance and cle flights with live streaming concrete pad under engine integrating the ALHAT sen- data. I encourage readers to thrust. Tether Test 5, on June sors and components onto the follow us online at our web- 1, 2011, was the most stable vehicle. Most recently, we site http:// hover at that time and so was performed tether tests with morpheuslander.jsc.nasa.gov/ a Morpheus test success, but ALHAT’s gimbaled HDS live. made the news due to a grass active on top of the VTB, fire that was ignited and continuously moving to coun- Several of the tests had nota- spread through the dry field teract the motions of the hov- ble results. Tether Test 2, adjacent to the launch area. ering VTB, enabling it to de- conducted early in the project Fire Protection personnel tect and track targets out in test campaign, experienced an were on the scene for this test the field. avionics failure that caused as planned, but unfortunately the engine throttle to fail full had to split forces when a fire With outreach as a prime ob- open at ignition, and the re- alarm was activated in anoth- jective, we strive to connect sulting vehicle motion under er JSC building immediately with the public in multiple the tether was much more (Continued on page 10)

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(Continued from page 9) crete spalling, and getting a forming HD5 LOX / methane Morpheus after the test completed. The pumper truck to have availa- engine is undergoing testing fire was stopped with damage ble for JSC’s Fire Protection with tremendous support from only to a number of hay bales, Services (FPS) personnel. our partners at Stennis Space but the event led the team to Since Tether 5, only a handful Center. Integrated vehicle reevaluate and improve our of tests have resulted in small tests at JSC with the new en- fire prevention and suppres- grass fires, all quickly extin- gine, as well as new LOX / sion approach, including add- guished. methane RCS engines, with ing a fire break around the final verification of dynamic perimeter of the test area, Upcoming Tests stability, will complete our raising the tether height to planned test series at JSC. reduce the potential for con- At this time, our higher per-

Right: Morpheus Hazard De- tection Phase (HDP) trajectory. Image credit: NASA.

Right: Simulated Morpheus Currently scheduled for mid- approach at KSC. Image cred- July, the team will transport it: NASA. the vehicle and ground support equipment to KSC to begin a free flight test campaign. Our partners at KSC have done an excellent job preparing for our arrival and are nearing completion of the flight test site preparation at the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF). Preparation includes the buildup of a simulated planetary surface, complete with rocks, craters, and slopes, north of the SLF run- way, to serve as the target landing site. The test cam- (Continued on page 11)

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(Continued from page 10) contractor organizations, and rying evolutionary ALHAT paign will begin with short a multi-step governance mod- components that are smaller Morpheus 30m x 30m “hops,” and cul- el. Morpheus was challenged and higher performing, yet minates in a two-minute Haz- to evaluate ways to reduce require less power. Morpheus ard Detection Phase (HDP) overhead, create efficiencies will maintain a robust proto- flight trajectory with a maxi- in the team organizational type and testing profile, en- mum altitude just over 500 structure, and improve team suring that technologies and meters and a range of one collaboration and communi- capabilities will have a high kilometer. The HDP trajecto- cation, using methods that level of maturity when NASA ry simulates a landing ap- could potentially scale back is ready to on-ramp them for proach phase that allows the up to streamline flight pro- future spaceflight missions. ALHAT system and Morphe- jects and programs. The team us vehicle to perform hazard will continue this effort to detection and avoidance, improve the way that NASA scanning the hazard landing executes projects, and will field, and redesignating the continue to share these inno- vehicle to a safe landing site vations both within and out- within that field. side of the NASA organization. Beyond FY12 Author Beyond FY12, Morpheus will Morpheus will continue to continue to mature the tech- Dr. Jon B. Olansen serves as the Project Manager for the Mor- spearhead innovative ways of nologies and integrated capa- pheus Project. Jon earned his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and doing business that streamline bilities to support a space- M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Notre management overhead and capable system. Under the Dame. He obtained his Ph.D. in Bio-Mechanical Engineering as maintain the flexibility to AES program, Morpheus a National Instruments Fellow at Rice University, where he spe- address the challenges of sys- plans to evaluate alternate cialized in biomedical experimentation in electrophysiology and tem development, while re- lander designs, including cardiopulmonary hemodynamics. He has published several jour- taining what rigor is needed to composite tanks and structure. nal articles related to his research and authored a reference book expeditiously proceed toward The project will also develop on biomedical instrumentation. Jon began his career at JSC as a a flight-capable design. Many a regeneratively cooled en- Space Shuttle flight controller (Mechanical, Maintenance, Arms of the Morpheus team mem- gine and increase vehicle reli- and Crew Systems, or MMACS), supporting 32 missions and bers previously worked on ability with redundant avion- logging more than 4200 hours in Mission Control. Dr. Olansen large-scale NASA human ics, power, and GN&C com- has since held a number of positions of increasing responsibility spaceflight projects and pro- ponents. In FY13-14, Mor- including tours in Flight Crew operations, Safety & Mission grams such as ISS, Shuttle, pheus plans to conduct even Assurance, the Shuttle Program Office and the Exploration Sys- and Orion. These large pro- higher energy (6-kilometer tems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. Jon recently grams have thousands of geo- slant range) landing profiles, left his role as the Manager of the Engineering Directorate Plan- graphically distributed team simulating a complete surface ning & Control Office at JSC to pursue the Morpheus activity members, a high number of approach trajectory, and car- full time.

Note the publication of a May 2012 conference paper: Global Space Exploration Conference (GLEX) AIAA and The International Astronautical Federation (IAF) GLEX-2012.05.2.4x12761 Morpheus: Advancing Technologies for Human Exploration Jon B. Olansen, PhD, lead author Stephen R. Monday Jennifer D. Mitchell Michael Baine, PhD

Above: Morpheus test operations. Image: NASA/Joe Bibby.

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Dinner Meeting 50th Anniversary of AIAA Houston Section SHEN GE, CONTRIBUTOR AND DOUGLAS YAZELL, EDITOR

Right: Section Chair Sean A crowd of over 100 people Carter. Image credit: Douglas enjoyed this special dinner Yazell. meeting on June 6, 2012, at the NASA/JSC Gilruth Center Alamo Ballroom. JSC Center Director Mike Coats ad- Thanks to the dinner meeting dressed the crowd before the planning committee Alan Sis- panel discussion with five son (Programs Chair), Norman former Section Chairs. Panel Chaffee (Panel Moderator), moderator Norman Chaffee Irene Chan, Julie Read and made a few introductory re- Douglas Yazell. Also thanks to marks, then Douglas Yazell Treasurer Clay Stangle and spoke in place of James C. adviser Michael Frostad. McLane, Jr., our 1971-72 Chair, and Douglas spoke mostly about Jim’s service to Right: NASA artifacts on dis- our section during that 1971- play at our dinner meeting. 72 year and, starting in 1987, Image credit: Douglas Yazell. Jim’s leadership in starting up our (Shanghai based) Chinese sister section. The additional The booklet given to each at- speakers made initial remarks tendee is a Horizons special in the order shown in the pho- edition dated June 6, 2012, tographs, AIAA Fellow Guy Volume 37, Number 6. It is Thibodaux, Norman Chaffee, published on our AIAA web Dr. Zafar Taqvi, and Ellen sites along with other issues of Gillespie. Horizons. Our Section started in 1962 as The Institute of Aeronautical Right: From left, Douglas Yazell Sciences (IAS) Houston Sec- (filling in for James C. McLane, tion. The American Institute Jr., talking mostly about Jim of Aeronautics (AIAA) did McLane’s service to our Sec- not exist until 1963, but tion), AIAA Fellow Guy claims 1931 as its starting Thibodaux, Norman Chaffee, year, since it was created by Dr. Zafar Taqvi, Ellen Gillespie. merging The American Rock- Image credit: Julie Read. et Society (started in 1930 as The American Interplanetary Society) and the IAS (started Right: Past and current Section in 1932). Chairs with NASA/JSC Director Mike Coats. From left, Daniel Each paid attendee and guests Nobles (Chair Elect), Douglas of honor received a NASA Yazell, AIAA Fellow Mike Coats, commemorative medallion Sean Carter, Shirley Brandt, containing flown metal, a Ellen Gillespie, Norman lapel pin created for this anni- Chaffee, Guy Thibodaux, Dr. versary, and a 46-page anni- Zafar Taqvi and Michael Oelke. versary booklet. Image credit: James C. McLane III using Douglas Yazell’s cam- Happy Anniversary! era.

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1940 Air Terminal Museum at Hobby Airport Museum An AIAA Historic Aerospace Site A bimonthly column about DOUGLAS YAZELL, EDITOR The 1940 Air Terminal Muse- AIAA Houston Section al- Now and then they talk about restored so far. The ground um, a 2008 addition to the list most had its dinner meeting of building a bed and breakfast floor atrium is like new, re- of AIAA Historic Aerospace June 6, 2012, at this location! facility on the second floor. stored to its majestic initial Sites. The museum is restored It was a celebration of the Museum volunteers also envi- appearance like in 1940, when and operated by the non- 50th anniversary of AIAA sion a restaurant in the muse- the facility was far larger than profit Houston Aeronautical Houston Section. We rounded um one day. Houston’s needs. By 1946 or Heritage Society. up the required funding, but 1948, it was too small for other factors led us to use The art deco and art moderne Houston’s needs. Be sure to another venue. building has been beautifully visit the museum soon!

There are various ways to Left: The museum in August support the museum: become of 2010. Image credit: Doug- a member, attend the monthly las Yazell. Wings & Wheels lunch programs (usually on the third Saturday of the month), become a volunteer, etc.

As you can see from the 2010 photograph, there are a few floors with rooftop pedestrian areas. They will be great for taking photos of aircraft, but for now, upper floors are closed to the public due to fire codes.

Left: An image from the museum’s web site from the May 2012 Wings & Wheels event, whose theme was, “Learn to Fly Day!” The raffle plane is surrounded by Mustangs from The Mustang Club of Hou- ston. Image credit: Museum web site.

1940 Air Terminal Museum 8325 Travelair Street Houston, Texas 77061 (713) 454-1940

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 13 Page 14

ATS 2012 Annual Technical Symposium (ATS 2012) DR. STEVEN E. EVERETT, CHAIR, GN&C TECHNICAL COMMITTEE

The AIAA-Houston chapter Gilruth Center venue from proved too expensive, a sub- held its 2012 Annual Tech- 8:00 to 4:30 PM on May 18. sequent Phase I competition nical Symposium at its usual Before an early crowd of 40 for the Orion vehicle was attendees which executed and then cancelled Right: ATS 2012 General eventually grew in 2010. The design eventual- Chair Dr. Satya Pilla. Image to over 120 by ly evolved into the Multi- credit: Steve Everett using day’s end, our Purpose Crew Vehicle Satya Pilla’s camera. conference Gen- (MPCV) that is familiar to- eral Chair Satya day. Despite the volatility in Pilla introduced the funding (and nomencla- the morning’s ture) for the vehicle, the fun- keynote speaker, damental requirements have NASA Orion been relatively stable. Mr. Program Man- Geyer went on to outline the ager Mark manifest planned leading up Geyer. to the 2014 flight test, and to explain the various roles the Mr. Geyer be- government currently plays in gan by describ- the development of the Orion ing the history vehicle, from overseer to gov- Right: Dr. Satya Pilla (behind behind the de- ernment supplier to provider the podium) presenting a velopment of of engineering support. speaker gift to luncheon key- NASA’s newest note speaker Christopher Fer- exploration ve- The NASA open architecture guson, The Boeing Company, hicle. After the design approach for the Orion STS-135 Commander. Image fly-off planned was described briefly, along credit: Steve Everett using for 2004/2005 with the numerous trade stud- Satya Pilla’s camera. to decide on a ies that have already been Crew Explora- completed and planned flight tion Vehicle campaign. He stressed the (CEV) design difficulty in the abort system design, noting that this sce- Right: At left, Masataka Nishi nario is the loads driver and of Hitachi Research Laborato- that every study performed ry in Japan, vacationing in supports the tractor (rather California and (for the AIAA / than pusher) approach. The IAF GLEX event, Global Ex- CM structure design was de- ploration event) DC, and mak- scribed next. Among the coming a detour before his DC ponents and systems de- visit, coming to Houston for scribed were the composite our event. At right. Dr. Steven crew pressure vessel, the wa- E. Everett. The mural in this ter drop test, acoustic testing, lobby of the NASA/JSC Gilruth crew safety equipment, and Center is by space artist Pat avionics. Mr. Geyer continued Rawlings. Image credit: Doug- with a brief description of the las Yazell. planned Exploration Mission Flight 1 (EFT-1). After launching on a Delta-IV Heavy, the vehicle will make two orbits up to an altitude of 3000 miles. Key separation (Continued on page 15)

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 14 Page 15

(Continued from page 14) ing a 7-day, unmanned, free not optimized for ISS dock- ATS 2012 events will be tested, as well return lunar mission and a 10- ing, it cannot compete on a as an entry at near-lunar- to 14-day crewed lunar mis- financial basis with transpor- return velocities. Additional sion. tation services provided by abort and exploration mission the Soyuz or those planned by tests were described, includ- Destinations for the Orion other commercial providers. include the moon and Mr. Geyer closed by encour- asteroids, but Mr. aging those interested to fol- Left: Dr. Satya Pilla, ATS 2012 Geyer also noted that lows the progress of the Orion General Chair (behind the the Orion is required design on social media such podium) presents a keynote by law to perform as as Facebook and Twitter. speaker gift to Andrew Thomas a back-up for the of the NASA astronaut office. International Space After the morning’s parallel Image credit: Steve Everett Station (ISS). It is break-out sessions on topics using Satya Pilla’s camera. being designed to such as aero/astro, propulsion, accommodate ISS GN&C, systems engineering, docking, although the modeling & simulation, and detailed design for structures & mechanical engi- many of these func- neering, a lunch of sandwich- tions has been de- es and fruit was provided. The ferred. He pointed out afternoon’s keynote address that since its design is featured astronaut speakers Andrew Thomas and Chris Ferguson. A former US Navy Left: Keynote speaker Mark pilot, Mr. Ferguson flew Geyer, NASA/JSC, Orion Multi aboard Space Shuttle flights -Purpose Crew Vehicle STS-115, STS-126, and STS- (MPCV). Image credit: Dr. 135, and went to work in the Satya Pilla. Crewed Capsule Develop- ment program at Boeing after retiring from NASA in De- cember 2011. He mused on how much KSC and JSC have changed in the year since the Space Shuttle has retired and how much the four emerging commercial competitors, Boe- ing, SpaceX, Sierra Nevada, and Blue Origin, have accom- plished with the limited funding available. Of the three major components of the country’s manned spaceflight (Continued on page 16)

Left: The ATS 2012 keynote speaker gift and door prize, from the Official KSC Visitor Complex Space Shop. This crystal paperweight is affordable and available in this limited edition. Only 2011 will be made, in honor of the 1981-2011 history of the NASA Space Transporta- tion System (STS). Image credits: The Space Shop.

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 15 Page 16

(Continued from page 15) and Space Launch System and its interaction with the ATS 2012 efforts, CCDev, the Interna- (SLS), the ISS is the corner- Bigelow company, including tional Space Station (ISS), stone and is serving as the showing a video of the com- develop- pany’s concept. Having just Right: Yvonne Vigue-Rodi in ment test completed PDR, Boeing is the NASA/JSC Gilruth Center bed for preparing for CDR and an Discovery Room, “Lunar Sur- systems eventual pad abort test, orbital face EVA Route Selection Op- which flight test, and ultimately a timization.” Image credit: will be crewed flight test after De- Douglas Yazell. required cember 2015. After mention- for a fu- ing some of the remaining ture Mars challenges and opportunities, mission. he encouraged those of us Mr. Fer- working in human spaceflight guson to stay focused. He closed went on with the reminder that a flag to de- which flew on STS-1 and was scribe left on the ISS by STS-135 Boeing’s will someday be returned by progress one of the commercial vehicles now in development. Right: Patrick E. Rodi, “Ring Wing Waverider Configura- Astronaut Andy Thomas con- tions.” Image credit: Douglas tinued the lunchtime presenta- Yazell. tion with his view of spaceflight today and tomorrow, and how we should move forward. Dr. Thomas, who flew aboard Shuttle flights STS-77, STS-89, STS-102, STS-114, is currently working issues for the Exploration Branch of the Astronaut Of- fice. He said that although the Shuttle has given us so much, with its retirement we are left to rely on the Soyuz. Plans to Right: Dr. Paul Spudis, have the Crewed Capsule “Developing Cislunar Space Vehicle (CCV) developed by from Lunar Resources.” Image the commercial sector and credit: Douglas Yazell. online sometime in the middle of the decade have freed up NASA to develop heavy lift capability with SLS and reach destinations such as the Moon, asteroids and Mars. However, given the cancella- tion rate of the manned programs in the past few dec- ades, a successful program will need the following attributes: relevance, affordability, perceptible progress, and ac- ceptable risk. Culture has changed since Apollo, and (Continued on page 17)

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 16 Page 17

(Continued from page 16) their perceived relevance to search. The new challenge for ATS 2012 programs in the future will the public, either through eco- the manned space program is have to be sustained based on nomics, national security, or a shift to development of ca- spiritual security. A pro- pability in the form of small gram must also be afforda- steps toward short term goals. Left: Zoran Milenkovic, “The ble given the consistent In answer to attendees’ ques- Rendezvous and Proximity decline in the funding tions, Dr. Thomas denied the Operations Program Displays available to NASA. A lack need for a “spectacle,” such and Controls Capabilities.” of demonstrable and visi- as a Chinese Moon landing, to Image credit: Douglas Yazell. ble progress, such as that motivate the space program, seen in the Apollo pro- but that it should be realisti- gram, hurt the develop- cally based on exploration, ment of the Freedom and that it is our job to com- Space Station and cast municate the appropriate mes- doubt on the Shuttle pro- sages to Congress and the gram. It is clear the US public. must be willing to accept risk, and Dr. Thomas not- The afternoon general session ed that it was aversion to ended with a presentation of a risk that mo- commemorative crystal to tivated Ken- each of the speakers and to Left: INCOSE presenter Bill nedy to disal- the lucky door prize winner Ithon, “MBSE in a Rapid De- low John Ken Lassmann, and then the velopment Environment (a Glenn to fly symposium concluded with plan).” Image: Douglas Ya- again and another set of parallel tracks zell. caused the in GN&C, systems engineer- CAIB to ing, communications and question why tracking, architectures, and Columbia flight sciences. was allowed to fly a mission based solely on science re-

Left: Molly White (at left) with session chair Dr. Albert A. Jackson IV. Image credit: Douglas Yazell.

ATS 2012 Planning Committee

Dr. Satya Pilla, General Chair Ellen Gillespie Dr. Albert A. Jackson IV Dr. Steven E. Everett Raphael Munoz Matt Johnson Sarah Shull Douglas Yazell

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 17 Page 18

Editorial Planetary Resources: Flight of Fancy or Real Wealth? SHEN GE, CONTRIBUTOR, JUNE 17, 2012

In recent times, the space in- mostly use liquid oxygen/ year currently and perhaps dustry has received a lot of liquid hydrogen (LOX/LH2) 10% to use the LOX/LH2 coverage in mainstream me- as rocket propellant. Despite systems if optimism is as- dia due to the high interest in its high specific impulse, cry- sumed, PR will be spending space expressed by the rich ogenic systems are required much more than it makes. The and famous. So far, every for LOX/LH2 systems and market size will only increase private space company has these systems are known to be if there are more launches of been funded by a multimil- complicated, expensive, and spacecraft every year but that lionaire if not billionaire. occupying large volumes due can only happen with reduced When billionaires from back- to the low density of hydro- launch costs. Private space grounds in technology such as gen. This is why more dan- companies such as SpaceX Google co-founder and the gerous but denser and non- will be ensuring this happens. developer of Microsoft Office cryogenic systems are still However, with the reduction team up with movie directors often used. This also does not of launch costs, the value of and politicians, naturally all take into account other meth- water will also be decreased. eyes turn to this startup com- ods of propulsion such as Water is only a valuable re- pany. Planetary Resources electric propulsion or solar source since the current exor- (henceforth known as PR) cells which do not require bitant rates of launch costs certainly has a stellar cast of substantial fuel at all, if any. have the direct impact that investors and advisers which any dense material, whether it the mass media has been re- Second and equally crucial, be water or any payload, costs peatedly highlighting as well the current market size for a lot to launch. Currently, as their ambitious stated goal spacecrafts is too small to even the cheapest heavy lift of mining asteroids. justify mining for water as a launch vehicle (heavy lift sellable resource. With less meaning more than 25,000 However, two things need to than 50 new launches every (Continued on page 19) be better defined: (1) the ex- Right: The asteroid belt (white) act objectives of PR in mining and the Trojan asteroids asteroids and (2) how they (green). Image source: Wikipe- propose to do it. PR specified dia. Image credit: Public do- the resources of water and rare metals. The justification main. of water as a resource is: “A single water-rich 500-meter- wide asteroid contains 80 times more water than the largest supertanker could carry and could provide. If the water were converted to rocket propellant, it would provide more than 200 times the rocket fuel required to launch all the rockets ever launched in human history.”

The assumption of water as a valuable resource in space is fundamentally flawed for several reasons. First, PR as- sumes future spacecrafts will

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 18 Page 19

(Continued from page 18) came back down to the price quirements in order for instru- Editorial pounds), the Ukraine Zenit 2, of three cents per pound. mentation to be designed to launches payloads to LEO at accomplish these aims. A an expense of $1000/kg. These simple stories illustrate spacecraft meant only to look the value found in scarcity. at the sun has a different set So the chicken-and-egg prob- Rare metals such as gold and of configurations than an opti- lem is as follows. There’s no platinum are only worth a cal telescope to look at the market right now for water great deal because they are universe such as Hubble. By since there’s not enough rare. Once PR floods the mar- generalizing the tasks of PR’s launches that need water as a ket with these rare metals, planned telescope, they end fuel source. There’s no mar- they will no longer be consid- up with two strikes against ket in the future for water ered “rare.” Instead, they may them. First, they will need an since the launch costs will be be even considered cheaper expensive and costly tele- low enough by then that than iron or nickel given their scope with multiple instru- bringing water from Earth abundance. Of course, PR can ments since they are all neces- will be cheaper than mining claim to have a monopoly of sary to cover the different them from asteroids. such resources and only dis- aspects of a very general mis- pense them at a trickle or sell sion. Second, they lose time PR’s second main target of them at a high price as out-of- in actually finding near Earth resources is rare metals. As space rare metals, but that asteroids. When their tele- PR puts it, “In space, a single would mean they will be a scope is looking at the ground platinum-rich 500 meter wide company with monopolistic half the time, half the time asteroid contains about 174 intent. World governments they won’t be finding aster- times the yearly world output would take action against oids. of platinum, and 1.5 times the them. known world reserves of plat- Clearly, the current agenda of inum group metals.” Aside from PR’s vision state- Planetary Resources leaves ment, the implementation (the much to be desired. Perhaps Economics tell us that a re- “how”) also leaves much to they have a more defined al- source is valuable if it’s in be desired. The first project of ternate agenda not shown to short supply. Consider alumi- PR’s, the LEO space tele- the public which is more sen- Below: 243 Ida and its moon num which was more valua- scope, is a multipurpose tele- sible, but currently what I see Dactyl. Dactyl is the first satel- ble than gold when the crea- scope designed for looking is that they believe that hav- lite of an asteroid to be discov- tion of aluminum was not yet outwards into space as well as ing money is more important ered. Image source: Wikipedia. discovered. The Emperor Na- looking inwards at Earth. As than having brains. Image credit: NASA. poleon III used aluminum PR puts it, “LEO silverware only for his most is capable of highly esteemed guests in the surveying for 18th century. Consider a dif- near-Earth aster- ferent story of rice with a dif- oids during one ferent “emperor” called Em- orbit, [and] then peror Norton in the United [being] retasked States in the 19th century. for rain forest Joshua Norton, seeing that observation on China placed a ban on the the next. The export of rice, which caused possibilities for the cost of rice in San Fran- utility and en- cisco to skyrocket from four gagement are cents per pound to thirty-six only limited by cents per pound, bought all the imagination the rice in the market that was of the user.” shipping from Peru to hike up the price. Unfortunately or A payload for a fortunately, he failed to profit spacecraft must from his strategy, since more have precise rice came in anyway, and rice scientific re-

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 19

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3AF MP Will Europe Participate in the Orion MPCV Project of the USA? PHILIPPE MAIRET, 3AF MP AND DOUGLAS YAZELL, EDITOR

Our French sister section is The Columbus laboratory launched from French Guiana The European Space Agency 3AF MP, l’Association Aero- module and the Automated (using an Ariane 5 rocket (ESA) and NASA were dis- nautique et Astronautique de Transfer Vehicle (ATV) are each time): ATV-1 (Jules (Continued on page 21) France, Midi-Pyrenees the two major contributions of Verne) in 2008, the ATV-2 chapter, www.3af-mp.fr. See Europe to the International (Johannes Kepler) in 2011 our web page at www.aiaa- Space Station (ISS). In order and the ATV-3 (Edoardo houston.org. Click on tech- for the ISS to be continuously Amaldi) in 2012. Coming nical committees, Interna- operational until at least 2020, next are ATV-4 (Albert tional Space Activities Com- each partner nation should Einstein) in 2013 and ATV- mittee (ISAC). The ISAC is participate in its operations, 5 (Georges Lemaitre) in chaired by Ludmila Dmitriev but also provide in-kind ser- 2014. -Odier. An update to the 3AF vices. Three ATVs have been MP organization chart is on page 27 of our September / October 2011 issue. Right: Backdropped by the airglow of Earth's horizon and the blackness of space, the Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) approaches the International Space Station on Monday, 31 March, 2008, for its Demonstration Day 2 practice maneuvers. Image credit: NASA.

Right: The Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) is the first fully automatic re-supply spacecraft of its kind. ESA's Jules Verne ATV is the first Europe- an space supplier for the ISS. It was launched 9 March 2008 from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Image credit: ESA - D. Du- cros.

Far right below: A photograph from The Royal Aero- nautical Society (RAeS) blog entry from the Aero- space Insight Blog. Thomas Reiter is shown speaking. Image credit: RAeS.

Below: Orion MPCV and its service module with solar panels attached to the service module. Image credit: NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC).

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 20 Page 21

(Continued from page 20) Aviation Week and Space cussing, even recently, a pos- Technology (source: 3AF MP sible contribution from ESA internet), titled "France, Italy to the NASA Orion Multi- Shun Orion Development," Purpose Crew Vehicle we learn the current posi- (MPCV) project (a subject tion of the Presidents of the already suggested in the 3AF French National Center for MP newsletter la Gazette, Space Studies (CNES) and issue number 22) by supply- the Italian Space Agency ing services in order that Eu- (ASI) that reflects their op- rope fulfills its "post-ATV" position to their possible obligations. On January 16, participation in the develop- 2012, the Director General of ment of the Orion MPCV ESA reiterated to reporters his service module. So there is wish that this contribution a disagreement currently take the form of elements of existing between France the Orion MPCV service and Italy on the one hand, module. For Europe, this and on the other hand, the would be a matter of making barter (ATV as the service the best use of the expertise of module for Orion MPCV, the ATV program and Colum- to be launched on NASA’s bus. For the U.S., it would planned heavy-lift rocket, allow them to save time on the Space Launch System, the development of Orion, or SLS) mentioned by and to share the cost. Approv- Thomas Reiter (ESA) on als from Europe remain to be September 19, 2011, before obtained (after the next ESA the British Royal Aeronau- ministerial meeting scheduled tical Society (RAeS), de- for late 2012), as well as ap- scribed in la Gazette 3AF provals from the United MP No. 22. To be contin- States. ued…

Unfortunately, in an article dated February 17, 2012, in

Above: The NASA Space Launch System (SLS) com- pared to other NASA vehicles and an old NASA concept vehicle, a Nova-class rocket. Image source: A blog, The Remote-Controlled Vampire Cat, by J. M. Palmier. Image credit: NASA and www.NASASpaceflight.com.

Left: NASA Space Launch Sys- tem (SLS) vehicle configurations. Image source: A blog, The Remote-Controlled Vam- pire Cat, by J. M. Palmier. Image credit: NASA and www.NASASpaceflight.com.

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 21

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Ellington Airport Ellington Field, Ellington Spaceport, & The Lone Star Flight Museum DOUGLAS YAZELL, EDITOR

Mario Diaz, Aviation Direc- this surprising and exciting author about the military pro- tor, Ellington Airport, made a idea, “Ellington Spaceport!” jects at Ellington Airport / presentation recently at the Bob Payne at BAHEP sup- Field. May 16, 2012 membership plied me with PDF charts meeting of the Bay Area Hou- from the presentation, along I will continue to work on ston Economic Partnership. with PDF charts from another contacting the offices of these Janice Larson alerted me to presentation from a different (Continued on page 23)

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(Continued from page 22) Horizons about these AIAA- here are a few images that Ellington Airport two presenters, in hopes of related activities in our back will be of interest to our read- having detailed articles in yard, so to speak. Meanwhile, ers, thanks to Mr. Diaz.

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 23

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Yuri’s Night Yuri’s 5k Fun Run and Space Day 2012 Houston 2012 MICHAEL FROSTAD

To celebrate Humanity's first with a kids 1k run. The kids Knoll. With volunteers, fami- steps into Space, specifically took off like rockets, each ly members, and friends Yuri Gagarin's flight of Vos- looking to lead the pack. As cheering people on through- tok-1 and STS-1 Space Shut- each one returned the crowd out the varied terrain of the tle Columbia's first flight, would erupt in applause en- course, the race brings a smile AIAA Houston Section host- couraging them to finish to your face. Not to mention ed two events in April. strong. It was a fun activity the medals for the winners, for all. the free massages, and food. The first was the annual Yuri's 5k Fun Run held at Shortly after the Kids 1k run The second event was held Challenger 7 Memorial Park it was time for the main event, April 21st at Discovery Green on April 7th. The Yuri's 5k, Yuri's 5k. Over 400 people in downtown Houston. The which supports the Challenger came to run or walk the 5k on Society of Women Engineers Center for Space Science Ed- the near perfect morning at (SWE) and Engineers With- ucation, has grown to be part the park. out Borders (EWB) joined of the yearly runners tradition AIAA Houston at the park in the Houston Clear Lake The course is a double loop with exhibits and water rock- area. through the park with the first ets. loop adding in the obstacle of (Continued on page 25) The activities began at 8am the Challenger Memorial

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(Continued from page 24) AIAA Houston would like to exploration with many in the Yuri’s Night Volunteers spent the after- thank all of the participants Houston community and the noon showing and discussing and sponsors for helping to large number of participants Houston 2012 all the different aspects of make this years fun run and in the Yuri's 5k Fun Run com- Human Spaceflight and how Space Day the best yet! A bined with the great sponsor some of that knowledge is special thank you to Jacobs support for both events al- helping to improve life on Technology for being a prem- lowed AIAA Houston to Earth. Posters describing ier sponsor of the events. We make a $10,000 donation to many of the spacecraft in would also like to thank ERC the Challenger Center for work, history of the liquid for their support as well as Space Science Education! We fueled rocket, International Odyssey Space Research, hope to see you all again next Space Station research, and Walmart, Accord Texaswide year! future destinations allowed and Motorala. people to see the breadth of For more photos of the event work being performed by the In addition, our Space Day please see the following links: AIAA community. partners and volunteers from the Society of Women Engi- http:// Of course, the big hit with the neers and Engineers Without www.yurisnighthouston.net/ kids on this very warm Space Borders, as well as North For- Day were the water rockets. est High School, really are the https:// Over 100 water rockets were ones who made it a great pi- created and launched through- event at Discovery Green. casaweb.google.com/1000787 out the afternoon thanks to 83678297762833/2012YuriS5 SWE and North Forest High These two events gave us an kSpaceDay School volunteers. opportunity to discuss space

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 25 Page 26

Current Events Launch of Chinese Astronauts, June 15, 2012 SHEN GE, CONTRIBUTOR & DOUGLAS YAZELL, EDITOR

Right: Liu Yang, the first Chi- nese woman to go into space. Image source: Enjoy Space. Image credit: CNSA.

Right: The crew of Shenzhou- 9, from left, Liu Yang, Jing Haipeng and Liu Wang. Image source: Enjoy Space. Image credit: CNSA.

Right: The space station Tian- gong-1 (right) on orbit with an approaching Shenzhou spacecraft (artist’s image). Image source: Enjoy Space. Image credit: CNSA.

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 26 Page 27

The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)

EAA Chapter 12 Mission ple together with an interest in tion and aviation technology recreational aviation, facilitat- is encouraged to participate The EAA’s Chapter 12, locat- ing social interaction and in- (EAA membership is not re- ed at Ellington Field in Hou- formation sharing between quired, but encouraged). ston, Texas, is an organization aviation enthusiasts. Many of Meetings are generally from that promotes all forms of the services that EAA offers 6:30 PM to 9 PM at Ellington recreational aviation. The provide valuable support re- Field in Houston Texas. We organization includes interest sources for those that wish welcome everyone. Come as In our May 2011 issue we in homebuilt, experimental, develop and improve various you are and bring a guest; we started our series EAA/AIAA antique and classic, warbirds, skills related to aircraft con- are an all aviation friendly profiles in general and experi- aerobatic aircraft, ultra lights, struction and restoration, pi- organization! mental aviation with Lance helicopters and commercially loting, aviation safety, and Borden, who is rebuilding his manufactured aircraft and the aviation education. Inland Sport airplane, an air- associated technologies. craft manufactured by his Every individual and organi- grandfather’s 1929 - 1932 This organization brings peo- zation with an interest in avia- company. The second in this series was a profile of Paul F. Ideas for a meeting? Contact Richard at rtsessions[at]earthlink.net, Chapter 12 web site: Dye. The third profile will ap- www.eaa12.org. Another email contact: eaachapt12[at]gmail.com. As of April 13, 2012, EAA pear as soon as possible. This Chapter 12 is meeting on the first Tuesday of month, based on the calendar on the web site. series was suggested by Rich- ard Sessions of EAA Chapter Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) web site: www.eaa.org 12.

Scheduled/Preliminary Chapter 12 Event/Meeting Ideas and Recurring Events: EAA is the Experimental Air- 1st Saturday of each month – La Grange TX BBQ Fly-In, Fayette Regional (3T5) craft Association. The Houston 1st Saturdays – Waco/Macgregor TX (KPWG), Far East Side of Field, Chap 59, Pancake Chapter is #12, one of the ear- Breakfast with all the goodies 8-10 AM, Dale Breedlove, jdbvmt[at]netscape.com liest created among the hun- 2nd Saturdays – Conroe TX Chapter 302 10 AM Lone Star Builder’s Ctr, Lone Star Executive dreds of chapters. 2nd Saturdays – Lufkin TX Fajita Fly-In (LFK) 2nd Saturdays – New Braunfels TX Pancake Fly-In 3rd Saturdays – Wings & Wheels, 1941 Air Terminal Museum, Hobby Airport, Houston TX 3rd Saturdays – Jasper TX BBQ Lunch Fly-In (JAS) 3rd Saturdays – Tyler TX Breakfast Fly-In, 8-11, Pounds Field (TYR) 4th Saturdays – Denton TX Tex-Mex Fly-In 4th Saturdays – Leesville LA Lunch Fly-In (L39) 4th Saturdays – Shreveport LA Lunch Fly-In (DTN) Last Saturdays – Denton Fly-In 11AM-2 PM (KDTO)

Left: RV9A on the ramp! This is a photo from the 1940 Air Terminal Museum web site, from the August 2011 Wings & Wheels monthly event, whose theme for that day was the annual Oshkosh Air Show and the EAA. Image credit: The Museum.

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 27 Page 28

APR Space Fighter: 1963 E-Publication SCOTT LOWTHER NASA wind tunnel reports not be terribly useful for is esting vehicle, but provide are, as might be expected, programmatic or historical precisely no information re- excellent sources of infor- information about the designs garding who designed the mation regarding certain as- they cover. It is not uncom- vehicle (was it an internal pects of a large number of mon for a wind tunnel report NASA design, or produced by unbuilt aircraft and spacecraft to describe the aerodynamic a contractor?), whether the Aerospace Projects Review (APR) projects. What they tend to characteristics of a very inter- (Continued on page 29) is presented by Scott Lowther, whose unique electronic publication is described as a “journal de- voted to the untold tales of aero- spacecraft design.” More information may be found at the following address: Scott Lowther 11305 W 10400 N Thatcher, UT 84337 [email protected] www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com

Right: Poor-quality reproduction of a painting of the basic concept under powered flight (NASA, 1961)

Right: Wind tunnel model general configuration (NASA, 1963)

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 28 Page 29

(Continued from page 28) At the time, NASA and the the function of a design tested APR design was part of a larger rest of the American aero- in a wind tunnel could be de- design effort (was it part of a space community were hard termined if only the scale of E-Publication competition, or perhaps was it at work on producing designs the model was known. But just a small aerodynamic for manned lifting entry vehi- Ames wind tunnel tested a study?), or what the prior and cles – spaceplanes, in other design that was suggested for subsequent history of the de- words. The range of concepts two roles: the first, as an or- sign was. One such mystery was wide open; everything bital “taxi” for the transport of vehicle is a winged re-entry from darts to lifting bodies, crew into space (presumably vehicle reported on in NASA from stubby capsules to varia- to a space station); the se- Ames reports from 1961 and ble geometry vehicles was cond... as a fighter jet 1963. studied. And generally, even equipped with armament and without program information, (Continued on page 30)

Left: Inboard profile of orbital version (NASA, 1963)

Left: Inboard profile of military version (NASA, 1963).

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 29 Page 30

APR (Continued from page 29) nose ahead of the pilot was information. Was it a corpo- jet engines. space for “armament” and rate design being tested by E-Publication “ammunition.” No infor- NASA, or was it a NASA The basic vehicle was a varia- mation is given as to what design? The passenger ver- ble geometry design that that armament was... presum- sion was of course meant to would stay folded up as a ably one or more ma- be orbital, so it’s clear that the lifting body until well after re- chineguns, but also possibly a armed version would at the entry, but at low supersonic “rocket gun” firing guided or very least have been capable speeds would unfold large unguided missiles. Cruise of global range, if given simi- wings and eject a cover pro- Mach number was 2, but wing lar rocket boosting. But what tecting an under-nose inlet for unfolding would begin at was the idea behind shooting jet engines used for cruise. Mach 5 and 120,000 feet. The a dogfighter around the world For the passenger version – turbojets could be started at in 45 minutes? Unfortunately, which seemed to have room about 60,000 feet, between no information is available. for a single pilot and three Mach 1 and 2. The four en- passengers, and some cargo gines would produce 14,000 Pure speculation: the armed capacity – a single jet engine pounds of thrust. Launch version may well have been a was included, presumably for weight of both the military latecomer to the design. Or- crossrange and/or go-around and orbital versions was bital logistics was very likely capability. But the second 20,000 pounds. always the prime mission; an version replaced the passen- armed version might well gers and cargo with added What was the role here? Sad- have been a last-minute addi- Below: Powered flight per- fuel capacity and more volu- ly, the reports deal solely with tion to the roles the basic de- formance envelope of mili- minous inlet ducts for four the aerodynamics of the design could fulfill. But what tary version (NASA, 1963) larger turbojet engines. In the sign, and do not provide that (Continued on page 31)

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 30 Page 31

(Continued from page 30) In 1962, NASA was on the many designs, from multi- APR appears to have been a rela- hunt for the “Post-Nova” stage expendables to single- tively mundane jet fighter (renamed “Post-Saturn” in stage reusables. Douglas Mis- E-Publication with an extremely odd mis- 1963) launch vehicle, an ad- siles & Space produced the sion profile might have been vanced booster capable or ROMBUS concept for a reus- suggested as an escort design orbiting around one million able single-stage to orbit vehi- for another concept. pounds of payload. Numerous cle, starting with a study that companies tendered a great (Continued on page 32)

Left: Front view of model showing wing folding (NASA, 1963)

Below left: Display model showing wings folded (NASA, 1963)

Below: Display model of re-entry vehicle atop launcher – type un- known (NASA, 1963)

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 31 Page 32

(Continued from page 31) intended to transport 1,200 References APR began in July of 1962. In fully armed US Marines any- E-Publication 1963 Douglas began docu- where on Earth in 45 minutes. Eggers and Wong, “Motion menting alternate roles for and Heating of Lifting Vehicles ROMBUS and derivative The NASA-Ames “fighter” During Atmospheric Entry,” designs, including point-to- preceded official publication American Rocket Society Jour- Below: Display model of fold- point transport of cargo and of the ICARUS concept. But nal, vol. 31 no. 10, Oct. 1961, ing-wing re-entry vehicle (via passengers. In later 1963 it is just barely possible that pp. 1364-1375 NASA Historical Archives) Douglas unveiled the ICA- there was some discussion RUS, a ROMBUS derivative between Douglas, USAF, Emerson, McDevitt and Wyss, USMC and NASA personnel “Aerodynamic Characteristics prior to this leading to some for a Booster-Launched Fold- interest being expressed by ing-Wing Entry Vehicle Suita- someone in the idea of a ble for Sustained Operation as fighter jet that could be a Supersonic Aircraft,” NASA launched at the same time as TM X-656, Ames Research ICARUS and either take out Center, January, 1963 anti-ICARUS weapons systems prior to the ICARUS For information on the Douglas arriving, and/or provide air ROMBUS and ICARUS vehi- cover for ICARUS during and cles, see Aerospace Projects after landing, until conven- Review issue V2N6: tional fighters could arrive. www.aerospaceprojectsreview. This is, of course, purest spec- com ulation.

If anyone has any further information on this concept, either on the design or the role, I’d love to see it!

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 32 Page 33

Spirit of Apollo Scholarship Winner Scholarship RAFAEL MUNOZ, SCHOLARSHIP CHAIR

From Donya Ziraksari: contributing role in not only make sure machines are safe acquiring knowledge, but also for all users. My desire is to Dear Committee, helping to come up with new someday work for a company and useful products and inno- that cares about people’s ide- I want to thank the Apollo vative solutions that comple- as and needs. I want to help Scholarship committee for ment my strong desire to help disadvantaged communities their generous award. I will people. within the U.S. and around be using the scholarship to the world maximizing all re- continue pursuing my Bache- Upon completion of my B.S. sources available. I believe lor’s of Science degree in degree, I would like to enroll that building strong collabora- Mechanical Engineering with in a M.E. graduate school tions with global corporations a concentration in Aerospace program with a concentration that share the same humani- Engineering, which I plan on in nanotechnology. As a pro- tarian mission is critical for receiving in the fall of 2014 fessional in this area, my goal all of us, considering the lim- from the University of New is to be able to come up with ited resources and lack of Mexico. Soon after I complete new and useful products and funding many countries have. my undergraduate course- innovative solutions that I want to continue being open work, I plan on attending would complement my strong -minded about different ideas graduate school to pursue my desire to help people. and methods that would ena- Master of Science in Mechan- Through my contribution in ble me to grapple technical ical Engineering. the field, I would like to pre- problems from around the vent mechanical errors and globe. I moved to the United States from Iran four years ago, where I was an honor student in Applied Mathematics and The 2011-2012 Physics. I have been studying Spirit of Apollo scholarship here in New Mexico since I from AIAA Houston arrived and I am thankful for Section is $1,000. the opportunities to finish my Congratulations to our education and work here. winner, Donya Ziraksari!

Thanks to our Scholarship In addition to my studies, I Chair Rafael Munoz. am currently working on research projects, such as satellite development, and laser- vibration experiments, with some of our Mechanical Engi- neering professors here at the University of New Mexico and in collaboration with the United States Air Force.

When I graduate I hope to work as a professional in an aerospace-related field that is beneficial to society. There are many recent developments and breakthroughs in our quest to understand and ex- plore space beyond our own Earth, and I want to be in a

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 33 Page 34

SpaceX Dragon capsule reaches The International Space Station (ISS) and splashes down for a Current Events successful recovery. For this first arrival at ISS, the cargo was not essential. This was a SpaceX milestone in the NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) contract. Launch: May 22, 2012, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Splashdown: May 31, 2012. Image credits: NASA.

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 34 Page 35

Space Shuttle Replica Arrives at Current Events Space Center Houston from Florida

Images by Ellen Gillespie (two photographs below at Space Center Hou- ston) and Douglas Yazell (at the Hilton Hotel on NASA Parkway, with fire- works going off as the space shuttle barge docks.) The space shuttle replica arrived by the Hilton Hotel on June 17, 2012.

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 35 Page 36 Staying Informed Rest in Peace John Llewellyn

Images are from the AIAA Hou- “My name is John Llewellyn and I am a recovering person from flight control. […] ston Section Lunch-and-Learn of December 19, 2008, celebrating “I went down and stayed down at the Cape because that was the only simulator that was work- the 40th anniversary of Apollo 8 ing. The one up here, as usual, was “behi-i-i-nd schedule!” [Laughter] […] (launch date, December 21, 1968). “Look, the good thing about it is I’m so glad to be here and we could talk about this stuff, I could run it off and tell you things, and I’d like to do it. Like I say, I’m recovering from it. I nev- John Llewellyn quotes are from er got over it. It’s kind of like PTSD! [Laughter] […] the NASA DVD video of this event. Our section created a sup- “I am so lucky to be American and being able to work on Apollo Program. Because we did it. plementary CD after this event. We took, in 1958, I think […] We took that thing and went to the Moon, and landed, and got the guy, and brought him back! And we did it in ten years! And we didn’t get any help from any- John Llewellyn died May 8, 2012. body. […] [NASA Watch] (Continued on page 37)

Above: from left: Marianne Dyson (moderator), Hal Beck, Rod Rose, Marty Jenness, Ken Young, John Llewellyn, Glynn Lunney, Dr. Christopher Kraft and Emil Schiesser. Images: Douglas Yazell.

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 36 Page 37

(Continued from page 36) Staying Informed “So I am really proud of NASA, and I hope you do [sic]. And we do [sic] going to leave you a legacy, and I would appreciate it if you would do something with it! Thank you.”

Editor’s note: The Spring 2009 issue of Horizons contains an I recalled a memorable mention of John Llewellyn in Sy Liebergot’s book about Apollo 13, so I article about this 2008 was all ears when John Llewellyn spoke at this 2008 event. Those last two sentences seem to lunch-and-learn event on show a bit of an accent or a dialect, something I imagine stuck with him since his youth. There is pages 25-29. a certain poetry to his way of speaking, so I do my best to report those last two sentences just as he said them.

The 40th anniversary of Apollo continues in 2012. Apollo 17 is next (launch date, December 7, 1972). The NASA commemorative medallions containing flown metal are a set of 13 medallions, all showing that Apollo 40th anniversary logo on one side. One shows the NASA logo on the other side. The others show the mission patches for the twelve human space flight Apollo missions, Apollo 1 and 7-17. Released for sale (very affordable) so far are the NASA logo and Apol- lo 11, 12, 13, 16 and 17 medallions. Apollo 15 will be the next to be available for purchase.

Above: From the left, Marianne Dyson (moderator), Dr. Albert A. Jackson IV (event organizer & former lunar module crew instruc- tor), Hal Beck, Rod Rose, Marty Jenness, Ken Young, and John Above: Back row, from left: Marty Jenness, Dr. Christopher Llewellyn. Image credit: Douglas Yazell. Kraft, John Llewellyn, Ken Young, Glynn Lunney, Emil Schies- ser and Dr. Albert A. Jackson IV (event . From row from left: Hal Beck, Rod Rose, and Marianne Dyson (moderator). Image credit: Douglas Yazell.

Links from our French Sister Section for Staying Informed: http://www.esa.int/esaEO/SEMTLZ2VQUD_planet_0.html ‘Pleïades’ web site: http://www.cnes.fr/web/CNES-fr/3227- http://www.esa.int/esaEO/SEM5GGZTIVE_planet_0.html pleiades.php (Pleïade-1 is already flying) http://smsc.cnes.fr/Fr/oceans.htm Cryosat-2 web site: http://www.esa.int/esaLP/LPcryosat.html http://smsc.cnes.fr/IASI/Fr/ SMOS web site: http://smsc.cnes.fr/SMOS/Fr/ ‘ESA-Sentinels’ satellites web site: http://www.esa.int/esaLP/ DLR Institute of Atmospheric Physics web site: http:// SEM097EH1TF_LPgmes_0.html www.dlr.de/pa/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-2342/6725_read- 26662/

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 37 Page 38

AIAA Houston Section events & other events related to aeronautics & astronautics. This May / June 2012 issue of Horizons is scheduled to be online by June 30, 2012. All items are subject to change without notice.

AIAA Houston Section council meetings: for info, email secretary[at]aiaa-houston.org Time: 5:30 - 6:30 PM usually Day: First Monday of most months except for holidays. Location: NASA/JSC Gilruth Center is often used. The room varies. The new AIAA year starts July 1, 2012.

July 2012: Annual Honors and Awards dinner meeting. Postponed from June 2012 to July 2012 because of the June 6, 2012 dinner meeting celebrating the 50th anniversary of AIAA Houston Section, and to give us time to conduct our election on about Friday, June 8, 2012. Date: TBD Venue: TBD

August 2012: Annual leadership retreat. Date: TBD, probably after the Regional Leadership Conference (below)

AIAA National & International Conferences

15 - 19 July 2012 San Diego, California 42nd International Conference on Environmental Systems

30 July - 1 August 2012 Atlanta, Georgia 48th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit and 10th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference

2-3 August 2012: Regional Leadership Conference (RLC), Atlanta, Georgia Venue: Hyatt Regency Atlanta

13 - 16 August 2012, Minneapolis, Minnesota AIAA Guidance, Navigation and Control and Co-located Conferences

11 - 13 September 2012, Pasadena, California AIAA Complex Aerospace Systems Exchange

11 - 13 September 2012, Pasadena, California AIAA SPACE 2012 Conference & Exposition

17 - 19 September 2012, Indianapolis, Indiana 12th AIAA Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations (ATIO) Conference and 14th AIAA/ISSMO Multidisciplinary Analysis and Optimization Conference

24 - 28 September 2012, Tours, France 18th AIAA/3AF International Space Planes and Hypersonic Systems and Tech- nologies Conference

24 - 28 September 2012, Ft. Walton Beach, Florida 7th AIAA Biennial National Forum on Weapon System Effectiveness

Calendar

Horizons: published bimonthly by the end of February, April, June, August, October & December at www.aiaahouston.org.

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 38 Page 39

Cranium Cruncher Challenge DR. STEVEN E. EVERETT

In last month’s puzzle, the problem was posed of computing the location of a lightning strike given the times heard from the thunder in three different locations. Let’s assume your office is at the origin of the reference frame, Alex’s office is at (0,9900) and Benny’s office is at (13200,-5500), where distances are in feet.

The time between hearing the thunder over Benny’s phone line and hearing it outside was 7 seconds, i.e., the difference in distances is given by

d1-dB=7*1100 ft/s

Likewise, the time between hearing the thunder outside and over the phone at Alex’s office was 3 seconds, i.e, the difference in distances is given by

dA-d2=3*1100 ft/s

Note that the locus of points for which the absolute value of the differences of the distances to two fixed points is constant is called a hyperbola. Thus, the problem above reduces to finding the intersection of two hyperbolas. Setting d1=d2, the distance from O to the point of the lightning strike (x,y) we get two simultaneous equations that can be solved. After some math, we find the point (13200,0) is a distance of 5500 ft from B, 13200 ft from O, and 16500 ft from A, so that the traversal time taken for sound travelling at 1100 ft/s is 5 sec, 12 sec, and 15 sec, respectively. In other words, when the lightning strike happened at 5 seconds before noon, Benny and the others heard it at 12:00, it was heard outside 7 seconds later, and then it was heard by Alex and the others 3 seconds later.

This month, you are doing an engineering design and realize the problem may have been solved years ago. You find yourself digging through some old engineering notes that a retired colleague had stored away in his garage, and in them is a handwritten page of calcula- tions on just the problem you are solving. However, one of the long division problems has become so smeared, only one digit, a “7”, is legible. Can you fill in the missing values based only on the knowledge of the location of the remaining digits?

Send solutions to steven.e.everett at boeing.com.

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 39 Page 40

Newsletter submissions: Friday, August 10, 2012, for the July / August 2012 issue. That will Section News be online and publicized by Friday, August 31, 2012.

Student Paper Conference (SPC): AIAA Houston Section hosts this Region IV (a four-state region: Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arkansas) every other year. This year it took place at NASA/JSC on Friday, April 6, 2012. Thanks to organizers Daniel Nobles, Irene Chan, and others, it was a great success.

The new AIAA year: The new year starts on July 1, 2012. Our updated 45-person council will take effect on that date. As shown on our organization chart, 20 of those are elected, and they are the voters when votes are required. Since our hands were full with the dinner meeting of June 6, 2012 (our AIAA Houston Section 50th anniversary event), our annual honors and awards dinner meeting will take place in July instead of June 2012. The ballot went out via e- mail a few days ago as of today, Wednesday, June 13, 2012.

The new web site: Starting July 1, 2012, Irene Chan is our new webmaster. It may take some time to fully populate the new web site, www.aiaahouston.org, which replaces www.aiaahouston.org. Thanks very much to outgoing webmaster Gary Cowan and Curbside Multimedia! He updated our web site the past few years to give it a very colorful and modern look, after our use of phpwebhosting for a few years.

The weekly astronomy lunch: It’s amazing to think that for years, Dr. Albert A. Jackson IV (our section’s current astrodynamics technical committee Chair) hosted an informal astronomy lunch lecture almost every week for almost every year for years! The lecture speakers and topics were listed in Horizons. That tradition started in about 1975 at JSC with astronomer (and author) Thornton Page as host. The tradition continues today, though Al Jackson and others moved it to The Colosseum on El Camino Real just north of Bay Area Blvd, at 11:00 AM on Wednesdays. There are no more lectures, but the tradition is still there, and it is in Al’s genes! Above: Artist Pat Rawlings used He still consults for NASA. Come join the group anytime. Contact douglas.yazell[at]me.com if this image for the flyer for our you have questions before attending. 1992 dinner meeting. The mural in the entrance area to NASA/ The 100 YSS (The 100 Year Starship Project) is not an AIAA project. It started in late 2011 JSC Gilruth Center was updated with a symposium in Orlando, Florida, organized mostly by DARPA (The Department of De- a few months ago to use this im- fense Research Projects Agency), with some help from NASA/Ames. They held a competition age in place miniature reproduc- to award $500,000 to a team that would organize this human space flight to another star system tion of the Robert McCall mural in the next 100 years without using any more government money. But the 2012 Public Sympo- which still remains in NASA/JSC sium is coming to Houston! It will take place September 13-16, 2012, in Houston. See Building 2, The Teague Auditori- www.100yss.org. Former astronaut Mae Jemison is a member of the winning team, so we have um. a Houston connection.

Correction for the March / April 2012 issue: We published three photographs of Neil Arm- strong on page 10 of that issue, but some captions were wrong. Dr. Ryan Kobrick tells us that Professor David Klaus took the second photo and Dr. Kobrick took the first. The third photo is from Dr. Kobrick’s camera, taken by Luis Zea.

This issue of Horizons is Volume 37, Number 7, as shown on the cover. Next issue, the July / August 2012 issue, will be Volume 38, Number 1. The AIAA year starts on July 1, 2012, for most purposes. This May / June 2012 issue will be online and publicized by June 30, 2012.

We created a new logo for our dinner meeting of June 6, 2012 (the 50th anniversary of AIAA Houston Section). We added a blue marble Earth to the traditional logo, and a few words such as “Houston Section” and “Since 1962.” Douglas Yazell, Alan Sisson, and Michael Frostad Above: Examples of AIAA sec- worked on that, and your inputs are welcome as we work on a new logo for AIAA Houston tion logos from an AIAA manu- Section. Horizons art contributor Don Kulba might have advice for us, too. In place of a blue al. With help from AIAA nation- marble Earth, maybe an ISS silhouette or an Orion MPCV silhouette would work better? al, we are now creating a logo for AIAA Houston Section. One The Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) Cosmic Explorations public lecture took place on version above uses a blue mar- Thursday, June 7, 2012, featuring Dr. Stephen Clifford of LPI, “Mars Discoveries and Insights ble Earth. from 50 Years of Robotic Exploration.” They sometimes post the video, so watch for that!

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 40 Page 41

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Section News

Open

Communications Eryn Beisner

E-Mail (Open)

Candidates for the annual election of June 12 - 25, 2012 (see the organization chart above):

Chair: Jonathan Sandys Vice Chair Technical: Brian Banker & Dr. Satya Pilla Vice Chair Operations: Michael Frostad & Michael Martin Secretary: Robert Plunkett www.aiaa-houston.org Treasurer: Clay Stangle Councilors: That will change to 1) Shirley Brandt www.aiaahouston.org 2) Dr. Larry Friesen Starting July 1, 2012 3) Sarah Shull Above: The web site above used www.aiaa-houston.org and 4) Christopher Davila was provided by Gary Cowan / Curbside Multimedia. It will be 5) Alan Sisson replaced starting July 1, 2012, though it might take time to fully implement the new web site using www.aiaahouston.org.

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 41 Non-Profit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID AIAA Houston Section PERMIT NO. 1 P.O. Box 57524 Webster , Texas Webster, TX 77598

Left: Hinode Views the 2012 Venus Transit

On June 5, 2012, Hinode captured these stun- ning views of the transit of Venus -- the last instance of this rare phenomenon until 2117. Hinode is a joint JAXA/NASA mission to study the connections of the sun's surface magnetism, primarily in and around sun- spots. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages Hinode science operations and oversaw development of the scientific instrumentation provided for the mission by NASA, and industry. The Lock- heed Martin Corp. in Palo Alto, Calif., is the lead U.S. investigator for the Solar Optical Telescope.

Image credit: JAXA/NASA/Lockheed Martin

Left: Path of the 2012 Venus Transit

On June 5-6 2012, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, collected images of one of the rarest predictable solar events: the transit of Venus across the face of the sun. This event happens in pairs eight years apart that are separated from each other by 105 or 121 years. The last transit was in 2004 and the next will not happen until 2117.

Image Credit: NASA/SDO, AIA

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Become a member of AIAA Are you interested in becoming a member of AIAA, or renewing your membership? You can fill out your membership application online at the AIAA national web site: www.aiaa.org. Select the AIAA membership option.

AIAA Houston Section Horizons May / June 2012 Page 42