Volume 32, Issue 4 AIAA Houston Section www.aiaa-houston.org Fall 2007
Artwork courtesy of John Frassanito & Associates AIAA Houston Horizons Fall 2007 Page 1
Fall 2007
T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
From the Editor 3 HOUSTON Chair’s Corner 4
Horizons is a quarterly publication of the Houston section Visualizing the Mission: John Frassanito & Associates 5 of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. “And the Angels Sing” - History, Book Excerpt 7
Jon S. Berndt Wernher von Braun’s Long Road to Mars 9 Editor Staying Informed 10 AIAA Houston Section Executive Council Dinner Lecture Summary Report: A Spacecraft System Engineer’s In- 11 troduction to Emerging Photovoltaic Technologies Douglas Yazell Chair Wings over Houston Outing 12
Chad Brinkley Membership Page 13 Chair-Elect Dinner Lecture Summary: NEEMO, Becoming an Aquanaut 14 Dr. Jayant Ramakrishnan Lunch-n-Learn Summary: Apollo 13 Trajectory Reconstruction 16 Past Chair Seabrook Middle School and the NASA Student Launch Initiative 17 Sarah Shull Secretary Local News: Lockheed Martin Team Opens EDL 18
Tim Propp Local Industry News 20 Treasurer Calendar 22 JJ Johnson Sean Carter Vice-Chair, Operations Vice-Chair, Technical Cranium Cruncher 23
Operations Technical Odds and Ends 24
Nick Pantazis Dr. Al Jackson Conference Presentations/Articles by Houston Section Members 26 Gabe Garrett Dr. Zafar Taqvi Munir Kundawala Sheikh Ahsan Sister Section Relationship with AAAF Toulouse Reaffirmed 28 Dr. Douglas Schwaab Bill Atwell AIAA Local Section News 29 Svetlana Hanson Ludmilla Dmitriev Jon Berndt, Editor William West Gary Cowan Paul Nielsen Horizons and AIAA Houston Web Amy Efting Dr. Michael Lembeck Site Matthew Easterly Dr. Kamlesh Lulla AIAA National Jim Palmer Gary Brown Communications Award Linda Phonharath Chet Vaughan Winner Dr. Jaehyung “Joshua” Ju Bebe Kelly-Serrato Lisa Voiles Bob Beremand Joel Henry Venkat Vardhineni
Councilors
Shirley Brandt Bob McCormick 2005 2006 2007 Aaron Morris Dr. Rakesh Bhargava Dr. Merri Sanchez This newsletter is created by members of the Houston section. Opinions expressed herein other than Brenda Weber by elected Houston section officers belong solely to the authors and do not necessarily represent the Mike Lammers position of AIAA or the Houston section. Unless explicitly stated, in no way are the comments of Ellen Gillespie 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 David Segrera the Editor:[email protected]
More information at: www.aiaa-houston.org/orgchart Cover: Ares-V Liftoff, courtesy of John Frassanito & Associates.
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From the Editor ISS: A Valuable Endeavor JON S. BERNDT Jeff Kluger wrote an interest- editor of Time pointing out the weathered so many political ing piece in Time magazine last error, but as far as I can tell, there storms [including some “category August. In that article, he de- never was a retraction. In any case, 5” storms] spanning several ad- scribed the “risky” mission then Mr. Kluger seems to have decided ministrations to get to where it is about to be taken: for himself what the value of the today. There are some who ques- space station is. tion today whether or not a long- “The Endeavour crew will be term human spaceflight program delivering a two-ton truss segment I can’t count how many times can be undertaken successfully that will help hold solar arrays I have read the tired lament about outside of the special circum- and will require three risky space- how the space station (and the stances that drove the Apollo walks to install. If the ISS were space shuttle) only goes around program. I believe there is enough doing good science at an arguably and around and never gets any- bipartisan support to sustain the reasonable price, those risks where - which sounds a lot like Vision for Space Exploration. would be worth taking. But it's some columnists, to me. Of course, doing almost no science at all at the path that ISS takes is governed The International Space Sta- an exorbitant price — an esti- by physics. While it operates in the tion undoubtedly has provided a mated $100 billion a year …” vacuum of space, I think that the means to further develop strong International Space Station is pro- working relationships around the I was immediately impressed viding value far beyond what is world in the area of space explo- that NASA was able to coax normally considered. I think it’s ration. The late astronomer Carl “$100 billion a year” out of its value is getting shortchanged in Sagan wrote in the July 18, 1989 annual budget of roughly $16 the press, despite its purported issue of Parade magazine an arti- billion! I guess I shouldn’t be budget getting inflated. cle entitled, “The Gift of Apollo”. surprised to see such simple fac- tual mistakes like this in print. I First of all, I find it amazing – (continued on page 10) Orion docking with ISS. Image cour- fired off an immediate letter to the and encouraging – that ISS has tesy of John Frassanito & Associates.
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Chair’s Corner DOUGLAS YAZELL, AIAA HOUSTON CHAIR There are no mistakes, only a local resident who is an author and members in our section, and our org lessons, someone wrote. This year of journalist and a former NASA/JSC chart (www.aiaa-houston.org/orgchart) service leadership by many volunteers contractor aerospace engineer. He has 45 boxes. Only one vacancy re- in AIAA Houston Section is looking spoke about the Soviet and Russian mains, the chair of the communica- good from my point of view. space programs. An enthusiastic crowd tions and tracking technical committee. Planning is ongoing for our of about 50 people attended this event. Lisa Voiles is our new membership region’s (region IV: Texas, New Mex- David Fuller presented his lunch- chair. We welcome BeBe Kelly- ico, Oklahoma, and Arkansas) Student and-learn on Friday, November 30, Serrato as chair of the space operations Paper Competition (SPC), hosted this 2007, in room 111 of building 16 at & support technical committee. Linda year by our section, led by Sarah Shull. NASA. He spoke about “Leaving the Phonharath is our new college and co- The NASA/JSC Gilruth Center rooms Big City and Working for a Startup”. op chair, and she is supporting SPC in are reserved for this on Friday and He now works for TGV Rockets in addition to supporting our student Saturday, April 18-19, 2008. The more Norman, Oklahoma. About 15 people sections (which includes finding student papers (graduate and under- attended and they asked plenty of ques- speakers for their meetings). Munir graduate) we attract, the better. tions. Mr. Fuller’s event was organized Kundawala is our new public policy by our section’s guidance, navigation chair. Venkat Vardhineni is our new Sean Carter is leading our sec- professional development chair. Pro- tion’s Annual Technical Symposium and control technical committee, chaired by Robert Beremand. fessor Jaehyung “Joshua” Ju is our (ATS). This is typically held on a new honors & awards chair. Ludmila Friday from 8 am to 5 pm in the Our section’s International Space Dmitriev-Odier is the new chair of our NASA/JSC Gilruth Center in April or Activities Committee (ISAC) is work- International Space Activities Commit- May. The tentative date is now May 9, ing to create sister sections in Russia tee (ISAC). And we welcome new 2008. and elsewhere. Working with our part- councilors Lorenn Vega-Martinez and ners in France, we succeeded in creat- I am pleased that AAS (the David Segrera. ing the sister section relationship with American Astronautical Society) asked Our newsletter editor post will be AIAA Houston Section to co-sponsor the Toulouse – Midi-Pyrenees branch of the Association Aeronautique et empty once this issue is online, though Yuri’s Night this year. We can say yes Jon Berndt will be here to advise his to that, since their track record of Astronautique de France (AAAF). In Houston, we will work to keep the successor. Jon aimed at being the organizing and executing this event in Aviation Week of the Houston Clear Houston is excellent. This celebrates ISAC web page (http://www.aiaa- houston.org/tc/isa/) up to date as we Lake area, and he made a lot of pro- the 1961 Yuri Gagarin flight and the gress in that direction. Thanks in part 1981 STS-1 flight, both of which make this come alive in the next three years and beyond. to his cover stories, editor’s columns occurred on April 12. The first Yuri’s and a new look for Horizons, each Night event took place in 2001, so we We scheduled a lunch-and-learn quarterly and online-only issue is can see that 2021 will be a natural for January 11, 2008, with speaker downloaded about 6,000 times, though target for a big Yuri’s Night Celebra- Marianne Dyson (www.mdyson.com), our section has less than 1,100 mem- tion. The 2001 event was reportedly a author and former NASA/JSC flight bers. Current and past issues are visi- product of the Space Generation Advi- controller. This event is sponsored by ble at www.aiaa-houston.org/horizons. sory Council of the United Nations our section’s astrodynamics technical Candidates may apply using contact Program for Space Applications. The committee. information on our web site (www.aiaa International Space University chose Captain High of the 1940 Air -houston.org) or by e-mailing its date of formal creation as April 12, Terminal Museum [email protected]. Please spread 1987, in honor of the 1961 flight. As (www.1940airterminal.org) agreed to the word as we search for a new editor. we go to press, Space Center Houston be our contact person for the nomina- is the most likely venue. April 12, We will need a new slate of tion of this building as an AIAA His- twenty candidates for our elected 2008, is a Saturday, which is good toric Aerospace Site, so we submitted news for our event planning. officers in a few months. Our new year that nomination to Emily Springer of will start on July 1, 2008. Please join Our young professional (under the national AIAA History Technical us in this rewarding volunteer work. 35) chair Jim Palmer organized a Committee. Someone wrote, “There are no money management workshop at- Our January 25, 2008 dinner tended by a crowd of about 50 people problems, only solutions.” Many of speaker will be NASA/JSC Center our AIAA Houston Section volunteers on September 25, 2007, in the JSC Director Michael Coats, speaking about Gilruth Center Coronado room. Speak- will find important solutions this year the state of the center. The event is thanks to our working to be of service ers Lance Hutchins and Tarl Anderson planned to include a panel of three to our profession. gave presentations about the stock major program managers. Three later market and real estate, respectively. dinner meetings are scheduled for The speaker for our dinner meet- March, April, and June. ing of November 15 was James Oberg, We have over 800 professional
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Visualizing the Mission: Frassanito & Associates Feature JOHN FRASSANITO, MEMBER AIAA, IDSA Article When President Kennedy designing products for companies VSE mission, particularly for first declared NASA’s goal of such as Scott Paper, Texaco, Sani- space transportation aspects, ra- landing on the Moon, he set a Fresh, Daniel Industries, General tionale and benefits, historical standard for United States world Foods, and EMI Corporation. His perspective, as well as many other leadership in space. As we en- computer designs for Datapoint aspects of the policy basis. tered the 21st century, senior during 1969-1972 marked the NASA managers and policy mak- start of the personal computing The major elements of the ers, under Executive direction, industry. He has been a strategic mission designs had to be ex- began to outline clearly defined planning, mission and spacecraft plained in a non-technical, com- goals and a roadmap that could design consultant since 1985 to pelling way as well as to be tech- secure our national leadership in NASA engineering, scientific and nologically viable. A big part of space for coming generations. planning teams for the Agency’s JF&A’s contribution was via the The results of their efforts culmi- future space missions, making firm’s Strategic Visualization® nated in the announcement of the those scientific visions come alive process, an integral part of the Vision for Space Exploration for specialists and the general VSE planning process that, ulti- mately, provided many of the (VSE) on January 14, 2004. One public alike. of the teams that crafted this pol- images and animations used for icy announcement was headed by JSC’s Space Operations Mission Directorate and included an early contributor to strategic planning of US space endeavors—John Frassanito. Frassanito’s NASA design and engineering team credits in- clude many of NASA milestones: Skylab, the International Space Station, Lunar inflatable habitats, Reusable Launch Vehicles, Crew Exploration Vehicles, First Lunar Outpost concepts, technical sup- port for Earth to orbit (ETO) transportation, the Space Explora- tion Initiative, and, now, the Vi- sion for Space Exploration. His team of architects, engi- neers, and visualization specialists are now supporting JSC’s Con- stellation program, including For the decision process and the worldwide broadcast an- Ares-V staging. Image courtesy of Ares, Orion, and CEV, as well as eventual announcement of the nouncements, NASA and industry John Frassanito & Associates. programs at NASA Headquarters current exploration program, websites, and national and inter- and Goddard’s Science Mission, JF&A worked on various mission national publications. Vehicle Systems, and Aeronautics designs, the locations and charac- Offices. teristics of Earth, Lunar, and Mar- With this Strategic Visuali- tian venues, and the articulation of zation®, JF&A captures the ideas Frassanito’s first NASA and contributions of individual project, as part of the famed Ray- the benefits in terms of the key imperatives of the policy— members of a technical team and mond Loewy and William Snaith converts them to a visual vocabu- design team, was to design the national security, economics, and science. These three tenants of the lary that supports the planning interior of Skylab, America’s first process. JF&A condenses vol- space station launched in 1973. policy were inspired in part by Theodore Roosevelt’s concept of umes of data into powerful im- He had been recruited by Loewy/ ages that clearly communicate Snaith after completing his indus- a Blue Water Navy—a policy that eventually established the United missions, technologies, and plans trial design degree at Art Center to engineers and managers as well in Los Angeles in 1968. States as the dominate world pres- ence. JF&A also provided techni- as the general public. JF&A’s A co-founder of Datapoint cal support in developing the NASA presentations are used for Corporation in 1969, Frassanito elements on which to base the then began his own design firm (Continued on page 6)
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(Continued from page 5) technical information among team Administrator’s rollout of the Ex- everything from Congressional members. ploration Systems Architecture briefings, broadcast television, and (ESAS), the Lunar Reconnaissance magazine articles to high-level “Furthermore, once the team Orbiter, the CEV/Constellation technical exchanges and publica- has developed a sound mission program, and other program ele- design, STRATEGIC VISUALI- tions worldwide. ments. The firm archives and up- ZATION® is used to communicate dates a library of current architec- In the abstract of Strategic that concept to the general public. tures in 3D formats that it provides Visualization and Space Explora- This is a vital step that Dr. Wern- to its NASA clients as part of its tion [1] (from the Workshop on her von Braun used to enhance services so, when a new compo- Moon Beyond 2002), Douglas public support for space explora- nent or mission is under develop- Cooke and John Frassanito ex- tion. … when Collier’s (Magazine) ment, the project team has the tools plained the role of visualization in presented the American public at hand to help do the job. the space program: with a bold and feasible vision of excursions to Moon and other JF&AI’s work in Strategic “NASA teams, such as the planets. Today, STRATEGIC Visualization for the space pro- NASA Exploration Team (NEXT), VISUALIZATION® is used ex- gram has been recognized in major utilize advanced computational tensively both in the mission de- public exhibitions including the Art visualization processes to develop sign process within the technical Institute of Chicago and, currently, References: mission designs and architectures community, and to communicate The Intrepid Aircraft Carrier Air, for lunar and planetary missions. [1]APPLYING STRATEGIC VISU- the value of space exploration to Sea, and Space Museum in New One such process, STRATEGIC the general public. Movies and York City, as well as in general ALIZATION® TO LUNAR AND VISUALIZATION®, is a tool used PLANETARY MISSION DESIGN. digital images have been generated public and technical journals such extensively to help mission design- and shown on nationally broadcast as Popular Science Magazine, By J. R. Frassanito and D. R. Cooke, ers visualize various design alter- television and the Internet, as well Aviation Week, Space News, Men’s Douglas R. Cooke, Advanced Develop- natives and present them to other as in magazines and digital me- Magazine, and in the book Space ment Office, Johnson Space Center participants of their team. The dia.” Architecture, The Work of John participants, who may include Frassanito & Associates for NASA NASA, industry, and the academic Since the ‘04 exploration plan by John Zukowsky. community, are distributed within a announcement, John Frassanito & virtual network. Consequently, Associates, Inc. has continued to computer animation and other digi- support the Exploration Systems Ares-I liftoff. Image courtesy of John tal techniques provide an efficient Mission Directorate (ESMD) at a Frassanito & Associates. means to communicate top-level number of levels including the
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“And the Angels Sing” History, EMERY TUTTLE Book Excerpt World War II has faded into ton Air Base, it was immediately after they dropped their bombs, the past, but for Emery Tuttle, the ordered to Hammer Field, Fresno, they saw a ship across the lagoon. memory of those days still lingers California. Some of the crewmen thought it on. He recently published his might be as large as a light de- At Hammer Field, he fully memoirs, “And the Angels Sing,” stroyer. which chronicles the account of expected to be flying B-24s. But, his experiences during the war can you believe it? There wasn’t “Our commander, Major that left behind what has been a single B-24 on the field. The Esau,” Tuttle ex- field was full of brand new B-25s. plained, “sent called the greatest generation. They were the new kind that not James Scott Tuttle was born in 1920 in one of them had seen before. Brown, George Wisconsin. With five of his best They were all B-25Gs with a solid Leggett, John friends, he joined the Wisconsin nose and a 75mm cannon sticking Hogan, and their National Guard October 15, 1940, out of the front. crews to sink it. for one year of federal military By virtue of being service. But before their one year On October 18, 1943, Tuttle George’s co-pilot, commitment was up, the U. S. was sent to Hamilton Field in San I was in on that Congress extended all military Francisco and the next night, de- three-plane mis- service for the duration of the parted for Hickham Field in Ha- sion. It was bizarre emergency. The attack on Pearl waii. enough that it was Harbor extended their service Lieutenant Tuttle flew fifty- written up in the until the end of the war. one missions in the B-25G Army’s “Stars and Stripes” newspa- Most Americans remember bomber in the Central Pacific per. well where they were on that fate- Theatre where the Japanese held ful December seventh in 1941. A most of the strategic islands. “We left in few weeks after being on leave in Before the war ended, their squad- the middle of the Wisconsin, Pfc. Tuttle and two of ron was bombing Japan. The night to get to our his friends were in New Orleans overall mission was to fly from target at daybreak. looking for a friend who had in- their newly captured base to neu- We arrived in dim vited them to join him on his tralize all the islands in the Mar- light and took the yacht for the week-end. When shall Chain northwest of Tarawa, Japanese by total they approached the yacht that to and including Eniwetok, which surprise. We came Sunday, the captain of the yacht was a distance of seven hundred in on that ship announced, “All servicemen are and fifty miles. They also flew below deck level, ordered to return to their posts. southwest to neutralize Ocean and first firing our The Japanese have attacked Pearl Nauru Islands, a distance of over cannons, then our Harbor.” Their first question was, five hundred miles. Lieutenant machine guns. Then at the latest “Where is Pearl Harbor?” Before Tuttle received the Distinguished possible moment, each pilot that momentous day, Pearl Harbor Flying Cross three times and the dropped eight two-hundred-pound Air Medal six times. Emery Tuttle is an 87 year-old veteran was not familiar to most Ameri- bombs, pulled up abruptly, and of WW II who served in the Central cans. One of the missions of the was gone. The pilot did it all. Pacific flying 51 missions as a B25G Well, not quite, I should mention Aviation Cadet Tuttle com- WW II era Tuttle recalls was the bomber pilot. He received the Distin- capture of a Japanese flag by a B- that the navigator loaded the can- guished Flying Cross three times and pleted his primary, basic and ad- non. We had an optical sight for the Air Medal six times. He was born in vance training. Upon completion 25G airplane. It is described in the following excerpt from his the cannon and machine guns. We Johnson Creek, Wisconsin, graduated of his pilot training, he was given from SMU, and has lived with his wife, book, “And the Angels Sing.” dropped our bombs by sight and several choices. He chose B-24s timing. All that practice, dropping JoAnne, at Cedar Creek Lake for the transition at Fort Worth, Texas. Tuttle commented: past 20 years. His recently published flour sacks against a snow fence book, “And the Angels Sing,” has re- He was then transferred to the “In this part of my story, I’ll on Molakai, was now paying off. Anti-Submarine Command at ceived great raves both locally and tell you some of the strange and Everything went well. Langley Field, Virginia. Next, he throughout the country. In addition to extraordinary things that hap- his writing, he was awarded Best was sent to Charleston, South pened during those thirteen “However,” Tuttle clarified, Speaker of the year by the Johnson Carolina to join the Sixteenth Anti months in combat. “the ship was not a destroyer; it Creek, Wisconsin, Historical Society. -Submarine Squadron. From was a three-hundred-foot wooden He built his two-story house at age 71; there, the entire squadron was sent “We had twenty-four planes sailing vessel that had two huge received his private pilot’s license at back to Langley Field for two in our squadron. Nine of these wooden masts. The Japanese had age 76; and at age 87, still flies his weeks of B-24 transition … a planes went on a mission to the equipped it with engines, and they 200mph RV6A airplane out of Harbor second time for Tuttle. No sooner island of Wotje, and when they were using it as an inter-island Point Airstrip. His motto is: “It’s not came home, they reported that, over, ‘til it’s over.” than the 16th was back at Charles- (Continued on page 8)
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type of young man showing zero on the gauge. About who made a good twenty feet of one-inch steel cable butt for a lot of our was wrapped around the propeller. jokes. William I could see a deep imprint, where Shagner, George it had slapped the underside of the Leggett, James wing as it wound up on the pro- Brown, Doc peller. The elevator was moder- Ovsey, and I lived ately shredded, but not enough to in the same tent, so affect the control of the airplane. we were keeping the joke in the Tuttle continued, “We re- moved the pipe from the bomb family. bay door. One of James’ crew Tuttle pointed out, said, ‘Boost me up, and I’ll get the “Eventually, the cable off of the propeller for a plane was able to souvenir.’ So, a couple of his climb back up to crewmembers boosted him up. It five hundred feet wasn’t the cable that was the sou- and maintain that venir, but a much bigger prize. He altitude. So instead reached into the engine nacelle of going back to and pulled out a Japanese flag. He Tarawa, we also retrieved an eight-inch, headed for the mushroom shaped, wooden piece nearest landing that had been the finished topknot strip. On arrival, of the mast. (L to Rt) Staff Sgt. Allen C. Thorton, (Continued from page 7) supply ship. We blew that ship to James started up the feathered 2nd Lt. William Shagner, 2nd Lt. engine and went in for a normal “The captured Japanese flag Walter E, Carlton, 1st.Lt. James kingdom come, and were gone. landing. George and Hogan fol- was a twenty four-inch square Scott Brown, unknown, unknown. piece of canvas, on which was His account of the incident lowed Brown in and parked next to continued, “James Scott Brown his plane; then we all got out to hand painted a red rising sun with Brown and Shagner lived in the same red and white radiating rays. I tent with me for 10 months and from immediately reported that he was look at the damage. my old records I have found the in trouble. His left engine oil pres- have a picture of James and his names of the other two.—Emery sure gauge registered zero; so, In his book, Tuttle goes on to crew holding the flag, and now Tuttle James shut down the engine and explain, “James had hit the big you have one. James Brown was feathered the prop. He was losing wooden mast of the ship, all right. from Pennsylvania and was mar- altitude, and his bomb bay doors The leading edge of his wing, ried to a girl from San Antonio. wouldn’t close. From our vantage between the left engine and the She sent him the San Antonio point on his wing, we could see pilot’s cockpit, was crushed paper with the headline: “San why. There was a ten-foot length against the main spar of the wing. Antonio Boy Captures Japanese of pipe driven through one of the This had crushed the oil line going Flag.” to the oil gauge. The engine had doors, and it was dangling there. Oh, well, who’s counting?” We knew then that he had hit the normal oil pressure; it was just mast of the ship. His crew began throwing B-25G out everything that was loose: machine guns, ammunition, and cannon shells. “When the plane continued to lose altitude, George called over to them, saying, “Throw out the Naviga- tor.” James’ navigator was William Shag- ner; he was the
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Wernher von Braun’s Long Road to Mars Lunch-n-Learn DOUGLAS YAZELL, AIAA HOUSTON CHAIR Summary Report Our section’s astrodynamics ject”. It was a technical presenta- propulsion at the time. Kim Eric technical committee welcomed tion, down to the rivet head, of a Moore also attended. He is an our own chair, Dr. Albert A. Jack- 70 man ten ship expedition to aerospace professional and sci- son, as our lunch-and-learn Mars. From this small book ence fiction writer. We introduced speaker for Friday, September 28, sprang the 1950’s Collier’s maga- audience members Kornel Rost 2007. We expected a small crowd zine series on Space Flight. It is and Robanna Ogden to everyone. in a room at NASA in building one of the most comprehensive They were our honored guests 16, but the number of advance popular science magazine series, from the British consul in Hous- signups outgrew that room. We covering all aspects of space ton. Among other duties, they flight from artificial satellites, the work to enhance prospects for design of a space station, space British business in the USA and suits, expeditions to the Moon and American business in the UK. Mars and much more. The amount They encouraged our section’s of technical material was very inquiries into starting a British impressive; so much so as to leave sister section relationship with a a firm impression that manned professional society in the UK. space flight was feasible. The Collier’s series led to the Disney The gift from the JSC Star- space flight TV series and a set of port gift shop awarded to our popular books. All this material speaker was a retro rocket ball- had a lasting influence on a gen- point pen with its stand made of 3 eration of scientists, engineers, the rocket fins. It looks like the rock- general public and politicians, and ets on the cover of the book Pro- was an influence on space flight ject Mars. That book cover picture as it evolved in the latter part of was used on our publicity flyer. th the 20 century. Thanks to Dr. Jackson, we “Dr. Al Jackson came to JSC have more lunch-and-learn speak- (MSC then) in 1966 and has been ers lined up, though the schedule involved with crew training dur- may change (see upcoming events ing Apollo, flight planning soft- at www.aiaa-houston.org). For now, one of those lunch-and- moved it to the building 30 audi- ware, planetary science, orbit debris and engineering simulation learns will be Friday, January 11, torium which holds 135 people, 2008: Marianne Dyson, and the final count for attendance software for NASA and several contractors. He is currently with www.mdyson.com, author and was 130! Jacobs Engineering on the ESCG former JSC flight controller, The following two para- contract. Chair of the Houston “Space and Astronomy: Decade graphs are from our publicity AIAA section Astrodynamics by Decade”, JSC Gilruth Center flyer: with many publications in the area Coronado room. of astrodynamics, celestial me- Advance signups for these “In 1949 between V2 testing chanics and astronautics related and the move to Huntsville events are recommended using the areas. Dr. Jackson received his RSVP links at www.aiaa- Werner von Braun wrote a sci- PhD in Physics at the University ence fiction novel during the lull. houston.org. of Texas in 1975.“ It is about an expedition to Mars. Please recall that the AIAA The background technical support Dr. Jackson is also a visiting Houston Section Astrodynamics for the story was worked up by scientist (http://www.lpi.usra.edu/ technical committee is always him and some of his Peenemünde lpi/jackson/index.shtml) at the looking for qualified professional colleagues. When finished the Lunar Planetary Institute in the members: our contact information novel was submitted to a German Clear Lake area and an AIAA is easy to find at www.aiaa- publisher. It was rejected but the Associate Fellow. houston.org/tc/astrodynamics. We editor was ecstatic about the ap- will also place a link on this web pendix. The publisher convinced Audience members included veteran aerospace engineers Guy page for today’s 34 PowerPoint von Braun to rework the appendix slides from Dr. Jackson. The link and publish it as a technical Thibodaux (an AIAA Fellow) and Kenneth Young. They both re- can be used for viewing and monograph. This appeared as downloading. ‘Das Marprojekt’ in 1950 and was member reading the Collier’s quickly translated by the Univer- magazine articles when they were sity of Illinois Press and published published in the 1950’s. Guy was as a slim book “The Mars Pro- 30 years old and working with
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(Continued from page 3) other systems that comprise ISS strange given what I see: hard- In closing, he wrote, “Whatever must all work continuously. On a ware being built, development the reason we first mustered the long trip to Mars, there will need labs being opened, abort proce- Apollo program, however mired to be very high confidence that dures being refined, etc. There is in Cold War nationalism it was, systems and their respective back- a lot of fine work being done. the inescapable recognition of the ups will work as expected. In this Even those who disagree with the fragility of the Earth is its clear regard, ISS serves as a relevant launch vehicle approach chosen and luminous dividend, the unex- test bed for the critical systems agree that if anyone can make all pected gift of Apollo. What began mentioned above, in actual use in this work, it is the NASA/ in deadly competition has led us space. Regardless of whether we contractor team currently pro- to see that global cooperation is are going “around and around” the gressing towards that goal. the essential precondition for our Earth, the Moon, Mars, or the Finally, on a different sub- survival.” We will shortly see the Sun, our machines will have to ject, this fifteenth revamped issue launch of the European Columbus work well. may well be the last issue of Hori- module to the space station, and But these kinds of benefits zons that I will put together. With with it, the tangible expansion of are not often mentioned in col- my kids getting older and more global spaceflight cooperation. umns, and instead we get exag- active, I’m having to cut back on I believe that ISS also bene- gerations and hype. Another ex- some demands. I’ve also become fits exploration goals. Power sys- ample of this can be seen in a active with the national AIAA tems, Environmental Control and more recent piece, which declares Modeling and Simulation Techni- Life Support Systems (ECLSS), the Vision for Space Exploration cal Committee. If there’s still no structures, attitude control, com- nearly dead, or at least dying. I new editor in January/February, puter interfaces and networks, and find that assessment to be very though, who knows ...
“With sixteen participating Staying Informed nations, the International Space COMPILED BY THE EDITOR Station under construction PlanetQuest today is a testament to the http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov perseverance of the United Space Exploration: A Frontier for American Collaboration, Michael Griffin, 16 November 2007 States, Russia, the countries of http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/202099main_Loewy_Lecture.pdf the European Space Agency, Japan, and Canada, working Remarks at the Transforming Space Conference, Shana Dale, 8 November 2007 http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/196636main_11-08-07_Dale_Transforming_Space.pdf together on the largest task ever performed by the civilian The Military Space Program—A Brief History, General Thomas S. Moorman, Jr., USAF (Ret.), Re- agencies of the United States or marks at AIAA Space 2007 Conference and Exposition, Long Beach, CA. http://www.aiaa.org/pdf/public/AIAA_20Sept07_TSMoorman%20Keynotes-rev.pdf our international partners. … Citizen’s for Space Exploration The partnership that brought it http://www.citizensforspaceexploration.org/ about has endured tremendous Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership hardships, most especially the http://www.bayareahouston.com/Home/ loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia, and stands by itself The Basics of Spaceflight http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/basics/ as a monumental international accomplishment.” Sally Ride Science http://sallyridescience.com/ Michael Griffin NASA Administrator Smart Girls Rock “Space Exploration, A Frontier for http://www.smartgirlsrock.com/ American Collaboration” 16 November 2007 NASA 50th Anniversary Web Site http://www.nasa.gov/50th/home.html
AIAA Houston Horizons Fall 2007 Page 10 Page 11
A Spacecraft System Engineer’s Introduction to Dinner Lecture Emerging Photovoltaic Technologies Summary Report DOUGLAS YAZELL, AIAA HOUSTON CHAIR
About 55 people enjoyed the role in the formulation of the Germany, Spain, and Japan, social networking and the dinner President’s Vision for Space Ex- thanks to incentive-driven de- speech at this event at the NASA ploration.” mand. But foreign incentives and Gilruth Center on Wednesday, R&D programs have driven September 19, 2007. Mr. Craig His document containing 52 worldwide competition past US Cornelius was very generous with slides in .pdf form are online at producers. A chart on slide 8 his time, flying here from DC to our section’s web site at shows this trend from 1990 to be with us. From the publicity www.aiaa-houston.org, in the, 2006. US markets are opening due “Take a Closer Look?” section of flyer: to convergence of PV cost reduc- the opening web page. The office tion, rising electricity prices, and “Craig Cornelius is the Act- and program are the Office of subsidies. ing Program Manager of the U.S. Energy Efficiency & Renewable Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Energy, and the Solar Energy Terrestrial PC Technologies Solar Program, with responsibility Technologies Program. For more with Promise for Space for direction and oversight of all information: program activities, including re- www.eere.energy.gov/solar/ Slide 41 contains a nice 3D graph with axes for lifetime, effi- search and development, market solar_america. transformation and technology ciency, and cost, with colored deployment, policy formulation, Market-Based Framework boxes labeled for mobile, power and market outreach and inter- for PV Research & Development generation, remote, aerospace, governmental cooperation. The (R&D) and military. program focuses on solar-to- PV grew fast from 2000 to The concluding slide con- electric technologies – including 2005, starting from being a mar- tains a painting and the title, “Best distributed and central station ginal power source in the year Wishes for a Solar-Powered Fu- solar photovoltaics (PV) and solar 2000 in countries like the USA, ture on the Moon!” thermoelectrics (CSP, for Concentrating So- lar Power) for utility- scale generation. “Since November 2005, Mr. Cornelius has led the implemen- tation of the Solar America Initiative, including assessment of solar power tech- nologies, definition of R&D strategy for product development and manufacturing, analysis of solar mar- ket dynamics, and engagement with fi- nancial markets. Under the Solar America Initiative, the DOE will invest over $1.5 Billion with the goal of achieving cost parity with grid retail elec- tricity prices nation- wide by 2015. “Mr. Cornelius came to DOE from NASA, where he played a leadership
AIAA Houston Horizons Fall 2007 Page 11 Page 12
Section Wings Over Houston Outing Activity DOUGLAS YAZELL, AIAA HOUSTON CHAIR Thanks to our hosts, EAA Chapter airplane, a Velocity, with an auto- footage of dynamic testing of a 12 of Houston (www.eaa12.org, mobile motor, a Mazda rotary scale model, and flew in his simu- the Experimental Aircraft Asso- engine. Its safety is almost cer- lator. The flight simulator holds ciation), we could enjoy shade, tainly enhanced by the fact that four people, and either person in seats, and shelter at the first of there are only three moving parts the two front seats can operate the two days of the Wings Over in that engine. Richard’s airplane controls. Three screens about 6 Houston airshow at Ellington is a VariEze homebuilt experi- feet square each provided visual Field on Saturday, October 6, mental aircraft, based on the fa- displays of flying around Hobby 2007. The outgoing and incoming mous design by Burt Rutan. Airport, IAH, or one tens or hun- presidents of this EAA chapter, dreds of airport choices. Chris Barber and Richard Ses- Coolers with iced soft drinks were sions, lease a hangar at Ellington provided and plenty of water was I learned quite a few lessons about Field. They generously offered its available. We provided more food how to make this event better next use to our members and their that we could eat. This made the year, so I hope we do this together friends and family at the show. hangar a great place to stay during again. I would use our RSVP This hangar provides an excellent the show, since walking around at system (recommended, not re- view of the show, though we are the show always tires most people quired) at www.aiaa-houston.org too far to make out the words of quickly. to estimate attendance by AIAA the enthusiastic airshow announc- members, friends, and family. I I arrived at 8:30 am at the show would try to set up special access after passing the inspection at the to Segway scooters working with entrance. The early morning www.cajun2wheels.com. I would storms had stopped by about 7:30 continue to offer the coolers with am, though they might have con- loose ice, drinks, food and chairs vinced a lot of people to stay at the hangar, though we must away from the airshow that day. I avoid competing with airshow was rewarded by being able to vendors. take snapshots of beautifully re- stored WW II era airplanes with And I would have at least three their reflections in the standing AIAA members organizing our water. Once our EAA friends part of the work. Since EAA pro- arrived at their hangar at 9:30 or vided so much, AIAA’s part can 10:00 am with the food and drinks always include coolers, loose ice, from their early-morning shop- food and drink, among other ping, I was ready and eager to join things. I learned that the light them, since the walking had tired camping chairs that are easy to me by that time. carry in their bags over our shoul- ders cost only $5 at Academy. The owner of Cajun2Wheels Finally, I would continue to look (www.cajun2wheels.com) stopped for things that AIAA could add to Photograph at Wings Over Houston courtesy of Douglas Yazell. ers. AIAA and EAA members had by riding one of those Segway encourage attendance from AIAA several pleasant hours to relax and scooters that have always looked members and their friends and chat while enjoying the airshow. like fun to me. Maybe next year I family. can rent one of those for 30 min- Counting the AIAA members and utes to roll around the airshow Though it is not a human space their friends and family, we at- with him and a few friends from programs event, NASA provided tracted about 13 people to this an AIAA-EAA event like this. a large booth at the main part of informal event. The EAA mem- the airshow to inform the public bers and their friends and family Mr. Labiche’s misfortune was our with literature and other items and were a much larger group. Rich- good luck. When a friend sug- NASA related events. This annual ard and Chris pulled their planes gested he pay for a display at the airshow can be an exciting part of out of their hangar to display them airshow, it was too late to adver- AIAA Houston Section’s annual and make room for us to sit in the tise his flying sports car concept activities, but it has been difficult hangar, though we had enough (www.labicheaerospace.com) at to organize something there in shade to move outside with our the main part of the show, but he past years. With generous help seats in the afternoon. A third rented a hangar to hangars down from EAA Chapter 12 of Hous- EAA member put his yellow and from ours instead. We talked with ton, we might now have a hangar, blue plane on display at this han- him, looked at his models, shade and shelter, and good con- gar, too. Chris is building his watched his video which included versation every year.
AIAA Houston Horizons Fall 2007 Page 12 Page 13
New Members
Date joined: June 1, 2007: our section) Scott Bird Important notes: 2007: Lee Wible Wes Kelly • Alex Stoll Ludmila Dmitriev-Odier Michael Wells Not a member? See the end page. Janet Edwards Lisa Earehart (our new International Keenan Turner Marvin Leblanc Christina Torres Space Activities Com- Samantha Kujala Ada Rivera Alaina Dupont mittee Chair) Jessie Daniel Mark Sandberg Vickye Presley David Brown Andrea Ilg Luis San Andres Astra Zeno Wayne White Nominate a Colleague Robert Gay Larry Spratlin New, October 1, 2007: for One of AIAA's Top Date joined: July 1, David Finkel Don Huynh Awards 2007: Susan Stachowiak Kenneth Lambert Ernest Bell Do you know of a colleague Clifton Knight Jerry Griffin Jason Gabbert who has made significant Juan Salinas Carl Lawrence Raquel Weitl Aisha Garel contributions to aeronautics Ed Rubio John Osborn Logan Minning or astronautics or to AIAA? Kent Adams Sherry Lynne Julio- Matthew Cowley Transferred in, October Dan Brockway Thompson Nicole Hill 1, 2007: Nominate them for one of William Carson Tom Ong Eleuterio De La Garza AIAA's top awards. Joel Broome James Meyer Lollie Garay Jon-Paul Eisenring Richard Taylor Gregory Mcclung James Forkner Shawn Gano Visit http://www.aiaa.org William Heitzman Erma Moore Venkateshwar Vardhi- Aisha Garel Sagar Bhatt Michael Johnson neni (our section’s new Keric Hill David Tucker Linda Hyde Professional Develop- Scott Jenkins Misty Wohl Bari Funda ment Chair) Oren Kornberg Michael Stewart Melissa White William Sun Laurence Mutuel Robert Ennis Steven Robson Stephanie Ojeda Don Nelson Terry Wilcutt Jeffrey Bye Stacey Kelley Michael Belisle Sampath Atluri Priscilla Celaya Joy Bryant Sarah Farrell John Furby Mark Powell Michael Merriken Monica Muzny Jack Montieth Gary Turner Karen Lawley Don Carter Nykea Christal William Decker Jan Grout Ann Jablonski Ashivni Shekhawat Kelly Sebelius Munir Kundawala (the Xavier Rivera new chair of our sec- Date joined: September Jared Egli tion’s Public Policy 1, 2007: Anton Kolomiets committee) Anthony Quandt Janie Ordaz Date joined: October 1, Baljeet Singh Alexander Craik 2007: Tamas Kalmar-Nagy Ami Gilliam Peng Xu Salma Mahzooni Melissa Smith Lorenn Vega-Martinez, Lisa Voiles Date joined: August 1, (a new Councilor for Leif Anderson
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Please verify your AIAA member We do not have current contact record is up to date. Knowing information for the following where our members are working members, which means that either is vital to the Houston Section in their email or mail addresses are obtaining corporate support for no longer valid. If you know local AIAA activities (such as our where they are, please either ask monthly dinner meeting, work- them to update their information shops, etc.). Please take a few on www.aiaa.org or send their minutes and visit the AIAA web- new information to Lisa Voiles at site at http://www.aiaa.org/ to [email protected]. update your member information or call customer service at 1-800- [No names listed this issue] NEW-AIAA (639-2422).
AIAA Houston Horizons Fall 2007 Page 13 Page 14
Dinner Lecture Becoming an Aquanaut: Using an Underwater Summary Extreme Environment to Train Astronauts for Spaceflight DOUGLAS YAZELL, AIAA HOUSTON CHAIR
Marc Reagan was our hon- then he has supported every that a quick ascent to the surface ored guest for our dinner meeting NEEMO mission, generally in the with scuba gear is not possible, so on Monday, October 15, 2007. A role of Mission Director. As Mis- the training is more realistic. few notes from our publicity flyer sion Director he is responsible for Team members spending a week will introduce this topic: all aspects of the mission opera- or two in Aquarius cannot choose tions: planning, timeline develop- their team members for the mis- ment, procedures, priorities, and sion, so that is very much like the all real-time ops. Mr. Reagan also real space missions, too. Quite a serves as the Group Lead of the few astronauts were NEEMO Station Training Lead group at graduates before their first mis- NASA/JSC. As the STL Group sions on our space shuttle and lead, he has responsibility for the space station programs. This em- team based full simulator crew brace of the program by NASA is and flight controller training for testimony to the caliber of the the International Space Station ideas, planning, and work in- (ISS). He also occasionally works volved. as an ISS ‘Capcom’.” NASA fact: Aquarius oper- Mr. Reagan began by ex- ates 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers) off plaining that NEEMO (http:// Key Largo in the Florida Keys www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ National Marine Sanctuary. It is NEEMO/) started in response to deployed next to deep coral reefs errors during spacewalks despite 62 feet (19 meters) below the extensive astronaut training which surface. http://www.nasa.gov/ included Neutral Buoyancy Labs mission_pages/NEEMO/ (NBLs), which resemble an im- NEEMO missions last up to mense swimming pool. The dan- 3 weeks. Space station training gerous environment of spacewalks instructor Bill Todd commanded distracted the attention of the the first mission, joined by Mike Above: Mr. Marc Reagan of NEEMO, “Mr. Marc Reagan has been astronauts and led to errors. NASA Extreme Environment Mission (Continued on page 15) Operations, photographed at our din- involved with the NASA Extreme NEEMO’s Aquarius is so deep ner meeting by D. Yazell Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) project since its in- Right: JSC2007-E-42291 (12 Aug. 2007) --- Japan Aerospace Exploration ception. NEEMO uses NOAA's Agency (JAXA) astronaut/aquanaut Aquarius habitat, the only opera- Satoshi Furukawa operates a rover tional undersea research habitat during an undersea session of extrave- hicular activity (EVA) for the 13th in the world, as the base for lu- NASA Extreme Environment Mission nar analog missions. As the Dep- Operations (NEEMO) mission. The uty Project Manager, he has crew is spending 10 days, Aug. 6-15, on an undersea mission aboard the Na- helped steer the project through tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad- 13 safe and successful missions ministration’s (NOAA) Aquarius Un- derwater Laboratory, which is oper- to date. He trained as a backup to ated by the University of North Caro- NEEMO 1, and led the Topside lina at Wilmington and located off the Team activities in support of that coast of Key Largo, Florida. mission. On NEEMO 2 he served as an aquanaut crewmem- ber for the 9-day mission. Since
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(continued from page 14) mission constructed an underwa- Station (ISS) Expedition 16, fol- Gernhardt, Mike Lopez-Alegria, ter structure, “waterlab”, as an lowing her launch in a Soyuz Above left: JSC2007-E-41652 (7 Aug. 2007) --- Astronaut/aquanaut Rich- and Dave Williams. The NEEMO analog for space station assembly capsule from Baikonur on Octo- ard R. Arnold II works with an um- 2 team of May 2002 was Space missions. Two storms threatened ber 10, 2007. The most recent bilical line during an undersea ses- Station trainer Marc Reagan, NEEMO 4 in September of 2002, NEEMO mission recorded on the sion of extravehicular activity (EVA) for the 13th NASA Extreme Environ- Sunita Williams, Dan Tani, and Hurricane Isadore and Tropical web site is NEEMO 13, with ment Mission Operations (NEEMO) Mike Fincke. A note on the web Storm Lili. The mission was Nicholas Patrick, Richard Arnold, mission. site says, “Technically, the term shortened to five days. The JAXA astronaut Satoshi Furu- Above right: JSC2007-E-41650 (7 aquanaut is limited to those who NEEMO 5 mission in August of kawa, and Christopher Gerty. Aug. 2007) --- Japan Aerospace Ex- stay underwater for 24 hours or 2004 was commanded by Peggy They began a 10-day mission on ploration Agency’s (JAXA) more.” Whitson, who is now the com- August 6, 2007. astronaut/aquanaut Satoshi Furu- kawa climbs a ladder to simulate Members of the NEEMO 3 mander of the International Space tasks on the lunar surface during an undersea session of extravehicular activity (EVA) for the 13th NASA Extreme Environment Mission Op- erations (NEEMO) mission.
Left: JSC2007-E-41610 (31 July 2007) --- Equipped with SCUBA gear, astronaut/aquanaut Nicholas J. M. Patrick (commander) deploys a cave reel during an undersea training session for the 13th NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) mission.
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Lunch n Learn Apollo 13 Trajectory Reconstruction Summary DOUGLAS YAZELL, AIAA HOUSTON CHAIR About 40 people came to tion program available via ment from the way it was in listen to the lunch-and-learn www.shatters.net/celestia/. It April 1970! on Friday, November 2, 2007, provides a means with which Dan Adamo has worked in the JSC building 30 audito- educators and their students on trajectory aspects of simu- rium. The presentation was, can visualize even the most lation, flight design, and Mis-
“Apollo 13 Trajectory Recon- exotic trajectories arising in sion Control operations since struction”, by Daniel R. space exploration. A chal- commencing his JSC career in Adamo. A related paper AAS lenge to reconstruct the Apollo 1979. Beginning in 1990, he 07-330 was presented by Mr. 13 as-flown trajectory was supported 57 Space Shuttle Adamo at the AAS/AIAA As- issued in 2006 through a Ce- missions from the Flight Dy- trodynamics Specialists Con- lestia discussion forum. In namics Officer console. As a ference, August 19-23, 2007, answering this challenge, high school and college stu- at Mackinac Island, Michigan. methods of accurately recon- dent, he was an avid follower If we have Mr. Adamo’s per- structing any as-flown Project of Apollo missions to the mission, we will post his Apollo trajectory have been Moon, including Apollo 13. PowerPoint charts on our web developed using publicly From the nine-page pres- site at http://www.aiaa- available Internet sources. entation, Mr. Adamo of United houston.org/tc/astrodynamics/. During the course of verifying Space Alliance, LLC, shows a Here are a few notes from our these methods, multiple in- Mission Operations patch and publicity flyer: sights regarding Apollo 13's mentions Flight Design and trajectory have been realized. "Celestia" is an open- Dynamics Division, Orbit Dy- Come share some enlighten- source freeware space simula- namics Branch.
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Seabrook Middle School and NASA Student Launch Initiative HAROLD LARSON, NASA-HOUSTON ROCKET CLUB Every Thursday afternoon at The students’ goals are to Seabrook Middle School, a group measure rocket drag coefficient in of about a dozen students gather the transonic-supersonic region by to prepare a Preliminary Design measuring deceleration just after Review for a NASA-sponsored burnout, and to measure stagna- Student Launch Initiative project. tion temperature at the nose cone The goal is to launch a student- tip. These measurements will built rocket to approximately one require onboard data logging, mile, and to obtain scientific data which will be based on either a during the flight. This PDR is due Microchip “PIC” microcontroller, on November 28, followed by a or on an “Arduino” C- Critical Design Review, a Flight programmable microcontroller. Readiness Review, a launch at Both micros run at similar speeds Marshall Space Flight Center in and have onboard A/D inputs, so April 2008, and a Post-Launch the final choice will be a matter of Review. (See http:// preference by the payload special- education.msfc.nasa.gov/ ist. docs/127.htm for details) The Seabrook team will get a Kayla Esquivel, outreach lead Figure 1: Rocksim As the design stands, the single launch attempt at Marshall Daniel Kim, scientific payload rocket will be 61 inches long, 4 in April, thus at least one test lead inches in diameter, and will have launch is planned at Johnson a launch mass of 3.5 kg. Thrust is Space Center before then. Since a Kelden Pehr provided by a J1999 motor, which full-power launch will exceed the Kunal Abichandani provides 2,100 Nt. of thrust, for local rocket club waiver of 2,500 Brian Boettger 0.6 seconds. Airframe will con- feet, this test launch will use a sist largely of Fiberglas- smaller I211 motor, expected to Jake Cover reinforced phenolic tubing and go to 2,250 feet. The test launch Nick Doyle Fiberglas reinforced fins, since will prove out the rocket’s data Neelay Fruitwala burnout velocity is expected to be acquisition systems as well as the Jason Klein about Mach 1.1. A screen shot of parachute deployment systems. a “Rocksim” simulation appears Timing for this launch is not yet Nicholaus Pehr in Figure 1. known, but will likely be during a Austin Sandel Going from a standing start Saturday launch by the NASA- Houston Rocket Club (see to Mach 1.1 in 0.6 seconds im- Further details of this project www.nhrc.homestead.com). plies an acceleration of about 70 can be found at www.seabrook- times gravity, so construction of Seabrook’s participation in sli.com. this rocket will involve materials the Student Launch Initiative normally used by the high power program is due to the results of rocketry hobby. This G loading the “Team America” rocketry also constrains the design of the challenge (see onboard instrumentation pack- www.rocketcontest.org). Sea- ages. brook came in 18th nationally out Modeled vehicle perform- of some 700 teams entered, and ance is summarized in the plot thus qualified for an invitation to below. Acceleration (in red) participate in SLI. Original peaks at 2,550 ft/sec/sec, and “Team America” members Daniel thrust terminates at 0.6 seconds. Kim, Kunal Abichandani, Nick Velocity (in green) peaks at 1,100 Doyle, and Kayla Esquivel have ft/sec at motor burnout, so the recruited additional students for rocket will be briefly supersonic. this SLI project, and the project Altitude (in blue) at burnout is roster now includes: just under 400 feet, thus, the ma- jority of the flight will consist of a Mrs. Sam Youts, faculty leader coast from 400 feet to 5,400 feet, expected to take a total of 17 sec- Michael Pontikos, overall lead onds. Brittni Boettger, proposal lead
AIAA Houston Horizons Fall 2007 Page 17 Page 18
Local Lockheed Martin Team Opens EDL News JON BERNDT, EDITOR, HORIZONS The Lockheed Martin, simulations using flight-like At the EDL opening, a United Space Alliance, and Hon- elements. mockup of the Orion Crew Explo- eywell jointly funded Exploration ration Vehicle (CEV) was open Development Laboratory (EDL) • System engineering, integra- for viewing. The mockup was in Webster, Texas, was opened tion, and test. built during the proposal process, with a celebration on the morning and externally it represents the • Human factors and interfaces. of Wednesday, 12 December. In 504 vehicle. Internally, the attendance were representatives • Constellation operations. mockup has been updated to rep- from all three companies, NASA, resent the more recent 606A itera- local media, state and local gov- Regarding the last item, tion. There are five seats mounted ernment representatives, and above, The Lockheed Martin team inside, but a sixth was removed to many others (including this Edi- in the future plans to expand the facilitate entry and exit. Accord- tor). EDL to support additional Constel- ing to Lockheed, the mockup will be used by NASA and the Lock- Image captions: At right, the heed Martin team to “perform fact planned layout in the EDL. An -finding activities, such as reach Orion capsule with Service zone, panel displays, internal Module is shown as a future lighting assessment, seat mockup addition. The open structure and development, docking hatch near the front of the lab in the plan image is a boilerplate Pad development, crew stowage, hand Abort 1 article. The cockpit controller development, and other mockup is further back, and human interface devices.” behind that is a standup simu- lated crew station. Adjacent to the CEV mockup was a pilot-in-the-loop / hardware At bottom right, the editor flies -in-the-loop CEV simulator. The a simple simulated docking underlying core simulation is approach. The cylindrical de- Lockheed’s OSIRIS simulation. vice in the background shows OSIRIS is built on top of the the jets firing (red lights). Johnson Space Center developed Trick simulation framework. In- terfaced with the simulation are three Honeywell flight control modules of the type built for the Boeing 787. The FCM units con- According to Lockheed Mar- lation elements such as the Ares V nected to the simulator are not tin, the facility’s capabilities are booster and the lunar lander pro- spaceflight qualified, but they being designed “from the ground gram (now called “Altair”). nonetheless give an early capabil- up as a set of distributed System ity in the simulation. Also inter- Integration Labs (SIL), including (Continued on page 19) a 10,000 square foot facility in Houston, TC, to join facilities in Denver, CO, Glendale, AZ, and Arlington, VA.” One of the goals of the facil- ity is to reduce program risk by providing an early opportunity for testing avionics and software exactly as they are to eventually fly. Another goal is to enable increased collaboration between centers distributed throughout the U.S. The EDL will focus particu- larly on these tasks: • Human-rated avionics, soft- ware, autonomy, sensors and
AIAA Houston Horizons Fall 2007 Page 18 Page 19
(Continued from page 18) traditional rotational hand control- Image captions: Above left, EDL CEV low fidelity cockpit mockup. Above faced with OSIRIS is a propulsion ler. right, Honeywell Flight Control Modules (FCM). simulation device, which shows visually which reaction control A CEV boilerplate structure jets are being fired at any time was present in the EDL. The during a maneuver. I had the op- structure is being used as a rig to portunity to fly a simplified dock- support testing and development ing with ISS, from a very short of systems to be used for the Pad range. Translational control was Abort 1 (PA-1) flight test next provided through the joystick year at White Sands Missile when a trigger was squeezed, Range in New Mexico. otherwise, the stick acted as a Below left, EDL CEV low fidelity cockpit mockup; crew seats and displays and controls. Below right, Orion displays and controls simulator.
AIAA Houston Horizons Fall 2007 Page 19 Page 20
SPACEHAB SUBSIDIARY SPACEHAB SUBSIDIARY SPACEHAB SUPPORTING Local WINS FIRST COMPETED WINS INTERSTELLAR KEY MILESTONES UNDER News CONTRACT UNDER RE- BOUNDARY EXPLORER MIS- NASA SPACE ACT AGREE- CENTLY AWARDED VAFB SION CONTRACT MENT IDIQ Houston, Texas, October 4, 2007 Company Unveils Initial Details Houston, Texas, August 27, – SPACEHAB, Incorporated of ARCTUS 2007 – SPACEHAB, Incorporated (NASDAQ: SPAB), a leading Houston, Texas, November 19, (NASDAQ: SPAB), a leading provider of commercial space 2007 – SPACEHAB, Incorporated provider of commercial space services, today announced that its (NASDAQ: SPAB), a leading services, today announced that its Astrotech Space Operations sub- provider of commercial space Astrotech Space Operations sub- sidiary has won an additional fully services, today announced that in sidiary has won the first fully funded task order under the re- accordance with the milestone funded task order under the re- cently awarded Vandenberg Air requirements of the previously cently awarded Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) indefinite announced Space Act Agreement Force Base (VAFB) indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (SAA) with NASA, the Company delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract. The Company hosted a formal Systems Require- (IDIQ) contract for the Ocean will provide facilities and payload ments Review of its Advanced Surface Topography Mission processing support for NASA’s Research and Conventional Tech- (OSTM)/Jason-2. Interstellar Boundary Explorer nology Utilization Spacecraft On June 25, the SPACEHAB (IBEX) spacecraft, scheduled for (ARCTUS) on October 25-26 at subsidiary announced the award launch mid-2008. its Houston Headquarters facility. of a $35 million indefinite deliv- IBEX is the second mission Attendees included representa- ery, indefinite quantity contract competed and won by Astrotech, tives from NASA, the Federal for payload processing support on under a $35 million IDIQ contract Aviation Administration, United several upcoming NASA space- awarded in June 2007, to provide Launch Alliance, Cimarron, Inc., craft missions, for which each facilities and payload processing and Lockheed Martin. must be individually competed. support on several future NASA The unfunded SAA, signed OSTM is the first in the series to spacecraft missions. The IBEX in June 2007, facilitates the Com- be awarded. satellite, whose key mission part- pany’s development of a commer- “The OSTM contract award ners are NASA, Southwest Re- cial transportation system capable is an important accomplishment search Institute, and Orbital Sci- of ferrying cargo between Earth for us as it underscores the confi- ences Corporation, will orbit the and Low Earth Orbit. SPACE- dence our valuable customers Earth every eight days to make the HAB has engaged key suppliers to have in the capabilities, safety, first comprehensive map of the support major elements of the and customer service associated boundary between our solar sys- ARCTUS program including with the Astrotech name,” said tem and interstellar space. Mission launch services provider, United Don M. White Jr., Astrotech Gen- managers affirm that measuring Launch Alliance, spacecraft bus eral Manager. this interstellar interaction is im- component supplier, Lockheed portant for understanding the Martin Space Systems, Cimarron, OSTM, scheduled to launch Earth’s protection from galactic from VAFB in mid 2008, is the tasked with mission control center cosmic rays – energetic particles development and integration, and next-generation ocean altimetry from beyond the solar system – mission to extend the time series Odyssey Space Research, LLC, that could pose health risks to providing trajectory analysis and of sea surface topography meas- future astronauts exploring deep urements begun by TOPEX/ integration services. space. Poseidon (1992-2005) and contin- “Our ARCTUS solution is a ued by Jason-1 launched in 2001. In other Astrotech news, As- low cost, low risk design solution A four-partner mission between trotech has been contracted by that seamlessly integrates flight NASA/JPL, Centre National NASA, in the amount of over proven components and does not d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), the $750,000, to add a laminar flow require the development of a new European Organization for the enclosure to one of its Titusville, launch vehicle,” said Rick Fitts, Exploitation of Meteorological Florida facilities. While Astro- ARCTUS Program Manager. Satellites (Eumetsat), and the tech’s processing facilities are “With the arrival of the ARCTUS National Oceanic and Atmos- already certified to a stringent pressure shell mockup into our pheric Administration (NOAA), Class 100,000 air cleanliness level, Houston facilities in July, we OSTM will measure sea surface the specialized enclosure will be received the first hardware com- height to an accuracy of less than an additional and effective means ponent of this innovative pro- 4 cm very ten days. These precise of achieving an even higher class gram,” said Fitts. SPACEHAB measurements will help scientists of particle free environment for the engineers are currently using the better understand ocean circula- NASA customer’s critical payload 500 pound mockup for internal tion and its effect on global cli- which will require a more highly mate. controlled, contamination free environment. (Continued on page 21)
AIAA Houston Horizons Fall 2007 Page 20 Page 21
(Continued from page 20) tional Technology Utilization SPACEHAB is currently pressurized cargo accommodation Spacecraft working to develop ARCTUS Local designs. (ARCTUS) design. SPACE- under an unfunded SAA with News (cont’d) Capable of delivering and HAB, together with its aerospace NASA. The COTS I award, ex- returning pressurized cargo to and affiliates Lockheed Martin, pected in early 2008, will provide from Low Earth Orbit, ARCTUS United Launch Alliance, Cimar- NASA investment to the winning will supply a critical ‘means to an ron and Odyssey Space Research, solution(s) through a funded end’ for two distinct, yet comple- is developing a commercial cargo SAA. NASA has announced that mentary, space transport needs. transportation capability to serve up to $174 million is available First, ARCTUS supports NASA’s both NASA’s needs for cargo under this pending COTS I award. requirement to fill the Interna- services to the International Space “The tremendous flexibility tional Space Station (ISS) cargo Station (ISS) as well as other afforded by the ARCTUS design transport gap between the space commercial needs, including translates to the most cost effec- shuttle’s planned 2010 retirement SPACEHAB’s recently an- tive cargo service for our NASA and when its replacement Constel- nounced Microgravity Processing customer,” said Rick Fitts, lation program becomes opera- activities. SPACEHAB Vice President and tional in 2015. Second, ARCTUS NASA released the COTS ARCTUS Program Manager. “We provides SPACEHAB with an Phase 1 RFP in October 2007 are confident that our approach additional means of space access seeking one or more funded Space will allow us to meet NASA’s in support of the Company’s pre- Act Agreements (SAAs) with projected need for reliable, afford- viously announced microgravity private industry. The effort calls able cargo services to the ISS, processing initiatives, many of for the development and demon- thereby ensuring continued do- which are destined for production stration of the vehicles, systems, mestic access to the station after and processing on the ISS. and operations needed to resup- the planned shuttle retirement. Consistent with the terms of ply, return cargo from, and trans- This capability is not only impor- the SAA, SPACEHAB conducted port crew to and from low Earth tant to NASA, but will also pro- its Program Management Plan orbit after 2010, helping fill the vide us with assured access to the review in June 2007. In addition, gap between the space shuttle’s station to support our planned a spacecraft Concept Review, scheduled retirement and 2015 commercial utilization of the ISS including representatives from all when the planned replacement National Laboratory,” he said. ARCTUS spacecraft systems Constellation Program becomes providers, was held on November operational. SPACEHAB REALIGNS COR- 8, 2007 at Lockheed Martin’s SPACEHAB’s COTS solu- PORATION facilities in Denver, Colorado. tion draws heavily from existing The ARCTUS team continues to Company Positioned to Capture components and infrastructure NASA COTS Business develop the spacecraft vehicle and providing a reliable, low-cost, and ground systems design and is low-risk solution. The ARCTUS Houston, Texas, December 10, focused on the next major mile- design philosophy has been to 2007 – SPACEHAB, Incorporated stone, the Preliminary Design utilize flight proven systems, (NASDAQ: SPABD), a leading Review scheduled for early 2008. hardware and assets to the great- provider of commercial space services, today announced an est extent possible. This approach ensures availability, reduces flight initiative to align the corporate SPACEHAB RESPONDS TO structure and personnel toward its NASA RFP SEEKING COM- risks, and minimizes cost while meeting all NASA requirements strategic direction of winning the MERCIAL ISS RESUPPLY NASA Commercial Orbital for this much needed service. MEANS Transportation Services (COTS) Company and Renowned Affiliate Spacecraft structural and funded Space Act Agreement, due Team Propose ARCTUS as Most avionics components will be ob- to be awarded February 2008, and Viable Transport Solution tained from Lockheed Martin and to process and manufacture prod- are derived from the Centaur and Houston, Texas, November 29, ucts in microgravity on the Inter- XSS-11 programs. Launch ser- national Space Station (ISS). 2007 – SPACEHAB, Incorporated vices will be procured through (NASDAQ: SPAB), a leading United Launch Alliance utilizing “We have determined that provider of commercial space the successful Evolved Expend- the ability to provide cost effec- services, today announced that the able Launch Vehicles (EELV) tive, reliable cargo services to Company has submitted a formal Atlas V or Delta IV. Cimarron space is critical to the overall proposal response to NASA’s will provide mission control cen- success of the ISS National Labo- Commercial Orbital Transporta- ter development and integration ratory and to SPACEHAB’s mi- tion Services (COTS) Phase 1 while Odyssey Space Research crogravity processing business Demonstrations Request for Pro- will perform trajectory analysis plan,” said SPACEHAB Chief posal (RFP) based on the Ad- and provide associated integration Executive Officer, Thomas B. vanced Research and Conven- services. (Continued on page 27)
AIAA Houston Horizons Fall 2007 Page 21 Page 22
Dates, events, and times are subject to change. See the AIAA Houston web site for more information at: www.aiaa-houston.org Contact [email protected] or [email protected] for further details.
January 11 Lunch & Learn: Space and Astronomy, Decade by Decade (Sponsored by the Astrodynamics Technical Committee) Location: Gilruth (Room is TBD: see the web site for more information) Time: 1200—1300 Speaker: Marianne Dyson, author and former NASA flight controller (www.mdyson.com) 25 Michael Coats, Director, NASA Johnson Space Center, Gilruth Center Alamo Ballroom, "State of the Center"
March 11 John Frassanito & Associates: NASA/JSC Gilruth Center
AIAA Houston Horizons Fall 2007 Page 22 Page 23
Cranium Cruncher BILL MILLER, SENIOR MEMBER Last issue's puzzle dealt with a fictional shaft bored from pole to pole on the Moon. The question was, for a nonrotating, uniform density Moon and a perfect vacuum in the shaft, what is the resultant motion for an object dropped into the shaft?
Answer:
The acceleration of the object is solely due to gravitational attraction of the spherical portion of the Moon whose radius is measured from the centroid to the package at any moment. The gravitational attraction of the spherical shell portion of the Moon “above” the object cancels out and has no effect.
So, at any time the mass M of the partial Moon sphere “below” the object is: (1) M = (4/3) π r3 ρ Where r = distance from centroid to object at given time ρ = density of Moon
The gravitational acceleration a caused by this mass is: (2) a = (G M) / r2 Where G = gravitational constant
If we substitute (1) into (2) we get: (3) a = (G (4/3) π r ρ)
Since everything in the equation is constant except r this means that the acceleration is proportional to the displacement. Call the acceleration at the Moon's surface gM and the full radius of the Moon rM, then the acceleration at any r will be proportional: (4) a = r gM / rM
This lets us see that the resultant motion will be a harmonic oscillator. Since for this type of motion (5) a = ω2 r Where ω = the frequency of oscillation
We can substitute (4) into (5) and solve for ω. The “r”s cancel and the frequency comes out to be (6) ω = √( gM / rM)
Using simplistic values of lunar surface acceleration of 1.6 m/s2 and lunar radius of 1740 kilometers, the frequency comes out to be 9.6 x 10-4 rad/sec and the period to be about 109 minutes.
Thus, the object will accelerate down the shaft, reaching a maximum velocity at the center of the Moon. It will then decelerate on the other half of the trip and come to rest just as it reaches the other pole of the Moon about 54 minutes from release, then accelerate back down the shaft and continue this forever.
For the second part of the problem, the initial acceleration is just reduced by the cosine of the shaft angle (the rest becomes normal force), but still drops to zero as the object passes the midpoint. Since the length of the shaft is reduced by the same factor and everything stays proportional, the time of flight comes out to be exactly the same.
Correct solutions were received from Joe Frisbee and Gary Turner.
References: A Google search will turn up many. There is a good discussion for the same problem, (except for the Earth), at http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=9625
AIAA Houston Horizons Fall 2007 Page 23 Page 24
Odds and Ends SPECIAL EVENTS, PICTORIALS, ETC.
Above: [Editor: One of my favorite aircraft is the B-17G. This image, in particular, is one of the best I’ve seen. The photograph is reproduced here with the permission of the photographer, Christophe Haentjens, Crazy Horse Aviation Photography (http://www.crazyhorseap.be), via www.airliners.net.] Writes Christophe: The picture was taken at the 2006 Duxford (Cambridge, UK) "Flying Legends" airshow. This was held on July 8th & 9th. B-17 "Sally B" from B-17 Preservation in the UK & B-17 "Pink Lady" from Association Fortresse Toujours Volant en France were flying together for the massed crowds.
Left: The NASA Mars Exploration Rovers just keep going and going. From http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov: “The deck of NASA's Mars Explo- ration Rover Spirit is so dusty that the rover almost blends into the dusty background in this image assembled from frames taken by the pano- ramic camera (Pancam) during the period from Spirit's Sol 1,355 through Sol 1,358 (Oct. 26-29, 2007). Dust on the solar panels reduces the amount of electrical power the rover can generate from sunlight each sol. Earlier self-portraits by Spirit, such as one taken on Sol 586, offer a comparison view of cleaner solar panels. The vertical projection used here produces the best view of the rover deck, though it distorts the ground and antennas somewhat.” Approximate true color image.
AIAA Houston Horizons Fall 2007 Page 24 Page 25
You can search YouTube with the phrase “747 St. Maartens” and get See what happens when a LARGE Star Wars X-wing fighter model is some really nice videos of planes landing in a picturesque setting. One launched: of them, in particular, stands out. This approach is about as low as you can get without being a submarine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_9C-ffxDOw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAfQwDizpRo
We’ve mentioned paper models here before, but that was some time ago, and there are new mod- els to be seen. Among them are a more recent version of the Lockheed Martin Orion CEV. The Ares-1 needs to be updated, but it still looks like it could be some fun over the holidays. See many models here: http://jleslie48.com/gallery_models_real.html
AIAA Houston Horizons Fall 2007 Page 25 Page 26
Conference Presentations/Articles by Houston Section Members COMPILED BY THE EDITOR FROM AIAA AGENDAS, SUBMISSIONS, ETC. Some information here is taken from preliminary AIAA conference agendas. As such, it is subject to change.
7 - 10 Jan 2008 dena, CA 46th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit Grand Sierra Resort Hotel (Formerly Reno Hilton) An Hemodynamic Application on a Distributed Computing Environ- Reno, Nevada ment B. Hadri, H. Ltaief and M. Garbey, University of Houston, Houston, TX Application of active flow control technology in an unmanned aerial vehicle Roughness-Induced Transition and Transient Growth: Experiences Ap- G. Agarwal and O. Rediniotis, Texas A&M University, College Station, plying the Triad (Invited) TX; I. Ekoto, Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA E. White, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Laminar Flow Control on a Swept Wing with Distributed Roughness Time Marching Kernel Approximated Euler Equations Using Complex W. Saric, A. Carpenter and H. Reed, Texas A and M University, College Variables for Meshfree CFD Station, TX A. Garza and N. Butuk, Prairie View A&M University, Cypress, TX
International Space Station Research—Accomplishments and Pathways Estimation of the Unsteady Aerodynamic Load on Space Shuttle Exter- for Exploration and Fundamental Research nal Tank Protuberances from a Component Wind Tunnel Test J. Robinson, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX J. Panda, NASA Glenn Research Center, Brookpark, OH; F. Martin, NASDA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX; D. Sutcliff, NASA Glenn Aerodynamic Evaluation and Optimization of the Houck Joined Wing Research Center, Brookpark, OH Aircraft B. Oligney and M. Frash, U.S. Air Force Academy, Katy, TX Laboratory Experiences in a Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department (Invited) Ares- I- X Preliminary Range Safety Malfunction Turn Analysis E. White, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
J. Beaty and B. Starr, NASA - Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA; Effects of Three- Dimensionality in Turbulent Compression Ramp J. Gowan, NASA - Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX Shock- Boundary Layer Interaction Computations A. Oliver and A. Lyrintzis, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN; R. Current Technology Developments in Exploration Life Support Systems Lillard, NASA/JSC, Houston, TX; G. Blaisdell, Purdue University, West D. Barta, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX Lafayette, IN
Oral Presentation Flow Loop Experiments using PAO Nanofluids Uncertainty Propagation with the Fokker- Planck Equation (Graduate I. Nelson and D. Banerjee, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX; Award) R. Ponnappan, Asian Office of Aerospace Research and Development M. Kumar, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (AOARD), Tokyo, Japan
Structural Transitions of MR Fluids in Microgravity Effects of Free Molecular Heating on the Space Shuttle Active Thermal E. Furst, University of Delaware, Newark, DE; J. Agui, NASA Glenn Control System Research Center, Cleveland, OH; J. Williams, NASA Johnson Space P. McCloud and C. Wobick, Boeing, Houston, TX Center, Houston, TX; P. Vasquez, University of Delaware, Newark, DE Separation Control on NACA 0015 using Pulsed Air Blowing VASIMR VX- 100 Engine: Next Step to High Power Electric Propul- G. Agarwal and O. Rediniotis, Texas A&M University, College Station, sion TX; L. Traub, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott, AZ E. Bering and B. Longmier, University of Houston, Houston, TX; F. Chang-Diaz, J. Squire and V. Jacobson, Ad Astra Rocket Company, Experimental Investigation of the Leading- Edge Flow of a Dynamically Houston, TX; M. Brukardt, University of Houston, Houston, TX Pitching Airfoil D. Sahoo and R. Bowersox, Texas A&M University, College Station, Protuberance Boundary Layer Transition Test of CEV Entry Vehicle at TX; and L. Goss, ISSI, Dayton, OH Mach 6 T. Horvath, B. Hollis, K. Berger and S. Berry, NASA Langley Research Rotational/vibrational Raman line- imaging measurements in supersonic Center, Hampton, VA; A. Amar, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, flows TX B. Cohen, A. Bayeh and A. Karpetis, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX An Experimental and Computational Study of High Enthalpy Convec- tive Heating on the NASA CEV J. Olejniczak, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA; A. U.S. Air Force T & E Days Amar, K. Dries, B. Kirk and R. Lillard, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX; S. Laurence, California Institute of Technology, Pasa- (Continued on page 27)
AIAA Houston Horizons Fall 2007 Page 26 Page 27
(Continued from page 26) 5 - 7 Feb 2008 Sheraton Gateway Hotel Los Angeles Airport Los Angeles, California
Development of a Test & Verification Approach for the Constellation Program E. Strong, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
Swept- Wing Laminar Flow Control Studies Using Cessna O- 2A Test Aircraft R. Martin, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Palmdale, CA; and A. Carpenter, Texas A&M University, Bryan, TX
(Continued from page 21) pled with the planned shuttle re- With the formation of Pickens III. “The COTS program tirement in 2010, SOT expects to SPACETECH, the Company has Local represents a big step in the devel- be a primary revenue source for designed a technology transfer, opment of a viable business that the Company through the delivery product development, and sales- News (cont’d) will ultimately attract both capital of complex cargo and research to focused business approach to and customers.” the ISS. transform space-based technolo- Leveraging the Company’s gies and products into commercial 23-year heritage of supporting applications, useful products, Introducing SPACEHAB Mi- intellectual property (IP), and NASA’s space cargo needs, crogravity Sciences, Inc. SPACEHAB is realigning its possible spin-off businesses. The current business structure to better In April 2007, the Company Company has established a devel- serve NASA’s future logistics announced that it had completed opment and sales process ex- needs. “We believe SPACEHAB its analysis of the over 2,000 ex- pressly for the commercialization is the most credible company that periments sent to microgravity of microgravity products and can deliver payloads to the ISS by and as a result, has selected vari- products using space-related IP. ous life science products to begin 2010 as is called for under NASA’s COTS requirements,” producing on the ISS, now desig- nated as a U.S. National Labora- Introducing SPACEHAB Engi- continued Pickens. “In response neering Services to our commitment, we deter- tory. In response to NASA’s An- mined that the Company needed nouncement of Opportunity for SPACEHAB Engineering to reposition its personnel and ISS utilization issued in August Services (SES) is a business hy- business units to be focused on 2007, SPACEHAB responded brid of the former SPACEHAB our COTS business plan including with an achievable proposal and Government Services and developing the Advanced Re- awaits the Agency’s response, SPACEHAB Flight Services and search and Conventional Technol- expected in early 2008. In parallel is continuing to operate in support ogy Utilization Spacecraft to this initiative, SPACEHAB of current government and com- (ARCTUS) and processing micro- created a new subsidiary, SPACE- mercial customers providing spe- gravity products on the ISS,” he HAB Microgravity Sciences cialized design, development and added. SPACEHAB formed the (SMS), to focus on the processing fabrication of flight hardware, following four new subsidiaries to of microgravity products. ground systems, and mockups, as well as large scale program data advance these initiatives: SMS flew its first commer- cial microgravity processing sam- management.
ples on space shuttle flight STS- Additionally, Astrotech Introducing SPACEHAB Or- 116 where they were transferred Space Operations continues prof- bital Transportation, Inc. to the ISS for processing. The itable operations at its Florida and The SPACEHAB Orbital finished products were returned to California facilities processing Transportation (SOT) business is Earth on the STS-118 mission in both government and commercial intensely focused on the design, November and early analysis has satellites before launch. The As- manufacturing and launch of the determined a successful mission. trotech business is also currently ARCTUS vehicle. ARCTUS is Based on existing and newly es- expanding its menu of services to being developed primarily from tablished relationships with the support the COTS integration, off-the-shelf, proven hardware pharmaceutical and academia ground communication and and utilizes existing reliable sectors, results from these and launch support requirements. launch vehicles to provide the other microgravity products are With these business realign- least-cost, least-risk solution for expected to form the foundation ments, significant efficiencies NASA. Additionally, with the of this new revenue-generating have been achieved resulting in planned increase in crew size business. staff reductions of 21 positions expanding from the current three astronauts to a crew of six, cou- (Continued on page 28) Introducing SPACETECH, Inc.
AIAA Houston Horizons Fall 2007 Page 27 Page 28
Sister Section Relationship with AAAF Toulouse Reaffirmed DOUGLAS YAZELL, CHAIR The proclamation declaring out sister section relationship with AAAF We hereby initiate the sister section relationship between AIAA Houston Toulouse – Midi-Pyrenees branch was signed on October 23, 2007. It Section and AAAF Toulouse – Midi-Pyrenees branch. was signed by Douglas Yazell in Houston and by Alain Chevalier and Commitments and obligations are specified in this document, which was Garrett Smith in Toulouse. It specifies a three-year term, and our plans approved by AIAA Houston Section on Monday, September 10, 2007, are to vote again in three years to keep it going for another three or five and approved by AAAF Toulouse – Midi-Pyrenees branch on Tuesday, years at a time. We have some ideas about making this come alive. September 18, 2007. AIAA Houston Section shall seek re-approval of Thirty AAAF members could travel to Houston, Orlando, and DC in this document every three years. Note that July 1 is the start of the new late October and early November of 2008. Thirty AIAA members could year for AIAA Houston Section. AAAF Toulouse – Midi-Pyrenees branch travel to Toulouse, Pau, and Bordeaux in 2009. Our proclamation en- shall seek re-approval of this document every three years. Note that courages of the exchange of technical information within limits set by September 1 is the start of the new year for AAAF Toulouse – Midi- our employers and national governments, so a conference might take Pyrenees branch. place, and if so, it will be discussed soon so that we can have a three- year planning horizon. The proclamation reads as follows: Each sister section shall encourage professional contacts and friendship among the two sister sections. Each sister section shall encourage, wel- come, and enhance visits between members, including friends and family Proclamation who travel with them. Exchange of technical information shall be en- Whereas couraged while respecting the requirements of our employers and na- The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and the tional governments. “Association Aeronautique et Astronautique de France” (AAAF) Signed on Tuesday, October 23, 2007: signed a strategic alliance protocol at the Paris Air Show on June 21, 2007, announcing their desire to develop trans-Atlantic cooperation AIAA Houston Section: Douglas Yazell between the two professional societies, and Signed on Tuesday, October 23, 2007: Whereas AAAF Toulouse – Midi-Pyrenees branch: Garrett Smith and Alain AIAA Houston Section and AAAF Toulouse – Midi-Pyrenees branch Chevalier share many common interests in space tourism, human space pro- While our Russian sister section is only an idea, we have made progress. grams, and the professions of aeronautics and astronautics, and Ludmila Dmitriev-Odier is our new chair of the International Space Ac- Whereas tivities Committee (ISAC). With some help for travel expenses from France and the United States of America celebrate their centuries-long AIAA, she traveled to Moscow and Baikonur to see her son-in-law friendship and their more recent work as teammates on the Space Shut- launched as commander of a three-person crew in a Soyuz capsule. She tle program, the International Space Station program, and many more worked to make her ideas for our Russian sister section come alive, and aerospace projects, this journey is an excellent beginning. Therefore Local News (Cont’d.) (Continued from page 27) announced, the Company is on track to meeting its strategic goal of and major reductions in corporate general and administrative expenses developing a commercial transportation system capable of ferrying estimating an annual cost savings of $2.5 million, while costing approxi- cargo between Earth and Low Earth Orbit. Significant program mile- mately $81,000 to implement. stone achievements thus far include the successful completion of a Pro- “We believe the realignment and efficiency measures announced gram Management Plan, the Systems Requirements Review, a Vehicle today will enable SPACEHAB to make significant strides in our newly Concept Review, and the fabrication of a full-scale internal and external identified business divisions,” said Pickens. “Through providing these mockup. entrepreneurially-unique capabilities to both an established customer The website provides detailed technical resources to SPACEHAB base and new client sectors, SPACEHAB is committed to leading our partners, investors, and potential customers describing the spacecraft, customers, employees and shareholders in a clear and profitable direc- system architecture and key supplier roles and contributions. Addition- tion,” he said. ally, visitors can access a comprehensive archive of press releases, pho- tos and graphics, as well as ARCTUS literature and contact information. SPACEHAB UNVEILS ARCTUS WEBSITE The ARCTUS Program will support NASA’s requirement to fill the International Space Station (ISS) cargo supply gap between the www.arctus-spacecraft.com Now Live as Official Gateway for Program space shuttle’s planned 2010 retirement and its replacement Constella- Information tion program scheduled to be operational in 2015. ARCTUS will also Houston, Texas, December 10, 2007 – SPACEHAB, Incorporated provide SPACEHAB with an additional means of space access in sup- (NASDAQ: SPAB), a leading provider of commercial space services, port of the Company’s previously announced SPACEHAB Microgravity today announced the release of a dedicated website for its Advanced Sciences initiatives, many of which are destined for production and Research and Conventional Technology Utilization Spacecraft processing on the ISS. (ARCTUS) Program at www.arctus-spacecraft.com. As previously
AIAA Houston Horizons Fall 2007 Page 28 Page 29
AIAA Houston Section News
AIAA Foundation 2008-2009 Scholarship and Graduate Awards their overall activities and contributions throughout the year. The basis for this award is the Section Annual Report. The winners are: Along with our own Houston Section "Spirit of Apollo" Scholarship, there are more scholarship award opportunities through the AIAA Foun- Very Large Category dation. Every year the AIAA Foundation funds 30 scholarships of 1st Place Houston Jayant Ramakrishnan, Section Chair $2000 - $2500 for college sophomores, juniors, and seniors, and 14 2nd Place Los Angeles L. Jane Hansen, Section Chair separate graduate student awards worth $5000 and $10,000. Deadline 3rd Place National Capital Michael Wooster, Section Chair for applications for the 2008-2009 Academic Year is January 2008. The Honorable Mention Pacific Northwest Paul Kostek, Section Chair goal of AIAA Foundation is to attract top science and engineering stu- dents to aerospace fields … to provide high-visibility recognition of The Career Enhancement Award is presented for section activities these students and their work … to furnish financial assistance to aero- that are beneficial to career development. The winners are: space students in need … and to assure the availability of talented pro- fessionals that the aerospace industry will require in the years Very Large Category ahead. Detailed information and on-line applications for the AIAA 1st Place Los Angeles M. Richard Denison, Career Officer Foundation Scholarships can be found on the AIAA National website, 2nd Place Hampton Roads Christopher Rumsey, Career Officer under the Students and Educators/Scholarships page at: http:// 3rd Place Houston Elizabeth Zapata, Career Officer www.aiaa.org/content.cfm?pageid=211. Please share this AIAA Foun- dation Scholarships information with the deserving students you know! The Communications Award is presented to sections that have devel- oped and implemented an outstanding communication outreach program Houston Section Presents Award to Fredericksburg Teacher during the section year. The winners are:
You may recall an article in an issue of Horizons from a couple of years Very Large Category ago about the rocket program at Fredericksburg High School in Texas. 1st Place Houston Jon Berndt, Section Newsletter Editor Instructor Brett Williams started that program, which has grown. 2nd Place Dayton/Cincinnati Richard Snyder, Section Newsletter Editor The award is a special service citation, "In Recognition of Exemplary 3rd Place New England Ray Erikson, Section Newsletter Editor Educational Leadership by Instituting a Rocket Building Program at the Honorable Mention Los Angeles Eliza Sheppard, Section Newsletter High School Level and Motivating Students in Science and Technol- Editor and Gina Pieri, Section Webmaster ogy". It is signed by AIAA President Paul Nielsen, and VP of member Honorable Mention National Capital Michael Wooster, Section Chair services Catherine Downen. The Membership Award is presented for increasing the sections' mem- bership by planning and implementing effective new member recruit- ment and retention campaigns. The winners are:
Very Large Category 1st Place Dayton/Cincinnati Jason Slagle, Membership Chair 2nd Place Hampton Roads LaTunia Pack Melton, Membership Officer 3rd Place Houston Albert Meza, Membership Officer
The Public Policy Award is presented to sections for stimulating public awareness of the needs and benefits of aerospace research and develop- ment, particularly on the part of government representatives, and for educating its members in the value of public policy activities. The win- ners are:
(L to R): Lorenn Vega-Martinez, Councilor, Svetlana Hanson, Pre-College, Very Large Category Sarah Shull, Secretary, Carson Dickie, non-profit group with Brett, Brett 1st Place Los Angeles Ashok Mathur, Public Policy Officer Williams, teacher, non-profit group (awardee), BeBe Kelly-Serrato, Space 2nd Place Houston Lynn Nicole Smith, Public Policy Officer Operations & Support, Robert Beremand, GN&C, Douglas Yazell, Chair, 2nd Place Hampton Roads Lee Rich, Public Policy Officer Michael Lembeck, Space Commercialization, Gabe Garrett, Communica- 2nd Place Alabama/Mississippi Teri Abel, Public Policy Officer tions The Young Professional Activity Award is presented to sections that AIAA Houston Section Wins AIAA National Awards demonstrate excellence in planning and executing successful events that encourage the participation of young members in the AIAA and provide Reston, VA, 19 September 2007 - The American Institute of Aeronau- opportunities for leadership at the sectional, regional, and national lev- tics and Astronautics (AIAA) is proud to announce the 2006/2007 Sec- els. The winners are: tion Award winners. The Section Awards honor particularly notable performances made by a section of the Institute working as a unit, and Very Large Category are intended to formally underscore the AIAA conviction that intellectu- 1st Place Houston Laura Slovey, Young Professional Officer ally stimulating section activity is fundamental to a healthy Institute. 2nd Dayton/Cincinnati Julie Saladin, Young Professional Officer The Outstanding Section Award is presented to sections judged on 3rd Place Los Angeles Stephanie Herczog, Young Professional Officer
AIAA Houston Horizons Fall 2007 Page 29 Non-Profit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID Houston Section PERMIT NO. 1 P.O. Box 57524 Webster , Texas Webster, TX 77598
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AIAA Houston Horizons Fall 2007 Page 30