Volume 33, Issue 1 AIAA Houston Section www.aiaa-houston.org Winter 2007/2008 Photographs courtesy of Navigant Vacations and Virgin Galactic AIAA Houston Horizons Winter 2007/2008 Page 1 Winter 2008 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 AIAA Historic Aerospace Sites 5 of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Address by Michael Griffin, NASA Administrator 6 Douglas J. Yazell State of the Center Address by Michael Coats, JSC Center Director 8 Acting Editor Staying Informed (2 pages) 10 AIAA Houston Section Executive Council Membership News 12 Douglas Yazell Lunch-and-Summary, Space and Astronomy: Decade by Decade 14 Chair National Engineers Week with AIAA Houston Section 16 Chad Brinkley Section News: International Space Activities Committee (ISAC) 18 Chair-Elect College & Co-op Activities: EVA Presentations at Student Sections 20 Dr. Jayant Ramakrishnan Past Chair Calendar 22 Sarah Shull Cranium Cruncher & Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) News 23 Secretary Odds & Ends 24 Tim Propp Treasurer AIAA Houston Section Annual Technical Symposium (ATS 2008) 25 JJ Johnson Sean Carter Our 2-page Cover Story: Tara Hyland, a Local Accredited Space Agent 26 Vice-Chair, Operations Vice-Chair, Technical Operations Technical Nick Pantazis Dr. Al Jackson Gabe Garrett Dr. Zafar Taqvi Munir Kundawala Sheikh Ahsan Dr. Douglas Schwaab Bill Atwell Svetlana Hanson Ludmilla Dmitriev Douglas Yazell, 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 Benjamin Longmier 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: Images Courtesy of Navigant Vacations & Virgin Galactic AIAA Houston Horizons Winter 2007/2008 Page 2 Page 3 From the Acting Editor DOUGLAS YAZELL Jon Berndt took this newslet- building as Jon at Space Center Linda Phonharath, our Col- ter, Horizons, to a new level the Blvd and Bay Area Blvd, so they lege and Co-op Chair, wrote about past 3 years, winning 1st place in will meet soon. Bill West’s visits to Texas A&M our category nationwide 3 years in University and Rice University to Jon gave me a customized a row. He now moves on to other talk to our student sections. He template in Microsoft Publisher roles, but he will be nearby to took a Russian Orlan spacesuit format, so I will use Publisher and ? advise us. He gave Horizons a with him for both visits. Linda Jon’s template. new, modern look with a strong and I joined Bill at Rice to meet visual emphasis. He wrote an Bill Miller gave us another those 8 students. Photo of our editor’s column each quarterly, Cranium Crunch for this month. We don’t have a cover story next editor online-only issue. And he found Let’s give him lots of replies! about Virgin Galactic, but I hope cover stories and other features BeBe Kelly-Serrato will write you are seeing these photos for that inspired us. about her first AIAA lunch-and- the first time. Below is Our current candidate for learn, “Lunar Communications “Mothership Construction”. Else- editor (see below) has not met Updated”, presented by Oron where in this issue is Jon yet, so I am acting editor for Schmitt, as soon as her article is “SpaceShipTwo_technical dia- now, aiming at bimonthly releases OK’d regarding various categories gram”. On the cover is “Spaceship on February 25, April 25, and such as Sensitive But Unclassified. Two and Burt Rutan”. And I June 25. Our AIAA year ends on About 35 people attended that added a photo of our local Virgin June 30, and we will return to a event, so BeBe is off to a good Galactic Accredited Space Agent quarterly schedule at that time. start as Chair of our section’s Tara Hyland of Navigant Vaca- Space Operations technical com- tions. She is shown in a recent Dr. Rattaya “Chow” Yala- mittee. photo with Sir Richard Branson manchili/Jacobs has volunteered and Burt Rutan. as editor. He works in the same AIAA Houston Horizons Winter 2007/2008 Page 3 Page 4 Chair’s Corner DOUGLAS YAZELL, AIAA HOUSTON CHAIR Enthusiasm is high as we work the schedules of the past two section’s good work in having in Houston on shuttle, ISS, years, Thursday, April 10, Johnson Space Center selected and a shuttle replacement. The 2008, will be the date of confir- for this honor. The plaque is upcoming International Year mation of our ballot, the clos- shown in Chet’s photograph of Astronomy is 2009, and we ing date for petitions, and Fri- on its granite base which was thank our French sister section day, April 11, 2008, will be the donated by JSC. It rests in its member Michel Bonavitacola date we post the ballot online. place of honor near the Saturn for calling this to our attention. Twenty days later, on Thurs- V building. A similar plaque Space and Astronomy: Decade day, May 1, 2008, all ballots will be presented in a cere- by Decade, was the title of our must be in. A teller committee mony at the 1940 Air Terminal popular lunch-and-learn on will report election results on Museum in the coming January 11, 2008, described or before May 15, 2008. months. A list of these 33 elsewhere in this issue of Hori- AIAA Historic Aerospace zons. We plan a fitting set of Our search for a new editor led Sites from past years is pre- events for National Engineers us to Dr. Rattaya (“Chow”) sented on the next page. Week, February 17-23, 2008. Yalamanchili of Jacobs. I am This issue of Horizons should acting editor for now, but Note that every third Saturday be online by February 25, Chow will probably take over is Wings and Wheels Day at 2008. We plan two more bi- ASAP. Thanks go to Jon this museum at Hobby Airport. monthly issues, online April Berndt, our outgoing editor, for For $10 admission for adults, a 25, 2008 and June 25, 2008, his prize-winning years of casual lunch (burgers, hot then a return to a quarterly work and his intention to stay dogs, soft drinks, etc.) is in- schedule. close and advise us. cluded, along with special outdoor displays, museum Our AIAA year ends on June Webmaster Gary Cowan vol- tours, etc. 30, 2008. Our search for a new unteered to update our web slate of candidates will begin site’s backbone, if that’s the I was fortunate to see the soon. The organization chart at right word. That will change launch of Atlantis and STS- www.aiaa-houston.org de- the web site’s look. At the 122 on February 7, 2008, as a scribes what we need, and same time, we will follow the guest of a French astronaut’s bylaws at the same web site results of a credit card feasibil- family. Thanks to wisdom, supply the rest of the details. ity study by our section’s Com- organization, and sacrifice on Our 1100 membership in- munications Chair, Gabe the part of my wife of 22 cludes 850 professional mem- Garrett, by starting the use of years, my 3-day trip to this bers and 45 positions on the PayPal. The date for this historic event was possible. org chart. The elected mem- change is not yet decided, but it This launch of the European bers number only 20, and will be as soon as possible. Laboratory module Columbus these are the ones with the was historic for our interna- privilege of voting on ques- Congratulations to our sec- tional ISS partnership and the An antique plane owned by tions that come before our tion’s History Committee Chair space programs of all of those the museum at the 1940 Air council. Eight of our ten coun- in our technical branch, Ches- nations. I return to this work in Terminal Building cilors will be up for election to ter Vaughan, on the acceptance Houston and worldwide with (www.1940airterminal.org) is two-year terms. Chair and of the nomination of the 1940 renewed humility, pride, and seen with a taxiing Southwest Past-Chair will not be on the Air Terminal Building enthusiasm. jet during a typical Wings ballot, but the other positions (www.1940airterminal.org) at and Wheels Day, which is coming up for election to one- Hobby Airport as an AIAA every third Saturday. year terms are Chair-Elect, Historic Aerospace Site! Chet Secretary, Treasurer, Vice has been documenting the his- Chair – Operations, Vice Chair tory of our section, and we are – Technical, Programs, Mem- working to place those docu- bership, and Communications. ment on our web site for easy A call for candidates will go viewing.