Open Source and Free Software

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Volume 31, Number 3 AIAA Houston Section www.aiaa-houston.org January / February 2006

[Cover Image: Stellarium sky chart software]

AIAA Houston Horizons January / February 2006 Page 1

January/February 2006

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 bi-monthly publication of the Houston section A Survey of Selected Open Source and Freely Available Software for 5 of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Engineering and Science, and for Education, Home, and Work

Jon S. Berndt Dinner Lecture Summary Report: ARES Mars Airplane 10 Editor Student Report: Mars Sample Return Mission Design at 12

AIAA Houston Section Texas A&M University Executive Council Mars Society of Houston Hosts 4Frontiers 13

Steven R. King AIA Releases Year-End Aerospace Industry Statistics 14 Chair Staying Informed 14 Dr. Jayant Ramakrishnan Chair-Elect Membership Page 15

T. Sophia Bright Lunch & Learn Summary Report: 16 Past Chair Where Did That Equation Come From?

Dr. Syri Koelfgen Lunch & Learn Summary Report: NanoMaterials for Space Exploration 17 Secretary Local Industry News and Announcements 18 Dr. Brad Files Treasurer 2006 Congressional Visits Day 20

John Keener Tim Propp Outreach and Education 21 Vice-Chair, Operations Vice-Chair, Technical Calendar 22 Operations Technical Cranium Cruncher 23

Dr. John Valasek Dr. Al Jackson Odds and Ends 24 Dr. Rakesh Bhargava Dr. Zafar Taqvi Elizabeth Blome William West Upcoming Conference Presentations by Houston Section Members 26 Joy Conrad King Ellen Gillespie Daniel Nobles Dr. Michael Lembeck AIAA Local Section News 27 Nicole Smith Aaron Morris Dr. Douglas Schwaab Dr. Kamlesh Lulla Laura Slovey Padraig Moloney Michael Begley Bill Atwell Jon Berndt, Editor Andy Petro Steve King Gary Brown Gary Cowan Paul Nielsen Amy Efting

Councilors

Brett Anderson Elizabeth Blome Ellen Gillespie This newsletter is created by members of the Houston section. Opinions expressed herein other than Glenn Jenkinson by elected Houston section officers belong solely to the authors and do not necessarily represent the Barry Tobias position of AIAA or the Houston section. Unless explicitly stated, in no way are the comments of Dr. Merri Sanchez individual contributors to Horizons to be construed as necessarily the opinion or position of AIAA, Douglas Yazell NASA, its contractors, or any other organization. Please address all newsletter correspondence to Albert Meza the Editor:[email protected] Mike Oelke JR Reyna Cover: Screenshot of the open source Stellarium sky charting software in action.

More information at: www.aiaa-houston.org/orgchart

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From the Editor Open Source Software JON S. BERNDT Do the phrases “Open Source Soft- quality of a mature, widely-used complies with any of a myriad of ware” (OSS) and “free software” open source project.” Additionally, specifications, processes, and other bring to mind applications that are the support provided by the OSS bureaucratic bottlenecks can make perhaps put together somewhat developers was faster than that pro- OSS more costly to use than com- loosely – maybe applications that vided by the commercial vendors. mercial software. The article reads crash periodically? Or, does it sug- With mature OSS projects, the de- as if a lawyer wrote it. In fact, one of gest that an application is not com- velopers themselves are normally the three authors is the Associate mercially viable, so that it is merely available via email and supports lists, General Counsel for Intellectual given away? The views presented in and are typically very responsive. Property for a major aerospace cor- the previous two sentences (though poration. not so prevalent, anymore) are giv- NASA is not alone in government ing way to the reality of a growing awareness and acceptance of OSS. During the development of the number of OSS applications that are The U.S. DoD requires that OSS MER SAP, OSS was evaluated very good and widely used. complies with the same DoD poli- based on several criteria: cies that COTS software does. A NASA is one of the biggest users of MITRE Corporation study, “Use of - Maturity (How long has the OSS and has even written its own Free and Open-Source Software software been in development, OSS license (NOSA, the NASA (FOSS) in the U.S. Department of and how many releases have Open Source Agreement), while Defense”, concluded in 2003 that: there been?) open-sourcing a growing amount of - Longevity - How much longer software. According to the state- “… FOSS software plays a more will it last (How many developers ment at the Ames Open Source web critical role in the DoD than has are working on it, and when was page (see the Staying Informed col- generally been recognized. FOSS the last release?) umn for specific links) the motiva- applications are most important in - Flexibility (Use it the way it is tions for doing so are listed as: four broad areas: Infrastructure meant to be used. Is the develop- Support, Software Development, ment team open to suggestions?) · to increase NASA software qual- Security, and Research. One unex- ity via community peer review pected result was the degree to One does need to be careful in · to accelerate software develop- which Security depends on FOSS. evaluating the fitness of a particular ment via community contribu- Banning FOSS would remove cer- OSS project in addressing a need. tions tain types of infrastructure compo- As Jeff Norris wrote of their · to maximize the awareness and nents (e.g., OpenBSD) that currently “lessons learned”, “ … open source impact of NASA research help support network security. It components can accelerate develop- · to increase dissemination of would also limit DoD access to—and ment and cut costs, but the conse- NASA software in support of overall expertise in—the use of pow- quences of selecting the wrong com- NASA's education mission erful FOSS analysis and detection ponent can erase these benefits.” applications that hostile groups According to an article by Ann Bar- could use to help stage cyberattacks. The world of online cooperation is comb at O’Reilly’s ONLamp.com Finally, it would remove the demon- making a mark on the world in web site, OSS provided leverage to strated ability of FOSS applications many ways. In the current issue of the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) to be updated rapidly in response to Time magazine, the collaborative program through the use of several new types of cyberattack. Taken to- online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, is OSS products, conserving team gether, these factors imply that ban- hailed as an innovative example of resources. Despite initial concerns ning FOSS would have immediate, what a collection of individual con- by managers, it was decided that in broad, and strongly negative impacts tributions can accomplish when their case the risks were no more on the ability of many sensitive and coupled with the distribution stream hazardous than those posed by com- security-focused DoD groups to de- provided by the Internet. While mercial applications and, in fact, the fend against cyberattacks.” probably not changing the world, availability of the source code pro- OSS will continue to change the vided additional benefits. Jeff Norris Yet, one cannot be careless about software industry. With the appear- (NASA JPL) wrote on the extensive incorporating OSS in a mission criti- ance of new and innovative entre- use of OSS in the MER Science cal application. An AIAA paper preneurs in the commercial space Activity Planner software (SAP) in (“Open Source Software: Free Isn’t industry, one might even ask the the January/February 2004 issue of Exactly Cheap”) presented at the question: Hey, could something IEEE Software, (“Mission Critical Infotech@Aerospace Conference similar to the OSS paradigm be Development with Open Source last September cautioned that the applied to, say … a space program? Software: Lessons Learned”). He restrictions of the GPL, the cost of stated, “An in-house system devel- investigating the pedigree of the - JSB oped hastily will rarely approach the code, and verifying that the code

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Chair’s Corner STEVE KING, AIAA HOUSTON CHAIR In what almost seems as a term, which starts July 1st. doing right. flash, the first eight months These are positions were - Teamwork: There is no of my term as Chair has one can learn new and hone “I” in TEAM. flown by. The Houston Sec- their leadership skills. But - Selfless Service: Give tion has accomplished much more importantly they pro- back. since last summer ranging vide the lifeblood for the - Planning: Fail to plan, from thought provoking din- long-term success of our plan to fail. ner programs, well attended organization. We have made - Loyalty: Up, down, and lunch n’ learns, a Glider some strides in getting more across your organization. Workshop to assembling of the Section’s 1250 mem- - Perseverance: It’s not the bikes for needy children bers involved in our activi- size of the dog in the during the holidays. We ties; however, more should fight; it’s the size of the have a lot more in store for become active members, the fight in the dog. you in the coming months. kind that would be missed - Flexibility: The person Final plans are in place for and are not content with just with the most varied re- our Region IV Student Pa- having their name on a list. sponses wins. per Conference, which will We all have various de- be held at Texas A&M Uni- mands in our lives and it versity in April. Three din- can be quite a balancing act ner programs are on the at times. But consider why books with a wide variety of you are an AIAA member topics including restoration and what benefits result of JSC’s Saturn V, Space from it, and let me know if Shuttle Orbiter lessons you can take on an active learned, and flying the SR- part. Let’s continue the 71 Blackbird. We hope to journey… exceed last year’s 200 atten- dees at this May’s Annual FYI – I thought the follow- Technical Symposium. So ing concise list of leader- be on the lookout for its call ship principles was worth for abstracts and registra- sharing with you. It was tion details. This will all be taken from Kelly Perdew’s complemented by several TAKE COMMAND: 10 Young Professional outings, Leadership Principles I a fun filled Space Trivia Learned in the Military and night being planned, support Put to Work for Donald of Yuri’s Night, technical Trump. He was “The Ap- lunch n’ learns, AIAA’s prentice” winner in 2004: Congressional Visits Day in April, and so much more. - Integrity: Take the harder right over the easier None of this would be pos- wrong. sible without the energy and - Duty: Do what you’re time of Houston Section supposed to do, when volunteers. Most are mem- you’re supposed to do it. bers of our Executive Coun- - Passion: Be passionate cil and it is now that time of about what you do, or do year to start identifying what you’re passionate willing candidates to serve about. as Section Officers and - Impeccability: If it is Councilors for the next worth doing, it is worth

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A Survey of Selected Open Source and Freely Feature Available Software for Engineering and Science, Article and for Education, Home, and Work JON S. BERNDT, EDITOR What do the concepts of public and distributed under any of a [Note: Neither AIAA nor this au- domain, open source, and free number of licenses, including the thor necessarily endorses any of software bring to your mind? At GPL (Gnu General Public Li- these software products. They are one time, some years ago, many cense), which can all be read presented here for informational freely available applications had about at OpenSource.org. purposes only.] to be built from source code and debugged by the user. It was often What is public domain software? GNU/Linux Operating System an arduous and occasionally un- The most common definition this (GPL) successful effort. Things have writer has seen describes public changed quite a bit. Today, some domain software as “software that GNU/Linux is the well-known, formerly commercial products is freely distributed to anyone freely available operating system have been “open sourced”, some who wants to use, copy, or distrib- and application software, the ker- open source products are now also ute it.” Public Domain software is nel of the operating system having commercially marketed (“open also often described as having no grown from Linus Torvald’s col- source” and “commercial” are not copyright – though proper attribu- lege project, and the supporting incompatible ideas), and hundreds tion is required. Public domain operating system and other appli- or thousands of open source or software may sometimes be dis- cation software coming from the free software products have ap- tributed as an application only – GNU project. Today, Linux work- peared. The distribution methods the source code is not required to stations are replacing worksta- have also improved considerably. be distributed. tions from mainframe manufac- turers such as Silicon Graphics The selection of open source and In yet another kind of freely avail- because the performance of the free software titles now includes able software, the Free Software Linux machines is often as good many engineering and scientific Foundation (www.fsf.org) defines or better than the existing main- applications, as well as operating free software as embodying four frames, and the maintenance is systems and environments. There basic freedoms: much less expensive. also exist applications that are available freely – but without the · The freedom to run the pro- There are many distributions of source code – for personal, educa- gram, for any purpose. GNU/Linux (a distribution is a tional use. We will review some · The freedom to study how the collection of GNU software, and of the most interesting applica- program works, and adapt it to the Linux kernel, and additional tions in these categories. First, we your needs. Access to the software that aids in installation will discuss some definitions. source code is a precondition and maintenance). Perhaps the for this. most popular distribution of What is open source software? It · The freedom to redistribute GNU/Linux now is Fedora. From is a software application that is copies so you can help your the web site, distributed with its source code, neighbor. http://fedora.redhat.com/: which may be freely modified and · The freedom to improve the redistributed. One might ask what program, and release your im- “Fedora is a set of projects, spon- is appealing about open source provements to the public, so sored by Red Hat and guided by software – why open source? that the whole community bene- the Fedora Foundation. These fits. Access to the source code projects are developed by a large “When programmers can read, is a precondition for this. community of people who strive to redistribute, and modify the provide and maintain the very source code for a piece of soft- It may appear a bit confusing, best in free, open source software ware, the software evolves. Peo- with several interpretations of and standards. ple improve it, people adapt it, what constitutes free software. In people fix bugs. And this can hap- fact, there are quite a number of Fedora Core, the central Fedora pen at a speed that, if one is used “approved” licenses listed at project, is an operating system to the slow pace of conventional OpenSource.org. For specific in- and platform, based on Linux, software development, seems as- formation about each of the appli- that is always free for anyone to tonishing.” cations to be presented, it is best use, modify, and distribute, now - OpenSource.org to view the license for that appli- and forever.” cation. Open source software is available (Continued on page 6)

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(Continued from page 5) and Fortran 77 programming lan- nipulating polynomials, and inte- Fedora can be downloaded from guage compilers grating ordinary differential and the web site and burned to several doxygen: source code documenta- differential-algebraic equations. CDs. Most newer computers can tion generation application (www. It is easily extensible and custom- boot directly from the main CD. doxygen.org) izable via user-defined functions cvs: Concurrent Version System written in Octave's own language, XFree (GPL) code management application or using dynamically loaded mod- www.xfree.org ules written in C++, C, Fortran, Engineering and Science or other languages.” XFree is a freely redistributable Applications open-source implementation of SciLab / SciCos the X Window System. What’s it Gnuplot (GPL) www.scilab.org for? It’s the basic windowing sys- www.gnuplot.info www.scicos.org tem for Linux and other worksta- tions for local or remote applica- “Gnuplot is a portable command- “Scilab is a scientific software tions. XFree has been in develop- line driven interactive data and package for numerical computa- ment for many years and contin- function plotting utility for UNIX, tions providing a powerful open Gnuplot ues to be actively developed. IBM OS/2, MS Windows, DOS, computing environment for engi- XFree is a possible alternative to Macintosh, VMS, Atari and many neering and scientific applica- such commercial products as eX- other platforms. The software is tions. Developed since 1990 by ceed. For more information, see copyrighted but freely distributed researchers from INRIA and http://www.xfree.org. XFree is an (i.e., you don't have to pay for it). ENPC, it is now maintained and integral part of Linux, Mac OS X, It was originally intended as to developed by Scilab Consortium and it can be run on PCs, too. allow scientists and students to since its creation in May 2003. visualize mathematical functions Cygwin (GPL, public domain …) and data. It does this job pretty Distributed freely and open www.cygwin.com well, but has grown to support source via the Internet since 1994, many non-interactive uses, includ- Scilab is currently being used in Octave “Cygwin is a Linux-like environ- ing web scripting and integration educational and industrial envi- ment for Windows. It consists of as a plotting engine for third- ronments around the world. two parts: party applications like Octave. - A DLL (cygwin1.dll) that acts Gnuplot has been supported and Scilab includes hundreds of as a Linux API emulation layer under development since 1986. mathematical functions with the providing substantial Linux API possibility to add interactively functionality. Gnuplot supports many types of programs from various languages - A collection of tools, which pro- plots in either 2D and 3D. It can (C, Fortran...). It has sophisti- vide Linux look and feel.” draw using lines, points, boxes, cated data structures (including contours, vector fields, surfaces, lists, polynomials, rational func- One can install the packages di- and various associated text. It tions, linear systems...), an inter- rectly from the cygwin web site. also supports various specialized preter and a high level program- SciCos Once installed (and depending on plot types.” ming language.” the applications selected for installation) the user effectively has Octave (GPL) From the SciCos web site: a Linux-on-Windows workstation, www.octave.org including perl, C and C++ com- “Scicos is a graphical dynamical pilers, the X-Window System, etc. “GNU Octave is a high-level lan- system modeler and simulator guage, primarily intended for nu- toolbox included in the Scilab® While GNU/Linux, XFree, and merical computations. It provides engineering and scientific compu- Cygwin are not engineering or a convenient command line inter- tation software. With Scicos you science applications by them- face for solving linear and nonlin- can create block diagrams to selves, there are quite a few engi- ear problems numerically, and for model and simulate the dynamics neering, and science applications performing other numerical ex- of hybrid dynamical systems and (and common system and utility periments using a language that is compile your models into executa- applications) that usually come mostly compatible with Matlab. It ble code. Scicos is used for signal packaged with these distributions may also be used as a batch- processing, systems control, queu- that deserve individual mention. oriented language. ing systems, and to study physical The included or available-for- and biological systems. New ex- download applications also in- Octave has extensive tools for tensions allow generation of hard clude a plethora of software de- solving common numerical linear real-time control executables, as velopment tools: algebra problems, finding the well as component based model- roots of nonlinear equations, inte- ing of electrical and hydraulic gcc, g++, g77: The GNU C, C++, grating ordinary functions, ma- (Continued on page 7)

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(Continued from page 6) developed at MIT in the 1970's. It screenshot. The numbers can be circuits.” is quite reliable, and has good read on the screen, and written or garbage collection, and no mem- copied to a spreadsheet.” Open Scene Graph (GPL) ory leaks. It comes with hundreds www.openscenegraph.org of self tests.” FlightGear (GPL) www.flightgear.org “The OpenSceneGraph is an open IT++ (GPL) source high performance 3D itpp.sourceforge.net FlightGear is a platform inde- graphics toolkit, used by applica- pendent flight simulator. Flight- tion developers in fields such as “IT++ is a C++ library of mathe- Gear is actually an assemblage of visual simulation, games, virtual matical, signal processing, speech several open source projects, in- Image generated using Open Scene reality, scientific visualization and processing, and communications cluding plib (www.plib.org), the Graph. modeling. Written entirely in classes and functions. It is being platform-independent GUI Standard C++ and OpenGL it developed by researchers in these (Graphical User Interface) library, runs on all Windows platforms, areas and is widely used by re- and SimGear, the 3D simulation OSX, GNU/Linux, IRIX, Solaris searchers, both in the communi- utilities library. and FreeBSD operating systems.” cations industry and universities. The goal of the FlightGear project is to create a sophisticated flight simulator framework for use in research or academic environments, for the development and pursuit of other interesting flight simulation ideas, and as an end- user application. Some recent interesting projects include: Engauge Digitizer

• ATC Flight Simulators is building FAA certified training simulators that leverage Flight- Gear for the visual system, the instrument panel display and modeling, as well as much of the internal systems modeling. http://www.atcflightsim.com/ products/820/FS/ • An in-cockpit display based on FlightGear. The display draws all the restricted airspace boundaries in 3D, combined with FlightGear's 3D terrain to produce a compelling and intui- tive situational awareness aid. http://www.cobbin.com/ • The University of Minnesota is using FlightGear as a synthetic vision system for one of their Above: Maxima running in GNU Emacs in Imaxima mode UAV projects. The aircraft telemetry is sent to the ground station in real time where it is Maxima (GPL) Since 2004, IT++ is also being fed into FlightGear to produce maxima.sourceforge.net developed as a part of the Euro- a real time synthetic view of the pean Network of Excellence UAV and its environment. The “Maxima is a full symbolic com- (NEWCOM).” display can be drawn from the putation program. It is full fea- UAV's perspective, from a tured doing symbolic manipula- Engauge Digitizer (GPL) chase perspective, or a ground tion of polynomials, matrices, digitizer.sourceforge.net perspective. In addition, rational functions, integration, FlightGear can overlay live graphing, etc. It has a symbolic “Engauge converts an image file synthetic cockpit instruments, debugger source level debugger showing a graph or map, into draw restricted airspace for maxima code. Maxima is numbers. The image file can come based on the original Macsyma from a scanner, digital camera or (Continued on page 8)

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driven) and – having been perhaps currently used in many computer the first to use XML in specifying games, 3D authoring tools and an aircraft simulation model – simulation tools.” JSBSim was an early example and some inspiration for an emerging AIAA standard (see daveml.nasa. Educational and Productivity gov). JSBSim can be run as a batch Software mode, standalone, application or integrated into a larger package Stellarium (GPL) (such as with FlightGear and other www.stellarium.org simulators). Among the more interesting uses of JSBSim are: This sky chart application is – in a word: stunning. Stellarium is a • Teaching modeling and simula- planetarium on your PC, and is a tion concepts as part of the great tool for locating stars and Modeling and Simulation Fa- planets, constellations, and other miliarization Tool developed at celestial objects. the Air Force Research Labora- tory (Wright-Patterson AFB). Virtual Moon Atlas (GPL) • Providing flight modeling capa- astrosurf.com/avl/UK_index.html

FlightGear Concorde model. (Continued from page 7) bilities for a battlefield simulation framework developed by “Software for Lunar observation boundaries, and draw routes or the Man-System Interaction de- and survey. Lets you visualize the waypoints in the synthetic dis- partment at the Swedish De- real Moon aspect at any time. VMA play. See a movie of the live fence Research Agency. is also an aid in studying lunar camera view side by side with formations using a features data- • Serving as the flight model for a the live synthetic view: http:// base and picture library.” dynamic soaring study at Sandia www.flightgear.org/~curt/ Laboratories. Models/Special/ The Gimp (GPL) Rascal110_2/ • Serving as the flight model for www.gimp.org an Ares Mars Airplane educa- • Mathworks tional demonstrator (see www. has built a direct Gimp (Graphical Image Manipula- redcanyonsoftware.com). network interface tion Program) is a paint and photo- from their aero- • Serving as the 6DOF simulation retouching program along the lines space blockset to core in a real-time, flight- of Adobe Photoshop. FlightGear. This hardware-in-the-loop test plat- allows their cus- form that is used for flight hard- POV-Ray (GPL) tomers to use ware/software development, www.povray.org FlightGear as a integration, and testing in sup- real time visuali- port of several Unmanned Aerial POV-Ray (Persistence of Vision) is zation tool for System (UAS) programs. a ray tracing application that can be their Simulink • JSBSim has also been success- used to render photo-realistic im- models. Enough fully integrated with COTS and ages, accounting for material and big name cus- open source Control System lighting characteristics. Scenes are tomers have re- Computer Aided Design created algorithmically in a text quested this fea- (CSCAD) packages to support editor, or via a 3D editor such as ture that they flight control law development Blender. built the interface and analysis. directly into their Blender (GPL) product. http:// Open Dynamics Engine (LGPL) www.blender3D.org www. www.ode.org mathworks.com/ “Blender is the open source soft- “ODE is an open source, high per- ware for 3D modeling, animation, JSBSim (GPL) formance library for simulating rendering, post-production, inter- www.jsbsim.org rigid body dynamics. It is fully active creation and playback. It is featured, stable, mature and plat- available for all major operating JSBSim is an form independent with an easy to systems under the GNU General open source FDM (flight dynamics use C/C++ API. It has advanced Public License.” Above: “Rocket” ©2004 by Jochen model). It is the default FDM for joint types and integrated collision Diehl (Used with permission). Image FlightGear. With JSBSim, aircraft detection with friction. ODE is InkScape (GPL) created with POV-Ray software. models are specified completely in useful for simulating vehicles, ob- www.inkscape.org a file using a formal XML lan- jects in virtual reality environ- guage (i.e. the simulation is data ments and virtual creatures. It is (Continued on page 9)

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(Continued from page 8) STK software suite and it is free to ware ($295) “Inkscape is an Open Source vec- all qualified users. STK provides www.pdas.com tor graphics editor, with capabili- the analytical engine to calculate ties similar to Illustrator, Free- data and display multiple 2-D “For many years the hand, CorelDraw, or Xara X using maps to visualize various time- Air Force, Navy, the W3C standard Scalable Vector dependent information for satel- NASA and educa- Graphics (SVG) file format. Sup- lites and other space-related ob- tional institutions ported SVG features include jects such as launch vehicles, mis- have sponsored the shapes, paths, text, markers, siles, and aircraft. Basic applica- development of com- clones, alpha blending, transforms, tions include calculating and visu- puter software that is gradients, patterns, and grouping.” alizing a vehicle's position and useful to aeronauti- attitude, determining acquisition cal engineers, air- times, and analyzing the vehicle's plane designers, and Commercial, “Free” Software field of view.” aviation technicians. Public Domain Various companies offer Alibre Design Express Aeronautical Software was founded Above: Blender user interface “personal”, downloadable versions www.alibre.com to make this treasure house of of their software as a way to famil- valuable software available to the iarize individuals with their soft- “Alibre Design Xpress is a 3D aeronautical community at an eas- ware products, ostensibly hoping to solid modeler for creating me- ily affordable price for use on be remembered when it comes time chanical parts, assemblies, and 2D desktop computers. These pro- to buy software at work. Ulterior drawings. Alibre Design Xpress grams include complete public do- motives notwithstanding, such an equips the person needing basic main source code, descriptions, approach can be a great way for 3D design capabilities.” and sample cases (both input and individual users to learn new skills. output). All of the programs come Normally, the license for such free Autodesk Maya Personal Learning ready to execute under Windows commercial software development Edition and most of the programs have products does not allow the product http://www.alias.com/glb/eng/ Macintosh and Linux executables. to be used for creating commercial products-services/product_details. applications. Here is a selection of jsp?productId=1900003 some free, commercial products: “Maya Personal Learning Edition Microsoft Visual Studio Express gives 3D graphics and animation Editions students, industry professionals, and those interested in breaking http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/ into the world of computer graph- express ics (CG) an opportunity to explore all aspects of the award-winning Microsoft has “Express Editions” Maya Complete software in a non- of its software development prod- commercial capacity.” ucts available for download, including Visual Web Developer, Orbiter Space Flight Simulator SQL Server, Visual C++, Visual http://orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/ C#, Visual Basic, and Visual J#. orbit.html

Borland Software Development “ORBITER is a free flight simula- Products tor that goes beyond the confines www.borland.com of Earth's atmosphere. Launch the Space Shuttle from Kennedy Space Borland offers the Personal version Center to deploy a satellite, ren- All of this is available to you on the Above: screenshot from Orbiter of its C++BuilderX (http://www. dezvous with the International CD-ROM Public Domain Com- Space Flight Simulator. borland.com/downloads/ Space Station or take the futuristic puter Programs for the Aeronauti- download_cbuilderx.html) and the Delta-glider for a tour through the cal Engineer. The source code is Foundation version of its JBuilder solar system - the choice is yours. not copyrighted and may used in (http://www.borland.com/ But make no mistake - ORBITER is whole or in part in any of your downloads/download_jbuilder. not a space shooter. The emphasis aeronautical studies. Most were html) development tool free for is firmly on realism, and the learn- developed under NASA or DOD download. ing curve can be steep. Be pre- sponsorship, but some are contri- pared to invest some time and ef- butions from individual authors ATK Satellite Toolkit fort to brush up on your orbital and all have significant value www.atk.com mechanics background.” added by PDAS.”

“STK is the core product of the Public Domain Aeronautical Soft-

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Dinner Lecture ARES Mars Airplane Summary Report JON S. BERNDT, EDITOR On February 9, AIAA Distin- guished Lecturer Dr. Robert D. Braun of the Georgia Institute of Technology spoke about the Mars airplane concept, ARES (Aerial, Regional-scale Environmental Survey). Dr. Braun served as the Mission Architect in the development of the ARES Mars Scout project from 2001 to 2003. ARES was one of four projects vying for selection as the first Mars Scout mission, scheduled for launch in 2007. ARES was ultimately not selected for that opportunity— Phoenix won that honor. How- ever, there is another Mars Scout opportunity planned for 2011, and ARES will be a strong contender for that competition. lution measurement gaps of orbit remote sensing and surface ex- • Geologic diversity from re- We have all seen the pictures ploration gional-scale coverage that can- from Mars-orbiting platforms and • Scout for future sample return not be achieved by surface mis- from rovers. The appeal of a Mars and surface mission site selec- sions airplane is that it gives a perspec- tion • In-situ atmospheric science tive in between the land- and or- • Magnetic survey with spatial • Ability to traverse terrain inac- bit-based views. The benefits in- resolution two orders of magni- cessible to surface vehicles clude: tude higher than provided by • Ability to precisely target sci- Mars Global Surveyor, with ence features • Simultaneous, in-situ, regional- ability to resolve the crustal • Measurement of vertical sur- scale measurement of the Mars magnetism source structure face structure not visible from atmosphere, surface, and inte- • High-resolution measurements rior orbit that cannot be achieved from • Bridges critical scale and reso- The requirements that drove the aircraft design specified that the aircraft must be able to fly 500 km. (~300 miles) at an altitude less than 2 km., that it must fit inside a 2.65 meter (8.7 foot) di- ameter aeroshell, that it must maintain constant communication with the relay spacecraft, and that it must tolerate the launch and entry loads.

The choice of propulsion system was driven by a desire to meet the range requirement using as simple a system as possible. Any propel- ler used in the low density Mar- tian atmosphere would have to be huge. However, it would also have to fit inside the aeroshell, requiring it to be folded – increasing complexity. A rocket engine was ultimately selected as the only other viable option. A 62 N. (14 lb.) thrust Aerojet thruster was

AIAA Houston Horizons January / February 2006 Page 10 Page 11

(continued from page 10) • a nose mounted mass spec- been flown in a drop test from a selected. trometer balloon at an altitude with condi- • a nadir pointing context camera tions analogous to Mars. The de- The mission profile follows that ployment and flight sequence was • a nadir-oriented point spec- of previous Mars missions up to performed and it worked as ex- trometer the point just prior to Mars atmos- pected. A full-scale vehicle will pheric entry. Just after the carrier • a tail mounted video camera be test-flown later this fall. spacecraft and the aeroshell separate about 9 hours prior to entry, While acquiring the measurements the carrier spacecraft (based on using these instru- the Genesis spacecraft) adjusts its ments, the aircraft trajectory to miss the planet and would be com- place itself optimally to serve as manded to fly a the relay link between the ARES racetrack pattern. airplane and Earth. The aeroshell Maneuvers carrying the ARES airplane enters (turning, altitude the atmosphere, a parachute slows adjustments) its descent, the airplane is reeled would be made out below the backshell and re- gently in order to leased. A drogue is deployed that maintain a steady aids in deploying the tail boom, platform for the after which the wings unfold and science instru- lock into place. The wing is ments and to hinged such that aerodynamic maintain commu- forces help to unfold the wings. nications with the Springs also help to deploy the relay spacecraft. wings. Once that is done, the air- After flying for plane orients itself and proceeds 60-80 minutes, the to fly down to its cruise altitude. spacecraft would descend and im- The science payload consists of: pact the ground as gently as possible.

• 2 wing-tip mounted magne- A half-scale tometers ARES vehicle has

Above: ARES full-scale test article with development team. NASA Image

Left: ARES deploys from backshell.

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Student Mars Sample Return Mission Design at Texas A&M Report University PRERIT SHAH, SENIOR, AEROSPACE ENGINEERING, TEXAS A&M

During the fall of 2005, a group during this project. tor #4 as their winning contrac- of Texas A&M University tor, and recommended use of (TAMU) undergraduate students This project was conducted in their design concept as a starting participated in the Mars Sample three phases for the Space Sys- point for the MSR baseline de- Return (MSR) mission design tems Design class offered by Dr. sign. Prerit Shah, who is a stu- study supported by NASA JPL. Hyland at TAMU. During phase dent member for GN&C TC, The main objective of this study 1, all 21 students were introduced presented a summary of this was to design a mission architec- to spacecraft systems including baseline design at the AIAA ture for the MSR mission to be propulsion, power, thermal, Houston section Guidance, Navi-

Launch Arrival Earth Entry ERV Cruise (Type II) AerobrakingOrbit Rendezvous and Phasing Cruise

– 6 7 – 5 1 1 7 8 8 /1 5 / / /1 1 /1 0 1 0 0 9 / 8 5 3 / /2 /2 2 2 /1 1 / 9 – 9 9 / /1 1 / 1 /1 6 9 3 2 0 1 2 1 7 / 1 1 / 6 6 /1 3 0 /1 /1 9 /1 9 /8 2 3 /2 0 / 3 1 9 Landers Cruise Surface Operations (355 days) Continued Operations

Launch Arrival MAV Launch

Figure 1 Mission Timeline

launched by NASA in 2016. Dur- Guidance & Navigation, and tra- gation and Control technical ing the study, several different jectory design through a series of committee’s quarterly lunch options for each phase of the mis- lectures and assignments. In meeting on 2nd November 2005. sion were considered, and trade phase 2, four contractor teams During phase 3, project leader- studies were performed to deter- were formed and each team ship was elected and the whole mine the best mission architec- worked on the preliminary design team was reorganized into sub- ture for the mission. Some of the concept for the MSR mission. At system teams. Prerit was elected required areas of technology ad- the end of phase 2, all four con- Project Manager for this study. vancement were also identified tractor teams presented their pre- The mission design team was during this study. The students liminary design concepts at a supported throughout by project who participated in this project preliminary technical approach design laboratory Team X at JPL. were exposed to real life space review. The MSR review panel This mission design team visited mission design process used in consisted of several TAMU pro- JPL for a week in November aerospace industry, and utilized fessors and visiting JPL consult- 2005 and conducted several con- space mission design principles ants. The panel selected contrac- (Continued on page 13)

Figure 2 Mission Architecture

AIAA Houston Horizons January / February 2006 Page 12 Page 13

(continued from page 12) Atlas V rocket carrying a space- Landers, where the samples will current design sessions at Team craft destined for Mars. That be transferred to small launch X along with Team X experts. spacecraft would, in turn, carry vehicles called Mars Ascent Ve- an Earth Return Vehicle (ERV) hicles (MAV) that will lift them During this study, the entire mis- that will carry sample back to- to a low Mars orbit. In orbit, the sion architecture including mis- ward Earth. Another rocket, a MAVs will meet the second sion elements, launch vehicle, Delta IV Heavy, launched few Earth-launched spacecraft, the trajectory, orbit insertion meth- months later, would launch a Earth Return Vehicle, and trans- ods, entry and landing devices, Lander spacecraft to Mars. The fer the loads of soil, rock and rovers and science equipment Lander spacecraft will carry two atmosphere to this vehicle. Then were identified. Analysis was Landers, which will land on Mars the spacecraft will return to earth, also carried out for each subsys- using the parachute and powered carrying the samples. In-situ Re- tem such as power, propulsion descent technique. source Utilization Plant (ISRU) and thermal for each of the mis- carried on landers will produce sion elements. For every option, Once on Mars, the two Landers -- the fuel for these MAVs on the trade studies were performed on one landing on an ancient flood surface of Mars. the basis of performance, risk and site known as Eos Chasma and cost analysis. At the end of the the other in a large flat basin The MSR project was a wonder- semester, a final review was con- called Isidis Planitia -- would ful opportunity for the under- ducted by a review panel from release wheeled rovers carrying graduate students to participate in JPL and the panel provided some automated tools to collect sam- the real life mission design proc- positive feedback to the TAMU ples of soil, rock and atmosphere. ess and to learn about different mission design team. space missions. The students When the rovers have collected would like to thank Texas A&M As the student engineers envision their samples -- a total of 500 University and NASA JPL for it, the project would take off in grams (a little more than a providing them with this opportu- late 2015 with the launch of an pound) -- they will return to their nity.

Mars Society of Houston Hosts 4Frontiers CARL CARLSON, MARS SOCIETY EDITOR

Joseph E. Palaia, IV was the key- same place). a corporation at the end of the 5 note speaker at the recent Mars So- year plan). ciety of Houston Awards Banquet. 4Frontiers has a phased approach Mr. Palaia, is VP of Operations and to eventually getting humans to Mr. Palaia pointed out that, as a R&D for the 4Frontiers Corporation Mars. But raising the billions of non-governmental agency, they are www.4Frontiers.com, the for-profit dollars it will take to do that is free to seek product endorsement sister company to the not-for-profit something that they are only plan- deals which could be an important Mars Foundation www.MarsHome. ning for at this point. Initially, they revenue source. They don't plan to com. are focused on becoming a serious be in the transportation business at player in the emerging space com- any point, but would rely on private 4Frontiers derives its name from the merce industry, with the goal to contractors or NASA when the time four frontiers that are within our provide consulting services, de- came to send robotic payloads or, reach: Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars velop profitable technologies, and eventually, humans to Mars. Mr. and asteroids. The company was conduct public informative enter- Palaia stated, “After all, getting formed because their eventual goal tainment. The intent is that each of there is only half the challenge.” of a privately funded human mis- these will include revenue streams Most of the presentation was con- Joseph Palaia of 4Frontiers sion to Mars, for settlement pur- that will provide a near-term return sistent with the message of the Mars poses, could not be undertaken by a on investment. For example, re- Society -- not a surprise since sev- not-for-profit entity (more on that garding public informative enter- eral of the principals or advisors are goal later). tainment, 4Frontiers is presently former Mars Society members, siting a theme-park type attraction most notably Bruce MacKenzie and Mr. Palaia made it clear that all four that features a scale model of the Chris McKay. There was a heavy frontiers are worth visiting and set- first human settlement on Mars. emphasis on in-situ resource utiliza- tling, and hopes we settle them all, They are considering several loca- tion and settlement for the sake of but 4Frontiers is focused initially on tions, including desert areas, but settlement. What was different was Mars because it presents the lowest will likely select Central Florida a business plan that focused on barrier to self-sufficiency. This is becuase "that is where the people near-term profitability, private sec- because Mars possesses, in abun- are". For this initial phase 4Fron- tor initiatives and a stepping stone dance, numerous features and ele- tiers is looking for $24 million in approach. ments that cannot be found on the venture capital. (NOTE: $200M is other three, (at least not all in the what we anticipate being worth as

AIAA Houston Horizons January / February 2006 Page 13 Page 14

AIA (Aerospace Industries Association) Releases Year-End Aerospace Industry Statistics

The Aerospace Industries Association has released its annual industry statistics publications (see Staying Informed for the link).

In a word, the outlook presented is, “optimistic”: sales are up almost 10 percent, profits rose to a record level, and profit mar- gins rose as well, though not as much as in other industries. Their forecast is for continued growth.

Employment rose after sinking to a record low in the previous year. See www.aia- aerospace.org for more information.

(graphic courtesy of AIA) Staying Informed COMPILED BY THE EDITOR

This column points out useful web sites, documents, policy papers, periodicals, etc.

Open Source Software at NASA Ames Research Center http://opensource.arc.nasa.gov “Development with OSS Mission-Critical Development with Open Source Software: Lessons Learned [Open Source Software] is http://phk.freebsd.dk/pubs/ieee.software.pdf building momentum at the Use of Free and Open Source (FOSS) Software in the U.S. Department of Defense agency. This movement is a http://www.egovos.org/rawmedia_repository/588347ad_c97c_48b9_a63d_821cb0e8422d?/document.pdf natural outgrowth of one Developing an Open Source Option for NASA Software simple question: Why http://www.nas.nasa.gov/News/Techreports/2003/PDF/nas-03-009.pdf

should we spend taxpayer Open Channel Foundation dollars developing http://www.openchannelfoundation.org

something that already SourceForge Open Source Projects Web Site exists?—a question that http://www.sf.net

led NASA to embrace ARES Mars Airplane Project Web Site commercial off-the-shelf http://marsairplane.larc.nasa.gov

hardware as a viable Simulating the ARES Aircraft in the Mars Environment alternative to in-house http://techreports.larc.nasa.gov/ltrs/PDF/2003/aiaa/NASA-aiaa-2003-6579.pdf

hardware development The Mars Airplane: A Credible Science Platform many years ago.” http://www.ssdl.gatech.edu/Papers/Technical Papers/IEEE Paper ID1260 Final - from web site.pdf

Planetary Entry, Descent, and Landing (396 page seminar by Dr. Robert Braun) Jeff Norris http://pweb.ae.gatech.edu/people/rbraun/PlanetaryEDL.pdf (25 MB PDF) NASA JPL “Mission-Critical Development with NASA Learning Technologies Open Source Software: Lessons http://learn.arc.nasa.gov/ Learned” Aerospace Industries Association Year-End 2005 Industry Statistics http://www.aia-aerospace.org/stats/resources/res_space.cfm

AIAA Houston Horizons January / February 2006 Page 14 Page 15

New Members ELIZABETH BLOME, MEMBERSHIP The Houston Section has many Peter Fahrenthold Michael Lembeck Important notes: new members. If you see one of Raymond Funke Robert McCormick • these folks at the next section Iffat Gillani Walter Miller Not a member? See the end page. event, please welcome them: Karl Guillory Clark Moody Dawn Hill Alexander Nicki Marie Adams Ligia Illiescu Katherine Ogden Angela Braun Kristin John Dipanker Sahoo David Copeland David Kanipe Christopher Savoie Kevin Daugherty Anup Katake Chris Shaw Jeremy Davis Natasha Lagoudas Chandra Veer Singh Kyle DeMars Sunil Lakshmipathy Christopher Thompson

Looking for Lost Members ELIZABETH BLOME, MEMBERSHIP

We do not have current contact new information to elizabeth.c. Cory Logan information for the following [email protected]. Jeffrey Marshall members, which means that either Chuck Miller their email or mail addresses are Nick Baker Ozden Ochoa no longer valid. If you know Marshall Cloyd Alicia Rutledge where they are, please either ask Yuanyuan Ding Sean Welch them to update their information Justin Doyle Bryan Witt on www.aiaa.org or send their Kevin Dries Pamela Workings

Help AIAA Help You - Update Your Membership Records ELIZABETH BLOME, MEMBERSHIP

It is often said that the aerospace to move from one company to a few minutes and visit the industry is the only place where another as we try to expand our AIAA website at you can have the same job for five occupational horizons. http://www.aiaa.org/ to update years and work for five different With all of these potential changes your member information or call companies. That is especially true have you verified if your AIAA customer service at 1-800-NEW- given the industry wide consolida- member record is up to date? AIAA (639-2422). Feel free to tion that has happened in the last Knowing where our members are also contact me at 281-244-7121 few years. As companies have working is vital to the Houston or by email at changed so have the building Section in obtaining corporate [email protected]. signs and the business cards. Ad- support for local AIAA activities ditionally, our environment pro- (such as our monthly dinner meet- vides most people with the ability ing, workshops, etc.). Please take Membership Q & A

Q: How can I become a member are interested in participating on a a technical committee. Technical of one of the AIAA Standing Standing Committee, please com- Committee membership is gener- Committees? plete the online Standing Commit- ally for three consecutive one- tee Nomination Form found on year terms. Nominations open 1 A: You may nominate yourself or the Forms page at the AIAA web August and close 1 November, be nominated by another member site. although midyear placement on a for membership on an AIAA Technical Committee is possible. Standing Committee. You can Q: How do I become a member For more information or to ob- also nominate other members. A of an AIAA Technical Commit- tain a nomination form, go to the description of the scope and vol- tee? Technical Committee page at the unteer contact for each of AIAA's AIAA web site. Committees is located on the A: Any AIAA member is wel- Standing Committees page. If you come to apply for membership on

AIAA Houston Horizons January / February 2006 Page 15 Page 16

A Lunch Where Did That Equation Come From? and Learn ELLEN GILLESPIE AND DOUGLAS YAZELL, GN&C TECHNICAL COMMITTEE On February 2nd 2006, the Houston AIAA GN&C This web-based database grew into a USA-wide Summary Report Technical Committee was pleased to present a program. It was noted that web based methods of knowledge capture Lunch-and-Learn seminar by knowledge capture provide everyone in an or- John Goodman of United Space Alliance. Approxi- ganization with an easy to use method for obtain- mately 35 people not only enjoyed learning about ing information. effective techniques employed by the author to retain shuttle flight software and GPS knowledge Audience suggestions for knowledge capture so- base, but they also got to participate in a discus- lutions included resending technical presenta- sion of how knowledge capture techniques have tions to all who attended a meeting with the been used within their own organizations. agreed upon meeting decisions and why these decisions were made, capturing technical refer- Knowledge capture is important to ensure the ences (including equation numbers) in source health of astronauts and vehicles. Due to the com- code files, and strengthening technical training plexity of aerospace systems and the increasing material in each group by ensuring adequate length of aerospace Programs, it is important to team skill mix. ensure that the theory behind governing system equations and the rational behind Program deci- The JSC technical reports server is available on- sions are preserved for future engineers. As the line at: http://ston.jsc.nasa.gov/collections/TRS. space shuttle, ISS, and future Programs last 30 years or more, Program knowledge is preserved in sources such as: textbooks, journal articles, confer- μ T ence papers, presentations, technical reports, soft- Q = rr ware requirements, existing databases, and techni- 3 T cal training material. r vr REQ

Often knowledge capture and preservation is hap- hazard. Teams that have individuals that recognize So where did the above equation come from? It’s the importance of knowledge preservation and are Laning and Battin’s Q guidance equation. good at generating technical documentation for their areas tend to do better at preserving their The AIAA Houston Section's web site at www. team’s knowledge base. When the knowledge of a aiaa-houston.org will soon contain a document team is captured, the cost of training new engi- created by John Goodman which is related to his neers in that area is lower. Engineers that need to lunch-and-learn presentation: “Knowledge Cap- perform extensive research on how an existing ture and Management for Space Flight Systems”, system works waste valuable time and budget sift- NASA/CR 2005-213692. ing through source code, data, equations, and documentation, sometimes re-deriving the equa- Our AIAA Houston Section GN&C technical tions themselves. committee currently has seven professional members from seven different GN&C organizations Mr. Goodman presented knowledge capture and and two student members. Our charter and goals management as a cultural problem that requires a are presented on the web site at http://www.aiaa- grass roots solution. Since there will always be houston.org/tc/gnc/. We support our section's time, budget, and political constraints, he encour- Annual Technical Symposium, and our web page aged the audience to generate creative solutions at has a list of past lunch-and-learns, some of which the engineering level that may be performed with- contain links to the speaker's PowerPoint charts. out seeking additional budget. This includes im- (We are planning to add audio or video or both to proving and preserving technical reports and pres- some of these links.) Our next quarterly lunch entations, as well as creating specific knowledge meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 1, capture documentation. As examples, Mr. Good- 2006. We are always looking for new members. man discussed how he delivered the information If you are interested in joining our work, please he had collected on various topics as JSC docu- get in touch with any member using the contact ments on “Space Shuttle RNP Matrix Computa- information on our web page. tion”, “Improvement of Space Shuttle Time to Node Computation”, “Space Shuttle Lambert Guidance Improvement,” and “Space Shuttle GPS lessons Learned.” Additionally, Mr. Goodman discussed how the USA Engineering Knowledge Base (EKB) Initiative started at a low level at KSC.

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NanoMaterials for Space Exploration A Lunch DOUGLAS YAZELL, MEMBER, HOUSTON SECTION GN&C TECHNICAL COMMITTEE and Learn Mr. Moloney provided an overview of nanotechnol- the application of nanomaterials, in particular single ogy in building 16 at NASA/JSC (rooms 111 and wall carbon nanotubes. This research and develop- Summary Report 113) on Friday, February 10, 2006. The following ment effort brings together various NASA centers, paragraph’s brief summary and his biographical in- industry, government and academic collaborators. formation are taken from our publicity flier. Rather than trying to transcribe the video for this article, we encourage those interested to borrow, copy, or keep one of our DVDs containing the video and audio recording of this event. (AIAA membership is not required.) We have five copies and we can create more. The recording started a little late, and there are some video blackouts while the audio continues, but the essential information is there, especially when combined with this article. As soon possible, we plan to put the audio/video file on our web site, along with audio and video files from some past lunch-and-learns.

The NASA Johnson Space Center NanoMaterials In related news, an upcoming lunch-and-learn is ten- team centers its work on the growth, processing, tatively scheduled for March 24, 2006. The speaker characterization and application of nanomaterials for is Dr. Neva Ciftcioglu/NNBP, and the subject is the needs of human space exploration. Given the NanoMaterials for Biological Applications. The challenges presented by NASA’s space exploration sponsor for that event is the AIAA Houston Section initiative, which includes long duration human Life Sciences, Space Processes, and Human Factors spaceflight to the Moon and Mars, the development technical committee. of advanced materials has become paramount. Cur- rent technology in power & energy systems, air revi- Please consider join- talization, radiation protection and EMI shielding, to ing one of our AIAA name a few, will need improvement to meet these Houston Section missions. For many of these applications, materials technical committees. whose bulk properties are optimized on the nano- Details are listed at scale are necessary. This presentation will give an www.aiaa-houston. overview of the project’s current efforts and collabo- org. Typical charters rations, future direction, and highlight in detail some include providing a of our applications development in power & energy forum for the ex- storage and regenerable life support. change of ideas regarding the state of Bio: Pádraig Moloney was born in Dublin, Ireland. the art and the future He received his Bachelors of Science in aerospace of each discipline and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of stimulating educa- Technology (M.I.T.). His research at M.I.T. included tion, professional a leading role in the development of the first artillery development, and launched unmanned air vehicle (UAV) for Charles accomplishment by fostering communication and Stark Draper Laboratory, and a senior thesis on the providing resources. Typical goals include organiz- acoustic and propulsive effects of micro gas turbine ing lectures from government, industry, and univer- arrays for the M.I.T. Gas Turbine Laboratory. sities, and monitoring and contributing to the mirror Padraig received Masters of Science in Nanoscale committee on the national level. We also support the Physics from Rice University. Following work in the AIAA Houston Section Annual Technical Sympo- private sector on the development of web-based bill- sium, which takes place at the Gilruth Center this ing and financial algorithms, Pádraig joined NASA year on Friday, May 19, 2006. Our GN&C technical Johnson Space Center in 2001. His work with NASA committee is always looking for more members to began with the design of engineering product data join our current list of seven members from seven management systems with a concentration on engi- local GN&C organizations and two student mem- neering data cryptography and digital signature. bers. Our next quarterly lunch meeting will be May Since beginning his research with the NASA JSC 3, 2006. Contact information is on the web page and NanoMaterials team in 2003, Padraig has become can be provided by Douglas Yazell at 281-244-3925. responsible for the team’s efforts in applications research and development. This work concentrates on

AIAA Houston Horizons January / February 2006 Page 17 Page 18

USA POSITIONING ITSELF posal to NASA to demonstrate its key presenter at the 17th annual Local Industry FOR POST-SHUTTLE WORK capability to provide commercial Wall Street Analyst Forum in cargo transportation services to New York City on Thursday, News and United Space Alliance today an- and from the International Space March 2, 2006 at 9:00am Eastern Announcements nounced the formation of a new Station while providing space ac- Time. Constellation Program Office and cess to various customers world- the selection of industry veteran wide. To be held at the Princeton Club, Anne Martt as USA's Vice Presi- Mr. Kearney will provide a 40- dent and Constellation Program A team of internationally re- minute overview of SPACEHAB, Manager. Martt will be responsi- nowned aerospace veterans, one of the only ‘pure plays’ in ble for the management and exe- SPACEHAB, MacDonald Dett- space, and share the Company’s cution of all USA work in support wiler Associates (MDA) Systems, vision, growth strategy and near- of NASA's Constellation Pro- Inc. and Ball Aerospace & Tech- term business opportunities. Ana- gram, including the transition of nologies Corp., propose to jointly lysts and portfolio managers are work, assets and resources from develop and demonstrate a next invited to meet with Mr. Kearney; other programs such as the Space generation commercial space ser- Brian K. Harrington, SPACEHAB Shuttle and International Space vice, called Apex, in response to Chief Financial Officer; and Kim- Station programs. NASA’s Commercial Orbital berly Campbell, Vice President Transportation Service (COTS) Corporate Marketing and Com- "We fully expect USA to play an Demonstrations solicitation. This munications, as well as other lead- integral role in the Constellation service offers frequent, reliable ing members of the Aerospace Program from the early stages of and affordable access to space in and Defense sector. A formal system design and development support of NASA’s space station presentation will be followed by a through operations concept devel- needs but also opens the door to breakout session and one-on-one opment and implementation," said commercial access to space by meetings. USA President and Chief Execu- corporations, academic institutions tive Officer Mike McCulley. "We and government users around the Interested parties that would like are already performing some early globe. to follow SPACEHAB’s meeting work, and Anne is the right person can attend via webcast for thirty to ensure we efficiently maintain “Our Apex team provides a non- days following the event by ac- the highest possible quality and shuttle-based, end-to-end space cessing this link: http://www. reliability in our products and access service that is an extension investorcalendar.com/CEPage. services as we transition from of the customer-responsive asp?ID=100064. Since 1988 The Shuttle to Constellation." SPACEHAB service proven suc- Wall Street Analyst Forum has cessful over the previous decade organized 75 major analyst con- As Program Manager reporting on numerous space shuttle and ferences for NYSE, NASDAQ directly to McCulley, Martt will space station missions,” stated and AMEX companies with over be responsible for the overall Michael E. Kearney, SPACEHAB 2,500 public corporations present- management of the organization President and Chief Executive ing during this time. The event is including technical content, cost, Officer. “As a pioneer in the de- being held from February 27 - schedule and risk. She will serve velopment of the early stages of March 2, 2006. .” [Source: as the USA senior liaison to the the space commerce market, SPACEHAB] NASA Constellation Program SPACEHAB is ideally positioned Office headquartered at the John- to grow and expand the market via For more information see son Space Center, and to the Con- the COTS initiative and related www.spacehab.com. stellation Program elements that commercial services.” [Source: reside at Kennedy, Marshall and SPACEHAB] 97 AWARD FEE SCORE FOR NASA Headquarters. The ap- MSOC pointment is effective immedi- For more information see ately. [Source: United Space Alli- www.spacehab.com. On February 23, 2006 NASA an- ance] nounced that the Mission Support SPACEHAB CHIEF TO Operations Contract (MSOC) SPACEHAB SUBMITS PRO- SPEAK AT 2006 WALL team earned a 97 award fee score POSAL FOR NASA SPACE STREET ANALYST FORUM for the last six month evaluation. STATION LOGISTICS This is the fourth excellent Houston, Texas, February 27, evaluation score in a row having Houston, Texas, March 7, 2006 – 2006 – SPACEHAB, Incorporated previously received 93, 95 and 97. SPACEHAB, Incorporated (NASDAQ/NMS: SPAB), a lead- Under the contract the MSOC (NASDAQ/NMS: SPAB), a leading provider of commercial space team provides space operations ing provider of commercial space services, announced today that and data services support for services, announced today that the Michael E. Kearney, President and Space Shuttle missions and Inter- Company has submitted its pro- Chief Executive Officer, will be a (Continued on page 19)

AIAA Houston Horizons January / February 2006 Page 18 Page 19

(Continued from page 18) HOUSTON, Texas - February 15, Northrop Grumman opened its national Space Station expedi- 2006 - Program managers at Bay Area Houston office in De- tions. These services include mis- NASA's Johnson Space Center cember, appointing Michael Lem- sion operations and planning (JSC) will be able to meet face to beck, a former NASA official, to ground systems support for the face with Northrop Grumman's serve as the company's local di- Mission Control Center (MCC) at (NYSE: NOC) lead human space rector of operations. Located on JSC in Houston as well as ground exploration executives on a more Space Center Blvd, the office cur- systems services for JSC’s Emer- regular basis now that the com- rently supports approximately 25 gency Operations Center, the pany has moved its human space Northrop Grumman employees. Electronic System Test Labora- exploration headquarters to Bay The company expects local em- tory and Space Communications Area Houston, a two-minute drive ployment at Northrop Grumman, Integration. In addition MSOC from JSC. Boeing and the team's local sup- performs operations, maintenance, pliers to rise initially to more than and engineering for the Houston Art Stephenson, the former direc- 250 jobs if the Northrop Grum- MCC and Backup Control Center tor of NASA's Marshall Space man-Boeing team wins the CEV and Houston Support Room in Flight Center who was recently development contract. Moscow. Congratulations to Dan appointed to lead Northrop Grum- Brandenstein, MSOC Program man's new Space Exploration Sys- Stephenson's new assignment Manager, and the entire MSOC tems organization, has moved both brings him back to a community team for this incredible achieve- his office and his home to the Bay where he has lived and worked ment. [Source: LMSO] For more Area. Doug Young, program man- before. In 1992, he became vice information see ager for the Northrop Grumman- president of Oceaneering Space www.lockheedmartin.com Boeing team competing for Systems, located in Houston's NASA's new Crew Exploration Clear Lake area. In 1997, he was LMSO SUB ON FOSC WIN Vehicle (CEV), will be transition- promoted to president of ing to a permanent office in Hous- Oceaneering Technologies, over- Enterprise Advisory Services, Inc. ton this summer. seeing not only the company's (Easi), a Houston-based small Space Systems group in Houston business was notified by NASA Northrop Grumman's Space Ex- but also its underwater search and that it won the Facility Operations ploration Systems organization is recovery operations in Maryland. and Support Contract (FOSC) at part of the company's Integrated Stephenson remained in Houston the White Sands Test Facility in Systems sector based in El Se- until 1998 when he became the New Mexico. LMSO is a subcon- gundo, Calif. director of Marshall Space Flight tractor to Easi and will provide Center, Huntsville, Ala. [Source: support to the White Sands Space "It's important to me and Northrop Northrop Grumman Corporation] Harbor (WSSH) facility on the Grumman that our key space man- For more information see: White Sands Missile Range. The agement team is geographically www.ngc.com period of Performance is May 1, close and therefore available to 2006 through April 30, 2011. meet with NASA's Constellation SPACEHAB REPORTS FI- FOSC support will include main- Program office and other human NANCIAL RESULTS FOR tenance and operation of facility spaceflight organizations on very SECOND QUARTER FISCAL systems such as water and sewer, short notice," said Stephenson. YEAR 2006 electrical distribution, buildings, "Nothing says 'partnership' better roads and grounds, environmental than being there when your cus- Houston, Texas, February 7, remediation and compliance, op- tomers need to discuss critical pro- 2006 – SPACEHAB, Incorporated eration of heavy equipment, lift- gram issues." (NASDAQ/NMS: SPAB), a leading devices and equipment, draft- ing provider of commercial space ing, documentation, technical li- The Northrop Grumman-led CEV services, today announced finan- brary and configuration manage- team includes Houston-based Boe- cial results for the second quarter ment, emergency services, and ing NASA Systems as its principal ended December 31, 2005 of its emergency notification paging/ subcontractor. The two companies fiscal year 2006. radio systems. Congratulations to have been working together since the LMSO proposal team for this mid 2004 to help NASA design, Second Quarter Results important win. [Source: LMSO] develop and produce the CEV, a SPACEHAB posted a second For more information see successor to the Space Shuttle that quarter fiscal 2006 net loss of $8.9 www.lockheedmartin.com will allow humans to travel to the million, or $0.70 per share, on International Space Station, the revenue of $11.8 million com- NORTHROP GRUMMAN moon and beyond in coming dec- pared with second quarter fiscal MOVES HUMAN SPACE EX- ades. NASA expects to award the year 2005 net loss of $1.2 million, PLORATION HQ TO HOUS- CEV prime contract in the third or $0.10 per share, on revenue of TON quarter of 2006. $13.1 million. (Continued on page 20)

AIAA Houston Horizons January / February 2006 Page 19 Page 20

Public 2006 Congressional Visits Day Policy NICOLE SMITH, PUBLIC POLICY Raise the Image of Aerospace for science, engineering, and technology bring to America. in Washington! technology. “Team captains” coordinate the event for their The 2006 CVD is scheduled for You’re invited! Every year, state’s delegation, which is open 4-5 April 2006 in Washington, AIAA members come to Wash- to all who believe that science D.C. Anyone who is interested in ington, D.C. to take part in our and engineering are the corner- attending this year as part of the annual Congressional Visits Day stones of our Nation's future. The Houston Section contingency, (CVD). Here, you’ll meet with Day consists of a series of brief- please contact Nicole Smith at national decision-makers to dis- ings and meetings with “your” [email protected]. cuss critical industry issues in Congressional representatives. civil aeronautics, civil astronaut- What’s our goal? Through face- For more information about ics, and defense. to-face meetings with Members AIAA Public Policy (including of Congress, congressional staff, CVD and our Legislative Action Congressional Visits Day (CVD) key Administration officials, and Center), please visit: brings scientists, engineers, re- other decision-makers, Congres- searchers, educators, and technol- sional Visits Day raises their www.AIAA.org/PublicPolicy ogy executives to Washington to awareness of the long-term value raise the visibility of and support that science, engineering and

Local Industry news (cont’d.) (Continued from page 19) and 118 shuttle missions as is the COMMERCIAL ORBITAL cargo carrier. Second quarter re- TRANSPORTATION SER- The quarter loss includes a non- sults also include a non-cash VICES (COTS) DEMON- cash charge of $6.3 million as the charge of $0.6 million of deferred STRATION PROPOSALS Company wrote down the book financing cost relative to the note SUBMITTED BY LOCAL value of one of its two pressur- exchange transaction completed in COMPANIES ized space shuttle modules and November. changed the depreciable life of its Triton Systems of the Clear Lake remaining space shuttle assets to “As NASA and the aerospace Area has submitted a response align with NASA’s current community implement the na- (partnering with several other launch manifest that anticipates tion’s Vision for Space Explora- organizations) to the NASA retiring the space shuttle fleet at tion, we will be transitioning our COTS Request for Proposals the end of 2010. “With a limited existing programs away from (RFP). Triton Systems is known number of shuttle flights remain- shuttle operations, subsequently for its Stellar-J reusable launch ing, we anticipate that the most retiring certain space assets, and vehicle design. efficient use of our flight assets to developing new capabilities and support NASA’s objectives is the hardware that support next- Also, Advent Launch Services of combined use of our pressurized generation services,” stated Mi- Houston, Texas, has submitted a module flown in conjunction with chael E. Kearney, SPACEHAB response to the NASA COTS our cargo carrying pallet in sup- President and Chief Executive Request for Proposals (RFP). port of International Space Sta- Officer. “As with most compa- Advent is is fielding a sea- tion assembly and operations,” nies, requirements change, tech- launched, stackable, vehicle de- stated Brian K. Harrington, nology improves, and the need to sign. Regarding their submission SPACEHAB Chief Financial develop new and improved assets to the COTS RFP, Advent Presi- Officer. “This approach opti- is imperative for market leader- dent Jim Akkerman said: "Thank mizes the amount of equipment ship.”[Source: SPACEHAB] goodness NASA does know how and provisions shipped to the to do business the commercial space station. Since this more For more information see way". favorable method uses our single www.spacehab.com. module, Flight Unit 2, we have For articles on both Triton Sys- reduced the book value of our aft tem and Advent Launch Services module, Flight Unit 3, which in concepts, see the September/ the past provided a larger, double October 2005 issue of Horizons module capability when needed,” at www.aiaa-houston.org/ concluded Harrington. SPACE- newsletter/sep05/sep05.pdf. HAB’s single module is under contract for use on the STS-116

AIAA Houston Horizons January / February 2006 Page 20 Page 21

Ask-An-Engineer Program Volunteers Sought Outreach and

Ask-An-Engineer is a program of the Precollege Outreach Committee. We get many questions from stu- Education dents and the general public about engineering questions and the field of aerospace engineering. The questions are usually not difficult, but we need people to answer them. If you are interested in fielding these questions, please contact Lisa Bacon at [email protected]. Family Science Festival Volunteers Sought JOY CONRAD KING, PRE-COLLEGE CHAIR

Volunteers Needed for Science Every year it is space-based, and the Pre-College committee has Festival March 25th this year they are celebrating other activities that you could "Earth in Space". They will have bring. If you are interested in The Redd School in North Hous- a basketball court full of activities helping out, then please contact ton will be having a Family Sci- that families can enjoy. Volun- Joy Conrad King at ence Festival on Saturday March teers are needed to staff an AIAA [email protected] or 25 from noon-4pm. It is a free booth to demo aerospace activi- (281) 282-2621. event open to the public, and they ties. If anyone has a wind tunnel, usually have over 500 attend. they're welcome to bring it. If not, U.S. National Science Foundation Releases 2006 Science & Engineering Indicators The U.S. National Science Foun- prospects for the U.S. S&E work- Many more publications can be dation (NSF) has released its force are for slower growth, ris- found at the NSF Division of 2006 Science and Engineering ing retirements, and increasing Science Resources Stistics web indicators. One of the findings of average age.” For more informa- page at http://www.nsf.gov/ the just-released publication — in tion see: statistics/. a very small nutshell, is: “In sum, www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind06/

AIAA Houston Horizons January / February 2006 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

March 21-22 NASA Project Management Challenge 2006 (Galveston) 23 Lunch n' Learn: "Finite State Dynamic Modeling and Uncertainty Meth- odologies Related to Orbiter Re-entry Survivability and Safe Haven Concerns" by Dr. Allan Benjamin/ARES (JSC Bldg 16 Rm 253/259) 24 Lunch n' Learn: "Nanobacteria - The Discovery of a New Life Form" by Dr. Neva Ciftcioglu of Nanobac Life Sciences (JSC Bldg 16 Rm 111/113)

April 3 Executive Council Meeting (ARES Corp.) 4-5 AIAA's Congessional Visits Day (Washington DC) 5 Dinner Meeting: "Space Shuttle Orbiter Lessons Learned" presented by Bo Bejmuk/Boeing (Gilruth) 12 Yuri's Night - World Space Party 27-29 Region IV Student Paper Conference (Texas A&M University, College Station) 29-30 "Spirit of Flight" Airshow (Lone Star Flight Museum, Galveston) TBD Texas A&M University Student Branch Banquet (College Station)

May 1 Executive Council Meeting (ARES Corp.) 2-3 Physics Day Challenge (Space Center Houston) 5 “Space Day” Event 19 Annual Technical Symposium (Gilruth) 20 Career & Professional Development Workshop (Gilruth) TBD “Space Trivia Night” (Gilruth) TBD AIAA Aerospace Historical Site Dedication at JSC TBD Mixer with the Mars Society - Houston Chapter

June 5 Executive Council Meeting (ARES Corp.) 22 Annual Honors & Awards Banquet: "SR-71 Blackbird – An Engineering Marvel" by Col. R. Graham/USAF Retired & AIAA Distinguished Lec- turer (Gilruth)

Contact [email protected] or [email protected] for further details.

AIAA Houston Horizons January / February 2006 Page 22 Page 23

Cranium Cruncher BILL MILLER, SENIOR MEMBER

Last month’s lunar sample problem was from Nick Hobson's web site “Nick's Mathematical Puzzles,” at http://www.qbyte.org/puzzles/puzzle04.html. It is problem #37:

Five spherical lunar samples of decreasing size are placed into a conical funnel. r1 The investigator notices that each sample is in contact with the adjacent samples as well as with the wall of the funnel (all the way around the sample). The largest sample has a radius r1 of 18 millimeters, and the smallest has a radius r2 of 8 millimeters. What is the radius of the central sample?

This was a tough one but some of you persisted and got it. Correct solutions were received from the following:

Darrin Leleux Wendell Mendell Douglas Yazell Frank Baiamonte Mark Matney

A solution is given on the web page, but Mr. Matney's solution is so elegant I thought I would quote it here in full:

“Each successive grain is a fixed ratio larger than the next smaller grain, because the problem looks the same at all size scales.

Therefore, if the 5th one is 18 / 8 = 2.25 times larger than the first, then each one r2 is (2.25)0.25 times larger than the previous one, and the 3rd one is (2.25)0.5 = 1.5 times larger than the first, or 8 * 1.5 = 12 mm.”

Thanks to all who participated.

Here’s this month’s puzzle, in honor of spring break:

The center of gravity of a full can of beer is at the centroid of the can. This is also true of an empty can. Therefore, as the level of the beer decreases, there must be a point at which the decreasing center of gravity is at a lowest point. As the beer level further decreases, the center of gravity must rise again. The problem is to find the level of the beer at which the lowest center of gravity occurs, given the following:

1) The can is a perfect cylinder. 2) Any asymmetry introduced by opening the can can be neglected. 3) The empty can weighs 44 grams. 4) The can holds 340 grams of beer. 5) The can is 20 centimeters high. 6) The metal's thickness can be assumed to be negligible.

Pop a cold one and work on it. Extra credit if you don't use calculus.

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

AIAA Houston Horizons January / February 2006 Page 23 Page 24

Odds and Ends SPECIAL EVENTS, PICTORIALS, ETC.

The ESAS (Exploration Systems Architec- J-2 J-2S ture Study) Report, released some months Engine Baseline Baseline Performance Options ago, originally called for a CLV (Crew Launch Vehicle) consisting of a four- Nozzle Replacement Uprated segment SRB (Solid Rocket Booster) and an SSME (Space Shuttle Main Engine) upper Expansion Ratio 27.5:1 40:1 80:1 105:1 40:1 80:1 105:1 stage engine. A re-evaluation has lead NASA to alter the CLV design to use a five- Vacuum Thrust (lbs) 230,000 265,000 272,500 275,000 320,000 327,500 330,000 segment SRB and an upgraded version of Vacuum Is (sec) 425 436 448 453 435 447 451 the Apollo-era J-2 engine that powered the upper stage of the Saturn vehicles, placing Weight (lbs) 3,454 3,800 3,755 3,855 4,120 4,040 4,200 the Apollo Command Module into orbit. Length from Gimbal Plane 116 (in) 116 172 196 116 172 196 (in) The J-2S (“S” refers to “simplified”) was Exit Diam (in.) 80 80 112 128 80 112 128 developed following the initial J-2 development effort, as NASA retained the J-2 development force for support during Apollo operations. The J-2X is the nomenclature used to refer to the new J-2 variant that would be produced for CLV. The J-2X appears to cor- respond to the shaded column in the table (top right).

The J-2 is notable in many ways. The original contract made with Rocketdyne in Sep- tember 1960 “included an especially notable feature. For the first time, a high-energy, high-thrust rocket engine contract specified a design to ‘insure maximum safety for manned flight.’” [“Stages to Saturn” http:// history.nasa.gov/SP-4206/ch5.htm#151] The ESAS report lists the probability of LOM (Loss of Mission) and LOC (Loss of Crew) at 1:433 and 1:1918, respec- tively—only slightly less than that of a four-segment SRB and SSME upper stage.

It was estimated in a 1993 study that “the J-2S could be brought to a production-ready status in a relatively timely and economic manner. … The first production engines would be available for delivery 4 years after authority to proceed.” [AIAA 93-2129, “J- 2S Rocket Engine”, 29th Joint Propulsion Confernce and Exhibit]

The diagram of the original J-2 at right is taken from a great reference available online, “Skylab Saturn 1B Flight Manual” http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi. ntrs.nasa. gov/19740021163_1974021163.pdf.

AIAA Houston Horizons January / February 2006 Page 24 Page 25

AIAA Houston Horizons January / February 2006 Page 25 Page 26

Upcoming Conference Presentations by Houston Section Members COMPILED BY THE EDITOR FROM AIAA AGENDAS

Information here is taken from preliminary AIAA conference agendas. As such, it is subject to change. 36th AIAA Fluid Dynamics Conference and Exhibit Riser Applications 24th Applied Aerodynamics Conference C. Silva, D. Kim, S. Abdel-Fattah and E. Marotta, Texas A&M Univer- 25th AIAA Aerodynamic Measurement Technology and Ground sity, College Station, TX Testing Conference 37th AIAA Plasmadynamics and Lasers Conference Thermal Modeling and Testing of an Avionics Board for a Small Free- 3rd AIAA Flow Control Conference Flying Satellite 9th AIAA/ASME Joint Thermophysics and Heat Transfer Con- S. Miller, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX; and E. Marotta, ference Texas A&M University, Collge Station, TX 5 - 8 Jun 2006 Hyatt Regency San Francisco at Embarcadero Center Influence of Injection Slot Width and Stepped Flow on Platform Heat San Francisco, California Transfer L. Wright, Z. Gao and J. Han, Texas A&M University, College Station, Orbiter Return- to- Flight Entry Aeroheating TX C. Campbell, G. Bourland and S. Bouslog, NASA Johnson Space Cen- ter, Houston, TX; T. Horvath, S. Berry and P. Gnoffo, NASA Langley Film- Cooling Effectiveness Distribution on a Gas Turbine Blade with Research Center, Hampton, VA Showerhead and Spanwise Row Coolant Injection S. Mhetras and J. Han, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX Overview of Boundary Layer Transition Research in Support of Orbiter Return to Flight Effect of Inlet Flow Incidence and a Cut- Back Squealer on Film- Cool- S. Berry, T. Horvath, and F. Greene, NASA Langley Research Center, ing Effectiveness for an E3 Gas Turbine Blade Tip Profile Hampton, VA; G. Kinder, The Boeing Company, Huntington Beach, CA; S. Mhetras and J. Han, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX and K. Wang, The Boeing Company, Houston, TX In- Plane Thermal Conductivity in Thin Carbon Fiber Composites Review of Orbiter Flight Boundary Layer Transition Data C. Silva, S. Coughlin, E. Marotta, and M. Schuller, Texas A&M, College C. McGinley and S. Berry, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Station, TX; and M. O'Neill, ENTECH, Inc., Keller, TX VA; G. Kinder, The Boeing Company, Huntington Beach, CA; M. Barn- well and K. Wang, The Boeing Company, Houston, TX Internal Energy Based Turbulence Models for Compressible Gaseous Flow Boundary Layer Transition Results from STS- 114 R. Bowersox and R. Srinivasan, Texas A&M University, College Station, S. Berry, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA; A. Cassady TX and B. Kirk, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX; K. Wang and A. Hyatt, The Boeing Company, Houston, TX Unsteady Heat Transfer and Flow over a Bank of Flat Tubes M. Ijaz and N. Anand, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX Entropy Generation and Lifespan in the Human Body - Estimation by Means of Energy Requirements Optimization of Heatsink Performance in Microelectronics Through C. Silva and K. Annamalai, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX Dimpled Surfaces: Geometry and Array C. Silva, E. Marotta, and L. Fletcher, Texas A&M, College Station, TX Characterization of Wire Mesh Insulation for Deep Water Sea Pipe and

Annual Technical Symposium Approaching: CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

The Annual Technical Symposium is approaching. Abstracts are being · Submitted abstracts may be updated using the tracking number and called for, due by MAY 1. Topics of interest this year are: password. · Abstracts will be published. No paper is required. Publication of the Shuttle Retirement technical presentation on the AIAA Houston website is optional. Sustaining ISS Beyond 2010 · Export compliance for abstracts and presentations is the responsibility Space Operations of the authors. Robotics Missions · ATS registration is a separate process from the abstract submittal proc- Aerospace Technology ess. CEV & CLV · Authors will be notified via e-mail of abstract acceptance on May 8, Moon, Mars, & Beyond 2006 (Monday). Commercial Crew/Cargo Transportation Registration can be done online at www.aiaa-houston.org/ats2006 · Abstracts should be 250 words or less. Contact Tim Propp for details: [email protected] · Note the tracking number and password supplied when an abstract has been submitted.

AIAA Houston Horizons January / February 2006 Page 26 Page 27

AIAA Local Section News

Assistant Newsletter Editor Sought two-year term.

An assistant newsletter editor is being sought. Interested parties should The 2006-2007 term runs from 07/01/06 through 06/30/07. All nomi- contact the newsletter editor at [email protected]. nees must be members of the Houston Section and in good standing with AIAA. As a volunteer organization, the Section is very much de- AIAA Career Center Launched pendent upon the willingness of members to give of their time and energy, and in agreeing to serve in leadership roles. All interested parties AIAA is pleased to provide members with a new Career Center – the should contact Steve King, Section Chair, at 281-283-4283 or most comprehensive career and recruiting site for the aerospace indus- [email protected] by Wednesday, March 29, 2006 at 4:00 pm. try. The Career Center will offer extensive resume and position data- After this date, additional nominations may be made by petition through bases, powerful and user-friendly searching capabilities, which allow Thursday, April 13, 2006. Contact Dr. Syri Koelfgen, Section Secretary, you to find the job or candidate you’re looking for! at 281-244-2407 or [email protected] for petitioning details. Thanks for your support! Employers · Post your job to the largest exclusive audience of aerospace industry AIAA Foundation Award to Dr. L. S. Fletcher, Texas A&M professionals. · Online management of job postings, including activity reports. Dr. L. S. Fletcher, Texas A&M, has been selected to receive the 2006 · Access to a searchable resume database. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Foundation · Competitive job posting pricing. Award for Excellence. This special honor was established in 1998 by the AIAA Foundation Board of Trustees to recognize unique contribu- Job Seekers tions and extraordinary accomplishments by organizations or individu- · AIAA Career Center is dedicated exclusively to the Aerospace Indus- als promoting aerospace. try and it’s free. · Receive automatic notification of new jobs matching your criteria. Past recipients of the AIAA Foundation Award include: Alan Mulally, · Post your resume – confidentially, if preferred – so employers can ac- Gen. John Shalikashvili, John Travolta, General Tommy Franks, Daniel tively search for you Goldin, Norman Augustine, The Honorable John Glenn, and the Na- tional Reconnaissance Office. AIAA cares about your career development. Lifelong learning is a pre- requisite to any successful career - and AIAA is committed to providing Dr. Fletcher will be invited to attend AIAA’s Aerospace Spotlight resources to help our members grow. Visit http://careercenter.aiaa.org Awards Gala on 25 April 2006, at the Renaissance Washington Hotel, and start using the AIAA Career Center to make YOUR career connec- Washington D.C. as honored guests of AIAA. tions. AIAA Thermophysics Award to JSC’s Dr. Carl Scott Ask-An-Engineer Program Volunteers Sought Dr. Carl Scott, NASA Johnson Space Center, has been selected to re- Ask-An-Engineer is a program of the Precollege Outreach Committee. ceive the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Thermo- We get many questions from students and the general public about engi- physics Award for 2006. neering questions and the field of aerospace engineering. The questions are usually not difficult, but we need people to answer them. If you are The award is presented for an outstanding singular or sustained techni- interested in fielding these questions, please contact Lisa Bacon at cal or scientific contribution by an individual in thermophysics, specifi- [email protected]. cally as related to the study and application of the properties and mechanisms involved in thermal energy transfer and the study of environ- Call for Section Officer & Councilor Candidates mental effects on such properties and mechanisms.

The Houston Section is seeking qualified candidates for election to fill The citation for the award reads: “For pioneering in the investigation, expiring Section Officer and Councilor positions. Available officer posi- understanding, and education of the effects of surface chemistry on the tions for the 2006-2007 term include: aerothermodynamic heating of re-entering spacecraft at hypersonic ve- locities.” The award consists of an engraved bronze medal, a certificate • Chair - Elect of citation, and a rosette pin. • Vice Chair - Operations Dr. Scott will be invited to receive the award at the 6 June 2006 Awards • Vice Chair – Technical Luncheon held in conjunction with the AIAA Plasmadynamics and La- • Treasurer sers Conference, 5-8 June 2006, at the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero • Secretary. Center, San Francisco, California.

In addition seven of ten Councilor positions will need to be filled. Com- plete position descriptions can be found at www.aiaa-houston.org/pd, and as defined in the Section's Bylaws at http://www.aiaa-houston.org/ bylaws. Officers serve a one-year term and elected Councilors serve a

AIAA Houston Horizons January / February 2006 Page 27 Non-Profit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID Houston Section PERMIT NO. 1 P.O. Box 57524 Webster , Texas Webster, TX 77598

AIAA Mission

Advance the arts, sciences, and technology of aerospace, and nurture and promote the professionalism of those engaged in these pursuits. AIAA seeks to meet the professional needs and interests of its members, as well as to improve the public understanding of the profession and its contributions.

Become a Member of AIAA

Are you interested in becoming a member of AIAA, or renewing your membership? You can fill out your membership application online at the AIAA national web site:

www.aiaa.org

Select the AIAA membership option.

AIAA Houston Horizons January / February 2006 Page 28