December 2015 2015 NASA mosaic of #PlutoTime photos A PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF AERONAUTICS AND ASTRONAUTICS At this time of year, we count our blessings and give back to the people and organizations that have helped us grow in our profession. Please join the AIAA Foundation Board of Trustees and many AIAA members who have already donated to the AIAA Foundation. Your support is critical to our work of offering educational programs, conferences, scholarships and design competitions. Share your legacy and support and inspire tomorrow’s aerospace leaders by giving to the AIAA Foundation. www.aiaafoundation.org #AdvancingAerospace AIAA strongly believes in the importance of our educational programs and will match individual and corporate donations up to $1 million dollars (of unrestricted funds). The AIAA Foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization recognized under section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code. All donations are tax deductible. December 2015 EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK 2 OUT OF THE PAST 72 CAREER OPPORTUNITIES 74 THE YEAR IN REVIEW The most important developments as described by AIAA’s Technical and Program Committees Adaptive Structures 6 Microgravity and Space Processes 61 Aeroacoustics 14 Missile Systems 62 Aerodynamic Decelerator Systems 26 Multidisciplinary Design Optimization 7 Aerodynamic Measurement Technology 15 Non-Deterministic Approaches 8 Aerospace Power Systems 50 Nuclear and Future Flight Propulsion 56 Aircraft Design 27 Plasmadynamics and Lasers 23 Aircraft Operations 28 Pressure Gain Combustion 46 Applied Aerodynamics 16 Product Support 32 Astrodynamics 17 Propellants and Combustion 57 Atmospheric and Space Environments 18 Reusable Launch Vehicles 47 Atmospheric Flight Mechanics 19 Sensor Systems 42 Balloon Systems 29 Society and Aerospace Technology 36 Communications Systems 38 Software 43 Computer Systems 39 Solid Rockets 58 Digital Avionics 40 Space Architecture 63 Economics 34 Space Automation and Robotics 64 Electric Propulsion 51 Space Colonization 65 Flight Testing 30 Spacecraft Structures 9 Fluid Dynamics 20 Space Environmental Systems 48 Gas Turbine Engines 52 Space Exploration 49 Green Engineering 44 Space Operations and Support 66 Guidance, Navigation, and Control 21 Space Systems 67 High-Speed Air Breathing Propulsion 53 Space Tethers 68 Hybrid Rockets 54 Space Transportation 69 HyTASP 45 Structural Dynamics 10 Intelligent Systems 41 Structures 11 Legal Aspects 35 Survivability 12 Life Sciences and Systems 60 Systems Engineering 37 Lighter-Than-Air Systems 31 Terrestrial Energy Systems 59 Liquid Propulsion 55 Thermophysics 24 Meshing, Visualization V/STOL 33 and Computational Environments 22 BULLETIN AIAA Meeting Schedule B2 AIAA News B5 AIAA Courses and Training Program B15 ON THE COVER The red box in the center of this NASA mosaic marks a photo of Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered Pluto in 1930. Aerospace America (ISSN 0740-722X) is published monthly by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. at 12700 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, Va. 20191-5807 [703/264-7500]. Subscription rate is 50% of dues for AIAA members (and is not deductible therefrom). Non-member subscription price: U.S., $200; foreign, $220. Single copies $20 each. Postmaster: Send address changes and subscription orders to address above, attention AIAA Customer Service, 703/264-7500. Periodical postage paid at Herndon, Va., and at additional mailing offices. Copyright 2015 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., all rights reserved. The name Aerospace America is registered by the AIAA in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. 40,000 copies of this issue printed. This is Volume 53, No. 11 ® is a publication of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Editor’s Notebook Ben Iannotta Editor-in-Chief Kyung M. Song Associate Editor Greg Wilson The meaning of 2015 Production Editor Jerry Grey The best thing about Aerospace America’s annual year-in-review edition Editor-at-Large might be what it signals about the future. Christine Williams For one thing, the articles from AIAA’s technical and program committees are Editor AIAA Bulletin setting the stage for some good old-fashioned drama to come. Orbital ATK and SpaceX worked hard this year to get their rockets ready to fly again, and a host Contributing Writers of customers are counting on them to succeed. SpaceX failed twice this year to Robert van der Linden, Frank H. Winter land a spent Falcon 9 first stage on an ocean barge, but Elon Musk is probably Jane Fitzgerald not the kind to give up easily. The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module should Art Direction and Design soon be inflated at the International Space Station, possibly setting the stage for a new approach to erecting structures in space. James F. Albaugh, President James “Jim” Maser, President-Elect All that aside, avoiding drama is also a worthy goal. Airliners could soon be Sandra H. Magnus, Publisher tracked anywhere in the world, reducing or eliminating the odds of more cases Craig Byl, Manufacturing and Distribution like the disappearance of Flight MH370. As significant as these and other events would be, it’s also worth reading STEERING COMMITTEE between the lines of the year-in-review edition for broader trends. You’ll find John Evans, Lockheed Martin; Steven E. evidence that the global aerospace industry is in the midst of profound changes Gorrell, Brigham Young University; Frank Lu, that are starting to confront what has been the industry’s biggest challenge: University of Texas at Arlington; David R. Riley, Boeing; Mary L. Snitch, Lockheed Martin; Reducing the high cost of aircraft, satellites, space probes, access to space and Annalisa Weigel, Fairmont Consulting Group satellite-based communications. Flip through these articles and you will see the developments that will propel EDITORIAL BOARD the industry into the future: Startups and new players mean more competition Ned Allen, Jean-Michel Contant, L.S. “Skip” Fletcher, Michael Francis, and, hopefully, lower costs; more computer modeling and lab work means Cam Martin, Don Richardson, fewer costly and risky flight tests; additive manufacturing will result in quicker Douglas Yazell production and lower parts counts; applying software across multiple missions ADVERTISING and technical domains is making it harder for agencies to justify spending lots of Joan Daly, 703-938-5907 money on specialized tools. [email protected] Let’s get specific: AIAA’s Communications Systems Technical Committee tells us how new Pat Walker, 415-387-7593 [email protected] launch vehicles and high-throughput satellite technologies are disrupting — for the better — that segment of the market. LETTERS AND CORRESPONDENCE From the Software Technical Committee, we hear about a host of new products, Ben Iannotta, [email protected] including a NASA-funded application suite that can be reused for multiple missions and about the Flightradar24 aircraft tracking website that displays the real-time QUESTIONS AND ADDRESS CHANGES locations of thousands of planes. [email protected] The Structural Dynamics Technical Committee describes numerous advances, ADVERTISING MATERIALS including computer-aided-design meshing tools and a computerized apparatus Craig Byl, [email protected] developed in Canada that replicates the vibrations of rotorcraft on the ground, so that designers can more easily reduce pilot and passenger fatigue and physi- December 2015, Vol. 53, No. 11 ological stress. From the Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Technical Committee, we learn about efforts to apply computer code across multiple disciplines to manage uncertainty and improve estimates of operating lives, among other applications. Those are just a few of the notable trends and developments that I see. You, the reader, will no doubt find others as you take a moment this holiday season to take stock of the industry. Ben Iannotta Editor-in-Chief Letters to the Editor Corrections Events Calendar 2–3 January 2016 The article, “Mars via the moon,” ber, page 44) incorrectly described 2nd AIAA CFD Aeroelastic (November, page 24) incorrectly the propellant used during a 1965 Prediction Workshop described proposed plans for a lu- test flight of NASA’s Lunar Land- Systems Requirements Engineering nar base. Crew members eventually ing Research Vehicle. The article Structural Dynamics of Rocket will set up permanent infrastructure should have said that the rocket Engines Tutorial at the poles, near water needed to motors used the liquid propellant San Diego, CA produce propellants. hydrogen peroxide and produced 4 January 2016 jets of steam. AIAA Associate Fellows Recogni- QQQ tion Ceremony and Dinner The introduction to the article, “New QQQ San Diego, CA life for an old hybrid,” (October, page The photo of the SpaceX Crew 4–8 January 2016 38) used an incorrect word choice. Dragon capsule accompanying the AIAA SciTech 2016 The Lockheed Martin Skunk Works article, “Maximizing Safety,” (Oc- (AIAA Science and Technology airship is the progeny of the P-791. tober, page 21) shows the capsule Forum and Exposition) lifting off during an unmanned test San Diego, CA QQQ in May. The caption incorrectly 25–28 January 2016 An entry in Out of the Past (Octo- stated the stage of flight. Reliability and Maintainability Symposium (RAMS) Tucson, AZ All letters addressed to the editor are considered to be submitted for possible publication, 14–18 February 2016 unless it is expressly stated otherwise. All letters are subject to editing for length and to 26th AAS/AIAA