Space Exploration at APL: from the Beginning to the 1990S
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G. H. Fountain, D. Kusnierkiewicz, and S. M. Krimigis Space Exploration at APL: From the Beginning to the 1990s Glen H. Fountain, David Kusnierkiewicz, and Stamatios M. Krimigis ABSTRACT The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) Space Exploration Sector traces its origins to the post–World War II high-altitude research using V-2 rockets. It became a major contributor to the U.S. space program with the development of the world’s first satellite navigation system (Transit). During the first few decades of the Space Age, the Laboratory’s work expanded to include significant contributions to the civilian space program as well as the country’s national security. This article chronicles those accomplishments and discusses the core values that contributed to success. INTRODUCTION The formal origin of what was to become the Johns ical to the successful development of complex systems, Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) APL’s Space Exploration Sector has always valued the Space Exploration Sector began with the invention of people first, understanding the necessity of a talented satellite navigation in the late 1950s. However, the first and dedicated staff as the first element of that success. efforts linking APL to space research began in the 1940s This was especially true at the beginning, before formal with a team led by Dr. James Van Allen. This pioneer- processes even existed. The open atmosphere focused ing team set out to make high-altitude measurements of on getting things right and not on who gets the credit the Sun and the upper atmosphere’s environment using or who is to blame. This nurturing culture attracted V-2 rockets captured from Germany after World War II. talented, team-focused individuals to the organization From that time forward, the combination of scientific because they believed that their creativity would be curiosity and practical engineering approaches to solving allowed to flourish and that they would enjoy career- problems has enabled a talented team of people to make long learning (see Box 1). These factors enabled the key contributions to both space science and engineering. organization to find practical solutions to meet sponsors’ APL’s accomplishments in space stem from a culture needs. This culture continues today. marked by a number of important attributes that have Another aspect of the Space Exploration Sector is its been demonstrated many times over during the course of programs’ broad base of sponsors. As part of a Labora- the Laboratory’s history. These attributes start with the tory and university dedicated to national service and marriage of curiosity and a systems approach to solving the advancement of knowledge, the sector has endeav- significant problems (what the Laboratory articulates as ored to support national security in a broad sense— “critical contributions to critical challenges”). While the responding to defense-related needs on the one hand discipline of rigorous processes is now recognized as crit- and performing research that enhances the knowledge 202 Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest, Volume 34, Number 2 (2018), www.jhuapl.edu/techdigest Space Exploration at APL: From the Beginning to the 1990s of our world on the other hand (e.g., the sector’s civil- and later rockets to observe the Earth from high altitude3 ian space activities or medical applications of space (see Fig. 1), among making other discoveries such as the technology). The ability to bridge these two domains UV spectrum of the Sun. Van Allen’s interest was in increases the stability of the organization and opens the cosmic rays at high altitude, which led in the following solution space in which staff members work to address years to the discovery of the Earth’s radiation belts, later sponsors’ needs. named the Van Allen belts in his honor. Another thread woven into the culture is the recog- nition that the ideas and systems developed at the Labo- ratory are not complete until they have been validated BOX 1. A CULTURE OF COLLABORATION by the appropriate end user. In some cases, this implies Taken from an early history of the organization, the transferring technology to commercial suppliers, and following paragraph demonstrates the deliberate foster- in other cases it requires publishing data and scientific ing of an open, collaborative culture in which lines of results so they are available to the scientific community responsibility were established early. Although it spe- and the general public. cifically addresses the relationship between the elec- tronic designer and staff members focused on assuring This open, nurturing atmosphere focusing on sys- the reliability of electronic systems (in what became the tems engineering and scientific curiosity, along with System Assurance Group), the relationships between the close coupling of these two disciplines, has enabled the teams clearly extends to the larger organization. the Space Exploration Sector to find solutions to prob- In the beginning, the Reliability Project lems that other organizations have found difficult to personnel tried to learn about the other address—and to execute those solutions “faster, better, personnel—especially the designers, their and cheaper.” capabilities, how they thought, and their background and competence in general. The universal problem in quality assurance (you’re THE ORIGINS OF SPACE EXPLORATION AT APL interfering—you’re bothering me) was imme- diately encountered. At this early stage, an At the end of World II, the U.S. government came into important decision was made, namely: The 1 possession of a number of German V-2 rockets. Members Reliability Project would operate as a ser- of the scientific community, led by Ernst H. Krause of the vice project rather than as an authoritarian Naval Research Laboratory, expressed interest in using project. The Project would provide services, those rockets for scientific purposes. A small group of would bend over backwards to help others scientists from universities and government laboratories solve their problems, would make it clear that were invited to participate. Among them was Dr. James reliability was a general concern, but with the circuit designer holding ultimate responsibility Van Allen, then a member of the APL staff. His exper- [italics added]. Great care was taken to build a tise in the development of the proximity fuze—namely relationship of trust and confidence between the ability to design electronics to withstand high-G the Reliability Project and the rest of the forces—made him an important member of this group. Space Division. Looking back, this decision During the next few years, Van Allen and a group of col- has turned out to be a wise one.2 leagues would develop and fly instruments on the V-2 Figure 1. The evolution of space science, technology, and engineering at APL—the origins. Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest, Volume 34, Number 2 (2018), www.jhuapl.edu/techdigest 203 G. H. Fountain, D. Kusnierkiewicz, and S. M. Krimigis The high-altitude work continued under the auspices ronment, a belief that was validated when President of a national committee called the V-2 Upper Atmo- Eisenhower announced that the United States would sphere Research Panel, of which Van Allen was appointed launch a satellite as part of the International Geophysi- chairman in 1947. This research led Van Allen to make cal Year (1957–1958). one of the first (if not the first) serious scientific propos- als for space research at a meeting of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics in Oslo, Norway, in THE INVENTION OF SATELLITE NAVIGATION 1948: “Then there is always the prospect of pioneering Space research laid dormant at APL until Octo- measurements at higher and ever higher altitudes. Seri- ber 14, 1957, with the launch of Sputnik 1. Again sci- ous consideration is being given to the development of a entific curiosity was married to the need for a practical satellite missile which will continuously orbit around the solution to a critical problem. This combination resulted earth at a distance of, say, 1000 km.”1 in the development of satellite navigation and what Because of the limited number of V-2 rockets and the today is called APL’s Space Exploration Sector, formerly high cost of building and flying new ones, the research- the Space Department. ers quickly realized that a cheaper rocket was needed. A It was curiosity that motivated William H. Guier and group at APL, led by Van Allen, initiated the develop- George C. Weiffenbach to “borrow” a radio receiver ment of a new vehicle, the Aerobee rocket. Developed from the Bumblebee Instrumentation Group so that by the Aerojet Engineering Corporation and the Doug- they could track Sputnik’s transmission. They quickly las Aircraft Company, the Aerobee was the workhorse determined that they could accurately compute the sat- of the space research community for many decades. ellite’s orbital parameters from a single pass.4 At the same Van Allen left the Laboratory in December 1950 to time, APL was supporting the U.S. Navy in the develop- continue his work at the University of Iowa, but many ment of the Polaris ballistic missile submarine. A major of his colleagues remained at APL, forming the origi- challenge was finding a way to allow the submarine to nal core of what became the Laboratory’s space science determine its position (to navigate) without exposing enterprise. Van Allen continued to push the idea of itself for long periods of time. In a classic case of creativ- spaceflight as a method to better understand our envi- ity,5 this new method of determining a satellite’s orbit Figure 2. The evolution of space science, technology, and engineering at APL—the pioneering years. 204 Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest, Volume 34, Number 2 (2018), www.jhuapl.edu/techdigest Space Exploration at APL: From the Beginning to the 1990s was combined with this known need, leading Frank T.