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The Year in Review

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The Year in Review cover1209-X.qxd:AA Template 11/17/09 3:41 PM Page 1 11 AEROSPACE AMERICA December 2009 DECEMBER 2009 The year in review APUBLICATIONOFTHEAMERICANINSTITUTEOFAERONAUTICSANDASTRONAUTICS toc.DEC09.qxd:AA Template 11/17/09 4:24 PM Page 1 Page 4 December 2009 EDITORIAL: Inching toward reform 3 OUT OF THE PAST 76 Page70 2009 SUBJECT AND AUTHOR INDEX 78 CAREER OPPORTUNITIES 82 Page 30 THE YEAR IN REVIEW Adaptive structures 58 Hypersonic technologies Page 36 Aeroacoustics 5 and aerospace plane 75 Aerodynamic decelerators 8 Intelligent systems 30 Aerodynamic measurement Life sciences 64 technology 15 Lighter-than-air systems 23 Aerospace power 5 Liquid propulsion 38 Aerospace traffic management 74 Management 27 Air-breathing propulsion systems Materials 52 integration 43 Meshing, visualization and Air transportation 16 computational environments 6 Aircraft design 17 Missile systems 60 Aircraft operations 18 Modeling and simulation 49 Applied aerodynamics 10 Multidisciplinary design Astrodynamics 14 optimization 26 Atmospheric and space Nondeterministic approaches 54 environments 9 Nuclear and future flight Atmospheric flight mechanics 11 propulsion 36 Page 60 Balloon systems 19 Plasmadynamics and lasers 12 Computer-aided enterprise Propellants and combustion 41 solutions 50 Sensor systems 32 Computer systems 33 Software systems 34 Design engineering 48 Space colonization 61 Page 16 Digital avionics 31 Space logistics 66 Economics 24 Space operations and support 69 Electric propulsion 44 Space resources utilization 63 Energetic components 46 Space systems 67 Flight testing 20 Space tethers 65 Fluid dynamics 4 Space transportation 68 Gas turbine engines 40 Structural dynamics 57 General aviation 21 Structures 59 Ground testing 51 Survivability 53 Guidance, navigation, and control 7 Systems engineering 28 High-speed air-breathing Unmanned systems 73 propulsion 37 Terrestrial energy 54 Page 24 History 25 Thermophysics 13 Homeland security 70 V/STOL 22 Hybrid rockets 42 Weapon system effectiveness 62 BULLETIN AIAA Meeting Schedule B2 AIAA Courses and Training Program B4 AIAA News B5 Meeting Program B13 Calls for Papers B19 Page 48 Cover:Type by Jane Fitzgerald;image from space shuttle Columbia,2003. Aerospace America (ISSN 0740-722X) is published monthly by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. at 1801 Alexander Bell Drive, Reston, Va. 20191-4344 [703/264-7577]. Subscription rate is 50% of dues for AIAA members (and is not deductible therefrom). Nonmember subscription price: U.S. and Canada, $163, foreign, $200. 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 © 2009 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 47, No. 11. dec09edit.qxd:AA Template 11/17/09 4:33 PM Page 1 ® is a publication of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Elaine J. Camhi Editor-in-Chief Patricia Jefferson Associate Editor Inching toward reform Greg Wilson Production Editor Jerry Grey, Editor-at-Large Christine Williams, Editor AIAA Bulletin As the new year began, a new administration and a new Congress opened a door to long-sought efforts to rewrite the tangle of controls governing U.S. exports. Correspondents The International Traffic in Arms Regulations were enacted in 1976 and Robert F. Dorr, Washington Philip Butterworth-Hayes, Europe closely mirrored laws in place in eastern bloc nations. Over the subsequent 30+ Michael Westlake, Hong Kong years, political winds have shifted, both domestically and internationally, and those rules have been reinterpreted, refocused, and, in many cases, made even Contributing Writers more restrictive. Richard Aboulafia, John Binder, James W. Canan, Marco Cáceres, Edward Flinn, But recently many, particularly in the aerospace industry, have come to Tom Jones, Théo Pirard, David Rockwell, recognize that the very regulations designed to protect the nation’s technologi- Frank Sietzen, J.R. Wilson cal edge and asymmetrical advantage over potential foes have, with their re- strictions on the export of possible dual-use technologies, also hamstrung the Fitzgerald Art & Design Art Direction and Design ability of the U.S. to participate in international trade in many areas only mar- ginally related to defense. Craig Byl, Manufacturing and Distribution International aerospace companies loath to endure the months of red tape David W. Thompson, President and deliberations required for the purchase of simple parts instead developed Robert S. Dickman, Publisher their own capabilities. The rise of the “ITAR-free satellite” was not a one-off. STEERING COMMITTEE But with the new administration, there seemed to be genuine interest in re- Michael B. Bragg, University of Illinois; examining ITAR issues. Members of both houses of Congress began holding Philip Hattis, Draper Laboratory; Mark S. hearings, and many who had been adamantly opposed to change came to un- Maurice, AFOSR; Laura McGill, Raytheon; derstand the damage being done to trade and now simply urged caution in George Muellner, Boeing; Merri Sanchez, moving forward. The House bill authorizing appropriations for the Dept. of National Aeronautics and Space Administra- State, where ITAR issues reside, and containing a section on reform of export tion; Mary Snitch, Lockheed Martin controls was passed in June. (Unfortunately, its Senate equivalent remains EDITORIAL BOARD stalled.) And in August, President Obama announced a comprehensive review Ned Allen, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics; of export controls. Jean-Michel Contant, EADS; Eugene This all might suggest a looming overhaul of the most trade-restrictive Covert, Massachusetts Institute of Technol- parts of the laws. However, there are other troubles weighing heavily on the ogy; L.S. “Skip” Fletcher, Texas A&M Uni- president and the Congress. For example, even as the economy appears to be versity; Michael Francis, United Technologies; turning around, unemployment is still rising. And the world clock is ticking on Christian Mari, Teuchos; Cam Martin, climate change, as the longer we wait to act, the more damage will be done NASA Dryden; Don Richardson, Donrich Research; Douglas Yazell, Honeywell and the more mitigation will be necessary. But these issues do truly tie together. The longer it takes to modify the an- ADVERTISING tiquated sections of the export controls, the smaller the U.S. export market will National Display and Classified: become. As more and more of those who were once our customers become Robert Silverstein, 240.498.9674 our competitors, that market shrinks, manufacturing numbers diminish, and the [email protected] workforce required declines. West Coast Display: Greg Cruse, Export controls also hamper U.S. participation in GEOSS, the Global 949.361.1870 / [email protected] Earth Observation System of Systems. Climate change mitigation can only Send materials to Craig Byl, AIAA, 1801 happen when action is taken on a global scale. But according to a report issued Alexander Bell Drive, Suite 500, Reston, VA in 2008 by the Center for Strategic & International Studies, “Export control 20191-4344. Changes of address should be regulations are a fundamental disincentive and significant structural impediment sent to Customer Service at the same address, to U.S. participation in international systems, to foreign cooperation with the by e-mail at [email protected], or by fax at United States, and to the development of GEOSS.” 703/264-7606. There are those who argue that ITAR reform must take a back seat as our Send Letters to the Editor to Elaine Camhi at the same address or [email protected] government grapples with the larger issues of the day. But a closer look would suggest the opposite, that major strides in repairing what is broken or out-of- December 2009, Vol. 47, No. 11 date in ITAR would go a long way in helping solve those issues. Elaine Camhi Editor-in-Chief AS-1209rev.qxd:AA-December 11/12/09 11:20 AM Page 2 AEROSPACE SCIENCES Fluid dynamics tified for the first time. Regular orbiter instru- mentation was augmented by high-resolution calibrated imagery obtained by a Navy NP-3D The year has brought many significant and ex- Orion aircraft using a long-range infrared op- citing developments in the study of fluid dy- tical package known as Cast Glance. namic phenomena with a breadth of activities In low Reynolds number aerodynamics, spanning from hypersonics to low Reynolds work continues on unsteady flow phenomena number regimes. and control. Researchers at the University of A significant development has been the es- Michigan found that for low-aspect-ratio flap- tablishment of three national hypersonics cen- ping wings, tip vortices can increase lift by cre- ters, overseen by NASA and the Air Force Re- ating a low-pressure region near the wing tip search Laboratory (AFRL) Office of Scientific and delaying the shedding of the leading-edge Research, to help forge a national direction vortex (LEV). AFRL/RB researchers have for studying hypersonic flight. One center, led demonstrated, with a high-order implicit large- by Texas A&M University with several part- eddy simulation (ILES) approach, that stall ners, is called the National Center for Hyper- suppression can be achieved with small-ampli- sonic Laminar Turbulent Transition. It will tude high-frequency oscillations. The resulting specialize in boundary-layer control research. new flow regime has no LEV shedding or AFRL, Caltech, and the University of Min- thrust generation, and features the dramatic nesota have collaborated in a numerical and spanwise breakdown of the dynamic-stall vor- experimental study on control of high-speed tex system. A joint effort by Caltech, Illinois boundary layers. The team has demonstrated Institute of Technology, Princeton, and North- significant eastern University has demonstrated signifi- delays in cant reduction of lift fluctuations in unsteady transition flows through flow control, with applications in gust alle- viation.
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