April 2014 Wanting nuclear upgrades is easy — paying the bill is harder page 28 NASA’s asteroid hunter page 20 Tanker drama page 40 A PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF AERONAUTICS AND ASTRONAUTICS Suitable for all reading levels, the Library of Flight series encompasses a wide variety of general-interest and reference books, including case studies. Appropriate subjects include the history and economics of aerospace as well as design, development, and management of aircraft and space programs. FEATURED TITLES Eleven Seconds into the Unknown: A History of the Hyper-X Program Curtis Peebles 342 pages This is the highly-anticipated sequel to Peebles’ first book on the X-43A/Hyper-X project, Road to Mach 10: Lessons Learned from the X-43A Flight Research Program. A central theme of the Hyper-X story is how disparate groups and organizations became a unified team working toward a common goal. ISBN: 978-1-60086-776-7 “Perfect for those interested in high-speed flight, aerospace List Price: $39.95 AIAA Member Price: $29.95 history, the organization and management of technological projects, and the future of spaceflight.” Skycrane: Igor Sikorsky’s Last Vision John A. McKenna 136 pages The Skycrane was the last creation of aircraft design pioneer Igor Sikorsky. In SKYCRANE: Igor Sikorsky’s Last Vision, former Sikorsky Aircraft Executive Vice President John A. McKenna traces the development of this remarkable helicopter from original concept and early sketches to standout performer for the military and private industry. ISBN: 978-1-60086-756-9 “An inside look at the continual innovation and perseverance List Price: $39.95 AIAA Member Price: $29.95 required for the creation and development of one of the world’s most unusual helicopters.” – Michael J. Hirschberg, Managing Editor, Vertiflite magazine 12-0168_update3 Find these books and many more at arc.aiaa.org April 2014 Page 16 DEPARTMENTS EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK 2 Two problems worth solving. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 3 Santa Claus and climate science. Page 22 INTERNATIONAL BEAT 4 Graphene on the fast track. WASHINGTON WATCH 8 A drone’s day in court. GREEN ENGINEERING 10 Beating noise pollution. Page 40 ENGINEERING NOTEBOOK 16 Test time for seamless wings. BOOKS 19 The man behind the icon. CONVERSATION 20 Lindley Johnson, NASA’s asteroid hunter ELECTRONICS UPDATE 22 Tech Forecast: Airborne intelligence growth. OUT OF THE PAST 46 Page 10 FEATURES FUNDING THE TRIAD 28 Support for U.S. nuclear forces remains bipartisan, but there is no consensus over how it will be squeezed into the long-term budget. Page 34 by Marc Selinger ADVICE TO SATELLITE DESIGNERS: “CARPE DIEM” 34 With the advent of lower cost launchers, satellite designers should rethink some of their traditional assumptions about how to control costs. by Gary Oleson TANKER DRAMA 40 The Air Force and Boeing remain upbeat about the development schedule for the KC-46A air refueling tanker, despite a Pentagon report that warns of a delay. by James W. Canan BULLETIN AIAA Meeting Schedule B2 AIAA News B5 Propulsion and Energy Event Preview 2014 B18 AIAA Calls for Papers B22 AIAA Courses and Training B23 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 2014 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 52, No. 4. ® is a publication of the American Institute of Editor’s Notebook Aeronautics and Astronautics Ben Iannotta Editor-in-Chief Patricia Jefferson Associate Editor Two problems worth solving Greg Wilson Production Editor Jerry Grey Editor-at-Large Considering all the engineers, entrepreneurs and inventors out there, it’s not Christine Williams naïve to assume there’s a technical solution to nearly every problem. In our Editor AIAA Bulletin wireless world, how can a 74-meter-long airliner carrying 239 people simply disappear with almost no digital traces? How can a nation that has a rover Contributing Writers crawling across Mars still be sucking ancient swamp goo from Earth and Philip Butterworth-Hayes, James Canan, burning it? Craig Covault, Chris Kjelgaard, These two problems — airliner monitoring and fossil fuels — are totally Dave Majumdar, David Rockwell, Erik Schecter, Marc Selinger, Debra Werner unrelated, except in one fundamental sense. We haven’t solved them for reasons of economics. From what I’ve read, economics is driven by human Jane Fitzgerald psychology: A problem won’t be solved — a market won’t shift — until consumers Art Direction and Design perceive a problem and someone offers a solution at a price that will motivate Michael Griffin, President them to act. James F. Albaugh, President-Elect The battle over climate science is actually a battle for the hearts and minds Sandra H. Magnus, Publisher of energy consumers who must decide whether the risks of fossil fuels are so Craig Byl, Manufacturing and Distribution high that they should be motivated to act. A skirmish can be found in this STEERING COMMITTEE month’s letters section, Page 3, in the form of strong reactions to our February Steven E. Gorrell, Brigham Young University; cover story, “Target: Climate change.” Basil Hassan, Sandia; Merri Sanchez, On airliner monitoring, the battle for hearts and minds hasn’t reached Sierra Nevada; Mary L. Snitch, Lockheed the mainstream flying public yet — but it might, given the Malaysian Airlines Martin; Vigor Yang, Georgia Institute of incident and realization that we could readily stream cockpit audio, flight data Technology; Susan X. Ying and maybe even video off airliners. A concept for doing so is described in the EDITORIAL BOARD article, “Malaysian Airlines case stirs call for streaming data,” Page 8. Ned Allen, Jean-Michel Contant, If the airliner monitoring issue isn’t solved soon, the flying public will find Eugene Covert, L.S. “Skip” Fletcher, itself in an ironic position: Passengers will be paying directly or indirectly for Michael Francis, Cam Martin, satellite Internet to stream movies, check email and play video games. I’m told Don Richardson, Douglas Yazell this kind of connectivity will be expected by the millennial generation. Mean- ADVERTISING while, cockpit data that could be the key to an emergency rescue will be Robert Silverstein, 240.498.9674 locked away in old-fashioned black boxes, because supposedly no one can [email protected] afford to stream it. Russell Brody, 732.832.2977 On fossil fuels, Aerospace America will continue to look at the roles of [email protected] space and airborne sensors in helping scientists assess the impacts of these LETTERS AND CORRESPONDENCE fuels on Earth’s environment and climate. Putting on my opinion hat, I don’t Ben Iannotta, [email protected] know that scientists will ever deliver the level of predictability demanded by engineers accustomed to taking the plane out of the hanger to test it. Climate QUESTIONS AND ADDRESS CHANGES change is a question of how much risk to assume. By continuing to burn fossil [email protected] fuels, consumers are assuming a lot of risk, whether that’s human-induced ADVERTISING MATERIALS global warming, rising sea levels, eye-burning smog or cancer. Craig Byl, [email protected] Once a tipping point is reached among consumers on these issues, change could come quickly. The question is how many planes will be lost April 2014, Vol. 52, No. 4 and how much environmental damage will be done until then. Ben Iannotta Editor-in-Chief Letters to the Editor Santa Claus and climate science Several readers were dis- February 2014 haps in as little as 100 turbed by the depiction years. If this is true, won’t Going green: David J. Paisley of North of global warming skep- human-caused global Bend, Wash., felt we were one sided in Target: Climate change tics as “wacky” and Two satellites that could cool the debate warming simply go away the technology discussion in the arti- “Santa Claus” believers, in the next few genera- cle, “Runway taxiing goes green” (Feb- in the words of two sci- tions when no fossil fuels ruary, page 16). “The article allows the entists quoted in the arti- are left?” Wheeltug spokesperson to arm-wave cle, “Target: Climate Retired astronaut and away some really difficult issues con- Change” (February, page Air Force Col. Donald H. cerning certification of systems that are 26). David C. Howe of Peterson of El Lago, Texas, really quite complex additions to air- Vernon, Conn., fired noted that reputable sci- planes that they do not necessarily un- back: “Data and studies entific sources are reach- derstand fully,” he wrote. in the scientific/geologi- ing entirely incompatible Managing air traffic, page 32 cal community have Moonwalking with Buzz, page 24 conclusions about the fu- highlighted this [global ture of the planet he Impact of “Gravity”: Lyle Kelly of Ma- warming] ‘hoax’ for what it is.” As long viewed during a four-hour spacewalk son, Ohio, enjoyed “Grading ‘Gravity,’” as scientists “are dependent on gov- from the shuttle Challenger: “How former astronaut Tom Jones’ close look ernment funding for their projects, can their absolutely contradictory at the award-winning film (February, they will continue to ‘toe the govern- statements be reconciled? Perhaps it page 20).