FC_Aerospace_DEC2010_pms.pdf 11/22/10 10:33:41 AM coverƒ-1210.qxd:AA Template 11/17/10 9:53 AM Page 1 11 AMERICA AEROSPACE December 2010 DECEMBER 2010 C M Y CM MY CY CMY K 2010THE YEAR IN REVIEW A PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF AERONAUTICS AND ASTRONAUTICS toc-December.qxd:AA Template 11/19/10 11:42 AM Page 1 December 2010 EDITORIAL 3 OUT OF THE PAST 76 2010 SUBJECT AND AUTHOR INDEX 78 CAREER OPPORTUNITIES 84 THE YEAR IN REVIEW Adaptive structures 5 Intelligent systems 41 Aeroacoustics 19 Life sciences 58 Aerodynamic decelerators 30 Lighter-than-air systems 26 Aerodynamic measurement Liquid propulsion 55 technology 17 Management 38 Aerospace power systems 54 Materials 8 Aerospace traffic management 73 Meshing, visualization and Air-breathing propulsion systems computational environments 6 integration 56 Missile systems 61 Aircraft design 32 Modeling and simulation 24 Aircraft operations 33 Multidisciplinary design Applied aerodynamics 21 optimization 12 Astrodynamics 18 Nondeterministic approaches 10 Atmospheric and space Nuclear and future flight environments 23 propulsion 52 Atmospheric flight mechanics 22 Plasmadynamics and lasers 14 Balloon systems 28 Propellants and combustion 50 Communication systems 43 Sensor systems 45 Computer-aided enterprise Society and aerospace technology 36 solutions 35 Software systems 40 Computer systems 42 Solid rockets 47 Design engineering 4 Space colonization 64 Digital avionics 44 Space exploration 71 Directed energy systems 74 Space logistics 63 Economics 37 Space operations and support 67 Electric propulsion 49 Space resources 62 Energetic components 53 Space stations 69 Flight testing 27 Space systems 60 Fluid dynamics 15 Space tethers 59 Gas turbine engines 46 Space transportation 65 General aviation 29 Structural dynamics 11 Green engineering 68 Structures 9 Ground testing 20 Survivability 7 Guidance, navigation, and control 16 Systems engineering 34 High-speed air-breathing Terrestrial energy 48 propulsion 57 V/STOL 31 Hybrid rockets 51 Value-driven design 70 Hypersonic technologies Weapon system effectiveness 66 and aerospace plane 72 BULLETIN AIAA Meeting Schedule B2 AIAA Courses and Training Program B4 AIAA News B5 Meeting Program B15 Calls for Papers B19 Cover: The space shuttle is approaching the end of a storied career as 2010 draws to a close.NASA photo. Aerospace America (ISSN 0740-722X) is published monthly, except August, by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. at 1801 Alexander Bell Drive, Reston, Va. 20191-4344 [703/264-7500]. 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 © 2010 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 48, No. 11. AIAA NEW HORIZONS CHALLENGE We see aerospace soaring into new realms of discovery. The next bold step is waiting over the horizon. To help spur the breakthrough that changes everything, AIAA has organized the New Horizons Challenge, a contest to design Winners will be announced at the 2011 a demonstration competition Aerospace Sciences Meeting and of a groundbreaking New Horizon Forum. innovation. Entry deadline is 13 December. For entry information and complete contest rules, please visit www.aiaa.org/newhorizonschallenge Invest In The Future How Far Can You See? Stop by the On Air Studio at this year’s Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Share Your Vision with us. NewHorizonsChallenge.indd 1 11/20/10 1:33 PM december edit.qxd:AA Template 11/19/10 11:47 AM Page 1 ® is a publication of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Elaine J. Camhi Editor-in-Chief Patricia Jefferson Associate Editor Greg Wilson Production Editor Flying into history Jerry Grey, Editor-at-Large Christine Williams, Editor AIAA Bulletin The end of the first decade of the 21st century also marks the dénouement Correspondents of one of the most significant eras in the history of human spaceflight. This Robert F. Dorr, Washington Philip Butterworth-Hayes, Europe month’s scheduled launch of the space shuttle Discovery will be its last, and Michael Westlake, Hong Kong only one or possibly two launches remain for the entire program. Just a few years after the world held its collective breath as Neil Armstrong Contributing Writers set foot on the Moon, Apollo launches became old hat, and the national interest Richard Aboulafia, James W. Canan, Marco Cáceres, Craig Covault, Leonard waned. As that program ended, the search for a reusable system to replace David, Philip Finnegan, Tom Jones, David Apollo led to various designs and configurations. When trade studies first began Rockwell, Frank Sietzen, J.R. Wilson in 1969 between NASA and industry, chief among the requirements were a fully reusable crew vehicle and launcher and a 14-day maximum turnaround Fitzgerald Art & Design Art Direction and Design time. A ceiling of $5.1 billion was set for development of the entire system. As with all government programs, reality, practicality, and compromise Craig Byl, Manufacturing and Distribution soon set in. But if the space shuttle that was approved as a national program Mark Lewis, President by Congress and President Nixon was not the system NASA imagined or the Robert S. Dickman, Publisher Defense Department wanted, it was still a magnificent notion. STEERING COMMITTEE Less than 10 years after the presidential nod, on April 12, 1981, the first Michael B. Bragg, University of Illinois; operational shuttle orbiter, Columbia, was launched into space. STS-1 was Philip Hattis, Draper Laboratory; Mark S. commanded by John Young, a Gemini and Apollo veteran, and piloted by Maurice, AFOSR; Laura McGill, Raytheon; Robert Crippen, a rookie astronaut. Merri Sanchez, National Aeronautics and The history of the space shuttle since that first flight has been one of great Space Administration; Mary Snitch, Lock- accomplishment and devastating tragedy. The loss of Gregory Jarvis, Christa heed Martin; David W. Thompson, Orbital McAuliffe, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Dick Scobee, and EDITORIAL BOARD Michael J. Smith aboard the Challenger on January 28, 1986, dealt a body Ned Allen, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics; blow to both the space program and the national psyche. A second shuttle Jean-Michel Contant, EADS; Eugene loss, the Columbia explosion on February 1, 2003, cost the lives of Michael P. Covert, Massachusetts Institute of Technol- Anderson, David M. Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, Rick D. Husband, ogy; L.S. “Skip” Fletcher, Texas A&M Uni- William C. McCool, and Ilan Ramon and once again cast the fate of the program versity; Michael Francis, United Technologies; in doubt. Christian Mari, Teuchos; Cam Martin, But the shuttle and the indomitable astronauts who participated in this NASA Dryden; Don Richardson, Donrich Research; Douglas Yazell, Honeywell great adventure will also be remembered for remarkable feats of skill and courage. It is the shuttle and its crews that we have to thank for assembling the ADVERTISING international space station, now complete and set to act as a national laboratory National Display and Classified: until at least 2020, and for the breathtaking glimpses of the universe provided Robert Silverstein, 240.498.9674 by the Hubble Space Telescope, its optics corrected and its instruments updated [email protected] by spacewalking engineers. The list of accomplishments goes on, but the shuttle West Coast Display: Greg Cruse, will not. 949.361.1870 / [email protected] No less significant than the end of the shuttle program is the end, at least Send materials to Craig Byl, AIAA, 1801 for the moment, of independent U.S. access to space. Once the unrivaled Alexander Bell Drive, Suite 500, Reston, VA leader in human space transportation, this country, for at least the next few 20191-4344. Changes of address should be years, will become just another paying customer, buying seats on someone sent to Customer Service at the same address, else’s ride. by e-mail at [email protected], or by fax at In the growing field of spacefaring nations, the U.S. may no longer 703.264.7606. dominate, but there is no doubt that we still have the capability to be the Send Letters to the Editor to Elaine Camhi at the same address or [email protected]. leader. Nevertheless, unless we firmly support current development efforts, we may indeed become irrelevant. December 2010, Vol. 48, No.11 Elaine Camhi Editor-in-Chief ADS.2010.final.qxd:AA-December 11/9/10 2:08 PM Page 2 AEROSPACE DESIGN AND STRUCTURES Design engineering The X-51A was a significant step forward in proving the viability of hypersonic RBCC engines. A completely reusable launch system Technology advances in design engineering could someday dramatically reduce the cost of emerged in many products and design con- access to space. cepts this year. Model-based design (MBD) The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter avionics take and advances in multidisciplinary optimization significant advantage of COTS components have had more influence on the design pro- and subsystems. The design engineers of the cess, while rapid manufacturing processes avionics systems have implemented design continue to evolve to lower costs and increase processes that not only satisfy requirements performance of components and systems. with today’s components but also allow for The AFRL/DARPA/Boeing/Pratt& Whit- faster integration and qualification of future ney Rocketdyne X-51A WaveRider, designed components because COTS hardware is used. using a multidisciplinary design optimization Taking an MBD approach and using higher order software languages can enable The avionics in the F-35 cockpit the performance of components and their in- take significant advantage of terfaces to be well defined and implemented.