ea.

, L|ft 1
0ha|r's 0orner 2
|rom the Ld|tor 2
0a|| for Nom|nat|ons for Nat|ona|
Awards
6
Ka|pana 0haw|a Nemor|a|
|oundat|on
7
2005 Annua| Iechn|ca| S,mpos|um 8
Sta,|ng |nformed 8
Nemhersh|p Page 9
A|AA ouston 0hapter Nom|nates
Iohnson Space 0enter
10
0|nner Neet|ng keports / Nest Step 11
Iechno|og, and the |stor, of
Aeronaut|cs
12
Network 0entr|c 0omput|ng for
Aerospace App||cat|ons
14
0raph|ca| 0hject S|mu|at|on Ioo|s &
Iechn|ques
15
0utreach and Lducat|on 15
0utreach and Lducat|on (||j 16
0ran|um 0runcher 17
0a|endar 18
0dds and Lnds 19
N|ss|on Statement / Nemhersh|p 20
Contents:
AlAA ouston 3eotion www.alaa-heusten.erg March,Arll 2005 velume 30, Number 4
1here is one thing that oan be
said for sure about the disous-
sion of heavy lift: there are at
least as many opinions about it
as there are people who debate
the subjeot, and as many moti-
vations. 0ne favorite debate
about heavy lift regards logis-
tios. lor example, a reoent is-
sue of Aviation week and 3paoe
1eohnology oontained a letter
from a reader who expressed
the sentiment: leop|e have
forgorren rhe |essons oonra|ner
sh|ps, rhe 4330, ano rhe 0-54,
have raughr us. s|ze ooes mar-
rer." lt's not hard to support an
opposing view: oontainer ships
have no shortage in the oon-
tinuous supply of oargo to pay
for the investment in huge
ships, the A380 is faoing large
oost overruns and has not yet
(at the time of this writing) re-
oeived the number of firm or-
ders needed to reaoh the break
even point, and the C-5 was
built to fill a projeoted m|||rar,
need. Note, too, the growing
importanoe of smaller, regional
jets in air transportation, whioh
would argue the opposite point
to the one the reader ex-
pressed.

At the 3paoe Lxploration Con-
ferenoe in llorida earlier this
year, outgoing NA3A Administra-
tor 3ean 0'Keefe said, we oan-
not return to the days of 3aturn
v, when we put all of our eggs in
a basket with a few huge, ex-
pensive fire-belohing rookets".

Contrasting the sentiments ex-
pressed by the outgoing NA3A
administrator, his suooessor,
Miohael 0riffin, has a very dif-
ferent view about heavy lift. ln
Maroh 2004 in 1estimony to the
Committee on 3oienoe for the
earing on Perspeotives on the
President's vision for 3paoe
Lxploration", Mr. 0riffin stated:

NA3A should initiate devel-
opment of a heavy lift
launoh vehiole having a
payload oapaoity of at least
100 metrio tons to low
Larth orbit (LL0). 3uoh a
vehiole is the single most
important physioal asset
enabling human explora-
tion of the solar system.
1he use of shuttle-derived
systems offers what is
quite likely to be the most
oost effeotive near-term
approaoh.
Muoh oargo (inoluding hu-
mans) does not need to be
launohed in very large
paokages. we desperately
need muoh more oost ef-
feotive Larth-to-LL0 trans-
portation for payloads in
the size range from a few
thousand to a few tens of
thousands of pounds. ln
my judgment, this is our
most pressing need, for it
oontrols a major portion of
the oost of everything else
that we do in spaoe. et,
no aotive u.3. government
program of whioh l am
aware has this as its goal.
Again, shuttle-derived sys-
tems, partioularly empha-
sizing use of the R3RB,
may offer a useful ap-
proaoh.

Uff|o|a| lo||o,

1here are at least two offioial
polioy reports that address
heavy lift. 1he Report of 1he
President's Commission on lm-
plementation of united 3tates
3paoe Lxploration Polioy" (a.k.a.
1he Aldridge Report") reoog-
nizes the importanoe of a deoi-
sion regarding heavy lift:
leo|s|ons abour heav, ||fr w|||
gu|oe funoamenra| opr|ons
abour how ro oes|gn ano |mp|e-
menr rhe ear|, srages of rhe
spaoe exp|orar|on aroh|reorure,
ano w||| have |ong-|asr|ng |m-
paors upon furure oeve|opmenr
oosrs ano oapab|||r|es." 1he
Aldridge Report lists heavy lift
among 17 foous areas" that
need to be addressed:

Affordable heavy lift oapa-
bility - teohnologies to al-
low robust affordable ao-
oess of oargo, partioularly
to low-Larth orbit.
1ransformational spaoe-
port and range teohnolo-
gies - launoh site infra-
struoture and range oapa-
bilities for the orew explo-
ration vehiole and ad-
vanoed heavy lift vehioles.

(Continued on page 3)
heavy L|ft: |g Lever or Large 0|ameter P|pe 0ream?
JON BERNDT, EDTOR
NASA should initiate development of a heavy lift
launch vehicle having a payload capacity of at least 100
metric tons to low Earth orbit (LEO). Such a vehicle is
the single most important physical asset enabling human
exploration of the solar system.
- Michael Griffin

s|on of |aunoh serv|oes b, rhe

pr|vare seoror."

1his issue's main artiole will
hopefully help in bringing some
of the broader issues together.
l'm sure it will stimulate some
spirited disoussions. we'd like
to hear your opinions (you may
remain anonymous). 3end oom-
ments to the editor at:

editoraiaa-houston.org

Comments may be edited for
spaoe limitations.

By the way, the spaoe oommer-
oialization statement [above]
was issued by the Reagan Ad-
ministration, in 1984.
derived solutions.

1he laok of prior olarity on the
subjeot may be ohanging, how-
ever, as the new NA3A adminis-
trator has taken offioe and
made his position olear: that
heavy lift on the order of 100
tons to LL0 is needed.

1he issue oould have implioa-
tions for oommeroial spaoe ser-
vioes. Uoes this statement look
familiar: 1hese jspeo|f|o ao-
r|ons |n supporr|ng oommero|a|
oeve|opmenr of rhe spaoe |n-
ousrr,] shou|o be a|meo ar re-
mov|ng presenr barr|ers ro oom-
mero|a||zar|on (suoh as Covern-
menr oomper|r|on), reouo|ng rhe
oosr of spaoe operar|ons, ano
enoourag|ng rhe furure prov|-
1here's a lot of good debate
going on right now in blogs, use-
net, and in various restaurants
along NA3A Parkway in Clear
Lake during lunohtime. 0ne of
the topios l've found most oapti-
vating is the oonoept of heavy
lift". As l was researohing for
and writing this artiole l found
myself starting with one posi-
tion, then taking a slightly differ-
ent one. lt beoame olear that
one reason for the mix of opin-
ions being fielded now is that
there isn't enough information
to draw a firm oonolusion on
what kind of payload lofting oa-
pabilities are going to be
needed to implement the Presi-
dent's vision for 3paoe Lxplora-
tion. 1here are good arguments
made for and against shuttle
1his is a pivotal time in AlAA as we oontinue to
embraoe the new 3trategio Plan set forth last year
by our Board of Uireotors. As AlAA President Uon
Riohardson indioated in his visit to the ouston
area last fall, AlAA is doing what it oan to bolster
membership servioes and to align itself better
with the oore missions of the Aerospaoe lndustry:

Lnabling the global movement of people and
goods
Leading the global aoquisition and dissemina-
tion of information and data
Advanoing national seourity interests
Providing a souroe of soientifio progress and
inspiration by pushing the boundaries of explo-
ration and innovation

By now many of you should have reoeived your
2005 Board of Uireotors Nomination Paokage
and Ballot. we hope that you had a ohanoe to
review the oandidate bios and have seleoted the
oandidate that you feel best refleots the goals of
the 3trategio Plan. 1hose goals are:

Coa| 1loous AlAA Aotivities on Critioal and
Lmerging 1eohnologies, Capabilities, and Pro-
grams
Coa| 23trengthen lnternal and Lxternal Commu-
nioations
Coa| 3lmprove and Lxpand 3ervioes and Bene-
fits to 0ur Members
Coa| 4lnorease the Uepth and Breadth of 0ur
Membership
Coa| 5Lstablish AlAA as the voioe and Advooate
of/for the Profession
Coa| 3timulate workforoe Uevelopment and
Retention
Coa| 7lully utilize lnformation 1eohnology
Coa| 8Communioate and lnvolve our 3take-
holders in the lmplementation of the 3trategio
Plan

Not only is it eleotion time on the National level it
is also eleotion time for the ouston 3eotion. ln
the next month or so many of you will reoeive a
letter or postoard direoting you to the ouston
3eotion nomination paokage and ballot to seleot
the 2005/2006 term's Lxeoutive Counoil. lf you
are interested in beooming more involved in the
ouston 3eotion please do not hesitate to let any
member of the Lxeoutive Counoil know.

ln addition to the nomination paokage informa-
tion, you will also reoeive information regarding a
survey to help us determine how we are doing. lt
is our hope that we have been able to give our
members the type of servioe that they expeot
from an organization suoh as AlAA. 0f oourse, our
only way to really gauge this is to hear from you -
the members. owever, do not feel that you have
to wait to fill out a survey to let us know how we
are doing. Please feel free to send me an email
at ohairaiaa-houston.org with any thoughts you
might have.
Chair's Corner
T. SOPHA BRGHT, CHARPERSON, AAA HOUSTON
Page 2

From the Editor
JON S. BERNDT, EDTOR, "HORZONS
(Continued from page 1)
1he report oontinues by adding
that the m|ss|ons ro be unoer-
raken as parr of rhe exp|orar|on
v|s|on w||| ||ke|, requ|re a ||fr
oapab|||r, be,ono rooa,s Spaoe
Shurr|e ano FFlvs. 1here are
numerous reohno|og|es ano
sub-reohno|og|es rhar neeo ro
be oeve|opeo, marureo, ano
oemonsrrareo ro aoh|eve rhe
oes|reo goa|s of furure heav, ||fr
|aunoh veh|o|es."

Likewise, 1he u.3. 3paoe 1rans-
portation Polioy urges that NA3A
develop, |n oooperar|on w|rh
rhe Seorerar, of lefense as
appropr|are, opr|ons ro meer
porenr|a| exp|orar|on-un|que
requ|remenrs for heav, ||fr be-
,ono rhe oapab|||r|es of rhe ex-
|sr|ng Fvo|veo Fxpenoab|e
launoh veh|o|es." 3peoifioally,

1hese options will empha-
size the potential for using
derivatives of the Lvolved
Lxpendable Launoh vehioles
to meet spaoe exploration
requirements. ln addition,
the Administrator shall
evaluate the oomparative
oosts and benefits of a new
dedioated heavy-lift launoh
vehiole or options based on
the use of 3huttle-derived
systems.
1he Administrator and the
3eoretary shall jointly sub-
mit to the President a reo-
ommendation regarding the
preferred option to meet
future heavy-lift require-
ments. 1his reoommenda-
tion will inolude an assess-
ment of the impaot on na-
tional seourity, oivil, and
oommeroial launoh aotivities
and the spaoe transporta-
tion industrial base.

1hrough its various 1eohnioal
Committees (1C), AlAA has pre-
sented position papers and reo-
ommendations based on the
experienoe of its members (see
http://www.aiaa.org/oontent.
ofm?pageid=127). 0ne suoh
group is the 3paoe Logistios 1C
(http://www.aiaa.org/to/sl/),
whioh was formed ro prov|oe a
oonou|r for rhe exp|orar|on ano
oommun|oar|on of |nnovar|ve
spaoe |og|sr|os aroh|reorures
ano s,srems rhar w||| supporr a
broao expans|on of human ano
robor|o spaoe operar|ons
rhroughour rhe oenrra| so|ar
s,srem. 1he 3L1C has issued
an lnformation Paper,
leoommenoeo Covernmenr
4or|ons ro 4ooress 0r|r|oa| u.S.
Spaoe log|sr|os Neeos". 1he
information paper states: 1he
expans|on of human spaoe-
far|ng aor|v|r|es, |no|uo|ng hu-
man spaoe exp|orar|on ano
spaoe so|enoe programs, w|||
requ|re rhe ab|||r, ro bu||o new
ano subsranr|a||, |arger fao|||-
r|es ano s,srems |n spaoe. lre-
v|ous Covernmenr ano oonrrao-
ror sruo|es have |oenr|f|eo sev-
era| oes|gn approaohes for
rransform|ng rhe ourrenr Spaoe
Shurr|e |nro a Sarurn-v o|ass,
unmanneo spaoe |aunoh s,s-
rem. Suoh a Shurr|e-oer|veo
heav, spaoe-||frer, broughr |nro
operar|on |n 2012, wou|o oom-
p|emenr rhe rwo-srage leus-
ab|e launoh veh|o|es (llvs)
ano prov|oe an |nregrareo
spaoe rransporrar|on oapab|||r,
for |aunoh|ng pa,|oaos of v|rru-
a||, an, oes|reo s|ze |nro Farrh
orb|r."

ls rhere a rea| neeo7

Most of the preliminary explora-
tion arohiteoture oonoepts show
modular vehioles whioh oould
be oonneoted in a number of
ways to aohieve a partioular
objeotive. 1he military will be
busy keeping two LLLv manu-
faoturers in business, and the
hibernating oommeroial satellite
market won't support the devel-
opment of a new status quo"
launoher.
(Continued on page 4)
Page 3
1his newsletter is oreated by members of the
ouston seotion. 0pinions expressed herein
other than by eleoted ouston seotion offioers
belong solely to the authors and do not neoessar-
ily represent the position of AlAA or the ouston
seotion. unless explioitly stated, in no way are the
oomments of individual oontributors to orizons
to be oonstrued as neoessarily the opinion or
position of NA3A, its oontraotors, or any other
organization, but are solely the sentiments of the
writers.
Please address all newsletter oorrespondenoe to
the Lditor:
1on Berndt
email: editoraiaa-houston.org
4l44 lousron seor|on web s|re.
www.aiaa-houston.org
lor|zons |s a b|-monrh|, pub||oar|on of rhe lous-
ron seor|on of rhe 4mer|oan lnsr|rure of 4eronau-
r|os ano 4srronaur|os.
T. Sophia Bright
Houston Section Chairperson
Jon S. Berndt
Editor
Regular Contributing Authors
Jon S. Berndt
Andrew Petro
EIizabeth BIome
BiII MiIIer
DanieI NobIes
Joy Conrad King
DougIas Schwaab
Sarah ShuII
Steven R. King
Horizons
Page 4

(Continued from page 3)
et, it is generally believed
that - at least at some point -
the ability to launoh very heavy
monolithio payloads (say,
greater than 30 tons) will be
required, partioularly for eventu-
ally going to Mars. But, that will
oome at a oost. 1/3paoe, in
their arohiteoture study report,
reoommends using LLLvs as
long as possible for heavy lift:
. oompensare for mooesr ||fr
v|a assemb|, |n spaoe. Nor
speno|ng $13-$20 b||||on |n
2010-2020 on |nv|s|b|e-ro-rhe-
pub||o heav, ||fr oeve|opmenr
means $13 b||||on more w||| be
ava||ab|e for aorua| operar|ons
|n spaoe rhar rhe pub||o oan see
ano unoersrano." [1he $18 bil-
lion figure surely refers to a
olean-sheet booster develop-
ment program, but the origin of
that figure is unknown.] 1he
idea of developing a olean-
sheet heavy lift launoh vehiole
(LLv) has been all but ruled
out.

1here oontinues to be talk in
aerospaoe oiroles (offioial or
not) about using shuttle oompo-
nents in a variety of ways. But,
depending on the option being
disoussed, that oould be quite
expensive, as well. Lvery three
months that the shuttle remains
in operation oosts roughly $1
billion whether there are flights
or not. 1hat oost inoludes sup-
port for maintaining the infra-
struoture, paying the workforoe
to prooess the vehiole, eto. ow
muoh of the standing army"
would be required to support a
heavy lift vehiole based on 313
oomponents? ow muoh
oheaper would it be without
orbiter prooessing?

3elf-desoribed reoovering aero-
spaoe engineer" Rand 3imberg
wrote in his 1ransterrestrial
Musings" blog: 4 heav,-||fr ve-
h|o|e, even a shurr|e-oer|veo
one, w||| oosr a |or ro oeve|op,
ano un|ess |r f||es enough, |r w|||
be o|ff|ou|r ro amorr|ze rhose
oeve|opmenr oosrs. Sma||er
veh|o|es, f|own more ofren, w|||
be more ||ke|, ro reouoe |aunoh
oosrs |n rhe near rerm."

3maller vehioles and more
launohes infers more on-orbit
assembly, more integration,
whioh oarries its own problems
and risks.

ln the lebruary 2005 issue of
AlAA's 4erospaoe 4mer|oa, Ad-
miral Craig 3teidle, Assooiate
Administrator for the Lxplora-
tion 3ystems Mission Uireotor-
ate was interviewed by lrank
3ietzen, and he answered ques-
tions about heavy lift:

l3 l3 l3 l3. whar abour heav,-||fr so|u-
r|ons7
C3 C3 C3 C3. were |ook|ng ar oargo ano
human-rar|ng p|eoes. 1he, oonr
neoessar||, have ro be rhe
same, oonr neoessar||, have ro
be rhe same fam||, jof boosr-
ers]. ln rhe v|s|on sraremenr, we
sa|o, ro rhe exrenr poss|b|e,
separare oargo from human.
1he oonrraorors are gooo ar
prov|o|ng us w|rh fam|||es of
||fr|ng oapab|||r|es. we have rhe
shurr|e-oer|veo p|eoe ro be oon-
s|oereo.

l3 l3 l3 l3. lsnr rhere a oerra|n |og|o ro
rhe shurr|e-oer|veo so|ur|on7
Youve gor rhe f||ghr h|sror,, rhe
|nfrasrruorure rhere, rhe rra|neo
workforoe rhere. loesnr rhar
make a gooo oase for rhar veh|-
o|e7
C3 C3 C3 C3. were oo|ng rhese parr|ou|ar
rraoe sruo|es on rhar, |ook|ng ar
rhe |nfrasrruorure oosrs, whar
has ro be ohangeo. whar are
rhe re||ab|||r, |eve|s rhar we
neeo r|ghr now, whar makes
sense for growrh oapab|||r,. 4no
whar oan we use ro meer our
v|s|on oapab|||r,, evenrua||, ger
ro Mars. Bur we wonr have an,-
rh|ng more unr|| rhe Maroh
r|meframe.

lt will be interesting to see
where that ends up. lt has been
said that anything that launohes
from LC-39 oan't be oheap. ln
his book 3paoe 3huttle", Uen-
nis 1enkins lists the historioal
3huttle-C program oosts. ln
2005 dollars, the estimate of
the oost to oomplete 3huttle-C
development is about $2.8 bil-
lion, with a per launoh oost of
$780 million, based on 10
launohes per year, and the use
of new 0PCs and 33MLs
(assumes the supply of used
items have been exhausted). At
the time the estimate was
made 15 years ago, alternatives
to the use of the 33ML were not
oonsidered.

1he fire-belohing" rookets that
former NA3A administrator
0'Keefe referred to were not
oheap, either. 0ne estimate
(perhaps too high) puts the
launoh oost of a 3aturn v at
over $2 billion, and the develop-
ment oost at over $40 billion
(both figures in 2005 dollars,
adjusted simply for inflation).

lt's not olear at this point how
many launohes per year NA3A
will need in fulfilling the vision,
nor exaotly at what point the
first heavy lift launohers would
be needed. ln the NA3A Lxplora-
tion 3ystems Mission Uireotor-
ate 4na|,s|s of 4|rernar|ves
0verview given in lebruary
2005, it is pointed out that,
0osr effeor|veness ano re||ab||-
|r, of ja] |aunoh s,srem oan be
opr|m|zeo b, h|gher f||ghr rares
(mu|r|p|e ousromers - e.g.
N4S4, 4l, NlU, ero.)" 1his
oharaoteristio oould be ad-
dressed by the use of existing
LLLvs, and might serve to ao-
oelerate the development of
growth versions of those
launohers. lt is also a valid
question to ask what oould be
done with $2.8 billion
(presumed 3huttle-C develop-
ment oompletion oosts) to en-
hanoe the oapabilities of the
ourrent fleet of LLLvs.

Srano|ng ar rhe br|nk

ls there another angle on this
debate that is being over-
looked? 1he vision for 3paoe
Lxploration uses the word
oommero|a|" many times. lt is
a stated goal to use oommeroial
servioes where possible, lor
oargo rransporr ro rhe Spaoe
(Continued on page 5)
Shuttle-C Photo credit: ATK
Thiokol
Page 5
(Continued from page 4)
Srar|on afrer 2010, N4S4 w|||
re|, on ex|sr|ng or new oommer-
o|a| oargo rransporr s,srems, as
we|| as |nrernar|ona| parrner
oargo rransporr s,srems. N4S4
ooes nor p|an ro oeve|op new
|aunoh veh|o|e oapab|||r|es ex-
oepr where or|r|oa| N4S4
neeossuoh as heav, ||frare
nor mer b, oommero|a| or m|||-
rar, s,srems. lepeno|ng on
furure human m|ss|on oes|gns,
N4S4 oou|o oeo|oe ro oeve|op
or aoqu|re a heav, ||fr veh|o|e
|arer rh|s oeoaoe. Suoh a veh|-
o|e oou|o be oer|veo from e|e-
menrs of rhe Spaoe Shurr|e,
ex|sr|ng oommero|a| |aunoh ve-
h|o|es, or new oes|gns."

1his is where the varied opin-
ions about heavy lift" (whioh is,
in truth, a somewhat vague
term with more than one inter-
pretation) get more . interest-
ing. we are seeing the emer-
genoe of new players, with fresh
ideas, and bold proolamations -
yet often with very little real
hardware. 3ean 0'Keefe ad-
dressed this vexing stumbling
blook in relation to the supply of
l33 after 313 is retired: 1here
are p|enr, of bo|o, oonf|oenr
purve,ors of furure oapab|||r,
who f|rm|, asserr rhe, oan sup-
porr rhe |og|sr|os requ|remenrs
on srar|on rhrough oommero|a|
serv|oes oonrraors |f jusr g|ven
rhe ohanoe. . 1h|s |s a oh|oken
ano egg rh|ng. lf we p|anneo on
rera|n|ng shurr|e unr|| oommer-
o|a| serv|oes oou|o be proven,
how enrhus|asr|o oo ,ou rh|nk
an,boo, wou|o be abour gerr|ng
on w|rh rhe a|rernar|ve7"

0thers have been even more
emphatio:

Uavid 0ump (t/3paoe): 'we are
ver, hopefu| rhar N4S4 ooes
nor oeve|op a heav,-||fr |aunoh
veh|o|e. w|rh prope||anr be|ng
one rhe b|ggesr rh|ngs N4S4
oan bu, |n orb|r, |r prov|oes a
rremenoous |ever ro N4S4 ro
oreare |nnovar|on |n new |aunoh
veh|o|es. N4S4 oan oo a pa,-on-
oe||ver, oonrraor for ||qu|o ox,-
gen |n lFU, ano nor oare |f rhe
|aunoh veh|o|e fa||s.'

0reg Allison (National 3paoe
3ooiety) is oonoerned about the
NA3A bureauoraoy, we oonr
neeo anorher bureauorar|o pro-
gram ||ke rhe shurr|e rhar keeps
oommero|a| venrures from oe-
ve|op|ng |aunoh serv|oes."

Andrew Beal (Beal Aerospaoe),
during an effort to build a 1itan-
olass launoher, in 2000 test
fired the largest rooket engine
ever privately finanoed and
built. At 810,000 lbs. vaouum
thrust it was seoond only in size
to the l-1 engine. e olosed the
doors on Beal Aerospaoe later
that year, and explained in a
letter: N4S4 has embarkeo on
a p|an ro oeve|op a seoono
generar|on |aunoh s,srem rhar
w||| be subs|o|zeo b, u.S. rax-
pa,ers ano rhar w||| oompere
o|reor|, w|rh rhe pr|vare seoror.
ln m, oapao|r, as founoer ano
oha|rman of Bea| 4erospaoe, l
prev|ous|, resr|f|eo ro a oon-
gress|ona| suboomm|rree rhar
governmenr subs|o|es ro oom-
per|ng |aunoh prov|oers oonsr|-
rureo rhe pr|vare seorors b|g-
gesr bus|ness r|sk."

1he u.3. 3paoe 1ransportation
Polioy direotly addresses this
kind of oonoern in one of it's
tenets: lefra|n from oonouor-
|ng aor|v|r|es w|rh oommero|a|
app||oar|ons rhar preo|uoe, oe-
rer, or oompere w|rh u.S. oom-
mero|a| spaoe rransporrar|on
aor|v|r|es, un|ess requ|reo b,
nar|ona| seour|r,."

1he new NA3A Administrator
has touohed on this subjeot in
the past, as well: .rhe oeve|-
opmenr of spaoe |aunoh veh|-
o|es has been a|mosr exo|u-
s|ve|, a governmenr enrerpr|se,
ano beoause rhe few ano on|,
oomper|rors have been orher
governmenrs, norma| marker
meohan|sms are absenr, ano
we oonr|nue ro muoo|e a|ong."

Perhaps most eloquently - and
most oontroversially - XC0R
President and CL0 1eff 0rea-
son, in his testimony for the
Presidential Commission on
Moon, Mars and Beyond,
stated: N4S4 oan pos|r|on |r-
se|f ro grow w|rh rhe pr|vare
seoror ver, s|mp|, - b, bu,|ng
spaoe rransporrar|on serv|oes
ava||ab|e on rhe open marker.
1har |s a s|mp|e ru|e w|rh pro-
founo |mp||oar|ons - for l mean
rhar N4S4 shou|o use oommer-
o|a| prov|oers as |rs so|e means
of rransporrar|on ro Farrh orb|r.
1har means rhar |f rhe, oannor
f|no a oommero|a| prov|oer for a
g|ven |aunoh oapab|||r,, 1lFY
MuS1 lU wl1lUu1 l1. Uff-rhe-
she|f rransporrar|on serr|eo rhe
New wor|o, exp|oreo rhe 4mer|-
oan wesr, ano bu||r rhe 4nraro-
r|o srar|ons. Sure|,, |r oan oarr,
us |nro rhe furure. 4|mosr ever,
br|oge ano bu||o|ng |n rhe wor|o
was bu||r w|rh parrs rhar oome
on rruoks |n 25 ron p|eoes. 1he
Spaoe Srar|on |s bu||r from 25
ron p|eoes. 1he Sourh lo|e sra-
r|on |s bu||r from 20 ron p|eoes
rhar f|r |nro an a|rp|ane. we oan
go ro rhe Moon ano Mars rh|s
wa,." (http://www.xoor.oom/
jeff-aldridge-full.html)

1he u.3. 3paoe 1ransportation
Polioy oan be read to be nearly
as emphatio in these state-
ments:

Purohase oommeroially avail-
able u.3. spaoe transporta-
tion produots and servioes to
the maximum extent possi-
ble, oonsistent with mission
requirements and applioable
law.
lnvolve the u.3. private seotor
in the design and develop-
ment of spaoe transportation
oapabilities to meet united
3tates 0overnment needs.

we stand at the brink of a new
spaoe endeavor, one that oan
and should help fuel the growth
of a nasoent - but primed and
ready - orop of aerospaoe enter-
prises. 1he |ever is the power
that NA3A has at this point in
time to undertake an affordable
exploration program while fos-
tering the oreation of innovative
ways of implementing the vision
for 3paoe Lxploration.
NASA should use
commercial providers as
its sole means of
transportation to Earth
orbit. That means that if
they cannot find a
commercial provider for a
given launch capability,
they must do without it.

Jeff Greason
President and CEO,
XCOR
Sources:

Aviation Week & Space
Technology
The Space Review
U.S. Space Transportation
Space Policy
Aerospace America
Space Shuttle, The History of
the National Space Transpor-
tation System, Dennis Jen-
kins
The Aldridge Report
As you know, honoring and reo-
ognizing AlAA members who
have advanoed the quality and
depth of the aerospaoe profes-
sion is an important AlAA tradi-
tion. Listed below are various
national awards, with brief de-
soription for eaoh award, for
whioh nominations are due on
1uly 1. lf you would like to be
nominated or you know some-
one who deserves to be reoog-
nized for his oontributions,
please oontaot me or the 3eo-
tion Chair. Additional informa-
tion and a list of past reoipients
may be found at www.aiaa.org,
lnside AlAA," onors &
Awards".

My oontaot information - 1el:
281-776-3515, rkbhar-
gavaearthlink.net

Aerospaoe Contribution to 3oo Aerospaoe Contribution to 3oo Aerospaoe Contribution to 3oo Aerospaoe Contribution to 3ooi- i- i- i-
ety ety ety ety Award is presented for a
notable oontribution to sooiety
through the applioation of aero-
spaoe teohnology to sooietal
needs.

Aerospaoe 3oftware Lnginee Aerospaoe 3oftware Lnginee Aerospaoe 3oftware Lnginee Aerospaoe 3oftware Lngineer- r- r- r-
ing Award ing Award ing Award ing Award is presented for out-
standing teohnioal and/or man-
agement oontributions to aero-
nautioal or astronautioal soft-
ware engineering. (Presented
odd-years)

Computer Computer Computer Computer- -- -Aided Lngineering Aided Lngineering Aided Lngineering Aided Lngineering
and Manufaoturing Award and Manufaoturing Award and Manufaoturing Award and Manufaoturing Award pre-
sented in 1988 to an individual
who has oonoeived, defined, or
developed an original oonoept
leading to a signifioant ad-
vanoement in the use of inter-
aotive oomputer graphios for
oonoeptual design, oomputer
imagery, or oomputer-aided de-
sign and oomputer-
manufaoturing. (Presented odd
years)

Uigital Avionios Award Uigital Avionios Award Uigital Avionios Award Uigital Avionios Award is pre-
sented to reoognize outstanding
aohievement in teohnioal man-
agement and/or implementa-
tion of digital avionios in spaoe
or aeronautioal systems, inolud-
ing system analysis, design,
development or applioation.
(Presented odd-years)

Lxoellenoe in Aerospaoe 3ta Lxoellenoe in Aerospaoe 3ta Lxoellenoe in Aerospaoe 3ta Lxoellenoe in Aerospaoe 3tan- n- n- n-
dardization Award dardization Award dardization Award dardization Award is presented
to reoognize oontributions by
individuals that advanoe the
health of the aerospaoe oom-
munity by enabling oooperation,
oompetition, and growth
through the standardization
prooess.

l. L. Newbold v/310L Award l. L. Newbold v/310L Award l. L. Newbold v/310L Award l. L. Newbold v/310L Award is
presented to reoognize out-
standing oreative oontributions
to the advanoement and reali-
zation of powered lift flight in
one or more of the following
areas: initiation, definition and/
or management of key v/310L
programs, development of ena-
bling teohnologies inoluding
oritioal methodology, program
engineering and design, and/or
other relevant related aotivities
or oombinations thereof whioh
have advanoed the soienoe of
powered lift flight.

laoulty Advisor Award laoulty Advisor Award laoulty Advisor Award laoulty Advisor Award is pre-
sented to the faoulty advisor of
a ohartered AlAA 3tudent
Branoh, who in the opinion of
student branoh members, and
the AlAA 3tudent Aotivities Com-
mittee, has made outstanding
oontributions as a student
branoh faoulty advisor, as evi-
denoed by the reoord of his/her
student branoh in looal, re-
gional, and national aotivities.

0ardner 0ardner 0ardner 0ardner- -- -Lasser istory Liter Lasser istory Liter Lasser istory Liter Lasser istory Litera- a- a- a-
ture Award ture Award ture Award ture Award is presented for the
best original oontribution to the
field of aeronautioal or astro-
nautioal historioal non-fiotion
literature published in the last
five years dealing with the soi-
enoe, teohnology, and/or im-
paot of aeronautios and astro-
nautios on sooiety.

aley 3paoe llight Award aley 3paoe llight Award aley 3paoe llight Award aley 3paoe llight Award is pre-
sented for outstanding oontribu-
tions by an astronaut or flight
test personnel to the advanoe-
ment of the art, soienoe or teoh-
nology of astronautios.
(Presented odd years)

istory Manusoript Award istory Manusoript Award istory Manusoript Award istory Manusoript Award is
presented for the best historioal
manusoript dealing with the
soienoe, teohnology, and/or
impaot of aeronautios and as-
tronautios on sooiety.

lnformation 3ystems Award lnformation 3ystems Award lnformation 3ystems Award lnformation 3ystems Award is
presented for teohnioal and/or
management oontributions in
spaoe and aeronautios oom-
puter and sensing aspeots of
information teohnology and soi-
enoe. (Presented odd years)

Lawrenoe 3perry Award Lawrenoe 3perry Award Lawrenoe 3perry Award Lawrenoe 3perry Award is pre-
sented for a notable oontribu-
tion made by a young person to
the advanoement of aeronau-
tios or astronautios. 1he nom|-
nee musr be unoer 35 ,ears of
age on leoember 31 of rhe
,ear preoeo|ng rhe presenra-
r|on.

Losey Atmospherio 3oienoes Losey Atmospherio 3oienoes Losey Atmospherio 3oienoes Losey Atmospherio 3oienoes
Award Award Award Award is presented for reoogni-
tion of outstanding oontribu-
tions to the atmospherio soi-
enoes as applied to the ad-
vanoement of aeronautios and
astronautios.

Pendray Aerospaoe Literature Pendray Aerospaoe Literature Pendray Aerospaoe Literature Pendray Aerospaoe Literature
Award Award Award Award is presented for an out-
standing oontribution or oontri-
butions to aeronautioal and
astronautioal literature in the
relatively reoent past. 1he em-
phasis should be upon the high
quality or major influenoe of the
pieoe rather than, for example,
the importanoe of the underly-
ing teohnologioal oontribution.
1he award is an inoentive for
aerospaoe professionals to
write eloquently and persua-
sively about their field and
should enoompass editorials as
well as papers or books.

3paoe Prooessing Award 3paoe Prooessing Award 3paoe Prooessing Award 3paoe Prooessing Award is pre-
sented for signifioant oontribu-
tions in spaoe prooessing or in
(Continued on page 7)
Page 6
CaII for Nominations for NationaI Awards
DR. RAKESH BHARGAVA, CHAR HONORS & AWARDS
(Continued from page 6)
furthering the use of miorograv-
ity for spaoe prooessing,
(Presented even years)

3ummerfield Book Award 3ummerfield Book Award 3ummerfield Book Award 3ummerfield Book Award is
named in honor of Ur. Martin
3ummerfield, founder and initial
editor of the Progress in Astro-
nautios and Aeronautios 3eries
of books published by the AlAA.
1he award is presented to the
author of the best book reoently
published by AlAA. Criteria for
the seleotion inolude quality
and professional aooeptanoe as
evidenoed by impaot on the
field, oitations, olassroom adop-
tions and sales.

3ystem Lffeotiveness and 3ystem Lffeotiveness and 3ystem Lffeotiveness and 3ystem Lffeotiveness and
3afety Award 3afety Award 3afety Award 3afety Award is presented for
outstanding oontributions to the
field of system effeotiveness
and safety or its related disoi-
plines.

wright Brothers Memorial 1r wright Brothers Memorial 1r wright Brothers Memorial 1r wright Brothers Memorial 1ro- o- o- o-
phy Award phy Award phy Award phy Award, sponsored by the
Aero Club of washington, is pre-
sented for signifioant publio
servioe of enduring value to
aviation in the united 3tates
and was established to honor
the wright Brothers annually.

Page 7
Last month we remembered
orew members of Columbia on
their seoond death anniversary.
1o pay homage to the first ln-
dian Amerioan Astronaut Kal-
pana Chawla, students of her
oollege (at Chandigarh, lndia,
where she oompleted her
Baohelor degree in Aeronautios)
and many others living in lndia
and abroad have joined hands
and established Kalpana
Chawla Memorial loundation
(KCMl) to fulfill the dreams (of
reaohing to stars) initiated by
her and enoourage students to
pursue oareer in soienoe and
engineering, partioularly in the
field of aerospaoe engineering.
Kalpana initiated to sponsor
high sohool students from lndia
to visit NA3A. 1he KCMl will
oontinue efforts initiated by her.
3ome of the objeotives of this
loundation inolude: to promote
exohange programs for teaoh-
ers, soientists and researohers
in the areas of aeronautios and
aerospaoe, to set-up Lntrepre-
neur Uevelopment lnstitute for
oreating more jobs, and provide
finanoial support to under-
privileged students. 1o initiate
aotivities of the newly estab-
lished loundation, l was given
privilege to give the first Memo-
rial Leoture in 0otober last year.
lor me this was a great honor
whioh l aooepted without any
hesitation. ln addition, this gave
me an opportunity to visit my
oollege from where l oompleted
my undergraduate degree
(Kalpana and myself both
graduated from the same de-
partment).

Uuring my trip in 0otober, l also
had an opportunity to visit the
sohool where Kalpana had oom-
pleted her seoondary eduoation
and met her Prinoipal and other
teaohers. 0n behalf of the AlAA
ouston 3eotion, l presented
the aviation poster, developed
as a part of the Centennial of
llight oelebration, to her high
sohool and oollege. with this
distribution, the poster devel-
oped by the AlAA ouston 3eo-
tion has been shared interna-
tionally.
KaIpana ChawIa MemoriaI Foundation
DR. RAKESH BHARGAVA, CHAR HONORS & AWARDS
Astronaut Kalpana Chawla
This column points out useful web sites, documents, policy papers, periodicals, etc.

PreIiminary Concept Studies for the Vision for Space ExpIoration
http://www.nasa.gov/missions/solarsystem/vision_concepts.html

t/Space Mid-Term Architecture Briefing
http://www.transformspace.com/Background.htm

Human Rating Requirements and GuideIines for Space FIight Systems
http://www.aoe.vt.edu/~cdhall/courses/aoe4065/NASADesignSPs/N_PG_8705_0002_.pdf

AIAA Space Logistics TechnicaI Committee
http://www.aiaa.org/tc/sl/

James Oberg
http://www.jamesoberg.com

Federation of American Scientists
http://www.fas.org/

KIabs.org: NASA Office of Logic Design
http://www.klabs.org

ApoIIo Guidance Computer and Other Computer History
http://klabs.org/richcontent/Misc_Content/AGC_And_History/AGC_History.htm

Great Images in NASA (GRIN - highIy recommended site)
http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/

NASA History Division
http://history.nasa.gov

NASA Lessons Learned Information System
http://llis.nasa.gov
For example, the large
number of expected launch
operations in the ETO
mission represent
fundamentally different
risks than conducting the
first BEO mission to Mars.
Single mission risk on the
order of 0.99 for a BEO
mission may be acceptable,
while considerably better
performance, on the order
of 0.9999, is expected for a
reusable ETO design that
will fly 100 or more
flights.

- Human Rating
Requirements and Guidelines
for Space Flight Systems
1he 2005 Annual 1eohnioal
3ymposium is soheduled for
May 6
th
at the 0ilruth Center.
1his year's theme is 3paoe Lx-
ploration lnitiative, with several
topios slated for disoussion:
1he New 3paoe Raoe
Crew Lxploration vehiole
Return to the Moon
Robotio Missions
3paoe 0perations
Aerospaoe 1eohnology

1he A13 planning oommittee
has been hard at work develop-
ing an outstanding program.
1his year's program will inolude
a keynote speeoh by 313-114
Lead llight Uireotor Paul ill, a
lunoheon speeoh by 13C Ueputy
Uireotor, Col. Bob Cabana, and
an evening reoeption whioh will
feature a tribute to the late Max
laget.

3ome key dates to remember:

Speaker Registration
and Abstract Deadline
Monday ApriI 18

Reservation Deadline
for Lunch
Wednesday ApriI 27
1he symposium provides looal
engineers/soientists/eto. the
opportunity to showoase their
work to the 13C oommunity.
1he symposium also presents
an opportunity for lioensed pro-
fessional engineers to earn oon-
tinuing eduoation oredits. AlAA
membership or 13C badging is
not required. A $5 registration
fee will be oharged to attendees
and presenters. Please visit the
2005 A13 website www.aiaa-
houston.org/ats2005 for more
information.
Page 8
Staying Informed
COMPLED BY JON S. BERNDT, EDTOR "HORZONS
2005 AnnuaI TechnicaI Symposium
TM PROPP, VCE CHAR, TECHNCAL
lt is often said that the aero-
spaoe industry is the only plaoe
where you oan have the same
job for five years and work for
five different oompanies. 1hat is
espeoially true given the indus-
try wide oonsolidation that has
happened in the last few years.
As oompanies have ohanged so
have the building signs and the
business oards.

with all of these potential
ohanges have you verified if
your AlAA member reoord is up
to date? Knowing where our
members are working is vital to
the ouston 3eotion in obtain-
ing oorporate support for looal
AlAA aotivities (suoh as our
monthly dinner meeting, work-
shops, eto.). Please take a few
minutes and visit the AlAA web-
site to update your member
information or oall oustomer
servioe at 1-800-NLw-AlAA
(639-2422). leel free to also
oontaot me at 281-244-7121.

1he AlAA-ouston seotion is
ourrently missing information
for the following members. lf
you know where they are,
please let them know their oon-
taot information is not up to
date for AlAA. 0r, if you prefer,
email me, Llizabeth.o.
blomenasa.gov with any oon-
taot information you have.

3oott Bourgeois
Amanda Collins
1ustin Uoyle
Uavid Keef
Uavid King
Kyle Kraft
3teve Lee
Kwang Paiok
Brent 3ohultz
Chaine 3elig
Nioholas 1yler
Lmily unbehaun
1imothy welsh
Page 9
he|p A|AA he|p You - Update Your Hembersh|p Records
ELZABETH BLOME, MEMBERSHP CHARPERSON
New Members
ELZABETH BLOME, MEMBERSHP CHARPERSON
lf you see one of the folks at the
next seotion event, please give
them a hearty weloome!

Laurie Aubin
1ohn Birdsong
1ulia Bodenhamer, League Cty Llem
Uennis Chim
3amuel Collis, 3andia National Labs
Bill Ueoker
Peggy Lddy
Mandakh Lnkh
Mary lallon
3usan lontanilla
1ames lisher
Natalie 0oldberger
Addie 0ollette
3arah 0raham
3id amid
Nathaniel arris
1ara lnsoore, irsoh Llementary
3alma lssa
Lina Karimi
Melissa Larsen
Nghia Le, westbury igh 3ohool
1homas Miller
Kassie Moore, 3eabrook lntermdt.
Anastasioa Muliana, 1exas A & M
1ennifer Needham
Uavid Peters
Matthew Posey
elen Reed
wilma Robinson, ouston 0ardens
0opal 3alvady
Bambi 3purgeon, untington l3U
Kristie 3taas
Brian 1nady
Myesha 1homas, u3A
Rouyana vekilov
Liz warren
3tephanie witherspoon
Membership Upgrades
ou are eligible for 3enior Mem-
ber status if you have over eight
years of professional praotioe in
the arts, soienoes, or teohnology
of aeronautios or astronautios.
ou may be nominated for Asso-
oiate lellow status if you have
over 12 years of professional
praotioe in the arts, soienoes, or
teohnology of aeronautios or
astronautios and are ourrently a
3enior Member. ou may be
nominated for lellow if you
have personally made notable
and valuable oontributions in
the field of aeronautios or astro-
nautios and are ourrently an
Assooiate lellow. ou may be
nominated for onorary lellow
if you are a person of eminenoe
in aeronautios or astronautios,
reoognized by a long and highly
oontributive oareer in the arts,
soienoes, or teohnology of these
fields, and are a ourrent lellow.

AlAA does not oharge a fee to
upgrade your membership. our
dues only inorease when you
are eleoted to lellow grade.

3enior Member applioations are
aooepted and prooessed eaoh
month. Assooiate lellow nomi-
nation forms are due by 15 April
of eaoh year, and referenoes
are then due by 15 May. lellow
and onorary lellow nomina-
tion forms are due by 15 1une
of eaoh year, and referenoe
forms are then due 15 1uly.

1o reoeive AlAA membership
upgrade information, simply oall
AlAA Customer 3ervioe at
800/639-AlAA. 0utside the
united 3tates, oall 703/264-
7500. 1he Customer 3ervioe
representatives will be glad to
forward membership upgrade
information to you.
Importaat aotes:
Not a member? 3ee the end
page.
New NASA Administra-
tor Michael Griffin was
three weeks away from
becoming the next AIAA
President at the time of
his confirmation on
April 14.
1he AlAA istorio Aerospaoe
3ites Program" was started in
2000 to reoognize sites in our
history that oontributed to the
advanoement of the aerospaoe
field. Lxamples of sites already
designated inolude the Boeing
Red Barn, the site of Robert
0oddard's first rooket launoh,
NA3A Marshall 3paoe llight
Center, NA3A Langley, lirst Bal-
loon Launoh 3ite Annonay
lranoe, Kitty awk, and 1ran-
quility Base. 1his year a team
of AlAA ouston members and
members of the NA3A publio
affairs offioe are working to reo-
ognize 1he National Aeronautios
and 3paoe Administra-
tion Lyndon B. 1ohn-
son 3paoe Center as a
istorio Aerospaoe
3ite.

1he primary motiva-
tion of this team has
been the faot that 1he
Lyndon B. 1ohnson
3paoe Center (13C)
has played a vital role
in all human spaoe
exploration programs
from 0emini, Apollo,
3kylab, 3paoe 3huttle,
through the lnterna-
tional 3paoe 3tation,
and is at the forefront
in making future expe-
ditions to the Moon,
Mars, and beyond a
reality. As a result, we
believe that this site
deserves reoognition
as a istorio Aero-
spaoe 3ite.

1he AlAA ouston
team has submitted a
nomination paoket to
the AlAA national of-
fioe in Reston, virginia.
1his paoket has been
reviewed and ao-
oepted. ln the ooming
months the AlAA ous-
ton team is working to
produoe a broohure
and a plaque honoring
the Center. 1his plaque will be
dedioated at Rooket Park during
a oeremony in the ooming
months. 1he wording of the
plaque is as follows:

4mer|oan lnsr|rure of
4eronaur|os ano
4srronaur|os
l|sror|o 4erospaoe S|re
N4S4 1ohnson Spaoe 0enrer
(lousron, 1exas)

3inoe its establishment in 1961
the 1ohnson 3paoe Center
(formerly the Manned 3paoe-
oraft Center) has led Amerioa's
efforts in human spaoe explora-
tion. 1he numerous oontribu-
tions of this site inolude ad-
vanoes in spaoeoraft develop-
ment and life and spaoe soi-
enoes - as well as for hosting
Mission Control and the Astro-
naut Corps. 1he 1ohnson 3paoe
Center has played a vital role in
all human spaoe exploration
programs from 0emini, Apollo,
3kylab, and the 3paoe 3huttle,
through the lnternational 3paoe
3tation, and it is at the forefront
in making future expeditions to
the Moon, Mars, and beyond a
reality.
Page 10
AIAA Houston Nominates Johnson Space Center .
AARON MORRS, HSTORY
The primary motivation
of this team has been the
fact that the Lyndon B.
Johnson Space Center
(JSC) has played a vital
role in all human space
exploration programs
from Gemini, Apollo,
Skylab, Space Shuttle,
through the International
Space Station; and is at
the forefront in making
future expeditions to the
Moon, Mars, and beyond
a reality.
A oelebration erupts in Mission Control at the 1ohnson 3paoe Center at the A oelebration erupts in Mission Control at the 1ohnson 3paoe Center at the A oelebration erupts in Mission Control at the 1ohnson 3paoe Center at the A oelebration erupts in Mission Control at the 1ohnson 3paoe Center at the
suooessful oonolusion of the Apollo 11 mission. suooessful oonolusion of the Apollo 11 mission. suooessful oonolusion of the Apollo 11 mission. suooessful oonolusion of the Apollo 11 mission.
hydrodynamio tests. lor it's
time, 1973-1975, this was
quite an advanoed airoraft. lt
pushed the outting edge to its
limits. lt was approximately the
size of a small oar, and oould fit
into a normal garage with quiok
disassembly of a few parts. 1he
ouston seotion thanks Bill for
flying in from 3an Uiego to give
this interesting presentation.

0eneral 1efferson owell ad-
dressed the ouston 3eotion
with a 3tate of the Center" Ad-
dress, oonduoted on 1hursday,
lebruary 24
th
. e joked that
the state of the oenter is 1exas,
and gave a quiok off the ouff
presentation about 1hings that
are on (his) mind". 1o summa-
rize briefly, Return to llight of
the 3huttle is of great impor-
tanoe. 1ohnson 3paoe Center
has been given presidential
orders to return the shuttle to
flight, oonstruot the interna-
tional spaoe station, and build a
Crew Lxploration vehiole, whioh
is a replaoement for the spaoe
Page 11
ln the month of lebruary, the
ouston 3eotion hosted two
dinner meetings. 0n wednes-
day, lebruary 16
th
Bill Chana
disoussed the development of a
triphibian airoraft, a high teoh-
nology researoh and develop-
ment projeot for Rohr lndus-
tries, best known for its airoraft
engines. 1he triphibian airoraft
oould land on water, snow, or
land. An advanoed oonoept
prototype was designed, built,
and flight-tested. 1he airoraft
had a duoted fan propulsion
system, a delta wing, all-
oomposite struoture, and a
oombination landing gear and
water skis. ydrodynamio tests
were oonduoted with small and
large soale models. 1he small
soale model was even pulled
behind a boat to test drag on
the skis. 1here were many les-
sons learned in this develop-
ment program. we saw slides
that oovered the oonstruotion,
propulsion installation, taxi
tests and flight tests, with a
video that showed the taxi and
shuttle, oapable of ferrying as-
tronauts and soientists to the
3paoe 3tation after the shuttle
is retired. But the main purpose
of this spaoeoraft will be to
oarry astronauts beyond our
orbit to other worlds. 1his will be
the first spaoeoraft of its kind
sinoe the Apollo Command
Module. After oompleting these
tasks, we'll look beyond our
own planet, and look towards
the Moon and Mars. 1hese are
frightening times for NA3A,
there is a great amount of pres-
sure on us to perform, but suo-
oess builds suooess, and we will
pull through and oomply with
the tasks given to us by presi-
dential orders. Budget is a oon-
oern to everyone, but we will
find the money and do what we
have been instruoted to do.
Many thanks go out to 0eneral
owell for taking the time to
share his vision and the presi-
dent's vision with us of the year
to oome at 1ohnson 3paoe Cen-
ter.

Dinner Meeting Reports
DANEL NOBLES, PROGRAMS
Uuring Lngineers week the Pro-
fessional Uevelopment and
Career Lnhanoement Commit-
tee held a Lunoh & Learn on
lebruary 23 oonoerning oareer
traoks. 1he Lunoh & Learn was
organized so that the oommu-
nity would have a ohanoe to
ask their peers how the panel-
ists arrived at their present
oareers. 1he 6 panelist that
the audienoe addressed their
questions too inoluded Brett
Anderson, Robert lisher, Albert
0onzales, Larry 1uoker, Chet
vaughan, and Cynthia wells. A
oouple of the questions asked
of these panelists are para-
phrased in the following list:
ow do l get my manager to
reoognize that l am ready for
more responsibility or more in
depth tasks?", As a hiring
manager do you look at
whether the oandidate has a
masters degree and in what
field?", ow has professional
organizations helped your oa-
reer?", why did you pursue a
masters degree or Professional
Lngineers Lioense?" lor more
information on these topios
visit the following websites to
see what they have to offer for
oareer development.

1exas Board of Professional
Lngineers
http://www.tbpe.state.tx.us/

AlAA
http://www.aiaa.org/

3naoks and drinks were pro-
vided and the final head oount
was approximately 30+ atten-
dees. Many thanks to our won-
derful panelists, as they did a
great job providing helpful re-
sponses to tough questions.
What's Your Next Step?
ELZABETH ZAPATA, PROFESSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Page 12
1he history of aeronautioal teoh-
nology oonoerns muoh more
than just the nuts and bolts of
airplanes and spaoeoraft. lt in-
volves muoh more than just the
history of propellers and wings,
more than the history of landing
gear and jet engines, more than
the ornithology of P-51s and l-
22s, or the genealogy of X-
planes. 1he history of flight
teohnology is just as muoh a
story of people and ideas as are
histories dealing with any other
topio related to sooiety and oul-
ture. without question, soholars
who write about the history of
flight teohnology have a lot to
say about the researoh, design,
building, flying, maintaining,
and utilizing of aerospaoe vehi-
oles, but their studies are no
less human, no less oonneoted
to sooial or politioal or aesthetio
foroes, beoause they deal with
teohnioal things.

1he history of aeronautioal teoh-
nology tells us a lot about our
existenoe as a thinking, dream-
ing, planning, soheming, aspir-
ing, and playful speoies. As
aerospaoe industry analysts
william U. 3iuru and 1ohn U.
Busiok have noted in relation to
their study of the evolution of
modern airoraft teohnology,
humankind's journey through
the ages has been not only
eased and aooelerated, but also
oomp||oareo by our unique and
irrepressible knaok for teohnol-
ogy and invention. lrom the
stone ax and olay pot of prehis-
tory to the eleotron miorosoope,
oomputer, and spaoeoraft of the
20
th
oentury, our teohnologioal
oreations have been ingenious,
phenomenal, and oooasionally
for good and for illof world
shaking signifioanoe.

1his is, by all means, true for
the airplane, one of the most
ingenious and phenomenalif
slow-to-oomeinventions in our
history, and surely one of the
oould have been so ordinarily
naive about the foroes in the
world around them. Maybe
someday their vision will be
proved right, and the world will
disoover, as the wrights did,
that peaoe, like flight, requires
not brute power, but oontrol
and balanoe.

Contrary to what many engi-
neers, most teohnoorats, and
the great majority of industrial
entrepreneurs seem to believe,
oontrary to people who use the
internet to read the morning
paper, or to golfers who oannot
enjoy a round of golf without
riding in an eleotrio golf oart and
swinging a $500 titanium-
headed driver, oontrary to what
many people in modern oon-
sumer sooiety seem to believe,
reohno|og, |s nor |nherenr|,
gooo. ln the words of one of the
founding fathers of the history
of teohnology as a disoipline,
Melvin C. Kranzberg,
'teohnology is [aotually] neither
good, nor bad, nor is it neutral.'
Kranzberg oalled this '1he lirst
Law of the istory of 1eohnol-
ogy.'

No teohnology is absolutely, by-
its-very nature 'good.' And none
is bad. But neither is teohnology
ever neurra|. Uepending on how
we design the teohnology, and
even more on how we use the
teohnology, it will affeot us, it
will ohange us, in some way.
whether the effeots and
ohanges turn out to be good or
bad, or both inseparably to-
gether, is not predestined in the
inherent qualities of the teoh-
nology itself (as the wright
brothers seemed to have
thought about the airplane) but
rather it depends on the
broader oontext and values
within whioh we live our lives.
1he human oonsequenoes of
the airplane have gone far be-
yond what the wrights or any-
(Continued on page 13)
most world-shaking. ln how
many ways has the flying ma-
ohine ohanged sooiety? As An-
toine de 3aint Lxupery wrote in
1939, it has 'unveiled for us
the true faoe of the Larth.' lt
has brought people together. lt
has ohanged our eoonomy. lt
has added an unpreoedented
new dimension to warfare. lt
has affeoted suoh things as
government, publio administra-
tion, international relations,
international polioies, manufao-
turing, marketing, mining, oities,
real estate, media, railroads,
ooean shipping, agrioulture,
forestry, and muoh more. lt has
affeoted population, the family,
religion, health, reoreation, edu-
oation, orime, even sex.

And it has not been all for the
good, of oourse. what ever |s
'all good'? ln the 90 years from
the tragio death of Lt. 1homas
3elfridge in 0rville wright's air-
plane at lort Myers, virginia, in
1908 to the 3wissair disaster
off Nova 3ootia in summer of
1998, there has never been a
time when aviation did not
know terrible aooidents. Avia-
tion has also raised human oon-
fliot to new heights (or depths)
of destruotion. Uespite this, the
flying maohine has always in-
spired 'great expeotations'
perhaps too great given that it
is, after all, just one of our
man, maohines. 0rville wright
himself summed up our loftiest
ambitions for aviation when he
said that it had been his hope
(and that of brother wilbur) that
they were giving the world 'an
invention whioh would make
further wars praotioally impossi-
ble.' unfortunately, history
proved them wrong, and it did
not take long to do it. As muoh
as we admire the 'Bishop's
Boys' for their dream of a be-
nevolent instrument of global
peaoe, we are equally aston-
ished by how suoh extraordinar-
ily olear and logioal thinkers
TechnoIogy and the History of Aeronautics:
An Essay
DR. JAMES R. HANSEN, PROFESSOR OF HSTORY, AUBURN UNVERSTY
The history of flight
technology is just as much
a story of people and ideas
as are histories dealing
with any other topic
related to society and
culture.
Page 13
1his sequenoe of develop-
mentsrequirements (or
needs), teohnology, oonoepts
has been, and still is, basio to
the teohnologioal progress of
most modern airoraftand per-
haps a|| military airoraft.
'Requirements push and teoh-
nology pulls' may be just a more
oomplioated way of the old say-
ing: 'Neoessity is the mother of
invention.' 1here is a lot of oom-
mon sense, and quite a bit of
historioal validity, to this anoient
aphorism, but it is also true that
it is not always the oaseor al-
ways that illuminating of what is
going on. 3ometimes 'Neoessity
is nor the mother of invention,'
but just the opposite: 'lnvenr|on
is the mother of neoessity.' 1his
is in faot Melvin Kranzberg's
seoond law of the history of
teohnologyand it makes us
think about aerospaoe teohnol-
ogy in some very important
ways.

0noe the wrights invented the
airplane, all sorts of things then
really needed to happen. 0ver
the oourse of the next 30 some
years, the airplane was in a
sense re|nvenreo as the
wrights' aohievement was oom-
pletely rethought and reworked
by emerging groups of profes-
sionals dedioated to the air-
plane's improvement and
greater praotioality. what
Kranzberg's seoond law tells us
is that 'Lvery teohnioal innova-
tion seems to require additional
teohnioal advanoes in order to
make it fully effeotive.' ln the
oase of the airplane, the inven-
tion quiokly neoessitated all
sorts of auxiliary teohnologies:
advanoed struotures and mate-
rials, new wing shapes, stream-
lined aerodynamios, retraotable
landing gear, effioient low-drag
engine oowlings, variable-pitoh
propellers, and muoh more. But
perhaps even more importantly,
it also neoessitated new sooial
forms and organizations (like
military air servioes, airlines,
airports, government bureaus,
researoh laboratories, engineer-
ing ourrioula, and muoh else) in
order to make the airplane
(Continued from page 12)
one else imagined in 1903. lf it
had been invented at a different
time, or if it had been intro-
duoed into a different oontext or
under different oiroumstanoes,
the invention of the airplane
might have led to quite different
results. ln this oase, as in oth-
ers, '1he river of history oould
have out a different oanyon.'
Kranzberg's first law reminds us
to 'oompare short-term versus
long-term results, the utopian
hopes versus the spotted aotu-
ality, the what-might-have-been
against what aotually hap-
pened, and the trade-offs
among various 'goods' and pos-
sible 'bads''. All of these oom-
parisons oan be made 'by see-
ing how teohnology interaots in
different ways with different
values and institutions, indeed,
with the entire sooiooultural
milieu.'

But Kranzberg's first law is not
the only 'law' apropos to oon-
sideration of the history of flight
teohnology. Another basio in-
sight oomes not from historians,
but from those who work in the
aerospaoe industry. 1here is a
saying in the aerospaoe indus-
try: 'Requirements push and
teohnology pulls.' what this
means, in a nutshell, is that the
requirements of new missions,
or even the need to do ourrent
jobs better, are often what is
driving engineers and soientists
to work on the leading edge of
teohnology. 1hey are being
'pushed' by ever more demand-
ing requirements to find solu-
tions to problems through the
invention of new ideas. 1eohnol-
ogy then 'pulls' by attraoting
those whose job it is to find a
way to meet the requirements
to the newest oonoepts germi-
nating in university, govern-
ment, and oommeroial laborato-
ries. lor the 'push and pull' to
work together effeotively, it then
takes a forward-thinking plan-
ner smart enough to envision a
way to use the new teohnology
suooessfully in the design of a
brand new airoraft.

more fully praotioable. 'while it
might be said that eaoh of
these other developments oo-
ourred in a response to a spe-
oifio need,' Kranzberg olaimed
'it was the original invention
that mothered the neoessity.'

lt is important to undersoore
one last, essential point. 1ust
beoause the history of teohnol-
ogy involves teohnology, it does
not mean that teohnioal faotors
always take preoedenoe. ln the
real world, so-oalled 'soft' and
'mushy' things like politios and
oulture, like what bankers think
oan make them money or what
aotivists say may harm the envi-
ronment, often override good
teohnioal or engineering logio.
4no rhe, shou|o. 3ome might
say that is why an Amerioan 331
has never flown. 1hat is why in
the history of the Amerioan
spaoe program, all the thought-
ful and well intentioned talk
about 'the next logioal step' has
almost never led to it. After
launohing a man into spaoe via
Projeot Meroury, NA3A said that
the next logioal step was to es-
tablish a permanent manned
presenoe in low earth orbit, but
instead the oountry landed men
on the Moon. After going to the
Moon via Projeot Apollo, the
next logioal step was to build an
earth-orbiting spaoe station
along with a spaoe shuttle to
servioe it, but instead the Nixon
Administration deoided that the
oountry oould not afford both
and oould manage temporarily
with just the shuttle, even
though the spaoe station had
always been the shuttle's main
reason for existing. After the
shuttle, surely the next logioal
step was to build a spaoe sta-
tion, but onoe again the oountry
found reasons to postpone
building one.

Clearly, logio does not deter-
mine the history of teohnology,
and teohnologioally 'sweet' so-
lutions do not always triumph
over politioal and sooial foroes.
istorioal logio, if we even want
to use that phrase, is not the
(Continued on page 14)
Sometimes "Necessity is
not the mother of inven-
tion," but just the oppo-
site: "Invention is the
mother of necessity."

Page 14
(Continued from page 13)
logio of engineers and soien-
tists, it is the logio of Lewis Car-
roll's 1hrough rhe look|ng
C|ass. ln that all-too-real fan-
tasy land, 1weedledee explains
logio to Alioe: 'Contrariwise, if it
was so, it might be, and if it
were so, it would be, but as it
isn't, it ain't. 1hat's logio.'
1weedledee's logio is the only
kind the Amerioan spaoe pro-
gram has ever known, or proba-
bly ever will.

3o, if you stumble aoross a
book on a topio in the history of
aerospaoe teohnology, do not
be put off beoause you might
think its author's brain is full of
just engineering tables and
equations. 1hat will not prove to
be the oase. 1here is a lot of
'soft and mushy stuff' up there
also. lt is what makes our spe-
oies human, it is part of what
makes us brilliant, and a large
part of what drives us nuts. lt is
what makes the history of teoh-
nology one of the most oomplex
and fasoinating subjeots one
oan possibly study.

1here may be a bigger message
here as well. ln 1998 Mioro-
soft's Bill 0ates said about the
wright brothers' invention in a
speeoh he gave at 1|me Maga-
z|ne's 75
th
anniversary oelebra-
tion of the airplane that 'we
have to understand that engi-
neering breakthroughs are not
just meohanioal or soientifio,
they are liberating foroes that
oan oontinually improve peo-
ple's lives.'

Let us hope that the flying ma-
ohine, in the 21
st
oentury, does
'free' us, in more pos|r|ve ways,
than it has been able to do in
the oentury just passed. 1here
is no guarantee that it will. But
like our dear wright brothers
gazing into their future that is
our present, let us prooeed into
this new millennium with opti-
mism that our globe's politioal
environment will improve so
that our future generations oan
enjoy our teohnioal advanoes
and not be destroyed by them.
lt is something in whioh the
wrights would want us not only
to apply our best problem-
solving and inventive skills, but
also in whioh to invest our limit-
less oapaoity to hope and to
trust.

j1hanks ro lr. lansen for a||ow-
|ng us ro repr|nr rh|s arr|o|e.]
A Lunch
and Learn
Summary Report
Network 6entr|c 6omput|ng for Aerospace App||cat|ons
TM PROPP, VCE-CHAR, TECHNCAL
1he Lxtra-vehioular Aotivities
1eohnioal Committee hosted a
Lunoh and Learn seminar on
1anuary 20, 2005. Nazareth
Bedrossian of the Charles 3tark
Uraper Laboratory gave a very
popular teohnioal
briefing on Net-
work Centrio Com-
puting for Aero-
spaoe Applioations
to 16 members of
the 13C oommu-
nity.

Network Centrio
Computing (NCC)
desoribes a set of
networked oom-
puters that are
used for resouroe
sharing and ooor-
dinated problem solving. 1wo
oategories of NCC, internet
oomputing, and distributed
simulation, were desoribed with
example applioations. lnternet
oomputing desoribes oentral-
ized applioations aooessed by
geographioally distributed us-
ers. ln this oategory, two inter-
nally developed software prod-
uots were reviewed, e3im and
v33im. e3im is web server soft-
ware that enables multiple us-
ers to aooess any simulation via
the web. 1he ourrent version
runs under the unix 03. An in-
teraotive version of e3im has
also been developed. Lxamples
of e3im developed by Uraper
inolude the Uraper 3tation
Analysis 1ool (U3A1), Uraper
3tation 3imulation (U33) for
Mathworks, and 3huttle lnterao-
tive 0n-0rbit 3imulation (l03).
v33im is a virtual 3ystem 3imu-
lation framework that provides
a geographioally dispersed user
oommunity the oapability to
share models without revealing
souroe oode, and oreate simu-
lations from them on a oentral
oomputer. 1he software fea-
tures a subsystem model re-
pository" that oan be populated
with models from a variety of
languages/tools, and provides
model migration pathways to
hardware-in-the-loop simulation
environments.

Uistributed simulation involves
geographioally distributed soft-
ware subsystems, whioh are
assembled into oomplete simu-
lations over a network by geo-
graphioally distributed users. ln
this oategory, an internally de-
veloped software produot,
XNsim, was reviewed. XNsim
(eXtensible Network simulation)
provides the oapability to as-
semble simulations from re-
motely shared models without
revealing model souroe oode.
Ur. Bedrossian reviewed an
XNsim demo developed for the
2002 AlAA 0N&C Conferenoe.
A simulation was assembled in
Monterey, California from sub-
system models exeouting on
nodes in ouston, 1exas and
Munioh, 0ermany. Additional
examples are available at
http://www.jso.draper.oom/noo.

Naz Bedrossian has been in-
volved in spaoeoraft simulation
development, oontrol system
design and verifioation for over
15 years. e is the group leader
for aerospaoe systems at 1he
Charles 3tark Uraper Labora-
tory, lno. e holds a PhU from
Ml1.

1he lnternational 3paoe Aotivi-

ties 1eohnioal Committee
hosted a Lunoh and Learn semi-
nar on 1anuary 17, 2005.
Uraper Laboratory's Mark 1aok-
son gave a very popular teohni-
oal briefing on 0raphioal 0bjeot
3imulation 1ools & 1eohniques
to 35 members of the 13C oom-
munity. 1he leoture fooused on
the latest teohnology for spaoe
vehiole mission and guidanoe
simulations. Mr. 1aokson re-
viewed various applioations
developed by the 13C-based
Uraper team for the spaoe flight
oommunity.

1he oore funotionality of the
program builds upon the inher-
ent strengths of graphioal de-
piotion and data flow in Matlab
3imulink, but using an objeot-
oriented approaoh. 1his ap-
proaoh, although
oommon in the
software industry
in general, is not
widely used by the
spaoe flight simu-
lation and oontrols
oommunity. lt im-
proves the usabil-
ity and extendibil-
ity of the 3imulink
paokage, making it
more suitable for
oomplex spaoe
simulations. Mr.
1aokson empha-
sized the value of
a hierarohioal de-
oomposition of simulation data
objeots through the use of oom-
mon 'masks' or abstraotion
layers. 1he effeotiveness of his
team's development was dem-
onstrated in a live demo. Mr.
1aokson designed and built a
multi-body satellite demonstra-
tion 'on-the-fly' and olearly
showed the ease of data build-
ing and organization. 1he flexi-
bility introduoed by his team's
approaoh was also shown, as
the demonstration inoluded
replioation of a many-vehiole
simulation for a mission using
entirely different parameters.
Mark 1aokson has been in-
volved in spaoeoraft simulation
development, oontrol system
design, and verifioation for 10
years. e is a Prinoipal Member
of the 1eohnioal 3taff at 1he
Charles 3tark Uraper Labora-
tory, lno. e holds an M3 from
Ml1.
Page 15
Craph|ca| 0bject 8|mu|at|on Too|s & Techn|ques
TM PROPP, VCE-CHAR, TECHNCAL
/l// 0nooses $c|ence Fa|r w|nners

1he 46
th
annual 3oienoe and
Lngineering lair of ouston
was held Maroh 17-19 at the
0eorge R. Brown Convention
Center. 1his fair is one of the
largest of its kind and draws
regional winners from the 16
oounty area. Laoh year there
are approximately 1200 entries
spanning grades 7-12. 1he fair
also has by far the most speoial
awarding agenoies that give out
their own award at the fair.

0noe again the AlAA ouston
seotion was one of those spe-
oial awarding agenoies and
gave out prizes to the best aero-
spaoe projeot in the 1unior,
Ninth 0rade, and 3enior divi-
sions. 1he award this year was
a book about how things work
signed by NA3A astronaut 1ohn
Phillips. 1he winners also re-
oeived a balsa wood glider, a
toy shuttle, and some other
goodies.

1his year the winners are:

1unior Uivision
Ben Moras, laper 4|rp|anes -
1he lea| Sror,
8
th
0rade, 3t. 1homas More
Catholio 3ohool, ouston

Ninth 0rade Uivision
1iffany Pham, 4|rfo||s. 0amber
ano 4ng|e of 4rraok
9
th
0rade, Clements igh
3ohool, 3ugar Land

3enior Uivision
1oash Cantu, 1, 2, 3 B|asr Uff
11
th
0rade, waltrip igh 3ohool,
ouston

Congratulations to all the stu-
dents who made it to this level
and espeoially to the AlAA win-
ners. lt's great to see suoh an
enthusiastio bunoh of possible
future engineers and soientists.

Outreach and Education
JOY CONRAD KNG, PRE-COLLEGE OUTREACH CHAR
A Lunch
and Learn
Summary Report

Page 16
Outreach and Education
2005 AAA REGON V STUDENT PAPER CONFERENCE
DR. JOHN VALASEK, COLLEGE AND CO-OP CHAR
1he 2005 AlAA Region lv 3tu-
dent Paper Conferenoe was
held on 8-9 April, and hosted by
the university of New Mexioo
3tudent Branoh and the Albu-
querque 3eotion. A total of 40
students and faoulty advisors
from the university of New Mex-
ioo (Albuquerque 3eotion), uni-
versity of 1exas-Arlington (North
1exas 3eotion), and 1exas A&M
university (ouston 3eotion)
attended. 1he lirst Plaoe stu-
dents in the undergraduate
1eohnioal Uivision and the
0raduate 1eohnioal Uivision will
oompete in the National 3tu-
dent Paper Competition at the
2006 AlAA Aerospaoe 3oienoes
Conferenoe in Reno, Nv.
Conferenoe attendees were
treated to tours of the National
Atomio Museum, and Lolipse
Aviation, home of the revolu-
tionary Lolipse 1et for 0eneral
Aviation. A oung Professional
3eminar was also held so that
student attendees oould inter-
faoe with young professionals
and garner oareer advioe.

1he students and faoulty from
1exas A&M university who at-
tended the oonferenoe wish to
express their appreoiation for
the generous support provided
by the ouston 3eotion, whioh
made their attendanoe at this
oonferenoe possible.
undergrad 1eohnioal Uivision

1st Plaoe: Laoh Reeder, 1exas
A&M university, 'Marathon
Long Lnduranoe uAv Uevelop-
ment'

2nd Plaoe: Kyle elbing, 1exas
A&M university, 'lmproving
3equenoing and 3eparation at a
3A13 Airport lnoluding uman
laotors Considerations'

3rd Plaoe: (1lL)
Amanda Lampton, 1exas A&M
university, 'Prediotion of loing
Lffeots on the 3tability and Con-
trol of Light Airplanes'

Chris aag, 1exas A&M univer-
sity, 'Charaoterization of 3hape
Memory Alloy Behavior and Po-
sition Control using Reinforoe-
ment Learning'

0raduate 1eohnioal Uivision

1st Plaoe: university of New
Mexioo student

2nd Plaoe: university of 1exas-
Arlington student

3rd Plaoe: 1apan Kulkarni,
1exas A&M university, 'Crew
Lxploration vehiole: 0ptimal
Uesign 3olutions and Configura-
tion'
ere are all of the results from
the oonferenoe:

0utstanding 3tudent Branoh in
Region lv

1exas A&M university

Aerospaoe istory Uivision
(lreshmen and 3ophomores)

1st Plaoe: 1ose Rodriguez,
1exas A&M university, 'An Ana-
lytioal Approaoh to the Uevelop-
ment of 3putnik in 3oviet Rus-
sia'

2nd Plaoe: university of 1exas-
Arlington student

1eam Uesign Uivision

1st Plaoe: 3hane 3ohouten,
Miohael Albright, Randi llorey,
Chris aag, 0uadalupe Perez,
and Ben Riley, 1exas A&M uni-
versity, '1he 'Revenant' Ad-
vanoed 0unship Uesign'

2nd Plaoe: Brandon Ray, 1imo-
thy 1hornton, 1.1. luller, Kyle
elbing, and Alexandrea Ander-
son, 1exas A&M university,
'Uesign of the UA-222 Negotia-
tor Advanoed 0unship'

3rd Plaoe: university of 1exas-
Arlington team


Texas A & M student branch officers. Merri Sanchez receives award.
Undergrad Technical first thru third place winners
Page 17
Cranium Cruncher
BLL MLLER, JON BERNDT
Last lssue 3olution

1he ferry problem oomes from
the puzzle master himself, Mar-
tin 0ardner, from his book
exaflexagons and 0ther
Mathematioal Uiversions
(1959). lt's in Chapter 12.

l have seen about as many
ways to solve this as solvers. l
like this one the best. Let w =
the width of the river. 0n the
first orossing the ratio of dis-
tanoes traveled by the ferry-
boats is (w-720)/(720). 0n the
next trip it's (2w-400)/(w+400).
ou oan set these two ratios
equal and solve for w. lt oomes
out to 1760 yards, or one mile.
1he speed of the boats oan't be
found, but the ratio of the
speeds is 13/9.

Correot solutions were reoeived
from:

Uouglas azell
lrank Baiamonte
Uarrin Leleux (extra oredit for
showing all his work!)
Ld 3mythe

Maroh April Puzzle: llight
Around the world

A group of airplanes is based on
an island. 1he tank of eaoh
plane holds just enough fuel to
take it halfway around the
world. Any desired amount of
fuel oan be transferred from the
tank of one airoraft to the tank
of another while the airoraft are
in flight. 1he only souroe of fuel
is on the island, and for the pur-
poses of the problem it is as-
sumed there is no time lost in
refueling either in the air or on
the ground.

what is the smallest number of
airoraft that will ensure the
flight of one airoraft around the
world on a great oirole , assum-
ing that the airoraft have the
same oonstant ground speed,
the same rate of fuel oonsump-
tion, and that all airoraft return
safely to their island base?

Please send your answers to
1on at editoraiaa-houston.org.

Names of winners will be pub-
lished in the next issue.


Hint: None of the aircraft in this issues puzzle are Scaled Composites designs!
April
4 Lxeoutive Committee Meeting
14 3ooial
15 Lleotion Ballots sent out
15 Assooiate lellow Nominations due
23 3pirit of llight Airshow - Lone 3tar llight Museum
23 13C 0pen ouse

May
2 Lxeoutive Committee Meeting (0ilruth)
4-5 11th Annual workshop on 'Lnhanoing 3paoe 0perations' 0ilruth
6 Annual 1eohnioal 3ymposium at 0ilruth
laoility 1our (1BU)
15 Ballots should be tallied by May 15th
Compile and submit awards for banquet
linish nomination paokages for lellows
?? Apaohe helioopter demo 13C or Lllington
?? Publio astronomioal observing aotivity u-Clear Lake

1une
2 'Risk Management' by Uavid luller/Boeing
6 Lxeoutive Counoil meeting
16 '1he 3earoh for Lxtraterrestrials' by 3eth 3hostak (AlAA Uistinguished Leoturer), Annual onors
& Awards Banquet

1uly
1 'l33 Phantom 1orque' by Ur. 1aok Baoon/NA3A-13C
14-15 Region Leadership Conferenoe in 1uoson, AL
Page 18
Odds and Ends
SPECAL EVENTS, PCTORALS, ETC.
Page 19
NASA Space Pioneer John Young, Astronaut Without Equal, Retires NASA Space Pioneer John Young, Astronaut Without Equal, Retires NASA Space Pioneer John Young, Astronaut Without Equal, Retires NASA Space Pioneer John Young, Astronaut Without Equal, Retires
John Young's achievements during his 42-year career at NASA are unmatched. He was the first human to fly in space six times and launch seven times, six times from
Earth and once from the moon. He is the only astronaut to pilot four different types of spacecraft, flying in the Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs. Young is the
longest serving astronaut in history. His retirement from NASA is effective Dec. 31. - NASA
Houston Section
P.O. Box 57524
Webster, TX 77598
AIAA Mission

Advance the arts, sciences, and technology of aerospace, and nurture and promote the
professionalism of those engaged in these pursuits. AIAA seeks to meet the professional needs and
interests of its members, as well as to improve the public understanding of the profession and its
contributions.
Are you interested in beooming a member of AlAA, or renewing your
membership? ou oan fill out your membership applioation online at
the AlAA national web site:

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3eleot the AlAA membership option.
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