Aerospace New England Jun 2006

Aerospace New England
Jun 2006
Newsletter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, New England Section
Section Chair
Jeanne Hartley-Talbourdet
[email protected]
Vice-Chair
Doug Joyce, Col. USAF (Ret.)
[email protected]
Treasurer
Charles Wilson
[email protected]
Secretary
Elise Erikson
[email protected]
Education & Workforce
Peter Young, Col. USAF (Ret.)
[email protected]
Honors & Awards Chair
Elise Erikson
[email protected]
Newsletter Editor
Ray Erikson
[email protected]
Pre-College Chair
Peter Young, Col. USAF (Ret.)
[email protected]
Public Policy Chair
Phil Hattis
[email protected]
RAC Representative
Caroline Lamb
[email protected]
Faculty Advisors
Boston University
Prof. Todd Murray
[email protected]
Daniel Webster College
Doug Joyce, Col. USAF (Ret.)
[email protected]
MIT
Peter Young, Col. USAF (Ret.)
[email protected]
University of MA, Lowell
Prof. Eugene Niemi
[email protected]
Dartmouth University
Prof. Marc Lessard
[email protected]
NASA continues to refine the Shuttle’s replacement for manned flight
operations. Will the field joints in the long, skinny booster withstand
launch loads without stabilization by attachment to a core vehicle? This
is yet to be investigated, but Vanguard comes to mind. Image: NASA.
From the Cockpit
Ray Erikson, Editor
Two-Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) Project Manager Rae Stiening
of the University of Massachusetts–Amherst feels like Captain Cook.
Using twin telescopes located in Arizona and Chile over a 3.5-year
period, 2MASS produced the first high-resolution digital survey of the
complete infrared sky, providing the astronomical community with an
unprecedented global view of the Milky Way and nearby galaxies.
Stan Abkowitz, CEO of Dynamet Corporation, a leading
titanium producer, has already received many awards for his central
work in transforming titanium from laboratory curiosity to industry
staple. The importance of this work to aerospace endeavors cannot be
overstated and, as is common in aerospace, this technology has spun off
to help the 80’000+ people needing orthopedic implants each year.
Stiening and Abkowitz are excellent examples of the science
and technology that make New England fertile ground for growing all
sorts of companies, solving all sorts of problems. To make our regional
legislators more aware of this aspect of their constituency, we are
organizing a public policy colloquium to take place in the fall before the
next election. Stay tuned to these pages for more information.
COMING EVENTS CALENDAR
Jun 5
AIAA New England Section Council Meeting. 6 pm at Sheraton-Lexington Tavern. Contact
Chair Jeanne Hartley if you’d like to attend: [email protected]
Jun 9
Steve Fossett at the Aero Club of New England. ACONE will host a luncheon honoring the
three-time globe-girdling record-breaker at the Seaport Hotel in Boston. Program begins at
11:30, tickets are $35 per person, and reservations are required. For further information call
Ms. Georgia Pappas at (781) 592-9357.
Jun 24
AIAA New England Section Annual Meeting. Join us at Daniel Webster College for a the
passing of the gavel to the new section officers. Former NASA program manager and AIAA
distinguished lecturer Gene Austin will speak about past and future space transportation.
Contact Col. Doug Joyce for reservations: [email protected]
Jun 25
Westfield International Air Show, Westfield, Massachusetts. Blue Angels to perform,
many aerial and static displays of military, civil and classic aircraft.
Jun 25
Rhode Island Air National Guard Open House, North Kingstown. Thunderbirds to perform,
many aerial and static displays of military aircraft.
Jul 20
Anniversary of Apollo-11 Moon Landing in 1969. On this date men first set foot upon the
Moon in the Sea of Tranquility, and returned safely to the Earth.
Aug 19
Vermont Air National Guard 60th Anniversary, Colchester. Thunderbirds to perform, aerial
and static displays of military, civil and classic aircraft.
Aug 21-24
Aircraft Fire and Explosion Course, Cambridge. Four-day course on protecting aircraft
against destruction from accidents, combat and terrorist attacks. For more information, contact
Albert Moussa, BlazeTech Corporation, 617-661-0700 or [email protected]
Sep 23-24
Aviation Past & Present, Portland, Maine. Classic and contemporary aircraft on display,
aerobatic flying and demonstrations.
Student Members: Please
Keep Your Records Current!
Student members of AIAA may upgrade to
Professional membership upon graduation at no
cost. The first year of Professional membership
following graduation is FREE, and the second
year is half price. To avail yourself of this
opportunity, please notify AIAA national of your
change in status, as well as your likely change in
address.
If you have been a student member for
any length of time, you are already aware of the
many benefits associated with AIAA
membership: staying up-to-date on the latest
technologies and business developments in your
field, gaining recognition for your work via
published papers, networking and employment
opportunities, and many more.
Update your records today!
JETLINER BURNS AT LAX, 1991
BlazeTech will be offering their annual course in
fire safety for aircraft from August 21 to 24 in
Cambridge. The course will cover vulnerability
to combat and terrorist attacks; fuel-related fires
and explosions; polymeric material fires; and aircraft accident investigation. Contact Dr. Albert
Moussa for more details at 617-661-0700 or
[email protected].
$1 Trillion in Turbine Aircraft
to be Built Over Next 10 Years
“Hybrid” Launch Vehicle
Under Study by U.S. Air Force
The Teal Group of Fairfax, Virginia recently
released a market forecast for the worldwide
aircraft industry. For the first time since the
1950s both military and commercial sales of jets,
turboprops and turbine-powered helicopters are
trending upward.
According to Richard Aboulafia, Vice
President for Analysis, nearly 37’000 aircraft
will be sold in the next decade. The military
component of this market is worth $311 billion,
of which $141 billion will be fighter jets. The
civil sector will see over $700 billion in sales, of
which $570 billion will consist of jet transports.
In the last ten years, 30’575 aircraft in these
categories were sold, totaling $820 billion.
The analysis did not include smaller
aircraft such as piston-powered private planes,
unmanned aerial vehicles, personal air vehicles
(see below) maintenance, overhaul, upgrades or
research. Were these included, the total market
value would be on the order of $3 trillion.
Image: Northrop Grumman
The Terrafugia Transition is designed for 100- to
500-mile jumps carrying two people and luggage
on a single tank of premium unleaded gas.
Section members joined EAA Chapter 106 at
Daniel Webster College last month for a very
interesting presentation by CEO Carl Dietrich and
other officers of his start-up company. Besides
great PowerPoints, they had a 1/4-scale windtunnel model with them. A lively discussion with
engineers and pilots followed. Image: Terrafugia.
About a year ago, an MIT graduate named
Torrey Radcliffe gave a presentation to our
section on his work at Aerospace Corporation
which outlined the various options available for
cheaper, more responsive military spacelift. The
leading candidate appeared to be what was then
called ARES: Affordable, REusable Spacelift.
These studies matured into Phase A contracts
currently being awarded to all the usual primes.
The gist of what is now called a “hybrid launch
vehicle” turns prior conventional wisdom on its
head. Instead of launching a reusable spaceplane
with fully expendable (X-20) or only partly
recoverable (Shuttle) lower stages, an HLV
makes the largest, most expensive part of the
system, the booster, recoverable, and expends
the upper stage. This architecture also provides
a clear path for substitution of an airbreathing
hypersonic booster for the current Mach-7
rocket-powered first stage. A subscale HLV
demonstrator is to fly in 2011.
AIAA New England
c/o Ray Erikson
Boston Flight Sciences, Inc.
28 Teal Road, Suite 102
Wakefield MA 01880-1208
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PLEASE UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS AT THE NATIONAL WEBSITE!
June AIAA Annual Meeting:
Space Transportation from
Apollo to the Stars
A presentation by the former Director of Advanced
Programs at NASA Headquarters, Robert “Gene”
Austin, will highlight this year’s gathering at Daniel
Webster College. Mr. Austin will speak on his own
experience with aggressive single-stage-to-orbit programs like DC-X and X-33, the Project Constellation
crew exploration vehicle, space tourism, and future
transportation systems. We will also pass the gavel
to the new section officers, and airplane rides will be
available after the meeting.
DATE:
SATURDAY, 24 June 2006
TIME:
Program begins at 12 noon
PLACE:
ER100, Daniel Webster College, Nashua
COST:
$7 per person at door for catered lunch
RSVP:
Contact incoming Chair Doug Joyce for
reservations: [email protected]
The climax of Gene Austin’s 42-year career at
NASA was managing the very challenging X-33
program.
Theoretical studies and suborbital
experience with the DC-X indicated space launch
costs would fall dramatically if we replaced
multistage expendable vehicles with reusable
single-stage-to-orbit ships. Building the realworld Lockheed-Martin X-33 proved SSTO critics
correct: payload fraction with an SSTO is too thin
for practical implementation using current technology — so far. Image: NASA.