Q&A 10 URBAN AIR MOBILITY 32 ASTROPHYSICS 20

Griffin on China, commercial space The certification challenges Wisdom from the Webb years

JET FUEL FROM

SMOKESTACKS
One company’s journey to a
sustainable aviation fuel to meet the
growing demand from airlines PAGE 14

SEPTEMBER 2021 | A publication of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics | aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org
N A S A ’ S S P A C E L A U N C H S Y S T E M

FOR THE
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 FEATURES | September 2021 MORE AT aerospaceamerica. aiaa.org

26 32
14
Jet fuel from smokestacks
Suborbital scrapbook
Pictures from July’s
Certifying urban air
mobility aircraft
historic flights depict the Dozens of startups aim to
Chicago-based LanzaTech is turning gases emitted from similarities, and also stark go to market with electric
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intestines, could help to produce SAF for airlines in much
conventional helicopters.
higher volumes than has been possible previously.

By Keith Button By Paul Marks

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 1

 14–16 September 2021 | Laurel, MD

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IN THIS ISSUE

S E P T E MB E R 2 0 2 1,
VOL. 59, NO. 7
Keith Button
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Keith has written for C4ISR Journal and Hedge Fund Alert, where he broke
Ben Iannotta news of the 2007 Bear Stearns scandal that kicked off the global credit crisis.
beni@aiaa.org PAGE 14

ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Karen Small
karens@aiaa.org

STAFF REPORTER
Cat Hofacker
Cat Hofacker
catherineh@aiaa.org As our staff reporter, Cat covers news for our website and regularly
contributes to the magazine.
EDITOR, AIAA BULLETIN
PAGES 9, 10, 20
Christine Williams
christinew@aiaa.org

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Keith Button, Moriba Jah, Moriba Jah
Robert van der Linden,
Before becoming an associate professor at the University of Texas at
Paul Marks, Frank H. Winter
Austin, Moriba helped navigate the Mars Odyssey spacecraft and the Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and worked on space
Basil Hassan AIAA PRESIDENT situational awareness issues with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory.
Daniel L. Dumbacher PUBLISHER PAGE 64
Rodger Williams DEPUTY PUBLISHER

ADVERTISING
advertising@aiaa.org Paul Marks
Paul is an award-winning journalist focused on technology, cybersecurity,
ART DIRECTION AND DESIGN
aviation and spaceflight. A regular contributor to the BBC, New Scientist
THOR Design Studio | thor.design and The Economist, his current interests include eVTOL aircraft, new space
and the history of notable inventors — especially the Wright brothers.
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LETTERS
letters@aerospaceamerica.org DEPARTMENTS

CORRESPONDENCE
Ben Iannotta, beni@aiaa.org 4 Editor’s Notebook
8 9
7 Flight Path AeroPuzzler R&D
Aerospace America (ISSN 0740-722X) is published The choice between Hypersonic drones as a step
monthly except in March and August by the Ameri- air-breathers and boost glide to passenger flight
can Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., 8 AeroPuzzler
at 12700 Sunrise Valley Drive, Suite 200 Reston, VA
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offices. Copyright 2021 by the American Institute of 61 Career Opportunities
20 64
Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., all rights reserved.
The name Aerospace America is registered by the AIAA
in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. 62 Looking Back
Opinion Jahniverse
64 Jahniverse The implications of Webb’s What it means to call
delays and overruns someone an “astronaut”

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 3

 EDITOR ’S NOTEBOOK ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Time to put the

intelligence in AI

M
istakes by automatic speech recognition software, a form of artificial intelligence, can be a
hoot, provided the errors don’t get out the door. Here are some of my favorites from recent
interviews we’ve conducted at Aerospace America: “Silicon doped with arsenic” came out as
“silicon Dr the arsenic,” “A-SAT launch” as “ASAP lawn,” and “boost glide” as “blue squad.”
The human mind, aware of context and the stakes of getting things wrong, can easily spot
such errors. Listening back helps too. But even with all those precautions, I did momentarily fall for “blue
squad” in this issue, thinking that it was slang for U.S. Air Force personnel.
Let’s be charitable and accept that ASR technology converts speech to text correctly 80% of the time.
The fact that it does so affordably strikes me as an amazing feat, given that society is just at the beginning
of the artificial intelligence and machine learning revolution. But putting my editor’s hat back on, I am
nervous about the risks this technology brings to our work here at the magazine. Looking at matters that
way, ASR’s performance is dismal. A reporter or editor who incorrectly quotes a speaker 20% of the time
would have a very short career.
Why do I raise all this? Fairly or unfairly, rolling out underperforming artificial intelligence software
in our private and professional lives could poison our views of automation for headier tasks, such as
transporting us from here to there in an urban air mobility aircraft. I am not surprised when I see reports
of a road accident caused by software, even though intellectually I remind myself that I have no idea
whether the computing code in the automobile bears any resemblance to that required for turning the
spoken word into text. For me, remains this: How am I supposed to believe bits and bytes can drive a car
or fly a plane if they can’t do seemingly simpler tasks?
Perception is reality, so here’s an idea: The firms creating the autonomy software for aircraft could
help themselves by proving they can create higher performing but still affordable consumer software. I
might believe your code can steer an aircraft safely if it can figure out that we are not doctors of arsenic
here at Aerospace America. +

Ben Iannotta, editor-in-chief, beni@aiaa.org

4 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

CALL FOR
TECHNICAL
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and Technologies
iRobotic and Unmanned Systems
iSecure Communications Networking
iSpace Access
iSpace Systems
iStrategic Missile Systems
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iSystem and Decision Analysis for National Security
iSystem Performance Modeling and Simulation
iTactical Missiles
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Y O U R PA R T N E R I N S I M U L AT I O N A N D VA L I D AT I O N

Find your control.

The aerospace industry has the highest standard when it comes to aircraft – no errors.
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 FLIGHT PATH

Building the Future Through



Excitement and Inspiration

“Today’s students
I
n July, the AIAA Foundation received a $1 million grant from
Blue Origin’s Club for the Future. As we announced at the
time, this generous gift will allow the AIAA Foundation to
fuel the next generation of space professionals who will create
our off-world future. It is a valuable and important next step in
will tackle tomorrow’s
the work of the Foundation and builds upon other gifts to the
Foundation from its corporate partners, The Boeing Company challenges and lead
and Lockheed Martin, as well as the gifts, resources, and support
of all sizes received from AIAA corporate and individual members.
At AIAA, we work daily on shaping the future of aerospace.
innovation in the
The programs of the AIAA Foundation help us do that by inspiring
young people to pursue careers in aerospace. For 25 years, the 21st century.”
AIAA Foundation has impacted countless students and educators
due to the generosity of our members and creativity of our partner
organizations. This inspiration is vital to the future of our industry. Back to inspiration – I’m curious what inspired your own
It’s a tremendous way for AIAA members to help pay it forward. career journey. I know the source of my inspiration, the date and
It is essential to continue attracting and retaining the skilled, the time. On February 20, 1962, I watched John Glenn on a black
diverse 21st-century workforce who will lead the aerospace industry and white TV do something no one else in America had done
into the future. However, we face a skills gap in this future group yet. (My mother claimed I had seen the previous launches too!)
of dreamers and leaders due to significant hiring and retention From then on, my curiosity was sparked and I followed the first
challenges (see description of the challenges in 2021 AIAA Key building blocks of the U.S. space program being assembled. My
Issues document: aiaa.org/advocacy/Key-Issues). AIAA believes high school and college studies led me to an internship at NASA
we must enable a diverse and robust STEM workforce pipeline, Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville where I could do more
and support workforce development for all skill types and career than watch – I got involved and added my personal contributions
stages to advance learning commensurate with technology and to the Space Shuttle program as it progressed. The rest is history.
product advancement. Today’s students will tackle tomorrow’s And history is still being made in our industry by our community’s
challenges and lead innovation in the 21st century. shared pursuits of space – and aeronautics – and aerospace R&D.
This challenge is precisely what the AIAA Foundation is set During this anniversary year, help us make the next 25 years of
up to address. The AIAA Foundation leads programs and forms the AIAA Foundation even more impactful than the first 25 years.
partnerships that ignite the fuse of K-12 students and equip ed- Get involved with the AIAA Foundation. Together we will make a
ucators who shape young hearts and minds. Their work spans lasting impact on our profession, our industry, and our society.
the three domains AIAA is organizing around in the coming year Let’s build the future, together! +
– Aeronautics, Space, and Aerospace Research and Development
(R&D). The AIAA Foundation’s programs are designed to support Dan Dumbacher
the students – who will make up the teams – who will become the AIAA Executive Director
most technically proficient, professionally equipped, culturally
diverse, AND successful workforce on the planet. I am confident
they will take us in directions we may never have dreamed.
From scholarships, to design competitions, to technical papers,
to conferences and forums, the Foundation is working daily to See page 53 for more information on how AIAA
turn financial contributions into meaningful activities that pro- is making an impact on and inspiring the next
pel aspiration into career success. Yet, what else could we do to generation of aerospace professionals.
inspire and educate our successors? Our community excels when
we collaborate. We need your input, ideas, and contributions.

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 7

 Do you have a puzzler to suggest? Email us at aeropuzzler@aiaa.org.

The choice:
Air-breathers
vs. boost glide
FROM THE JUNE ISSUE

Q. Your friend the novelist has asked you to finish CLAIMING AN AVIATION FIRST: We
asked you to explain, based on a
the climactic scene of a thriller. The story is set in question submitted by Lone Star
the near future and centers on a nuclear weapon Analysis, a software, technology
and system engineering firm, why
that’s gone missing and is designed to deliver
there’s some debate over who
lethal radiation via the winds upstream of a target. should be deemed the first U.S. naval aviator.
The climax begins with the CIA director telling the
WINNER: Both Eugene Ely and Ted Ellyson were groundbreaking
president that the weapon has been located aboard
naval pilots during the early days of aviation. Eugene Ely was
a container ship in the Pacific Ocean. Terrorists are the first aviator to take off and land on a ship. He is considered
minutes away from exploding the weapon to deliver the father of naval carrier aviation. However, he was not the
first naval pilot. That honor goes to Ted “Spuds” Ellyson. While
lethal fallout along the West Coast. No U.S. or allied
his first flight in January 1911 resulted in a crash landing on
warplanes or vessels are in range. The president a wing, he would earn pilot certificate No. 28 later in the year,
faces a choice: Her political party forced hypersonic and the U.S. Navy would eventually name him Naval Aviator No.
1. Ironically, both of these aviators perished in aircraft crashes
air-breathing weapons through Congress, and the — Ellyson in 1928 at age 44 in a crash in the Chesapeake
opposition party did the same for rocket-boosted Bay and Ely in October 1911 at age 25, during an exhibition in
glide versions. Neither party funded operations Macon, Georgia.

adequately, and so only one kind of weapon can Thomas “Tav” Taverney
be launched at a time. The president asks about Taverney is a retired U.S. Air Force major general and an AIAA
launching the air-breathers. The political appointees senior member who lives in La Habra Heights, California.

nod, but one general’s back stiffens: “Madam

President, due to the time constraint, boost glide is
the only choice we have.” What should happen next Draft a response of no more than 250 words and email it by
noon Eastern Sept. 15 to aeropuzzler@aiaa.org for a chance
to save the West Coast? to have it published in the October issue.

For a head start ... find the AeroPuzzler online on the first of each month at
https://aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org/ and on Twitter @AeroAmMag.

8 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

 R&D HYPERSONIC S

Mach 5 air travel?

Start your engines
BY CAT HOFACKER | catherineh@aiaa.org

S
peed dictates everything about a hypersonic for piloted aircraft, Hermeus can build the Quarter- GE J85 engines
aircraft, from the materials and shape of horses more quickly and inexpensively. in Hermeus’ Atlanta
headquarters. Over the
the plane to the engine designs required Hermeus plans to begin flying the first Quar-
next year, engineers will
to achieve and maintain combustion at terhorse in late 2022 at a location still to be deter- assemble and install
five times the speed of sound. Hermeus mined, gradually increasing the aircraft’s speed to ramjet components to
of Atlanta is also letting that need for speed shape Mach 5. Among the major challenges is proving these turbine engines
the strategy of its initial flight campaign. that Hermeus’ turbine-based combined cycle, or for Quarterhorse test
flights.
The startup on Aug. 5 announced plans to build TBCC, engine design can maintain combustion
Hermeus
and fly in succession three remotely piloted aircraft at supersonic speeds. TBCC designs pair conven-
by the end of 2024, a step toward proving the design tional turbine engines — in this case, Hermeus is
for a planned Mach 5 passenger plane that is among using off-the-shelf GE J85s — with ramjet engines,
the handful of high-speed airliners in development which Hermeus is custom building in house out
by U.S. companies and, reportedly, China. The test of a proprietary alloy. Engineers in August began
campaign will be partially funded by a $60 million assembling ramjet components at the company’s
U.S. Air Force contract awarded in July, part of Atlanta headquarters.
an ongoing assessment of how Hermeus’ design At subsonic speeds, compressor blades in the
could be modified for purposes including ferrying turbine portion of the engine will compress incoming
high-ranking U.S. officials. air for combustion, but once the plane reaches Mach
Hermeus calls the test aircraft design Quarterhorse, 3, the air will flow too fast for the blades to compress
because the short bursts of speed for which the Amer- it. So the engine must switch to ramjet mode, in which
ican quarter horse is famous represent the learning air entering the inlet is slowed and compressed via
Hermeus expects to achieve when each plane flies. shock waves produced by the aircraft’s speed.
The Quarterhorse design “really serves as a flying Maintaining a steady air stream around Mach 3 has
demonstration of our engine,” says Skyler Shuford, been tricky for previous high-speed aircraft. Former
Hermeus co-founder and chief operating officer. pilots of the U.S. Air Force’s SR-71 Blackbird recon-
“It’s the smallest vehicle that we can wrap around naissance planes in memoirs have recounted unstarts,
our engine to prove that the engine works across or temporary engine stalls, from sudden shock waves
the full flight range.” produced by increased air pressure inside the inlet.
At about 12 meters long, slightly bigger than “It’s one thing to have a bunch of paper designs,
a Cessna, each single-engine Quarterhorse plane but you really have to start building hardware and
would be smaller than the planned 20-passenger integrating it and then testing it to really understand
jet. And because the demonstrators don’t require what’s happening in these more exotic untested
life support systems and other features necessary flight regimes,” Shuford says. +

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 9

 Q&A MIKE GRIFFIN , CO -FOUNDER OF LOGIQ

MIKE GRIFFIN
POSITIONS: In July 2020,
co-founded LogiQ (pronounced
“logic”) with Lisa Porter, a
former Pentagon and NASA
colleague, to provide strategic
advice to technology companies;
under secretary of defense for
research and engineering, 2018-
2020; AIAA president 2012-2013;
NASA administrator, 2005-2009;
head of the Space Department
at Johns Hopkins University
Applied Physics Lab, 2004-
2005; president of In-Q-Tel, the
CIA-funded nonprofit investment
company, 2002-2004.

NOTABLES: In the Trump

Pentagon, elevated hypersonic
weapons research to a top
priority; as NASA administrator,
oversaw the space shuttle’s
return to flight after the
disintegration of the Columbia
orbiter in 2003; and started the
George W. Bush administration’s
Constellation moon program,
later reborn as the Space Launch
System rocket and Orion crew
capsule efforts; at the Johns
Hopkins University Applied

Q&A
Physics Lab, helped design Delta
180, a 1986 Strategic Defense
Initiative experiment in which a
Delta rocket’s second stage was
intercepted by a Phoenix missile
in a test of tracking and seeker
technology for space-to-space
weapons; licensed pilot and
owner of a Beechcraft Bonanza.

AGE: 71

RESIDES: Arlington, Virginia, and

Madison, Alabama

Independent voice
EDUCATION: Bachelor of
Arts, Physics, Johns Hopkins
University, 1971; Master
of Science in Engineering,
Aerospace Science, Catholic

M
ike Griffin worked on the Strategic Defense Initiative University of America, 1974;
during the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush years, Ph.D., Aerospace Engineering,
ran NASA for President George W. Bush, and was in charge University of Maryland, 1977;
Master of Science, Electrical
of research and development at the Pentagon for much of
Engineering, University of
the Donald Trump administration. While Griffin’s time at Southern California, 1979;
More online these agencies has come and gone, the Defense Department and NASA M.S., Applied Physics, Johns
aerospace continue to grapple with the topics that dominated his tenure. Now Hopkins University, 1983; MBA,
Loyola College, 1990; M.S., Civil
america. that Griffin is an independent consultant in Virginia and Alabama, it
Engineering, George Washington
seemed like the right time to connect with him on Zoom to talk about
aiaa.org China, space launch and the early universe. — Cat Hofacker and
University, 1998.

Ben Iannotta

10 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

Cat Hofacker: Let’s start with the Space Launch System: It seems Ben Iannotta: Here at Aerospace America, we have a lot of
like the rocket’s been in development so long that NASA has conversations about what the word “commercial” means.
evolved into a different agency. M.G: The term has been expropriated by a very large group of
Mike Griffin: I think you’re right. The agency seems to be evolving into people who would like you to believe that because something is
a government bureau whose job it is to write checks to billionaire built by a nontraditional contractor, meaning a new entry into the
entrepreneurs. And while I have a great deal of admiration for field, that it’s commercial. That’s not the definition. Now look, I’m
billionaire entrepreneurs, writing checks to them or to other large a huge fan of Christensen’s disruptor thesis [a reference to the
prime contractors is not the proper function of government. The late economist Clayton Christensen, author of “The Innovator’s
purpose of NASA was originally, and I think properly, to manage, Dilemma”] and the idea that new entrants to the field would come
to design, to orchestrate, to conduct, to carry out the publicly along and disrupt established prime contractors and set them back
funded space program. SLS is an example of what NASA and other on their heels and make them rethink what they’re doing, couldn’t
government agencies used to do: lay out the requirements for support that more strongly, but that’s not the same as commercial.
something that you want. In this case, a heavy-lift launch vehicle
to accomplish space exploration beyond low-Earth orbit. You run B.I.: Aren’t there now — or soon will be — truly commercial
a competition and you hire a contractor to build it to your design, spacecraft like Starship that would be able to do basically what
and the contractor is being paid public money to do a job in the SLS would do?
public interest. So we’ve gone from that to an evolution where NASA M.G.: Maybe. We haven’t seen Starship get higher than what?
competes a human lunar landing mission, and the contractors are 10,000 feet. I hope for their eventual success. I’d like Starship to
not even being told what the specifications are, and they’re not succeed. I’d like New Glenn to succeed. I’d like ULA’s new Vulcan
building to government direction. So in that kind of an environment, Centaur to come online. But the SLS was intended to be the
there really isn’t a purpose for NASA. taxpayer’s vehicle for space exploration. As an analogy, we have
lots and lots of commercial air transportation, but the Air Force
C.H.: NASA’s approach seemed to work well for Commercial Crew, operates Military Airlift Command [Now Air Mobility Command] on
considering the goal of ensuring access to ISS. behalf of, ultimately, the taxpayer. If commercial enterprises don’t
M.G.: I did not approve of Commercial Crew. And, oh, by the way, want to do what you want them to do, or if they decide it’s no longer
they’re not commercial. A commercial enterprise is one in which a in their interest to do so, well, there’s still Military Airlift Command.
company develops a product or a service on their own dime, brings
it to the market and sells it for whatever the market will bear. I was
not in charge at the time and certainly had no voice in the decision,
but speaking personally, I would have opposed any decision to turn
the design of human-rated spacecraft over to industry to do as they
wished. Because when it goes wrong — as I can tell you from the
“I would not have done
return-to-flight experience after the space shuttle Columbia — the
appropriate government managers are the ones who will be held
Commercial Crew in the
accountable, because it’s publicly funded. It’s not the industry CEOs.
The money and the accountability have to go together, and when you
same way that commercial
try to separate those, it fails. cargo was done. NASA
C.H.: What about the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services
program you started as a precursor to Commercial Crew?
funded the program and yet
M.G.: We at NASA conducted an experiment to which we allocated
$500 million to see whether cargo transportation to the space
gave up a large measure
station could be provided by independent contractors crafting
their own rocket designs. The experiment turned out positively
of control over what the
because shortly before I left the agency in December of 2008, Bill
Gerstenmaier signed the first actual commercial cargo contracts
designs were going to be
to SpaceX and what was then called Orbital Sciences. I think
the contractors did it pretty well. That’s not the same as saying
and how they would be
that those same contractors are ready to provide the much more
difficult solution to human space transportation. In my judgment,
carried out. I don’t approve
they weren’t ready then, and since they didn’t fly until 2020, I think
that judgment turns out to be correct. So I would not have done
of such structures where
Commercial Crew in the same way that commercial cargo was
done. NASA funded the program and yet gave up a large measure of
public funds are involved.”
control over what the designs were going to be and how they would
be carried out. I don’t approve of such structures where public
funds are involved.

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 11

B.I.: A lot of taxpayer dollars are going into the would be a great, fun experience for somebody who
Starliner service Boeing is creating, and yet the can afford to pay for it. Good luck and good on them,
NASA-Boeing report about the aborted attempt to but it’s not within a loud shout of opening the space
reach the space station has not been released. frontier. The design is not remotely close to what you
Would that be acceptable for a government-owned need to get to orbit, because the energy difference
spacecraft? between a suborbital flight, such as we saw a few
M.G.: You’re getting at the heart of my objection to weeks ago, and orbit is more than a factor of 50.
labeling something as commercial and treating it Nonetheless, it’s still a pretty impressive private
from a government oversight point of view as if it is accomplishment.
commercial, when in fact the funding is largely public
funding. The government actually didn’t have a right B.I.: How do you think this growing competition
to get all of the data in question with the Starliner between the United States and China in deep space
failure because of the way things were set up. Now, if is going to play out?
Boeing were funding all of that on its own nickel, then M.G.: China under President Xi seems to be, I can only
I would say that the public has absolutely zero right to say, purposely picking fights with the West. To what
any knowledge of what goes on inside that program. point, I don’t understand. It is adversarial behavior
to build islands in what everyone else believes to
B.I.: How is that different from government insight be international waters. Many things that China is
into the crash of a Boeing plane? doing today seem to me pointlessly adversarial in a
M.G.: I think there’s a bit of a different situation there world that doesn’t need more adversarial behavior.
with a transportation service, such as what airlines No one was picking on China when it was allowed
and railroads provide. We have determined in our into the World Trade Organization, two decades ago,
society as an output of the democratic process that we and yet now China seems to be trying to pick fights
want certain safety standards in transportation to be with the West. So collaboration with China in deep
promulgated and enforced. So when common carriers space seems to me to be dependent more upon their
breach those standards, yes, there is a legitimate behavior than ours. I would point out, the United
public right of intervention through the appropriate States never declares anybody to be an adversary. We
agencies. That’s not the same as if a company like don’t like having adversaries. We like cooperating with
SpaceX or Blue Origin or any other company wishes others as best we can. We do not pick fights with other
to create a private space transportation capability. countries. It’s just not our history. In fact, you could
Carrying paying passengers at their own risk is argue that historically we’ve been late to need when
decidedly not a public utility. It’s a joy ride. Now, if confronting bad behavior.
such an enterprise progresses to the point where one
of these companies or a new company is offering to B.I.: If you were to testify to Congress today, would
convey people from Chicago to San Diego by means you still warn as you did in 2018 that U.S. aircraft Griffin, then NASA
of rocket travel — “we’ll get you there in 15 minutes carriers are vulnerable and that the U.S. has no administrator, in the
Launch Control Center at
for a very high price” — now it becomes a public corresponding way to hold China at risk?
Kennedy Space Center in
conveyance and it’s going to be governed by the same M.G.: That comment is still true, and now I think we’re Florida during a launch
safety standards as the National Transportation Safety making progress toward fixing it. But you don’t need of the space shuttle
Board imposes on other public conveyance. me to talk about this and you don’t need a classified Discovery in 2008.
discussion to talk about it. Just Google DF-21 or NASA

B.I.: So on these suborbital flights, are you in the DF-26, and you’ll find that they come up under the
camp that thinks they’re breaking new ground, or slang term of “carrier killers.” That’s what the Chinese
are they repeating what people like Alan Shepard designed them to do.
did half a century ago?
M.G.: They have, in fact, not repeated, but done things B.I.: So in hindsight, was it a mistake for the U.S.
in a different way. That’s good. I’m hoping for more to focus so much on air-breathing propulsion with
privately funded space transportation capability. That’s the X-43 and X-51 rather than trying boost glide
great. To use an analogy, there was a time when the right away?
only computers in existence were built by governments. M.G.: It’s not an either-or thing. It’s an “and” thing.
It’s a good thing when things can transition from the The United States needs high-speed air-breathing,
only people who can build them are our government long-range strike for a variety of reasons, not least
enterprises to you can buy it in the store. of which is that they are individually cheaper, and
you can greatly increase the load-out on ships and
B.I.: Do you think these space tourism flights will planes. I will always, until something better comes
help open the space frontier? along, be a fan of high-speed air-breathing capability
M.G.: That’s a little excessive. A suborbital flight that we need to create for the longest ranges. And

12 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

for the most timely application of force, you need the problems with obvious and visible lack of competence
rocket-powered boost glide. It will always be quicker at times on the part of both the government and the
on target than air-breathing strike, and we’ll always contractor. Mistakes were made that shouldn’t have
have the capability for longer range. been made. When you move a large telescope and
nuts and bolts start falling out, somebody has clearly
CH: Let’s talk about the Webb telescope. Will the screwed up: There’s no other way to put that. But if it
fact that it is way behind schedule and over budget is all fixed — and we won’t know until it’s launched
have a chilling effect on future ambitious concepts? — and if it works well, and if it reveals underlying
M.G.: That depends on when you take that view. I new truths about how the universe is put together,
personally worked on Hubble, and when the telescope then in 30 years, nobody’s going to think it was a
was put into orbit, there were congressional hearings mistake.
and such about what a disaster it was because it was
not competently done at first. And there was no other CH: But tomorrow’s telescopes are being designed
way to say it: NASA screwed up and the contractors today, so it seems like they will experience that
screwed up and in a big way. Fast forward 30 years chilling effect.
— the only people who think Hubble was a mistake M.G.: They probably will. Webb got started for real
were people who were in another branch of science either shortly before or during my tenure at NASA,
and resented the money that went to Hubble. I had and by that time Hubble had proved itself to be an
to deal with a lot of that at NASA. There were people enormous success. Could you have started another
who absolutely did not want another Hubble servicing big telescope earlier had Hubble been a success from
mission because it was going to take money away the first? Sure. So yeah, there will be a penalty to be
from whatever it was they wanted to do. And I just paid by others in the astronomy community for the
didn’t agree. Webb has had enormous development performance on Webb. +

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 13

 ENGINEERING NOTEBOOK COVER STORY

JET FUEL FROM

SMOKESTACKS

14 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

 T
he visuals aren’t attractive — a kind of
The air transport bacteria found in rabbit intestines and
gases from steel mills — but a sustainable
industry lacks enough aviation fuel made from these could prove
very attractive to airlines in the coming
suppliers of sustainable months and years.
Most companies in the emerging field
aviation fuel to meet of SAFs make these synthetic kerosene fuels from
used cooking oil, agriculture residue or other waste.
the anticipated demand The downside of those feedstocks is the variability
of their composition, which reverberates through
as airlines become the production process. So, LanzaJet, a spinoff of
LanzaTech of New Zealand, plans to start selling

more aggressive about a SAF made indirectly from steel mill emissions,
possibly as soon as next year.

reining in their carbon If LanzaJet succeeds, its SAF, among the eight
approved by regulators around the world, could help

footprints and more satisfy the growing demand among airlines for sus-
tainable fuels. These fuels reduce the carbon footprint
of air travel by tapping carbon that’s already in the
travelers take to the air. environment, and they are increasingly sought after
by airlines looking to reduce their climate impacts.
Keith Button describes
Steel mill flare
one company’s unique The LanzaJet story starts in 2001 when British mo-
lecular biologist Sean Simpson moved to New
approach to meeting Zealand from Japan to work for a forestry company.
At the time, the United States and other nations
the demand. were on a push to increase ethanol production as
an additive for gasoline, and Simpson’s job was to
research how wood might be efficiently turned into
ethanol.
BY KEITH BUTTON | buttonkeith@gmail.com
Simpson soon came to realize that wood wasn’t
a viable feedstock for ethanol.
“Ultimately, you’re probably turning gold into
silver by turning a tree into fuel,” Simpson tells
me. “You need feedstocks that are available, and
volumes that have already been aggregated that
are extremely cheap.”
He talked matters over with his boss and friend,
fellow molecular biologist Richard Foster, who died
in 2014. Together they decided that waste from farms,
household garbage or industry would be a better
feedstock for ethanol production. So in 2005, they
started their company, LanzaTech, in New Zealand
to capitalize on that potential. They chose the word
Lanza, “spear” in Spanish, to represent the company’s
mission of spearheading new technology.
Waste was cheap and available in large quantities,
but they discovered that superheating the waste into
gases as a precursor to renewable fuels delivered
inconsistent results due to the material’s varied
composition. Those gases had to then be converted

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 15

 to liquid fuel, and the results of that conversion, They did some research and learned that carbon
accomplished with the aid of metal catalysts, also monoxide was the main ingredient, and that steel
produced inconsistent results. Simpson and Foster mills all over the world produced similar emissions:
looked to bacteria as a possible solution, knowing that a plentiful and untapped potential feedstock.
some strains could ingest a variable mix of gases and Next, they looked for bacteria that would eat
still consistently excrete ethanol that could be sold that carbon monoxide. In the academic literature
as a fuel additive or as a precursor to other products. they read about a strain of bacteria that lives in the
Initially, Simpson and Foster fixated on converting digestive tracts of rabbits and consumes carbon
garbage from businesses and households into ethanol. dioxide, carbon monoxide and hydrogen gases and
But one day in 2005 Simpson was visiting Foster on emits ethanol. As exciting as it was, the literature
his small farm outside of Auckland, which happened also said that the amount of ethanol released by the
to be in sight of the only steel mill in New Zealand. bacteria was minuscule. It wasn’t nearly enough for
During a walk, they noticed something unusual. commercial-scale production. Foster and Simpson
“There was a bloody great flare on the top of this steel needed to figure out how to cultivate a substrain
mill, like a massive birthday candle,” Simpson says. of bacteria that would be extraordinarily good at
“And we’re like: ‘Well, I wonder what’s in that gas?’” producing ethanol.

16 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

 FACT
In short supply
The global air transport sector has pledged to halve its net carbon emissions by 2050, compared
to 2005 levels. Accomplishing this will require turning to sustainable aviation fuels made from
sources of carbon that are already in the environment. Demand for jet fuel, including SAFs, will
only grow as more people around the globe take to the air. The U.S. Department of Energy antic-
ipates that the demand will more than double by 2050 to 870 billion liters per year from a 2019
baseline. At present production levels, SAFs could only cover a small portion of that demand. In
2018 — the latest year for which figures are available — 7.6 million liters of SAFs were produced.
Production technologies like the one described in this article could be part of the solution.
— Keith Button

Best of the best at production rates that make commercial sense in

They ordered a rabbit-gut bacteria strain from a order to give investors confidence to give you more
bacteria culture collection. It arrived in the mail in money,” Simpson adds. At this point, the company
a tube containing what looked like a saturated Q-tip, was not yet thinking about turning ethanol into SAF,
along with instructions for how to grow it. Simpson but that would change soon.
and Foster — the only employees of LanzaTech at
this point — drove to the source of their epiphany, Going commercial
the Glenbrook Steel Mill, the one they saw during Simpson and Foster put their steel-gas-loving bac-
the walk near Auckland. With the permission of the teria to work starting with a small pilot plant at the
mill’s owners, they syphoned off emission gases into Glenbrook Steel Mill in 2008, which helped attract
some commercially available gas collection bags interest from Chinese venture capital investors. The
resembling large shiny silver pillows with valves. performance of the pilot plant was encouraging. In
Back at their lab, they injected the carbon dioxide, 2010 LanzaTech began considering turning some
carbon monoxide and hydrogen into 200 slightly of its ethanol into SAF, and two years later the com-
pressurized sealed test tubes containing the bacte- pany built two larger, demonstration plants at steel
ria in a water-based growing solution. They shook mills in China. The company moved its headquar-
the test tubes to dissolve the gas into the liquid and ters to Chicago from Auckland in 2014 partly to take
measured how quickly the bacteria grew. They se- advantage of the chemical engineering talent there
lected the test tube where the bacteria grew most and an international airport with better access to
A LanzaTech scientist quickly and produced the most ethanol. They the U.S., Europe and Asia than New Zealand.
checks a bacteria sample, divvied those up into 200 more test tubes and re- By 2018, LanzaTech was producing ethanol with
part of the process of
peated the growth-and-selection process over and bacteria at a full-scale rate at the Jingtang Steel Mill
making ethanol, at a
laboratory in Illinois.
over for three years. outside Beijing. The bacteria live in six 30-meter-tall
LanzaTech
“It’s pretty boring, but at the end you’ve got a tanks filled with water and some essential nutri-
bacteria that absolutely loves growing on steel mill ents — nitrogen and phosphate. Trace amounts of
gas and almost nothing else,” Simpson says. hydrogen cyanide and oxygen — which is poison
The next challenge was expanding from making to the bacteria — are scrubbed from the emissions
millimeters of ethanol in the lab to making tons gas before it is piped to the bottom of each tank. By
and then thousands of tons of ethanol — at com- the time the gas bubbles up to the top of each tank,
mercial scale, in other words. “It’s only when you the bacteria have eaten 95% of the carbon dioxide,
go to the refineries or you go to a steel mill that carbon monoxide and hydrogen in the gas. The
you understand the scale of an industrial process,” company draws liquid from the tops of the tanks,
Simpson tells me. heats it to distill the ethanol, and then recycles the
The startup needed to quickly “demonstrate nutrient solution back into the tanks. All told, the
something in the real world with the real feedstock, LanzaTech plant at Jingtang pipes thousands of

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 17

 cubic meters of emissions gas to the bacteria per how ethanol might be converted into SAF.
hour, and the bacteria produce 60 million liters of LanzaTech was intrigued by the duo’s laborato-
ethanol per year. ry-scale recipe for this conversion. Water was removed
LanzaTech added a second commercial-scale from the ethanol to make ethylene, a flammable gas.
plant in China, and another plant is under construc- The ethylene was forced over porous catalysts to
tion in Haryana, India, where bacteria will turn oil create liquid hydrocarbons with eight to 22 carbon
refinery emissions into ethanol starting next year. atoms per molecule — the range suitable for creat-
Two more plants are under construction, one in ing jet and diesel fuel. Hydrogen gas was then add-
Belgium and another at a ferro-alloy mill in China. ed to the mix to turn it into paraffin liquid, which
Those are slated to begin making ethanol in 2022. was then distilled into SAF and the diesel fuel. It took
1.7 liters of ethanol to make a liter of this SAF, known
SAF potential officially as alcohol-to-jet synthetic paraffinic ker-
The turning point toward SAF began after the ar- osene, ATJ-SPK. LanzaTech worked toward adapting
rival of new LanzaTech CEO Jennifer Holmgren. She the process to a commercial scale while also con-
had helped pioneer the production of the first SAFs ducting demonstration flights with the fuel in 2018
that were tested and certified. At about the same and 2019. The company won approval for this SAF
time, LanzaTech learned that the U.S. Department in 2018, making the fuel the only one among the
of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory eight currently approved SAFs to be made from
in Washington state was working with Imperium ethanol.
Renewables, a nearby energy company, to research Last year, the decadelong foray into SAFs paid

18 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

 FACT
Waste nothing
In the early years of his biofuel company, LanzaTech, British molecular biologist Sean Simpson stud-
ied how other nascent industries developed and scaled up. In the early years of the oil industry, one
key for success was to extract value at every step of production. Simpson realized that because the
bacteria in his ethanol production process were mostly protein, the spent ones could be sold as an
additive for animal feed, so he devised a method of filtering them out. Also, about 90% of the water
in his bacteria-growing solution is recycled to minimize the waste footprint.
— Keith Button

At the Jingtang Steel its first dividends. With financial backing from carbon dioxide, the bacteria must ingest carbon
Mill outside Beijing, Suncor Energy Inc. in Canada and the Mitsui & Co. monoxide or hydrogen for energy and nutrition.
LanzaTech stores
investment firm in Japan, LanzaTech created the The company wants to liberate itself from total
bacteria in six tanks filled
with water, nitrogen and LanzaJet spinoff. British Airways and Shell, the oil reliance on installing equipment at smokestack
phosphate as part of the giant, joined as investors, while LanzaTech retains sources. The answer could lie in a form of electrol-
company’s process to control of LanzaJet. ysis in which electric current would be supplied by
turn the mill’s emissions LanzaJet is building a small demonstration plant solar or wind technology or other sustainable means
into ethanol.
in Soperton, Georgia, to refine SAF at a rate of 34 to decompose molecules in a gas. LanzaTech and
LanzaTech
million liters per year, or one-third the output of a Carbon Engineering of Squamish, British Columbia,
full-sized commercial plant. Based on the efficiency aim to show how carbon dioxide can be pulled from
The Glenbrook Steel and costs of operating this refinery, company officials the atmosphere and converted to carbon monoxide
Mill in New Zealand and potential investors will be able to predict the through electrolysis. The bacteria would eat the
whose flare stack at
production capacity and cost of a future full-scale carbon monoxide and other compounds and excrete
far right inspired the
plant, says Laurel Harmon, LanzaTech’s vice president ethanol, which could then be converted to SAF,
founders of LanzaTech to
tap steel mill emissions as of governmental relations. The company expects that explains Freya Burton, LanzaTech’s chief sustain-
a feedstock for ethanol. confidence to lead to construction of such plants. ability and people officer. Hydrogen also could be
supplied to the bacteria through electrolysis by
Liberation from smokestacks splitting water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen.
Right now, LanzaTech can only apply its process in “We’re very, very close to being able to do that,”
steel mills or oil refineries, because in addition to Simpson says. +

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 19

 OPINION WEBB'S IMPACT

CHILLING
EFFECT?
D
evelopment of the James Webb Space Telescope has dom-
inated NASA’s astrophysics budget for a full decade longer
than planned. In fiscal 2013, for instance, the agency spent
more on Webb than the rest of its astrophysics programs
combined, and it nearly did the same in 2014. The total
development cost has soared to $8.8 billion, shattering a
2008 estimate of $5 billion.

We wondered what impact the Webb saga has had on the zest
for innovation in astronomy.

The question is a timely one, not only because of Webb’s launch

possibly in November on an Ariane 5, but because the latest U.S.
Decadal Survey of astronomy priorities is due for release shortly
following a peer review that began in June. These reports by the
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine have
historically guided NASA’s astronomy spending, including the
decision to build Webb. The 2020 Decadal Survey committee
(whose work was bumped to this year by the pandemic) deliber-
ated over four Webb-class telescope concepts submitted to it by
NASA.
To find out if Webb should have a chilling effect on the tech-
nical scope of these future ambitions, we posed the same question
to four of those who know the Webb program and its impacts the
best:
i Former NASA Administrator Dan Goldin, whose administration
conceived of the concept that would become the Webb telescope.
i Astronomer Alan Dressler, who advocated a smaller telescope.
i NASA astrophysicist John Mather, who has been with the program
since the beginning and remains its top scientist.
i Astrophysicist Martin Elvis, an outspoken critic of NASA’s
current strategy.
On the following pages are their answers. — Cat Hofacker and
Ben Iannotta

20 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

 2017: Webb in a clean room at
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight
Center in Maryland.

“Should the Webb telescope experience whet the appetite

for technological advancements among those charting
the future of space-based astronomy, or should the
experience be viewed as a cautionary tale?”

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 21

 OPINION WEBB'S IMPACT

The first boss looks back: Regrets? “Get outta here.”

Dan Goldin
NASA Administrator, Washington, D.C., April 1, 1992-Nov. 21, 2001
During discussions in the mid-1990s over what should come after the Hubble Space Telescope, Goldin became personally
engaged and pushed astronomers to think big in both a literal and figurative sense.

B
reaking down the technical barriers and opening up the space issues. The process was messy. Could it have been done more effi-
frontier is really hard. People love to sit in the galleries and ciently? Absolutely. However, we are here on the threshold of launch,
watch space developments unfold as though they were watch- and I wish them Godspeed on their most important mission: to lift
ing a soccer game, and in real time criticize those who are in the the collective eyes of humanity.
arena, pouring their guts out trying to make it happen. So, to Astrophysics is one of the loves of my life. At TRW [later purchased
answer your question, I got up about a half hour ago, and I just by Northrop Grumman] before I came to NASA, I oversaw the
typed out some words. Here goes: Compton Gamma Ray Observatory and the Chandrasekhar [later
Evolution and destiny of the universe, life therein, and the laws shortened to Chandra] X-ray space telescope. In fact, I oversaw the
of nature are essential to understanding who we are, providing grinding of the developmental lens for Chandrasekhar. So, about six
knowledge to improve the quality of our lives here on Earth and months after Hubble got its contact lenses, maybe in ’94, a group of
ultimately giving us access to the stars. Building Webb was not an cosmologists visited me. They said, “Dan we gotta replace the Hub-
easy task. It was really hard. The audacity of attempting to see the ble.” I said, “For God’s sake it’s now working for the first time.” And
first stars that ignited after the Big Bang and to see primordial solar they said, “No, we got to start thinking about a replacement now.”
systems deep in the heavens is outrageous. It took courage, hard Their original idea was a 4-meter visible and ultraviolet telescope. I
work, dealing with failures along the way, and the self-confidence asked them what scientific question they’d like to answer. They said
of those who followed me at NASA. I salute the courageous NASA they’d like to see the first stars that ignited after the Big Bang but that
and industrial team that persevered while addressing head-hurting you couldn’t do it because that would require a 6- to 7-meter infrared
telescope that has to be cooled, and it
2012: Webb’s first two mirror wouldn’t fit in the biggest rocket shroud.
segments arrive at NASA’s Goddard I said we’re not going to build another
Space Flight Center in Maryland. telescope unless we’re answering a fun-
damental scientific question that’s going
to have an impact on the lives of the peo-
ple on this planet. Astronomers battled
me for a year when I challenged them to
consider a 6-to-7-meter infrared telescope.
I called them Hubble huggers, but it was
kind of said in friendship. Now, I did not
interfere with the process. NASA took the
concept to the National Academy of Sci-
ences, to the Space Studies Board.
That is how the Webb space telescope
began. There were some early cost stud-
ies, but during my tenure there wasn’t a
mature design yet to start doing really
strong cost studies. Do I regret that Webb
turned out to be hard? Hell no. Get out-
ta here! [he laughs] There had to be work
done after me. But I believe we can’t walk
away from hard things. If we walk away,
we are not worthy of the resources the
American public gives us to explore the
unknown. +

22 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

 “Should the Webb telescope experience whet the appetite for technological advancements among those
charting the future of space-based astronomy, or should the experience be viewed as a cautionary tale?”

From the astronomer whose report was overruled: Reasons for caution…
Alan Dressler
Staff astronomer, now emeritus, Carnegie Observatories in California, 1981-present
Dressler chaired a committee that in 1995 recommended a telescope with a 4-meter-diameter primary mirror as a successor to
Hubble and its 2.4-meter mirror. Then-NASA Administrator Dan Goldin viewed this recommendation as timid and dismissed
proponents as “Hubble huggers.”

W
hen the Hubble Space Tele-
2017: Webb’s optical portion in front
scope and Beyond commit-
of the door to Chamber A, a thermal
tee began our work in 1994, vacuum chamber at NASA’s Johnson
the fixing of Hubble was still in Space Center in Houston.
doubt. But once it was clear the
Hubble was restored and it became
a huge success, our committee
was anxious to build something
even more ambitious. NASA sug-
gested a target budget of $500
million, so we recommended a
4-meter telescope with a more
conventional design — not a seg-
mented mirror and unfolding
sunshield and all the things that
the Webb will be.
A few months after the report
came out, NASA Administrator Dan
Goldin addressed the 1996 Amer-
ican Astronomical Society meeting
in San Antonio. I was in the front
row, and I just remember him lean-
ing over the lectern, looking straight
at me. He called our recommen-
dation too cautious, too timid. He
wanted an 8-meter telescope,
which increased both the devel-
opment time and cost. [NASA
eventually settled on a 6.5-meter
diameter primary mirror.] Webb
became the perfect storm: The
more expensive it got, the more
critical it was that it not fail, and
that made it even more expensive.
A similar decision point over
complexity will come once the 2020
Decadal Survey is released, with
the 8-meter to 15-meter LUVOIR design and the 4-meter HabEx if I were in NASA and the Decadal Committee said, “If there’s
that would both look for planets around other stars. I’m torn, just enough money we want to do LUVOIR, but if not we want to do
like I was when Dan Goldin looked down at me at the AAS meeting HabEx,” we ought to have a technical study that goes much further
and urged us to go bigger with Webb. Your first reaction is, “Ah, into how much it will cost to build each telescope. We need to do
that’s fantastic!” and the second is just, “I’m terrified at this thought.” the engineering, whatever it costs, so we can say with certainty
I think we better take Webb’s cautionary tale very seriously. So what we’re buying. +

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 23

 OPINION WEBB'S IMPACT

Lessons, yes. Chilling effect, no.

John Mather
Astrophysicist, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, 1974-present
Mather led the group that defined Webb’s science objectives and chose its instruments. He began studying possible
objectives in 1995, seven years before NASA named the future telescope after James Webb, NASA’s second confirmed
administrator. Mather is now senior project scientist, the top scientist on the program.

Y
our provocative question is about advancements versus a chosen Northrop Grumman. Nobody can really tell you how
cautionary tale, and I’d say Webb has been both. We can’t make hard things are going to be when you start into the forest.
progress in astronomy, most of the time, without inventing We made that start under the very ambitious NASA admin-
something, and that’s always harder than people think it will be. istrator, Dan Goldin, who was very creative and very pushy
Every single time. Success is a matter of people, as well as ideas. toward rapid progress. In ’96, he went to the American Astro-
We find extraordinary talent out there in the aerospace industry, nomical Society, and he said, “Why does Alan Dressler’s com-
but mistakes set you back. On Webb, we had to invent a refriger- mittee ask for such a small telescope? We’re going to build you
ator, so NASA ran a competition, and in demonstrations the re- a bigger one.” He got a standing ovation, and we said, “Well,
frigerator worked fine, but when it came time to build the one OK, we better do this.” That’s sort of our first peer review. He
that would fly, it didn’t work so well. We got Northrop Grumman urged us to do faster, better and cheaper. He said we know that
to give us a new manager. And within weeks of his coming in, the Spitzer Space Telescope is going to cost whatever the
progress increased very rapidly. number was at the time, so we want you to build this bigger,
So, astronomers know there is gold out there, but you need better one for less. People didn’t really believe that it was
the right people and tools to find it. As for that next tool, within a possible, but we said, “OK, boss, we’ll try.” No one should be
month or two or three you should have a big story about what’s surprised that if you start out with that kind of instruction
in the Decadal Survey report. There were four Webb-telescope- you’re not going to get the answer you wanted. Wishful think-
class observatories that were to be evaluated by this giant com- ing is not the same as truth. Never has been, and never will
mittee of the National Academy of Sciences, and they all are ex- be. But the boss could see right away that Webb’s segmented
tremely ambitious. At least three of the four build directly on the mirror technology was an investment in the future, because
technology that the Webb developed, with better detectors, with this was the only way we could break the boundary of telescopes
things that unfold in space, with focusing the telescope after bigger than the rocket. +
launch or with something very
cold. One of those telescopes
would actually run at about 4 or
5 degrees Kelvin, so that’s a whole
lot colder even than the Webb
telescope.
On Webb, we learned some
things we will want to repeat.
The mirrors were obviously a
big challenge, so we had an ex-
ternal committee, a team, that
came in to tell us whether we
were doing the right thing. They
kept us out of trouble. A more
general lesson was: If you haven’t
got a complete plan, you
shouldn’t be promising the price.
Everyone was surprised at how
2019: Webb’s five-layer sunshield
difficult it was to finish defining fully deployed at a Northrop
the test program. We actually Grumman facility in California.
had to change that after we had

24 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

 “Should the Webb telescope experience whet the appetite for technological advancements among those
charting the future of space-based astronomy, or should the experience be viewed as a cautionary tale?”

Abandon the “flagship” obsession.

Martin Elvis
Astrophysicist, now senior, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Massachusetts, 1980-present
Elvis has been an outspoken critic of NASA’s approach of focusing on one flagship astronomy mission at a time, most recently in his
book “Asteroids: How Love, Fear, and Greed Will Determine Our Future in Space,” published in June.

W
e will find things that will amaze us with Webb, and I hope report. We’re now getting to the point where we could service
those discoveries inspire us to pursue technological advanc- telescopes to low-Earth orbit quite cheaply, I would think, using
es in different areas of astronomy to complement those the SpaceX Dragon capsule, for instance. When you serviced
findings. But the cautionary tale is: If we follow the Webb procedure Hubble, it cost you a billion dollars to launch the shuttle plus the
of choosing one flagship mission that gets all the attention, gets instruments you were taking up. That cost comes down by more
the budget, then, when it runs into a problem, what can NASA do than an order of magnitude if you could put something like a new
except throw more money at it? instrument or replacement computers in the Dragon trunk and
If Webb fails, if it doesn’t deploy perfectly, then we’ll have spent take it up, where either astronauts or robots could make the repair.
$10 billion for a turkey, and that’s going to hamper NASA astro- Another avenue is the bigger fairings on today’s in-development
physics for sure, and maybe a broader part of NASA’s science launch vehicles, which eliminates the need to fold up telescopes
program, because who’s going to risk giving NASA $10 billion again and then deploy them as Webb was designed to do. And their
for a single thing? much bigger mass to orbit will spark a change in philosophy of
A smarter strategy would be to have multiple missions in the engineering for space that should be well-established by the
development simultaneously, each with a fixed budget. You say, time we have a new decadal.
“OK, you get $3 billion or $5 billion even, but if you go over that We need to start thinking about these problems now before
you’re dead.” But NASA still has a flagship program. Having mul- all the great observatories are gone. Hubble recently got a soft-
tiple missions and cost caps imposes what they call in the U.K. ware fi x; we’ve lost the Spitzer telescope and the Chandra X-ray
“tensioning,” or discipline, that keeps costs realistic, keeps people telescope is clearly not as powerful as it used to be. You can’t rely
focused. on any of them being there in five years’ time, certainly not in
The 2030 Decadal Survey should also consider emerging 10. We need a new approach for the next generation of great
technologies that weren’t mature enough in time for the 2020 observatories. +

2019: A blueprint of Webb

that NASA created as a prop
for a video series.

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 25

SUBORBITAL
LAUNCH + FREE FALL

26 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

SCRAPBOOK
LANDING + CELEBRATION

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 27

 LAUNCH

Wally Funk is seen through one of

the six windows of the Reusable
Space Ship First Step passenger
capsule as she and the three other
passengers prepare for the launch.

Pilots Dave Mackay and Michael “Sooch” Masucci

fly Virgin Space Ship Unity as Mackay tells the
passengers they are “clear to unstrap” and enjoy a
few minutes of free fall, also known as zero-g.

28 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

FREE FALL

Blue Origin passengers,

from left, Oliver Daemen,
Wally Funk and Mark
Bezos toss an orange
pingpong ball during
their three minutes of
weightlessness.

Virgin Galactic’s Sirisha Bandla,

vice president for government affairs
and research operations, does weightless
somersaults after VSS Unity reaches the
apogee of its flight.

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 29

 LANDING

Three parachutes slow Blue’s New

Shepard RSS First Step capsule for
a landing in the West Texas desert, a The New Shepard rocket lands
few kilometers from the launch pad. on its pad after delivering the
capsule to space.

Jeff Bezos in his New Shepard capsule after it touched down in Texas
on what he declared was his “Best day ever!” Following the 11-minute
flight, Blue Origin employees returned the capsule and rocket to
the company’s Texas facility for refurbishment ahead of a second
passenger flight scheduled for late September or early October.

VSS Unity glides toward a landing at

Virgin’s runway at Spaceport America in
New Mexico.

30 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

CELEBRATION

Blue Origin’s company

astronaut pin showing the
feather logo that “represents
freedom, exploration, mobility
and progress,” Blue’s website
reads.

Former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, a member

of the Virgin Galactic Space Advisory Board, shown
after attaching the company astronaut pin to Richard
Branson’s flight suit. The gold pin shows a spaceplane
between two sycamore seeds, which like Virgin’s
spaceplanes “detach from the mothership of their tree
and float and tumble,” Hadfield said.

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 31

 eVTOL:
making the electric
dream a safe one

Hundreds of startups are betting that

electric aviation will finally provide safe,
affordable urban air mobility services.
But certifying the airworthiness of their
myriad vertical takeoff architectures
faces some stiff challenges.
BY PAUL MARKS | PaulMarksNews@protonmail.com

32 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 33
 n a Monday evening in
May 1977, the landing gear

O
on one side of a New York
Airways commuter heli-
copter collapsed as it was
picking up passengers
atop Manhattan’s 59-
story Pan Am Building.
The spinning rotors struck bystanders and passen-
gers waiting to board, killing four. A fifth victim died
on the ground, a block away, when falling rotor
debris struck her as she waited for a bus.
That gruesome accident saw the Pan Am Build-
ing’s heliport closed forever. But the tragedy has had
a further effect: It has become a talismanic example
of the risks inherent in trying to use conventional
helicopters, with their massive, high-energy rotary
parts, to supply gridlock-busting air taxi services in
heavily peopled urban areas. longer: At least 100 energetic startups believe urban Joby Aviation’s electric
Among those familiar with this case is Mary air mobility vehicles are not only about to become vertical takeoff and
landing aircraft, shown in
“Missy” Cummings, a former U.S. Navy F/A-18 pilot viable in the next few years, but that they will be
an illustration, will have
with a doctorate in systems engineering who re- safer, quieter and greener than anything conven- six propulsors, all of them
searches transportation safety at Duke University tional helicopters can ever offer — due to an ingenious tiltable.
in North Carolina. In studying the economics of such twist in the way vertical takeoff and landing vehicles Joby Aviation

helicopter-based on-demand urban air mobility are designed, powered and fueled.
operations, her research group has found that busi- That twist? With the advent of distributed electric
ness models tend to demand that they operate at propulsion, tomorrow’s air taxis and other forms of
high flight volumes — and that raises the chances urban air mobility won’t need a single, massive,
of an accident with their unforgiving, high-energy high-energy, turbine-driven rotor disk plus a tail
rotor blades in urban spaces packed with people. rotor to counter the resulting torque and assure
“We’ve tried to have helicopter air taxi services stability. This emerging breed of lithium-battery-pow-
in the past, and they’ve all failed. History has taught ered electric vertical takeoff and landing, or eVTOL,
us something very important about the economies aircraft will be lighter and propelled by small, elec-
of scale of rotorcraft-based air taxi services,” says tric-motor-driven rotors, located strategically around
Cummings. the airframe, collectively providing lift, thrust and
But that situation may not prevail for much vectoring control.

34 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

 “The true beauty of eVTOL is
that these electric motors are
very compact, ultrareliable,
have one moving part and are
amazingly efficient. And once
An accident like the one atop the Pan Am build-
you use them to distribute
ing would be less deadly because there would not propulsion, you can distribute
be giant rotors slicing toward bystanders or hurtling
toward pedestrians below. And, the control archi-
thrust and control across the
tectures of these eVTOL designs might make such a aircraft wherever you want it,
crash even be less likely to happen in the first place.
very, very nicely.
Simplifying flight controls
With the action of these far smaller, lighter rotors
choreographed by software — no rotorcraft pilot “And that, changes the rules of
could possibly control them all manually — the
opportunity exists to greatly simplify rotorcraft flight
aircraft design.”
controls in the short term, and in the very long term
move toward fully automated, pilotless eVTOL flight
if the public were to accept that automation can, in
— Mark Moore, Whisper Aero
fact, be safer than a person at the controls.
There is no one-size-fits-all here: The eVTOL
concept lends itself to myriad aircraft designs with

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 35

Forms of propulsion for urban air mobility
Distributing
lift and thrust
across multiple
propulsors increases
redundancy and
makes urban air
mobility designs
safer from the start
than conventional
helicopters,
designers say.
Distributed
propulsion concepts
MULTICOPTER: Lifting rotors are arrayed around the circumference LIFT AND CRUISE: One group of vertical rotors lift the aircraft and an-
come in four basic and spokes of a carbon fiber ring. other set provides forward thrust; wings boost cruise energy efficiency.
forms.

VECTORED THRUST: Tilting propulsors transition the aircraft from MULTIPROPULSOR DUCTED FANS: Multiple, vectorable, electric
liftoff thrust to forward thrust; wings boost cruise efficiency. fans, enclosed in ducts, reduce noise; wings boost cruise efficiency.
SOURCES: Images, Lilium; text,
Aerospace America research

rotors or ducted fans and counts of such propulsors Joby Aviation, for example, was acquired by just such
varying from six to 36. Each design can be geared to a SPAC, called Reinvent Technology Partners, in
different mission profiles, such as intercity or intra- August, raising $1 billion on the New York Stock
city air taxi flights. And as Aerospace America wrote Exchange to fuel Joby’s manufacturing plans. Other
in the July/August issue, plans are already in place eVTOL makers that have announced plans to raise
to build the vertiports that the eVTOL revolution funds via SPACs include Lilium of Germany, Vertical
will demand. Aerospace in the United Kingdom and Archer Avi-
Some companies developing eVTOL technology ation in the U.S.
are experiencing feverish investor interest, especial- Driving this interest, in part, are the mind-bog-
ly from special purpose acquisition companies, gling financial predictions from analysts. Investment
which are firms with no commercial operations and bank Morgan Stanley, for example, predicts that the
that exist solely to raise funds through an initial global eVTOL/urban air mobility market will be
public offering. The cash raised is then used to acquire worth $1 trillion by 2040 and $9 trillion by 2050. And
a target company and to give it the funds to develop McKinsey, a management consultancy, projects that
its product. UAM firms worldwide will need to hire and train
The eVTOL industry’s apparent front-runner, 60,000 eVTOL pilots by 2028.

36 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

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 A pilot flies the But the analysts are getting ahead of themselves, By distributing lift and thrust across a number
Volocopter 2X (top cautions Cummings, and one should be deeply of propulsors on an airframe, eVTOL makers auto-
right) on a rehearsal skeptical of their claims. “I wouldn’t trust them as matically provide a critical safety feature that heli-
flight before the
far as I can throw them,” she says. One reason: Before copters lack: propulsor redundancy, says aeronau-
EAA AirVenture in
Oshkosh, Wis. The 2X the eVTOL market can take off, manufacturers have tics engineer Mark Moore, founder and CEO of
is a prototype of the a mountain to climb in the form of gaining airwor- Whisper Aero, a Tennessee startup formed in Feb-
company’s planed thiness safety certification from regulators including ruary to develop ultraquiet propulsors for UAM
VoloCity electric vertical FAA, the European Aviation Safety Agency and aircraft. Moore pioneered the concept of distribut-
takeoff and landing
Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority. ed electric propulsion in a 30-year career at NASA’s
aircraft (inset).
Volocopter But because there are so many ways to design Langley Research Center in Virginia, and then spent
eVTOL aircraft, and since some of their components four years evangelizing eVTOL concepts at Uber
are pretty new to aviation — such as high-power Elevate, which was acquired by Joby Aviation in
lithium battery packs, electric motors and electric December.
propulsor/wing tilt mechanisms — many have not On a six- or eight-rotor eVTOL, for instance,
been flown in safety-critical air applications before, losing a propulsor to a motor or gear failure, or a
so airworthiness certification could potentially be birdstrike, would leave enough lift margin for the
a more arduous process than for regular aircraft. aircraft to continue flying to a safe landing. And that
“Distributed electric propulsion is a great idea, would be even more the case on designs with as
a fantastic concept,” says Cummings. She cautions many as 18 or 36 propulsors, as some eVTOL vendors
that going from a concept to “some kind of opera- are proposing.
tional, mature technology” is difficult. “Companies “The vast majority of helicopters are single tur-
need to be in this for the long haul because the bine, so that’s critical. And helicopters have all sorts
certification process is going to be long and costly.” of different parts that are flight critical, where if any
one of them fails, like the tail rotor, it can’t fly,” Moore
Promise of improved safety says. And while a helicopter’s rotors can autorotate
But proponents say that improved safety should be and crash land without engine power, its pilot can-
viewed as an almost innate property of most eVTOL not choose where it will land, whereas an eVTOL,
formats. due to redundancy, can.

38 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

 On top of this basic, in-built contribution to
safety, he says, there is also the safety proffered by
the utter simplicity of electric motors versus that of
complex turbines and reciprocating engines. “The
true beauty of eVTOL is that these electric motors
are very compact, ultrareliable, have one moving
part and are amazingly efficient. And once you use
them to distribute propulsion, you can distribute
thrust and control across the aircraft wherever you
want it, very, very nicely.”
“And that,” Moore says, “changes the rules of
aircraft design.”
How have those rules changed? Well, the four
chief architectures for eVTOL aircraft that address Gauging public
the rotor arrangements, means of propulsion and
other factors throw this into sharp relief. See graph-
ic, Page 36.
acceptance of UAM
T
Each of those architectures can in turn be varied he European Union Aviation Safety Agency hired consulting
in many ways, perhaps by adding lifting surfaces, firm McKinsey & Co. to produce a study on societal accep-
or attaching more propulsors along wings, or may- tance of urban air mobility operations. The company surveyed
be running with combinations of open rotors, til- 3,690 people across six European cities between November
trotors and ducted fans. 2020 and April 2021. Among the top concerns were safety,
So how are the backers of some of these archi- environmental impact, noise and security.
tectures attempting to assure safety? One company Among other key findings, 64% said they were rather or
adopting two of those formats is Volocopter of very likely to try out delivery drones, and 49% said they would
Karlsruhe, Germany. At the EAA Airventure show in be rather or very likely to try air taxis.
Wisconsin in July, the company flew the Volocopter Respondents indicated they were more comfortable with
2X, a prototype of its planned VoloCity eVTOL, a the idea of crewed urban air mobility vehicles than uncrewed.
two-seat, 18-rotor multicopter with a range of 35 Here are the percentages who agreed with the following state-
kilometers (with today’s battery technology). The ments from the survey:
company’s winged VoloConnect aircraft, which is
still in the concept phase, will be a four-seat lift-and-
cruise eVTOL with a range of 100 km, propelled by “As a pedestrian on the ground, I would feel
six lifting rotors and two ducted fans either side of safe with unmanned delivery drones
the tail to push it forward.
potentially flying above me.” 56%
Oliver Reinhardt, Volocopter’s chief risk and
certification officer, says that although eVTOLs are
a novel type of vehicle, certifiable standards exist
for all of the types of components in their designs,
“As a pedestrian on the ground, I would feel
be it motors, on-board electronics or safety-critical
flight software. For instance, he says, although the safe with manned air taxis potentially flying
design of the motors in the VoloCity differ in size, above me.” 70%
shape and electrical characteristics, the certification
requirements for the electric motors flown today in
some electric light aircraft, like the Pipistrel, apply
to VoloCity’s version. “I would be interested in trying out a manned
“There is a lot of commonality in the generic set air taxi myself.” 75%
of requirements and the levels of safety that we need
to meet,” Reinhardt says.
Volocopter opted for a lift-and-cruise design,
rather than vectored thrust, for its VoloConnect “I would be interested in trying out an
eVTOL in part because of the U.S. military’s experi-
unmanned air taxi myself.” 43%
ence with its V-22 Osprey tiltrotors. Perhaps most
infamously, an Osprey crashed into the Potomac
Source: “Study on the Societal Acceptance of Urban Air Mobility
River south of Washington, D.C., in 1992 in front of
In Europe,” EASA
VIPs who had reportedly assembled to watch the
new aircraft land in the D.C. area for the first time.

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 39

“Distributed electric
propulsion is a great idea,
a fantastic concept. But
there’s a huge difference
from going to concept to
some kind of operational,
mature technology.
Companies need to be
in this for the long haul
because the certification
process is going to be long
and costly.”
— Mary “Missy” Cummings, Duke University

All seven aboard were killed. “When you look into fly-by-wire control systems. An illustration of
the history of the Osprey, military certification de- The company rejected a straight lift-and-cruise the VA-X4, Vertical
Aerospace’s eight-
velopment started sometime in the 1980s. But since design early on, says Paul Harper, head of certifica-
rotor electric vertical
then, no manufacturer has been able to obtain a tion at Vertical Aerospace, because “the vertical takeoff and landing
civilian type certificate for any tiltrotor or tilt-wing takeoff and landing part is, clearly, only used during concept. Rolls-Royce is
design.” So adopting such technology for civilian takeoff and landing. So for the rest of the flight regime, building the motors and
eVTOLs, Reinhardt says, might have made gaining you’re lugging around dead weight.” Honeywell the control
systems.
certification “extremely complex.” “We needed to be able to minimize the amount
Vertical Aerospace
Vertical Aerospace, however, is going for a tiltro- of pure VTOL kit onboard the aircraft. And the tilting
tor-based, thrust vectoring design for its VA-X4, a rotors at the front allow us to do that. They buy their
winged, eight-rotor, 160 km-range eVTOL. The VA-X4 place onto the aircraft mass budget by providing the
will have four lift-only rotors behind the wing but forward cruise thrust. It adds some complexity, but
four tiltable thrusters on the front of the wing that it saves significant weight,” Harper says.
transition from vertical to horizontal flight and vice And Vertical Aerospace is unfazed by the Osprey’s
versa. The firm has major league technology partners, record in the military sphere, says Harper. “At the
too, in the form of Rolls-Royce, which is supplying end of the day, the tilting system is an actuation
its motors, and Honeywell, which is providing eVTOL system, and there are safety critical actuators on

40 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

existing [commercial] aircraft — such as on elevators. former Harrier jump jet pilot, and someone who
We just need to make sure that the consequence of has worked on the X-35 strike fighter and F-35
a single actuator failing is benign to the aircraft.” human interfaces, simplifying the Joby eVTOL’s
At Joby Aviation in Santa Cruz, California, the controls is a key aim for Paines. “By making the
choice of eVTOL architecture eschews Vertical Aero- aircraft simple to fly, we can lower pilot workload,
space’s back line of lift-only propulsors; it is a fully thereby reducing pilot error,” he says.
thrust vectoring machine, with all six of its propul- But like most other eVTOL makers, Paines says
sors tiltable for the lift-to-thrust (and vice versa) Joby is in no hurry to go autonomous. “The current
transition. design of the Joby aircraft is designed to be flown by
Joby’s chief test pilot, Justin Paines, says they a pilot, and capabilities like fly-by-wire enhance
“analyzed and tested many, many configurations, operational safety. Clearly there is tremendous
including constructing and testing a wide range of potential for increased automation and autonomy
subscale aircraft” before homing in on that config- over the coming years, and Joby is taking a staged
uration. approach to that ultimate goal,” he says.
Joby’s road to proving airworthiness, he says, Moore agrees that autonomy is a ways off yet.
has for a decade been based on engineering “certi- “It’s going to be a slow evolution in terms of achiev-
fiable solutions” — in consultation with FAA. As a ing that fully autonomous eVTOL capability. I’m

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 41

 convinced it’s going to take another 10 years.” allowing 100 times more catastrophic failures in
Volocopter chose a lift- UAM. “That doesn’t make sense with the high num-
and-cruise design, rather Challenges to eVTOL certification bers of eVTOL vehicles that we all want to have in
than vectored thrust,
Despite the general bullishness from eVTOL man- the air,” says Reinhardt. He hopes EASA’s 10-9 prob-
for its VoloConnect
concept partly because
ufacturers, Jacek Kawecki, former safety lead at Uber ability will prevail worldwide for eVTOL.
“no manufacturer has Elevate — and now a partner with Moore at Whisper EASA and the FAA are talking it through, both
been able to obtain a Aero — says there remains a number of challenging sides confirmed.
civilian type certificate aspects to eVTOL certification. “The two authorities are in continuous exchange
for any tilt-rotor or tilt-
“One is understanding how to certify lithium-ion and dialogue to ensure that the respective regulatory
wing design,” says Oliver
Reinhardt, Volocopter’s
batteries; understanding their lifetime is a little bit environments will allow a fair and level playing field
chief risk and certification difficult. But when the regulator is unsure, they tend so as to enable the growth of the global eVTOL market,”
officer. to think more conservatively in the interests of says Janet Northcote, head of communication at EASA
Volocopter
public safety. With time, they’ll understand how to in Munich. The FAA confirmed that it is working “to
better qualify such unknowns,” says Kawecki. align and define” the certification requirements for
There is also a trans-Atlantic sticking point in eVTOL with “international aviation authorities.”
eVTOL certification, says Volocopter’s Reinhardt. With the Pan Am Building catastrophe in mind,
EASA wants all eVTOLs certified to the same level agreeing to raise the threshold of acceptable accident
of safety as commercial airliners are worldwide, limits might be the best thing the regulators could
which allows one catastrophic event every 1 billion do. Everybody in the eVTOL community knows that
flight hours (a 10-9 probability). any repeat of that tragic event with their new breed
But the FAA is considering allowing eVTOLs that of electric aircraft will leave the UAM industry dead
have a wing to improve energy efficiency in cruise in the water. In May, Morgan Stanley cautioned in
flight — and which can be used to glide to a safe its latest UAM industry analysis that the marketing
landing after a power loss — to be certified to a 10-7 materials of eVTOL companies strongly echo the
probability, or one catastrophic event every 10 mil- way New York Airways advertised its commuter
lion flight hours, the same as light aircraft must helicopter service back in 1962. It is up to the eVTOL
adhere to, rather than an airliner. industry, and the regulators, to show that, this time,
But Volocopter does not see the logic in the FAA it’s going to be different. +

42 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

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AIA A BULLETIN | AIA A NEWS AND EVENTS

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4 Oct–10 Nov Design of Spacecraft & Systems Engineering Course ONLINE (learning.aiaa.org)

6–8 Oct Understanding Cybersecurity in the Space Domain Course ONLINE (learning.aiaa.org)

7–28 Oct Turbulence Modeling for Aerodynamic Flows Course ONLINE (learning.aiaa.org)

12 Oct–4 Nov Hypersonic Propulsion Concepts: Design, Control, Operation, and Testing Course ONLINE (learning.aiaa.org)

19 Oct–4 Nov Space Architecture: Designing a Lunar Habitation System Course ONLINE (learning.aiaa.org)

25–29 Oct* 72nd International Astronautical Congress Dubai, UAE

26 Oct–18 Nov Aviation Cybersecurity Course ONLINE (learning.aiaa.org)

8–10 & 15–17 Nov ASCEND Powered by AIAA Las Vegas, NV, & ONLINE 30 Mar 21

15–17 Nov AIAA International Space Planes and Hypersonic Systems & Technologies Conference Las Vegas, NV, & ONLINE 30 Mar 21

29–30 Nov Australian International Aerospace Congress & Region VII Student Conference Melbourne, Australia, & ONLINE 15 Sep 21

2022

3–7 Jan AIAA SciTech Forum San Diego, CA, & ONLINE 1 Jun 21

7 Jan 3rd AIAA Geometry and Mesh Generation Workshop (GMGW-3) San Diego, CA

7 Jan 4th AIAA CFD High Lift Prediction Workshop (HLPW-4) San Diego, CA

AIAA Continuing Education offerings

46 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org
For more information on meetings listed below, visit our website at
aiaa.org/events or call 800.639.AIAA or 703.264.7500 (outside U.S.).

ABSTRACT
DATE MEETING LOCATION DEADLINE

2022

8 Jan Computational Aeroelasticity Course San Diego, CA

8–9 Jan Design of Electrified Propulsion Aircraft Course San Diego, CA

8–9 Jan Missile Guidance Course San Diego, CA

8–9 Jan Agile Systems Engineering Course San Diego, CA

8–9 Jan OpenFOAM CFD Foundations Course San Diego, CA

8–9 Jan 1st AIAA High Fidelity CFD Workshop San Diego, CA

Aircraft and Rotorcraft System Identification Engineering Methods for Manned

8–9 Jan San Diego, CA
and UAV Applications with Hands-on Training using CIFER® Course

5–12 Mar* 2022 IEEE Aerospace Conference Big Sky, MT (aeroconf.org)

1–3 Apr AIAA Region VI Student Conference Merced, CA 5 Feb 22

4–6 Apr* 3rd IAA Conference on Space Situational Awareness (ICSSA) Madrid (http://reg.conferences.dce.ufl.edu/ICSSA)

19–21 Apr AIAA DEFENSE Forum Laurel, MD 19 Oct 21

26 Apr AIAA Fellows Induction Ceremony and Dinner Arlington, VA

27 Apr AIAA Aerospace Spotlight Awards Gala Washington, DC

30 May–1 Jun 29th Saint Petersburg International Conference on Integrated Navigation Systems Saint Petersburg, Russia

21–24 Jun* ICNPAA 2021: Mathematical Problems in Engineering, Aerospace and Sciences Prague, Czech Republic (icnpaa.com)

25–26 Jun 7th AIAA Drag Prediction Workshop (“DPW-VII: Expanding the Envelope”) Chicago, IL

26 Jun 2nd AIAA Workshop for Multifidelity Modeling in Support of Design & Uncertainty Quantification Chicago, IL

27 Jun–1 Jul AIAA AVIATION Forum Chicago, IL

44th Scientific Assembly of the Committee on Space Research and Associate Athens, Greece (cospar-
16–24 Jul* 11 Feb 22
Events (COSPAR 2022) assembly.org)

33rd Congress of the International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences (ICAS Stockholm, Sweden (icas2022.
4–9 Sep* 10 Feb 22
2022) com)

18–22 Sep* 73rd International Astronautical Congress Paris, France (iac2022.org)

24–26 Oct ASCEND Powered by AIAA Las Vegas, NV

*Meetings cosponsored by AIAA. Cosponsorship forms can be found at aiaa.org/events-learning/exhibit-sponsorship/co-sponsorship-opportunities.

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 47

AIA A BULLETIN | AIA A NEWS AND EVENTS

2021 Virtual AIAA Aerospace

Spotlight Awards Gala
A IAA presented its most prestigious awards at the virtual AIAA Aerospace Spotlight Awards Gala on 12 August. The gala is
an annual event recognizing the most influential and inspiring individuals in aerospace, whose outstanding contributions
merit the highest accolades.

The 2021 premier award winners are:

1 Gen. Ellen M. Pawlikowski, U.S. Air Force (retired), recipient of the AIAA Goddard

Astronautics Award. This award is the highest honor AIAA bestows for notable
achievement in the field of astronautics.

2 Michimasa Fujino, Honda Aircraft Company, recipient of the AIAA Reed

Aeronautics Award. This award is the highest honor AIAA bestows for notable
achievement in the field of aeronautics.

3 Merri J. Sanchez, The Aerospace Corporation, recipient of the AIAA Distinguished

Service Award. This award is given in recognition of an individual member who has
provided distinguished service to the Institute over a period of years.

1
4 Michael Watkins, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
5 Michael A. Gross, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
6 Frank Flechtner, Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, GFZ German Research

Centre for Geosciences

7 Albert Zaglauer, Airbus Defence and Space

Recipients of the AIAA International Cooperation Award. The award recognizes

individual/s who have made significant contributions to the initiation, organization,
implementation, and/or management of activities with significant U.S. involvement
and that includes extensive international cooperative activities in space, aeronautics,
or both.

8 Marcia S. Smith, SpacePolicyOnline.com, recipient of the AIAA Public Service

Award. The highest recognition AIAA bestows on a person outside the aerospace
community who has shown consistent and visible support for national aviation and
space goals.

2 9 Benjamin Jorns, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, recipient of the AIAA

Lawrence Sperry Award. The award is presented for a notable contribution made by a
young person, age 35 or under, to the advancement of aeronautics or astronautics.

10 Humberto Silva III, Sandia National Laboratories, recipient of the AIAA Engineer

of the Year. This award is presented to a member of the Institute who has made
a recent individual, technical contribution in the application of scientific and
mathematical principles leading to a significant technical accomplishment.

11 Suzanne Banas, South Miami Middle Community School Miami, Florida

12 Leesa Hubbard, W.A. Wright Elementary, Mt. Juliet, Tennessee
13 Mark Westlake, Saint Thomas Academy, Mendota Heights, Minnesota

Recipients of the AIAA Educator Achievement Award. This award is given in

recognition of the teachers’ efforts to promote STEM education.

48 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

4 5 6

7 8 9

10 11 12

For more information about the

AIAA Honors and Awards Program:

Contact Patricia Carr at patriciac@aiaa.org

13

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AIA A BULLETIN | AIA A NEWS AND EVENTS

AIAA Sydney Section Hosts

Lecture on Satellite Operations
at UNSW Canberra Space
BY MICHAEL SPENCER (AIA A Associate Fellow), AIA A Sydney Section

O n 16 June, Dr. Courtney Bright was a guest speaker at a

public space lecture arranged by the AIAA Sydney Sec-
tion. The talk covered her motivations and the beginning of her
space engineering career, and her involvement to lead flight
operations in the UNSW Canberra Space university space pro-
gram involving five satellites in four discrete space missions,
all now in orbit.
“I first became interested in space in early primary school, when I
discovered the astronomy sections of an Encyclopaedia Britanni-
ca collection we had at home; I particularly remember having my Dr. Bright is the Flight Operations Lead at UNSW Canberra,
mind blown when I read that the sun will eventually expand to Australia (UNSW Canberra image).
engulf Earth. Some of my favourite childhood memories are an-
nual visits to ScienceWorks in Melbourne with my grandparents.”
Dr. Bright is responsible for planning, testing, and execut- available human resources. For example, the satellites are only
ing the operations of UNSW Canberra Space satellite missions. operated during business hours and need onboard systems
She has a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in mechanical engi- that can be trusted to keep the satellite safe until the next
neering; her Ph.D. research focused on novel thrust vectoring working shift.
methods for spacecraft propulsion. During her studies, she One of the most significant project lessons learned was to
commenced part-time work with the first generation of conduct end-to-end integrated system testing before launch:
the UNSW Canberra Space workforce formed in 2014. After using the operations software and ground station software
submitting her thesis, she transitioned to a full-time position to communicate over-the-air with the “plugs-out” integrated
with the growing team and space program at UNSW Canberra spacecraft, with final versions of flight software loaded. During
Space. the program, a stressful event occurred when M1 was launched
During her student days, she was a student member of in 2018 by the SpaceX Smallsat Express, with another 63
AIAA and joined the AIAA Sydney Section committee to assist satellites, all released in quick succession as a satellite cluster!
in organizing space promotions and outreach activities. In The challenge for the cluster release is to identify each satellite.
2017, Dr. Bright was a member of the student organizing Two months after launch, only 50% of satellites were identified;
committee for “Astronaut Stories Australia,” a national public two years later, twelve satellites are still not identified. Unfortu-
outreach to host international guest speakers, including for- nately, the M1 satellites failed to contact for unknown reasons,
mer NASA astronauts Dr. Sandy Magnus and Pamela Melroy. but the rapid response fault-finding and diagnostics served
Dr. Bright briefly described the engineering, testing and to benefit the designs for the follow-on missions. The next
flight operations conducted at UNSW Canberra Space. The major milestone in the program is the pending “divorce” event
university space program is designed to demonstrate new where the M2 satellite pair will separate into two independent
technologies for research at UNSW Canberra, including satellites to perform formation-flying experiments.
research areas into unique and bespoke systems engineering, The nature of working in and with space in an Austra-
software designs, onboard satellite processing, space situa- lian university space program demands a genuinely global
tional awareness, and satellite formation flying. The research approach involving international partners for space launch
is benefiting space interests at the university and the Royal services, space surveillance and satellite tracking, and even
Australian Air Force. with some of the research students at the university.
She shared observations and experiences gained from the “Space is a genuinely multidisciplinary field, and with
space program, which includes the Buccaneer Risk Man- significant funding and growth of the space sector in Australia,
agement Mission (launched 2017), M1 (launched 2018), M2 it’s now possible to get involved in impactful space projects
Pathfinder (launched 2020), and the M2 twin-satellite mission and missions without moving overseas.”
(launched 2021). As the Flight Operations Lead, Dr. Bright and If you missed Dr. Bright’s talk, you can watch the recording
the team have had to formalize operating procedures that have at https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wwysdhzLVco&fea-
influenced satellite engineering designs to optimize the use of ture=youtu.be.

50 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

AIAA Greater Huntsville Section
Saves Alabama Quiz Bowl State
Championships from Cancellation
BY ROBIN OSBORNE, AIA A Greater Huntsville Section

T he AIAA Greater Huntsville

Section (GHS) partnered with
the Alabama Scholastic Com-
petition Association (ASCA) in
spring 2021 to help save the State
Championships for the Ala-
bama Academic Quiz Bowl from
inevitable cancellation during the
COVID-19 pandemic. AIAA GHS
hosted two large, traditionally
in-person tournaments – one for
middle school and one for high
school – through Zoom sessions
and an online buzzer system.
Together with Jacobs Space Explo-
ration Group and ERC, Inc., AIAA
GHS sponsored the tournaments
by providing support in the form
of funding, volunteers, technical
expertise, and even a tournament director to handle the logis- related to those subjects. Quiz bowl is akin to Jeopardy! for
tics associated with live online tournaments. students. The questions, provided by the National Academic
ASCA President Lee Henry wrote, “On behalf of ASCA, I Quiz Tournaments (NAQT), are complex and advanced for
sincerely thank all of the good people at AIAA GHS for their students’ current grade levels, and in many cases the top-per-
hard work in making sure that our tournaments took place this forming teams studied for years in after-school sessions under
year. I also want to thank Jacobs and ERC for their generous the guidance of teacher-coaches who have a passion for both
sponsorships. This has been an incredibly difficult year, and the game and bringing out the best in their students.
we likely would not have been able to host our tournaments In total, 64 volunteers consisting of members of the
without this assistance. Because so many wonderful people Huntsville aerospace community, teachers and students from
stepped up to help, we were able to give our students the across Alabama, and quiz bowl alumni assisted. Volunteers
high-quality academic competition that they have worked for ranged from middle school students to Ph.Ds. Nishanth Goli,
and deserve. It was a pleasure working with everyone and I AIAA GHS chair, commented, “AIAA GHS members are usually
hope that this is the beginning of a long-lasting partnership!” enthusiastic for STEM volunteer events, but for the quiz bowl
Eshan Pokhrel, a junior at Sparkman High School who events, we received unprecedented enthusiasm. Members
has been active in Scholars’ Bowl programs since 6th grade, volunteered for 4-8 hours on the day of the middle school and
commented, “After having our sophomore year and season high school events, and additional time was spent in the prac-
cut short due to COVID-19, I was happy to see that ASCA and tice sessions beforehand. Our membership’s passion for STEM
AIAA GHS were able to find a way to keep the state engaged in is commendable and the GHS Council will keep their interests
quiz bowl, despite the challenge of hosting our state districts intact and remain actively involved with ASCA and quiz bowl.
and championship online threatening participation. It was by We are excited about this collaboration and helping shape the
far the best and most efficiently-run tournament we attended future of our community.”
this season.” ASCA, consisting mostly of teachers, is the volunteer orga-
The scholastic tournaments, which are traditionally in per- nization that hosts the annual Alabama State Championships
son, challenged students from 56 schools across Alabama with each spring. During the previous school year, in March 2020,
detailed questions related to the STEM disciplines, as well as the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 necessitated cancellation of
other areas such as history, literature, fine arts, and pop culture. ASCA’s High School State Championship, along with all other
Teams competed by answering tossup and bonus questions in-person tournaments throughout the United States.

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 51

AIA A BULLETIN | AIA A NEWS AND EVENTS

Membership Nominations Are Now AIAA Dayton/Cincinnati Section

Open for AIAA Technical Committees Members Honored with AIAA
and Integration and Outreach Special Service Citation
Committees for 2022/2023.

T he Technical Activities Division (TAD) and Integration and

Outreach Division (IOD) work diligently with their committee
I n May, Dr. Brian Bohan of the Air Force Institute of Tech-
nology and Dr. Timothy Leger of the Air Force Research
Laboratory were honored with the AIAA Special Service
chairs to maintain a reasonable balance in appropriate representa- Citation, an award given by AIAA Headquarters for service
tion to the field from industry, research, education, and government at the local level above and beyond the ordinary in type,
and the specialties covered in the specific TC/IOC scopes. TAD intensity, or duration. Both were awarded in recognition of
and IOD encourage the nomination of young professionals (those their roles and outstanding service to the Dayton-Cincin-
individuals 35 years and younger). Committees have a 50-person nati Aerospace Sciences Symposium, an annual technical
maximum unless approval is granted to exceed that limit. Nominees event hosted by the section. Bohan served as the executive
selected for membership who are not AIAA members in good stand- chair and Leger as webmaster. Both members received their
ing must become members or renew their membership within 45 awards at a section event in June.
days of start of the membership term (1 May–30 April).
If you currently serve on a TC/IOC, you will automatically
be considered for the 2022/2023 membership term. Nomina-
tions are submitted online. The nomination form can be found
on the AIAA website at aiaa.org, under My AIAA, Nominations
and Voting, Technical Committee Online Nomination. Nomi-
nations are due by 1 November 2021.
Information about the committees can be found at
i Integration and Outreach Committees aiaa.org/integra-
tion-and-outreach-division-committees
i Technical Committees aiaa.org/technical-committees Marc Polanka, AIAA Dayton/Cincinnati Section Honors and Awards Officer,
presented both Brian Bohan and Tim Leger with their citations.

AIAA/AAAE/ACC Jay Hollingsworth Speas Airport Award

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

Nominations are currently being accepted for the 2022 AIAA/AAAE/ACC
Jay Hollingsworth Speas Airport Award. The recipient will receive a certificate
and a $7,500 cash prize.
This award honors individuals who have made significant improvements in the
relationships between airports and/or heliports and the surrounding environment,
specifically by creating best-in-class practices that can be replicated elsewhere.
Such enhancements might be in airport land use, airport noise reduction, protection
of environmental critical resources, architecture, landscaping, or other design
considerations to improve the compatibility of airports and their communities.
For nomination forms, please visit aiaa.org/SpeasAward. Presentation of the award
will be made at the AAAE/ACC Planning, Design, and Construction Symposium,
scheduled for February 2022.

DEADLINE: 1 November 2021

CONTACT: AIAA Honors and Awards Program at awards@aiaa.org

This award is jointly sponsored by AIAA, AAAE, and ACC.

aiaa.org/SpeasAward

5221-0473-HalfPg-2022
| SEPTEM SpeasB ER Airport
2021Award
| AD.indd 1
aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org 8/2/21 7:31 AM
 How Our Partners
Help Us Inspire the
Next Generation
T he AIAA Foundation inspires and supports the next gener-

Credit: Granby High School.

ation of aerospace professionals. From classroom to career,
the AIAA Foundation enables innovative K-12 and university
programming. AIAA is working every day to reach our goal of im-
pacting 1 million students a year where their aspirations begin.
We know the effect classroom teachers can have by making
young students aware of the possibilities, helping students see
themselves as possible contributors to society, and encouraging
them to build their skills. This year through the Classroom Grant
Program, 83 educators received grants of up to $500 that will
affect nearly 24,000 students. The AIAA Foundation also has
provided other resources through our K-12 partnerships and
DBL 2021 winners: Anna Porter Puckett, Jaden Shawyer, and
Puneeth Bheesetty of Granby High School, Norfolk, VA. Aerospace Micro-Lessons that help educators spark a student’s
interest in aerospace. Our Design/Build/Launch (DBL) competi-
tion, in partnership with Blue Origin, invites high school students
to develop research proposals in the fields of microgravity science
or space technology, pairing their experiment with a public
outreach plan to share the excitement of the field with others. The
top proposal receives a free spaceflight for their payload on Blue
Origin’s New Shepard rocket and a $1,000 grant to prepare and
develop the experiment for flight.
As these students begin their university years, the AIAA
Foundation supports hands-on experiences like the Design/
Build/Fly (DBF) competition and university design competi-
tions, which provide students with a unique opportunity to
apply engineering skills. We also encourage students to present
their research at the AIAA Regional Student Conferences. These
conferences allow undergraduate and graduate students to
receive feedback on their research and presentation style from
respected industry professionals. The AIAA Foundation also
financially supports students; this year we provided over $75,000
Mark Westlake, Physics educator at Saint Thomas Academy
in undergraduate scholarship and graduate awards to the next
in Mendota Heights, MN
generation of aerospace professionals.
The AIAA Foundation recently received a $1 million grant
from Blue Origin’s Club for the Future. We are finalizing the
strategy to inspire the most students with this gift. We’ll do more
of what we know works, and also try new, innovative programs
that engage young hearts and minds to fuel the next generation
of aerospace professionals. Through our partners and donors, the
AIAA Foundation looks forward to reaching even more educators
and students with resources, experiences, and programming.

Please consider making your own donation in honor of the AIAA

Foundation’s 25 th anniversary; every donation makes an impact.
University of Texas at Austin students participating in
For more information please visit aiaa.org/foundation or contact Alex
the 2021 DBF
D’Imperio, alexandrad@aiaa.org.

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 53

AIA A BULLETIN | AIA A NEWS AND EVENTS

Scholarship and Graduate

Award Winners
E ach year, AIAA distributes over $70,000 in scholarships
and graduate awards to undergraduate and graduate stu-
dents studying aerospace engineering at accredited colleges
ners of the aerospace industry and are studying a variety of
topics from digital avionics to hypersonics. Below, we profile
this year’s 20 scholarship and graduate award winners who
and universities throughout the United States. In 2021, AIAA are shaping the future of aerospace.
scholarship and graduate award winners came from all cor-

AIAA Graduate Akanksha Baranwal computational fluid dynamics. This

Award Winners Texas A&M University passion led her to pursue a Master of
Amount of Award: $5,000 Science degree in Aerospace Engineer-
Neil Armstrong Graduate Award Akanksha is a Ph.D. candi- ing at NCSU with a concentration in
Alexis Harroun date in the department of aerospace computational fluid dynamics begin-
Purdue University engineering at Texas A&M University, ning in Fall 2021. During her gradu-
Amount of Award: $5,000 working under the supervision of Dr. ate studies she will be working on a
Alexis is a Ph.D. student in the school of Diego Donzis. She holds Bachelor of research project related to supersonic
Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineer- Technology and Master of Technology combustion and internal flows. She
ing at Purdue University. She currently degrees in aerospace engineering from aspires to have a career in a technical
researches rotating detonation engines the Indian Institute of Technology, company focused on applied research
and how to improve chemical rocket en- Madras, India. Her Ph.D. dissertation where she can utilize the skills she
gine performance. Alexis graduated with focuses on fundamental understanding will gain from her graduate studies, as
her master’s from Purdue in 2019 and her and modeling of momentum transport well as those she has built through her
bachelor’s from the department of Aero- and non-equilibrium energy transport undergraduate degree, to design and
nautics and Astronautics at the University processes in high-speed turbulent analyze hypersonic vehicles.
of Washington in 2017. She is a member of flows using massively-parallel, high-fi- Receiving this award is a great honor and has sig-
the AIAA Young Professionals Group and delity simulations. She aims to pursue nificantly reduced the financial burden associated
the ASCEND Guiding Coalition. Alexis is a a career in research and academia. with pursuing a graduate degree. This award will
National Defense Science and Engineering Akanksha wishes to gain expertise in allow me to focus entirely on my graduate studies
Graduate Fellow and was one of Aviation wide-ranging physics in the broad field and research which will help me develop into a
Week’s 20 Twenties in 2019. of fluid mechanics and thermal sci- better Aerospace Engineer and best prepare for my
I am truly honored to receive the AIAA Neil Arm- ences and provide robust engineering desired career.
strong Award. The AIAA has contributed significant- solutions utilizing powerful tools such
ly to my educational and professional development as high-performance computing and Evan Waldron
and I am appreciative of how this award will support data-driven modeling techniques. North Carolina State University
me as I continue my graduate studies. This award inspires me to continue my efforts Amount of Award: $5,000
towards my research and contribute to the progress Evan is pursuing a Master’s
Orville & Wilbur Wright of the field. This recognition would facilitate me in Degree at North Carolina State Universi-
Graduate Awards gaining wide experience in the company of erudite ty in Aerospace Engineering, with a con-
Abhishek Shastry personalities of the field at various fora and better centration in dynamics, vibrations, and
University of Maryland, College Park equip me to mentor the next generation of aero- controls. He also has an FAA Commer-
Amount of Award: $5,000 space engineers. cial Pilot Certificate with an Instrument
Abhishek is a doctoral student at Univer- Rating, and is planning on pursuing a
sity of Maryland. His present research Dr. Hassan A. Hassan Graduate Flight Instructor Certificate. He hopes to
pursuits at the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Awards in Aerospace Engineering focus on controls for aerospace systems
Center are on eVTOL aircrafts and UAVs Paige Drummond in his career. One of his main goals is to
for green electric aviation. In the future, North Carolina State University work as a guidance, navigation, and con-
he plans to explore entrepreneurship Amount of Award: $5,000 trol engineer for NASA or a commercial
options in the field. Paige graduated in May 2021 with a spaceflight company.
Receiving this AIAA award which is named after the Bachelor of Science degree in Aero- Receiving the Dr. Hassan A. Hassan Graduate Award
pioneers of aviation means a lot to me. It says that space Engineering. Throughout her will help me complete my graduate studies and
leaders of aviation today trust me to revolutionize undergraduate studies she was partic- better prepare me to work as a controls engineer in
the industry tomorrow. ularly interested in aerodynamics and the aerospace industry.

54 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

 Luis de Florez Graduate Award John Leland Atwood calls both Los Angeles and South Bend
Laurens Voet Graduate Award home, Hiba hails from Tunisia, the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Christopher Axten beautiful North African, Mediterranean
Amount of Award: $3,500 Pennsylvania State University country where she first fell in love with
Laurens is a third-year Ph.D. student Amount of Award: $1,250 airplanes.
at the Gas Turbine Laboratory and the Christopher is a Ph.D. student studying It is a great honor to be recognized as recipient of
Laboratory for Aviation and Environ- Aerospace Engineering at Pennsylva- the Martin Summerfield Propellant and Combustion
ment at MIT. His research focuses on nia State University. His doctoral work Graduate Award. I hope this serves as an incentive
quantifying the environmental impact focuses on the use of boundary layer for me to persevere when the path gets turbulent
of supersonic transport in terms of its transition modeling in computation- and that I may one day inspire a younger generation
take-off noise and emissions. Originally al fluid dynamics for aircraft design. to take on the exciting challenges of combustion
from Belgium, Laurens graduated with a Additionally, he is studying the effects of and propulsion.
BSc in Aerospace Engineering from Delft Görtler instabilities on slotted, natu-
University of Technology, and obtained a ral-laminar-flow airfoils. He seeks to Gordon C. Oates Air Breathing
MSc in Computational Methods in Aero- use his knowledge in aircraft design and Propulsion Graduate Award
nautics from Imperial College London, background laminar flow modeling tech- Anil Yildirim
UK. After his undergrad, Laurens joined niques to contribute to the creation of University of Michigan
the Formula Student Team Delft as a full- future laminar flow aircraft, such as the Amount of Award: $1,000
time aerodynamics engineer and chief of first laminar flow commercial airplane. Anil is a Ph.D. candidate in Aerospace
CNC manufacturing. As part of his Ph.D., He has completed internships with Engineering and Scientific Computing in
Laurens also interned at Aerion Super- Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), the Multidisciplinary Design Optimiza-
sonic. After his graduate studies, Laurens General Atomics: Aeronautical Systems, tion Laboratory (MDO Lab), led by Prof.
aspires to pursue a career in aerospace The Boeing Company, and the Army Joaquim R.R.A. Martins at University
to develop projects having a positive Aviation Development Directorate. of Michigan. His research focuses on
impact on the world. Receiving the John Leland Atwood Graduate Award developing robust and high-perfor-
I am very grateful to receive the AIAA Luis de Florez is enormous to me. The award will help enable me mance tools for MDO applications, and
graduate award. It is a recognition of my work, giv- to continue my graduate work; however, more than applying these tools to multidisciplinary
ing me a morale boost to keep pushing myself, and that, it demonstrates to me how vital and impactful aircraft design problems. His research vi-
stimulating me to continue striving for excellence. my research is, which energizes me to pursue it all sion is to develop methods that can uti-
the more. lize the ever-growing power of scientific
Guidance, Navigation, and computing resources in the design of
Control Graduate Award Martin Summerfield Propellants environmentally sustainable aircraft. His
Oliver Jia-Richards and Combustion Graduate Award Ph.D. research focus is aeropropulsive
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Hiba Kahouli design optimization, in which the aero-
Amount of Award: $2,500 University of Southern California dynamic and propulsion system designs
Oliver is currently a doctoral candidate Amount of Award: $1,250 are optimized in a coupled manner. He
and NASA Space Technology Research Hiba is currently a third-year Ph.D. is working on this topic in collaboration
Fellow in the Department of Aeronautics student at the University of Southern with Dr. Justin S. Gray at NASA Glenn
and Astronautics at the Massachusetts California’s Viterbi School of Engineer- Research Center.
Institute of Technology where he also ing. She is investigating the effects of I am honored to receive the Gordon C. Oates Air
earned his S.B. and S.M. degrees. His pressure and fuel on the characteristics Breathing Propulsion Graduate Award with my work
research is on the use of microfabricated of highly turbulent jet flames with the on aeropropulsive design optimization. It is reas-
electrospray thrusters for the exploration end goal of improving the performance suring to know that experts in the field of aircraft
of planetary bodies ranging from small of jet engines. After receiving her grad- propulsion see the value of this research topic, and I
asteroids to planets with a particular uate degree, she hopes to pursue her am excited to make more progress in this field.
focus on the coupling between the long-lived passion for high-speed flight
propulsion and guidance and control and work toward the design of super-
subsystems. After graduation he intends sonic air-breathing propulsion systems.
to pursue a career in academia. Before joining the Trojan family in 2018,
Receiving this award will help me to continue to Hiba obtained her Bachelor’s Degree
explore research topics at the intersection of propul- in Aerospace Engineering from the
sion and guidance, navigation, and controls. University of Notre Dame. Although she

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 55

AIA A BULLETIN | AIA A NEWS AND EVENTS

AIAA Undergraduate Vicki and George Muellner Schol- Cary Spitzer Digital Avionics
Scholarship Winners arship for Aerospace Engineering Scholarship
Umar Padela Alexander Gross
Daedalus 88 Scholarship Harvard University Texas A&M University
Matthew Tan Amount of Scholarship: $5,000 Amount of Scholarship: $2,000
Stanford University Umar is a rising junior at Harvard Alexander is pursuing a degree in
Amount of Scholarship: $10,000 studying mechanical engineering with Aerospace Engineering with minors in
Matthew is a rising Junior at Stanford an interest in aerospace. He has been Mathematics and Computer Science.
University studying Aero/Astro Engi- involved with his school’s aeronautics While studying engineering in college,
neering and Computer Science, where and rocketry teams for the past two he plans to pursue co-op and intern-
he helps lead the Aerospace Club and years, and he is currently working with ship opportunities to obtain real-world
Student Space Initiative. He plans to Boeing as a propulsion engineering experience that he could apply further
pursue a graduate degree in Aerospace intern. In the future, he hopes to attend into his studies toward his degree and
after which he hopes to work in the field graduate school for a Master’s degree future career. Additionally, as an under-
of autonomy and flight dynamics. His in aerospace. After graduate school, he graduate researcher in the Texas A&M
long-term goal is to contribute to the would like to pursue a job related to Vehicle Systems and Control Laboratory,
development of next-generation aircraft aircraft design. he is continuously obtaining applicable
designs, particularly to advance efficien- This scholarship will allow me to focus on my edu- knowledge in his field. Due to his admi-
cy, autonomy, and safety. Additionally, cation and spend more time conducting aerospace ration and passion for engineering feats
Matthew would like to lower the barrier related research, which will help me in applying to in human spaceflight and space explo-
of entry to aerospace, making general graduate schools. ration, he aims to work in the aerospace
aviation and personal flying more acces- industry as a vehicle guidance, naviga-
sible and sustainable. Wernher von Braun Undergraduate tion, and control engineer for spaceflight
I am so grateful to have received this scholarship, Scholarship vehicles.
which will go a long way in supporting my educa- Satvik Kumar Throughout my collegiate career, I have always
tion. Most importantly, the encouragement and Georgia Institute of Technology pursued avenues to continue my educational and
support I have received continues to motivate me to Amount of Scholarship: $5,000 professional development. Receiving this scholar-
work hard and make the most of this opportunity to Airplanes have fascinated Satvik since ship greatly reduces the financial burden necessary
achieve my goal of developing the future of aviation. childhood and he was always known as to continue my education, allowing my goal to enter
the plane geek. Although he was always the aerospace industry to become increasingly real
David and Catherine Thompson intrigued with aviation, he developed every day.
Space Technology Undergraduate interest in rocketry, space exploration,
Scholarship and vertical flight after he started his Dr. Amy R. Prichett Digital Avionics
Noshin Nawar Aerospace degree program and listening Scholarship
University of Arkansas to space-related presentations during his Kiseuk Ahn
Amount of Scholarship: $10,000 NASA internships. Throughout his time Bellevue College
Noshin is pursuing a Bachelor of Sci- at Georgia Tech as well as his internships Amount of Scholarship: $2,000
ence in Mechanical Engineering with an at the NASA Ames Research Center, he Kiseuk graduated this spring from
Aerospace Concentration at the University has been conducting research. Being in- Bellevue College, and is now transfer-
of Arkansas. She is currently interning in volved in groundbreaking research in the ring to Stanford University to complete
Houston, TX, for NASA Johnson Space Aerospace field has been enthralling and his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical
Center in the PSION lab, researching astro- continues to fascinate him. His future Engineering. He is a 2020 All-Washing-
naut exercise devices and software inter- plan is to attend graduate school follow- ton Academic Team Scholar, Washington
faces. She plans to become a professor of ing his undergraduate degree to continue NASA Space Grant Scholar, NASA Com-
aerospace engineering, focusing research aerospace research, whether it is at the munity College Aerospace Scholar, and
in electric propulsion (EP), and she aspires university level or at a research-oriented the 2021 Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate
to become an civil servant astronaut at organization such as NASA. Transfer Scholar. He was an undergrad-
NASA, to someday conduct research on EP Dreams, motivation, hard work, and focus have uate research intern at Pacific Northwest
systems and more from space. always been my recipe for success. Winning this National Laboratory before joining NASA
I was originally afraid I could not complete my scholarship has made one of my dreams come true Langley Research Center as the SCALPSS
degree due to a lack of financial ability to cover and motivates me to work hard, soar to new heights, Lunar Lander structural analysis intern.
tuition. Thanks to AIAA and the Thompson family, I and reach higher goals. Through advanced engineering cours-
will now be able to complete my undergrad educa- es, student-led organizations, and
tion and hopefully go on to pursue my PhD in Aero- cutting-edge research opportunities,
space Engineering, focused on electric propulsion he hopes to continue broadening the
systems design. horizons to better understand how an
aircraft’s future design and technology

56 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

can be implemented more efficiently to will have the financial capital to move forward in my Rocky Mountain Section
reduce harmful environmental effects. aerospace education takes a huge burden off of my Scholarship
This scholarship will not only financially help me shoulders. I hope to use this money to propel myself Jarod Spencer
to better focus on my studies, but it also instilled into my future career as an aerospace engineer! Colorado School of Mines
in me better confidence to believe in my ability to Amount of Scholarship: $500
continue pursuing a challenging endeavor to create Space Transportation Scholarship Jarod is an Engineering Physics ma-
a better tomorrow as an aspiring research scientist. Ryan Udell jor at Colorado School of Mines with
Rice University a minor in Space & Planetary Science
Dr. James Rankin Digital Avionics Amount of Scholarship: $1,500 & Engineering. His life vision is to use
Scholarship Ryan is a recent graduate of Rice Univer- his talents, knowledge, and passion for
Elton Shinji Okuma Hayachiguti sity with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineer- space to push humanity into the future,
Georgia Institute of Technology ing and a Certificate in the Rice Center especially a multi-planetary one. To that
Amount of Scholarship: $2,000 for Engineering Leadership. He currently end, he is pursuing a career in aerospace
An intense love for airplanes made Elton works at Boeing as a Systems Engineer and astronautics; he wants his work to
pursue the best education possible in in the Boeing Satellite Systems Engineer- mean something, and he refuses to be
aerospace engineering. He left home in ing Rotation Program. He is the current just another brick in the wall. And one
Guarulhos, Brazil, to study at Georgia External Affairs Director for the Students day, that means going to space himself.
Institute of Technology. After three years for the Exploration and Development Thank you so much to AIAA RMS for this scholar-
doing research in experimental aerody- of Space (SEDS-USA) and the former ship and also to everyone who has ever supported
namics, computational fluid dynamics, President of Rice University’s SEDS me in my journey! I couldn’t be where I am without
and systems engineering, as well as chapter. He is also a founding partner of you. This scholarship will do wonders to relieve fi-
having built many aircraft with Georgia the Zed Factor Fellowship, an internship nancial stress in my life as well as my family’s. Now,
Tech’s Design/Build/Fly team, he is hap- and community outreach program for I will have fewer loans to deal with after college and
py to say that he wants to become an air- underrepresented students interested more freedom to chase my dreams!
craft designer. He will pursue a graduate in pursuing aerospace careers. In these
degree to further develop his knowledge roles, he strives to make an impact on
before working toward a position in the students to explore space by developing
industry where he can help create the immersive and hands-on programs.
next generation of airplanes. The AIAA scholarship will help me pursue my pas-
Being recognized by AIAA is an incredible honor that sion for human exploration and spaceflight!
motivates me to pursue knowledge and excellence
in aerospace engineering even further. I will use this Leatrice Gregory
scholarship to fund my education, taking more tech- Pendray Scholarship Applications for the
nical courses relevant to aircraft design and safety Rebekah Geil
before starting my career as an aerospace engineer. Georgia Institute of Technology
2022 scholarships are
Amount of Scholarship: $1,250 being accepted from
Ellis F. Hitt Digital Rebekah is a 3rd-year aerospace engi-
Avionics Scholarship neering student at Georgia Institute of
1 October to 31 January
Noah Jacobs Technology. After a summer internship
University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa with the Air Force Research Laboratory at aiaa.org/home/get-in-
Amount of Scholarship: $2,000 working on deployable structures, she volved/students-educa-
Noah is a Sophomore University Fellow began taking part in undergraduate
tors/scholarships-gradu-
at the University of Alabama study- research in Model-Based Systems Engi-
ing computer science and aerospace neering (MBSE). This summer, Rebekah ate-awards. For information
engineering. He is passionate about is working with Tietronix Software, about how to get involved
activism in environmental conservation, applying MBSE to risk management for with AIAA and make an
and in his spare time, he enjoys hiking, NASA projects. In the future, she hopes
impact on the next genera-
volunteering at his local planetarium, to pursue a master’s degree and then a
and developing flight software for the career in human space exploration and tion of aerospace engineers,
UA Space Cube Satellite Team. He hopes operations. please visit aiaa.org/get-in-
to pursue a career in programming To me, this scholarship goes beyond generous volved or contact Merrie
machine learning and computer vision financial assistance. It shows me that the aerospace
Scott, merries@aiaa.org or
algorithms for autonomous spacecraft, community is with me, and I am encouraged by your
and also hopes to eventually open his faith in my future. contact Michael Lagana at
own planetarium! scholarships@aiaa.org.
I am so thankful to have been granted the Ellis F.
Hitt Digital Avionics Scholarship – knowing that I

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 57

 AIAA STANDARDS AEROSPACE RESEARCH CENTRAL

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the industry. Using AIAA Standards encourages industry best practices and leads to economies
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Current Standards List (Topics/Subtopics)

Aeronautics Space Systems and Vehicles
i Aviation and Aircraft i Spacecraft Architecture
i UAVs i Space Systems › Space Operations
i Systems Engineering and Project Management i Launch Vehicles
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i Atmospheric, Orbital and
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arc.aiaa.org/r/standards
Obituaries the United States, Europe, the Middle
East, and Africa. He also served as Vice
President of the Boeing Management
also worked as a Research Engineer
at the Air Force Research Laboratory,
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Associate Fellow Duffy Association. Duffy retired in 1992 as In 2014, Bhatia joined the Department
Died in February Director of Operations, Business, and of Aerospace Engineering at Mississippi
Charles “Pat” Duffy Jr. died on 28 February. Quality Improvement for Boeing’s State University, where he was an associate
Duffy graduated from the University Defense and Space Group. professor. Bhatia was a member of the
of Idaho with a B.S. in Civil Engineering Duffy dedicated many years of ser- Multidisciplinary Design Optimization
and as a Cadet Colonel in the Army ROTC vice to AIAA, serving as Region VI Director Technical Committee, and he recently
(Distinguished Military Graduate/ROTC in the 1970s and as a Vice President. He served as the Education Subcommittee
Gold Medal from the Society of Amer- worked on various committees, and also Chair. He was a frequent attendee at the
ican Military Engineers). After earning attended countless conferences and AIAA SciTech and AIAA AVIATION Forums.
his M.S. degree in Civil Engineering at workshops across the country.
the University of Idaho, he served as a AIAA Associate Fellow
First Lieutenant with the Army Combat AIAA Senior Member Scammell Died in May
Engineers in Germany for two years. Bhatia Died in April Frank Scammell died on 3 May 2021 at
Moving to Seattle, Duffy began a Manav Bhatia died on 15 April. the age of 88 years old.
35-year engineering career at The Boeing He received his Ph.D. in 2007 from Scammell received his B.S. and
Company. He held key management the University of Washington, where he M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from
positions in both the commercial worked on the problem of computa- MIT. Early in his career, he developed
airplanes and the defense and space tional design procedures for high-speed new gyroscopes at Lincoln Labs, and
divisions in the areas of human flight vehicles. He gained industry then worked at Avco and Draper Labs
resources, industrial and labor relations, experience as a Loads and Dynamics on a variety of aerospace engineering
business management, corporate Engineer at Aviation Partners Boeing, projects, including missile defense, and
strategic planning, and acquisition of before moving to Virginia Tech as a received patents on novel mirrors for
new business opportunities throughout Post-Doctoral Research Associate. Bhatia lasers. He cared deeply about the defense

DEADLINE
1 OCTOBER Nominate Your Peers and Colleagues!
2021 NOW ACCEPTING AWARDS AND LECTURESHIPS NOMINATIONS

PREMIER AWARDS TECHNICAL EXCELLENCE AWARDS

i Distinguished Service Award i Aeroacoustics Award i Losey Atmospheric
i Goddard Astronautics Award i Aerodynamics Award Sciences Award
i International Cooperation Award i Aerospace Communications Award i Multidisciplinary Design
Optimization Award
i Public Service Award i Aircraft Design Award
i Plasmadynamics and
i Reed Aeronautics Award i Chanute Flight Test Award
Lasers Award
i Engineer of the Year Award
i Theodor W. Knacke
LECTURESHIPS i Fluid Dynamics Award Aerodynamic Decelerator
i David W. Thompson Lecture in i Ground Testing Award Systems Award
Space Commerce i Hap Arnold Award for Excellence in i Thermophysics Award
i von Kármán Lecture in Astronautics Aeronautical Program Management
i James A. Van Allen Space
PARTNER AWARD Environments Award
Award Nominations Due 1 November 2021 i Jeffries Aerospace Medicine and
i AIAA/AAAE/AAC Jay Hollingsworth Life Sciences Research Award
Speas Airport Award
i Lawrence Sperry Award

Please submit the nomination form and endorsement letters to

awards@aiaa.org by 1 October 2021.

For nomination forms or more information about the AIAA Honors and Awards
Program and a complete listing of all AIAA awards, please visit
aiaa.org/awards.

21-0399-for AA JulyAug and Sept2021.indd 1 7/20/21 9:25 AM

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 59
AIA A BULLETIN | AIA A NEWS AND EVENTS

of the United States, and in the 1980s, he North Korea and rescued in the Yellow Sea. modeling in solid mechanics. The lab also
worked at the Strategic Defense Initiative In 1952, Bailey joined Honeywell as worked on the design, fabrication, and
in Washington, DC, where he was Group an engineering test pilot. He tested flight testing of micro-electromechanical sys-
Leader of Innovative Architecture. controls for automated carrier landings, tems (MEMS), along with their associated
fly by wire, side stick controls, and fire materials and processes.
AIAA Associate Fellow control systems for such aircraft as the Lagacé was widely recognized for
Stewart Died in June F2H-3, Canadian CF-100, F-100, and F-101. his research in response and failure of
Robert “Bob” Stewart died on 22 June He participated as a test crewman in the composite structures, and the development
2021, one day after his 90th birthday. human factors review of the Mercury Space of composite structures technology and the
He received a degree in Aeronautical Capsule design, as well as working with safety of aircraft structural systems. He was
Engineering from New York University Scott Crossfield and Neil Armstrong on the often asked to be an advisor and consultant
and his entire professional career X-15 flight control system. Additionally, to industry and government agencies
centered around aviation. He went to Bailey worked on the flight controls for the on aspects of structural technology and
work for Grumman Aircraft on Long SR-71 and the X-20 orbital space vehicle. As broader engineering systems. He served as
Island, as well as at the Redstone Arsenal a test pilot and consultant, he worked with a consultant, expert witness, and member
in Huntsville, AL, until he was hired by the Swedish Royal Air Force on systems for of committees and panels in the investiga-
Beechcraft in Wichita. He then moved the SAAB fighter series. tion of accidents and their implications.
to Savannah with the newly formed For his achievements, Bailey was Lagacé was a Fellow of AIAA, the
Gulfstream Aircraft Company. recognized with many awards including American Society for Composites, and
He eventually left engineering to begin the Safety Award from the USAF for the American Society for Testing and
a career in private flight instruction. For accident-free test operations in 1961. He Materials (now known as ASTM Inter-
many years he taught basic and instru- was awarded a Silver Cup for the success national). He served as president of the
ment flying to students in Savannah work- of the Microwave Landing System Tests. In International Committee on Composite
ing primarily through Savannah Aviation. 2003, he was inducted into the Minnesota Materials and was recognized as a World
With all the “touch and go’s” he suffered Aviation Hall of Fame. Most notably, in Fellow of Composites and Honorary
through for all the years, it is acknowledged 1979, he was awarded the Octave Chanute Member of the Executive Council.
that he likely has logged more takeoffs and Flight Award (now the AIAA Chanute Flight In addition to his research, Lagacé
landings at the Savannah Airport than any Test Award), a national award that recog- taught courses in mechanics of materials
other pilot. In addition to his teaching, he nized his outstanding engineering skills and structures with special emphasis on
was also the FAA designated pilot examiner and expert test pilot capabilities to develop composite materials and their structures.
out of the Hilton Head airport for many several advanced flight control systems. In 1995, he was named a MacVicar Faculty
years. Well into his 80s, he served on the He was a member of the Society Fellow, an honor that recognizes out-
national FAA committee to revise and of Experimental Test Pilots, AIAA, the standing classroom teaching, significant
update pilot training. Minnesota Business Aircraft Association, innovations in education, and dedication
He was active in several aviation soci- and the Quiet Birdmen. to helping others achieve teaching excel-
eties, and was a proud charter member of lence. He served as co-director of the MIT
the HHI hangar of the Quiet Birdmen. AIAA Fellow Lagacé Died Leaders for Manufacturing and Systems
Remembrances may be made in in July Design and Management programs.
memory of Stewart to the AIAA Founda- Paul Lagacé, a professor of aeronautics Drawing on his own experience as a
tion, aiaa.org/foundation. and astronautics at MIT, died 16 July. He first-generation college student, Lagacé
was 63 years old. was instrumental in launching MIT’s
Associate Fellow Bailey Lagacé received his bachelor’s First-Generation Program.
Died in June degree in aeronautics and astronautics Outside of MIT, Lagacé found a way
Colonel Austin James Bailey, Jr. died on in 1978, his master’s in 1979, and his to integrate his love of the Red Sox with
24 June. He was 99 years old. Ph.D. in 1982. He joined the MIT faculty his aeronautical knowledge into a real-
In 1941, he attended Northeastern in the Department of Aeronautics and life problem set for his students. In the
University, College of Engineering in Astronautics in 1982, where his research early 1990s, Lagacé observed that fewer
Boston where he completed Civilian Pilot focused on the design and manufacture balls seemed to reach the center field
Training, thereby launching a career as a of composite structures and materials stands. He worked with his undergrad-
military pilot followed by a career as an mainly used in the aerospace industry. uate students to construct a model of
engineering test pilot. The Technology Laboratory for Advanced Fenway Park, which they then tested
He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1942 Materials and Structures (TELAMS), his in MIT’s Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel
and flew as a Marine Corsair fighter research laboratory, worked on research to simulate the wind and baseball
pilot in the Pacific. After World War II, he ranging from characterizing a basic trajectory pathways. He concluded that
completed engineering school, graduating understanding of composite materials to a recently constructed press box created
in 1950. Soon after, he was recalled for the exploring their behavior in specific struc- a wind vortex that prevented baseballs
Korean Conflict. He was shot down over tural configurations to computational from reaching as far as they used to.

60 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

JAHNIVERSE
Tenured/Tenure Track: Open Rank
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 64
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apply.interfolio.com/87351 other domain, land and sea, before
The Department of Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering at Texas A&M University humans traveled routinely, those most
invites applications for a full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty position with a 9-month resourced led the way. So, praise ev-
academic appointment, and the possibility of an additional summer appointment contingent
upon need and availability of funds, beginning Fall of 2021. Applicants will be considered for eryone making space more accessible
the faculty titles of assistant, associate and full professor. Candidates should have expertise to more people. However, when we
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propulsion, numerical algorithms and code development; experience using numerical simulations
explored land and sea, evidence shows
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excitedly explore space and concurrently
The successful applicants will be required to teach; advise and mentor graduate students; develop
an independent, externally funded research program, participate in all aspects of the department’s engage in behaviors and activities that
activities, and serve the profession. Applicants must have an earned doctorate in aerospace maximize environmental protection
engineering or a closely related science discipline. Strong written and verbal communication
skills are required. Applicants should consult the department’s website to review our academic and sustainability. Additionally, the
and research programs (https://engineering.tamu.edu/aerospace). only way that humanity can extend its
Applicants must have an earned doctorate in aerospace engineering or a closely related expiration date as a species will be to
engineering or science discipline.
figure out how to thrive elsewhere in
Applicants should submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae, teaching statement, research statement,
diversity statement and a list of four references (including postal addresses, phone numbers
the universe. Our expiration date could
and email addresses) as part of the application package to be submitted for the above position come as a result of several sources, from
at apply.interfolio.com/87351. Full consideration will be given to applications received by
being too slow to address climate change,
November 30, 2021. Applications received after that date may be considered until positions are
ÀOOHG,WLVDQWLFLSDWHGWKHDSSRLQWPHQWZLOOEHJLQIDOORI4XHVWLRQVUHJDUGLQJWKLVSRVLWLRQ to a rogue asteroid wiping us out like
should be sent to Kathleen del Mar kathleendelmar@tamu.edu the dinosaurs, or eventually, our sun
Texas A&M University is committed to enriching the learning and working environment for all going boom. Staying on Earth spells a
visitors, students, faculty, and staff by promoting a culture that embraces inclusion, diversity,
equity, and accountability. Diverse perspectives, talents, and identities are vital to accomplishing guaranteed end for us, so we all need to
our mission and living our core values. get behind environmentally responsible
(TXDO2SSRUWXQLW\$IÀUPDWLYH$FWLRQ9HWHUDQV'LVDELOLW\(PSOR\HUFRPPLWWHGWRGLYHUVLW\ space exploration. +

Faculty Positions in the Department of Aerospace Engineering

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach
The Department invites applications for several tenure-track faculty positions at the rank of Assistant Professor or Associate Professor.
Successful applicants should demonstrate a potential to establish and grow a strong externally funded research program and to excel
at teaching and mentoring graduate and undergraduate students. The preferred areas of expertise are astronautics & space applications,
hypersonics & rocket propulsion, experimental aerodynamics as well as composites & additive manufacturing. In addition, the
department is looking for potential faculty (possibly non-tenure track-teaching positions) interested in teaching design, i.e. spacecraft,
rocket engine, airplane, and jet engine design. However, applicants in all areas of Aerospace Engineering will be considered.
Current research thrust areas of the Department include: astrodynamics, guidance, navigation and control, unmanned and
DXWRQRPRXVURERWLFV\VWHPVXUEDQDLUPRELOLW\FRPSXWDWLRQDOÁXLGG\QDPLFVDHURDFRXVWLFVURWRUFUDIWDHURG\QDPLFVÁRZFRQWURO
alternative propulsion, air-breathing hypersonic and rocket propulsion, aeroelasticity, composites, nanomaterials, smart materials,
structural health monitoring, computational structural mechanics, and design optimization.
The Aerospace Engineering Department, the largest in the nation with an enrollment of over 2,000 full-time students, offers Bachelor,
Master, and Ph.D. degrees, including 42 students in the PhD program. The undergraduate program is currently ranked #8 and the graduate
program is ranked #25 (tied) by the U.S. News and World Report. To achieve national prominence, the Department has launched an
ambitious agenda focused on expanding the graduate programs, facilities, recruiting talented faculty, and building research infrastructure
and capabilities, In support of this agenda, the University has invested in a new 50,000 square foot engineering building, the John Mica
Engineering and Aerospace Innovation Complex (MicaPlex), housing several research laboratories (https://erau.edu/research-
park/micaplex/labs) a state-of-the-art subsonic wind tunnel, and a new Flight Research Center facility, all as part of a Research
Park with incubator space and growing number of industry creating an echo system to support innovation and entrepreneurship.
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU), the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace,
offers more than 70 Baccalaureate, Master, and Ph.D. degree programs in Arts & Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering.
ERAU’s eastern campus is located at Daytona Beach and serves a diverse student body of approximately 7,500 students.
&DQGLGDWHVVKRXOGKDYHDQHDUQHG'RFWRUDWHLQ$HURVSDFH(QJLQHHULQJRUDFORVHO\UHODWHGÀHOG)RUQRQWHQXUHWUDFNSRVLWLRQV
a PhD degree could be replaced by an MS and substantial industrial experience. Women and underrepresented minorities are
especially encouraged to apply. Applicants must submit a single document that includes: (1) a cover letter, (2) a Curriculum Vitae,
(3) teaching philosophy, (4) a research plan, and (5) the names and contact information of at least three references. For more
information about the position and application process, please visit our careers site - https://careers.erau.edu/ and click on Career
6HDUFKWRÀQGUHTXLVLWLRQQR5)RUIXOOFRQVLGHUDWLRQFDQGLGDWHVDUHHQFRXUDJHGWRDSSO\EHIRUH6HSWHPEHUth, 2021.
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aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 61

100, 75, 50, 25 YEARS AGO IN SEPTEMBER

LOOKING BACK
COMPILED BY FR ANK H. WINTER and ROBERT VAN DER LINDEN

1921 1971
Sept. 17 An experimental solid- is held at the Byurakan
fuel booster for the Nike-Ajax Astrophysical Observatory
anti-aircraft missile is tested for in Armenia. It is sponsored
Sept. 18 U.S. Army Air the first time at White Sands Sept. 1 Preliminary results of jointly by the U.S. and Soviet
1 Service Lt. J.A. Macready Proving Grounds in New Mexico. the experiments conducted Academies of Science and
sets a world altitude record E.M. Emme, ed., Aeronautics and during the Apollo 15 mission are organized by Soviet astronomer
when he flies to 34,508 feet in Astronautics, 1915-60, p. 54. reported at a Marshall Spaceflight Iosif Shklovsky and Cornell
his LePere fighter. E.M. Emme, Center briefing in Alabama. University astronomer Carl
Aeronautics and Astronautics, Sept. 22 Invited by Argentina’s Among these, the Apollo 15 Sagan. The scientists conclude
1915-60, p. 14. secretariat of aeronautics, the seismometer network detected that civilization in another solar
British Royal Air Force sends a 30 events including “the most system “a few hundred light
Sept. 23 The U.S. Army Air Coastal Command de Havilland significant” one yet recorded on years away” might be trying
2 Service starts day and night Mosquito Mk.34 to Buenos Aires the moon. This is a moonquake to communicate with other
bombing exercises against the on a goodwill mission as part occurring 800 kilometers bodies, including Earth. They
USS Alabama in the Chesapeake of celebrations to mark the first beneath the surface and at a far also recommend coordinated
Bay with Martin MB-2 heavy Argentine Aeronautical Exhibition. greater depth than any quake worldwide efforts to attempt
bombers and DH-4B light The Aeroplane, Oct. 4, 1946, p. 381. found on Earth. It was centered to detect such efforts with
bombers. The old battleship about 400 km west of the Tycho powerful radio-telescopes. New
withstands all of the attacks Sept. 27 Geoffrey de crater. The data also reveals York Times, Sept. 19, 1971, p. 4.
5 Havilland Jr., son of the swarms of quakes occurring
on the first day, but eventually
succumbs to hits from several British aircraft designer and more intensely and regularly than Sept. 6 The Soviet supersonic
900-kilogram (2,000-pound) chief test pilot of the company, on Earth. Washington Post, Sept. Tu-144 transport aircraft flies
bombs. E.M. Emme, Aeronautics is killed while piloting a de 2, 1971, p. A1. to Bulgaria on its second flight
and Astronautics, 1915-60, p. 14. Havilland DH-108 Swallow outside the Soviet Union. The
sweptback research jet in an Sept. 1 The second flight aircraft first appeared outside
attempt to exceed the speed
6 model of the Lunar Roving the country when it was taken
Sept. 26 French pilot
3 Joseph Sadi-Lecointe flies of sound. While attaining the Vehicle is delivered by Boeing to to France for the Paris Air Show.
his Nieuport Delage ND-29 to a plane’s highest speed in level NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in During its return flight it reaches
record speed of 205.82 mph (331 flight, the Swallow breaks up Florida for the upcoming Apollo a speed of 2,300 kph. New York
kph). He is the first to exceed over the Thames Estuary in 16 mission. NASA, Marshall Times, Sept. 7, 1971, p. 62.
200 mph. His aircraft is powered England. The Aeroplane, Oct. 4, Spaceflight Center Release
by a Hispano-Suiza 42 V-8 1946, p. 380; F.K. Mason and M. 71-166. Sept. 8 The U.S. and Soviet Union
engine. David Baker, Flight and Windrow, Know Aviation, p. 52. agree to replace the Washington-
Flying: A Chronology, p. 140. Sept. 2-11 The Soviet Union to-Moscow teletype “hot line” link
Sept. 29-Oct. 1 A new nonstop launches its Luna 18 uncrewed with a communications satellite

1946
world distance flight record of probe to the moon. It reaches service capable of providing an
11,235 miles (18,000 kilometers) the moon’s surface on Sept. 11 instantaneous link between the
is set by the “Truculent Turtle,” near the Sea of Fertility although capitals in any crisis. Preliminary
Sept. 1 British European Airways a U.S. Navy Lockheed P2V the Tass news agency announces arrangements were worked out by
Corp. begins its London- Neptune flown by Cmdr. Thomas that communications ceased at U.S. and Soviet communications
Copenhagen service flying Davis and a crew of four from 3:48 a.m. Eastern time indicating experts at one of the Strategic
a Vickers Viking carrying 14 Perth, Australia, to Columbus, the probe crash-landed. NASA, Arms Limitation Talks in Helsinki.
passengers plus a crew. The flight Ohio. Gordon Swanborough and Astronautics and Aeronautics, The system will use existing
takes three hours and 25 minutes. Peter Bowers, United States 1971, p. 246. communications satellites by both
Other new BEA routes that begin Navy Aircraft Since 1911, p. 284. countries. Washington Post, Sept.
this month include London-Oslo Sept. 4 The Anglo-French 8, 1971, p. 3.
and London-Amsterdam. The Sept. 30 A group of engineers, supersonic Concorde 001
Aeroplane, Sept. 6, 1946, p. 288, instrument technicians and prototype transport aircraft Sept. 8-10 NASA and the
and Sept. 18, 1946, p. 312. technical observers is ordered leaves Toulouse, France, for United Cerebral Palsy Research
to temporary duty from the Cayenne in French Guiana Foundation sponsor a joint
Sept. 7 E.M. Donaldson, a National Advisory Committee on the initial leg of its first conference at NASA’s Ames
4 British Royal Air Force Group for Aeronautics’ Langley Lab transatlantic test flight to Rio de Research Center in California
captain, breaks the world speed to the Air Force test facility at Janeiro. NASA, Astronautics and on people with neurological
record with a 1,000 kph (615 mph) Muroc, California, to assist in Aeronautics, 1971, p. 248. problems. Scientists, physicians
flight in an improved Gloster the flight of the Bell X-1 rocket and engineers discuss
Meteor IV jet near Rustington, research aircraft. E.M. Emme, ed., Sept. 5-11 The first U.S.-Soviet applications of space age
Sussex, England. F.K. Mason and Aeronautics and Astronautics, conference on Communication technology to neurological
M. Windrow, Know Aviation, p. 52. 1915-60, p. 54. with Extraterrestrial Intelligence disorders. NASA Release 71-161.

62 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

Sept. 17 The age of Apollo 15’s “Genesis rock”
is announced to be about 4.15 billion years by
scientists of the State University of New York. The
anorthosite sample brought back by the Apollo 15
mission of July 26-Aug. 7 is the oldest lunar rock
found on any of the Apollo missions so far. New
York Times, Sept. 18, 1971, p. 25.

Sept. 28-Oct. 3 The Soviet Union’s uncrewed Luna

19 is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome 1
in Kazakhstan toward the moon. By Oct. 3, the
spacecraft enters lunar orbit and continues to
provide panoramic images of the mountainous
regions of the moon and conducts extensive
studies on the shape and strength of the lunar
gravitational field. After a year of operation and
4,000 orbits of the moon, communications will
be lost Nov. 1, 1972. NASA, Astronautics and
Aeronautics, 1971, p. 267 and 1972, pp. 337-338.

Sept. 28 Japan launches its third satellite, 2 3

7 Shinsei (New Star), which is also the country’s
first scientific satellite. The 26-sided, 75-centimeter-
diameter solar cell-powered spacecraft is designed
to study cosmic rays and solar electric waves.
Washington Post, Sept. 29, 1971, p. A14.

1996 Sept. 7 U.S. astronaut Shannon Lucid breaks

4
8 the endurance record for women in space,
exceeding cosmonaut Elena Kondakova. The record
is broken when Lucid’s time in space is extended
because of delays in launching the space shuttle
Atlantis. When she returns from the Mir space
station on Sept. 26, Lucid will have logged 188 days
in space. NASA, Astronautics and Aeronautics,
1996-2000, pp. 35, 36. 5

Sept. 12 NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in

Maryland receives the first high-quality images
from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer, an
instrument on board the Japanese Advanced Earth
Orbiting Satellite. The images are among the first
to explore the ozone hole over Antarctica. NASA,
Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1996-2000, pp. 35.

Sept. 16 Space shuttle Atlantis, STS-79, is launched

into orbit from Cape Canaveral in Florida. It carries
2,000 kilograms of supplies to replenish the stores
on the Mir space station. It is the fourth docking
6 7
mission to Mir and the 17th flight of Atlantis. NASA,
Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1996-2000, pp. 35-36.

Sept. 30 Scientists at NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight

Center in Maryland deactivate the International
Ultraviolet Explorer satellite. Launched in 1978,
the satellite was expected to last for just three
years. Almost two decades later, it has gathered
important data for more than 2,000 researchers,
resulting in the publication of 3,200 scholarly
papers. NASA, Astronautics and Aeronautics,
1996-2000, pp. 37. 8

aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | 63

 S E
E R
I V
H N
J A

Why going to space doesn’t

always make you an astronaut
BY MORIBA JAH

W e’ll know we’re a space-faring species when rockets and spacecraft become normalized as modes
of transportation on the same list with planes, trains and automobiles. July’s historic space tourism
flights could go down in history as steps toward that normalization, provided we can quickly settle the
question of who should get to call themselves astronauts. Moriba Jah is an
Minutes after landing, Richard Branson famously declared he and his fellow passengers were now astro- astrodynamicist, space
environmentalist and
nauts, going so far as to have former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield pin Virgin Galactic astronaut wings
associate professor of
onto each one of them. Likewise, Jeff Bezos declared himself and his passengers as astronauts. aerospace engineering and
So are they? engineering mechanics at
Not in my view. They are spaceflight passengers, and there should be no shame in that. I have many the University of Texas at
friends who are airline pilots, and when they aren’t flying the aircraft, they sit somewhere in the cabin with Austin. He holds the Mrs.
Pearlie Dashiell Henderson
people like me, as passengers. If you are an astronaut by trade, nothing precludes you from being a passen-
Centennial Fellowship in
ger at times too, such as when riding to and from the International Space Station on an automated craft. Engineering and is an AIAA
In this debate, I’m not suggesting that we shake our fists at the sky because billionaires have achieved fellow. He also hosts the
yet another thing in exclusivity and now want the astronaut title too. We should celebrate these flights as monthly webcast
steps on the natural path toward space travel becoming commonplace. “Moriba’s Vox Populi” on
SpaceWatch.global.
So “booya” to Branson, Bezos, their families, friends and employees for these important steps. But if
you go to space on a joy ride, that does not make you an astronaut. The FAA, which has the power to award
“Commercial Space Astronaut Wings” to space flyers, seems to hold a similar view. Effective July 20, which
happened to be the day of Bezos’ flight, recipients must have conducted “activities during flight that were
essential to public safety, or contributed to human space flight safety,” the FAA said.
Though perhaps it’s not discussed as much as it should be, being an astronaut comes with serious
responsibilities. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967, considered the Magna Carta Libertatum of International
Space Law, states that “astronauts shall be regarded as the envoys of mankind.” An envoy is defined as an
official representative of one entity or organization to another. Personally, I would find it a stretch to regard
billionaires as official representatives of humanity regarding our extraterrestrial activities.
The treaty’s wording about astronauts and their responsibilities should not be taken lightly. Governments,
not private citizens, bear legal liability for how people behave and conduct operations in space.
You might have noticed that I haven’t addressed what altitude one must reach to become an astro-
naut. That’s because altitude is much less important than what one does in space. Jeff Bezos and the New
Shepard passengers crossed the Kármán line 100 kilometers (62 miles) above mean sea level, the invisible
boundary recognized by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale as the start of space. That feat does
not make them any more astronaut-like than the Branson passengers who settled for crossing the 50 mile
(80 km) threshold recognized in the United States as the start of space. CONTINUED
I hope being called a passenger doesn’t dissuade more rich people from taking these trips. In every ON PAGE 61

64 | SEPTEM B ER 2021 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org

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