CENTENNIAL SYMPOSIUM OCTOBER 22 – 24, 2014
MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Listing for MIT’s first aeronautics class, from the 1913-14 Course Catalogue. The class was under Course 13, The Department of Naval Architecture. (MIT Archives)
WELCOME TO THE MIT DEPARTMENT OF AERONAUTICS AND ASTRONAUTICS CENTENNIAL SYMPOSIUM On April 23, 1913, a 26-year-old U.S. Navy officer named Jerome Hunsaker wrote his superior officer, Rear Admiral Richard M. Watt: I have just come from (MIT) President Maclaurin’s office, where we further discussed aeronautics and the probable development in this country. He appears to see ahead a condition when there will be a demand for trained men for design and construction, as well as to conduct laboratory research. He wishes the Institute of Technology to be the first in the field — as it was the first school or college to give a course in Electrical Engineering. It is intended to begin now to plan for such a course and a laboratory to be located in the new Pratt School of Naval Architecture. I am offered the opportunity of performing this preliminary work, if I may be detailed to duty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, by the Department. I should find the duty congenial, and would bring my full energy and enthusiasm into the problem. Only a year later, MIT was offering the nation’s first course in aeronautical engineering, crafted to a great extent by Hunsaker. That same year, 1914, saw the dawn of commercial aviation— a scheduled 23-minute airboat flight from St. Petersburg to Tampa. Today, on average, more than 8 million people fly each day, $6.4 trillion is shipped by air every year, and aviation supports more than 57 million jobs. We’ve sent explorers, human and robotic, throughout our solar system and beyond. And, throughout the 100 years since people first put down their money to fly across Tampa Bay in an open cockpit biplane, Course 16 has been there to lead the way in aerospace education and research. From teaching WWI soldiers how to rig cloth-covered wooden airplanes, to creating instrumental navigation, to conceiving and designing the system that guided explorers to the moon, to our current developmental work on an airliner that could achieve 70 percent greater fuel efficiency than its existing counterparts, MIT has been, and will continue to be, at the forefront of humankind’s most remarkable engineering and educational achievements. Markets in emerging economies will double air transportation demand by the mid-21st century. Countries around the world are developing indigenous space capabilities. It is expected that within a relatively short time, we will be sending humans to asteroids and the planet Mars, and robotic explorers to even more exotic locales. We eagerly await the aerospace challenges of this next century. With our remarkable students, alumni, faculty, and staff, AeroAstro is already shaping the future of air and space transportation, exploration, communications, autonomous systems, engineering education, and national security. Thank you for joining us for the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics Centennial Symposium. We’ve assembled an outstanding group of aerospace luminaries — space explorers, entrepreneurs, engineers, scientists, and educators, who will offer us all an unprecedented look at where we’ve come from, where we are, and, perhaps most exciting of all, where we are likely to be going. Prepare to be inspired!
CENTENNIAL SYMPOSIUM
AGENDA
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014 KRESGE AUDITORIUM, MIT BUILDING W16 84 MASSACHUSETTS AVE., CAMBRIDGE, MA
1:30PM
WELCOME
Jaime Peraire, AeroAstro Department Head and H.N. Slater Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT 1:35PM
VIDEO PRESENTATION
1:45PM
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Tom Crouch, Senior Curator, Aeronautics Department, National Air and Space Museum 2:30PM
COFFEE BREAK
2:50PM
VIDEO: “GIANT LEAPS” MIT’S ROLE IN THE APOLLO PROJECT
3:00PM
APOLLO PANEL DISCUSSIONS
Co-moderators Jeffrey Hoffman, AeroAstro Professor of the Practice, MIT; STS 51-D, 35, 46, 61, 75 Laurence R. Young, Apollo Program Professor Emeritus, MIT Panelists Buzz Aldrin (ScD ‘63); Col. USAF (Ret.); Gemini 12, Apollo 11 Karol “Bo” Bobko; Col. USAF (Ret.); Apollo-Soyuz Test Project support crew, Shuttle missions STS-6, STS 51-D, STS 51-J Vance Brand, Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, STS-5, STS 41-B, STS-35 Philip Chapman (SM ’64, ScD ‘67) Michael Collins; Maj. Gen. USAF (Ret.); Gemini 10, Apollo 11
Walter Cunningham; Col. USMCR (Ret.); Apollo 7
Charles Duke (SM ‘64); Brig. Gen. USAF (Ret.); Apollo 16 James Lovell; Capt. USN (Ret.); Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 13 Russell Schweickart (SB ’56, SM ‘63) Apollo 9
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2014 MIT BUILDING W16, 84 MASSACHUSETTS AVE., CAMBRIDGE, MA
8:00AM
Registration, continental breakfast
9:00AM
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
Jaime Peraire, AeroAstro Department Head and H.N. Slater Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT Robert Millard (SB ‘72), Chairman, MIT Corporation 9:15AM
SPOTLIGHT ON DESIGNING THE AIRCRAFT OF THE FUTURE
Mark Drela, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT 9:35AM
SESSION 1 — THE FUTURE OF AIR TRANSPORTATION:
Moderator Ian A. Waitz, Dean of Engineering, Jerome C. Hunsaker Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MacVicar Faculty Fellow, MIT Panelists Alan Epstein, Vice President of Technology and Environment, Pratt & Whitney R. John Hansman, T. Wilson Professor in Aeronautics, MIT Jeff Katz, Founding CEO and Chairman, Orbitz; former CEO, Swissair Pat Shanahan, Senior Vice President and GM of Airplane Programs, Boeing Commercial Airplanes 10:35AM
COFFEE BREAK
11:00AM
SPOTLIGHT ON AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS
Wes Bush, Chairman and CEO, Northrop Grumman 11:20AM
SESSION 2 — INTELLIGENT/AUTONOMOUS AEROSPACE SYSTEMS
Moderator David Mindell, Frances and David Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT Panelists Helen Greiner, CEO, CyPhy Works
Charlie Guthrie, Senior Vice President and CTO, Insitu
Jon How, Richard Cockburn Maclaurin Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT John Langford, Chairman and CEO, Aurora Flight Sciences Fuk Li, Director, Mars Exploration Directorate, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA
12:20PM
LUNCH
SPOTLIGHT ON SPACE SCIENCE
1:40PM
Maria Zuber, Vice President of Research and E.A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics, MIT 2:00PM
SESSION 3 — SMALL SATELLITES AND ACCESS TO SPACE
Moderator David Miller, Chief Technologist, NASA Panelists Kerri Cahoy, Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT
Antonio Elias, Chief Technical Officer, Orbital Sciences
Steve Isakowitz, President, Virgin Galactic Robie Samanta Roy, Vice President, Technology and Innovation, Lockheed Martin Darryl Sargent, Vice President for National Security and Space Systems, Draper Laboratory 3:00PM
COFFEE BREAK
SPOTLIGHT ON THE FUTURE OF EDUCATION
3:25PM
Sanjay Sarma, Director of Digital Learning, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, MIT
3:45PM
SESSION 4 — EDUCATION
Moderator Edward Crawley, Ford Professor of Engineering, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT Panelists Kent Kresa, Chairman Emeritus, Northrop Grumman Corporation Robert Meyerson, President, Blue Origin Robert Niewoehner, Capt. USAF (Ret.); David F. Rogers Professor of Aeronautics, US Naval Academy Karen Willcox, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT 6:00PM
RECEPTION AND SYMPOSIUM BANQUET JOHN F. KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Remarks Rafael Reif, President, MIT
Norman Augustine, former CEO and President, Lockheed Martin
FRIDAY OCTOBER 24, 2014 KRESGE AUDITORIUM, MIT BUILDING W16 84 MASSACHUSETTS AVE., CAMBRIDGE, MA
8:00AM
REGISTRATION AND CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST
9:00AM
LIGHTNING TALKS
Moderator Patrick Blonigan, Course 16 graduate student, MIT MIT student presentations: Casey Denham (senior) Gwendolyn Gettliffe (G) Brad Holschuh (G) Luke Jensen (G) Anne Marinan (G) 10:15AM
Karl Gantner (G) Koki Ho (G) Xun Huan (G) Connie Liu (senior) Tony Tao (G)
QUESTION AND ANSWER WITH MIT ALUMNI SHUTTLE/ISS ASTRONAUTS
Moderator Dava Newman, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems, Director of Technology and Policy Program, MacVicar Faculty Fellow, MIT Astronauts Dominic Antonelli (Course 16, SB ’89); Capt. USN (Ret.); STS-119, 132 Kenneth Cameron (Course 16, SB ’78, SM ’79); Col. USMC (Ret.); STS-37, 56, 74 Christopher Cassidy (Course 13, SM ’00); Capt. USN; STS-127, Expedition 35/36 Catherine Coleman (Course 5, SB ’83); Col. USAF (Ret.); STS-73, 93, Expedition 26/27 Franklin Chang-Diaz (Course 22, ScD ’77); STS 61-C, 46, 60, 75, 91, 111
E. Michael Fincke (Course 12, 16, SB ’89); Col. USAF (Ret.); Expedition 9, Expedition 18, STS-134
Jack Fischer (Course 16, SM ’98); Col. USAF; completed training, qualified for assignment John Grunsfeld (Course 8, SB ’80); STS-67, 81, 103, 109, 125 Jeffrey Hoffman; STS 51-D, 35, 46, 61, 75 Michael Massimino (Course 2, SM ’88, ENG ’90, ME ’90, PhD ’92); STS-109, 125 William Shepherd (Course 2, 13, SM ’78, OCE ’78); Capt. USN (Ret.); STS-27, 41, 52, Expedition 1 (Course 2 - Mechanical Engineering; Course 5 – Chemistry; Course 8 – Physics;
Course 10 – Chemical Engineering; Course 13 – Ocean Engineering; Course 16 – Aeronautics and Astronautics; Course 22 – Nuclear Science and Engineering)
ONE-ON-ONE WITH ELON MUSK, CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, SPACEX AND TESLA
2:00PM
TOURS
12:30PM
AeroAstro laboratories: Visit Building 33, Guggenheim Laboratory, for info and directions. Participating labs include the Aerospace Controls Lab; Gas Turbine Lab; International Center for Air Transportation; Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment; Man Vehicle Lab; necstlab; Space Propulsion Lab; Space Systems Lab; Space Telecommunications, Astronomy, and Radiation Lab; Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel. MIT Museum: Featuring the new exhibit “First in the Field: 100 years of aerospace engineering education at MIT, 1914-2014.” Meet curator Dr. Debbie Douglas and see additional artifacts not on display. Talks at 2:15, 2:30, 3:00 and 3:15 pm. (admission free with MIT/MIT alumni ID or Symposium name badge) 265 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. Visit http://mit.edu/museum Draper Laboratory Tour: Draper will showcase key pieces of aerospace technology covering a wide variety of current and historical applications. After a brief introduction and overview of Draper Laboratory and its role in many of the nation’s important aerospace programs, guests will visit a number of interesting displays. More information on the Draper tour, location, times, are posted on the AeroAstro website at http://aeroastro.mit.edu/aeroastro100. 8:00PM
MIT ANNUAL FAMILY WEEKEND CONCERT The concert includes a Festival Jazz Ensemble special tribute in celebration of the AeroAstro Centennial. Free. Kresge Auditorium. Visit http://parents.mit.edu/familyweekend
AN MIT AERONAUTICS AND ASTRONAUTICS TIMELINE
MIT’s 1914 wind tunnel was a four feet square open-circuit design with a flow of 30 miles per hour. The tunnel’s balance (the device that measures aerodynamic loads during testing) is in the MIT Museum collection. (MIT Museum)
Military aviators learn the basics of rigging (adjusting wing and tail surfaces) during a World War One MIT class. (MIT Museum)
1914 MIT establishes the nation’s first aeronautical engineering course: Aeronautics for Naval Constructors. Subjects include theoretical hydrodynamics, applied hydrodynamics, wind tunnel laboratory, airship theory, aerial propellers, and theory and practice of airplane design. The course is co-designed and directed by Jerome Hunsaker (SM ’12, SCD ’23). The same year, Hunsaker, assisted by Donald Douglas (Course 2, SB ’14), builds the first structure on MIT’s new Cambridge campus — a wind tunnel, located on Vassar Street.
1918 America is involved in the World War. Aeronautical Engineering is transferred from Naval Architecture to the Department of Physics. Army and Navy officers are sent to MIT for advanced aeronautical training and special ground school classes are created for military aviators.
Isabel Ebel, the first woman to graduate from Course 16, was is unable to find a job until 1939 when Grumman Aircraft hired her.
The iconic Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel. Now in its fourth quarter-century, researchers are using it to design aircraft for 2030 and beyond. (William Litant/MIT)
1932 Isabel Ebel, the only woman studying aero engineering among MIT’s student body of 30 women and 3,000 men, becomes the first woman to receive a degree from Course 16.
1938 The Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel is dedicated. It features a 13’ diameter variable-pitch fan driven by a 2,000 horsepower induction motor, can be pressurized, and has a top design speed of 400 mph. Its first dozen years include extensive World War Two design development testing by companies like Sikorsky, Grumman, Republic, Consolidated Vultee and Chance Vought. Over time, it will be used to test architectural designs, motorcycles, ships’ sails, wind turbines, and, of course, a myriad of aircraft designs.
Doc Draper shows the SPIRE autopilot to CBS newsman Eric Sevareid. (MIT Museum)
An MIT Instrumentation Lab engineer checks Apollo Command Module onboard guidance computer programs in a special simulator that can run complete missions to test program accuracy. (Charles Stark Draper Historical Collection, MIT Museum)
1953 A U.S. Air Force B-29 flies from Bedford, Massachusetts to Los Angeles guided by Charles Stark “Doc” Draper’s Space Inertial Reference Equipment, the forerunner of today’s autopilot systems. SPIRE did its job with no information from the outside world other than the initial coordinates at the Bedford airstrip. Only once during the 12.5-hour 2,250-mile flight did the pilot have to touch the controls. This was the first long-distance inertially navigated aircraft flight.
1961 NASA selects the Instrumentation Lab to develop Apollo’s guidance, control, and computer systems. Alumnus and professor Bob Seamans is NASA deputy administrator. Eight years later, alumnus Buzz Aldrin is the second man to walk on the moon. 1963-1965 MIT aerospace research accelerates with the creation of the Space Propulsion Lab, the Man Vehicle Lab, the Center for Space Research, and the Flight Transportation Lab, a predecessor of today’s International Center for Air Transportation.
The Man Vehicle Lab, founded in 1962, prepares Spacelab experiments to measure changes in astronaut balance. Crew member and MIT/MVL alumnus Byron Lichenberg (SM ’75, ScD ’79) is shown on the lab’s “vestibular sled.” Instruments inside the helmet measure eye movements and movement perception. (MVL)
Daedalus undergoing tests at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center prior to its record-setting flight.
Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off April 12, 1981 under the direction of NASA associate administrator and AeroAstro alumnus James Abrahamson (SB ‘55). (NASA)
1970s-1980s Two aerospace firsts in the late 1970s and early 1980s involve MIT alumni. A. Thomas Young (ScD ’72) directs NASA’s Viking I and II 1976 missions to Mars. Orbital flights of the Space Shuttle begin in 1981 led by James A. Abrahamson (SB ’55).
1988 Lead by John Langford (AeroAstro SB ‘79, AM ‘85, PhD ‘87), a team of 40 MIT students, faculty, and alumni has designed and built, and now sets a world record for human-powered flight with the aircraft Daedalus 88. Piloted by cycling champion Kanellos Kanellopoulos, Daedalus flies 71.5 miles (115.11 km) in 3 hours, 54 minutes from Crete to Santorini.
Between 1992 and 2000, alumna Janice Voss (PhD ‘87) flies as a mission specialist on five Shuttle missions. (NASA)
The 2001 renovation of Building 33 includes construction of the 6,000 s.f. Gerhard Neumann Hangar as a space for AeroAstro to work on large projects. It also houses two small wind tunnels. (Cambridge Seven Associates)
1990s Virtually every major aerospace achievement in the 1990s has an MIT connection. Kent Kresa (AeroAstro SB ’59, SM ’61, EAA ’66), Northrop Grumman president and CEO, leads B-2 stealth bomber development. Janice Voss (EECS SM ’77, AeroAstro PhD ’87) flies on the shuttle rendezvousing with Mir, the first joint US-Russian mission in 20 years. Alan Mulally (Sloan SM ‘68) leads Boeing’s 777 development team and Tom Imrich (AeroAstro SB ’69, SM ’71) is Boeing’s chief research pilot. MIT engineers design the Mars Pathfinder laser altimeter.
2001 The historic 1928 Daniel Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory, MIT Building 33, is renovated, creating 50,000 s.f. of flexible and open space that allows students, faculty, and staff to work in modern team environments on projects of varying size and complexity. The program incorporates renovation and new space for the Arthur and Linda Gelb Laboratory, the Robert C. Seamans Jr. Laboratory, and the Gerhard Neumann Hangar. The spaces are designed to facilitate the department’s landmark new Conceive-Design-ImplementOperate approach to engineering education.
AeroAstro alumni astronauts (left) Greg Chamitoff (PhD ‘92) and Mike Fincke (SB ‘89), aboard the International Space Station in 2008 with three AeroAstro-designed SPHERES microsatellites. (NASA)
The Beaver Works team with two of its FAST aircraft. To the left is FAST A, offering dash to objective, long flight endurance, and a single large payload capacity. To the right is FAST B, which is backpackable, hand-launched, and carries a single small payload. The aircraft were built using common molding and tooling.
2006 SPHERES microsatellites, conceived and constructed by undergraduates in AeroAstro’s capstone class, are delivered to the International Space Station where they will serve as test beds for spacecraft autonomous rendezvous and docking maneuvers.
2014 With MIT and Lincoln Laboratory’s Beaver Works collaboration, AeroAstro undergrads design and build projects for real-world customers. Their most recent project is FAST, the Flexible System Aircraft Testbed, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which offers the ability to produce diverse unmanned aerial vehicles from common molding and tooling architecture.
DEPARTMENT OF AERONAUTICS AND ASTRONAUTICS CENTENNIAL SYMPOSIUM SPONSORS The Boeing Company Draper Laboratory Lockheed Martin MIT Alumni Association Northrop Grumman Opus Design Orbital Sciences Corporation Pratt & Whitney UTC SpaceX
Design by Opus Design LLC The MIT Departments of Aeronautics and Astronautics. http://aeroastro.mit.edu/