Houston Section 

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Table of Contents

• AIAA Houston Section Leadership List
• Chairman's Corner
• AIAA Anniversary Awards
• News Briefs
• "Take Off" Campaign
• New Corporate Membership
• December's Multimedia vs. Virtual Reality
• 1999 Space Settlement Design Competition Announced
• Deadline Extended
• Cranium Cruncher

• Russ Filler - Chairman
• Phil Mongan - Chairman-Elect
• Dr. George Nield - Past Chairman
• Dan Selters - Vice-Chairman, Operations
• Mike Theoret - Vice-Chairman, Technical
• Steve King - Secretary
• Dave Parrish - Treasurer
• Bill Atwell - Councilor
• Bonnie Cooper - Councilor
• Winston Goodrich - Councilor
• Bill Hartwell - Councilor
• Nick Johnson - Councilor
• Bill Langdoc - Councilor
• Mike Lisano - Councilor
• Karen Loftin - Councilor
• Joe Mayer - Councilor
• Merri Sanchez - Councilor

I just returned from the annual AIAA technical meeting in Reno, NV - The 37th AIAA AerospaceSciences Meeting and Exhibit - this is AIAA's largest technical meeting. I highly encourage ourmembers to try to attend in the future. This meeting highlights some 21 areas dealing with aeronautical, astronautical, and educational aspects of the field, and brings together the largest selection of technical papers and participants of any AIAA-sponsored meeting. The purpose of the meeting is to bring together scientists and engineers to discuss fundamental science issues, technological challenges, and basic research associated with aerospace engineering.

The Section Awards are also presented at this meeting. The Houston Section was proud to sponsor the trip of our immediate Past Chairman, Dr. George Nield, to the meeting to accept the Section awards recognizing what we already knew - we had an outstanding year last year. This included receiving the Outstanding Section Award (Large Section Category). Again, Congratulations and a big Thanks go out to George for doing such a fine leadership job last year.

On behalf of the Section, George also accepted first place for: Membership, Newsletter, Pre-College, and Young Member activities. The Section received second place for Career Enhancement and Public Policy. While it takes more than one person to win these awards, the following officers must be thanked: Shayne Westover (Membership), Bill Best and Cynthia Collins (Newsletter), Cal Seaman (Pre-College), Allison Westover (Young Member), Charles Halliman (Career Enhancement). and Wayne Rast (Public Policy). These certificates will be presented to these outstanding officers during an upcoming dinner meeting.

These awards also represent $2400 in award money, which was certainly needed to maintain an ongoing effort of serving the needs of the members of the Houston Section and development of many more fine programs this year.

The first AIAA Foundation Associate Fellows Dinner was held on Tuesday, January 12, 1999. A total of 130 new AIAA Associate Fellows will be inducted, including a record 13 from the Houston Section. The Institute recognizes exemplary professionals for their accomplishments in engineering or scientific work, outstanding merit, and contributions to the art, science, or technology in aeronautics or astronautics. One Associate Fellow per 150 voting members of the Institute may be elected each year.

The Reno meeting also included over 150 technical sessions. I was pleased to see some new sessions this year to recognize the Mir Phase One results and applications for looking forward to the International Space Station era.
Included this year:

• Results from the MIR Space Environment Experiments. This session included a paper from Houston Section past officer Jim Visentine (Boeing) on the MIR Solar Array Return Experiment.
• Microgravity Programs: The Path to the International Space Station and the Next Millennium. This session included talks by most of our international partner countries.
• Low Earth Orbit Environment, chaired by Houston Section member Jeffery Theall, NASA JSC.
• Mir Mission Microgravity Research Results. This session included an excellent talk by astronaut Dr. Dave Wolf (NASA JSC) entitled An Operational Experience and Lessons Learned from the Shuttle/Mir Program.

The National Student PaperConference was again very interesting. The undergraduate winner was Zach Hoisington, California Polytechnic StateUniversity (San Luis Obispo, CA) for a paper entitled Variable Surface Area Paraglider.

The 1999 Von Karman Lectureship in Astronautics was presented by Edward C. Stone, Director, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, entitled Mars and the Search for Life Elsewhere. This was a very interesting talk highlighting not only scientific results, but the engineering challenges presented by these missions.

It was great to talk with AIAA President Sam Iacobellis. He is now doing fine after recovering from major heart surgery.

I feel the Reno meeting represents the best of AIAA. It is a fine conference and provides an excellent opportunity to bring together aerospace professionals to discuss the directions of their industry, the Institute, the technical achievements of our members and sections. Perhaps most personally helpful is the opportunity it provides to meet other aerospace professionals. I encourage others to take advantage of this in the future.

Speaking of the future, the ISS Servicing Vehicles Conference is coming up April 25-28, 1999. The deadline for abstracts is February1. The three-day conference will include technical presentation sessions covering engineering and operations aspects of spacecraft-to-ISS rendezvous, proximity operations, capture, redeploy, and departure. I encourage our Houston Section members to give papers or to encourage others to participate in this important conference. For additional information, visit the link through our Section website.

AIAA Congressional Visits Day is coming up March 8th and 9th. This year it will include more involvement with the Executive Branch. If you have thoughts or questions on CVD be sure to contact me.

The Section is also looking for help in planning for our Annual Technical Conference this May. We have a very unique opportunity this year since it will be held in conjunction with the National Space Society's annual meeting, which will be held at theHobby Airport Radission Hotel. If you are interested in helping with this event, contact either myself or one of the Section's Executive Council officers.

These are excellent opportunities to get involved. To stay informed, visit our Section website at http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/aiaa/. I encourage you to contact me or any member of the Executive Council to discuss how you can contribute. Looking forward to seeing you at AIAA this year.

Russ Filler
Chairman 1998-99
AIAA Houston Section

Three reach 40 years of service!

Eight reach 25 years!

The Houston Section is proud to recognize eleven of its members for their sustained membership in AIAA.

Forty Years of Service:

• Benjamin Ostrofsky, Associate Fellow, University of Houston
• Henry Pohl, Fellow, NASA (Retired)
• Clarence Modlin, Senior Member, NASA

• George Nield, Associate Fellow, NASA
• Winston Goodrich, Associate Fellow, NASA
• Lance Mushung, Senior Member, Lockheed Martin
• James Eyman, Senior Member, United Space Alliance
• Carl Granstrom, Senior Member, Boeing
• Stanley Kleis, Senior Member, University of Houston
• Nelson Brown, Associate Fellow, NASA
• Robert Sayers, Senior Member, Retired

These members have definitely learned the value of belonging to the pre-eminent aerospace professional
society. We congratulate them for their sustained commitment and interest in AIAA.

AIAA membership continues to climb. As of December 1, 1998, there were 30,899 professional members, including 4,630 non-US members. To date there are 19 lifetime members. 1998 was a banner year for corporate member program and continued success is expected for 1999. The membership is strong with 100% retention. AIAA now has 55 corporate members, including 18 international and 37 domestic. The 49th Congress of the International Astronautical Federation has elected AIAA Associate Fellow Tomifumi Godai as President, and AIAA Fellow Arnold Aldrich as U.S. Vice President. In September, the AIAA national website surpassed 1 million cumulative hits.

Help AIAA Membership "Take-Off"

Participate in the AIAA Member-Get-A-Member Campaign. Now through May 31, 1999.

Help AIAA "take off" toward a better, brighter aerospace outlook in the coming years! Sponsor a new member in AIAA's Member-Get-A-Member campaign. Convince just one colleague to join the Institute and you have done your part to help AIAA's membership "Take Off".

Our members make flight possible. As the 100th anniversary of powered flight approaches, let's join forces to ensure the continued advancement of aerospace. With each new member, you and AIAA strengthen your profession and your industry, and contribute to the continued advancement of the arts and sciences of aviation and space.

Plus you can win exciting prizes!

Get five bonus dollars with each new member you recruit. Add these bonuses to your AIAA member discount for even greater savings on books, journal subscriptions, conference registrations, professional development courses, and membership dues. Each new member you recruit also enters you in a drawing to win an all-ex pense paid trip to a shuttle launch early next year. The more you recruit, the better your chances to win!

It's as easy as 1-2-3...
 

• 1. Hand a Member-Get-a-Memberapplication to a friend or colleague. Youcan download the form from the AIAAwebsite athttp://www.aiaa.org/information/index.html
• 2. Tell them what you value about AIAAmembership.
• 3. Recruit a colleague and win one ofseveral awards, including a chance toqualify for an all-expenses paid trip for twoto a shuttle launch.

AIAA is pleased to announce its newest Corporate Member, United Space Alliance.

This brings the total number of corporate members to 55 (37 domestic and 18 international).

Corporate membership rentention was 100% for 1998. Growth in AIAA Corporate Membership represents the importance management applies to the goals and objectives of AIAA. Corporate membership support is finanically backed up as well. Their support represents the importance they place on the professional development we all can gain from belonging to AIAA activities and programs, as well as our involvement in these.

United Space Alliance - The Houston Section welcomes you as an AIAA Corporate Member.

Congratulations!

AIAA Life Sciences, Space Processes, and Human Factors Technical Committee sponsored a Lunch 'n' Learn on December 16. Dr. Michael Barratt discussed his first-hand experience of the 1993 Mir 18 landing of the Soyuz capsule with 3 cosmonauts on board and 50 Kg of 'stuff'. Because recovery may take up to 48 hours, the 'stuff' consists primarily of survival equipment. They landed in South Russia, in an area that resembles a prairie, and is occupied by the native Cossacks, the Russian horsemen. Two days before the landing, the site was hot (104 oC), but it was raining heavily on the day of landing. The rain provided some challenges to the landing operations, but did not postpone them.

During a normal landing of the Soyuz capsule, a chute opens and small rockets are activated to provide a 4g landing. If these fail, the occupants experience a 20g spike at landing. Ugh! The breaking rockets release 20 ml of hydrogen peroxide propellant at 18,000 feet posing no hazard to the recovery crew. The only hazard is a small amount of radioactive material that has to be sealed off. This is very important, because anyone can, in fact, recover the capsule. The instructions to open the hatch and other procedures to recover the capsule are located under the capsule. Among the nominal recovery crew, the native Cossacks were watching closely with smiling faces. It was clear that they were happy to be part of the rescue and probably to having their picture taken.

The cosmonauts are monitored by electrocardiograph during the landing. During normal operations, one man (a big man) has the task of pulling each cosmonaut out of the capsule through the hatch with one hand. Once extracted, they walk assisted to a tent where a physical exam is performed to determine their state of health. Although normally blood samples are not collected, this service could be made available by providing a centrifuge. Thank you to Dr. Barratt for an exciting look into the medical operations of a Russian Soyuz Landing and to everyone who attended. It was a great turnout. Watch for the announcement of the next Lunch 'n' Learn in February or March. If you have an exciting presentation in your area of Life Sciences, Space Processes, and Human Factors that you are eager to share with the JSC community, please contact Karin Loftin at 244-1122 or kloftin@ems.jsc.nasa.gov.

The NASA Johnson Space Center will be holding an industry simulation game for area high school students on February 19­21, 1999. These students will divide into futuristic companies and spend a weekend preparing a proposal for a fictitious city to be built on Mars. Each company will be composed of approximately 20 students that will be run by one CEO. At the end of the weekend, there will be a competition to select the winning proposal.

The event needs approximately eight "Technical Experts" to run four workshops from 8:00­11:00 a.m. on Saturday. These workshops are:

• Structural Engineering: responsible for the overall design of the Space Settlement.
• Operations Engineering: provides infrastructure for the Project.
• Human Engineering: creates a habitable space for the people to live and work.
• Automation Engineering: designs computer and robot systems for the Settlement.

The event also needs judges for Sunday, and approximately four CEOs to head the companies. The CEOs should have prior management experience and be able to stay with their team all day Saturday, from 8:00 a.m. until evening.

Saturday's events will be held at the Seabrook Intermediate School, and Sunday's events will be held at the Johnson Space Center. All your meals will be complimentary during the event. If you are interested in any of these activities, please contact Joe Mayer at (281) 336-5372.

1999 AIAA ISS SERVICE VEHICLE CONFERENCE DEADLINE EXTENDED

Due to requests from a number of contributing parties, the deadline for abstracts has been EXTENDED for the 1999 AIAA ISS Service Vehicles Conference in Houston, Texas (April 25 - 28, 1999). The NEW ABSTRACT DEADLINE is set for FEBRUARY 1, 1999. Please submit your abstracts to General Chair Dr. Mike Lisano (mike.lisano1@jsc.nasa.gov) or Sharada Vitalpur (vitalpur@lincom-asg.com) by this new deadline date.

The numerous technical abstracts received so far, from the European, Japanese, Canadian and American space programs, have been of very high quality, indicating that the technical program will be a strong one. Also, workshop programs are being planned to take place during the three-day conference, for ISS Service Vehicles Standards and Introduction to ISS Service Vehicles Requirements and Technologies.

For further information, please call Mike Lisano at (281) 483-7144, or see our website, at http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/aiaa/conf/mtg.htm. 

January, 1999

An even dozen of you found time over the holidays to attack the December Cranium Cruncher and determine, from the clues given, that the German owned the zebra! Congratulations for arriving at the correct answer to the following smart folks.

• Frank Baiamonte
• Tim Brady
• Hubert Brasseaux
• Lowell Brigham
• Ronald Chichester
• Hal Getzelman
• Kimberly Grant (our AIAA Headquarters staff liaison for Region 4)
• Wendell Mendell
• Lance Mushung
• Ronny Newman
• Gary Noyes
• Kevin Templin

• House number 1 is yellow, and is occupied by a Norwegian who smokes Dunhill, drinks water, and has a cat.
• House number 2 is blue, and is occupied by a Dane who smokes Blend, drinks tea, and has a horse.
• House number 3 is red, lived in by an Englishman who smokes Pall Mall, drinks milk, and has birds.
• House number 4 is green, occupied by a German who smokes Prince, drinks coffee, and owns a zebra.
• House number 5 is white, occupied by a Swede who smokes Blue Master, drinks beer, and has a dog.

Now here's one for you to work on for the January, 1999 issue.

NASA's Earth Observation Program has developed special spectral signatures for a variety of trees, and this data is used in forestry programs throughout the US. A list of many of the types of trees they've worked with is included in the following matrix. To find each species of tree, start at any letter in the matrix and move one letter at a time in any direction. Do not use any letter more than once for any given name. Do not skip over any letters. All the letters used in a name must be adjacent. You can move horizontally, vertically, or diagonally in any direction. In spelling out the name of a tree species you can combine horizontal, vertical and diagonal moves, as long as the letters are adjacent. I can find nearly twenty tree species named in the matrix. How many can you find? (Example - upper left corner you can find oak).

Send your list of trees to me at my email address, norman.h.chaffee1@jsc.nasa.gov or via paper mail to Norman Chaffee, Mail Code AP2, NASA-JSC, Houston, TX 77058. If you come up with some exotic species that aren't commonly known, you'll need to tell me enough about them to validate their identity. No imaginary trees allowed!

Good luck! The winner will get a free dinner at a future AIAA meeting or event.

Norman Chaffee