Houston Section 

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Table of Contents

• AIAA Houston Section Leadership List
• Chairman's Corner
• 30th Anniversary of Apollo 8
• Operations Vice-Chair to Leave
• E-Mail Service for AIAA Members
• Letter to Congressman Nick Lampson
• Australian Senate Debates Commercial Space Bill
• November Lunch 'n' Learn
• Upcoming Events for Educational Outreach
• Houston Section Co-Hosts Dr. Leonard Shlain
• Boeing Hosts AIAA November Dinner Meeting
• NEAR Mission Has Web Site
• Gordon McKinzie of United Airlines Entertains December Meeting
• 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

                    Christmas Eve, 1968: "In the beginning god created the heavens and the earth..."

                 As we start the new era of the International Space Station thirty years later, we still remember.

As 1998 winds to an end, the Section should be pleased with having such a fine term so far. We have had some excellent support from our members and very interesting programs.

We need to thank United Space Alliance and Boeing for hosting programs this fall. We are trying to reach out to our corporate families and trying to meet the needs they look for in professional society activities. Our section had more members selected for Associate Fellow than any other section this year. We were selected for outstanding section last year and won several other section awards. In November, the section co-sponsored Dr. Leonard Shlain with the Arts Alliance of Clear Lake. The young members had a great start-up activity which provided the opportunity for many new young members to get their first introduction to AIAA. The technical committees have been offering some excellent Lunch and Learns.

         I look forward to the events coming up in 1999. The space program entered a new era in November with the
         launch of the first element of the International Space Station. We plan to recognize this new era and
         continue to find ways to advance the arts and sciences, including our Section's plan to sponsor a major
         ISS Servicing Vehicles Conference in April. We have Congressional Visits Day coming up in March. We
         should have a very unique opportunity this May when our annual technical conference is held in
         conjunction with the National Space Society annual meeting, which will be held at the Hobby Airport
         Radission Hotel.

         I hope you have taken the opportunity to participate in some of these fine activities this year. Numerous
         people have provided their leadership and planning talent to help make these events possible. If you want
         to get more involved in AIAA and want to help make these fine events happen, be sure to contact a member
         of the Executive Council. If you have co-workers that have not come to an AIAA event this year, make an
         extra effort to make them aware of what is happening. Point them to our website or pass along your copy
         of a recent Horizons. Tell them the value of belonging to a professional society. Make them aware that
         AIAA is the pre-eminent professional society for those engaged in aerospace. Encourage them to take
         advantage of the professional growth and professional friends that come with being involved in AIAA.

         I wish you all a safe and happy holiday. Looking forward to seeing you at AIAA in 1999.

        A television view fromspace.

         December 21-27, 1968

         It was Christmas time, 1968, thirty years ago this month, when man broke his bonds to Earth.

         Three Americans - Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, Jr., and William A. Anders - guided their Apollo 8
         spacecraft across nearly a quarter-million miles of space into orbit around the Moon, and back once more.
         It was the first time that humans had left earth orbit.

         It was the first time that men had been launched into space by the Saturn V, America's most powerful
         machine. The Saturn V rocket vehicle stood 363 feet tall and incorporated well over 3 million working parts.
         It was put together inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center, a structure so vast (716
         feet long, 518 feet wide, 525 feet tall) as almost to afford a climate of its own. If fans did not circulate the
         air inside, clouds would form and rain would fall.

         Never before had man traveled so far, so fast, or looked so closely upon another celestial body.  Never before
         had so many millions listened and watched, their imaginations stretched, as the explorers spoke across the
         emptiness. Each time Astronauts Borman, Lovell, and Anders vanished behind the far side of the Moon
         they lost all contact with the Earth for 45 minutes on each of the 10 orbits.

         On the Eve of Christmas, as the eyes of the world followed Apollo 8 across the moonscape, the astronauts
         invoked another, older voice, reading in turn the first ten verses of Genesis, the Story of Creation.  Its
         conclusion "...and God saw that it was good" echoed in Astronaut Borman's words as again Apollo 8
         headed into the silent, tantalizing absence of earthly communications:

         "God bless all of you on the good Earth."

         At 7:51 a.m. (EST) Saturday, Dec. 21, 1968, Saturn V lifted off with 7.5 million pounds of thrust. Eleven
         minutes later Apollo 8 was in Earth orbit. In the second orbit, Saturn V's third stage fired Apollo 8 onto a
         course for the Moon at nearly 25,000 mph.

         The voyage out took two days. On each day, at about 3 p.m., the astronauts appeared live on television
         screens on Earth. Early on Dec. 24, well within the gravitational field of the Moon, they turned the
         spacecraft so that its rocket engine, the Service Propulsion System (SPS), faced forward. As Apollo 8 coasted
         out of sight behind the Moon and out of touch with Earth at 4:59 a.m. (EST), the crew fired the SPS. Not
         until Apollo 8 emerged from behind the Moon did the world learn that it was in an elliptical orbit ranging
         between 69 and 195 miles above the Moon. Two orbits later, the astronauts again fired the SPS and
         achieved a nearly circular orbit of about 70 miles above the Moon.

         For around 20 hours, a total of ten orbits, Apollo 8 remained locked in the grip of the Moon. At 7:30 a.m.
         and 9:30 p.m. Dec. 24, the astronauts appeared live on television, sharing with those on Earth their view of
         the moonscape. For most of the rest of the time, they were busy with their cameras and sextant,
         photographing and locating features on the Moon, giving special attention to proposed Apollo landing
         sites.

         Early Christmas morning, once more behind the Moon and out of contact with Earth, they positioned the
         spacecraft to fire the SPS and free Apollo 8 from lunar orbit. Again, until Apollo 8 emerged from behind
         the Moon, those on Earth did not know that the engine had indeed fired and Apollo 8 was homeward
         bound.

         Apollo 8 broke out of Moon orbit at about 5,500 mph and, under the influence of the Earth's gravity,
         gathered speed with each passing hour as it headed for home. To land safely, Apollo 8 had to be threaded
         through what at 80 miles above the Earth amounted to the eye of a needle - an imaginary doorway some 400
         miles by 26 miles.

         Three drogue parachutes automatically deployed at 24,000 feet when Apollo had slowed to about 300 mph.
         At 10,000 feet, when the spacecraft had slowed to about 140 mph., the 83 1/2-foot orange and white
         blossoms of the main 'chutes unfolded and eased Apollo 8 into the Pacific a mere 5,000 yards from the
         main recovery ship, the carrier Yorktown.

         It was 10:51 a.m. (EST) Monday, Dec. 27, but only 4:50 a.m. and still dark on the ocean about 1,100 miles
         southwest of Hawaii. Just after sunrise, an hour and 20 minutes later, Astronauts Borman, Lovell and
         Anders stepped out of the helicopter and onto the red carpet on the deck of the Yorktown.

         Earth-rise from Apollo 8.

         Landing on the carrier Yorktown.

         One of my most rewarding experiences during my 4 years here at JSC has been working with the Houston
         Section of AIAA. I had two goals: 1.) get people more excited about the many fascinating projects across the
         aerospace industry and 2.) encourage people to get involved and interact.

         I also had a career goal to earn experience toward a career in aircraft flight control. So, I am elated that I
         received a job offer in the California aircraft industry and will start the new year off in San Diego.

         Unfortunately, this forces me to step down as Vice Chairman Operations of the Houston Section and
         Deputy Director,Young Members for Region IV.

         There are over 700 team members in the Houston Section, so I'm sure it will accomplish spectacular goals.

         Happy Holidays and Best Wishes!

         -Dan.

         NOTE: We wish Dan the vry best in his new endeavors and thank him for his enthusiasm, his dedication, his
         drive, and for all the great work he accomplished for the AIAA and its members. Dan, you will be missed!
         Best of luck to you. - The Executive Committee and Councilors for the AIAA Houston Section

         Are you on the AIAA Houston Section E-mail List??

         If not, you are missing important announcements!

         The AIAA Houston Section has an e-mail announcement service to notify our members of important events
         or reminders. Of our 800 members only 158 are on the list. However, just about everyone has an e-mail
         address today!

         This e-mail list is used to supplement our monthly newsletter. Certain events and announcements do not
         lend themselves to accommodating the advance publication deadlines. We started this e-mail
         announcements service to provide a more timely way of notifying members. This service has allowed the
         Section to take advantage of special speakers, conduct programs and events that otherwise would not be
         possible. We also use this list to remind members of deadlines for key events.

         We do not provide this list to other organizations. It is kept confidential.

         We use the AIAA Houston Section e-mail announcement service simply as a means to help get messages to
         our members in the most timely manner possible.

         Many members that are on the list have mentioned how helpful it has been and are grateful of being
         notified so that can take advantage of the opportunities. Mike Begley sends these messages out, so if you
         have not received one from Mike lately, you may not be on it. You may call Mike at 281/336-5225 to check
         your status.

         To get added to the list send your e-mail address to Mike Begley at begley@pat.mdc.com. or to Russ Filler
         at rfiller@ems.jsc.nasa.gov

         The Honorable Nick Lampson
         417 Cannon House Office Building
         Washington, DC 20515-4309

         Dear Congressman Lampson,

         On behalf of the Houston Section of the AIAA, I first want to congratulate you on your recent re-election to
         Congress. I also want to express appreciation for your service as a member of the House Science Committee.
         That is important to our entire district, the Houston area, and the country. We appreciate the time you have
         taken the past two years to meet with us in your Washington office during AIAA Congressional Visits Day.
         Due to the favorable response, Chairman Sensenbrenner has invited us back to Washington again this
         coming March. We appreciate you and Congressman Sensenbrenner visiting JSC recently to share your
         concerns, issues and thoughts. We also thank you for supporting the passage of the H.R. 1702, The
         Commercial Space Act of 1998. This is an important bill and offers a lot of promise to the aerospace
         industry.

         It recently came to our attention that you have expressed interest in addressing the issue of pensions for
         workers in the aerospace field.

         For over 65 years, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has served as the
         principal society of the aerospace engineer and scientist. The purpose of the AIAA is to advance the arts,
         sciences, and technology of aeronautics and astronautics, and to promote the professionalism of those
         engaged in these pursuits. The Houston Section represents almost 800 members from the Houston/Clear
         Lake area. The Houston Section Executive Council feels this issue is important to address. For years now,
         our national AIAA Career Enhancement committee has promoted pension portability programs as a
         valuable instrument for maintaining a skilled and motivated workforce.

         As a professional society dedicated to the good of our members, we have taken an interest in efforts to unify
         pension credits of aerospace workers who have years of service with various NASA contractors that have in
         recent years merged into larger entities. Often the retirement credits of these workers in these "legacy
         companies" is unrecognized by the acquiring companies based on various technicalities.

         We understand that you are interested in pursuing legislative redress of this problem and we wish to
         strongly encourage your actions in this direction. Please let us know if we can provide any additional
         information or other assistance to you in your efforts.

         This problem is not unique to the Houston area, by the way. We believe that hundreds of workers in the
         Cape Canaveral area and in southern California may benefit from such legislation. You could be doing far
         more good than you know by standing up for local constituents.

         The aerospace business is very dependent on the government for funding. Most of the aerospace workers in
         the Houston area have dedicated their careers to the space program. People often stay in place while the
         organization or the company changes around them. People have been forced to change companies to stay
         with their specialty. It is common for people to be dedicated to the exploration of space and they sacrifice
         financial objectives to stay with the program. While this may be required to make a weekly paycheck, it is
         not conducive to building a retirement package.

         Ensuring aerospace employees get recognized for service is important to developing a retirement package.
         This helps individuals provide for themselves in retirement rather than being dependent on additional
         government funding such as social security.

         We are encouraged by your efforts to investigate this issue. We look forward to legislation that helps
         maintain people in our industry and provides an individual retirement package rather than reliance on
         further government funding to provide for them in retirement

         We would be happy to lend our services and resources to you. If you have additional questions we would
         be willing to work further with you or your staff on these issues. We have a website and a monthly
         newsletter if you care to share any of your thoughts on this matter with our members

         Again, we appreciate your efforts on behalf of space workers' benefits.

         Russell E. Filler
         Chairman, AIAA Houston Section

         The Australian Senate recently continued debate on legislation that would establish regulations for
         commercial space activities in that country.

         Senators considered a number of potential amendments to the Space Activities Bill of 1998 during debate
         Thursday, November 26, but defeated most of the amendments, including one that would have greatly
         increased the liability period for Australian-launched spacecraft.

         The amendment, proposed by Senator Natasha Stott Despoja of the Australian Democrats party, would
         have extended the liability period for a satellite launch from 30 days after launch to the lifetime of the
         satellite. Senator Nicholas Minchin, the Minister for Industry, Science, and Resources, noted that the
         30-day period was a standard in other countries, including the United States. "There is a real risk that an
         amendment like this would render the space industry stillborn," he said, "and that we would be so
         unattractive a place to engage in launches that people would simply go elsewhere."

         The proposed amendment was voted down, along with another amendment that would have explicitly
         specified that any launch facility would have to meet with approval with existing Aboriginal laws. Minchin
         noted that the second amendment was unnecessary since existing laws are sufficient.

         Senators did approve an amendment that would require any launch facility to abide by existing
         environmental laws. They also approved an amendment that requires anyone seeking a license to build and
         operate a launch facility have sufficient funding to carry out the plan, and that the proposed facility would
         not be a threat to public health and safety.

         Senators from Australia's smaller political parties criticized Minchin's ruling Liberal party and the
         opposition Labor party for trying to push through the bill quickly, without giving them time to review all
         the proposed amendments, although they said they were in principle not opposed to the bill.

         "I remind the space cadets here that what the Greens and Democrats are saying is that, if we have space
         activities, we want well-regulated and safe space activities," said Sen. Dee Margetts, a member of the Greens
         of Western Australia party.

         "We do regard this bill as urgent," Minchin said. "One of the reasons we regard this as urgent legislation
         is to enable the Kistler project to proceed within the framework of the legislation."

         The American firm Kistler Aerospace is building a launch site at Woomera in South Australia for its K-1
         reusable launch vehicle. Without existing laws regarding commercial space projects, the Australian
         government reached a separate agreement with Kistler. The agreement would remain in effect even if the bill
         is approved, but some provisions of the bill, including accident investigations and penalty provisions,
         would affect Kistler.

         The bill, introduced in the Senate earlier in November, would create regulations for securing licenses for
         commercial launches from Australian sites, as well as licenses for the return of reusable launchers. It also
         sets insurance requirements for any Australian launches. It is similar to the recently-approved U.S.
         Commercial Space Act of 1998, but seeks to create a new regulatory stucture rather than modify an existing
         one.

         If approved by the Senate, the bill would then go to the House of Representatives, the other branch of the
         Australian Parliament, for consideration.

Multimedia versus Virtual Reality Use in Learning

         AIAA Life Sciences, Space Processes, and Human Factors Technical Committee sponsored a Lunch 'n'
         Learn November. Ms. Cynthia Chmielewski compared the features of multimedia and virtual reality for use
         in learning. She presented a preliminary study to identify procedures to compare training methods for
         in-flight training of previously-learned or new tasks. Multimedia and virtual reality were two candidate
         methods to test.

         Two types of tasks, assembly and instrumentation, were chosen, and the 12 participants performed the
         tasks from memory to ensure an appropriate comparison between the two training tools. One training
         session and 2 test sessions were performed by each participant, and they completed a questionnaire rating
         the usefulness of the training feature after each test session.

         Ms. Chmielewski described the multimedia and virtual reality applications and the two tasks: assembly of a
         GRID laptop computer to address physical and/motor skills and instrumentation, and the performance of a
         specific set of procedures (take a voltage self-diagnostic of a scopemeter) to address cognitive/perceptual
         skills. The experimental design and test measurements were outlined. The participants were evaluated on
         time to perform training, time to perform task, number of errors committed, number of times multimedia
         and virtual reality were used, and subjective ratings of feature usefulness.

         This preliminary study demonstrated both the benefits and limitations of each training method and the
         importance of optimizing the training material for different types of tasks and individuals. Thank you to
         Ms. Chmielewski for a stimulating presentation and to those of you who attended. Please come again to the
         December Lunch 'n' Learn on "Russian Landing Medical Operations" presented by Michael Barratt, M.D.

          Although the MIR/Shuttle Joint US/Russian project has ended, the experience lives on and on. AIAA Life
                  Sciences, Space Processes, and Human Factors Technical Committee presents:

                                 "Lunch and Learn"

                            "Russian Landing Medical Operations"

                                  December 16, 1998

                                 from 11:30-12:30 PM

                             at Building 37, Conference Rm. 1

         Please join us, bring your lunch and a friend, and listen to Dr. Michael Barratt, who is a NASA Flight
         Surgeon in Medical Operations. He was capcom for Mir-18, the first long-duration joint US/Russian
         mission and has extensive experience with EVA-related hardware and operations. Learn about his
         first-hand experience working with Russian colleagues and the challenges of Russian Landing Medical
         Operations.

         Looking forward to seeing you.

         Please, to RSVP or for a temporary badge to attend, contact Karin Loftin at (281) 244-1122 or
         kloftin@ems.jsc.nasa.gov.

         National Engineers Week will be observed February 21st through 27th. The Education and Community
         Support Branch at JSC has sent invitations out to 4th ­ 8th grade teachers in a 50 mile radius. Speakers are
         needed to visit these schools and talk about space or engineering-related topics. A training session is
         available if you would like to use NASA outreach equipment or if you would like some presentation hints.
         Although activities are concentrated around Engineers Week, the presentation can be performed anytime
         during the month of February. The deadline to sign-up is December 18.

         Physics is Fun is currently being planned for a Saturday morning in February. This activity will be open
         to approximately 100 elementary school children in the area. Volunteers are needed to either perform
         hands-on demos that morning or to lend or donate equipment. Currently we need:

• shapes machined out of various materials (i.e. balls, solid and hollow cylinders)
• vacuum pump with bell jar
• Magdeburg spheres (two halves of a metal sphere with a valve to evacuate the air)
• shop vac
• volunteer who is liquid nitrogen certified

         If you need more information or would like to help with any of these activities, please contact Joy Conrad
         at (281) 480-4101 X220 or jconrad@intermetrics.com.

                          PRE-COLLEGE OUTREACH ACTIVITIES

                   February 21-27, 1999 Engineers Week Speak at area elementary schools

                               ** Deadline to Register: **

                                ** December 18, 1998**

                   February 1999 Physics is Fun Explain demos to elementary school kids one Saturday morning

                   March 19, 1999 Houston Science and Engineering Fair Judge for special AIAA awards

                   On going: Speak or perform demos at area schools

         Those members of the Houston section of the AIAA (along with supporters of the Arts Alliance Center of
         Clear Lake) who braved the stormy weather of Thursday evening of November 12 were well rewarded.

         Not only did they enjoy some delicious party trays and the excellent music provided by a string trio, but
         also a thoughtful lecture by Dr. Leonard Shlain about his second book, The Alphabet versus The Goddess,
         which was followed by a book signing.

         Some AIAA members may remember the Dr. Shlain gave a lecture on his first book, Art and Physics, about
         a year ago at Space Center Houston. That evening was very informative and thought- provoking, so it was
         no surprise when this latest lecture was also.

         Dr. Shlain's second book is his own explanation for a question that arose during an archaeological tour of
         the Mediterranean. The ancient Greek sites which he visited had almost all been originally consecrated to a
         goddess and then rededicated later to a god. The ruins of Knossos on the island of Crete, for example, had
         many murals which testified to the high status of women in that bronze age culture. And at Ephesus (a
         Greek island off the western coast of Turkey) is the site of the ruins of the Temple of Artemis, the largest
         shrine to a female deity in the western world, where one could worship a goddess up until the fourth
         century. What was the widespread cause of this change in deity gender?

         Dr. Shlain's answer is based on the physiological and psychological differences between men and women,
         and in particular how we use the left and right hemispheres of the brain. His contention is that the
         downfall of the goddesses (and priestesses) was caused by the changes in a culture when it evolves from
         using a verbal heritage to a written heritage. This use of writing and the associated imagery (illustrations,
         pictures) by a society as a new medium for cultural exchange, is what also seems to drive a corresponding
         shift to masculine-based deities and religions. Dr. Shlain gave many interesting examples throughout
         history to support his theory.

         Far-fetched? At first thought, perhaps. However, after reading this book you will think about all of this in
         a differently way, as many of us who attended the lecture can agree. And, as all of mankind expands its
         use of computers and images, more and more of all of our thinking may change again!
 

The AIAA and the Arts Alliance co-hosted Dr. Leonard Shlain on Novmeber 12th in the Building 2 Auditorium. From left: Bill Atwell, AIAA Councilor and Program Event Chair; Russ Filler, AIAA Houston Section Chairman; Kay Burnett, Director, Arts Alliance Center at Clear Lake; and Speaker Dr. Leonard Shlain.



 

Dr. Leonard Shlain signing his new book,"The Alphabet Versus The Goddess".



 

         Program of November 19th

         Boeing played host to the AIAA November meeting on the 19th which was held at what many people
         remember as Lockheed Plaza 4 - the building on Space Park Drive, behind St. John's Hospital. Enzo's did
         the catering - simple but delicious - lasagna, salad, bread and cookies plus a beverage of your choice. Tom
         Mulder introduced Bob Minor, who welcomed us to the event and spoke a few words about the benefits of
         joining an organization like the AIAA and how he hoped that Boeing and the AIAA could work together in
         the future for the benefit of both organizations.

         The speaker, William Rothchild, propulsion systems manager for what is currently known as 'Reusable
         First Stage' (was Liquid Flyback Booster) then gave an excellent talk on the project. He kept an interested
         audience around for 90 minutes (including questions) and then spent another 30 minutes for individual
         questions which went on until he finally escaped out the door!

         The project began as a way to replace the Shuttle's SRBs and was known as the Liquid Flyback Booster
         project. However, as the project developed, it became evident that there were other uses for the booster, such
         as heavy lift for exploratory missions and for commercial satellite launches. So the name was changed to
         the 'Reusable First Stage'.

         The project is different because the system is completely reusable and depends on no new technology. The
         newest idea is the autonomous return flight for the boosters after stage separation at Mach 5.5 at an altitude
         of 160,000 feet. One booster can be chosen to fly a slower return to the shuttle landing strip so it will land
         several minutes after the first. The rocket engines burn LO2 and kerosene and are extremely robust
         propulsion-wise, even though the Isp is less than the SSMEs. The system is fully capable of performing a
         TAL with one engine out at liftoff. Although the RTLS capability is there, it should never be necessary.

         The system launches vertically and stage separation occurs at about T+4 minutes as described above. The
         boosters 'belly flop' into the thicker atmosphere performing a hypersonic (proven, available TPS protective
         techniques are used) 3.5 G turn towards the landing site. Once at subsonic speed and at 30 thousand feet
         altitude, the jet engine louvers are opened, the four jet engines started and the booster cruises 165 miles
         back to KSC landing about 45 minutes after launch. Each booster carries about 35 thousand pounds of jet
         fuel which, since it is parasitic weight, is minimized, not only for launch performance but to aid in the
         return flight since the booster lift/drag ratio is low.

         No selection has been made for either the rocket engines or the jet engines. For the rocket engines, Aerojet,
         Pratt & Whitney, and Rocketdyne all have offered a design. Rocketdyne has proposed a 'clean sheet' design
         while the others offer a derivative of existing Russian-built engines. GE and Pratt & Whitney have
         proposed jet engines previously used for the B-1 bomber and the F-15 fighter respectively. The project
         thinks it understands the vibration, acoustic, acceleration, and thermal issues associated with the jet
         engines, but no one has experience with subjecting the engines to the proposed environment in a non-
         running mode and also in a vertical (not horizontal) position.

         One ground ruler of the project is that there will be no mods to the orbiter as a result of the booster design
         and as few changes as possible to other elements - external tank, for example. For Cg reasons the wings on
         the boosters are located towards the aft end, which creates a delicate engineering design problem because of
         the orbiter wings. The orbiter wings have +bending moment and loading limits. The proximity of the
         booster wings do have an influence on the orbiter wings and the margins at this point in the design are not
         large. The boosters also have canards which are not deployed until the return to aid in control of the
         boosters which, because of the aft placement of the wings, have a pitch-up moment. This moment also
         decreases the effectiveness of the rudder (now a single structure rather than a twin assembly based on wind
         tunnel data).

         Operationally the launch 'stack' will be constructed as it is now in the VAB and then moved to the pad on
         the mobile launcher. The launcher will require some modification to allow for a larger flame bucket and
         facilities at the pad must be changed to provide kerosene fuel for both the booster rocket and jet engines.
         The start sequence will be very similar to the present one with the orbiter SSMEs started first and a few
         seconds later the booster engines. Because the thrust to weight ratio is less than the shuttle's, the ascent will
         be slower and, therefore, the proposed vehicle will be more susceptible to wind gusts. The tower structure
         will also be modified since the boosters are larger than the present SRBs.

         Mr. Rothchild's talk provided us a good insight to the overall project. It is evident with so many trade-offs
         that the final version could, and probably will, be different that what was described. All-in-all, a
         fascinating evening for aerospace engineers!

         The NEAR (Near Earth Asteroid Rendevous) mission is nearing its rendevous period. By the end of
         January, NEAR should be in an orbit around EROS, a 'mainstream' S asteroid about 22 miles long and 9
         miles wide. EROS orbits the sun at an average distance of 1.46AU every 643 days.

         What is interesting is that there is a web site where you can watch the mission unfold:

         http://near.jhuapl.edu

         Once again Dan Selters arranged a super program for the Houston Section. With a little help from AIAA
         National, which furnished a distinguished lecturer, a superb catering job by Robinette & Doyle, and good
         weather, a very entertaining evening was enjoyed by those who attended.

         Gordon McKinzie, a twenty year veteran of United Airlines, gave a talk on his experiences as an airline
         representative involved in the actual development process of a new plane, the Boeing 777. The talk started
         with a fascinating 5+ minute time lapse video (Working Together) of the 777 build process from start to roll
         out. The video was donated to the Section after the presentation. He then gave a history of United Airplanes
         (it once was a integrated company - a monopoly ) - and some data about how and when an airline company
         decided to buy airplanes.

         The process started when United decided they needed a new airplane that would be profitable flying from
         San Francisco to Hawaii, as well as from Chicago to Frankfort. The three finalists, Boeing, Douglas, and
         Airbus, were invited to come to Chicago one weekend to make presentations while United personnel
         evaluated and countered with each of the three. An evaluation system was developed and weightings given
         to each attribute. Surprisingly cockpit layout was rated near the bottom while other items such as
         maintainability and cabin layout were high on the list. When the weekend ended United had decided to go
         with Boeing and an airplane that only existed on paper.

         Since the airplane had not been designed, the situation provided a perfect opportunity to try something
         new - allow the customer, United Airlines, to participate in the design process. A memorandum of
         understanding was written in longhand on a single legal pad sheet, signed by the appropriate parties, and
         the deal was done. Later in the program other customers for the 777 also joined.

         Mr. McKinzie related many anecdotes about the process. When other United employees found out about the
         program, they submitted their own concerns. One flight attendant bemoaned the fact that she had been
         breaking her nails for years on the latches used in the Boeing interiors. Using a function chart, two latch
         designers were located: one designed exterior latches while the other designed interior ones. The interior
         latch designer was crestfallen to learn of the problem, but it was corrected along with 168 others that were
         incorporated into the final design.

         United had four people in Seattle on a permanent basis, but 200 other United engineers in San Francisco
         were 'on call' to work specific problems. The end result was what Mr. McKinzie thinks is the best airplane
         ever built. One member of the audience emphasized that impression, as he relayed the comment he received
         from an FAA inspector that the inspector could find absolutely no fault with the 777 cockpit layout.

         A very informative evening.

         Due to some personal career changes and a trip to Florida to see the STS-95 crew take off, I missed you
         guys last month! So there is a little catch-up to do.

         If you remember the September puzzle, I asked you to match five couples, their evening's activity, and the
         time of the activity. In October I reported to you that 15 smart folks had sent me the right answer, but to
         allow late mail to get to me, I didn't select a winner. And sure enough, after press time for the October issue
         I got three more correct answers from Mary Cerimele; Ronald Chichester; and Monica Visinsky. Thanks to
         you three for participating. By my secret random process which selects a winner from the pool of all correct
         responses, the September prize goes to Liana Rodriggs. Congratulations, Liana - you'll receive a free dinner
         at any upcoming AIAA meeting in the next 12 months!

         The October puzzle described a dart board to you with three equally sized sectors valued at 1 point, 4
         points, or 7 points. You only win a prize if the sum of your three darts (all of which hit the board
         randomly) is a prime number. I asked you two questions -

         a) what is your chance of winning a prize?,

         and

         b) how many different scores are possible?

         If you go through all the permutations for the three darts and their order of scoring, you'll find that there
         are 7 possible scores - 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, and 21. The only prime number is 3, achieved by 3 darts in the
         1-point sector. Since the three darts are thrown randomly, each has a 1/3 chance of landing in the 1-point
         sector, and the odds of scoring 3 and winning the prize are (1/3)(1/3)(1/3) = 1/27.

         I got partial answers from several of you - everyone knew that the only winning number (a prime) was 3,
         and that there were only 7 possible scores. Not everyone agreed on the odds of winning.

         I got complete, correct answers from the following folks:

         Frank Baiamonte
         Hal Getzelman (and son)
         Gary Noyes
         Andy Petro

         Thanks to all of you who sent me a response, and congratulations to those who came up with a complete,
         correct answer! Since I missed a month, I don't believe I'll be getting any more answers to this one, and my
         process has selected Frank Baiamonte as the winner for October! Congratulations Frank - you'll get a free
         dinner at a future AIAA meeting also!

         Now try this one for your December challenge.

         There are five houses in a linear row; each has a different owner of unique nationality; each house is a
         different color; each owner has a different type of pet; each owner drinks a different beverage; and each
         owner smokes a different brand of cigarettes. Using the clues given below I want you to match each owner
         with a nationality, a color of house, location of house, pet type, drink and cigarette. Tell me who owns the
         zebra!

         Here are the clues:

         1. The Englishman lives in the red house.
         2. The Swede has a dog.
         3. The Dane drinks tea.
         4. The green house is on the left side of the white house.
         5. In the green house they drink coffee.
         6. The man who smokes Pall Mall has birds.
         7. In the yellow house they smoke Dunhill.
         8. In the middle house they drink milk.
         9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
         10. The man who smokes Blend lives in the house next to the house with cats.
         11. In the house next to the house where they have a horse, they smoke Dunhill.
         12. The man who smokes Blue Master, drinks beer.
         13. The German smokes Prince.
         14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
         15. They drink water in the house next to the house where they smoke Blend.

         Good luck! Send your answers to me via email at norman.h.chaffee1@jsc.nasa.gov or via paper mail at
         JSC at mail code AP2, NASA - JSC, Houston, TX 77502.

         Norman Chaffee