National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA

Communication for the Information Technology Age

October 2003

amesnews.arc.nasa.gov

NASA 45th Anniversary Commemorative Issue

The Apollo encounter with ourmoon was one of the defining events ofthe last century. Apollo forever changedthe way we look at the moon, at theEarth and at NASA. Anyone over theage of 30 can look up at the moon today

and personally remember that 12 menonce walked there. They can recall howthrilling were those late-night, black-and-white images of the small plots oflunar soil around where the lunarlanders camped. For those under 30--and that includes some holding PhDs inspace science, and some with star-struckkids of their own--they learned that thelast man to have trod the lunar land-scape did so before they were even born.When these youngsters think about themoon and wonder why we have onlyreturned to the moon twice since then,once through a robotic probe developedby NASA researchers at Ames, perhapsthey conclude that that early generationof explorers found the moon an evenmore barren rock than they had imag-ined. Apollo changed how we thinkabout our moon.

When we think about our Earth inour post-Apollo age, by comparison withthe moon, we see it as even more life-giving. Before Apollo, school kids imag-ined the Earth like a brown Mercatorprojection lined with political divisions.After Apollo, we envision the Earth--asfirst did the Apollo astronauts--as thatfragile orb of interlaced green, blue and

For 45 years, Ames pioneers NASA science and technology

This month, NASA Ames ResearchCenter celebrates 45 years as one of thepillars of the National Aeronautics andSpace Administration. Ames stands asan extraordinary repository of high-techequipment, research laboratories and fa-cilities to support humankind’s conquestof the atmosphere and the exploration ofspace. That physical infrastructure sup-ports what Ames truly is--a growing andevolving community of researchers andmanagers. It is a community with afertile, open and pan-disciplinary cul-ture, driven by people who have contrib-uted all they know to all that NASA hasaccomplished over the past 45 years.

In this anniversary year, Adminis-trator Sean O’Keefe has asked everyonein NASA to re-engage the spirit that hasmade NASA so great. NASA people arebeing encouraged through the ‘OneNASA’ effort to move beyond any seg-mented, rule-based, bureaucraticmindset. Years of wasteful “divided-pie” competition between NASA centersand the “not-invented-here” dismissal ofnew ideas have clouded NASA’s histori-cal spirit. Rules are the vestiges of toughtimes for the organization. Rules prolif-erate whenever organizational culturesweaken, whenever futures are uncertain,and whenever individuals cannot takepersonal responsibility for their work.Eventually rules can replace commonsense as well as a sense of the common

good and common goals.‘One NASA’ is reinvigorating Ames

by giving people the freedom to manage,the freedom to challenge outdated proce-dures, the freedom to take responsibilityfor the full cost of a program, and thefreedom to move financial and manage-ment information across artificial orga-nizational barriers. We will see thisspirit flourish as Ames contributes itsexpertise to returning the space shuttleto flight following the tragic loss of theColumbia and its crew. Such tragediesdisplay how all the people and pieces ofNASA are fit so closely together. TheColumbia Accident Investigation Boardmade good use of Ames’ resources whileconducting its investigation, and Ameswill certainly be called upon to step up tothe challenge of implementing the out-lined changes.

At Ames, we have an obligation toexplore our history--not only to remem-ber the past, but also to reinterpret thepast in light of current questions. Tounderstand ‘One NASA’ today, and howwe will return Americans to space flight,we need to look back at NASA during itsApollo years and during the early shuttleyears. Doing so may help us understandhow these histories serve as historicalanalogy for what we want NASA to onceagain become.

Chicago welcomed the Apollo 11 astronautswith a ticker tape parade in 1969.

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SA p

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The first view of the Earth taken from the moon in August 1966. The photo was transmitted to Earth bythe U.S. Lunar Orbiter I and received at the NASA tracking station at Robledo De Chavela near Madrid,Spain. This crescent of the Earth was photographed when the spacecraft was on its 16th orbit and justabout to pass behind the moon.

-- JACK BOYD, AMES SENIOR

ADVISOR FOR HISTORY

Re-interpreting Ames‘ history

Astrogram October 20032

white suspended in the black vastnessof space. Life on Earth now inspireseven more wonderment.

And when we think about NASA,there may also be a generational divide.

Some envision NASA as that can-doteam of brainy young men andwomen--some wearing thick blackglasses and others wearing thick whitespace suits--who achieved what onceseemed impossible and did so beforethat decade was out. Perhaps othersenvision NASA as scientists in orangejump-suits, looking down upon Earth

while floating free from gravity but sim-ply off to their jobs.

Of course, the story of NASA then,like the story of NASA today, is vastlymore complicated and interesting oncewe look deeper. And as Ames’ life withNASA reaches its 45th anniversary, it isworth exploring how the historical anal-ogy to the Apollo years—and to theearly shuttle years--illuminates the ‘One

NASA’ effort of to-day.

Apollo was atime of sweepingcultural changewithin NASA. YetAmes probablychanged the least ofall the centers, as theNational AdvisoryCommittee forAeronautics wasabsorbed intoNASA in October1958 and as NASAbecame preoccu-pied with Apolloin 1962. SmithDeFrance keptAmes the way hehad built it, as di-rector from itsfounding in 1939though his retire-ment as director in1966. DeFrance wassucceeded as direc-tor by H. JulianAllen, a paradigm-

shifting aerody-namicist com-pletely imbuedwith the NACAspirit of relevantbut free research.The first ‘A’ inNASA stands foraeronautics, andduring the Apolloyears Ames didmuch of the workthat needed to bedone on aircraftso that the newNASA centerscould focus onspace travel.

Ames stillc o n t r i b u t e dmuch to NASA’s

Apollo mission--in terms of science, tech-nology and culture. During the Apolloyears, competition between centers wasvigorous and heartfelt. The pie of in-creased funding was growing, regard-less of how funding was apportioned.Every member of the new NASA feltfree to contribute their best efforts to themission, they could get support and pro-tection from their center and new ideas

were welcome throughout the adminis-tration. The culture was competitivelargely because the intra-NASA peerreview system, which NASA inheritedfrom the NACA, went into overdrive.NASA people also felt free to criticize--constructively, and in scientific reportsor around meeting rooms--any new ideabeing offered. And there was enoughmoney available that the thrust-and-parry of new ideas encountering peer-critique could usually be ended by cut-ting metal and strapping sensors to it inorder to prove the point. Ames repre-sentatives to NASA committees espe-cially earned a reputation for their‘show-me’ attitude.

Furthermore, DeFrance and Allenenjoyed the freedom to manage theircenter, because James Webb at NASAheadquarters respected their judgment.Research leaders within Ames also en-joyed the freedom to manage theirgroups because DeFrance and Allen con-tinued the NACA tradition that all com-munication to and from headquarters—or to their scientific colleagues at Lan-gley or Lewis--go through the director’soffice. NASA headquarters slowlyopened up direct lines of communica-tion to researchers within Ames--nota-

H. Julian Allen, a paradigm-shifting aerodynamicist, served asAmes director during the Apollo years.

Apollo launch escape system being tested in the Ames unitary windtunnel, 1963.

Ames duringApollo

R. T. Jones, Ames theoretical aerodynamicist,performs calculations in his NASA laboratory.

3Astrogram October 2003

bly in the way it structured Ames’ lifesciences efforts--but DeFrance and Allenfought hard to minimize interferencefrom Washington.

The result was a ‘One Ames’ spiritthat allowed DeFrance and Allen tomove many new types of researchersinto the center without cultural conflict.One strategic enterprise dominated mostof the centers set up by NASA, or re-shaped by NASA. JPL came to focus onrobotic explorers, Goddard on Earth ob-servation, Marshall on propulsion,Kennedy on launch vehicles and Johnsonon human space flight. At Ames in the1960s, as today, most all of NASA’s stra-tegic enterprises were pursued--aero-space, information technology, humanfactors, space and Earth science andaeroflightdynamics. Each enterprise wasweighted equally by the managementof the center and each looked for fertileareas to explore along their borderlands.

Life Sciences, Information Technologyand Aeronautics

Life sciences, information technol-ogy and aeronautical research wereprime examples of the inclusive researchtradition at Ames. Life sciences, espe-cially, grew at Ames over the past 45years like a river--fed by streams, split-ting around rocks, merging again arounda new idea, sometimes branching andpooling and accelerating as channelsdeepen. This perambulation into sun-dry research efforts frustrates attemptsto write a linear history of the life sci-ences at Ames, though it made the rideall that more thrilling for those wholived that history. Furthermore, onemight think that during the go-go yearsof Silicon Valley, secure government jobsmight have been seen as a drain on the

economy. Instead, Ames people, like allthose who built Silicon Valley into anepicenter of biotechnology and comput-ing, persistently figured out ways to

make their workboth cutting-edgeand cross-pollinat-ing. There is noth-ing linear about howthey have collabo-rated.

Ames began re-search on living sub-jects in the early1950s when it startedbuilding simulatorsto improve the ana-log computers be-hind aircraft con-trols. With the birthof NASA in 1958,Ames was asked toinvent and buildmore sophisticatedsimulators forstudying how hu-man pilots couldcontrol the comingspacecraft. Fromthere, Ames devel-oped expertise in thedesign of space suitsthat could supportlife in space whilepermitting a widerange of functionality. And Ames be-gan its work in miniature biosensorsthat could monitor and diagnose thehealth of astronauts sealed, far away, inspace suits and capsules.

NASA headquarters, seeing howwell biologists adapted to the researchenvironment at Ames, asked DeFranceto take on more life sciences work.DeFrance then hired Chuck Klein to co-ordinate those efforts, and Klein did amasterful job of growing the life sci-ences within the ‘One Ames’ cultureinherited from the NACA. Ames builtfor NASA a com-prehensive labora-tory for more fun-damental studiesof human adapta-tion to weightless-ness, and built thebiosatellite cap-sules to carry thefirst pure biologyexperiments intospace. Universityscientists workingat Ames then usedall NASA waslearning about thechemical composi-tion of the universeto theorize about

what sparked life on Earth. Exobiologyflourished at Ames as very fundamentalscience, though NASA applied it veryconcretely to study why the moon didnot support life.

NASA continued to find uses forthe life sciences capabilities at Ames.Exobiologist teams built instruments forthe Viking Lander in 1976 to study theprospects of life on Mars, and analyzethe chemical composition of the planetspassed by the Pioneer series of satellites.A series of ever more powerful infraredtelescopes--like the Kuiper Airborne Ob-

Viking Lander soil sampler arm being tested, 1971.

Closed loop breathing system, 1963, to study life support in space.

Pioneer 11 image of Saturn and its moonTitan, 1979.

Astrogram October 20034

servatory--returned new informationabout the chemical composition of thesolar system and generated new insightson the formation of planets. Meanwhile,NASA researchers at Ames continued

their work on flight simulators--for newgenerations of piloted spacecraft androtorcraft and to study human adapta-tion to long stays in space. And theymanaged experiment packages sent aloftto study how other creatures adapted tomicrogravity--on Skylab, on the shuttleorbiter and on a series of Cosmos/Bionflights with the Soviet space agency.

NASA researchers at Ames thenbrought their space biology work backhome. They turned what they learnedabout the atmospheric observation ofother planets to look at the ecosystem ofthe planet Earth with new technologiesand new theories. Ames hosted a fleet ofNASA science aircraft, like the DC-8and the ER-2, that served as airborneplatforms available to carry interestingexperiments devised by scientists atother centers, at universities or fromaround the world. Micro-electrical me-chanical systems (MEMS), now a hugeindustry on Earth, grew directly out ofwork by John Hines in collaborationwith university and government re-searchers to develop miniaturebiosensors for space. All of this work atAmes coalesced in the 1990s in a seriesof inclusive NASA projects--on astrobi-ology, air traffic systems andtelemedicine.

During the NACA years, Ames hadbeen organized by facilities. By the mid-

1960s, it was organized by scientific dis-cipline. By the mid-1990s, it was orga-nized by tasks that could only be solvedby the aligned efforts of many people.

Information technology at Amesstarted later thanthe life sciences,though its historyalso displays thesame perambula-tion. At first,the computersat Ames weremathemeticians,hired to workthrough equationsand compile vastamounts of ex-perimental data.Ames began usinganalog computingmachines to simu-late flight controls,and in the early1960s, added a fewdigital computersto compile windtunnel data andhandle adminis-tration. In 1972,Ames acquired

the Illiac IV supercomputer, whichHarvard Lomax used to create the fieldof computational fluid dynamics. Overthe next two decades, NASA research-ers at Amesbought and de-bugged al- mostevery new gen-eration ofsupercomputer.They also figuredout how to sharethem and in-vented protocolsfor distributedcomputing thatunderlay the de-velopment of theInternet. Theyalso invented alltypes of CFDcodes, softwarethat graphicallymodelled how airflowed over anobject and thusmoved much ofaircraft develop-ment from the wind tunnel into the com-puter. Ames applied its basic expertisein modelling air flows to model heatflows, chemical interactions, microor-ganisms, molecular structures and thethermal evolution of the galaxies. The

amount of computing time it takes Amesto do a model of global climate change,for example, continues to drop. WhenNASA researchers at Ames matchedtheir computing power with new tele-communication technologies, they be-came experts in surface rovers, robotics,virtual landscapes and, connecting backto the life sciences, in air traffic systemsand telemedicine.

The dawn of the space station era inthe mid 1980s shifted the emphasis ofAmes work in information technologyinto intelligent systems, that is, comput-ing systems that extend decision-mak-ing support into spacecraft far fromEarth. NASA researchers at Ames de-veloped systems to plan and schedulemajor NASA missions, systems to moni-tor and diagnose space vehicles and theequipment they carry, systems to ana-lyze vast amounts of space science data,and systems to assist both ground-basedscientists and astronaut-scientists in theconduct of experiments. Ames broughtinto use a host of specific applicationsarising from its basic work on intelligentsystems. A laptop-based experimentassistant was used by astronaut Shan-non Lucid on a vestibular biology flightexperiment. The Mars ExplorationRover science teams at JPL use a numberof collaborative tools developed byNASA researchers at Ames. Ames to-day has more people working on infor-

mation technology than in any otherfederal laboratory, and NASA uses thiscapability extensively.

Aeronautics was Ames’ earliest re-search discipline, and DeFrance allowedit to evolve in new directions during the

An exercise device, 1990, for studying the effect of weightlessness onastronauts.

Ames advanced both the mathematics of computational fluid dynamicsand the hardware on which it was done: the Cray Y 190A in 1990.

5Astrogram October 2003

1960s, as has every center director since.Ames built the world’s greatest collec-tion of wind tunnels, then routinely re-built its tunnels and invented new testinstruments to keep them relevant to allkinds of flight. Ames maintained a fleetof research and flight-test aircraft, andin the 1980s managed NASA’s flightresearch center at Dryden, Calif. Someof the most fruitful research efforts inaircraft research blossomed on the bor-derlands of the traditional aeronauticaldisciplines. Ames’ work on digital ‘fly-by-wire’ flight controls melded its workon information technology and humanfactors, as did Ames’ comprehensiveresearch program on pilot workload andsafety.

One flight research program thatmade good use of every area of exper-tise at Ames was the development oftilt-rotor aircraft, like the joint NASA-Army XV-15 prototype that first flew in1976. Tiltrotors are aircraft that ascendfrom the ground like a helicopter, thenrotate their propellors forward to flylike an airplane. During the 1960s, whilethe rest of the aerospace industry fo-cused on how to builder sleeker andfaster aircraft--using research resultsgenerated earlier at Ames--aerodynami-cists at Ames studied the less glamorousquestion of how to keep these aircraftaerodynamically stable as they sloweddown to land.

From this work in slow airspeeds,Ames developed a research program inV/STOL aircraft--those that could takeoff vertically from an aircraft deck orland on short runways like those inSoutheast Asia. Throughout the 1960sand 1970s, Ames tested all types ofV/STOL aircraft, including the AV-8BHarrier. They learned that every rotor,including those on helicopters, gener-ates very complex airflows. Ames turnedits expertise in CFD to modelling theseairflows and it built new wind tunnel

facilities--including an 80-by-120-foottest section on its large-scale tunnel--totest rotorcraft to high Reynolds num-bers and without wall interference.Ames built simulators to test new de-signs for digital flight controls for rotor-craft, and to train rotorcraft pilots on themany types of flight situations theywould encounter. Into the 1980s, Amescontinued to provide scientific supportto the Army and to industry as theybrought rotorcraft to the field. ThenAmes aeronautical researchers turnedtheir expertise in many aeronautical dis-ciplines to improving helicopters. Ro-torcraft research at Ames continues todisplay its pan-disciplinary culture.

Historically, it also is important toremember the fields Ames did not enter.Even when money was available,DeFrance demurred from taking onprojects that did not leverage the re-search culture at Ames. For example,throughout the 1960s there were NASAengineers at Ames eager to take on man-agement of complete space programs.NASA headquarters encouraged them.Program management then was a cre-ative art, advancing rapidly at the timethroughout science, industry and gov-ernment. Program management gotmost creative as it got closer to the engi-

neers cutting metal or the scientists com-piling the results, in understanding thedynamic tensions of piecing together allthe people and the pieces. Ames did agreat job managing its wind tunnelprojects, then considered very high tech-nology, and could have done well man-aging space projects.

Yet DeFrance demurred. Only thebiosatellite and the M2-F2 lifting bodyprototype emerged as completedprojects during his watch and afterwardAmes never managed complete projects

on the scale of the other centers. How-ever, the projects that NASA people atAmes did manage--notably the Pioneersatellite, the Galileo probe, the LunarProspector, a series of infrared tele-scopes, the space station biology labora-tory, the Mars rovers--were notable fortheir low cost and timely performance,their collaboration with university sci-entists and for the brilliance of theirresults.

DeFrance also was cautious aboutdeveloping expertise at Ames that wouldnot complement its existing strengths.For example, because of mathematicalwork at Ames culminating in theKalman-Schmidt filter, a navigation al-gorithm, NASA people at Ames couldhave lead the work in the early 1960s ondefining the flight envelop for the Apollomissions. DeFrance encouraged theaerodynamicists hired during the NACAyears to branch into new areas, to re-invent their careers, to seek new rel-evance for their work. They were, afterall, all very bright people who couldmake an impact wherever they turnedtheir attention. While NASA wouldlater task Ames to use its computingpower to improve air and space naviga-tion, at that time DeFrance thought itwas too far afield from what NASAmore clearly needed from Ames—lead-ership on thermal protection systemsand space science.

Apollo TechnologyAmes researchers quietly contrib-

uted to the Apollo mission. Public atten-tion focused on the spectacular—pow-erful rockets, massive spaceports, mis-sion control centers and charismatic as-tronauts. Ames hosted none of thesespectacles. Perhaps the most excitingphotographs to emerge from that era,around here, were of tiny capsule mod-els ablaze in a high-speed and high-temperature tunnel or ballistic range.Instead, behind the scenes, Ames re-searchers gathered knowledge aboutnew scientific fields and tested theirtechnologies with painstaking precision.And they did so with a style that wasuniquely Ames. Researchers with manyareas of expertise discussed their workpersistently and freely, then cooperatedto bring every tool they had to solve avery complex problem. And they weregiven the freedom to work quickly andto their own ideal of thoroughness.

Ames developed some key Apollotechnologies, most importantly tech-nologies to allow the astronauts to re-turn safely to Earth. Building upon whatwas already two decades of research on

The XV-15 prototype in a hovering test overAmes, 1976. The XV-15 was recently installedin the Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Airand Space Museum as a pioneering rotorcraftaircraft.

Space station centrifuge mockup, 1987, usedto support life science experiments in space.

Deciding What Ames Was Not

Astrogram October 20036

re-entry physics and material science--adiscipline today known as aerothermo-dynamics--NASA researchers at Amesdevised the basic shape of the Apollocapsule and its thermal protection sys-tem. Today, almost 60 years later, allspacecraft are still derived from essen-tial insights learned at Ames.

Before Ames began its work, manythought that a spacecraft re-entering theEarth’s atmosphere at meteoric speedswould, like a meteor, burn into a fire-ball. Those who speculated about space-craft design suggested pointy, cone-shape tips of hardened metal to piercethe atmosphere with the least possiblefriction and the slowest possible melt-

ing. Harvey Allenstepped outsidethe conventionalthought, and tookan entirely freshapproach. (Ap-propriately, theH. Julian AllenAward is pre-sented each yearto the scientists atAmes who do themost creative andrelevant basic re-search.) In 1948,Allen advancedthe blunt-bodyconcept, whichwas further devel-oped by Al Eggers

and Dean Chapman.They conceptualized that, with a

blunt body, atmospheric air would stillheat up as it crossed the bigger bowshock wave in front of the spacecraft.However, that air would be heated at a

distance from the spacecraft, then passharmlessly around it and into the wakeof gas behind the body. With less heatnear the spacecraft, different types ofheatshield materials could be imagined.Such a radical idea met with resistance,so Ames set about to prove it.

Ames then used its practical exper-tise in wind tunnels and its theoreticalexpertise in hypersonics and built free-flight tunnels to determine which pre-cise blunt-body shape would be bestduring re-entry. These ballistic rangesshot tiny metal models into an onrush of

air to reach the actual velocities at whichthey would enter the atmosphere, whiledelicate instruments recorded the re-sults. These test runs led Thomas Can-ning to discover that the best shape forretaining a laminar boundary layer, andthus minimizing heat transfer to the cap-sule, was a nearly flat front face to theblunt body. They also checked theseshapes for lift and drag and for aerody-namic stability—so a capsule would notstart to tumble. Based on these tests,NASA selected this shape for the Mer-cury, Gemini and Apollo capsules.

Once Ames demonstrated whichspecific blunt-body shape worked best,work began on picking the best materi-als to protect it. Since no known materi-als could insulate against that kind ofheat, Morris Rubesin, ConstantinePappas, John Howe and other NASAresearchers at Ames developed an abla-tive heat shield. Ablation meant that theheat shield material was slowly con-sumed by burning and vaporization,but as it burned it transfered heat intothe atmosphere and away from the un-derlying metal frame of the spacecraft.Surface transpiration also reduced skinfriction, which kept the spacecraft moreaerodynamically stable.

Ames people then invented and builtarc jet tunnels to prove which were thebest specific ablative materials. Arc jetsare a type of wind tunnel that generatedvery hot gas flows for minutes so that re-entry heat could be simulated both interms of temperature and chemistry.Aerospace firms then designed ablativeheat shields for the Apollo capsules.These then were tested again by JohnLundell, Roy Wakefield, Nick Vojvodichand others in Ames’ arc jet complex.

Ames mounted a special plaque to the Pioneer 10, the first spacecraft to exithumankind’s solar system, in case it was found by others. The plaque usedscientific symbols to indicate where Pioneer 10 had come from and a linedrawing to depict what those who built it looked like, generally.

Atmospheric entry simulator, 1959,used to determine if a specific shape cansurvive atmospheric re-entry.

Alfred J. Eggers in the Ames hypervelocityballistic range.

Lunar Prospector in an Ames clean room,mated atop the Star 37 trans lunar injectionmodule, 1997.

7Astrogram October 2003

The result was superb performance fromall the Apollo spacecraft during their re-entry into their home atmosphere.

And upon their return home, theApollo astronauts had much good in-formation to convey. Ames had formeda space sciences division in 1962 to maxi-mize all we learned from the Apollomission. Ames scientists analyzedsamples of rock and soil taken from themoon, studied the lunar craters and mea-sured lunar magnetic fields.

Apollo astronauts spent a total of340 hours on the lunar surface and car-ried back to Earth more than 840 pounds

of lunar rock. Only at Ames and JSC didNASA build lunar receiving facilities toanalyze soil samples returned from themoon. JSC would identify and isolatehazardous materials in the samples;Ames would explore the essential com-position of the lunar materials. So Amesbuilt a very clean laboratory and outfit-

ted it with unique equipment. Theyobserved the carbon chemistry of thesamples, and concluded that they did

not contain life.This led them toquestion whatkind of carbonchemistry hap-pens in the ab-sence of life. Theydiscovered thatthe moon was be-ing constantlybombarded withsolar wind andmicrometeorites,which left themoon with a car-bon chemistrydominated by theenergetic interac-tion of the sun,the moon andcosmic debris.

Ames spacescientists also de-

vised magnetometers to study themoon’s composition and its magneticfields. Four Apollo missions flew Amesmagnetometers to different sites on thesurface of the moon, and two portablemagnetometers carried aboard the lu-nar rovers measured magnetic fieldswhile in motion. These revealed muchabout the moon’s geophysics and geo-logical history. For example, the moondid not have two-pole magnetism likeEarth but did have a stronger field thanexpected. They also revealed that themoon was a solid mass, without a mol-ten core like the Earth. Transient mag-

netic fields were induced by changes inthe solar wind. Based on this magne-tometer data, NASA developed an or-biting satellite to map the permanentlunar magnetic fields, as well as equip-ment to measure magnetism in otherbodies throughout our solar system.

NASA scientists at Ames also de-

vised an ingenious method for doingbasic planetary science with what theylearned during the re-entry testing ofthe Apollo spacecraft. Al Seiff, in abrilliant bit of scientific opportunism,proposed sending small spacecraft toMars and Venus to gather the first harddata on their atmospheres. Seiff in-verted the re-entry problem. Ratherthan developing a new vehicle to betterenter Earth’s known environment, heproposed dropping a blunt-body ve-hicle of known aerodynamic character-istics into an unknown atmosphere.

First, of course, Ames tested theconcept. They started by sending vari-ous gases--of the sort that might en-shroud other planets--through ballisticranges and arc-jets to see how bluntbodies reacted to them. In 1971, Sieffmanaged the planetary entry experi-ment test into Earth’s atmosphere, todemonstrate that one well-designedprobe could gather data on the struc-ture of an upper atmosphere based onaerodynamic responses during hyper-sonic entry, could directly measure thetemperature and pressure of a loweratmosphere once slowed with a para-chute, and could gather data about anatmosphere’s chemical compositionthrough mass spectroscopy analysis ofthe hot bow shock wave. And a probecould telemeter all this data back toNASA before smashing into the planetsurface. Working closely with col-leagues at JPL, Langley, Goddard andindustry, Ames sent probes into the at-mospheres of Mars with the Viking in1976, of Venus with Pioneer Venus in1978, and Jupiter with Galileo in 1995.

For very little money they returned spec-tacular data about the composition ofplanetary atmospheres.

Apollo Science

First picture of Mars, 1976, taken from the martian surface.

Shadowgraph images, 1960, showing shockwaves around possiblere-entry shapes.

Astrogram October 20038

As with Apollo, Ames’contribution to the spaceshuttle included both shap-ing the technological choicesand analyzing the scientificresults to make the most ofwhat we learned from eachflight.

In much the same waythat Ames’ research definedthe basic shape of the Apollocapsules, Ames work on lift-ing bodies by Sy Syvertsonand Al Eggers also definedthe shape of the space shuttleorbiter. The lifting-bodyprogram represented per-haps the waning of theNACA spirit within NASA.Three former NACA cen-ters—Ames, Langley andDryden—each offered com-petitive proposals for whatthe design should look like.They critiqued each other’sdesigns, collected wind tun-nel data to justify theirchanges, then built inexpen-sive prototypes to test in theair. Competition was in-tense, but there was a com-mon direction, and theytrusted and respected eachother. By collaborating theyfreed up funding for more research, andwhen the nation was ready to commit tobuilding the space shuttle in the early1970s, NASA had in place strong toolsfor teamwork.

The shuttle orbiter also is basically ablunt re-entry body, complicated withaerodynamic control surfaces. The or-biter approaches re-entry at a very high40- degree angle of attack to present itsentire blunt underside as it rushes intothe increasingly dense air at 25 times thespeed of sound. After a long and fieryre-entry, the orbiter dissipates speedthrough a series of sweeping ‘S’ turns.Once the orbiter goes subsonic, its angleof attack is reduced so that while land-ing--unpowered-- it can be piloted likean airplane. Ames people, with thesame spirit of fluid cooperation, madepossible each step in this complicatedlanding process through differing flightregimes.

As with the Apollo spacecraft, Amesstarted by anticipating the airflow envi-ronment around the shuttle during re-entry. Hot gases that envelop the orbiterreach temperatures as high as 25,000degrees Fahrenheit and heat the under-side tiles of the orbiter to as much as2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Before, Amesresearchers devised the three-dimen-sional, real-gas, computational fluid dy-namic codes to make such calculationsmore precise for each part of the orbiter,

they painstakingly estimated the ratesand intensity of heating over the entiresurface of the shuttle. Though the speci-fications for constructing the orbiter ther-mal protection systems simplified thedefinition of the expected heating, Amesresearchers demonstrated that the tilesmust work better than specification.These calculations were followed by tun-nel tests to verify the shape of the bowshock wave and suggest modificationsto the orbiter shape.

Its mission defined the space shuttleas reusable,which meant itcould not have anablative heatshield thatburned away. YetAmes’ work onablation had ledinto work onglassy meteoritescalled tektites,which led intowork on ceramictiles that de-flected heat fromthe shuttle orbit-ers. Using theirarc jets, research-ers from Amesand JSC evalu-ated all likely can-didate materials

for use as shuttle tiles. Oneof these was the LI-900 silicatile developed by LockheedMissiles and Space Com-pany nearby in Sunnyvale.NASA selected this as thebaseline material for a vig-orous tile improvement pro-gram to come, led byHoward Goldstein. In 1973,Ames showed how the pu-rity of the silica fibers in thetiles affected their shape andthus their performance.Ames invented a black boro-silicate glass coating called‘reaction cured glass’ thatradiated heat back into theshockwave and wasadopted by the shuttle pro-gram managers in 1977.These improved tiles couldbe glowing on their surfaceat 2,300 degrees Fahrenheitwhile the back face, only afew inches below the sur-face, would never exceed250 degrees Fahrenheit. Theorbiter, which is essentiallyan aluminum airplane,could now fly at hypersonicspeeds.

To support NASA’sshuttle work, Ames up-graded its arc jet facilities sothat they could simulate re-

entry heating for tens of minutes. In themid-1970s, the Ames facilities groupbrought online the 60-megawatt Inter-action Heating Facility, which producedheating three times hotter and on largermodels than any other arc jet. Com-pressed air passed through a constric-tion arc heater, invented by Ames, whichwas essentially a standing lightning bolt.Half of its energy was deposited as heatinto the flowing gas, which then ex-panded through a nozzle--either a cone-shaped nozzle for tests at stagnation

Space Shuttle

M2-F1 lifting body, shown in a tow test at Dryden in 1964, set designparameters for the shuttle orbiter.

Space shuttle Atlantis (STS-27) in 1988 showing the parts of the ascentstack.

9Astrogram October 2003

points or at wing-leading edges. Usinga semi-elliptical nozzle, Ames could testa 2-by-2-foot section of tiles. By varying

the composition of the heated gas, andusing special instrumentation, Amescould also study the rapidly shiftingreaction chemistry between the tile andthe superheated gas.

Through the intensity and compre-hensiveness of its effort, Ames became aworld leader in thermal protection ma-terials. When the first orbiter, the Co-lumbia, encountered a tile strength prob-lem in 1978, Ames had already inventeda stronger version of the silicon carbidetile, called the LI-2200. Ames then in-vented a new class of tiles, called Fi-brous Refractory Composite Insulation(FRCI 12) that provided greater durabil-ity and a 500 pound overall weight sav-ings. As hot gas flows between the tilesbecame recognized as a serious prob-lem, Ames developed a gap filler. Thegap filler was essentially a ceramic clothimpregnated with silicon polymer, andwas applied to all the orbiters. Theupper side of an orbiter also needs insu-lation, though it stays much cooler dur-ing re-entry. Ames worked with JohnsManville to develop a flexible silica blan-ket insulation. When the shuttle firstflew in 1981 it was covered by a patch-work of thermal protection materials,each type optimized to the particularstress re-entry placed on it.

Hans Mark served as Ames’ centerdirector from 1969 through 1977, theformative years of the shuttle program.Mark came from outside Ames, and ledthe center to more directly engage workon the shuttle program. Ames formedthe Shuttle Project Office, led by VictorStevens and Bob Nysmith, which coor-dinated all its work on the shuttle. JSC

served as the lead center for the shuttleprogram, and tasked to Ames more thanhalf of all wind tunnel testing of designs

leading to theshuttle. Amesaccomplishedmore than10,000 hours oftesting, usingevery windtunnel it had,even beforeconstruct ionbegan on thefirst shuttle in1972. Morethan 25,000hours of testingcame after. Al-most half of alltesting wasdone in the 3.5-foot hypersonicwind tunnel,which couldsimulate flightat Mach 5, 7 and10. During the

entire development of the shuttle, NASAconducted tests in more than 50 differ-ent wind tunnels, run by the govern-ment, universities and by industry. Theshuttle program both proved the valueof a coordinated wind tunnel infrastruc-ture, while also exposing the limits oftunnel testing and justifying Ames’ in-vestment in CFD.

The ascentstack--that is, theshuttle matedwith the externaltank and solidrocket boostersas it stood on thelaunch pad--cre-ated enormouslycomplex aerody-namics, followedby shock-shockinteractions as itall hurtled fasterinto space. Amesdid much to im-prove the ascentstack configura-tion. Ames alsoused its 14-footwind tunnel tostudy the airflowi n t e r f e r e n c earound theBoeing 747 as itwas mated withthe orbiter. The747 was used tolaunch the Enter-prise--a full-scalemodel of the or-biter--to test itsg l ide- landingp e r f o r m a n c e .

Later, NASA used the 747 to ferry theorbiter from its landing spot at Drydenback to the Kennedy Space Center forrelaunch. NASA also built a 36 percentscale model of the orbiter, reaching 44feet long, for tests in Ames’ 40-by-80-foot wind tunnel. This model was testedprimarily to study the scheduling ofspeed brakes and the affect of thermalprotection systems on the orbiter’s low-speed aerodynamics. Almost every facetof shuttle flight was analyzed and honedat Ames.

Ames also helped the shuttle de-signers reach a compromise between asimple blunt shape for better thermody-namics and protruding aerodynamicsurfaces for better landing. Ames re-searchers devised new ways to improvehandling characteristics without chang-ing the basic configuration of the or-biter. In the 2-foot transonic tunnel,Ames worked through a potentiallytroublesome panel flutter problem.Ames used its 12-foot tunnel to demon-strate that unpowered landings couldbe made at speeds of at least 200 knots,and collaborated with Dryden on flighttests. Ames modified a Gulfstream 2business jet by adding direct-lift flapsand side force generators to test orbiterhandling qualities and to train the pilotastronauts. Ames’ Convair CV990 wasused to prove that the shuttle did notneed a back-up jet engine to power a fly-around in case it missed its landing. All

Shuttle Flight Simulation

Energy flash from a projectile during an impact study, 1963.

Ceramic tiles being mounted on a shuttle orbiter, 1980.

Astrogram October 200310

of this reflected well on Ames’ tradi-tional expertise in aeronautics.

Ames also reached back to its expe-rience with flight simulation for Apollo.Maneuvering the Apollo lunar moduleto a soft landing on the moon was cru-cial to the success of the Apollo mission.

Yet there was no way to train astronautsfor the maneuver with existing ma-chines. So Ames devised a piloted, free-flight simulator called the Lunar-Launching Research Vehicle (LLRV). Allprimary and backup Apollo astronautstrained on the LLRV for piloting themodule onto the moon.

Simulating the shuttle landing onEarth was bit easier in that it wouldglide in like an airplane, but the marginof error was small and many more pilotsneeded to be trained. Ames began land-ing simulations in the early 1970s usingits Flight Simulator for Advanced Air-craft. The large motion envelope of theFSAA provided realistic cockpit accel-erations so that pilot astronauts couldexperience the feel of g-forces while land-ing the shuttle. Prior to their first flights,all pilot astronauts spent many hourstraining in the FSAA, which in turnhelped NASA engineers identify han-dling qualities that needed improving.Using the FSAA, NASA identified theneed for a heads-up display, and for itsalpha-numeric symbology, which be-came the primary guidance system fororbiter landings. Ames further testedthis pilot workspace in the space shuttlevehicle simulation cockpit.

During the first landing test flight,in July 1977, the Enterprise experienceda pilot-induced oscillation—that is, alongitudinal porpoising, caused by acontrol system problem, that worseneddue to pilot overcontrol. During thisflight, pilot Fred Haise had enough con-fidence and simulator training to sim-

ply let go of the control and let theoscillations naturally dampen out. Amesand JSC engineers then launched a ma-jor investigation into orbiter control sys-tems using the FSAA.

Ames opened its Vertical MotionSimulator in 1980, and it quickly became

the best simula-tor for shuttledesign and pilottraining. JSCengineers andastronaut flightcrews used theVMS intensivelyto improve land-ing proceduresand flight rules.During these pi-loted flightsimulations, aclose workingrelationship de-veloped be-tween the engi-neers from JSC,the astronautcrews, andAmes’ VMS re-searchers. Everyday, from earlymorning to late

at night, sometimes four of the T-38aircraft assigned to the pilot astronautswould be parked on the ramp outside

the VMS building. In addition to look-ing at future design improvements un-der investigation by Ames and JSC engi-neers, these pilots would encounter ev-ery conceivable failure mode. Whenthey were done, they were prepared for

a wide array of possible landing fail-ures. The VMS also supported redesignof the orbiter brakes, nose wheel steer-ing, display system, drag parachute,flight control automation for extendedduration orbit, and return-to-flight stud-ies following the Challenger accident.

Once the shuttle was flying, it wasregularly overhauled and updated. Theemerging science of computational fluiddynamics especially contributed toshuttle improvements. Some of the ear-liest CFD codes established numericalbenchmarks for the aerodynamics andshock wave profiles of shuttle lift-offand re-entry, and CFD directed the re-design of the shuttle main engine andthe ascent stack. A second generation ofthermal protection tile, called Tough-ened Unipiece Fibrous Insulation (TUFI)was added to the aft heat shield andbody flaps that were struck by debriskicked up during landings, thus mini-mizing maintenance in the Orbiter Pro-cessing Facility.

As the shuttle prepares to undergo amajor overhaul following the loss of theColumbia, NASA people at Ames areprepared to help with better tools andmore complete knowledge of thermo-dynamics and computer modeling.

Because of its tradition of collabora-tion among diverse groups of intelligent

and dedicated people, Ames stands to-day as a multi-disciplinary research anddevelopment center. Nearly half itsfunding supports basic research, andthe other half supports advanced devel-opment of key components of software,

The Inclusive Spirit Today

Ames’ 5-degree-of-motion simulator, 1962, used to study pilot response to aircraft-likeaccelerations.

A lifting-body model being installed in Ames’ 3.5-foot hypersonic wind tunnel.

11Astrogram October 2003

Ames’ virtual airport, FutureFlight Central, 1995, is used to studyimprovements to air traffic control.

aircraft and spacecraft. And becauseNASA scientists at Ames are passionateabout their own pursuit of knowledge,much of Ames’ funding and organiza-tion supports a wide array of educationprograms to teach and inspire the nextgeneration of explorers. Ames people,using the language of science, have writ-ten the poetry of the planets.

Astrobiology stands as a prime ex-ample of how NASA managers at Amesre-integrated almost all of NASA’s stra-tegic enterprises. Exobiology as a disci-pline had become more routine in itsinstitutional structure--with individualscientists applying for limited grantsand banded together mostly by theequipment and overhead they shared.NASA scientists at Ames, like DavidMorrison and Scott Hubbard, whenfaced with a budgetary setback in theearly 1990s, responded with a plan to

create a discipline of astrobiologythrough an inclusive institute. Theydecided to build a discipline, just asothers in NASA built rockets and space-

craft. What theyincluded as ‘astro-biology’ was workdone in manyplaces, from manyunique perspec-tives and all of italigned by the As-trobiology Insti-tute into some-thing relevant andusable. WhenNASA engineersneeded help iden-tifying landingsites for the Marsrover, astrobiolo-gists could re-spond. Through-out, the institutekept the diverseband of research-ers focused on the

biggest questions about life in the uni-verse.

Nanotechnology has a similar inte-grative feel. Former center directorHarry McDonald foresaw the impor-tance of nanotechnology throughout

NASA Ames History Office

Editor’s Note:Glenn Bugos, author of Ames’ 60thanniversary historical anthology,‘Atmosphere of Freedom,’ preparedthis article for the Ames History andPublic Affairs offices.

Jack Boyd, Ames’ senior advisor for history.

NASA photo by Dominic Hart

Jack Boyd, an Ames employee since1947 who most recently served as execu-

tive assistant to the director is now serv-ing as Ames’ senior advisor for history.He is overseeing efforts to make Ames’history and traditional culture relevantto its work today and in the future. Thisincludes setting up an archive of impor-tant Ames documents, conducting oralhistories of central figures in Ames’ suc-cess, and writing monographs on keyAmes programs. All those at Amesdoing historical work, or with collec-tions of materials in need of preserva-tion, are invited to contact him at ext. 4-5222 or at John.W.Boyd@nasa.gov

Shuttle Atlantis returns to KSC after a complete refurbishment.

“Nanotechnology and as-trobiology are the latest evi-dence that Ames people sharea collaborative spirit withtheir colleagues at the centerand with scientists and engi-neers in universities and inindustry,”-- G. Scott Hubbard,Ames Center Director.

NASA, and asked Meyya Meyyapan todevelop what is today the largestnanotechnology group at work in any

federal laboratory.Nanotechnologycreates new mate-rials, sensors anddevices from thebottom up, takingadvantage of theunique propertiesof matter at the mo-lecular scale.NASA called uponAmes managementto coordinate ef-forts at defining thestate-of-the-art innanotechnology,then pushing it for-ward. As always,NASA researchersat Ames will do sothrough close andopen collaboration

with researchers at other federaland university laboratories.Nanotechnology is a prime example of a‘One NASA’ culture hard at work. Soon

other engineers in NASA may need thistechnology urgently--as it has in the pastneeded technologies for thermal protec-tion, flight simulation, computer mod-eling and air traffic control. Then NASAnanotechnologists at Ames will collabo-rate in whole new ways.

“Nanotechnology and astrobiologyare the latest evidence that Ames peopleshare a collaborative spirit with theircolleagues at the center and with scien-tists and engineers in universities and inindustry,”said G. Scott Hubbard, Amescenter director. “This collaborative tra-dition has served Ames people wellwhenever the nation called upon themto work closely and quickly with theircolleagues throughout the other NASAcenters.”

Astrogram October 200312

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As Ames celebrated its 60th anniversary, a committee of Ames scientists inducted these 12 people into the Ames Hallof Fame. This class of inductees represents almost every scientific endeavor for which Ames is famous. In addition tobeing brilliant scientists or engineers in their own right, most served as part of the formal leadership structure at Ames,and all were natural leaders of scientific talent.

H. Julian Allen: Famous for a general theory of subsonic airfoils, then for his concept of bluntness to reduce heatingduring re-entry. He established Ames as a leader in hypersonic aerothermodynamics and served as center director from1965 to 1969.

Robert T. Jones: A brilliant theoretical aerodynamicist, credited with co-inventing sweptback wings, developingthe theory of low-aspect ratio wings, and demonstrating the value of oblique wings in supersonic aircraft.

Smith DeFrance: Ames director from its founding in 1940 through 1965, continuing an eminent career in windtunnel design, construction and management. Embodied a reputation for honesty, simplicity, quality and relevance thatremains Ames’ guiding spirit today.

Hans Mark: As center director from 1969 to 1977, he accelerated Ames’ leadership in computing and informationtechnology, tilt-rotor aircraft, and scientific support for the space shuttle program.

George Cooper: As chief test pilot from 1958 to 1973, he led Ames’ exploration of aircraft performance in thetransonic regime. His Cooper-Harper Handling Qualities Rating Scale remains the standard of aircraft flight qualitiesthroughout the world.

Dean Chapman: As a scientist exploring the relationship between chemistry and aerodynamics at re-entryvelocities, he pioneered new technologies for atmospheric re-entry, including thermal protection systems, ablationanalysis, and arc-jet systems.

James Pollack: A pre-eminent and wide-ranging planetary scientist, he shaped theories of planetary atmospheresand surfaces, the origin of the solar system, climatic change, and ozone depletion on Earth.

Charles Hall: Legenedary for his management of the Pioneer series of probes to the outer planets and the edge ofour solar system. The Pioneer spacescraft exemplify Ames ability to deliver high-impact science at low cost.

William Ballhaus: As a world-class researcher in computational fluid dynamics, he spearheaded development ofAmes’ Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation facility. As center director from 1984 to 1989, he positioned Ames for itsfuture growth.

Harvard Lomax: A leader in aerodynamic theory—of supersonic flow, sonic boom and wave drag—became theleader in the use of computers to model air flows, and thus created the discipline of computational fluid dyamics.

Harold Klein: From 1963 to 1984 he led the steady growth in the life sciences at Ames, to include exobiology,gravitational biology, and space human factors and biomedicine. Under his supervision, the Viking lander first assessedwhether the Mars environment could support life.

Clarence Syvertson: He pushed aerodynamics and the wind tunnels at Ames into the supersonic and hypersonicregimes, and served as center director from 1978 to 1984.

Ames’ Hall of Fame members