Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 75, No. 02 1998

mm^mnmim

Alumni Magazine

.N

i

IllCe UpOll a t i m e , in a r a m h W wreck irom Georgia Tech, dressed i n w h i t e a n d g o l d , a krigkt student (tkat s you) studied kard to estakksk a brilliant career. T k e n one day as ir by magic, tbis tine institute (tbats Georgia Tecb) endorsed a credit card p r o g r a m t k a t k e l p e d support tbe scbool. Soon tbe land was abu3£ witb tbe extraordinary news or a credit card tbat was heaiitibdly engineered.

Students, you see, would use tneir credit cards, as anyone would, with one magnificent dirrerence. F o r every time these gems were used, c o n t r i b u t i o n s were m a d e to Georgia T e e n — a t n o additional cost to t h e cardholders or the school. T h e s t u d e n t t h o u g h t it t o o good to he true. But, as t i m e would tell, t h e credit c a r d p r o g r a m was just as it a p p e a r e d , a n d heautitully simple t o o . A n d eventually, a l u m n i r e q u e s t e d the card, and support for Georgia Teen grew and grew. And everyone lived happily ever alter.

iaTech

And now the story can come true for you.

Call 1-800-523-7666 to apply.

TTY users, please call 1-800-833-6262. Please mention priority code JECK. MBHK

There are costs associated with the use of this credit card. You may contact the issuer and administrator of this program, MBNA America® Bank, to request specific information about the costs by calling 1 -800-523-7666 or writing to P.O. Box 15020, Wilmington, DE 19850. MBNA America is a federally registered service mark of MBNA America Bank, N.A. MasterCard and Visa are federally registered service marks of MasterCard International Inc. and Visa U.S.A. Inc., respectively; each is used pursuant to license. ©1998 MBNA America Bank, N.A. AD-06-98-0324

MasterCard

VISA

&•

uw

o «

»

»

O

0

4)

0 * ie Coca-Cola Company. "Coca-ColE Coca-Cola our Bottle design are registered tradr

icRibb' = Coca-O^B Company,

O

t>

t>

L

•

Alumni **'"'

VOI^N,,?

Fall 1998

^|

32

I1 1 1

• Page 55

vA

0

Space: A Special Issue From th had a spe into the*

the U.S. space program, Georgia Tech has •> forefront of humankind's first bold steps id the future promises even more.

i 1

A

Launc.

From

Today

i*

ics to Aerospace te Sputnik circled the Earth, it launched a

L

I

1 1

1

Georgia Tech alumni, students and faculty are blazing many new trails in the exploration of space—the next frontier.

The Job's The Right Stuff Tech students take advantage of NASA opportunities.

By Jerry Schwartz

Point Man Charles Kohlhase is working to keep Cassini on track to Saturn.

By Hoyt Coffee

Astronauts

Star Search

Heroes In Space

SETI investigator Jon Jenkins scans the sky for signs of life.

Their giant steps became symbols of American achievement.

By Shawn Jenkins

By John Dunn

Back to the Future A new series ofX vehicles is setting the stage for the next generation of space flight.

By Hoyt Coffee

Space Vacations Are we there yet?

By John Dunn

Cover: From space, the look backward doesn't excite as much as the look ahead.

GeorqiaTech John B. Carter Jr., IE '69, Publisher John C. Dunn, Editor Hoyt Coffee, Associate Editor Shawn Jenkins, Assistant Editor Everett Hullum and Nao Yamashita, Design Robb Stanek, AE '90, Advertising

Officers Jay M. McDonald IM '68, President Francis N. Spears CE '73, MS CE '80, Past President N. Allen Robertson IE '69, President Elect/Treasurer David M. McKenney Phys '60, IE '64, Vice President/ Activities David Peake IE '61, Vice President/Communications Robert L. Hall IM '64, Vice President/Roll Call John B. Carter Jr. IE '69, Vice President and Executive Director

Trustees

14 Tech Notes Popularity Problem Surge Space High Rankings Little Learning, Big Universe Revving Up Microchips Horse Sense Tech's First Olympic Medal Community Pride No Ouch!

Dean jean Lou OJSjj says Georgia Teem expand engineering programs in the state

94 Profile Professor John Olds: Space for Fun and Profit

96 Picture Perfect Images of Imagination

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine (ISSN: 1061-9747) is published quarterly (Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter) for Roll Call contributors by the Georgia Tech Alumni Association, Alumni/ Faculty House, 225 North Avenue NW, Atlanta, GA 30332-0175. Georgia Tech Alumni Association allocates $10 from a contribution toward a year's subscription to its magazine. Periodical postage paid at Atlanta,GA., and additional mailing offices. Š 1998 Georgia Tech Alumni Association POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine, Alumni/Faculty House, 225 North Avenue NW, Atlanta, GA 30332-0175. Editorial: (404) 894-0760/0761. Advertising: (404) 894-9270.

Fax: (404) 894-5113. E-mail: editor@alumni.gatech.edu

Pamela W. Arlotto HS '80 William H. Avery ChE '65 John H. Bachman Jr. CE'62 Ann G. Badding IM '78 Wade Barnes Jr. '71, Biol'75 Richard A. Beard III IM'67 James E. Bell ME '53 Roswell S. Bowers IM '71 James R. Cleveland Jr. IM'60 Mary Melinda Coker EE'87 Michael P. Franke IE '66 William Goodhew III IM'61 H. Craig Hayes IM '65 Thomas N. Herrington IM'59 Patrick H. Hickok IE '70 Neil H. Hightower Text '63 Juan Dante Jones IE '86

Jack Lawler Text '52 Ben E. Lilly IM '61 S. Howard McKinley IM '60 James G. Pope EE'65 Tydings Robin Jr. ME '61, MS NE '63, Ph.D. '67 John F. Rogers Jr. IM '51 Alex Roush Arch '74 Carol Fuller Sample IE'90 Michael Sappington IE'70 Phillip J. Scott IE '69 Marvin Seals III IM '65 Ronda R. Sides IE '83 Mark J.T. Smith MS EE '79, Ph.D. '84 C. Meade Sutterfield EE'72 R. Joe Taylor IM'56 Albert S. Thornton Jr. IM'68 Herbert S. Upton EE '65 Norman Wells EE '57 Paul H. Williams ChE '60

Georgia 'TfBChlnKt

www.alumni.gatech.edu Fall 1998

GEORGIA TECH

3

For breakfast, Bob had two eggs, bacon and a transfer to savings. ,

SuriRust PC Banking. Banking Made Easy.

Imagine taking care of your banldng while enjoying a second cup of coffee. With SunTrust PC Banking you can do your banldng any time, day or night, seven days a week right from your personal computer. It's convenient and easy because it links your SunTrust accounts directly to your PC. So you can review current balances and transactions, transfer funds, pay bills electronically, even download account information. All you need is a PC, a modem and Quicken速 or Microsoft Money速 financial software. To find out more about the convenience of SunTrust PC Banking call 1-800-382-3232. Or apply online at our Web site. And, go ahead, Cf^^W\

^LA.

have another cup of coffee.

SUNTRUST Be Ready For Life ;

Member l DIC./*1998 SunTrust is a registered service mark belonging exclusively to SunTrust Banks, Inc. Quicken is a registered trademark of Intuit, Inc. Microsoft Money ia a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. AIL 147-8

www. SunTrust.

com

A Delta Air Lines ON T O P OF THE WORLD"

W e fly w h e r e v e r

you

do.

Maybe its to present that arduous proposal clenched tightly in your hands. Or simply to accept an award earned for a lifetime's work.

Whatever your reason for flying, you have business on your mind.

And the fact that you arrive re/axed and prepared is just as important to us as why and where you're going. Which is why, at Delta Air Lines, we make it our business to ensure getting to that important place is as smooth as possible.

Š1997 Delta Air Lines, Inc.

Call your Travel Agent or Delta Air Lines at 1-800-221-1212, or visit us at www.delta-air.com

A,ivis and your alumni association have teamed up to give you great savings on quality car rentals, and the opportunity to give deserving Georgia Tech students a real financial boost.

Here's how it works. As a participant in the Avis Alumni Association Member Benefit Program, you're entitled to special Avis rates and discounts.

You save money on both business and leisure rentals. And what's more, every time you rent from Avis, a contribution will be made to the Avis/Georgia Tech Alumni Association scholarship fund.

As if that weren't enough, you can take advantage of the coupon on the right for even more savings. For information and reservations, call an employee-owner of Avis at our special Alumni Association Member Services Desk: 1-800-422-3810. And be sure to mention your Avis Worldwide Discount (AWD) number: B105900 Now visit our Avis Galaxy Web Site at: http://www.avis.com ©1996 Wizard Co., Inc.

Especially For Georgia Tech Alumni Association Members

Save From $10 To $20 On A Weekend Rental!

Rent an Intermediate through Full Size 4-Door car for a minimum of two consecutive weekend days and you can save $5 per day, up to a total of $20 off for four weekend rental days, when you present this coupon at a participating Avis location in the contiguous U.S. Offer expires Dec 31, 1998.

For information and reservations, call your travel consultant or an employee-owner of Avis at 1-800-831-8000. And be sure to mention your Avis Worldwide Discount (AWD) number: B105900.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS Offer valid on an intermediate (Group C) through a Full Size 4-Door (Group E) car for a 2-day minimum rental. Coupon must he surrendered at time of rental; one per rental. May not be used in conjunction with any other coupon, promotion or offer. Coupon valid at Avis corporate and participating licensee locations in the contiguous United States. Weekend rental period begins Thursday noon, and car must Ire returned by Monday 11:59 p.m. or a higher rate will apply, Offer may not be available on all rates at all times. An advance reservation is required. Cars subject to availability. Taxes, local government surcharges and optional items, such as LDW, additional driver fee and fuel service, are extra. Renter must meet Avis age, driver and credit requirements. Minimum age is 25, but may vary by location. Rental must begin by Dec 31, 1998.

Rental Sales Agent Instructions: At Checkout: • In AWD, enter B105900.

• For a 2 day rental, enter MUGD624 in CPN. • For a 3 day rental, enter MUGD625 In CPN. • For a 4 day rental, enter MUGD626 in CPN. • Complete this information: RA" Rental Location

• Attach to COUPON tape. (<:}|!}!Ki Wizard Co., Inc.

AWS I TECH I OFFICIAL SPONSOR ALUMNI MAGAZINE

VVetry, harder.

Avis features GM cars.

It's tee time at Pinelsle feesort.

Pinelsfe Resort -for goCf Covers and nature Covers aCike.

Surrounded kg 1,200 acres of roffina Georgia jorestfand and overlooking the syarkfing waters of Lake Lanier, the Renaissance Pinelsfe Resort marks the syotjor koth recreation and refaxation.

Aff sorts of sports. Gourmet dining. Corny fetcjitness and syajacifitics.

And with the grand rcoycning of our 18-hofe championship goff course and newfg redecorated defuxe guest rooms, there's no ketter yfacc to kick uy gour heefs and soothe gour souf.

Located just 45 minutes north of Atlanta.

For more information akout our value-added Famifg Fun and Goffer's Getawag caff 770 945-8921 or 1 800 HOTELS-1.

Visit our Wek site at www.renaissancehotefs.com

RENAISSANCE. PINEISLE RESORT LAKE LANIER, GEORGIA (91997 Renaissance Hotels International

Refax. You're at a Renaissance:

vacationyackages,

That's My 01' Cap

Fascinating Capsule

As a former editor and publisher, I extend my congratulations on the beautiful job of the 75th Anniversary edition. It was my honor to be on your cover in the Winter 1997 issue on "Memory and Aging." The article noted that I was the oldest volunteer in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

As rat caps go, I see on Page 9 that you have my old rat A cap, Class ol jM 1923, mixed kfg with other memorabilia. My name is on the bill, and holes are in it. I had to retrieve it from the garbage once because my wife had tossed it out!

[After attending Georgia Tech] I graduated from the business school of the University of South Carolina, and I have been informed that I am the oldest living graduate.

I am looking forward to Tech's Homecoming, but I never get to see my 1923 classmates anymore. I turned 96 on July 6. And if the temperature is under 90 degrees, I still get out and cut my own grass.

Charles Fram, Cls '23 Atlanta

Thanks for the grand job of editing this fascinating capsule of Georgia Tech history and traditions. The 75th Anniversary issue is the best edition of the

One-Word Summary In a word, the Spring 1998 Georgia Tech Alumni 75th Anniversary edition is SUPER! I read it cover-tocover. It is a job extremely well done.

(Now, of course, you will have to better your performance next time around.)

Marion D. Kitchens, AE '58 Oakton, Va.

8

GEORGIA TECH • I ill iws

ALUMNI MAGAZINE I have ever

seen. Keep up the good work!

R. R. "Randy" Stevens, IE '61 Lutz, Fla.

Never Looked Back The 75th anniversary issue was great! You have invited submissions significant to Georgia Tech's history: I offer you the true story about Technology Park/Atlanta.

Around 1970,1 was in New York City, sitting in my office when the phone rang. It was my old friend, Tom Hall, who was then an executive at the Georgia Tech Foundation. He said he wanted me to attend a presentation in New York City on a new development called Technology Park/Atlanta. He pointed out that this was an important development for Georgia Tech because all of the investors were alumni, and many of them would probably give their shares to the Foundation some day.

I knew that the Georgia legislature sometimes under-funded Georgia Tech because so many of its graduates moved out of the state. The real problem was the lack of sufficient hightechnology jobs in Georgia. The development of TP/A (which was modeled after a similar successful development at Stanford University) would ameliorate this "brain drain."

I attended the presentation as Tom requested and sent back to him a candid report. I was embarrassed to learn that my candid report had been

relayed to the sponsor of TP/A, Paul Duke, a successful Tech alumnus.

My phone rang again. "Why don't you come down here and give us a hand with this thing," Duke said.

The next thing I knew I was in a fabulous house—a replica of Tara— and petting his golden retriever, aptly named "Tech." Duke converted me to the cause, and quickly I became both an investor and a director in TP/A. Unfortunately, before TP/A could reach its critical mass, a violent real estate recession hit Atlanta. In a few years, with virtually no sales, TP/A was faced with a maturity of all of its debt and no money to pay it. Georgia Tech's great president, Joseph M. Pettit, quietly eased off our board of directors, and people wondered how we were going to avoid embarrassing the school. Once again, my telephone ran and it was a few of the TP/A directors. They thought that my financial background could be helpful to the project if I got more involved, so they asked me to become chairman of the board. I wasn't sure what I would be able to do, but I was sure I ought to do something, so I accepted.

We quickly decided that we had to find a high-powered salesman and make him president. We recruited Charlie Brown, a Tech architectural graduate, and he immediately created a lot of sales prospects. (Charlie and I still joke about how lucky it was for all of us that he did not know how to read a financial statement when he took the job.)

After a few months, Charlie had some tenants who wanted to rent a building, but TP/A didn't have an empty one, and no financial institution would loan us money to build one because they were afraid they would get caught up in some kind of bankruptcy. TP/A's debt to the C&S Bank was getting extended by the bank, but they did not have an appetite to loan any more money. Fortu-

, , ..,,, ,;.,. ., •<

nately, the First National Bank of Atlanta was run by two great Georgia Tech graduates: Tom Williams was chairman and Raymond Riddle was president. They decided to loan TP/A the money to build the new building—providing that the individual board members personally guaranteed the loan. To the credit of the loyal directors, we all signed the loan, and the building

was built. Then more companies came to TP/A, and our growth had started.

We never looked back. Technology Park/Atlanta became a renowned development for high-technology parks. A few years later, we sold the majority interest to an English company, and many of us gave our shares to the Georgia Tech Foundation.

These gifts, in aggregate, represented one of the largest gifts to the Foundation at that time. The portion of TP/A that the Foundation still owns is a source of significant dividend income each year, and it is now worth quite a bit more than what TP/A was valued at when we sold. The many high-tech jobs that TP/A created in Atlanta probably contributed to the critical mass that today makes Atlanta a leading location for such activities.

So, thanks to the great salesmanship of Charlie "Sparkplug" Brown, the vision of Paul Duke, the patience

of the C&S Bank, the courage of the First National Bank of Atlanta—and the loyalty of the TP/A directors— this saga had a happy ending.

Michael Tennenbaum, IE '58 Los Angeles

Searching for Burdell It seems everyone else has told their Burdell story, and I am 30-plus years overdue in telling this one: In the mid-'60s, I was assigned as Air Liaison Officer/Forward Air Controller with the Third Battalion, Eighth Marines. I shared a junior officers' fourman bunk room on the USS Guam with another first lieutenant, an infantry officer named Fred Mastin.

When we realized that we were apparently the only ones to have extra bunks in our room, we created two bunkmates: He created Lt. j.g. Charles Cromwell, and I created 1st Lt. George P. Burdell. We made nametags for them and put them on the hatch of the bunk room.

Our little joke was unknown to anyone but us; even our neighbors in the same passageway would ask us who Burdell and Cromwell were, and

what their jobs were.

As anyone with military experience knows, we were awash in unfamiliar acronyms and jargon that made our charade believable. When asked who this guy Burdell was, I would reply that he was the "PROVMAG liaison to the PHIBGROUP," and we hardly ever saw him. We said this secure in the knowledge that nobody would admit that they had no idea what we were talking about, and, of course, neither did we. After a few weeks of this, the joke got stale and evolved into only an occasional paging of Burdell on the ship's intercom.

We were satisfied that we had created a mildly successful ruse and happy-hour story.

Then came the night before we disembarked, when Ensign Barczikowski, the wardroom treasurer, appeared to beg for help in finding Burdell and Cromwell. It seems they had not paid their mess bill for our several months aboard ship, and he was in fear of getting stuck with the bill himself. We said we would pass the word if, by chance, we saw either of them.

I have always felt slightly guilty about this, so Ensign Barczikowski, if you read this, there is a check waiting for you from George P. Burdell.

Larry Taylor, IM '62 Major General (retired) USMC Atlanta

Fill 1998 • GEORGIA TECH

9

Unforgettable Days When reading the summer edition of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE, I vividly recalled my unforgettable days at Tech during the '70s. Coming from Puerto Rico at age 17 with limited resources, my first stop was at the financial aid office. After several hours of reviewing many financial packages, the counselors offered their advice. Later that day, I was ready to begin my undergraduate studies. Language proved to be no barrier, thanks to the

teachers and staff who recognized my interest and effort.

After obtaining my bachelor's degree in chemistry with highest honors, I was fortunate to meet a wonderful group of people at Emory University who helped me in a similar fashion. At that institution, I not only completed my medical school studies, but also my internal medicine residency. In July 1986,1 began fulfilling my National Health Service Corps Scholarship obligation in a

small community along the U.S.Mexico border in Arizona, where I have lived and practiced since.

I thank the clerks, professors, assistants and other staff who contributed to my dream to become a physician, allowing me to help the needy Hispanic population of Nogales, Ariz.

I will remain forever grateful.

Eladio Pereira, Chem 79 Mariposa Community Health Center Nogales, Ariz.

Hey, Look Us Over!

I enjoy your excellent magazine and was particularly interested in the article about [Tech's campus in] Metz [France], with its high-quality photography and design [Summer 1998]. As you probably know, Georgia Tech has a base in Oxford at Worcester College.

The Provost of Worcester College met with President Wayne Clough in July to discuss the growing demand for places on this particular study-abroad program. The program director is Professor Art Koblasz and he, the faculty and 200 students [were] in residence from Aug. 9 to Sept. 12. We would be willing to assist you with [developing] an article. I am sure you would find some exciting shots around Oxford University.

Col. D. E. King Worcester College Oxford University

Metz Campus 'Modern Relic' As an undergraduate and master's graduate of the College of Architecture, I am dismayed at the representation of the Georgia Tech Lorraine campus [Summer 1998 ALUMNI MAGAZINE]. This building is a "modern relic" and an example of suburban sprawl at its worst!

How can we address the degradation of environment and abuse of resources [as presented in the profile on Dr. William Chameides] on page 79 and ignore our degrading planning influence on the town fabric of Metz, France? Georgia Tech recognizes today that sensitive urban planning is at the heart of environmental sustainability, yet our built legacy is to reinforce the highway sprawling out from Metz.

Perhaps our unwillingness to integrate our building

10

GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Fall 1998

design into the fabric of the town is also a reflection of our inability to integrate linguistically into the culture. Oi French-based programs are a great opportunity for learning and exchange. Let's bring home from Metz a great lesson about planning pedestrian-oriented towns for a sustainable future.

Greg Ramsey, '81, M Arch '91 Atlanta The Georgia Tech Lorraine campus building, owned and built by the French, while clearly visible from the Strasbourg highway, is located in Technopole Metz 2000, a science and technology park that specializes in communications and software. Its modern architectural design is consistent with other buildings within the technology park. The building is owned by the city of Metz and rented by GTL. Georgia Tech Lorraine is a French academic and research organization created and operated under French law, but its research and academic programs, including degree-granting programs, are the responsibility of Georgia Tech.

Anniversan

Native Son My first day at Georgia Tech in September 1934, found me walking around campus investigating my new home.

In the "Robbery," a combination soda fountain and small IrJb July H»lan. W j - W * * , 6„»on at Ms convenience store in the basement of the Administration wrote, "There is really no arBuilding, there were photos of Tech's gument of identity of the all-time football team. One was of greatest football player Joseph Napoleon Guyon, a four-time who ever performed in All-America football player, who Dixie.There is a grand argument gained gridiron fame as "Indian Joe." about second place, but for first place Close by was an action photo of the there is just one, Joseph Napoleon "Dream Team Backfield" of coach Guyon, the Chippewa brave from John Heisman's 1917 National Cham- Georgia Tech." pionship team—Everett Strupper, Guyon was born on the White Albert Hill, Judy Harlan and, carryEarth Indian Reservation near ing the ball, Joe Guyon.

Brainerd, Minn., on Nov. 26,1892.

Although he received only an elYears later, Joe Guyon and I beementary education on the Indian came friends, and he asked me to become his partner in organizing an all- reservation, Guyon said he realized that sports and school went hand-inIndian baseball team that would play hand, and he was determined to a series of exhibition games nationovercome his educational handicap. wide. Joe had a sister in my hometown of Tulsa, Okla., and was plan"It was hard trying to make somening to move there. Unfortunately, I thing of yourself," Guyon once said, was transferred from Tulsa to Denver "and sports was one of the few ways and our plans were postponed and a youngster could pull himself up." later abandoned.

Guyon's older brother, Charles, was an excellent athlete and Joe's role Though a terror on the football model. In about 1904, Charles left the field, off the field Joe was a gentlereservation to enroll at the Haskell man—light-hearted, bright, animated Institute, a school for Native Ameriand witty. He was also the only Tech cans near St. Louis. He was a player named to both the National standout on the Haskell football team Professional Football Hall of Fame and transferred to Pennsylvania's and the National Collegiate Football then-famous Carlisle Indians football Hall of Fame. team. It wasn't long until Joe also enHe played halfback under rolled at Carlisle.

Heisman in 1917 and 1918.

Ralph McGill, who was a sportsJoe's football career at Carlisle was writer before becoming the celebrated shaped by two football legends: editor of The Atlanta Constitution, coach Glen "Pop" Warner and team

captain Jim Thorpe.

The Philadelphia Enquirer marveled at Joe Guyon's natural talent, and one headline read, "Joe Guyon may turn out to be another Jim Thorpe."

Following his years at Carlisle, where he was Thorpe's other halfback and earned All-America honors in 1912 and 1913, Guyon attended Keewatin Academy in Prairie Du Chien, Wis., to bolster his grades for admission into one of the major universities.

When he finished the academy, Guyon received several scholarship offers and decided to visit some of the schools. At a stop on the way to visit a North Carolina school, he was met by his brother Charles, who had become an assistant coach under Heisman at Tech. Joe changed his plans and decided to play for Tech.

Joe's football career at Tech for the 1917 and 1918 seasons was spectacular.

"There are lots of Tech backs of Guyon's day that owe most of their enduring fame to Joe Guyon," McGill wrote. "They could follow that big fellow and run to glory because he cleared the way, and I mean he cleared it!"

Another writer who watched Guyon at Tech reported that "survivors of the teams Tech played in those days still shudder to recall the multiple impacts when Guyon blocked or tackled them, and he could punt over 60 yards consistently, place-kick from midfield and pass with the best."

When Guyon finished at Tech, Jim Thorpe sent for him. Thorpe was president, coach and a player for the professional Canton Bulldog football

Fall 1998 • GEORGIA TECH

11

Feedback • 75th Anniversary

team in Canton, Ohio, and in 1919 and 1920, Guyon teamed with Thorpe at halfback, and Canton did not lose a single game.

A 179-pound back, Guyon played seven seasons in the National Football League, which was organized in 1920, for six different teams.

He finished his professional career with New York in 1927. "I did everything except sell programs," Guyon quipped.

Yet Guyon said the "greatest time of my life" happened off the field—at Thorpe's wedding. "1 was Jim's best man!"

In 1966, Joe Guyon received the ultimate career recognition— induction into the Professional Football Hall of Fame in Canton. Among those invited to the ceremony was President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had been one of Joe's opponents when Carlisle defeated Army's football team many years before.

Joseph P. Byrd III, GE' 38 Lufkin, Texas

V-12 Program Was Vital The Spring edition of the GEORGIA TECH ALUMNI MAGAZINE had the most

fascinating bit of writing I've ever read. And being part of that history made it even more interesting. You asked for anecdotes and recollections: Here's mine.

During the war years, I was pulled out of the fleet and entered Tech in 1944 as a sophomore in the Navy's V12 program. The previous year, I was a freshman in the program at the University of North Carolina—a twoyear program to become an ensign.

However, "A" and "B" students could transfer to Georgia Tech's fouryear program to become ensigns, which I chose to do.

What a difference! 1 didn't know

12 GEORGIA TECH • Fall 1998

what I was getting into. While at UNC I was an "A" or "B" student, at Tech I soon became a "C, D, E, F, G" student, even though I had never studied—or prayed—so hard in my life.

I'm sure the V-12 program kept Georgia Tech alive during World War II. I don't understand how Tech could have survived without it, with 12 million men in uniform.

I stayed at Tech until the war ended, and re-enrolled immediately after being discharged. Soon thereafter, I married and suddenly became an "A, B" student. After marriage, I had no reason to cat around—plus my wife typed my papers, which professors tended to like.

One of my favorite professors was Doc ID.M.J Smith, a math professor.

He was some character. He could make calculus seem so simple in class you'd think a first grader could learn it. But when you got back to the dormitory, you'd soon find out differently.

The swimming coach was [Fred] "don't touch the sides" Lanoue. On Thursdays, we played water polo for 45 minutes without getting out of the pool for a rest. All that time he was saying, "Don't touch the sides." If you held onto the sides, he stepped on your fingers. After that swim, we were exhausted. Once his picture was in Life magazine, which described

him as being a great swimming coach.

LLanoue gained national recognition as the founder of drownproofing, a swimming technique to avoid drowning.]

Sideways the dog was very much a part of our lives. She had been [injured in an automobile mishap and walked] and ran sideways, the most peculiar gait anyone had ever seen. She was so popular the Atlanta Journal chronicled her, and hardly a week went by but what she made the papers. She attended classes and snored loudly when the professor's lecture became too boring.

On one occasion, [football] tickets were oversold, and about 100 students couldn't get in to see the game.

About two hours before kickoff, we sat on the football field and wouldn't move. Tech officials hustled out 100 chairs and placed them on the running track. We had the best seats in the stadium.

[Some of us] were violently opposed to the name change from "school" to "institute" [in 1948]. We always believed criminals and the insane were sent to institutions. But when it was explained to us that the designation fit us perfectly, we dropped our opposition.

After graduation, I was a civilian with the Army in Huntsville, Ala., and later with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. In the Army I was assigned to the nuclear testing program in the South Pacific.

During the late 1950s, I was part of the launch crew that detonated nuclear devices in outer space.

Once, when leaving the states, we had a stopover on Kwajalein, and there I saw Professor Alan Pope of aerospace engineering. Several

ler 1

months later, when returning, we saw each other again! We hadn't seen each other in 15 years, but our paths crossed twice in the middle of the Pacific.

My years with NASA were the most interesting and exciting of my life. 1 had the opportunity to work closely with some of the great scientists of the world. I also worked closely with the astronauts, although I was not [a personal acquaintance]. I was in several meetings with astronauts [Richard] Truly and [John] Young, and they were two of the most gracious people I have ever met.

Thanks to Georgia Tech, I have been able to live a good and exciting lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and make a comfortable living along the way.

E. R. Ritch, IM '47 Huntsville, Ala.

Cooling Third World

Time Factor

Einstein's Cool Invention

The excellent presentation of the history of Georgia Tech in the 75th Anniversary edition of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE provided

several hours of pleasant memories as I revisited the past.

On Page 45, in the second paragraph, and on the time-line at the foot of the page, it says the issue of racial desegregation [at Tech] first erupted in 1956.1 believe that the Sugar Bowl game with Pittsburgh took place on Jan. 1,1956; therefore, the attempted ban of Tech's participation and the resulting protest may actually have taken place in late 1955. This detail, although minor, may be worthy of investigation and correction.

Larry E. Haller, IM '61 Lake Worth, Fla.

The Summer 1998 issue had an article called "Einstein's Refrigerator" that described work done by Tech student Andy Delano. I work with an organization which has been active for two decades and adapts products and technologies for the Third World. Having operated on grants and with the volunteer efforts of many devoted people, the organization has provided many useful products to enhance the lives of those in the Third World. There have also been some hard lessons learned over the years in this effort.

The article said the refrigeration cycle could be used Nov . llilM0 in under-developed areas. I would like to see where things might lead.

Ervin C. Lentz, ME'53 Compatible Technologies Inc. Shoreview, Minn.

ing manufactured, particularly for trailers, remotely located cabins and similar uses. In fact, I even found reference to research being conducted that would eliminate the natural or manufactured gas burner by using solar radiation, as suggested in the quote by [graduate student Andy] Delano. The proposed use, I believe, was to provide refrigerated storage of medical supplies in under-developed areas of Africa. I must be missing something concerning the uniqueness of Einstein's refrigerator being studied at Georgia Tech.

Don Banks, CE '62, MS CE '63 A.BINSTKINKTAI, RKPKKiKRATION Hk-ll I).. 10, 1127

i7ÂŤ,54. Vicksburg, Miss.

Cool Idea Sounds Familiar

The article, "Einstein's Refrigerator," in the Summer 1998 issue, indicates that the described refrigeration process is a new way to generate cooling using ammonia, water and heat.

This type of refrigeration has been used commercially for many years by several manufacturers.

My recreational vehicle has a system described above using propane or 12-volt electricity or 120-volt electricity as a heat source. Unless I missed something, the system is not really new.

M. K. Russom, Cls '53 Mableton, Ga. While the article mentioned that Electrolux bought Einstein's most promising patents to protect its own refrigeration technology from competition, it did not go into all the technological differences.

Dr. Samuel Shelton, who was Andy Delano's faculty adviser, explains; The Electrolux company had a patent

by Platen & Munters on a cycle using

m

IMJ

I read the article, "Einstein's Refrigera-

^ \

TS-

tor" (GEORGIA TECH ALUMNI MAGAZINE,

Summer 1998), and a refrigerator, such as I believe was described, was manufactured in the United States for a number of years by Servel in Evansville, Ind. The company was later renamed ArkLa-Servel, after being acquired by the Arkansas Louisiana Gas Co. The one purchased by my parents in 1947 still runs perfectly well. My father once told me that he had spent 39 cents in repair costs (to replace the copper pilot-light tubing), although I believe he later replaced the rubber gasket around the exterior door.

An inquiry on the Internet shows that parts are readily available and that similar refrigerators are still be-

Fall 1998

GEORGIA TECH

13

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine welcomes your contributions to the ongoing dialogue about the 75th anniversary of the magazine—or your feedback on any subject related to our contents. Please address all correspondence to Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine, Alumni/Faculty House, 190 North Ave., NW, Atlanta, GA 30313. Fax (404) 894-5113. E-mail: editor@alumni. gatech.edu. For e-mail, please include city and telephone number. Letters may be edited for clarity, length or content.

Thank you to the official sponsors of the

GeorgiaTech Advance Technology Corporation Andersen Consulting Atlanta Technical Support BellSouth Mobility The Coca-Cola Company Delta Air Lines Delta Technology IKON Office Solutions J.C. Bradford & Co. Jostens Direct Jenny Pruitt & Associates Kaplan Lockheed Martin MBNA America Bank MBNA Insurance Services NationsBank On Money Piedmont Hospital Pricewaterhousecooper Printpack Inc. Reflex International Renaissance Atlanta Hotel Renaissance Pinelsle Resort The Ritz-Carlton Scientific Atlanta Southwest Research Institute SunTrust Bank Technology Park/Atlanta Wachovia Worldcom Wyndham Midtown Hotel

14

GEORGIA TECH •Fall 1998

ammonia, water and hydrogen. Refrig- work closely, including visiting some erators were made in this country by of the buildings the article highlights.

Second, Gil Amelio and I were graduServel using the Platen & Munters cycle in the 1920s. These natural-gas- ate students together in the School of fired refrigerators were replaced by elec-Physics in the mid-'60s. Third, the tric refrigerators using the vapor com- article on Einstein's refrigerator, pression cycle when electricity became which, as a physicist, I found interesting, and in addition the student's adwidely available in the 1930s. Small refrigerators for camping, etc., still use viser is my close friend, Professor Sam Shelton. the cycle today.

The Platen /Munters cycle is a totally Finally, I'm planning to visit Tech's French campus in Metz when I'm in different cycle from Einstein's cycle.

Einstein was well aware of this cycle the area this summer—while Profesand set out to develop a different cycle sor Shelton is teaching over there. So to accomplish the same thing that could thanks for an issue unusually relevant operate over wider temperature applica-for me and my family. tions, would not use explosive hydrogen John Moseley, Phys '64, and would be more efficient. He did that MS Phys '66, Ph.D. '69 with the Einstein cycle, which operates Professor of Physics, Provost in a totally different manner. and Vice President for We have been unable to find any refAcademic Affairs erence to one being built and operated. University of Oregon In fact, subsequent patents by others Eugene, Ore. stated that the Einstein cycle could not work. It is interesting to see the "inver- Outstanding Job sion" of the Einstein cycle compared to The Summer 1998 ALUMNI MAGAZINE the Platen/Munters cycle. It is truly an continues your outstanding job in ingenious cycle compared to any other. producing an outstanding magazine.

We believe that it has numerous benefitsKeep up the good work. stemming from a potentially higher effi- John A. Siewert, IM '61 ciency and ability to be applied to appli- La Verne, Calif. cations that, with the restricted operatTimely Mickey Mouse ing temperature range, the Platen/ Munters cycle cannot serve.

When I recently attended a reunion of Georgia Tech ceramic engineers at the Andy Delano's thesis is on Dr. annual convention of the American Shelton's Web site at: http:/( Ceramic Society in Cincinnati, menwww.me.gatech.edu/energy/ under "Publications." Delano's thesis is found tion was made by professors and in its entirety, and it has a section on thepeers of mine regarding many of the "antics" I pulled during my student ammonia/water/hydrogen, Platen/ days.

Munters, Servel cycle.

While I never took a "T" from the Gold Mine Issue tower, and I was not even sure where to find the steam whistle ... I will adAs I'm sure is the case for most almit to placing the first Mickey Mouse ums, when I get the ALUMNI MAGAon the clock adorning the Skiles classZINE, I look first for articles about room building. people I know or subjects with which I directly relate. The summer I was a final-quarter graduate stuissue was a gold mine for me. dent in the fall of 1978, and I thought that Mickey would provide an approFirst the article about my cousin, priate finale to more than five years of Larry Lord. We started Tech tomischief on my part. The sponsoring gether in 1960, and I've followed his

Statement of Ownership Management and Circulation (Required by 39 U.S.C. 3685)

organization for the clock caper was a mythical company named Smaxton Inc., comprising me and a friend named Henry Claxton.

You can just make out our corporate signature—"Smaxton"—at the bottom of the picture, which was published in the Technique shortly after the act.

Occasionally, I visit Atlanta and the Tech campus. My two children get a kick out of the Mickey Mouse that Dad made. But I'll give you fair warning: My oldest child has picked up the Georgia Tech bug, and you'll probably be seeing him in another eight years!

Lindsey K. Smith, CerE '77, MS CerE 78 Champaign, 111.

Wow About Howe I enjoyed the article on Bones Howe [Summer 1998 ALUMNI MAGAZINE]. I

was a liner-note fanatic as a kid. What a great treat to find a name I followed throughout the '60s and 70s is a Georgia Tech alum!

Jane Skelton, IM 77 Atlanta

Do Gears Mesh?

In the Summer edition of the ALUMNI I was disappointed to see that the very prominent gear assemblies on the

MAGAZINE,

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine

front of the Manufacturing Research Center were designed so that they won't mesh and therefore could not possibly work.

Bob Crossfield ME '40 Griffin, Ga. Appearances can be deceiving. In fact, the teeth fit together and it would appear the gears do mesh. However, Ward O. Winer, chair of the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, asked for some expert opinions. Here are two: • "Although a serious gear expert might find that some details could be improved, the helical gears have a 45-degree helix angle and mesh properly. This is a conventional arrangement from the auto industry to drive a distributor from the camshaft; the gears are excellent architectural symbols representing manufacturing engineering."

• "For two generally disposed gear axes, the gear pitch surfaces must be hyperboloids of revolution of one sheet.

There are only two special cases: 1. If the gear axes are parallel, the hyperboloids become cylinders. This case is represented by common spur gears. 2. If the gear axes intersect, the hyperboloids become cones. This case is represented by bevel gears. Since the gears in front of the MARC are at right angles and nonintersecting, neither of the special cases apply. Therefore their pitch surfaces must be hyperboloidal. However by inspection, the pitch surfaces are clearly cylindrical and therefore the gears do not form a functional pair.

"Kudos to the man with the sharp eyes!"

Publication No. 1061-9747 • Frequency: Quarterly • No. of issues published annually: Four • Annual subscription price: $10 • Publisher-John B, Carter Jr., 190 North Ave., Atlanta, GA 30313 • Editor—John C. Dunn, 190 North Ave., Atlanta, GA 30313 • Managing Editor—Hoyt E. Coffee, 190 North Ave.' Atlanta, GA 30313 • Owner—Georgia Tech Alumni Association, 190 North Ave., Atlanta, GA 30313 • Known bondholders, mortgagees and other security holders owning or holding 1 percent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages or other securities: None • For completion by nonprofit organizations authorized to mail at special rates, The purpose, function and nonprofit status of this organization and the exempt status for federal income tax purposes: Has not changed during the preceding 12 months.

Extent and nature of circulation Average No. Copies Single Issue Each Issue During Nearest to Preceding 12 Mos. Filing Date A. Total No. Copies 33,000 (Net Press Run) B. Paid Circulation 1. Sales through None dealers and carriers, street vendors and counter sales.

2. Paid or 29,267 requested Mail Subscriptions

C. Total paid or requested

29,267

26,500 None

25,313

25,313

Circulation D. Free distribution by None None mail; samples, complimentary, and other free copies E. Free distribution outside 1,475 1,000 the mail (carriers or other means) F. Total free distribution 1,475 1,000 (Sum of 15d and 15e) G.Total distribution 30,742 26,313 (Sum of 15c and 15f) H. Copies not distributed 2,258 187 1. Office use, leftovers, spoiled 2. Return from None None news agents I. Total (Sum of 33,000 26,500 G&H(1), H(2) Percent paid or 95 percent 96 percent requested circulation This statement of ownership will be printed in the Fall 1998 issue of this publication.

I certify that the statements made by me above are correct and complete.

John B. Carter Jr. Publisher

Fall 1998 • GEORGIA TECH

15

*'**-4J

I

4

"YOU WANT WHAT? WHEN?" You know how demanding Ramblin' Wrecks can be. They want the impossible, yesterday.

Plus we offer a full line of more normal CRTand LCD-based monitors, desktops and notebook

With Reflex, they get it.

computers. Anything to help fellow Wrecks get

We thrive on solving computing problems.

a leg up in business.

And putting together specials like interactive

^

For serious Reflex Action including a remarkable

multi-media computers with

five-year limited warranty, write, call or log on at:

built-in touch screens, miniature

6624 Jimmy Carter Blvd., Norcross, GA 30071.

cameras and speakers. Kiosks.

Voice: 800-642-7640

Networked telemarketing sys-

Fax: 770-729-8805

tems. You name it.

www.reflexintl.com

M

^C

refleic INTERNATIONAL ^1998 Reflex International,

Some People Arejust BetterAt CreatingThe Future Than Others Technology Park/Atlanta, Inc. earned its wings by daring to envision office parks that would lead business in bold new directions.

Over two decades ago, we pioneered the idea by developing Technology Park/Atlanta. Now history is repeating itself. At Johns Creek, a masterful blending of new horizons for high-tech and industry. And Lenox Park, Buckhead's urban oasis for working and living.

To see why companies like Scientific-Atlanta, Georgia-Pacific, Ciba Vision, AT&T and GE call our corporate environments home, call 770-497-1400. And talk about tomorrow with the people who see beyond it.

Some People Just Think About The Future. We Create It.

TECHNOLOGY PARK/ATLANTA,INC. JOHNS CREEK • TECHNOLOGY PARK/ATLANTA • LENOX PARK

Company

A special rate for Tech fans only. Weekends throughout football and basketball seasons. Afterward, relax with a drink. Or enjoy dining in The Restaurant or The Cafe. Then settle back in a luxurious room at the heart of downtown

Atlanta. For reservations, call your travel professional or 404-659-0400 or 800-241-3333 and ask about the Yellow Jacket Weekend. For just $180 a night, you can stay at a legend when you cheer one on.

THERITZ-CARLTON* ATLANTA (DOWNTOWN)

Popularity Problem Surprisingly large freshman class swells rolls for required classes

G

eorgia Tech's incoming freshman class has escalated to almost 2,200 students, nearly 20 percent more than last year, sending administrators hustling to accommodate the influx.

"The surprise came not in the number of students who applied, but the percentage of those accepted who are actually coming," says Robert C. McMath, vice provost for undergraduate studies and academic affairs.

"What changed is not the number of applicants, but the yield rate."

Last year's freshman class had 1,848 students, and enrollment this year was intended to be 1,950, according to Deborah Smith, director of undergraduate admission. About 28 percent of the freshman class are women and 62 percent are Georgia residents, she said.

Additional resources are being directed to departments teaching required courses in English, math and chemistry to accommodate the surge of students.

"We can handle the English and the math just by adding sections, but the real crunch comes with chemistry— there's a real bottleneck in those classes because of the physical constraint of the laboratories," McMath says. More freshman-chemistry labs have been scheduled, and some may even meet on Saturdays, he says.

Tech's experience is part of a national phenomena, McMath says. Increased enrollment is occurring at a number of selective schools nationally.

Tech is purposefully increasing its enrollment numbers to gradually expand the student body to 15,000 from 13,000. Historically, the freshman class enrollment could be projected with remarkable accuracy, but this year saw a change in the application procedure, McMath explains.

"We changed our admission decision-making process this year to in-

20

GEORGIA TECH • Fall 1998

clude not only the high school gradepoint average and the SAT scores, but also an essay and a measure of a student's participation in high school activities," McMath says. "This didn't lower the quality any, but it took away some of our familiarity, and our ability

to predict the number of students who would actually come based on the ones we had admitted.

"It's a mixed blessing. It's a good problem to have—the heart of it is that a lot of people want to come to Georgia Tech.'

Surge Space Georgia Tech housing is bursting at the seams

D

aniel R. Morrison, acting director of Housing, knew he had problems on May 1. That's the deadline for students to accept their admission

to Georgia Tech and apply for housing.

"Everybody accepted," Morrison says, a bit incredulous. "Which is a wonderful thing," he adds. "Right now we have a larger-than-average number of returning students and our largest-ever freshman class."

The almost 2,200 members of the freshman class primarily account for the space crunch. Some rooms that had been reduced from three-perroom to double-occupancy, are back to three-person occupancy.

Residence hall lounge areas have been converted to temporary housing that Morrison calls "surge space." Lounges in some of the traditional buildings have been equipped with telephone jacks, data jacks for Internet hookups, cable television and a full complement of furniture.

"We would not want someone to be in there more than a few weeks, but if this were to happen again, we'll have this surge space," he says. "No one would have guessed this would happen when we built 3,000 beds for the Olympics, but we are bursting at the seams."

High Rankings U.S. News, Kiplinger & Black Issues release academic assessments

P

reseason football polls aren't gineering master's degrees awarded to the only bellwether of quality minority students, and a No. 2 ranking on the nation's college camin doctoral engineering degrees. puses this fall. A string of recent aca"High quality, high value and a demic rankings continues to show leader in diversity; those are all strong Georgia Tech among the nation's finest attributes and we're delighted to have universities in a variety them noted in national rankings," of categories.

Tech President Wayne Clough said.

"Georgia Tech has made considerThe most promiable progress over the last few nent rankings, proyears, and these vided by U.S. News & consistently World Report, rank Georgia high rankings Tech 13th of all 147 pubreflect that lic universities and progress.

46th of all 228 national , "Complaresearch universiJ cency is not an optiesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;both public and private. In a new tion if we're to conranking developed by tinue our national asU.S. News, Tech cent, and our current ranked among the lowest Capital Campaign will of all universities (18th) be critical to that rise," in the debt burden of its Clough said. "We have graduates. to improve our facultyto-student ratio and our Harvard, Princeton overall faculty resources and Yale were the top if we hope to compete three national universities with the elite in American ranked by U.S. News, while higher education. We've raised more Cal-Berkeley, Virginia and the Univerthan $300 million thus far in our Capisity of North Carolina-Chapel Hill tal Campaign, and a sizable portion of topped the public university list. those funds will be used to address U.S. News is not the only publicathese resource issues." tion ranking colleges and universities.

Kiplinger's joined the rankings race this Clough also noted the prominence year and included Georgia Tech in its of other Atlanta-area universities in "Cream of the Crop" section, rating the various rankings. "Education is Tech the ninth-best value among all directly related to economic developstate universities. Kiplinger's value ment," Clough said. "The national ranking attempts to rank schools reputations of Georgia Tech, of Emory, "with a high-caliber education withof the University of Georgia, are all out a mortgage-size debt." crucial to growing and attracting the Black Issues in Higher Education re- type of high-tech, high-pay industries we want in Georgia. cently released its annual "Top 100" rankings of colleges and universities These rankings are important in that graduate the most students of that context, and the continued rise of color. Georgia Tech continued its naour national reputations is something tional leadership in minority graduate about which all Georgians can be very education, with a No. 1 ranking in enproud."

KSMlfeDODL

Šmm No Sign of Politics Looking for a little relief from the proliferation of political posters that blanket the horizon during election years? Take a stroll around campus. Georgia Tech policies forbid the posting of political campaign or commercial advertisements on campus. Debating the pros and cons of political issues are sure to reverberate off the walls of the Sam Nunn School of Public Policy, but not to worry, they won't clutter the walkways.

Secret Talent Faculty members are discovering the hidden talents of colleagues this fall, something that has been an equally interesting revelation to students and alumni. A fall quarter faculty and staff art show is being exhibited in the Hall of Success of the Bill Moore Student Success Center. The art works are being displayed throughout the football season and include architectural drawings, paintings, needlepoint and sculptures.

New Look, Big Words In its periodic search for staff talent, the Technique announced it has undergone a redesign. The always opportunistic staff couldn't resist using the occasion to also make a nonthreatening pitch: "If you think it's really nifty, come write for the Technique. Remember, journalistic integrity is just two big words.'

Fall 1998 â&#x20AC;˘ GEORGIA TECH

21

Tech Notes Gary Meek Pholo

Little Learning, Big Universe Phil Froelich develops how-to instructions on care and maintenance of planet Earth

F

reshmen and sophomores meeting the prerequisite of "a little chemistry, physics and math" stand to learn something pretty big during the fall quarter: "how to engineer a living planet from scratch, to provide for running water, a moderate climate and environmental resources that support life."

Professor Philip N. Froelich in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences is offering a course on "How to Build and Maintain a Habitable Planet."

The popular course is being developed as one of the school's core curriculum courses offered when Tech changes from quarters to semesters next fall.

Froelich, who taught the course at Columbia University for a decade before coming to Tech in 1994, says it is "designed to attract engineers to take something outside their curriculum."

He teaches the course based on a paperback text developed at Columbia that Froelich is revising. "I'm rewriting it, adding a lab to it and bringing it up to engineering standards," he says.

The course is being taught twice this year: without the lab this fall, and with the lab next spring.

"I'll teach them the chemistry, physics and geochemistry about how the universe formed, and where the elements came from," Froelich says.

"I'll also teach them nuclear physics.

Everybody told me you can't do that to freshmen, but you can. You can teach them nuclear physics, and you can teach them how stars work on the inside. You can teach them the basic

22

GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Fall 1998

Phil Froelich has designed a popular course that also carries an important message.

rudiments of decay reaction so they can tell time. By the end of this course, I can throw any radio-decay scheme at them, and they can solve it."

Froelich's syllabus for the course makes it sound like just plain fun: Creating a Universe (in the beginningâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;cosmogenesis); Origin of the Elements (nucleosynthesis inside stars); Constructing a Solar System and Earth (meteorite clues); Clocks (radioisotopes and the times of everything); Earth's Early Years (the shell game); Planetary Systems (other solar

systems); Satellites, Moons and Asteroids (planetary billiards); Oceans and Atmospheres (hot and cold running water); Evolution of Life and Climate (the adventure begins); and Future of a Habitable Planet (multiple choice).

"When they complete this course, students will have a much deeper and broader appreciation of maintaining the Earth as a living planet, and understand why it is the way it is and why it is unique, and where it fits into the whole universal scheme of things," Froelich says.

Revving Up Microchips New consortium center to research new microchip networks

A

new microelectronics Focus Center Research Program has been created to vastly improve microchip capability and performance, A consortium of universities led by Georgia Tech will receive up to $19.5 million over the next three years to conduct research leading to radically new architecture for the multilevel wiring networks connecting the billions of transistors on future microchips.

The Focus Center Research Program, created by the U.S. semiconductor industry and the federal government, is negotiating with university consortia led by Georgia Tech and the University of California at Berkeley, sites of the first two centers.

Georgia Tech will develop interconnect technology, and UC Berkeley will handle design and testing sciences. The Tech-led consortium will address the five-to-10 levels of wiring that connect the billions of transistors in a microchip. Research will include the methodology, materials and processes needed for connecting individual circuit components together in an integrated chip.

Participants in Tech's consortium include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Cornell University and State University of New York at Albany.

Horse Sense A Tech education is still a better deal than boarding 01' Paint

G

eorgia Tech President Lyman Hall argued 100 years ago that it just made good sense for parents to send their sons to Tech, which didn't become co-educational until 1952.

B. Franklin King III, IM '50, of Mobile, Ala., sent a clipping from the Mobile Press Register, reprinted from July 26,1898, that presents Hall's argument.

"Do not say you cannot afford to send your boy to Georgia Tech in Atlanta," the article says. "You cannot afford not to do it. Your son's expenses there are less than the cost of keeping a horse at home. Then the question is plain. Is the gift of an advanced, scientific, practical education to your son worth as

• 75 Years Ago—Georgia Tech was elected to the Southern Association of Colleges and Universities.

much to you as your beast of burden?

Board $6.50 to $10. Fees nominal. For catalogue, address Lyman Hall, president, Atlanta, Ga." Boarding a horse in Atlanta today costs about $250 a month—$3,000 a year. Total estimated costs for a full time student, including room and board, for this academic year is $9,997.

But the horse doesn't get to take calculus or attend football games.

Tech's First Olympic Medal Hamming it up in Amsterdam

S

eventy years ago, at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam, Netherlands, track star Ed Hamm became the first Georgia Tech athlete to win an Olympic gold medal with a record-breaking broad jump of 25 feet, 43A inches. His Olympic record stood until Jesse Owens broke it in Berlin in 1936.

• 50 Years Ago—Ground was broken on May 22,1948, for construction of the President's Home, built during the tenure of President Blake Van Leer, Georgia Tech's fifth president. The property between Eighth and Tenth streets was purchased, and the Fuller E. Callway Foundation gave $100,000 for the construction.

Mrs. Van Leer, who held a degree in architecture from the University of California at Berkeley, designed the home in a traditional Georgian style.

The site, the highest point on the campus, overlooks Tech's Rose Bowl field and the skyline of downtown Atlanta.

• 25 Years Ago—The Summer 1973 issue was -30for the Georgia Tech Alumnus magazine—"30" being a journalism parlance that means the end of the story. After 50 years, and in a tough economic climate, the magazine ceased publication to be replaced by Tech Topics, the alumni newspaper. Faithful readers, however, demanded its return, and in 1975, the magazine resumed publication as the Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine.

Fall 1998 • GEORGIA TECH

23

Community Pride TEAM Buzz seeks to be helpful neighbor

G

eorgia Tech students, faculty, staff and alumni will be grabbing hammers, nails, paint, rakes, clippers and just about every other kind of tool to perform neighborly deeds with Atlanta community agencies in November.

TEAM Buzz, a Georgia Tech student-led community service organization, has set Nov. 14 for its annual Community Service Day. At last year's inaugural event, more than 1,000 members of the Tech community joined with members of local agencies such as Trees Atlanta, Habitat for Humanity, the Roosevelt House, PRIDE Atlanta and Hands On Atlanta to form 27 teams that tackled

1

forces of the Georgia Tech community and that of metro Atlanta and to have a significant impact on a local level.

Melissa Byrd chairs this year's TEAM Buzz steering committee.

"In the future, we'd like to start TEAM Buzz chapters across the country through the Georgia Tech Alumni clubs," says Amanda Martin, student chair for alumni involvement on the steering committee. "It would be great to see our alumni start a tradition like this in their own communities."

No Ouch!

mm

<&

Uum

| L | oodles much tlnix m%ner than a human hair could one day allow doctors to inject drugs without causing pain, Arrays of these "microneedles" could improve delivery of existing medications, allow development of new therapeutic compounds and open the door for microprocessor-based systems to deliver drugs continuously or in response to body needs, Produced with fabri-

24

various projects within the Atlanta perimeter.

"Our goal this year is to have 2,500 participants," says Trey Childress III, TEAM Buzz marketing chair. "People were excited about it last year. It was a new idea—and our first year—and all of the feedback 1 got was that it was a great idea, and people had fun with it."

TEAM (Tech Enhancing Atlanta Metropolitan) Buzz is a part of the Student Center's MOVE (Mobilizing Opportunities for Volunteer Experience) office. It was conceived by Tech graduate student Tony Chan, IE '94, MS IE '98, as a way to combine the

GEORGIA TECH • Fall 1998

ic for drug deliver/

cation techniques originally developed for the microelectronics industry, the tiny needles avoid causing pain, because they • penetrate only the outermost layer of skin, which contains no nerve endings.

"We envision microneedles being 'userfriendly' for patients, simi lar to the current transdermal patches that are in common use," says Dr. Mark R. Prausnitz, assistant professor in Georgia Tech's School of Chemical Engineering. "We expect

AmW

^M

_t , in its final design that a microneedle array would be quite easy to use.

"Patients would just peel a liner off and stick it onto the skin. They would not see any needles, and there should be no pain associated with it."

Prausnitz expects that with high-volume production, the microneedle ar-

rays would be competitive in cost with existing disposable drug-delivery techniques.

The major challenge ahead will be to demonstrate in a clinical setting that this approach can effectively deliver therapeutic quantities of various drugs safely and economically.

ROLL

CALL

MATCHING

GIFT

COMPANIES

Leading Roll Call Matching Gift Companies

r?v7 through your company's matching gift program An alumnus in each of the 116 companies listed here has agreed to act as a matching gift coordinator to rally company support for the 52nd Georgia Tech Roll Call. Matching gift coordinators support Georgia Tech by sending a special matching gift mailing to all alumni within the company, and encouraging them to participate in the matching gifts program. The Roll Call matching gift program is ideal for companies that employ 10 or more Georgia Tech alumni who want to increase their contribution to Roll Call.

If you work for a company that matches an academic contribution to Georgia Tech, you can effectively give twice the amount of your gift or more to the Roll Call through your company's matching gift program.

Some companies match dollar-for-dollar, some double an employee's contribution. Others even triple an employee's gift.

Top Alumni Support Phillip Morris USA SunTrust Bank Champion International Lanier Worldwide Phillips Petroleum Merrill Lynch Chrysler/Huntsville Shell Oil Co. Sonat Equitable Life Sara Lee Clorox

66% 65% 59% 57% 55% 54% 53% 51% 50% 50% 50% 50%

The companies listed here led the way in raising over $1.48 million in matching gift funds for the 51st Roll Call. Several companies set a terrific example with alumni matching gift rates up to 66 percent. Working with your fellow alumni and your matching gift program, you, too, can make a positive difference in the future of Georgia Tech.

If your company is not listed here and if you are interested in the Georgia Tech Alumni Association designing a matching gift mailing for the alumni in your company, we would be happy to do so. Please contact Brett Breen to develop this special matching gift program for your company or to get information about an existing program.

Brett Breen, Matching Gift Program Coordinator Georgia Tech Alumni Association Alumni/Faculty House Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0175 Telephone: (404) 894-0766 or 1-800-GTALUMS e-mail: brett.breen@alumni.gatech.edu

3M Company Abbott Laboratories Air Products & Chemicals Alabama Power Albemarle Corporation Alcoa Allied-Signal American Express Andersen Consulting Ashland Oil Atlanta Gas Light Company AT&T Bechtel Bellcore BellSouth Boeing Burlington Industries Cabot Corporation Carolina Power & Light Celanese Acetate Champion International Chevron Chrysler/Huntsville Electronics Clorox Coats American Coca-Cola Company Conoco Cooper Industries Coopers & Lybrand CSX Delta Air Lines Dow Chemical Duke Energy Corporation Eaton Corporation Eli Lilly & Co. Equitable Life Ernst & Young Exxon First Union Florida Power & Light Fluor Daniel FMC Corporation Ford Motor Company General Electric General Motors Georgia-Pacific Georgia Power Company Goodyear GTE Gulf Power Company Harris Corporation Hercules Hewlett-Packard Honeywell Hughes Aircraft Company IBM Intel International Paper

Johnson & Johnson Kimberly-Clark KPMG Peat Marwick, LLP Law Engineering Lockheed Martin Lucent Technologies Mead Corporation Merck & Co. Merrill Lynch Mobil Monsanto Motorola NationsBank NCR Norfolk Southern Nortel Northern Telecom Northern Trust Retirement Consulting Novartis Olin Otis Elevator Owens Corning Oxford Industries Pepsi Co. Phillip Morris USA Phillips Petroleum PPG Industries Printpack Procter & Gamble Prudential Insurance Rayonier Reynolds Metals RJR Nabisco Rohm & Haas Rockwell Sara Lee Scientific-Atlanta Shell Oil Siemens Southern Co. Services Sonat Inc. Springs Industries Square D SunTrust Bank Teledyne Brown Engineering Texaco Texas Instruments Textron Systems Division Trane Company TRW Union Camp United Technologies Unocal UPS Wachovia Weyerhaeuser Xerox

Fall 1998 â&#x20AC;˘ GEORGIA TECH

25

W H E R E THERE'S A W Y N D H A M , THERE'S A WAY

m

We lettered in comfort. h: *ja :

M' : Ml

'•jMmgf <—

MM M ^

r^m

•

1 >^Vt' 7i//fj

WYNDHAM

Friday, Saturday & Sunday Includes breakfast.

BreakfastWEEKENDS

Going back to campus? Give Wyndham the ol' college try. Our hotel is convenient to the Georgia Tech campus, and you'll enjoy a free breakfast along with our well-appointed guest rooms, with amenities like shower massagers, Bath&Body Works® toiletries, and in-room coffee makers. Not to mention our late 3 p.m. checkout on Sunday. The fact is, when it comes to comfort, we're at the top of our class. For reservations, call your travel planner or 800-WYNDHAM.

© WYNDHAM GARDEN HOTEL MIDTOWN ATLANTA

The Right Way. The Wyndham Way. www.wyndham.com For reservations, call 404-873-4800 or 800-WYNDHAM. 125 10th Street, Atlanta, GA 30309 mate is subject to availability and is per room, per night, single or double occupancy in a king-bedded room through 12/31/98. Not applicable to groups or available with any other promotional discount, Sunday rate available in conjunction with Saturday night stay. Blackout dates apply.

Second P l a c e , Cold War j

Nobody wants to finish second. That's why IKON Office Solutions"" helps you compete better. By offering copier systems and integrated computer networking solutions. By managing your company's mailroom and copy center. And by handling your imaging and file conversion needs. We'll use the latest technology from companies like Oce, Canon, IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Sharp, Ricoh and Compaq. All backed by a National Service Guarantee. And all designed to help your company do one thing. Win. To help your company come in first, call us.

. Office Solutions" www.IKON.com

Work to Win.

770-448-IKON

Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft in the U.S. and other countries. IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation, Novell is a registered trademark of Novell, Inc. Compaq is a registered trademark of Compaq Computer Corporation. All other brand and product names are the trademarks of their respective holders,

Canon authorized dealer

Expanding Tech's Reputation Dean Jean-Lou Chameau says Tech will expand engineering programs in Georgia

F

ollowing a 1998 study that predicts an increasing demand for engineering graduates in Georgia— especially in computer engineering and related fields—the board of regents asked Georgia Tech to spearhead an effort to expand engineering education in the state.

The need reflects population growth within the state, which has been greater than any state east of the Rockies for several years and shows no signs of slowing.

This continuous flow of people and businesses into the state parallels a rapid growth of high-tech businesses and the introduction of high-tech elements into Georgia's traditional industries such as textiles and paper.

According to the American Electronics Association, the number of high-tech businesses in Georgia has more than doubled since 1990. Growth of high-tech jobs was the highest in the nation this past year, and demand for Tech graduates by Georgia companies was at an all-time high.

"The job market for engineers has totally exploded," says John Hannabach, director of Georgia Tech's career services. "Some students may have as many as 15 job offers, and most average at least four or five."

Part of the proposed plan calls for additional growth of the Tech campus. The Institute's Strategic Plan aims to boost the student population at Tech from 13,500 to 15,000.

"Growth beyond that size could jeopardize the focus of our programs and the quality of service provided to students," Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough says.

"Therefore, it's in our best interest to look for solutions in other options rather than continued and unchecked growth at our campus."

Two other initiatives would entail expansion of Tech's distance-learning network and the support of regional engineering programs.

"The regional engineering programs will be tailored to specific needs and will be designed to best assist in each area's economic development," says Engineering Dean Jean-Lou Chameau. "We need to evaluate cost-effectiveness and leverage existing regional expertise and facilities around the state."

Two institutions expected to participate—Armstrong Atlantic State University and Georgia Southern University—are members of the Regents' Engineering Transfer Program, presently offering the first two years of the engineering curriculum for students who transfer to Tech.

A team headed by Dr. Chameau has visited the universities in the Savannah and Statesboro areas to assess the facilities and the potential for programs. An undergraduate program in computer and software engineering and a sec-

28

GEORGIA TECH • Fall 1998

ond engineering program still under development are being considered for the regional programs. Expanding the accessibility of graduate degrees already offered through distance learning is also crucial.

Here Dean Chameau discusses the various possibilities confronting Georgia Tech.

Will this diminish the value of a Georgia Tech degree?

N

o. First, there is no impact whatsoever on the academic programs at Georgia Tech. Second, students obtaining degrees through these programs will receive their degrees from Georgia Tech at the host site (the degree would come from Georgia Tech at Statesboro, for example). Courses and curricula will be developed and taught by Georgia Tech professors at the host institutions. Quality will continue to be important. Third, Georgia Tech professors will also offer engineering courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels through distance learning programs. They will be offered via video, the Internet, and GSAMS (Georgia Statewide Academic and Medical System). This will augment efforts to increase engineering education in Georgia.

What types of degrees will be conferred and by what institution?

T

here has not been a decision made on specific degrees or locations. One area of likely emphasis includes computer/software engineering. Other engineering disciplines are still under consideration. In addition, Georgia Tech's Atlanta campus will expand existing graduate level offerings through distance learning.

How will the students at other institutions compare to those at Tech?

Q

uality will continue to be critical, wherever Georgia Tech is involved. Our standards will be rigorous and our curriculum relevant. Quality standards are critical to achieving program accreditation.

Students in these programs will have to meet admission and graduation standards similar to those currently required of Georgia students applying to Georgia Tech. These new programs will be different, however, from those offered at the Atlanta campus. Therefore, the admission standards will be specific and pertinent to the programs offered.

Historically, students who transfer to Georgia Tech from other institutions fare very well on our campus. We see no reason why this trend will not continue.

Do you have comprehensive data on the need for

w

Gary Meek Photo

Dean Jean-Lou Chameau: "We need to evaluate cost-effectiveness and leverage existing regional expertise and facilities."

these degrees?

T

here is considerable data to support a targeted approach to additional engineering programs. A recent study projects an increase in the need for qualified engineers in Georgia over the next 10 years. In total, engineering jobs are expected to increase 46 percent over the next decade. These programs will be important if Georgia is to continue its leadership as a high-tech employer.

What is the political force driving this issue?

G

eorgia is now the 10th largest state in the country and is one of the national leaders in the development of high-tech jobs. Elected officials and business executives in south Georgia are aware of this growth and the need for future growth. They, understandably, would like to participate more fully in high-tech growth.

Being selfish for a moment, is this in the best interest of Georgia Tech?

A

bsolutely. While Georgia Tech is meeting statewide engineering needs today—in 1998—we will not be able to do so in the next 10-15 years. If we don't attempt to develop these programs at host institutions, we will have to dramatically increase enrollment at the Atlanta campus.

Georgia Tech does hope to increase its enrollment to

15,000, but numbers over that could diminish the focus and quality of programs, and possibly lower admission standards here in order to meet employment demand. In the long run, that would not be in Tech's best interest and could indeed erode the value of a Georgia Tech degree.

Can Georgia Tech say, "No," and, if so, what would be the financial consequences?

G

eorgia Tech is a proud member of the University System of Georgia. It is in our best interest to be a team player in that system. It's important to show elected officials, the board of regents and the chancellor that we intend to be a part of the solution. If we do that, we will be in a better position in the future.

The bottom line is that these programs will become a reality whether or not we choose to participate. Strategically, it's far wiser for Georgia Tech to be a player—not a spectator—in the process.

Is this the start of something bigger?

P

erhaps. We already have engineering programs in France and are now expanding programmatic offerings in Georgia. Depending upon demand, the economy and other variables, we will continue to entertain opportunities to expand the role and reputation of Georgia Tech. GT

Fall 1998 • GEORGIA TECH

29

"We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."

?m

- John F, Kennedy, Sept, 11, 1962

When President John F. Kennedy issued his historic challenge to "go to the moon in this decade," he set America on a course that would forever change the way we look at the night sky. With the brave men and women of Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab and Shuttle, JFK tuned an entire generation to the awe and mystery of the cosmos. • Alan Shepard, the astronaut who took the first step upon Kennedy's courageous path, died July 21, 1998. His death marked the end of an era at the cusp of a new millennium. • Against the backdrop of mourning this one hero, in October the National Aeronautics and Space Administration celebrates the thousands of scientists, engineers and managers—both unsung and much lauded—who guided America through 40 years of adventure and discovery, decades that witnessed remarkable success and sorrowful failure. • Throughout those years Georgia Tech has had a special place at the forefront of humankind's first bold steps into the wider universe. Alumni, students and faculty at Georgia Tech—men and women who shared Kennedy's can-do attitude—have helped pave the way to the stars. •

Even in those early days of the National Advisory

Committee for Aeronautics, the Institute was well represented by people like Martial Honnell, whose pioneering work in television would send back the first images from space. Later came John Young, Tech's first and America's most experienced astronaut.

And Richard Truly, who would resurrect NASA after the Challenger disaster. • In m

40 years we have conquered many frontiers. We have walked on the moon and

^

visited planets. We have flung spacecraft into the immense void between stars. Yet

while breaking the barriers between terra firma and the limitless sky, we have barely crossed our own threshold, • The adventure is still new. The journey continues....

When Sputnik circled the Earth, it launched a new era of exploration

By Gary Goettling

,.

\!ia i

It was the beep heard 'round the world, and a wake-up call for the United States. • Millions of Americans were stunned when a beach- ballsized artificial satellite called Sputnik was launched into orbit by the Soviet Union in October 1957. Scientists at Georgia Tech were fascinated by the feat, and doubtless taken aback by the display of Soviet technological prowess. I But soon after the announcement, engineers at Tech's Engineering Experiment Station (EES) were zeroing in on the satellite's telemetry. • Radio station WGST broadcast a Sputnik information session with experts from Georgia Tech, including an EES engineer named Jesse James.

He described what he knew: "The information that the thing contains would really be a guess.

Whether or not it is sending back any information to the Russians would be entirely a guess. It may be possible that they are triggering the transmitter so that when it is over Russian territory, they receive information." • At the time, the U.S. space program was divided between satellite-development work and rocketry research, the latter primarily in terms of missiles for the military. Sputnik changed all that.

2fc * '

From Aeronautics to Aerospace Forty-plus years of pushing the envelope

Georgia Tech played a key role in making the "giant leap for mankind" possible.

Though the contributions of its faculty and research staff tended toward Tech's trademark kind of "unglamorous" scientific applied research, they were nonetheless vital to the complex task of landing astronauts on the moon and returning them safely.

36

T

he federal government infused the U.S. space program with an urgency that translated into a "race" for technological superiority. All space-related activities were brought together under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), formed in 1958. The heightened priority unleashed millions of research dollars for technical institutions across the country, particularly at Georgia Tech.

With its School of Aeronautical Engineering and the EES (now the Georgia Tech Research Institute) already well-established in communications, rocketry and other flight-related work, Tech was the logical beneficiary of NASA largesse. The sheer complexity of the space effort required a multidisciplinary approach, and here, too, Tech offered a proven track record through its ordnance work for the government.

For example, in the late '50s, EES ceramics engineers were experimenting with economical new ways to make missile nose-cones and engine nozzles from bonded, fused silica grains. The material they developed was able to withstand the thermal shock of re-entry into the atmosphere, and could also be molded into virtually any shapeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; similar to the characteristics of the tiles covering the space shuttle. Later research improved the material by adding ceramic fibers.

Among Georgia Tech's earliest activities directly related to the space program was Project Firefly. Before risking manned space flight, scientists had to know more about wind turbulence in the upper atmosphere. Beginning in 1959, physics Professor Howard Edwards supervised the investigation, which involved launching chemicalpacked canisters to a pre-determined altitude of between 50 and 90 miles. The canisters were ejected and exploded, and their contents diffused to create luminous clouds 30 to 50 miles wide. Special cameras, spectrographic equipment and radar recorded the clouds' behavior to determine windshear forces, speed and other factors.

In January 1964, more than a year before John Young, AE '52, would orbit the Earth three times in the first Gemini flight, scientists from Georgia

GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Fall 1998

Tech's Space Sciences Branch were already at work on the Saturn-class rockets that would eventually take Young to the moon.

At Cape Kennedy for the first flight of the Saturn I's second stage, Tech scientists recorded the launch and second-stage ignition sequence on ultraviolet and infrared film. By analyzing the exhaust gases at various points, they gathered data about the rocket engine's performance at different levels of the atmosphere. Observations of chemical reactions in the exhaust itself provided additional information about the physical and chemical characteristics of the upper atmosphere.

In April of that year, Tech joined the big leagues when NASA awarded a $1,000,000 grant for construction of a space research facility on campus.

Announcing the grant, Georgia Sen. Richard B. Russell said, "NASA's decision to finance construction of this space research facility is recognition of the important contribution Georgia Tech is making to the nation's space program and of the larger and broader role Tech will play in future space science and research development."

The Space Science and Technology Center (now the Knight Building) was dedicated in late 1967 with NASA director James Webb as guest speaker.

Webb noted that NASA had so far spent $6.5 million at Tech, with roughly a third of that for project research. Sustained contract work from NASA totaled $300,000 annually.

Two years later, the long journey came to a heart-pounding end as astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped gingerly from the lunar excursion module onto the surface of the moon.

Life After Apollo

T

ech's basic-research strength would be called upon again as a scaled-down NASA developed new objectives and projects following the moon landings. With emphasis shifting to the space shuttle and unmanned space probes, Georgia Tech scientists were often concerned with adapting or improving existing space technology.

Such behind-the-scenes work is exemplified by a materials degradation experiment. Researchers

Gary Meek

Wilbur and Orville Wright build the first successful powered airplane and make history's first sustained, controlled flight of a heavier-thanair machine.

deaafiM

1923 Hermann Oberth, a German pioneer in the theory of rocket flight, publishes The Rocket into Planetary Space.

Researching Re-Entry Calculations still guide the shuttle hack to Earth

D

r. Bob Roper remembers the standing joke at every informal gathering when one of his fellow space researchers would get up for a cup of coffee: "Hey, while you're up, why don't you get me another grant?"

That was 1969, when money for the space program "flowed like water," he says.

A professor and assistant dean in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Roper has devoted much of his research time to studying conditions in the upper atmosphere, particularly the area 50 miles up, where the second stage of rockets usually ignite.

That work, combined with research by other Tech faculty

members, led to what Roper considers his most significant contribution to the space program: a model for the space shuttle's re-entry. The trouble was, no one bothered to tell him.

Roper and his team had received a NASA grant to work out data for the engineering model of the shuttle's re-entry phase, particularly the blackout time when the vehicle would be enveloped in ionization and unable to communicate by radio. Formally called the Global Reference Atmospheric Model, it represents air density and winds as well as seasonal factors.

"It is fairly critical that they have a good handle on it be-

cause with a trajectory two degrees down from where they're supposed to be, they'll burn up. Two degrees too high, and they'll skip off the atmosphere," he says.

Several years later, with the space shuttle program well under way, Roper and his colleagues were visiting the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., when he first learned that the engineering model he had worked out at Georgia Tech was being used as the operational model as well.

"It came as sort of a shock," he says, laughing.

The calculations devised

by Roper and his team still guide the space shuttle, GT

Fall

1926 Robert Goddard, the father of modern v rocketry in America, — launches his first successful liquii propellant rocket

First issue Amazing Stories Magazine edited by Hugh Gernsback.

>R««A TECH

Gary Meek

In structural research with potential for space station or platform applications, Dr. Jonathan Cotton of mechanical engineering began working with composites to devise a material that could be used for constructing large truss networks. Working with Dr. John D. Muzzy of chemical engineering, he developed a flexible tubing made from carbon fibers.

Cotton's ongoing efforts in composites include developing materials for the construction of rockets, a hypersonic airplane and military aircraft.

from GTRI and the School of Electrical Engineering assembled a tray of lasers, films, holographic crystals and other electro-optic components to be placed in orbit aboard a satellite by the space shuttle. The tray was to be retrieved after 18 months to see what effect the space environment had on those components.

The experiment, carried aloft in 1984, yielded significant and unexpected results, in part because the Challenger explosion forced the tray to wait in orbit for six years.

Development of the U.S. space station, now an international venture, has been a major focus for Tech researchers. GTRI's Energy and Materials Science Laboratory analyzed large-dish solar collectors as a possible power source, while the Electronics and Computer Sciences lab evaluated a complex antenna coverage plan for the station.

Most recently, Wayne Tripp, a principal research engineer with GTRI's Sensors and Electromagnetic Applications Laboratory, has designed an antenna that will be used on the airlock of the station.

Called an Orlan antenna, the two-foot-long "loop" design must survive bashing by space packs, huge temperature swings, and serve as a hand- and foothold for astronauts clambering into space.

Dr. Satyanadham Atluri, a former Tech professor, was concerned with designing large lightweight structures that can compensate for their lack of stiffness. Otherwise, such structures in space would respond to the tiniest vibration or force and essentially vibrate indefinitely.

Aerospace Engineering Professor Anthony J. Calise is also interested in vibration in space, and has been looking at ways to reduce vibration that affects sensitive science experiments conducted onboard the space shuttle.

Professor Wayne Book has performed NASAsponsored research centered on ways to enhance the strength and dexterity of robotic arms. And Professor Richard Salant has developed an electronically controlled mechanical seal that promises a boost for the U.S. space program. By reducing onboard system weight, the new seal could increase the payload capacity of liquid-fueled rockets, space shuttles and other space vehicles.

Dr. L. Howard Olson, associate professor of textile engineering, tested materials for flexibility and strength that could be used to make space suits for astronauts working outside the station.

Simulating planet atmospheres was one of the ongoing projects begun at Tech in the 1980s by Dr. Paul Steffes of electrical engineering. Noting that the Voyager's observations of Jupiter were sometimes at odds with Earth-based observations, Steffes wanted to re-create the spacecraft's datacollection process to see what changes to the inStory continues on page 44 Fall 1998 • GE

1927

Charles Lindbergh makes the first nonstop transatlantic solo flight aboard the Spirit of St. Louis.

'^.'••••iRlB'-" i HHH

1929

mmm mmmmmmmm

1930 The Guggenheim Fund chooses Georgia Tech as its only school of aeronautics in the South—a $300,000 award that puts the school in the "big leagues."

WfsfSmSBaWsm

Chopper Probes Helicopters offer a novel idea for exploring Mars ^%ombine world-class \ J programs in rotarywing aircraft research, aerial robotics and spacecraft controls with Tech's fabled capacity for practical application, and you'll get a novel idea for exploring the Martian landscape.

Dr. Robert G. Loewy, chair of the School of Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech, proposes that a helicopter be used for the exploration of Mars. This past August, he presented his idea at a workshop on Mars exploration at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

His plan, he hastens to say, is only sketchy at this point, "really based on preliminary calculations that graduate student Andrew Baker and I did. Although we've probably carried these analyses further than most people, considerably more work must be done before we'll know whether our concept is practical."

The preliminary work describes a machine that is deployed from a spacecraft entering the Martian atmosphere and auto-rotates to the planet's surface. After a period in which solar panels charge its batteries, the Mars helicopter switches into its powered-flight mode and begins to explore the area in hop-scotch fashion.

"A helicopter offers a major advantage over other so-called aerial-exploration alternatives, since its rotors

40

GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Fall 1998

allow it to lower gently and have its instruments examine the surface and go somewhere else if it's unsuitable," explains Loewy, who has also made sketches of the machine.

"A drone airplane would be restricted to one flight since it's not likely to survive a landing or takeoff from unprepared surfaces," Loewy says.

"Empowered balloons are attractive alternatives, but have to go where the winds on Mars take them."

Even the most sophisticated robotic vehicle deployed to date, the Mars rover, is limited to surface exploration of only very small areas.

With all its conceptual benefits, building a Mars helicopter entails daunting technological challenges.

The Martian atmosphere has only 1 percent of the density of Earth's atmosphere. Although Mars' gravity is slightly less than 40 percent of Earth's, the device would have to be stingy in its consumption of power, since the only reasonable source of electricity would be solar, and sunshine may not always be bright on Mars.

"One requirement for all of these vehicles is they must fold up and fit inside the rocket which carries them from Earth to Mars, then deploy and get into flight configuration," Loewy says. "That means the vehiclesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;whatever it isâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;is somewhat complicated, and when a vehicle gets complicated, making it light in weight and reliable in operation becomes more difficult." GT

^^^^^^B

^BB^^^^A

.^^1

f^^^^^^

As far as there being fossils in this Martian meteorite, I think that particular idea is in the last stages of its existence."

The objects are minute—the largBradley doubts Mars "fossil" is est measuring but 750 microns evidence of life on the Red Planet across—and can only be seen through an electron microscope. s there life on Mars? The possibilAt Georgia Tech, Bradley's team ity has long been a staple of both duplicated the original researchers' science fiction and scientific speculascanning electron microscopy protion. cedures and found the same wormlike objects. But when they rotated The question was raised most reand tilted the meteorite specimens, cently in 1996 when a team of scienthe objects appeared to be inorganic tists from the Johnson Space Center, mineral lamellae or protruding Stanford University and McGill Uniledges. Their segmented surface versity announced the discovery of structures were actually artifacts of fossils in a meteorite determined to the gold and palladium coatings on be of Martian origin. Called the specimens. "They looked like "nanofossils" for their microscopic the edge of a stack of copy paper in size, they bear the imprint of what which a few pages are sticking up appears to be worm-like, segmented on edge," Bradley says. objects.

The sensational announcement Further analysis using transmisrated worldwide headlines and set sion electron microscopy revealed the scientific community abuzz for that magnetite crystals in the metewhat could have been the most sigorite were atomically intergrown nificant discovery in history. with the surrounding carbonates.

It could have been, but the growing The resulting complementary orientation of crystals means the magneweight of inquiry appears to have tites and carbonates must have found fatal flaws in the theory. And grown simultaneously at temperathe first investigation to question the conclusion was led by a Georgia Tech tures greater than 120 degrees Celsius, too high for biological organprofessor.

Dr. John Bradley is an adjunct pro- isms to exist, he adds. fessor in Materials Science and EngiBradley readily agrees that the neering and executive director of nanofossil controversy hardly MVA Inc., a micro-analytic company settles the broader question of life in Norcross, Ga. In an article pubon the Red Planet. lished this summer in the journal Me"It's not unreasonable that life teoritics and Planetary Science, Bradley may have existed once on Mars or, and his research team provided com- indeed, still exists. But if you want pelling evidence that the "nanoto answer that question, you would fossils" are actually crystallographic have to go to Mars and, ideally, take features of minerals in the rock. The a drilling platform with you." article is the group's third in a series He holds mixed feelings about of technical papers that have dishis unofficial role as spokesman for puted claims of biological evidence in the skeptics. "Scientists like to be the meteorite. remembered for proving things "It's been very controversial," says right, not proving people wrong," Bradley, who has been widely quoted he says. "It's a little bit unpleasant on the subject. "Some 20 papers have having to do this, but I believe it's essential. This sort of debate is very come out since our first one, and none of them have provided any evi- good for science—it's the way we're supposed to do it." GT dence to support the original claims.

War of the Words?

I

Fall 1998 • GE

1944-45 Nazi Germany uses the V-1 and V-2 rockets developed

by Wernher Von Braun and other scientists at Peenemunde to rain down warheads of up to 2,000 pounds on England and Allied forces in continental Europe.

Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier in a rocketpowered aircraft, the Bell X-1.

Hi-Fi in the Sky Steffes is playing with a new hand

A

small satellite dish atop the Van Leer Building is playing a huge role in the development of the next generation of satellite communications.

Dr. Paul Steffes, a professor in the School of Electrical Engineering, uses the dish to measure atmospheric effects on transmissions in the Ka band, a frequency previously unused

42

GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Fall 1998

by satellites.

The advantages, according to Steffes, include greater bandwidth.

"A Ka-band satellite can handle more than twice as many signals as a comparable Ku band or C band." he says.

And because the Ka band operates at such high frequency, ground-station antennas can be relatively small, he adds. The dish at Van Leer is only four feet in diameter.

Yet many industry experts thought the Ka band would be impractical for satellite communications, in

part because of the signal's susceptibility to atmospheric effects. But since NASA and Steffes have proven the technology, "Now there are 20 companies trying to build Ka-band communications satellites," he says.

The Tech uplink itself, built jointly with the Georgia Tech Research Institute, has drawn considerable commercial interest as a model low-cost ground station, Steffes says.

Steffes' work is part of a larger showcase of new technologies contained in the Advanced Communica-

tions Technologies Satellite program (ACTS), launched

by NASA in 1993.

In addition to Ka-band transmissions, ACTS has demonstrated extremely narrow beam shaping, electronic beam switching and onboard digital-signal switching, Steffes says.

"One of NASA's key businesses is the enabling of space technology, doing technical demonstrations for industry," Steffes says.

"Programs like ACTS are an effective way of ushering in the next generation of industry-based satellite systems." CT

Is Anybody Out There?

DeBoer combs the sky for extraterrestrial signals

D

r. David DeBoer's upcoming endeavor is not like trying to find a needle in a haystack; it's more like trying to find a needle in a galaxy of haystacks.

DeBoer is Georgia Tech's site coordinator for a pair of radiotelescopes located in Woodbury, Ga., near Columbus.

Perhaps the giant instruments' most intriguing project to date has been supported by the SETI Institute of Mountain View, Calif.—a search for extraterrestrial intelligence. SETI employed the Tech radiotelescopes in conjunction with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, W.Va. The latter, by virtue of its greater size and sensitivity, served as the lead facility.

DeBoer and his colleagues operated the "follow-up detection device."

"We acted somewhat as a filter device as well as a confirmation device," DeBoer explains. "We shadowed the West Virginia facility and looked everywhere it looked. Whenever it saw something interesting, it sent us location information so we were able to look very specifically and verify that the signal wasn't coming from an Earth satellite or someplace in our solar system."

DeBoer says that from a radio astronomy perspective, the universe is a very noisy place, so a search needs to be welldefined in terms of frequency and type of star; in this case, they were looking at stars similar to our sun.

Looking for what? "You look

for a very narrow-band signal, like a radio beacon," he says.

"Nature doesn't make narrowband signals, so if you find one, you can pretty much figure it's from an intelligent species."

SETI was the driving force behind Tech's association with the radiotelescopes. Originally owned by AT&T, the twin 100foot-diameter dishes had been abandoned for about 10 years when the SETI Institute decided to make them operational again in 1995.

"It took about a year to upgrade the facility and get it fully online," DeBoer says. "We replaced just about everything inside but the gears."

The SETI Institute has since moved its quest to an observa-

tory in Puerto Rico, but is planning to built its own array of radiotelescopes in California.

DeBoer expects Tech will be asked once again to provide support.

In the meantime, DeBoer is planning his own search for intelligent life in the universe.

"We'll be looking at solar-type stars that SETI didn't look at, and we'll use a different frequency as well," he says.

Maybe DeBoer will have better luck this time, since SETI didn't find evidence of intelligent life elsewhere in the sky—at least not yet.

"If we had, you would have heard about it," DeBoer laughs.

"There are a lot of places to look." GT

Fall 1998 • GE3

The United States establishes the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

1959 Explorer 6 gives the world its first view of Earth.

C-3PT"1

Gary Meek

Quieter Combustion Zinn is taking the noise out of takeoffs

F

or more than 30 years, Dr. Ben T. Zinn has been looking at some of the forces that make a rocket engine shake, rattle and roll. Zinn's work in solving problems associated with combustion instability has brought the School of Aerospace Engineering a designation as a center for excellence in combustion and propulsion, and earned him an international reputation. Zinn was named Regents' professor in 1973 and appointed to the David S. Lewis Jr. chair of aerospace engineering in 1992.

"The combustion process excites very large-amplitude acoustic waves or very intense sound inside an engine," says Zinn. "Usually they will destroy the engine very rapidly."

Using computer modeling, laboratory experiments and specially developed ejectors, Zinn develops new approaches to cancel or eliminate the destructive acoustical waves.

"We're also interested in finding ways to almost instantaneously detect them if they occur, then initiate preventive action that will dampen them."

Since many combustion-type engines produce potentially damaging oscillations, Zinn's research has applications in the next generation of low-emission gas turbines.

He is also studying how the oscillations may be harnessed to actually improve combustion. "The same pulsation that destroys rocket motors can do a lot of good in industrial applications." GT

strumentation signals, if any, were caused by the Jovian atmosphere. In a special freezer atop the Van Leer Building, Steffes and his students beamed microwaves through highly pressurized gases and recorded how the microwaves changed.

They compared their data to the information recorded by Voyager as it flew past Jupiter.

In recent years, Steffes' technique has been employed to study atmospheric effects on wave data in a number of different planetary conditions. And with a Radio Astronomy and Propagation Laboratory established on the fifth floor of Van Leer, it's no longer a rooftop operation.

Space research at Tech, in fact space research generally, has become more cooperative and collaborative in recent years. The Georgia Space Grant Consortium, established by NASA in 1989 and of which Tech is a charter member, established a national network of institutions involved in aerospace research, as well as those with outstanding programs in related fields in science, math and technology. The consortium encourages interdisciplinary training and cooperative programs among universities, government and private industry.

Another collaborative group is the Space Technology Advanced Research Center (STAR) at Georgia Tech. The center, which serves more as a professional organization, is intended to stimulate technology development toward space needs and applications. STAR'S 36 faculty members represent every science and engineering discipline at Tech.

Measure of Progress

I

n the nearly three decades since Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon, astonishing progress has been made in space technology. The shuttle has made space flight a common occurrence. The space station, despite its troubled history, will finally get off the ground in November when the first section is placed in orbit. Unmanned probes send back mountains of data and photographs from worlds still being discovered.

The United States, with continuing support from Georgia Tech, has assembled a mighty infrastructure for further exploration of the solar system and beyond.

Perhaps the best measure of technological progress over the past 30 yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and a deeper appreciation of the early space programâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;is contained in a remark made by Apollo 7 astronaut Don Eisele: "The entire manned space flight program that put a man on the moon was accomplished with technology the equivalent of a Commodore 64 computer."

Imagine. GT Gary Goettling is a freelance writer in Tucker, Ga.

44

GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Fall 1998

r/)

e perfect wlocal long distance internet calling card

WorldCom saves you money.

data

WorldCom donates a portion of your bill to The Georgia Tech Alumni Association.

GT and WorldCom, the perfect fit.

fax conference calling

0

0 0 0 0 0 0

toll-free numbers

A

one bill

00

Residential 1 8 0 0 - 6 9 4 - 3 3 4 6

Commas 1 8 0 0 - 5 3 9 - 2 0 0 0

COM

web sue

www. w c o m . corn

J E N N Y

P R

A S S O C I A T E S

u I T T

We Have 93,000 Associates Nationwide to Help You Relocate.

Let Us Find The Right Home For You. J

enny Pruitt & Associates is the name you can count on whether your next move is around the corner or across the country. As a member of the RELOSM Network, we work with the nation's top brokers to provide you with the information and contacts you need to make your move a success. Also, through our Partnership Advantage Program with Georgia Tech, we are able to offer unprecedented local and national real estate services including: • Premier real estate service for your needs in any city in the U.S. • Partnership discounts from preferred vendors • Educational seminars • Georgia Tech scholarship contribution for each closed sale As one of the most respected names in real estate, we are committed to providing the best service to our clients, and we are proud to be your exclusive alumni realtor sponsor. To find out more about our extensive real estate services, simply send in this coupon, or contact us by phone or e-mail. We look forward to serving you and all the members of the Georgia Tech community!

•

Yes! I would like a Jenny Pruitt & Associates National Relocation Specialist to contact inc.

•

Yes! Please send me information about the Jenny Pruitt & Associates' Partnership Advantage Program.

•

Yes! Please send me the FREE Jenny Pruitt & Associates' Atlanta Relocation Guide.

Telephone

on

JENNY PRUITT

CHRISTIE'S GREAT ESTATES

& ASSOCIATES, REALTORS* 990 Hammond Dr., NE, Suite 1035, Atlanta, GA 30328

(770) 394-5400 o r (800) 552-8608 e-mail: rclocniion^jcnnypruiti.com

web site: www.jeniiypiiiiii.eom

The American Diabetes Association describes our abetes program just one word...

"Recognized:" American Diabetes Association Recognition means we have the comprehensive, up-to-date programs people need to live a better life with diabetes.

All programs measure and report outcomes as well as physician and patient satisfaction. We also serve as the diabetes disease management program for several area insurance companies.

Services of the Diabetes Resource Center at Piedmont Hospital include: • initiation and education of patients going on insulin pumps • training and assistance with the use of the Glucommander • case management in partnership with the physician • outpatient classes, support groups, individualized instruction or counselling • education and counselling for pregnant women with diabetes and gestational diabetes

A

American Diabetes .Association,

' This diabetes patient education program has been awarded Recognition by the American Diabetes Association in accordance with the National Standards for Diabetes Patient Education Programs.

For more information, call 404-605-3823.

Diabetes Resource Center H B PIEDMONT UU HOSPITAL ^

PROZVLI1VA-

1968 Peachtree Road Atlanta, Georgia 30309

v

«-**'

p*

Their giant steps became symbols of American achievement

By John Dunn

• * • » »

i •* '

A 1 ,! *.**"—*;.»(»* -'•-'•*,

A * *

*L* • A <+ •

M

'

*"

'

t^

V

jr

-*»•

.

^

•s*.

,

'

? * *

No government agency has produced as many brilliant scientists and engineers, able administrators, and celebrated technicians as the U.S. space program. • But since the beginning, the heroes of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration have been the astronauts—men and women who rigorously study, train and prepare to climb in the saddle and shoot for the stars. • John Young, whose "jump" as he saluted the American flag on the moon (left)thrilled millions, was among the first. Georgia Tech has helped produce 12 astronauts—including three women. They have been among the best, each advancing the conquest of space.

Heroes in Space Georgia Tech graduates have been among NASA's top flyers

By John Dunn

The New York Times called Truly a "nononsense engineer well regarded on Capitol Hill" who is credited with "reviving the space shuttle program and making the craft

flightworthy."

NASA Photos

Richard Truly was the man the National Aeronautics and ~r I Space Administration called I UI y to snatch the space shuttle program from disaster during its darkest hour. Three short years later, his country called him to do much the same for all of NASA. Truly, AE '59, a former Navy test pilot and space shuttle astronaut, was head of the Navy Space Command on Jan. 28,1986, the day the shuttle Challenger exploded, killing six astronauts and schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.

Two weeks later, Truly was named NASA's associate administrator for space flight and was back at NASA headquarters in Washington. He was charged with reconstructing the space shuttle program, leading the Challenger recovery team and directing efforts to redesign shuttle boosters and overhaul safety procedures.

"The whole program was in disarray," Truly says solemnly. "Congress was up in arms; the media was up in arms. Nevertheless, there were people throughout NASA—and many Georgia Tech people incidentally—who were determined to rebuild the program. It was very, very difficult, but we had to run a professional accident investigation, which we did, find out what was wrong, and go argue for the dollars to rebuild the program."

The painstaking rebuilding of the space shuttle program, he says, was the hardest thing he has ever done.

"There were days when I honestly didn't think it was possible—not technically, but politically," Truly says. "There were days after the accident when I thought this couldn't be done. But we just were not willing to give up."

NASA's celebrated return to

Richard

Truly returning from one of his journeys into space. After a career as an astronaut, he went on to head NASA during the space agency's most critical period.

space came Sept. 29,1988, when Discovery lifted off from Kennedy Space Center. Truly also won approval to replace Challenger with the shuttle Endeavour, a spacecraft that incorporated technical lessons learned from more than five years of shuttle flights as well as advanced onboard computer and avionics technology.

President George Bush named Truly as the first astronaut to head the space agency, and the first to move from the military to the new post. Truly concluded a 30-year military career by retiring as an admiral one day before becoming NASA's eighth administrator in July 1989.

"This marks the first time in its distinguished history that NASA will be led by a hero of its own making, an astronaut who has been to space," Bush said.

At the same time, James R. Thompson Jr., AE '58, director of the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., was named deputy director of NASA. Howard E. McCurdy, a professor at American University and an authority on the space agency, told the Times the dual appointments represented "a NASA revitalization team, designed to put the stuffing back into the agency" that was knocked out by the Challenger disaster.

"Truly did that with the shuttle program, and Thompson put Marshall back together. Now their job is to do that for the rest of the agency."

Truly the Leader

T

ruly's leadership restored the nation's confidence in the space agency, and credibility to the space shuttle program. He solidified plans for Space Station Freedom and began a new space science and aeronautics research program. He initiated major reforms in NASA acquisition practices and streamlined the organization.

Truly left NASA in 1992 to become director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute. "1 spent two tours of duty at Georgia Tech. They were very different, but I loved both of them," Truly remembers. "In the 1950s, when I was a student, I thought I'd never get out. I did, and I was proud

Gary Meek

1960 ommunications

••••>••

1961 Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarian becomes the first person in space, orbiting earth aboard Vostok ton April 12.

rr/-f

•*u

,7 Just 23 days later, •ja America's JW ' ^ pioneer iiaiti*T astronaut, JW"*jJ, the late Alan ,*4gMw B. Shepard —&M Jr., rockets I into space in

£g

it *

/;« *• iqpj

Fall 1998 • GE

tne Mercur

y

«i • capsule Y \ 7 Freedom 7 for \wf a 15-minute, M 302-mile v2 suborbital ; 1 flight.

of it. My friends from those days are people I love "In the six years to keep up with. The second time was as director since I arrived to of GTRI, where I spent about four-and-a-half years join the NASA that went by in a big hurry. It was a great experileadership just after ence." the Challenger Truly now directs the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo. "We're in the tragedy, I have business of turning sunshine and wind into electriwatched the talented cal power and developing clean energy for the fumen and women ture," he says. of this elite agency A Naval ROTC student at Tech, after graduating in 1959, Truly became a Naval aviator. turn heartbreak "I enjoyed flying so much that one of my comand disarray into manding officers in the squadron talked me into the impressive putting in an application for test-pilot school," achievements and Truly says.

Truly was a student and later instructor at the superb organization Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School at of today. With 20 Edwards Air Force Base. Its commandant was safe and successful world-renowned test pilot Chuck Yeager, the first shuttle flights in the man to break the sound barrier.

Truly and Yeager became friends and have last 40 months, maintained contact over the years. "He was really scientific discoveries the person who got me into the space program." pouring in, space In 1965, Truly became one of the first military station Freedom astronauts for the Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory. In 1969, he became a NASA astronaut, on track, and our and was capsule communicator for all Skylab miswind tunnels testing sions in 1973, the Apollo-Soyaz docking in 1975, the airframes and and was pilot of the prototype space shuttle Enterspacecraft of prise in 1977.

Truly's first spaceflight was Nov. 12-14,1981, as tomorrow, they pilot of the shuttle Columbia, the first shuttle to be deserve to be very, reflown in space. He commanded the Challenger on very proud. With the first night launch and landing mission, Aug. your support, 30-Sept. 5,1983. He retired as an astronaut that their opportunities year and was named first commander of the Naval to inspire Americas Space Command.

Orbiting Earth in the space shuttle was thorpeople and drive oughly enjoyable, Truly says. "The most fun I had our country's was flying—looking out the window at the Earth and floating around like a kid. There was hardly a competitiveness day in the space part that I didn't enjoy the job. are boundless."

—From Richard Truly's Feb. 10,1992, t resignation letter . to President Bush

Right up to the very end—it's a great experience to have." ><jM(k As a former astronaut and admin r ^ j A istrator of the space agency, he has a j W unique perspective. Significant changes have occurred since 1965.

"Over the years the politics and the technology changed immensely," Truly says. "In the 1960s, it was a national priority to beat the Russians to the moon, and at that time, there was a huge amount of money poured into the pro-

gram. NASA's budget at the peak of Apollo was about four times as large in real dollars as it was when I was later administrator.

"But there were a lot of other differences, too.

The federal acquisition regulations that are in place today put a lot more discipline in the procurement business that was not in place in the 1960s. When there was a major engine failure or some setback, NASA could just move right out and start a new engine program. Today it takes years to get approval to start a new program through the Congress. National priorities changed.

Still, it is a great national program and has given many benefits to the nation."

Truly lists three: NASA is one of the few programs that conducts exploration; it has fostered an immense spin-off technology in overcoming the challenges of space exploration, producing applications that permeate American society; and it has been inspirational to society and to young people who are spurred to pursue the study of science and engineering.

A New Era for Astronauts

T

he characteristics of astronauts have broadened greatly over the past 40 years, Truly says.

"Back in the 1960s, there was a lot more emphasis on physical ability and conditioning," Truly says.

"That was natural because it was new, and nobody knew what the rigors of space would be. You tended to see people who not only were physically fit, but had proven themselves, particularly in the test-pilot business.

"As the years have gone by, and particularly as the spacecraft have changed—the space shuttle can carry eight or 10 people—you still need experienced pilots, but there is plenty of room for scientists in different fields. Today you have a mixture of military-experienced test-pilots and people who have dreamed of becoming an astronaut and actually gone to school and gotten advanced degrees in order to be competitive. In the '60s, that never was the case, because when all the people who were selected in the '60s were young, there wasn't any program. They might have read Buck Rogers, but there wasn't any real program to aspire to."

The space program changed as a result of the Challenger disaster, Truly says. And the rebuilt program has been extremely successful.

"What we did during that down period was not only fix the solid rocket motor and some of the other technical problems, but we also put the discipline back in the program," Truly says. "We made sure that everybody knew that safety was first. But it is very risky business. The only way to be really safe in the flying business is to stay in the hangar.

"No one wanted to do that." GT

John W. Young, AE '52, a Navy test pilot and fighter pilot, is the first Georgia Tech alumnus selected as an astronaut.

Fall 1998 â&#x20AC;˘ GE5

NASA Photos

J 0 [I I . M YOU flQ

"You had to learn a lot of stuff.

You probably only needed to know 1 percent of all the stuff you had to learn, but you didn't know which 1 percent it was."

54

J onn ^ Y°ung is ° n e °f o m , y a

dozen men to set foot on the moon. He is the first person to liftoff in space six times from Earth—seven liftoffs counting his 1972 Apollo 16 flight from the lunar surface. He was in command of the first shuttle when it soared into space.

Young, AE '52, is associate director (technical) at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. At 68, he counts windsurfing as one of his leisure activities and remains on active astronaut status.

The "technical" part of his title is in parentheses, he explains in an interview sprinkled with dry humor.

"There are about 20,000 people around here, and if anything goes wrong technically, it's my fault," Young deadpans. "Something is always going wrong.

"I counted up a couple of months ago, and I was working on 103 technical things. There are plenty of technical things to worry about in the space biz—things that we ought to be doing better."

Young rapidly recites the National Aeronautics and Space Administration mission "to expand human knowledge of phenomena, of atmosphere and space, and of the Earth, and our No. 2 requirement is to improve the use, performance, speed, safety and efficiency of aeronautic and space vehicles.

"There is always some improvement you can make that will really revolutionize the way you operate," he adds.

One improvement is the global positioning system, which is being tested now and soon will be placed in space shuttles, Young volunteers. The device will enable astronauts to "know" their position in space and eliminate the need for a cadre of technicians constantly following a shuttle via a huge tracking network.

A former Navy fighter pilot and test pilot, Young was selected as an astronaut in 1962—an era when astronauts underwent survival training in the event their space capsules landed in a jungle instead of the sea.

During his early career as an astronaut, Young says "the guys in the trenches" were completely absorbed in training as astronauts for the opportunity to fly in space.

"We were living on a different planet," he says figuratively, "working night and day—just like they train you to work at Georgia Tech. It helped me to get that training because 1 knew I could hang in there when we were working nights and days and weekends."

Astronauts today have many characteristics in

GEORGIA TECH • Fall 1998

common with the test pilots and fighter pilots selected when he started 36 years ago, Young says.

"The men and women who fly in space today are pretty darn tough," he adds. "They're really talented. They've gone through the school of hard knocks. They're self-starters, get-up-and-goers, and they hang in there and do the job.

"We have 2,500 people who put in to be astronauts. They won't all be astronauts, but their records show that they'll all do great things for the United States. A lot of them went to Tech."

About 40 percent of today's astronauts are mission specialists who haven't had previous flight experience, but are trained in such scientific and technical disciplines as engineering, medicine, biology and astrophysics.

Young says he derives pleasure out of simply doing his job.

"The most important part of the work that anybody does around here in flying space missions is before the mission," he says. "If you've done all your work, you can just enjoy the mission. If you haven't, and you run into problems, you can be in a world of hurt. You've got to be prepared."

In 1973, Young was made chief of the space shuttle branch of the Astronaut Office, providing operational and engineering support for the design and development of the space shuttle. The next year he was named chief of the Astronaut Office, with responsibility for the coordination, scheduling and control of astronaut activities, a post he held until May 1987. During his tenure, Young today: A little grayer, but still eligible for space.

astronaut flight crews participated in the joint American-Russian docking mission Apollo-Soyuz, the Space Shuttle Orbiter Approach and Landing Test Program, and 25 space shuttle missions.

From 1987 through February 1996, Young was special assistant to the director of Johnson Space Center for Engineering, Operations and Safety.

Young has twice been to the moon, orbiting it as command module pilot of Apollo 10 in 1969, and cavorting on its surface on the Apollo 16 lunar exploration mission in 1972. The spacecraft gave him a spectacular view of Earth.

"You could see it when you were flying around the moon—Earth-rise. It's kind of a funny thing, Earth-rise. It's really beautiful. But you could hold your thumb up in front of you and just cover the whole Earth up—5 billion or 6 billion people living there, and they are all covered up with your thumb.

"Everyone wants to take care of threatened and endangered species. I think that planetary exploration has shown us that the threatened and endangered species is that same guy we look at in the

Six Times in Space Young's three decades with NASA span America's love affair with space

J

ohn Young, the world's most experienced astronaut, commanded the space shuttle Columbia on its historic first flight in 1981, beginning modern-day space travel.

In all, Young has lifted off from Earth into space six times and once from the moon.

Young made his first space flight with Gus Grissom aboard Gemini 3 in 1965 on the first manned Gemini mission—a complete end-to-end test of the spacecraft. Young operated the first computer on a manned space flight on the mission, which also established that orbital maneuvers were possible. Young made his second flight as com-

mirror when we shave in the morning. I do believe that.

"We need to worry about looking after ourselves a little. I'm not so sure, knowing what we know about space exploration, that human beings aren't pretty darn unique critters."

The next century will mark the colonization of the moon and Mars, Young says.

"I think the greatest achievement of the human race will occur in the next century when we go back to the moon and on to Mars, and learn how to live and work on other places in the solar system," Young says. "We'll surely do that in the next century. We're going to get smarter, faster and learn better ways to do things."

That will happen, Young says, when space exploration becomes a national goal, and young people are challenged and inspired to fulfill a vision. GT

mander of Gemini 10 in 1966.

On his third flight, May 18-26, 1969, Young was command-module pilot of Apollo 10, which orbited the moon, completed a lunar rendezvous and tracked proposed lunar landing sites.

Young's turn to experience the lunar surface came three years later, April 16-27,1972, as commander of Apollo 16.

While Ken Mattingly orbited the moon, Young and Charlie Duke set up scientific equipment and explored the lunar highlands at Descartes. They collected almost 200 pounds of rocks and drove the lunar rover over 16 miles on three separate geology excursions.

Young even speed-tested the lunar hot rod.

On April 1214,1981, Young was commander and Bob Crippen was pilot of the Columbia, the first flight of the space shuttle.

The flight validated the shuttle as "a true aerospace vehicle" that "takes off like a rocket, maneuvers in Earth orbit like a spacecraft and lands like an airplane."

Young's sixth flight was as spacecraft commander of the space shuttle Columbia on its first Spacelab mission, Nov. 28Dec. 8,1983. For 10 days, the six-member crew worked 12hour shifts around-the-clock, performing more than 70 experiments in the fields of atmospheric physics, Earth observations, space-plasma physics, astronomy and solar physics, materials processing, and life sciences.

As an active astronaut, Young remains eligible to command future shuttle crews.

Fall 1998 • GE

Russian cosmonaut Valentina V. Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space, orbiting the earth 49 times aboard Vostok 5.

1965 Young makes his first space flight in Gemini 3 with Gus Grissom on March 23 and operates the first computer on a manned Gemini

$r

\&

Rich Clifford

I — y~ J df I [~"\ o y # I r\ I—/dvlo

Tech's first female astronaut, Jan Davis is a veteran of three flights into spaceincluding the first husbandwife flight.

56

Astronaut N. Jan Davis, Biol 75, the first female Tech alumnus to become an astronaut, is a veteran of three space shuttle flights.

She and her husband, astronaut Mark Lee, made headlines on her first shuttle flight in 1992 aboard the shuttle Endeavour—and received an out-of-this-world wedding gift from NASA. They were allowed to become the first couple to fly together in space. Although NASA policy forbids husbands and wives from flying on the same shuttle flight, an exception was made because Davis and Lee had been assigned to the flight 18 months before they were married.

Her first flight aboard the shuttle Endeavour, Sept. 12-20,1992, was

GEORGIA TECH • Fall 1998

NASA's 50th shuttle mission: Spacelab-J, a cooperative venture between the United States and Japan.

Davis was responsible for operating Spacelab and its subsystems and performing a variety of experiments.

Davis' second flight was aboard the shuttle Discovery, Feb. 3-11,1994. It was also the second flight of Spacehab (Space Habitation Module) and the first shuttle flight on which a Russian cosmonaut was a crew member.

Davis was the payload commander for her third mission, aboard Discovery, Aug. 7-19,1997.

Davis is on assignment from the Astronaut Office to NASA Headquarters where she is the director of Human Exploration and Development of Space.

Michael Richard "Rich" Clifford, MS AE '83, made three space shuttle flights and a spacewalk before leaving NASA in 1997 to become Space Station Flight Operations Manager for Boeing Defense and Space Group.

Clifford, who earned his undergraduate degree from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, became an astronaut in 1990. He first flew on the shuttle Discovery, Dec. 2-9, 1992, on a Defense Department mission.

He flew aboard Endeavour, April 9-20,1994, on a Space Radar Laboratory mission.

Clifford's last mission was aboard Atlantis, March 22-31, 1996, the third docking mission to the Russian space station Mir. Clifford performed a six-hour spacewalk, the first while docked to an orbiting space station.

John H. Casper

ISyE's Astronaut

Astronaut John H. Casper remembered Georgia Tech when he fulfilled a childhood dream and flew into space for the first time as pilot of the shuttle Atlantis. On board the shuttle was a secret military cargo—and a not-so-secret Georgia Tech flag.

Casper attended Tech for a year on academic scholarship in 1961-62 before accepting an appointment to the Air Force Academy.

He became an astronaut in 1985 and is a veteran of four space flights, his first as pilot of the Atlantis in 1990.

Casper was commander of the shuttle Endeavour, which de-

Michael J. Massimino was an assistant professor in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering when he was selected for the astronaut program in 1996. Having completed two years of training ana1,evaluation, he is qualified for flight assignment as a mission specialist. Currently, Massimino is assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Robotics Branch.

ployed a $200 million NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite to establish a national communications network supporting the shuttle and low-Earthorbit scientific satellites in 1993. The next year, he commanded a 14day mission aboard the shuttle Columbia, and in 1996 commanded EnL. Blaine Hammond Jr., deavour on a 10-day MS ESM 74, an astromission. naut since 1985, has been the pilot of two space shuttle missions.

An Air Force colonel, Hammond flew as Alan Poindexter, AE '86, a Navy test pilot, has pilot of the shuttle Disbeen selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate. covery, April 28-May 6, Lt. Cmdr. Poindexter began a year-long astronaut 1991, on the first untraining and evaluation program in August at the classified Defense DeJohnson Space Center in Houston. partment mission. He also was the pilot on a "I want to command a space shuttle mission, 10-day Discovery misand I'd like to fly on the sion in 1994 that inspace station," cluded the first use of Poindexter says. Forlasers for environmenmerly assigned at Natal research and the val Air Station Oceana first untethered in Virginia Beach, Va., spacewalk in 10 years he and his wife, Lisa, to test a self-rescue and their two sons, jetpack.

Zachary and Samuel, have moved to Houston. Poindexter received his master's degree from the Naval post-graduate school in Monterey, Calif. A Navy fighter pilot, he served in the Gulf War.

Alan Poindexter

Blaine Hammond

c

•

\~

1966 *

)

- f

"\

Young, as commander, and pilot Michael Collins in Gemini 10 complete dual rendezvous with two separate Agena target vehicles.

if"~i

^ H E S ^j^^Si

• \

m

SPBB

m i laBdaaal

WW

-,,.•

B 8 •

HBY^BVJ

•fHffl I ItAtt. ^S» .•;.',

1967 Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee die in a flash fire while performing a routine check of their spacecraft, later named Apolto 1.

The first humans orbit " the moon on Christmas Eve aboard Apollo 8.

Fall 1998 • GEj iRGIATECH

Scott Horowitz

Susan Leigh Still, MS AE '85, is only the second woman to pilot a space shuttle—and she made backto-back flights in 1997. Her April shuttle flight was cut short because of problems with one of the shuttle's three fuelcell power generation units, so she was allowed to pilot the Columbia again on July 1.

The abbreviated first mission lasted only four days, but the second flight, which spanned 16 days and focused on materials and combustion science research in microgravity, was near flawless.

An astronaut since 1996, Still received her undergraduate degree from Embry-Riddle University.

A native of Augusta, Ga., she enjoys triathlons, martial arts and playing the piano.

Susan Still

Susan Still was pilot on back-toback space shuttle missions as part of the first NASA crew (above) to fly together twice.

58

McArthur William S. "Bill" • McArthur Jr., MS AE '83, a veteran of two space flights, is assigned as a member of the space shuttle Atlantis crew on the 1999 mission to continue assembly of the International Space Station.

An astronaut since 1991 and a member of

GEORGIA TECH • Fall 1998

MENS A, he is a 1973 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, West Point. In 1993, McArthur served as a mission specialist on the seven-person lifescience research mission aboard the shuttle Columbia. In 1995, McArthur served as a mission specialist aboard the Atlantis on NASA's second shuttle mission to rendezvous and dock with the Russian Space Station Mir.

Scott J. "Doc" A Horowitz, MS AE 79, an astronaut since 1993, is a veteran of two space shuttle flights.

Horowitz was pilot of shuttle missions in both 1996 and 1997. The second mission aboard the shuttle Discovery was for maintenance of the Hubble Space Telescope. During the nineday mission, the crew retrieved and secured the telescope in the payload bay, and in five spacewalks, two teams installed two new spectrometers and eight replacement instruments.

war"

*-.»" #s

,9f~,

n

NASA Photos

Sandra Magnus Sandra "Sandy" Magnus, Ph.D. MSE, completed two years of astronaut training and evaluation in spring 1998 and is qualified for flight assignment as a mission specialist. She is the third Georgia Tech female to become an astronaut.

Magnus went from Georgia Tech to NASA in 1996 to begin two years of astronaut training for the space sta-

Becoming an astronaut has been alumnus Jud Ready's boyhood dream. The space program has fascinated him since first grade, when he discovered a book on space in the library.

"It was way too advanced for me," Ready says. "I learned how to use the dictionary, and I kept renewing the book week after week until the whole front and back of the card had nothing but my name on it."

Ready, MSE '94, MS MetE '97, is work-

1969

tion. As a teaching assistant at Tech while working on her doctorate, she received Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards in both 1994 and 1996. GT

ing on his doctorate and earning a pilot's license in preparation for applying to NASA for acceptance as an astronaut candidate.

He was a student of astronaut Sandy Magnus, Ph.D. MSE, when she was a teaching assistant.

"The minimum requirement calls for three years of job-related experience," Ready says. "A master's degree counts as one and a Ph.D. counts as three years."

He intends to apply as soon as he earns his doctorate, GT

Fall!998 ' G E

Neil Armstrong in Apollo 11 becomes the first human to step foot on the moon on July 16â&#x20AC;&#x201D; "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

1970 Apollo 13 abandons its lunar landing mission when an oxygen tank explodes while en route to the moon.

"Space is for everybody. That's our new frontier out there." — Christa McAuliffe, Dec. 6, 1985

Christa McAuliffe boarded the shuttle Challenger Jan. 28, 1986, hoping to inspire a nation of young pioneers to embrace and conquer "our new frontier." Though tragedy followed, the pioneering spirit survived.

Today, a second generation is joining the adventure.

Removed by four decades from NASA's birth, they are finding new ways to achieve McAuliffe's cosmopolitan vision of the cosmos. • The thousands for whom space is a vocation—for most an avocation as w e l l are developing the tools and technology that will allow us to probe ever deeper into a mysterious universe, that will allows us eventually to call other planets home, that will make us citizens of "our new frontier."

Fall 1998 • GEORGIA TECH

The Job's The Right Stuff Tech students take advantage of NASA

opportunity

By Jerry Schwartz The Georgia Tech co-op program has been one of the best ways to land jobs at NASA. The opportunities have come from a broad range of disciplines.

And in todays sophisticated world of space travel, Top Gun pilots no longer have the inside track for those astronaut jobs.

62

I

n the movie, The Right Stuff, astronaut candidates of the 1950s were recruited from the grizzled, fast-living and well-worn test pilots of the military services. But in today's world, a career in the space program can be assured while apple-cheeked engineering students have barely begun college.

Both students and space-industry recruiters say the best way—virtually the only way—into the space program is through a work-study cooperative program such as the one that has landed dozens of Georgia Tech students in jobs at various centers of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

"The co-op program has been our primary source of entry-level hiring, particularly for engineering jobs, for as far back as I can remember," says Bob Musgrove, manager of the cooperative education program at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston—better known as the Mission Control Center for Apollo moon missions and the space shuttle program. "We do some other hiring in different situations, but these are almost always people who come in with more experience and probably in different kinds of jobs. But in terms of coming right out of school, there is a high demand in NASA for people who want to co-op. We're always going to look at them first."

The experience of students confirms what Musgrove says. Clint Baggerman, a 23-year-old Tech senior who was on the last of five work assignments with NASA in the summer and will graduate in December, says, "Virtually all entrylevel employment—at Johnson Space Center, at least—is done through the co-op program."

With NASA in a hiring freeze, the importance oi spending time in the co-op program is even more important, says Sarah Graybeal, a 20-yearold Tech junior majoring in aerospace engineering.

"Definitely with the hiring freeze, it seems if they have a position available, you've got a much higher chance than anybody else if you've been a co-op. It gives you a big foot in the door."

It's not just NASA itself that depends on a coop program for entry-level recruits. "If somebody

GEORGIA TECH • Fall 1998

co-ops and does a decent job, then they are 99 percent guaranteed a job as long as the work is there," says Patsy Smiley, human relations representative for employment at the Johnson Space Center for the Boeing Corp. "There's no question that the coop program is the best way. It gives us the chance to look them over, and they get to know us and the kind of work involved."

But what precise educational qualifications are Smiley and Musgrove seeking in candidates for engineering jobs? Surprisingly, there are no precise qualifications for successful candidates entering the space program.

In particular, aerospace engineers are not favored over engineers in any of several other disciplines. "Aerospace engineers are a very small part of the disciplines we use," Smiley says of Boeing's entry-level hires into the space program. "Probably the least we would use is chemical. But we hire a lot of mechanical, electrical, computer science and computer engineering graduates."

Musgrove agrees. "I'm looking at the list of folks that we hired for the upcoming quarter of the co-op program. There are seven aerospace engineers, six electrical engineers, and nine mechanical engineers and 'other.'

"We try to maintain fairly good balances between those three majors. Occasionally, we might hire someone with a math or physics background.

But I'd say that, if anything, we lean more toward mechanical than anything else. That may just have to do with the fact that they are going to be exposed in school to several disciplines. They'll generally have some computer background and some familiarity with the other areas of engineering."

A Broad Range of Opportunity

B

ut Musgrove and the co-op students say that doesn't necessarily mean that NASA has specific jobs that fit only mechanical engineers, and others that fit only candidates with electrical engineering backgrounds, and so on. In fact, the co-op students can find themselves working across a broad range of jobs, frequently unrelated to their majors.

*'.i.' r *. ; ,i:';*. ; * il ÂŤ^i*

1972

Young commands the Apollo 16 lunar exploration mission, April 16-27; he and Charlie Duke set up scientific equipment and explore the lunar surface, driving 16 miles in the lunar rover and collecting almost 200 pounds of rocks.

Co-op students get "a big foot in the door" for available jobs. Tech co-op students at the Johnson Space Center in Houston include (clockwise from top left) Quincy Harp, Terrance Cravin, Clint Baggerman and Craig Forest.

"Having knowledge of more than just your major or specialization is good/' says Keith Lee, who is in his fourth of five years as a Tech co-op student. "I have done some computer science-related work and some physics-related work for entire coop sessions, even though I am an electrical engineering major. Nowadays, jobs are becoming interdisciplinary, and I think Georgia Tech has helped prepare me for this."

His educational advice: "Don't focus or narrow yourself too much. There are a lot of opportunities to do various things, but you have to be wellrounded."

"That's definitely a growing trend, but it's obviously not confined to the space program," Boeing's Smiley says. "Employers in all industries realize they need much more of a well-rounded type of person instead of pigeon-holing people with a specific education for a specific job."

Graybeal agrees. "What I tell potential co-ops who ask me questions is that NASA isn't looking

for one particular type of person. You don't have to be a nerd," Graybeal said. "1 guess the general feeling I get is that there is no definite educational route to take. Do what you feel is best for you and you'll succeed," she says.

The interdisciplinary approach won't hurt even if students decide, ultimately, to choose a career that isn't space related.

"I've talked to a lot of people who have co-oped at NASA but didn't choose to go to work in the space program or couldn't find a job because of the hiring freeze," Baggerman says. "They all had secondary job offers in other fields they were more than happy with. In fact, I haven't talked to anybody who didn't get a job they love."

Smiley agrees. "Graduates who have NASA or Boeing on their resume can get a job just about anywhere. That's something that looks good on a resume. But in the past few years, it has been such an employees' market that these kids are getting offers months before they graduate.

1973 Pioneer 10 makes the first Jupiter flyby.

Fall 1998 â&#x20AC;˘ GE IRGIA TECH

M"t-_/-

M

h

A

"We called Rice University in Houston last April looking for job applicants, and they only had three seniors who had not already found jobs. And it's the same at just about every other school," Smiley says.

A Passion for Space

I

f there's one thing that almost all future employees of the space program have in common, it's an enthusiasm—even a passion—for space exploration. "Most people I meet at work are simply normal people just like you and me who just happen to be crazy about space," Graybeal says.

Graybeal confesses to becoming positively giddy when, during her last work assignment, she was granted the privilege of working in the Mission Control Center for a space shuttle flight and, at one point, even speaking over the communications link that connects controllers and the shuttle.

"My interest in working in the space program began when I was in ninth grade and took a trip to Florida to see the Kennedy Space Center," she recalls. "I'd always thought space stuff was neat, but I hadn't realized I could make it my life until then.

So, all through high school I knew I wanted to be an aerospace engineer and work for NASA." Baggerman says, "The co-op director once told me that he looks for two types of people: good workers who are interested in space and good workers who will become interested in space."

Ron Sostaric, a 21-year-old aerospace-engineering major who began his fourth year at Tech last fall, admitted to a long-term fascination with space. His girlfriend, he says, was given the nickname "Buzz" because "she's a space crazy, just like a bunch of us."

Sostaric, who worked on some payloads for

STS-95—the John Glenn space shuttle mission— among other assignments during his last work tour, said, "I have always been fascinated by airplanes and space."

Such enthusiasm is helpful because salaries at NASA and even at the private companies involved in the space program are not as lucrative as starting salaries in other fields—particularly computer engineering. "We have a tough time competing with the IBMs and the other companies on the computer side," Smiley says. "The people are here in our industry because they really want to be. It's certainly not a bad living, but some of these kids are getting offers straight out of school for $45,000 or $50,000 on the commercial side. So most of the people here have literally wanted a space career their whole life."

But if the co-op program is the best route into ground-based engineering jobs, is it still true that those Top Gun fighter pilots continue to have the inside tract for the real superstar jobs of the space program: astronaut?

Don't be too sure.

"I intend to be an astronaut," Sostaric says flatly. He continues to maintain his ambition with two more work tours and four quarters of school remaining before graduation.

And Graybeal says, "Somewhere along the way, 1 will definitely be putting in an application for the astronaut program.

"Space is the most interesting, fascinating and mysterious thing that I know of," she says. "There are so many questions about the universe that we haven't got the slightest answer for. But the space program is going to help us find them." GT

1973

NASA launches Skylab.

mm

1975 The United and Soviet U combine for

1976 July 20 Viking lands on Mars and sends the first pics.

Jerry Schwartz is a freelance writer in Atlanta.

Craig H. Hartley

1977 NASA sends Voyager V and 2 to tour the | outer planets, r

Fall 1998 • GEj IRGIA TECH

Point Man Charles Kohlhase is leading the charge to keep Cassini on track to Saturn

By Hoyt Coffee

The giant probe is already lumbering toward its target, but some would like to halt the magnificent journey.

Charles Kohlhase

A

fter four decades of planning planetary excursions at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Charles Kohlhase retired earlier this year. But he's still out front of the effort to keep his last big mission on course.

Launched in a spectacular light show along the dark Florida coast a year ago, the Cassini probe—last of the giant Mariner series—has already whipped around Venus once in a slingshot maneuver to pick up speed. Now it's headed for a similar rendezvous with Earth next August, the third of four acts in a planetary ballet that will give Cassini a 50,000-mileper-hour boost.

"One of the things my office

did was design the special flight path needed—from Earth to Venus, again to Venus, again to Earth, then to Jupiter and finally to Saturn—to gain enough speed to get there," says Kohlhase, Phys '57, the mind behind some of NASA's most sensational successes in deep space.

Once the six-ton probe reaches Saturn, it will use the Ringed Planet's gravity to shift orbit and fly by the 18 known moons for four years, studying them with 12 scientific instruments. Of particular interest to planetary scientists is the giant Titan, a moon larger than the planets Mercury and Pluto, which is believed to have conditions similar to those on Earth in the distant past.

"We want to explore Titan to learn more about how life might have begun on Earth," Kohlhase says.

To test Titan's dense, murky atmosphere of nitrogen and methane, the European Space Agency sent along the Huygens lander, which will detach from Cassini, drop through and analyze the primordial gases, and touch down, taking a panoramic photo of the moon.

First of all, though, Cassini must get by a roadblock much closer to home, a feat that's keeping Kohlhase busy even in retirement.

One in a Million

F

actions that failed to halt the mission on the launch pad

66

GEORGIA TECH • Fall 1998

last year are trying to force NASA to abandon the $3.3 billion probe and send it hurtling off into the vastness of space.

They are concerned that Cassini may hit Earth during the fly-by, releasing plutonium from its radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs).

"There's a fairly major movement to stop us from flying by the Earth," Kohlhase says. "They think the plutonium threat outweighs the scientific value of going to Saturn.

"So the thing I am involved in, being a scientist, I guess, who understands in simple terms what we are doing to make the Earth flyby safe, is acting as a spokesperson and consultant to meet with groups that say this is a terrible thing, that we are keeping the risks secret and so forth."

The sun is so dim in the inky recesses of Saturnian space, solar arrays could not generate sufficient electricity to power the craft without being too heavy to launch. So Cassini's designers turned to RTGs, which have been in use since the days of Apollo. Utilizing a "ceramiclike" form of plutonium, not the same type used in nuclear weapons, the RTGs create electricity by using the heat generated by the plutonium's natural decay.

Besides, Kohlhase says, JPL has successfully navigated craft in deep space for 40 years in projects like Mariner, Viking, Voyager and Galileo—all missions he helped design. When

Richard Truly, AE '59, pilots the suborbital space shuttle prototype Enterprise in landing tests.

Movie: Star Wars (first of the trilogy)

by George Lucas

m.{

''

1981 Young commands Space Shuttle Columbia on April 12-14; the first i shuttle flight I begins a | new era of space I travel.

V. '*,

V

7AV*

Our condolences to today's opposing team.

This year the Yellow Jackets have only one goal. If you're going to stand in the way, all we can say is good luck. We wouldn't want to be in your shoes.

For information about BellSouth Mobility service call 404-847-3700.

® BELLSOUTH Mobility Count On It." ©1998 BellSouth Mobility

NASA

Cassini is the last of the giant Mariner-class probes.

Once the six-ton probe reaches Saturn, it will use the Ringed Planet's gravity to shift orbit and fly by the 18 known moons for four years, studying them with 12 scientific instruments.

Sally Ri member the Challen

crew, becomes the first American

Cassini passes by Earth at about 1,200 kilometers, four times the distance of Galileo's slingshot swing-by, Kohlhase says the odds of an accident are one in a million.

Starry Knight

K

ohlhase's outreach effort is taking another tack as well, one well suited to any mission with a Southern California connection: he's making a movie.

Not a movie in the usual sense, but a 23-minute computer animation about the Cassini mission meant to inform youngsters about science.

"It's made like Toy Story/' he says. "It's an exciting way for young people to learn some of the principles of physics, in particular what photons are and how they carry information and light throughout the solar system."

2004: A Light Knight Odyssey is being produced in conjunction with Entertaining Solutions, and some of Tinseltown's well-known names are signing on for the effort gratis: James Earl Jones, John Travolta, Michael York, Ann Archerâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; even Jerry Lewis, who has agreed to portray the bad guy.

"This story is all about how information comes from things we see, but it is cast in a Cassini/Saturn space environment," Kohlhase says. "There are 68 principles of physics that are mentioned or at least occur in the story in one form or another." GT

Truly commands Challenger in the first night launch and becomes the first grandfather to go in space; crew member Guion S. Bluford is the first African-American in space, Aug. 30-Sept. 5.

g, the world's most experienced astronaut, commands Columbia on the first Spacelab mission, Nov. 28-Dec. 8.

Fall 1998 â&#x20AC;˘ GE iRGIA TECH

m

Star Search SETI investigator Jon Jenkins scans the heavens for signs of intelligent life

By Shawn Jenkins

''Every star out there is a potential home to other beings.

"What we don't yet understand is how often intelligent life arises."

70

J

on Jenkins' laboratory is the atmospheres of uninhabitable worlds. As a NASA scientist and principal investigator for the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Life) Institute, Jenkins probes distant stars and the hostile outer layers of planets like Venus searching for conditions favorable for sustaining life. In a larger sense, he is helping to answer one of mankind's most timeless questions: Are we alone in the universe?

A possible answer to this question lies in a formula known in the scientific community as the "Drake Equation." Derived in 1961 by SETI President Dr. Frank Drake—a colleague of the worldrenowned astronomer and author of Contact, the late Carl Sagan—the equation identifies several factors that combine to predict the number of intelligent civilizations that may exist in our galaxy.

"My research ties in with the part of the Drake Equation that determines the fraction of planets that are habitable," Jenkins says.

Through a process called radio occultation, Jenkins is able to a examine the atmosphere of Venus remotely by analyzing radio signal data transmitted from the Magellan orbiter or other spacecraft. The radio signals provide a profile of Venus' density, pressure and temperature.

With an atmospheric pressure almost 100 times

GEORGIA TECH • Pall 1998

that of Earth and temperatures reaching 900 degrees Fahrenheit, one wonders why Venus attracts the attention of someone looking for life-sustaining planets.

"Venus is basically Earth's twin," Jenkins says. "It's kind of a laboratory whereby we can study what could happen to Earth if conditions were slightly altered—we're only talking about a 30 percent decrease in the distance from the sun. That's pretty small compared to most distances in the solar system. One question is, 'Over what range of orbital distances can you have life as we know it?' About 50 percent of my research involves trying to understand Venus' atmosphere, which is shrouded in mystery by sulfuric clouds."

The other portion is directed toward detecting Earth-like planets around other stars.

"In the lifecycle of stars, our sun is a 'main sequence' star—one that is burning hydrogen, rather than helium," Jenkins says. "Main sequence stars are the most hospitable to planets because they haven't expanded to engulf them yet. These are the places where you would look for extra-terrestrial life. The project I spend most of my time on is called the Kepler Mission. It is a proposal for a space telescope—one that would be different from the Hubble telescope in the sense that it would not be making 'pretty pictures.'"

The Keppler telescope would search a star-rich piece of the sky called Signus, trying to detect an infinitesimal decrease in light (0.01 percent) which results from an Earth-like planet transiting a solartype star.

"Every star out there is a potential home to other beings," Jenkins says. "What we don't yet understand are: how those beings arise; how often you see a star like the sun that has planets; and how often intelligent life arises. Also, how often does intelligent life overcome its own extinction to start reaching out to contact other civilizations?"

Though it may not have been written in the stars, Jenkins' career in space science was almost a foregone conclusion, having grown-up "in the

1984 Challenger's crew makes the first tethered spacewalks and captures a dummy satellite, Feb. 3-11.

shadow of Apollo and the shuttle," on Merritt Island, Fla. His parents first met at the Kennedy Space Center and made their careers there.

His road to Georgia Tech was almost as predictable. "My dad [Louis Jenkins, AE '561 was a Tech graduate, and I was the only child in the family who had an interest in engineering. It would've been hard not to at least apply."

While at Tech, Jenkins spent his first two summers as a NASA intern writing software for Spacelab at the Kennedy Space Center. When he ran into money troubles, his roommates suggested he talk to Paul Steffes, a professor in electrical and computer engineering who was looking for undergraduate research assistants.

"He was doing research on planetary atmo-

spheres for NASA under various grant programs," says Jenkins, who earned his undergraduate, master's and doctoral degrees under Steffes' direction. "He remains one of my colleagues, and we collaborate on various efforts, mainly with regard to the atmosphere of Venus."

Praising the "versatility" of his electrical engineering degree, Jenkins is also using his background in signal processing and communications to search for intelligence from a source he can actually reach out and touch.

With funding from the National Science Foundation, Jenkins is collaborating with another former SETI scientist to analyze the complex clicks and whistles of the dolphin language.

"We're tracking the development of the

Challenger explodes, killing all seven crew members, Jan. 28.

Fall 1998 â&#x20AC;˘ GE3 IRGIA TECH

1986 Rutan and Yeager make the first nonstop, nonrefueled around-the-world flight in Voyager.

Truly is named associate administrator for space flight and is credited with reviving the shuttle program and making the spacecraft flightworthy. I

1988 smonauts Ttov d Manarov set a of 366 days ~ on Mir. The Soviet space shuttle Buran flies without a pilot.

whistles of the young dolphins as they interact with their mothers and other dolphins/' Jenkins says.

"They go through this process where they acquire the ability to make various sounds, then put those sounds together in meaningful ways."

The project could eventually expand to a study of the commonality of languages among various species of animals.

"This relates to SETI, too," Jenkins says, "because it relates to the intelligence of a species and how likely it is that if you have life arising, it would be capable of building a radio telescope and sending a signal that Project Phoenix could detect—it's hard to imagine that occurring without language."

Project Phoenix, formerly NASA's High Resolution Microwave Study (Project SETT), is the SETI Institute's primary search for extra-terrestrial intelligence. It nearly died on the floor of Congress in 1995, but rose from the ashes of bureaucracy thanks to funding from private donors.

"SETI and planetary programs in general enjoy a popularity among the public," Jenkins says.

"But Congress ranked SETI along with UFO stories that you would read in National Enquirer. Though SETI itself has very firm scientific foundations and was broadly endorsed by the scientific community, it had a 'giggle factor' associated with it.

"Some scientists are critical of the program because a null result doesn't generate an increase in our knowledge base. All you can say is, 'We haven't looked far enough, or we haven't looked long enough.'

It's like playing roulette—you don't know what the odds are, but you know that when you win, it's a huge payoff. We can't exclude the possibility that there are other civilizations out there. And SETI is satisfying a fundamental necessity of human nature—to satiate our inquisitiveness and curiosity." GT

GEORGIA TEC H • Fall 1998

The Jackets Take The Field (At Bobby Ootid Stadium/Grant Field) Finally, an officially Licensed color rendering of one of the most exciting football stadiums in the nation-Bobby Dodd Stadium/Grant Field. James Aldeon Dunn, Architect and Georgia Tech alumnus, has captured the spirit of Georgia Tech and Atlanta with this very exciting limited edition print. The Jackets Take The Field was created to honor the Bobby Dodd era that began the traditional, home game, grand entrance of the Rambling Wreck Car leading the football team on the field. All prints are printed on acid-free premium stock paper, triple matted with a plaque on the top and a porcelain school pin at the bottom. All picture frames are made from solid oak with a total picture measurement of 13 inches by 16 inches. Each print shall be signed and numbered by the artist.

Go Jackets!!

Atlanta Braves Past and Present Atlanta Braves Past and Present is a unique gift idea for the ultimate Braves fan.

James has combined the demolished Fulton County Stadium along with the new Turner Field to create an exciting collectors item. Unique signature pins of Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, and the Braves Cap are centered between the two renderings.

All prints follow the same strict quality standards and size of the Jackets Take The Field.

Go Braves!! ' A digital copy of either print on a standard 3.5 floppy for windows 95 wallpaper application - $25.00 1 Both prints as a set - $150.00 - The Jackets take the Field - $80.00 • The Atlanta Braves Past & Present- $95.00 • All prices include tax, S & H • Phone in your order: Visa/MasterCard Toll free 1-800-769-5848 • Mail in your order: Check or Money order Dunn Studio 6199 Patriot Court Columbus, GA 31909 • All orders received on or before December 15th are guaranteed delivery before Christmas

Atlanta Braves (Past and Present)

Remember Your First Car?

iriTemp

That Was Easy.

Now, can you remember how much you have invested in Stocks vs. Bonds?, or International Securities vs. Domestic Securities?

The way your investment assets are allocated could be the biggest factor in determining your investment success.

The relationship between you and your broker should be good enough to last a lifetime.

W$fflUm8m&

After all, your investments have too.

David W. O'Brien Investment Limited Partner Jany Allen Investment Broker

J.C.Bradford&Co. MI;MI!I-:RS NI \V YORK STOCK TXCHANCI:, INC. ÂŤ MI;MHI:R S.I.T.C

One Buckhead Plaza 3060 Peachtree Road Suite 1200 Atlanta, GA 30305 404-848-8581 800-233-0141 www.jcbradford.com

Back to the Future A new series of X vehicles is setting the stage for the next generation of space flight

By Hoyt Coffee

I

n this era of "better, faster, cheaper" projects, NASA scientists are deciding the shape of spacecraft to come by taking some hints from the past. As they did with the experimental airplanes of the 1950s and early '60s—rocket-powered craft that just nudged the threshold of space—researchers today are designing and testing a new series of "X" vehicles, laying the groundwork for spacecraft of the next millennium.

"You can almost say it is 'back to the future,'" says Curtis McNeal, AE '72, chief engineer and deputy program manager on the DC-XA program.

"When we look back at the rate at which advancements were made in the '50s and '60s—to be honest they were kicking butt. They had a lot of new frontiers back then to tackle, and they tackled them on multiple fronts and relatively inexpensively.

"One of INASA Administrator DanJ Goldin's guiding visions is that we need to go back to the way we used to do business, which is to design small, low-cost vehicles to tackle individual problems, rather than one vehicle to do everything for everybody."

A Plume of Flame Originally called the Delta Clipper, the 43-foot DCXA that McNeal worked with before moving on to improved booster technology was itself something of a throwback: a rocket that took off—and landed—on its tail.

"Everybody from the '50s and maybe even the '40s remembers Buck Rogers taking off and landing on a plume of flame," McNeal says. "That had always been everybody's dream, everybody's ideal of how to do it. In fact, that is how we landed on the moon. But it had never been done here on Earth until we did it."

After a series of Air Force tests, NASA flew the Clipper four times, as few as 26 hours apart, before a landing accident ended the trials. The DC-XA lifted off the launch pad, flew as high as 10,300 feet and hovered. Controllers put the craft through a variety of maneuvers, rotating through large angles, 74

GEORGIA TECH • Fall 1998

twisting, even flying sideways, "which is another thing that rockets don't typically do and which really twists your mind when you see it done for the first time," McNeal says.

An X-15 for the '90s While it completed all but one of its technologydemonstration goals and set some ground rules for maintaining a single-stage rocket, the DC-XA was limited to lower altitudes and speeds. Expanding that envelope falls to a follow-on of the Clipper, the X-34.

Designed and engineered by Orbital Sciences Corp., the X-34 can be considered "an X-15 for the '90s," says John Hudiburg, AE '83, who was chief engineer on the project. Like the X-15, the new experimental craft is launched from underneath an airplane, rockets up to about 250,000 feet—roughly the altitude reached by Alan Shepard on the first Mercury flight—and Mach 8, then lands on a runway. Unlike the X-15, the X-34 does this without a pilot: it is intended to be totally autonomous, thanks to computer technology that vastly outpaces even that used on the space shuttle.

"X-34 is an experiment in building rockets and planes, rocket planes in this case, that is significantly more cost effective than anything we've done before at NASA," says Hudiburg, who worked on the International Space Station before taking on the X-34 project. "Its goal is to enable truly low-cost reusable launch vehicles."

With space shuttle launches costing between $200 million and $400 million each, Hudiburg says the X-34, as well as the X-33/VentureStar project to come, aims to cut the "fire and smoke" component of space flight to about a tenth of the shuttle's cost.

There is a trade-off in capability, however, even though the X-34 is not intended as an actual launch vehicle.

"A shuttle can launch very large satellites in orbit," Hudiburg says. "This can only carry about a 400-pound payload, and it's suborbital at this point; it won't go into a full Earth orbit. It's just for

1989 President George Bush names Truly administrator of NASA, saying, "This marks the first time in its distinguished history that NASA will be led by a hero of its own making, an astronaut who has been to space."

Cj^Jfk^ testing the technologies that will ultimately put satellites in orbit." X-34 does provide a substitute for the shuttle in an important arena—testing critical components without endangering human life.

Constructed in large part of "low-tech" materials, X-34 will fly about 24 times a year, beginning in March 1999, and "float" in space for about two minutes. And at a low-maintenance cost of about half-a-million dollars per flight, it will make space more accessible for researchers with smaller budgets.

The Future of X Once its technologies are proven, Hudiburg says private industry may scale the vehicle up as a new launch system.

"Orbital Sciences is very keen on this/ l e says.

"They want to replace the Pegasus, which is a solid, expendable rocket. It's the most cost-effective way to get to space today, but they want to dramatically drop the price, and they potentially can do that. They have all the design and the computers, and they could easily multiply by two."

The technology will be made available to other American companies, tot).

Another in the experimental series is the X-33,

which will fly higher and faster than the X-34. The X-33 will take off vertically, fly to an altitude of about 75 miles—at about 14 times the speed of sound—and land on a runway. The first pieces of the X-33 reached the Lockheed X-33 Martin Skunk Works in California in February. Its first flight at Edwards Air Force Base is slated for July 1999.

"Beyond that is a program we have under way at Marshall called Future X," McNeal says. "Future X is actually a series of vehicles we expect to start either annually or semi-annually: other vehicles, showing other reusable technologies over other parts of the flight envelope, and with different pron systems." first Future X proposals are being consid•d this month as NASA celebrates its 40th birth-

day. The first concept should be contracted a month later. McNeal says it may be flying in less than three years.

The Next Shuttle?

While the new series of experimental rocket planes is in line with Goldin's "better, faster, cheaper" mandate, their ultimate goal of a next-generation

shuttle may be slow to develop.

According to NASA's "Human Exploration and Development of Space" strategy, the current shuttle will remain in use for an indefinite time.

And the economics involved in creating even a smaller replacement may further extend the development curve, especially given the costs of ensuring astronaut safety.

"I think it's going to be quite a while before they replace the shuttle," says James R. Thompson Jr., AE '58, executive vice president of Orbital Sciences and former NASA deputy administrator. "That's not because you couldn't, but the NASA budgets are very flat, if not shrinking, particularly in real-year dollars." Currently, he says, there is no real need for a new shuttle, and the country isn't in position to commit the money required.

Also, it's cheaper to use expendable systems, such as Orbital's air-launched Pegasus and vertical-launched Taurus, for smaller payloads.

"Unless you've got very high traffic, then 1 don't think you really justify the added costs of putting in a reusable system," says Thompson, known as "Rocket Bob" to his friends. "There are higher priorities in the country right now than the space program.

"Being an enthusiast in the space program, I hate to say that, but I think it's a fact." GT

1990 The first paying space passenger, a Japanese journalist. joins the , crew of , SoyuzTMU.

1991 L. Blaine Hammond Jr., MS ESM '74, pilots Discovery on the first unclassified Defense Department mission, Api"' May 6.

1992 John Hudiburg: The goal of the X-34 project "is to enable truly low-cost reusable launch vehicles."

Michael Richard "Rich" Clifford, MS AE '82, flies aboard Discovery, Dec. 2-9.

N. Jan Davis, Biol '75, a member of the Spacelab-J crew, flies aboad the 50th shuttle mission, a cooperative venture between the United States and Japan, Sept. 12-20.

Truly resigns as NASA administrator Feb. 10; he's later named director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute.

IRGIA TECH

Vacations Are we there yet?

orget about road maps. And don't pack for the beach or the mountains. Vacations of the future are going to be out of this world.

How far out of this world will depend on how far into the future. And maybe your definition of vacation.

Some tourism firms say they are scheduling space vacations beginning in 2001. Stanford University's alumni association is offering space vacations through Zegrahm Space Voyages of Seattle, a division of the Zegrahm Expeditions travel company.

The firm is taking reservations for departures that begin Dec. 1, 2001, pending Federal Aviation Administration approval. For $98,000 each, tourists are offered a seven-day travel program that includes six-days of on-Earth preparation for

Retro Rocket Retro rockets fire to slow the Space Cruiser for a 2g reentry.

Weightlessness As the Space Cruiser travels up and over 100 kilometers into space, crew and passengers experience weightlessness.

Rocket Boost At 2 minutes, a 2g rocket boost puts the ship into "Astronaut Altitude."

Separation At approximately 50,000 feet, the Sky Lifter releases the Space Cruiser which is powered by jet engine.

Take Off Taking off from a landbased site, the Sky Lifter's large surface area and 93-foot wing span gently lifts the attached Space Cruiser to high altitude.

Return The Space Cruiser returns to the liftoff airfield under jet power.

Touch down Pilots fly the Sky Lifter back to the airfield.

\ â&#x20AC;˘all 1998 'GEORGIA TECH

1993 William Surles "Bill" McArthur Jr., MS AE '83, serves as a mission specialist aboard Columbia Oct. 18-Nov. 1, conducting physiological research in orbit.

1994 L

'-itf.

elab ard the first shuttle flight to carry a R cosmona Feb. 3-11 Clifford serves aboard # Endeavor, • April 9-20.

Hammond pilots Discovery during the first untethered spacewalk in 10 years, testing a self-

a three-hour round-trip space flight, which Zegrahm says will soar to 100 kilometers or 62 miles—official astronaut altitude. Passengers would be able to see the curvature of the Earth and the blackness of space, and they would float in weightlessness for two to three minutes. The Space Cruiser would then head back for a runway landing.

"We've gone to Irian Jaya in Indonesia; we've gone to the Arctic; we've tried to go through the Northwest Passage on a Russian icebreaker," Duncan Beardsley, the Stanford alumni travel director, told the New York Times. "Why not space?"

A "mother" plane called the Sky Lifter would take off from a standard runway, transporting a six-passenger, corporate jet-sized "Space Cruiser" under its fuselage. At 50,000 feet, the Space Cruiser would detach and climb to astronaut altitude, first under jet power and then with a burst from its rocket. After falling back into the stratosphere, the plane would restart its jets and fly to the runway.

The system faces a battery of tests before the FAA makes a decision on granting a license.

Opinion surveys record a demand for space travel by the public. In a 1993 survey for the Japanese Rocket Society, a private group, 30 percent of

The Flight Profile For Zegrahm's First Voyages into Space The complete 21 2 hour flight made by the Space Cruiser System™ consists of two components: • The Sky Lifter™

1995 McArthur serves as a mission specialist in a Mir docking flight aboard Atlantis, Nov. 12-20.

A first-stage, jetpowered aerospace vehicle that climbs to 50,000 feet.

• The Space Cruiser™ A second-stage aerospace vehicle that takes six voyagers to and from astronaut altitude.

Hello Buck Rogers!

80

GEORGIA TEC H

• Fall 1998

American respondents said they would spend three months of their salaries for short rides in space. Astronaut John Young, AE '52, says vacations into outer space will happen "just as soon as we get a national goal to explore space with human beings. We'll be taking vacations to the places in space."

Richard "Dick" Truly, AE '59, agrees that space vacations will happen in the future—when the cost is not so exorbitant.

"It sounds like a wonderful idea," Truly says.

"The problem is simply the cost of getting you there. Companies are in the business to make money, and to make a profit in the space [tourism] business requires a much more cost-efficient launch system. That's one of the reasons so much effort is being spent today in the military and NASA to try to reduce the cost of getting to space."

The day may not be too far distant when instead of planning a trip to Florida, you opt to visit the space station, orbit the moon or tour Mars, GT

JiziJcix and wigyte y 'ton in tiia a and, •j i

T r a v e l Needs Georgia Tech Discounts Corporate & Leisure Travel Conferencing Concierge Services ...J //sUUjUJU / rJ

0 PVyy "JVu/y Voice: 770-218-0818 Fax: 770-218-6245 Toil-Free: 800-822*7532 E-Mail: galante@mindspring.com Visit our website at * Call far ttnther details an group travel proglottis

www.galantetravel.com

W e re a stone s tlirow •in earapiULSo

•Tilt a i a r ray Irani jour

1 lie irvenaissauce A t l a n t a Jn[otel«lJoi¥ntoT¥n puits yon j n s t a liali block i r o n i eanipniSo Special Kate for Georgia Tech Alumni

$99 per night

Georgia Tech isn't just more accessible from our location, it's now more affordable too. At just $99 per night for Georgia Tech alums, it's the only way to come home to Atlanta. Enjoy one of our special guest rooms with spectacular downtown views right from your own balcony.

Then take in the European atmosphere,

the classic food in La Brioche restaurant and the good times in the Rathskeller.

For reservations or information, call 404-881-6000.

RENAISSANCE, ATLANTA HOTEL DOWNTOWN ATLANTA, GEORGIA

R!JT BJ If for no other reason, we will explore the universe "because it is there"

BSV

Ti77]

. s .• : -

,

• •_

'• -. *

By Hoyt Coffee

•. " •. •r

•

ji^

* »*»'••• 1 V ' "

i

.

-

.-•

, M

Twenty years after Neil Armstrong pressed the first footprint into the moon's powdery gray surface, President George Bush set a course for the years to come in America's spade program:.! Echoing the challenge that sent Armstrong to our nearest neighbor—John E Kennedy's challenge to reach the moon in the 1960s—Bush-urged a new national effort: Return to the lunar-surface and put human footprints-on Mars. I "The .exploration of space is one of the fundamental goals of the U.S. civil space program)" ' • Bush said in a-major policy statement to • NASA. "The [Space Exploration Initiative] objectives, which build upon previous accomplishments, as well-as upon existing pro- . grams,'include a return to the moon, this time to stay, and human expeditions to Mars."

iV;-t^-'.TG.xT.-vv^/. ••r->:r

The M • I , Mars and Beyond NASA's amazing odyssey is just beginning

For 40 years, the reaches of space have beckoned, inspiring generations to meet new challenges and climb ever-higher mountains.

A newly designed Mars probe optical system compared to a Susan B. Anthony silver dollar.

Below: The gyroscope inside this box is capable of guiding spacecraft.

BSW

W

hile President Bush's vision may not have inspired the imagination as in those heady days of Camelot, it laid out a plan that may well take humankind to the far reaches of space and beyond.

Long the speculation of science fiction, a space station orbiting Earth—a stopover on the way to other planets, perhaps other stars—has already become reality to some extent with the fledgling Skylab and Russia's rugged Mir. But the idea takes a major step forward this year.

In November, the first component of the International Space Station, the Zarya control module, will lift off aboard a Proton rocket from the Russian Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Then, in December, a connecting module named Unity will go into orbit 220 miles up aboard the shuttle Endeavour. More than two dozen more shuttle flights, and nearly 50 rocket launches will be required to complete the 290-foot-long, 361-foot-wide station.

Additional components will be added by Japan, Canada and the European Space Agency, giving the world a stellar facility for conducting the research that will eventually launch the manned exploration of the solar system.

"What we're going to be doing on the space station, the long list of things related to science and those kinds of things, is preparing us to take that next step," says Wayne Littles, ME '62, who retired this year as director of the Marshall Space Flight Center after overseeing initial construction of the first U.S. components. "We're going to be getting more data on the long-term effects of space on the crew and determining what can be done to mitigate those effects."

Planned research aboard the space station spans the spectrum of scientific inquiry, from growing protein crystals to enhance the treatment of disease to creating semiconductors for new high-speed supercomputers. More importantly,

perhaps, it will inspire a new generation of young pioneers.

"We're going to be preparing ourselves as we fly the space station and develop science and technology to take the next step—whether that's going to Mars or whatever it is. There are endless opportunities."

Back to the Moon—or Bust?

B

ush's imperative to settle the moon set off a flurry of activity at NASA as scientists and engineers considered how to accomplish it. Likewise, it set off debate about whether the effort is worth it.

"There's got to be a need," says James R. Thompson Jr., AE '58, the former associate administrator of NASA who helped resurrect the shuttle program after Challenger's destruction. "The Apollo program was not done because there was going to be any direct benefit out of it. It was done in part because of a competitive relationship with the Soviet Union. It was done to make people reach higher than what they thought they could achieve.

"But it had no real practical value. I hate to say that in a flippant way, but if you ask, 'Why do you want to go to the moon?' People say they're going to work on the moon. Why? Work doing what?"

German scientist Kraftt Ehricke proffered a possible answer years ago when he advocated moving production facilities, especially polluting facilities, to the moon where waste—even nuclear waste— can't seep into the atmosphere and oceans. The low-gravity environment would ease many production problems and enable others. Such a production plan would also eliminate costly ferrying of many materials from Earth because they could be manufactured locally.

Meanwhile, lunar workers would be gaining the knowledge and skills needed for the next goal.

"The greatest achievement of the human race will occur in the next century when we go back to the moon and on to Mars and learn how to live and work on other places in the solar system," says astronaut John Young, AE '52, one of the 12 Americans who actually has worked on the moon.

"We'll do that in the next century. We're going

W

AT

Jdb N*

&.L

"mi

NASA Photos

to get smarter, faster and learn better ways to do things."

Better ways of doing things includes many things people aren't doing on Earth today, such as "recycling everythingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;air, waste and water, so that you don't throw anything away. You recycle it, and you keep very close account of it," Young says. Long-term visitors to the moon will also require food, which will need to be grown locally.

NASA currently is experimenting with closed-loop environments to grow crops and light-emitting diodes to simulate sunlight.

Mars on a Shoestring

J

ust as those early explorers who answered Kennedy's clarion call looked to the moon as the next great mountain to climb, men and women working on the lunar surface will look to the beckoning peaks of the Red Planet.

"The next really big program would be an exploration of Mars," says Richard Truly, AE '59, the only astronaut to serve as NASA's top man. "Mars is the only planet in our solar system that humans could really visit because all the others are too hot or too cold or too far away to be able to get to in the next century.

"But Mars is achievable. And like Mount Everest, sooner or later somebody is going to climb it."

There are many scenarios for a manned trip to Mars. Scientists have suggested building a ship in orbit near the space station or on the moon so the low gravity would help in getting the enormous stores of equipment, fuel, air, food and water en route. But even in free-fall, the huge mass would require Herculean thrust to reach Mars in a reasonable period of time. So some have suggested sending first a nuclear-powered robot that would create its own fuel and other stores, and serve as a return vessel for Martian astronauts.

But whatever path is finally chosen, the first steps have been under way for years with probes such as Mariner, Viking and more recently, Mars Pathfinder and Mars Global Surveyor. In keeping with NASA's new "better, faster, cheaper" credo, these robotic explorers are getting more affordable all the time.

Where the twin Viking missions cost $3 billion and took eight years to develop, Pathfinder and its roving robot Sojourner cost only $250 million and took half as long to develop. Surveyor cost just $152 million.

"Because the spacecraft cost less, we do them faster, and we have more in number," says NASA Administrator Dan Goldin. In addition to Global Surveyor, which will spend the next two years mapping and photographing Mars, NASA plans as many as eight new probes there by 2006.

86

GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Fall 1998

Better, Faster, Cheaper—Smaller

A

t the Jet Propulsion Lab in California, the operative word in creating faster, cheaper spacecraft is "smaller." Scientists in JPL's Microdevices Lab have engineered semiconductor-based devices that can do the work of a gargantuan instrument package in the space of a dime.

"NASA has challenged us here at JPL to shrink the size of the science spacecraft we send into deep space so we can launch them on smaller launch vehicles, launch more of them more frequently and at less cost. One of the approaches here is through miniaturization," says Perry Bankston, AE '71, MS AE '73, Ph.D. '76, head of the Microdevices Lab. Bankston and his colleagues are making strides in creating components needed for successful space flight. For example, they have created new technology techniques called micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) that let them create minuscule gyroscopes for navigating in space.

"We also have a number of activities associated with developing innovations in scientific instrumentation, the kinds of instruments sent to other planets, asteroids, comets or what have you, to make scientific measurements. These may be anything from new-technology infrared detectors to in situ sensors, or sensors that literally come into physical contact with an environment and allow you to take measurements on the surfaces or in the atmospheres of other bodies in the solar system."

The next two Mars probes will carry sensors of the type Bankston et al have engineered. In December and January, an orbiter and lander will begin the roughly 36 million mile journey, and they could send back some of the most important information ever gleaned from Mars' rocky red surface—the presence of water.

Digging a Martian Well

A

ttached to the landing vehicle are two instrument packages, each smaller than a breadbox, that utilize the latest miniaturized sensors for detecting life's most-vital requirement.

"As the lander craft enters the atmosphere of Mars, these two microprobes will be spun off and will go hurtling toward the surface of Mars," Bankston says. "These two penetrators, which are a little bit smaller than a tin can, will hit the surface of Mars and penetrate it up to about a meter."

The penetrator will scoop a sample of soil and heat it up, freeing any frozen water present as water vapor. A semiconductor-based "tunable diode laser," a device that can be set to the frequency needed to detect water, will then look for evidence of the precious fluid.

"As the water passes in front of the laser, the detector will record a decrease in the intensity of

the laser beam, with the result being you'll get a signal showing there's water vapor present," Bankston says. "The same device is also on the lander."

The lander, which will soft-land on Mars with retro-rockets, will use the detectors to search for water vapor in the Martian atmosphere.

To create the microprobes, the Microdevices Lab had to overcome significant design problems, such as creating batteries capable of withstanding the 80,000-G force of impacting Mars, as well as microprocessors and a small radio.

While the miniature technology already created at JPL is impressive—cameras on a chip, for instance—Bankston and his colleagues are looking much further, looking for the physical limits, the point at which it isn't possible to go smaller.

"We've been working on technologies that get spacecraft mass down into the tens of kilograms," he says. "What we want to be able to do eventually is build very capable science craft that are just a few kilograms, one or two or three, maybe even smaller, that can still make many of the measurements that in the past would have required systems weighing hundreds of kilograms."

Meanwhile, the Microdevices Lab is also laying the roadmap for the next level of miniaturization and nanotechnology, "seeking the smallest possible miniaturization that physics and chemistry allow in the future."

1996 Clifford serv aboard Atlai the third dc mission to Russian spa station Mir and performs a six-hour spacewalk, March

1997 The Mars Pathfinder and its Sojourner rover reach the Red Planet and transmit images of the Martian landscape http:// mars.sgi.com.

_ ^ i

Andromeda Strain?

A

s the first Mars probe looks for the stuff of life, the possibility it could exist there, could even be dangerous, is the concern of NASA scientists.

With plans for the last Mars lander in the 10-year series currently under way calling for a return trip, these scientists are considering how they can safely retrieve a Martian soil sample without unleashing some space bug along the line of The Andromeda Strain, The possibility attracted new attention after the recent and much-contested discovery of possible fossils in a meteorite from Mars, but a National Academy of Sciences committee said earlier this year the only likely sources of biological contamination are two of Jupiter's moons.

"We do know Mars one time had a lot of water, had a lot of rivers that flowed, and most of that is gone," says Charles Kohlhase, Phys '57, part of a NASA team studying the safest way to return a Martian soil sample. "The odds are there is nothing alive on Mars, but you want to be safe; you don't want to release an organism in the Earth's environment that might have a bad effect."

The group is considering a number of options: a Fall 1998 • GE1

Susan L. Still, MS AE '85, pilots back-to-back shuttle missions; the first flight, April 4-8, was cut short because of fuel-cell problems; the second flight was a Spacelab mission, C July 1-17.

Davis serves as payload commander aboard Discovery, Aug. 7-19.

NASA Photos

the sample should land; and they are both dry and inhospitable.

"If it did break open, and there is anything in there, the last place you want to put it is in the water," Kohlhase says.

Beyond Tomorrow

O

The next generation of exploratory spacecraft will be smaller, cost less and be more successful, thanks to miniaturization of such equipment as this seismometer, reduced in size to little

direct route where the sealed sample drops into Earth's atmosphere like a meteor; a route into Earth orbit, with the sample retrieved by a space shuttle or the space station; even an "aerocapture" scheme involving parachutes.

"So far, we believe the best route is a direct entry, where it comes right in and the Earth's atmosphere slows it down," Kohlhase says. The sample would be protected by a crushable structure, like the crumple zones of safer automobiles, and it would land in either Utah or Australia, depending on the time of year. The sites are thought best for two reasons: they both are large enough to contain the 12-by-20-mile "footprint," the area in which

The next frontier: Mars, photographed by the Viking probe

GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Fall 1<WS

ver the next few years, NASA plans a wide range of activities, from continuing to improve space flight near Earth in the shuttle to making a thorough robotic survey of near space.

"We'll be flying by, orbiting, roving and bringing back samples from every critical planetary body in the solar system," Administrator Goldin says. But what about the real adventures, those genuine leaps into the unknown that capture the world's imagination the way Apollo did in the 1960s, the kind President Bush wanted to launch when he called for human expeditions to Mars.

"The first Mars mission will be like Apollo," Truly says, one that "could be easily done in the next 25 to 50 years, which is nothing."

Predicting the future can be perilous business, of course. George Orwell missed the date with 1984, and with 2001 just 26 months away, there's no HAL 9000 or Space Odyssey to Jupiter on the horizon.

Still, the sky beckons. Like the curving horizon that was a siren to ancient seamen or the towering mountain peaks, it may be impossible not to go.

As Truly puts it, "People will go to Mars if for no other reason than because it is there."

And then? GT

OwnAClassic A V25 scale replica of the official Rarnblin' Wreck

After an overwhelming response, the Georgia Tech Alumni Association is offering a second edition of the Rambiin' Wreck. The perfectly reproduced model is six inches long and features: • Die cast in high quality metal • Painted to match the Official Rambiin' Wreck • Rumble seat opens to reveal a lockable coin bank • Wheels turn • Official "GT" logo on the doors • Finely detailed interior

• Great as a Gift!

Really celebrate birthdays, graduations, weddings, anniversaries, retirements, or that special event with the one you love (or a longtime Bulldog "friend")

I Phone Orders: Call Toll Free 1 80 GT ALUMS

I Please send me replicaCs) of the Rambiin' Wreck @ $29.95 Shipping ($4.50 per Wreck) GA residents add 6% tax ($1.80 per Wreck) TOTAL

"1

SEND MAIL ORDERS TO: Official Rambiin Wreck Georgia Tech Alumni Association Alumni House Atlanta, GA 30332-0175

I NAME I

ADDRESS CITY CREDIT CARD SIGNATURE

L

ZIP

STATE • VISA

• MASTERCARD

#

EXP. DATE DAYTIME PHONE (_

J

Presenting the 1999 Georgia Tech Travel Program brought to you by The Georgia Tech Alumni and Athletic Associations Austrian Winter Escapade F e b r u a r y 2-9,1999 $1245 from Atlanta Spend a fabulous week in the winter paradise of the Austrian Alps. Our alpine holiday features the glittering city of Salzburg, one of Europe's most beautiful cities and capital of the rugged province of the same name. Active sports enthusiasts, lovers of music, vacationers in search of relaxation, daydreamers and night-owls...all will be enraptured by Salzburg's regal ambiance. (Alumni Holidays)

Pome Escapade March 3-10.1999 $1695 from Atlanta Enjoy the imperial city of Rome in the sumptous luxury of one of its top five-star deluxe hotels, the enchanting Excelsior! Peerless among the great cities of the world, Rome has inspired, shaped, and defined the course of Western civilization. Wander through a landscape filled with legendary imagesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the Colosseum, Vatican City, the Roman forum, and other historic sights too numerous to mention.

Join us on this exceptional and truly affordable travel program. (Alumni Holidays)

Costa Pica, the Darien Jungle and Panama Canal March 23-31,1999 from $1890 plus air Explore areas inaccessible to larger ships as you visit the luxuriant rain forests, pristine beaches and windswept volcanic summits of this naturalist's paradise aboard the 138-passenger "Yorktown Clipper". You'll also get a close-up view of the Panama Canal as you transit this engineering marvel. (Clipper)

Alumni Campus Abroad: Great Britain May 11-19.1999 $ 2 2 9 5 from Atlanta Great Britain's Yorkshire, one of the most popular settings for highly acclaimed Alumni Campus AbroadÂŽ programs, offers an unprecedented opportunity to learn, explore, and relax with fellow alumni in an international setting. Explore Yorkshire's natural, historic, and literary treasures and experience the raw and wild beauty of the North York Moors. Your home for this unique travel opportunity is Harrogate.

England's floral resort. (Alumni Holidays)

Journey of the Czars May 28-June 9.1999 from $2740 from New York Travel the Volga. Vir and Neva Rivers with a privately chartered ship as your hotel. Cruise through the beautiful Russian countryside, exploring the art, history and culture of this fascinating country. Extended visits to Moscow and St. Petersburg begin and end your journey. (Intrav)

YELLOW JACKET FOOTBALL EXCURSIONS Don't miss these great opportunities to travel with fellow Tech alumni to cheer on the Yellow Jackets against ACC rivals this fall! Several optional packages, including day-of-game a n d land-only, are also available. Please call the Clubs Department at 404-894-0748 or 800-GT-ALUMS to reserve your spot.

University of Maryland *#' October 30-November 1,1998 Airfare, ground transportation, two nights at the Renaissance Harborplace Hotel. Baltimore Harbor cruise, a n d pre-game tailgate party - from $539 per person Clemson University *#' November 12, 1998 Deluxe motorcoach transportation a n d pre-game tailgate party - $50 per person

Last year more than 200 Tech alumni and friends spread the "good word" to every corner of the globe. Join the Travelin' Wrecks in 1999 as we ramble around the world!

Alumni Campus Abroad: Tuscany June 16-24,1999 $2,395 from Atlanta Discover Italy's beautiful Tuscany as you immerse yourself in the culture of the typical Tuscan village of Cortona. During your stay, visit Florence, Perugia, Assisi, Siena and Montepuliciano. Best of all, all excursions, meals and seminars are included in one great price! (Alumni Holidays)

Prague and the Pomantic Phine July 5-20.1999 $4690 from New York Three nights in majestic, historic Prague precede an eleven-night river cruise through the Altmuehl Valley, Alsace-Lorraine, and the Phine, Main, and Danube Rivers aboard a chartered, 94-passenger ship. Visit medieval river towns, sloping vineyards, the spa at Baden-Baden, and the scenic Black Forest on a journey from the Czech Republic to the Swiss Alps. (Intrav)

Alumni Campus Abroad: Scotland July 28-August 5,1999 $ 2 2 9 5 from Atlanta Journey into the heart and Highlands of Scotland, the land of Braveheart and Robert the Bruce. Your home for seven fun-filled nights is Stirling, the ancient capital of Scotland. Marvel at this region's majestic scenery and learn about its fascinating history and culture on this exciting educational experience. Best of all, enjoy all meals, seminars, and excursions at one value price. (Alumni Holidays)

Wings Over the Okavango S e p t e m b e r 25-October 9,1999 $7280 from Miami Explore "undiscovered" Africa in her most picturesque game reserves Chobe National Park, Mashatu Game Reserve, and the Okavango Delta and Moremi Wildlife Reserve. From breathtaking Victoria Falls and the Zambezi River to the new Johannesburg, observe the full spectrum of history, natural wonders and promise for the future that South Africa. Zimbabwe and Botswana have to offer. Our 1997 and 1998 Africa trips were filled to capacity and garnered rave reviews! (Intrav)

Sea of Cortez and the Copper Canyon November 17-24,1999 from $1620 plus air Discover the natural history, beautiful scenery and abundant wildlife of the all-but-deserted islands and bays of Mexico's Sea of Cortez aboard the 138-passenger "Yorktown Clipper." Go ashore with on-board naturalists for a close-up look at fascinating desert terrain and incredibly varied plant and animal life. An optional four-night pre-cruise rail trip explores Mexico's Copper Canyon along a route called by many travelers "the most scenic train trip in the world" from Chihuahua to Los Mochis. (Clipper) Of 17//;,

for more information or to make your reservation, call 800-GT-ALUMS or 404-894-0758

The Highest Standards...

The Safest* Drinking Water

Prestige

ia R

• Eliminates bottled water hassles

Lecelve the highesi caliber training to e n h a n c e your career. Ranked a s o n e of the top ten engineering s c h o o l s , Georgia Tech offers professional d e v e l o p m e n t in a variety of e n g i n e e r i n g subjects including civil, electrical, environmental, industrial, mechanical, a n d textiles.

• Hot, cold & room temperature water • IDF™ 3-stage cleaning process • Point-of-use production of fresh water • NSF Certified to reduce contaminants

innowave

I "or more informal ion, r o n i u r t Hi.si.iru c I.e. truing, c o n t i n u i n g K d u c a t i o n , u n d o u t r e a c h at <404) 8 9 4 - 2 5 4 7

innowave incorporated is a M u t u a l of O m a h a Company

e-mail: contefl@Hateeh.edu www.contcd.gatech.edu

#%QUA

| ^ > >LERS

®

of Atlanta, LLC.

5555 Oakbrook Parkway Norcross, GA 30093 770-242-2782

Innowave 240* www.innowave.com

* The innowave 240™ removes 99.99% of contaminants.

Show Your Spirit with GT Alumni Assoc. Labels ^ Now you can show your Georgia Tech loyalty with every piece of correspondence you send.

These high-quality self-adhesive labels come on a n easy-to-store fold up sheet. (45 labels on 8/4 x 11 sheet)

You can also u s e your labels to identify personal belongings; books, luggage, CD's, videos, etc. Be creative!

Display your allegiance to t h e Yellow Jackets and support your alumni association.

Please Print Label Name And Address

Georgia Teeb

UP TO FOUR LINES WITH YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS FLUSH LEFT LIKE THIS

This Line Condensed on Style C fitulo A

UP TO FOUR LINES WITH YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS CENTERED LIKE THIS Georgia Teeb

1

2 Sheets of Labels (90 Labels )

4 Sheets of Labels (180 Labels )

10 Sheets of Labels (450 Labels )

$6

$10

$20

Please select both a print style and a logo

your 9{ame In Calligraphy

QTY

Style

THIS LINE CONDENSED

Georgia itch Alumni Asiocialion

AND UP TO TWO MORE LINES FOR YOUR ADDRESS ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ _ Style C

Sheets of

• "Buzz" Logo ["1 "Wreck" Logo

$

Orders Shipped In 15 days Via First Class Mall.

Enclose Check and Mail Order to: GT Labels • GT Alumni Association • Alumni / Faculty House • Atlanta, GA 30332-0175

VI Georgia Tech's Weekly Job Bulletin.

Through The Bulletin, your company can advertise job openings to more than 2,000 Tech grads each week.

Like yourself-these candidates are a step above the majority and ready to move up in their careers.

Georgia Tech Alumni Career Services The Bill Moore Student Success Center 225 North Avenue â&#x20AC;˘ Atlanta, G A 30032-0395 (404) 894-2394

Take advantage of this smart move!

Call today for more information, fee schedules and a copy of The Bulletin

Space for Fun and Profit Georgia Tech's John Olds is working to bring space travel to the masses

By Shawn Jenkins

A

t first glance, you might mistake John Olds for a throwback. Dressed in shirt sleeves and tie, the clean-cut, 30-something professor from Georgia Tech's School of Aerospace Engineering bears a striking resemblance to a NASA astronaut, circa 1960.

In reality, Olds is anything but an anachronism. His research is cuttingedge for a space industry looking to save millions in launch costs and pave the way for the next generation of space travel—the kind that will take ordinary people into orbit.

"We're involved mostly in advanced concepts—things that probably won't fly until 10 or 15 years from now," says Olds, who manages Tech's Space Systems Design Lab. "For example, we're working on single-stage, horizontal take-off vehicles that could take off like an airplane—launched on long magnetic levitation tracks at high speeds—and go all the way into orbit, landing back on earth like an airplane.

Another advanced concept we've investigated is called Polaris—a rocket plane designed to carry three paying 'space tourists' on a pretty exciting suborbital flight into space."

Polaris was produced by students in his Spacecraft and Launch Vehicle

Design class for the X-Prize University Design Competition sponsored by the X-Prize Foundation. A non-profit organization created by graduates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the X-Prize Foundation is hoping to stimulate the space tourism industry by offering a $10 million prize to the first privately-financed company to produce a commercially viable, reusable space vehicle that could carry civilian passengers into space on a frequent basis. Their Design Competition is intended to get space-oriented college students interested in the frontier of civilian space travel.

Tech's X-Prize team—the fictitious corporation Global Spacelines Inc.— beat out three other schools, including host MIT, to take the $5,000 grand prize for their Polaris conceptual design and business plan.

"We were very pleased to beat MIT," Olds says with a contained grin.

"And it was on their home court. We had a team of seven students who had worked on it for about nine weeks as their primary topic; MIT had about 20 students and about six professors working on it for a year."

His students' success in the X-Prize competition could be attributed to Olds' proactive approach to teamwork. As part of his Spacecraft and Launch Vehicle Design course, the stu-

The Olds File Born: December 13, 1964, in Spartanburg, S.C. Education: B.S., North Carolina State University, 1987; M.S., Stanford University, 1988; Ph.D., North Carolina State University, 1993.

Personal: wife, Melinda.

Achievements: Georgia Tech Teaching Fellow; Registered Professional Engineer, State of Georgia; National Science Foundation Fellowship; Tau Beta Pi Graduate Fellowship; Eagle Scout.

Leisure Interests: computers, model railroading, travelling.

94

GEORGIA TECH • Fnll 1998

dents form Integrated Design Teams, in which each person assumes an area of expertise.

"Teamwork is more representative of how they will function in industry," Olds says. "I have Dr. Dennis Nagao from the DuPree School of Management come speak to the class about teamwork, brainstorming, communication. I also have them take online personality tests so that they can get a feel for how they will behave in teams, given their strengths and weaknesses.

Multidisciplinary design optimization is at the root of what we do academically."

He illustrates by pulling up a web page created by one of his graduate students for a master's project. The user-friendly page (atlas.cad.gatech. edu/~issi/rbcc/) is a virtual do-ityourself spaceplane kit—a direct interface with Georgia Tech's computers that allows anyone with a computer and a modem to run a complete package of projections, including advanced trajectories, engine analysis, weights and measurements, and cost models.

Having grown up during the space age, Olds was influenced by the Apollo program and the space shuttle.

He chose aerospace engineering as his vocation when he was in high school, but nearly took a slightly different career turn.

"NASA puts out announcements every couple of years when they're recruiting for an astronaut class, so a few years ago I decided to send in my application to be a mission specialist," Olds says. "There are different types of astronauts: pilot astronauts, the military and test pilots which most people associate with that; and mission specialists, most of whom have a doctorate in some type of technical area."

Olds submitted his resume and took the obligatory medical exam. He had

,#;i „ Gary Meek Photo

John Olds: His love of teaching is reflected in his students' success with the X-Prize.

enough of the "right stuff" to get a second look from NASA. "When they get down to that level, all of the people are good, and they start looking for very fine things," Olds says. "1 wanted to stand out, so I had taken some pilot training. But the request for the second interview was about the same time I came to Georgia

Tech, so 1 decided I'd rather be a professor. I made the right choice." Olds jokes that his decision to teach may have been partially genetic. Both his parents, his sister, grandmother and great-grandmother were all teachers, who he says instilled in him "a strong sense of the value of education."

Olds came to Georgia Tech in 1995

from the Mars Mission Research Center at North Carolina State University, where he was a visiting assistant professor. A veteran of NASA design projects, he brought with him $350,000 a year in research funding for NASA's Highly Reusable Space Transportation Study and other advanced spaceplane design projects.

With launch costs for the space shuttle currently hovering around $350 million per flight, the Highly Reusable Transportation Study is looking for ways to lower payload costs by increasing launch frequency. Two of Tech's conceptual designs for these "high-volume" launch vehicles, named Argus and Hyperion, were featured in the March 1998 edition of Aerospace America.

Olds is also working with NASA's Space Solar Power study, investigating launch vehicles that will deploy large solar collectors in space for gathering energy. If successful, the collectors would beam the energy back to Earth, providing low-cost, low-pollution power to many parts of the world that don't have terrestrial power plants.

Olds' ability to bring power to the people—whether through affordable launch vehicles, space tourism or the more literal kind—is what he says makes his job at Tech a "perfect fit."

"Being a professor at a research institute like Tech is a unique job," Olds says. "It's a joy to be able to work with bright graduate and undergraduate students and learn from them and share their excitement.

"But, I also wear this research hat, which enables me to continue to be involved in some of the things going on at NASA with space transportation systems. I can teach during the academic year and spend my summers doing research at NASA. It's the best of both worlds." GT

Fall 1998 • G E O R G I A T E C H

95

Images of Imagination

Over nearly 40 years at NASA, Charles Kohlhase used computers to help plan missions to find out what our planetary neighbors are really like. Now retired, Kohlhase, Phys '57, is using his computer to imagine far more distant worlds. To see more of his artwork and photography, visit: www.artscape.com.

96

GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Fall 1998

Printforwardjax back, pass the winning copy. " ^ K . r * ^ r ^ rue s u c c e s s comes through planning. Thai's ^j" why Xerox always relurns to the drawing board y^^ lo find belter ways to make wan1 office more ^L. - I L . productive. Whether it's the latest multi-tasking document system or a convenience copier, our plan is to bring you affordable document solutions with superior quality.

XEROX

That doesn't end with the sale, either. Our front line is packed with service and sales reps trained to assure you'll never be left on the sidelines with a less-lhan-pcrfecl machine.

At Xerox, our goal is always the same: lo bring you a simpler way to do good work.

of GEORGIA

(770) 395-2000 THE DOCUMENT COMPANY XEROX XEROX*, Tilt' Document Company* and the digital X arc trademarks of XEROX CORPORATION. 58 LISC 580

'IMF, DOCUMENT COMPANY XEROX

iaTech Georgia Tech Alumni Association Atlanta, GA 30332-0175

The Official Georgia Tech Lamp A classic solid brass and solid marble table lamp. Featuring a richly detailed recreation of the Official University Seal in gold on a black parchment shade. Hand polished and hand assembled of the finest solid brass and solid marble.

You can also have your lamp personalized with an engraved brass plate affixed to the marble base. Similar lamps retail for twice our original issue price of $159.00.

Of course, you must be completely satisfied with the quality of your lamp or you may return it within fifteen days for exchange or refund. The Official Georgia Tech Lamp is certain to be a useful and treasured possession for years to come.

Issue price: $159.00 plus $8.00 for shipping and handling.

Include $20.00 for personalization.

Symbolizing a tradition of excellence for the home or office.

Solid Marble; Ht. 22"; Wt. 8 lbs.; Solid Brass NOTE: All orders received prior to December 10 will be guaranteed Christmas delivery.

To order by America Express, MasterCard, or Visa, please call toll free 1-800-346-2884. All callers should request Operator 711GT. Calls are accepted weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (eastern time). To order by mail, write to: Sirrica, LTD., P.O. Box 3345, Wilson, NC 27893 and include check or money order made payable to Sirrica, LTD. Credit card orders may also be sent by mail - please include full account number and expiration date.