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Space Exploration
Volume 2, Number 2 (Summer 2001)
From the Editor
Headlines
Profile
A New CEO for a New Era: Aerospace President and CEO William F. Ballhaus Jr.
A Perfect Start to the Operation: The Aerospace Corporation and Project Mercury
This year marks the 40th anniversary of America's first spaceflight with an onboard human pilot. The occasion provides an opportunity to reflect on the significant role played by The Aerospace Corporation in this monumental early effort in the history of astronautics.
Building Space Instruments in the Space Science Applications Laboratory
When commercial alternatives can't be found, Aerospace steps in to manufacture hardware and instrumentation for specific research missions. This important engineering capability has helped keep Aerospace at the forefront of space science while enhancing overall support to a wide range of customers.
Delta Star: an SDIO Space Experiment
The Delta 183 program was proposed in 1988 by the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO), originally as a joint effort between the United States and the Soviet Union involving the Russian Mir space station. The primary motivation for the experiment was to engage the U.S.S.R. in joint activities to allay their concerns about the threat posed by the SDIO missile-defense activities being pursued at the time. A secondary objective was to demonstrate that space experiments could be conceived and executed rapidly and cost-effectively.
TSX-5: Another Step Forward for Space-Based Research
Following on the heels of the failed STEP-4 satellite launch, the TSX-5 research satellite was successfully placed into orbit on June 7, 2000. Aerospace provided timely contributions to the overall mission success, including verification of solar-array deployment, validation of critical components, mitigation of potential failure modes, thermal modeling, contamination analysis, anomaly resolution, and more.
Protecting Space Systems from Lightning
Powerful enough to threaten everything on Earth, lightning can cause severe damage to space electronics. The Aerospace Corporation conducts research to minimize this danger. Advances at Aerospace in measuring and predicting lightning and incorporating protection into space-system designs have reduced the likelihood of lightning damage to satellites and launch vehicles and have improved the cost efficiency of activities undertaken to mitigate risk during storms.
Bookmarks
Publications and Patents
The Back Page
Two Space Experiments
