A Toy Store in the Sky: Brent Cobleigh Shares Discoveries,Successes of the Stratospheric Observatory For InfraredAstronomy (SOFIA)AIAA Los Angeles‐Las Vegas Dinner Meeting ‐ January 15, 2015

By Lisa Kaspin‐Powell, Newsletter Editor/Webmaster, Los Angeles‐Las Vegas Section

he AIAA Los Angeles‐Las Vegas Section began2015 on an exciting note. The first dinner meet‐

ing of the year featured a presentation on thelargest airborne observatory in the world—theStratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy(SOFIA), given by Brent Cobleigh, Deputy ProgramManager for Operations, NASA Armstrong FlightResearch Center.

Programs Co‐Chair Greg Larson introducedCobleigh with the comment “who would pass upan opportunity to work for NASA in the middle ofthe desert, be friends with all fighter pilots, astro‐nauts, be a kid in a toy store?” As the audience found out, SOFIA alone is aconsiderable toy store for the astronomers, engineers and educators whoget to ride in an airplane in order to make astonishing discoveries in real timeabout the universe through infrared (IR) astronomy.

Cobleigh’s homebase hosts the SOFIA Program Office, although it is ex‐pected to join the SOFIA Science Center at NASA Ames at the beginningof Government Fiscal Year 2015. SOFIA is a joint program with the Ger‐mans: NASA leads the development of the scientific projects, and DLR (the

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NewsletterFebruary 2015

IN THIS ISSUE:

1 Cobleigh ‐ SOFIA Discover‐ies, January AIAA LA‐LV Dinner Meeting

3 Puschell ‐ AVIS Hyperspec‐trometerradiometer 2040‐2060, February AIAA LA‐LVTech Lunch

4 McCoy ‐ Automotive Aircraft,AIAA LA‐LV January Enterprise Program Event

5 Kelly ‐ Mars Curiosity MMRTG, AIAA LA‐LV January Tech Lunch

9 Future Events

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Brent Cobleigh.Photo: Seth Potter

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The newsletter has over 5,000 subscribers and growing. To inquire about purchasing advertising, email Lisa Kaspin‐Powell at LASectionnewsletter@yahoo.com.

An Evening with Dr. Sandy Magnus,

Astronaut and Executive Director of the AIAA:

"Perspectives From Space"

AIAA Los Angeles-Las Vegas Dinner Meeting

Wednesday, March 25th, 2015, 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Born and raised in Belleville, Ill., Dr. Magnus attended the Missouri Universityof Science and Technology, graduating in 1986 with a degree in physics and in1990 with a master's degree in electrical engineering. She also holds a Ph.D.from the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Georgia Tech (1996).

Selected to the NASA Astronaut Corps in April, 1996, Dr. Magnus flew inspace on the STS112 shuttle mission in 2002, and on the final shuttle flight,STS135, in 2011. In addition, she flew to the International Space Station onSTS126 in November 2008, served as flight engineer and science officer onExpedition 18, and returned home on STS119 after four and a half months onboard. Following her assignment on Station, she served at NASA Headquar-ters in the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. Her last duty at NASAafter STS135 was as the deputy chief of the Astronaut Office. While at NASA,Dr. Magnus worked extensively with the international community, including theEuropean Space Agency (ESA) and the National Space Development Agencyof Japan (NASDA), as well as with Brazil on facility-type payloads. She alsospent time in Russia developing and integrating operational products and pro-cedures for the International Space Station.

Before joining NASA, Dr. Magnus worked for McDonnell Douglas AircraftCompany from 1986 to 1991, as a stealth engineer. While at McDonnell Dou-glas, she worked on internal research and development and on the Navy's A12 Attack Aircraft program, studying theeffectiveness of radar signature reduction techniques. Dr. Magnus has received numerous awards, including theNASA Space Flight Medal, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, and the 40at 40 Award (given to former collegiate women athletes to recognize the impact of Title IX).

6:00 pm-7:00 pm Event Check-in and Networking Reception with Cash Bar7:00 pm-8:00 pm Dinner8:00 pm-10:00 pm Presentation and Q&A

Location: The Proud Bird11022 Aviation Blvd.Los Angeles, CA 900453-Course Meal with Choices of Chicken, Fish, and VegetarianFree Parking REGISTRATION FEES: $45.00 AIAA Member, $55.00 Regular, $30.00 Students, $15.00 Presentation Only, No MealClick here to register:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/aiaa-march-dinner-meeting-with-drsandy-magnus-tickets-15681921048

STUDENTS ATTENDING THE EVENT WILL RECEIVE FREE 1YEAR AIAA STUDENT MEMBERSHIP! ATTENDEESSIGNING UP TO BECOME AIAA PROFESSIONAL MEMBERS (AT WWW.AIAA.ORG) BEFORE THE DINNER ANDBRINGING PROOF OF MEMBERSHIP WILL RECEIVE A $35 CASH BACK ON THE FIRST YEAR OF AIAA MEM-BERSHIP. THESE OFFERS DO NOT APPLY TO MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL

CANCELLATION POLICY: If you cannot attend, please cancel your registration within 72 hours by contacting theProgram Organizer Dana Puschell, ddpcare@gmail.com or the Section Chairman Nicola Sarzi-Amade,nicola.astro@gmail.com.

For questions, comments, and special requests please call (805) 637-1361.

February 2015 | Page 2

February 2015 | Page 3

AVIS Hyperspectroradiometer for 2040‐2060Jeff Puschell, Principal Engineering Fellow, Raytheon Space and Airborne SystemsAIAA Los Angeles ‐ Las Vegas Chapter Technical Luncheon Meeting ‐ February 10, 2015

By Robert Young, Senior Member, AIAA; Jerry Lockenour, Aerospace Alumni Chair, Los Angeles‐Las Vegas Section;and Gary Moir, Technical Officer, Los Angeles‐Las Vegas Section

he AVIS (Advanced Visible‐infrared Imaging Spec‐troradiometer) presentation provided a bit of his‐

tory in LEO (low Earth orbit) weather sensor design andexplained in detail the challenging technology develop‐ment, detailed design and trade studies necessary toachieve this next generation capability in Earth surfaceand atmospheric imaging and remote sensing.

This writer used some of the original 1970's vintage sen‐sors. They were actually a suite (2, 3 or more separateunits), with many constraints due to the state of elec‐tronics, data rate restrictions, and other factors. Theearly sensor data streams were actually collected onspace‐borne reel‐to‐reel tape recorders, since LEOspacecraft generally do not have continuous ground sta‐tion access. After downlink, the early data were trans‐mitted around the earth on copper wires. While thismet many of the operational requirements, the currentstate of Raytheon sensor design operational on SuomiNPP provides much more capability in integrated rawdata collection to support both current and futureweather analysis and prediction.

The presentation provided a welcome tutorial on thetechnical challenges for remote sensing, in particularthe various atmospheric windows that must be consid‐

Jeff Puschell. Photo: courtesy of Nicola Sarzi‐Amade

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ered for earth sensing from space. The spectral frequen‐cies required extend well below and above the simplevisual bands. The state of weather analysis requiresmassive amounts of this multispectral data to preparethree‐dimensional models of the current atmosphere,which include parameters such as cloud existence,cloud temperature (related to altitude/ height), mois‐ture content by altitude, sea state (temperature andwinds) and many others.

The total next‐generation AVIS system design builds onthe Suomi NPP system and involves not only the sen‐sors, but also the rotating telescope design. One of theprimary trades involved the total required spatial sam‐pling and spectral sampling integrated into a compositesystem. The system will use state‐of‐the‐art sensortechniques (eg, active vs passive sensor cooling) andpresent a major increase in the amount of data availablefor analysis. This raises the question of whether the rawdata should all be transmitted to the ground or if a par‐tial analysis should be conducted on board the space‐craft. This is all planned for a physically smaller andmore power‐efficient sensor package, required for aspacecraft that must manage the large amounts of databoth processed internally or sent down to the ground.Jeff admitted that Raytheon was not yet willing to dis‐close all of the design details since the design is not yetcomplete and additional technology maturation will berequired to fully realize the capability. The AVIS systembuilds upon extensive background of previous similarsystems developed by Raytheon and promises to pro‐vide dramatic improvements in atmospheric measure‐ments and weather forecasting.

This event was the first technical lunch presented atRaytheon and continues our objective of increasing thebreadth of corporate participation in AIAA LA‐LV sec‐tion events. The attendees appreciated the quality ofthe facilities and support of the Raytheon team led byJeff’s executive assistant, Maria Reynolds. Most of all,thanks to Jeff Puschell for an enlightening presentation.

From History to the Future: Developments in the Field of Automotive AircraftJeremiah B. McCoy, Engineer in Aerospace TestingAIAA LA‐LV Enterprise Program Event ‐ January 29, 2015

By Dennis Wonica, Enterprise Program Co‐Chair, Los Angeles‐Las Vegas Section

February 2015 | Page 4

eremiah McCoy gave an overview of the histori‐cal and current developments in the field of au‐

tomotive aircraft. The concept of combining anautomobile with an airplane is as old as the technolo‐gies themselves, yet the creation of a working modelwidely available to the public has eluded inventors tothis day. Currently, technologies are now available tocombine the vastly different requirements of drivingand flying, while also ensuring complete user safety.A number of automotive or “roadable” aircraft havebeen in development for the past several years, eachwith a unique design.

Left: Seth Potter, National Space Society/Mars Society Los Angeles/A‐MAN Center Ambassador, Los Angeles‐Las Vegas Section;Jerry Lockenour, Aerospace Alumni Chair, Los Angeles‐Las Vegas Section; Speaker Jeremiah McCoy; Dennis Wonica and Pamelade Liz, Enterprise Program Co‐Chairs, Los Angeles‐Las Vegas Section; Nicola Sarzi‐Amade, Chair, Los Angeles‐Las Vegas Section;Dale Jensen, Former Secretary, Los Angeles‐Las Vegas Section. Photo courtesy of Dennis Wonica

McCoy presented his own novel design for a roadableaircraft. His design solves the major issue of wing stor‐age space by incorporating telescoping wings. He de‐scribed design details, various design iterations theinventor considered over the years, and how the finaldesign was reached. The presentation concluded witha conversation about current trends in the automobileand small aircraft industries, and the possible impactsthat roadable aircraft technology could make to both.

Some 44 people, including 7 students, attended thisevent, held at the Northrop‐Grumman S Café.

DISCOUNTS FOR NEW MEMBERSStudents who attend any of our Section events and are not yet AIAA members will receive a FREE 1‐year AIAAstudent membership. In addition, new AIAA professional members who attend any of our events will receive a $35DISCOUNT on their membership. To obtain your membership promotion, please sign up as a new member at theevent itself by completing our membership form, or bring to us proof that you have signed up as a new memberduring the month prior to the event.

We also offer a promotion for graduating students who transfer to professional membership: The first year transitionfrom student to professional membership is $30 (1/4 of the full rate).

J

Mars Curiosity Rover MMRTG (Multi‐Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator) Bill Kelly ‐ Systems Engineer, MMRTG, Aerojet‐Rocketdyne AIAA Los Angeles‐Las Vegas Technical Luncheon ‐ January 22, 2015 By Gary Moir, Technical Chair, Los Angeles‐Las Vegas Section

Bill Kelly. Photo courtesy of Nicola Sarzi‐Amade

February 2015 | Page 5

Technical Luncheon was hosted by the UCLA AIAAStudent Chapter. Bill Kelly presented the develop‐

ment of the power supply for the Mars Curiosity rover.Kelly was a systems engineer for the Multi‐Mission Ra‐dioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) at Aero‐jet‐Rocketdyne, where it was built in collaboration withTeledyne. The Curiosity Science Laboratory waslaunched on November 26, 2011 (after a 2‐year launchdelay) and landed August 6, 2012. It has performedflawlessly on Mars for over 830 sols (Martian days) andis still making news. The MMRTG will be used on the2020 Mars Scientific Laboratory rover and will competefor future deep space missions.

In the first section of the talk, Kelly presented his analy‐sis of the radiation hazards and resulting damage to thematerials of the RTG and vehicle. He described the ra‐diation environments in space and in planetary orbitsof the gas giants to develop an RTG for the full spectrumof expected deep space missions. The upcoming Europamission’s planned duration drives the acquired radiationdamage to a modest level which may be acceptable tomission planners without requiring additional shielding.

Kelly then described his analysis of the various radioac‐tive decay processes, daughter products, radiationtypes, and cumulative doses of radiation in the life ofthe MMRTG. He summarized the radiation environmentaround the MMRTG by advising to “NEVER hug yourRTG”. He compared the exposure time for the crew in‐stalling the fueled RTG into the rover to the restrictive

exposure limit of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory al‐lowable radiation dose. This required extensive robotics,shielding, and assembly aids after the MMRTG was fu‐eled at the Idaho National Laboratory. His analysis alsohelped in selecting materials to minimize deteriorationof seals, instrumentation and even structural integrity.

Kelly noted that the Russians powered some arctic light‐houses and remote sensing stations with RTGs. Thisstarted in the heyday of nuclear development, in the1950’s when the Russians hoped for a new age of nu‐clear energy. They used several different radioactive iso‐topes in these devices. They designed the systems towork untended for many years in remote locationswhere health hazards of radioactivity were not a designconsideration. There are many stories about peoplewho used these Russian RTGs for warmth or salvage andthen got radiation sickness.

Larry Traeger, Director of Advanced Power Systems atAerojet‐Rocketdyne, and Joe Hepp, a friend of Kelly’s,added some historic details and information about ex‐pected future applications. Particularly, they noted thetechnical advantages of NASA’s preferred plutonium‐238 isotope as well as its cost and limited availability.The half‐life of Pu238 is 87.7 years, allowing a gracefuldecline of power during fabrication, storage, flight, andan extended mission duration.

The second part of Kelly’s presentation showed the per‐formance of the MMRTG to date and highlights of therover’s traverses on Mars, including a “selfie” of theMMRTG on the rover.

The UCLA AIAA Student Branch and their faculty advisor,Professor Jeff Eldredge, provided a good venue andeager student attendees. Branch co‐chairs Edward Bar‐ber, Annie Yee and Anthony Vong helped organize andused this AIAA event to learn operation of professionalmeetings. The LA‐LV Section will collaborate with otherstudent AIAA branches from the other A&A engineeringschools this year and next.

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SOFIA Discoveries ‐ AIAA LA‐LV January 2015 Dinner Meeting (continued from page 1)

February 2015 | Page 6

German Aerospace Center) supplied the telescope as‐sembly and is contributing one‐fifth of the operationalsupport. NASA gets 80% of the available science timeand DLR the remainder. While SOFIA has been flyingfor several years—its telescope detected its first lightin May 2010—it will be officially operational in Febru‐ary or March of 2015.

SOFIA rides in a Boeing 747SP: compared with the stan‐dard 747‐100, the SP’s shorter body gives it a longerrange, ideal for the extended flights required forSOFIA’s observations. One 10‐hour flight yields 8.5hours of science. Cobleigh explained that they wereaiming for 3 flights a week, and when commissioning anew instrument, 10 flights a week. During the South‐ern Hemisphere Deployment Science Snapshot, SOFIAflew 9 successful out of 9 planned flights within 3weeks to and from Christchurch, New Zealand.

SOFIA’s telescope weighs 17 tons. Its primary mirror is2.5 meters in diameter, made with an aluminum coat‐ing over Zerodur glass‐ceramic, which has close to nothermal expansion. This mirror is 7 years old but is stillin good working order. The secondary mirror is used tolook at different parts of the sky; the target sky imageis subtracted from a blank sky background shot. Onecamera picks up visible light in order to track the tele‐scope, which remains still while the pilot adjusts theairplane to keep the telescope centered on its target.Cobleigh presented a diagram showing the telescope’sposition near the aft fuselage. The instruments are onthe pressurized side, accessible to the investigators,while the optics are on the unpressurized side in a cav‐ity next to an open door. Flight testing with the dooreither closed or open has shown that airflow from out‐side does not damage the airplane, telescope or instru‐ments, or interfere with flight. The plane showed goodstability and control, with rudder effectiveness beingconsistent over a range of speeds.

Why have an observatory riding in an airplane in thefirst place? Cobleigh pointed out that SOFIA flies at37,000‐45,000 feet, above 99% of the water vapor inthe atmosphere, which otherwise blocks some IR.While space‐based IR telescopes avoid this problem,

they use up their cryogens in a matter of years and aretoo far away to receive a fresh supply or receive othermaintenance. For example, the James Webb Space Tel‐escope will run out of cryogen in 10 years and, in itsorbit around Lagrange 2, will be too far from Earth tobe serviced—at least with present technology. SOFIA,on the other hand, comes home after every flight forservicing, upgrades, and a fresh supply of liquid heliumto cool its sensors. In addition, SOFIA carries 400‐500pounds of science instruments that space‐based tele‐scopes can’t carry, has more power available, and canfly anywhere at any time over a longer mission time‐line. Cobleigh pointed out later how that mobility en‐abled SOFIA to reach the right place to observe thePluto Occultation.

SOFIA provides the only access to IR astronomy re‐search for the broad astronomical community, andhas proved to be a tremendous opportunity for sci‐entists and educators alike. Cobleigh gave a notableexample: the Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors pro‐gram, where educators submit proposals on howthey would use their experience flying with SOFIA toenrich their science, technology, engineering andmath lessons and inspire their students to enterSTEM fields, especially space exploration. The win‐ning educators work on teams with researchers withwinning proposals on science investigations theywould like to perform on board SOFIA. Airborne As‐tronomy Ambassadors is an enriching experience foreducators, students, and researchers—the scientificcommunity in general.

Why is IR astronomy important in the first place? Gasand dust block our view of visible light from develop‐ing stars, planetary disks, and the center of ourgalaxy. However, those stars heat up the dust so itemits IR, which we can detect. With IR detection, sci‐entists can study the very early universe; the speedof the expansion of the furthest and oldest objectscreates a large red shift. Areas of interest in IR as‐tronomy include galaxies and the galactic center, theinterstellar medium of the Milky Way, formation ofstars and planets, and comets.

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SOFIA Discoveries ‐ AIAA LA‐LV January 2015 Dinner Meeting (continued from page 6)

February 2015 | Page 7

Cobleigh gave examples of IR astronomy discoveriesfrom SOFIA’s cutting‐edge technology. Faint Object In‐fraRed CAmera for the SOFIA Telescope (FORCAST) cap‐tured an image of the Orion Constellation that revealedmassive star‐forming regions. Cobleigh also showedFORCAST’s images of the Galactic Center. The High‐res‐olution Airborne Wideband Camera (HAWC+) is a far‐IR photometer and polarimeter that can detect energyradiated from star‐heated dust. HAWC+ will be used toexamine the effects of magnetic fields, such as thosein the galactic center, on star formation. First Light In‐frared Test Experiment CAMera (FLITECAM) captureswavelengths in the near‐IR that are undetectable fromthe surface of the Earth. Cobleigh showed stunningFLITECAM images and spectra of Supernova 2014J; thedata enable the study of massive elements formed dur‐ing supernova explosions. The element spectra weremore easily detected by SOFIA compared to ground‐based telescopes because of lack of atmospheric inter‐ference. FLITECAM can be co‐mounted with the HighSpeed Imaging Photometer for Occultation (HIPO).

HIPO enables the study of planets both inside and out‐side our solar system. When a planet passes in front ofa star, HIPO detects the star’s light dimming and thenbrightening again and also lensing around the planet’satmosphere. Cobleigh described how SOFIA observedPluto’s occultation: one had to be directly below wherePluto’s shadow fell on the Earth, 2900 km away fromSouthern California over an empty stretch of the South‐ern Pacific, far from any ground‐based telescope. How‐ever, SOFIA flew out there to catch the shadow andperform the occultation analysis. Thanks to SOFIA, wenow know that Pluto has strong global winds and ahazy atmosphere. HIPO helps scientists to detect andanalyze exoplanets in the same way.

Cobleigh also explained what interstellar chemistry cantell us about the environment in which new stars andplanets are formed, and shared SOFIA’s tremendouscontributions to that knowledge. The German Receiverfor Astronomy at Terahertz Frequencies (GREAT) hasenabled astronomers to find molecules predicted to bepresent but not detected with older, ground‐basedtechnology. GREAT separates frequencies to the highest

extent so far, detecting and distinguishing moleculesand atoms whose signals overlap in spectra capturedon the surface of the Earth. The Southern HemisphereDeployment Science Snapshot, from 9 successful outof 9 planned flights within 3 weeks to and fromChristchurch, New Zealand, yielded the first detectionof interstellar deuterated para‐triatomic hydrogen(para H2D+), in an embedded low‐mass binary proto‐star system. H2D+ is nearly impossible to detect fromthe Earth’s surface because its signal is so close to H2O,abundant in the atmosphere. Deuterated moleculesare much more common in a very cold environment,such as regions where protostars are just beginning toform. Cobleigh showed a graph of GREAT’s detectionof the deuterated form of hydroxyl radicals; these re‐sults indicate that water can be found in areas of starformation. The Echelon‐Cross‐Echelle Spectrographthrough its considerable mid‐IR resolution has also de‐tected water in protostars. GREAT has also detected signsof warmer chemistry, specifically interstellar mercaptoradicals converted to hydrogen sulfide; warmer regionswould indicate where stars are forming from protostars.

Cobleigh concluded his presentation with a summarystatement: SOFIA is now operational with unique ca‐pabilities for astronomical science! In fact, his talkshowed how SOFIA has been demonstrating these ca‐pabilities over the past several years and will hopefullycontinue. Cobleigh noted during the question‐and‐an‐swer session that the international cooperation makesit less likely that the operation would be shut down.However, a shutdown nearly happened when NASA cutthe budget for SOFIA in 2014. NASA’s explanation wasthat other science missions had been earmarked be‐fore, such as the Cassini probe. Also, they had beenlooking at SOFIA data from 5 years ago. Ultimately, theHouse voted for $70 million to keep the SOFIA programgoing. Cobleigh noted that hopes were high that thenew budget would increase back to the $85 millionneeded to maintain SOFIA.

The next science review will be in a year or so, whichwill show the value of maintaining and even increasingfunding so SOFIA can add even more to an alreadytremendous body of knowledge about the IR universe.

NASA’s Origins: 100 Years of NACA’s Contributions

March AIAA Los Angeles-Las Vegas Technical Luncheon

Patrick C. Stoliker: Deputy Director, NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center

Date: March 3, 2015

Time: 11:30 AM — 1:30 PM (Pacific)

Place: The Aerospace Corporation

Cafeteria Bldg A3 Room 1607 A & B

2310 El Segundo Blvd., El Segundo, CA 90245

Lunch is included and will be available starting at 11:30 AM.

Register here: http://aiaa-naca-nasa100th-tech-lunch.eventbrite.com

Join NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s Patrick C.Stoliker as we commemorate the 100th Anniversary of theNational Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, or NACA,founded on March 3, 1915.

With a small budget and no paid staff, the NACA began de-veloping the capabilities our nation needed to gain leadershipin aeronautics. Throughout and beyond World War II, theNACA developed or helped develop many aeronautical breakthroughs that are still used today -- from enginecowlings, to retractable landing gear, and jet engine compressors and turbines. When the nation's focusbegan turning to space during the 1950s, it was decided that the NACA's 7,500 employees and $300 millionin facilities would transition on October 1, 1958, to a new agency, known better today as the National Aero-nautics and Space Administration—NASA. Come learn about NASA’s roots and learn about what’s currentlygoing on at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center!

Patrick C. Stoliker is Deputy Director of NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA. He assiststhe Center director in the management of the NASA field center, focusing on strategy, business processes,and institutional management. He also served as Associate Director of Research Engineering, project man-ager of the implementation team for the Integrated Financial Management System, and six years as chief ofthe Controls and Dynamics Branch.

Earlier, Stoliker was chief engineer for the Digital Flight Control System upgrade for F-16XL aircraft #1 andwas principal investigator for flight testing the JAS 39 control stick in an F-18 research aircraft. He has par-ticipated in all aspects of the airworthiness process, including serving as chair of the X-43 Vehicle 1 and X-38 Vehicle 132 flight readiness reviews.

Stoliker first came to NASA in April of 1992 as a senior aerospace engineer for PRC, Inc., and became acivil servant in 1994. Assigned to the X-31A Enhanced Fighter Maneuverability project, he worked as a leadflight controls engineer during the project's high angle-of-attack envelope expansion, the close-in-combatevaluations, and the quasi-tailless experiment. Before coming to NASA, Stoliker was employed for 10 yearsby Northrop Corp. He was the lead flight controls engineer and a principal in flight testing of the Tri-ServiceStand-off Attack Missile. He also managed the guidance, navigation, and control organization at Northrop'sNewbury Park, CA, site.

Stoliker is the author of several technical papers. He received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal for hiscontributions to flight control system development in 1999, and was the recipient of the NASA OutstandingLeadership Medal in 2009.

February 2015 | Page 8

January 2015 | Page 9

AIAA Los Angeles-Las Vegas Enterprise Program Event:

Unmanned Aerial Systems Engineering

Brock P. Christoval, CEO and Founder, Flyspan Systems

DATE: March 3, 2015

TIME: 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm

RSVP by: 2:00 pm, March 2, 2015

LOCATION: Northrop-Grumman

1 Space Park - S Cafe

Redondo Beach, CA 90278

Click here to register:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/unmanned-aerial-systems-systems-engineering-tickets-15801522780

Flyspan Systems provides solutions for any team to use unmanned systems:• Match the right unmanned system to requirements • Integrate unmanned systems into existing networks • Use data from unmanned systems to increase awareness • Provide custom training and maintenance programs.

Brock P. Christoval, CEO and Founder, is an entrepreneur and engineer with experience in testing and an-alyzing Unmanned Aerial Systems for the Department of Defense. Prior to that, he was a systems engi-neer providing innovative logistics solutions for the U.S. Navy. He earned a B.S. degree in AerospaceScience Engineering from Tuskegee University. He is wildly optimistic about technology and business. Fly-span Systems is the third company that he has founded.

PARKING: Free. ATTENDANCE FEE: Regular $12, Student $6. Light refreshments served.

6:00 - 6:30 pm Sign-in, network, refresh yourself, and hear general announcements6:30 - 7:30 pm Presentation by Brock Christoval7:30 - 8:30 pm Q&A, Wrap Up, Discussion

Dr. Dennis Wonica, Pamela de Liz for the Enterprise Program

S Cafe is at location of W6trw Radio Club

Look for "W6trw Amateur Radio Club, Redondo Beach" in GOOGLE Maps: http://tinyurl.com/ow4v8zy This points to an aerial view for "W6trw radio club" and the radio antenna sits on top of the S Café. Theview points directly to the staircase, which leads 2 flights down to the Café entrance from the parking lot(free parking everywhere). If you look up Northrop-Grumman on the web, you wind up in a different park-ing lot and the lots are not interconnected. The nearest intersection is Marine Ave. (off of Aviation Blvd.)and Simon Ramo Drive. There will be a flashing red light beacon at the staircase leading down to the SCafé.

Bring:• Your business card. Cards will be distributed via e-mail after the meeting.• Handouts, marketing material about your business for distribution at a table.

• Info about events, meetings of interest to group.

January 2015 | Page 10

Future Events

Thursday, February 19, 5:30 pm. AIAA Los Angeles‐Las Vegas Dinner Meeting. David McBride,Director, NASAArmstrong Flight Research Center. 5:30 pm ‐ 6:30 pm Event Check‐in and Networking Reception with CashBar; 6:30 pm ‐ 7:30 pm Dinner; 7:30 pm ‐ 9:30 pm Presentation and Q&A. Crowne Plaza Hotel, LAX; 5985West Century Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90045. $45.00 ‐ AIAA Member; $55.00 ‐ Regular; $30.00 ‐ Students;$15.00 ‐ Presentation Only, No Meal. Free Parking with parking ticket validation. SEE ANNOUNCEMENT ONPAGE 3 ABOUT NEW MEMBER DISCOUNTS. THESE OFFERS DO NOT APPLY TO MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS. CAN‐CELLATION POLICY: If you cannot attend, please cancel your registration within 72 hours by contacting theProgram Organizer Dana Puschell, ddpcare@gmail.com or the Section Chairman Nicola Sarzi‐Amade, na‐made@smad.com. For questions, comments, and special requests please call (805) 637‐1361. To register, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/aiaa‐february‐dinner‐meeting‐with‐david‐mcbride‐tickets‐15475731329

Friday, February 20, 7:00 am. The Aerospace & Defense Forum ‐ The New Orbital ATK and New Directions inSpace Acquisition. Guest Presenter: Arnie Streland, Director of Strategy and Business Development, El Se‐gundo Office, ATK Aerospace Group. Networking & Breakfast: 7:00‐7:30am. Meeting: 7:30‐9:00am. Jeffer,Mangels, Butler & Mitchell, 1900 Avenue of the Stars, 7th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90067. You can attend in per‐son or via the Web. Attending the meeting via the web is free. Both members and non‐members must registerto attend. Free ‐ A&D Forum member; $40 ‐ Non‐member; $45 ‐ Walk‐ins. You will receive multiple invita‐tions, regardless of whether you have already registered. To register, visit http://tinyurl.com/msmbbpv

Tuesday, March 3, 11:30 am ‐ 1:30 pm. AIAA Los Angeles‐Las Vegas Technical Luncheon. NASA’s Origins: 100 Years ofNACA’s Contributions. Patrick C. Stoliker, Deputy Director, NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center. SEE ADVERTISEMENTON PAGE 8

Tuesday, March 3, 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm. Enterprise Program Event‐ Unmanned Aerial Systems Engineering.Brock Christoval, CEO and Founder, Flyspan Systems. SEE ANNOUNCEMENT ON PAGE 9

Friday, March 13, 1:30 pm ‐ 3:30 pm. Speakers Needed ‐ Career Fair. WANTED: Passionate professionals whowould like to inspire high school students. Professionals like you! Alliance Stern MASS High School is seekingprofessionals to hold discussions with students about their current career and education. Alliance Marc andEva Stern Math and Science School, 5151 State University Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90032. Please contact EricaMeza at eguevara@laalliance.org or (323) 987‐2144 for more information.

Wednesday, March 25, 5:30 pm. SAVE THE DATE! AIAA Los Angeles‐Las Vegas Dinner Meeting. Sandy Mag‐nus, Astronaut and AIAA's Executive Director. SEE ADVERTISEMENT ON PAGE 2

April: Dr. Daniel Raymer will present four Short Courses this spring in Los Angeles:

Aircraft Conceptual Design Short Course (April 20‐24) http://www.aircraftdesign.com/shortcrs1.html Aircraft Configuration Layout, Loft, & CAD (April 27) http://www.aircraftdesign.com/shortcrs2.html Engineer's Introduction to Management & Business (April 28‐29) http://www.aircraftdesign.com/shortcrs5.html Spacecraft & Launch Vehicle Design (April 30 – May 1) http://www.aircraftdesign.com/shortcrs4.html

For further information or to request an in‐house class quote, contact Conceptual Research Corporation:http://02028f5.netsolhost.com/aircraftdesigncontact.html