MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics Department
enews Vol 3, #6
January 2007

In this issue:

1. Honors and Awards
2. In Memorium
3. Changes to Sector Head Lineup
4. Aero-Astro Environmental Safety Site Posted
5. Mars Biosat on Radio, Spheres on TV
6. "Minds, Maps and Models" is New 12-Unit Subject .

1. AWARDS AND HONORS

Professor Raul Radovitzky, along with post-docs Zisu Zhao and Ludovic Noels, and Cal Tech post-doc S. Mauch, has received the Best Paper Award at the 25th Army Science Conference. The title of the paper is "Langrangian Simulation of Penetration Environments via Mesh Healing and Adaptive Optiimization." The paper is available on Professor Radovitzky's Web site http://web.mit.edu/aeroastro/people/radovitzky/publications.html#conferencepapers

Professor Jeff Hoffman http://web.mit.edu/aeroastro/people/hoffman.html has learned that he will be inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/visitKSC/attractions/fame.asp on May 5. Professor Hoffman is a veteran of five shuttle flights, including the make-or-break mission to repair the myopic Hubble Space Telescope, which was unwittingly launched with a primary mirror that was ground to the wrong prescription. He first flew aboard Discovery in April 1985, making the first contingency spacewalk in shuttle program history: an excursion to repair a malfunctioning satellite. He and his crew survived a brake failure and blown tire upon landing at Kennedy Space Center. Hoffman next flew on the star-crossed ASTRO-1 mission, a 1990 flight that was delayed six months by a series of mysterious propellant leaks that effectively grounded NASA's shuttle fleet.

Then in December 1993, Hoffman flew on a high-stakes mission to repair the nearsighted Hubble Space Telescope. Congress and the American public considered the flight a gauge of whether NASA could successfully build the International Space Station. He also flew two flights to test the Italian-made Tethered Satellite System. The highly experimental missions ultimately proved that electricity could be generated by dragging a tethered satellite through Earth's magnetic field. Congratulations to Professor Hoffman.

Professor Ed Greitzer reports that Ann Dowling, Hunsaker Professor in 1999, and the Cambridge University co-lead on the CMI Silent Aircraft Initiative (the Silent Aircraft site was down at the time of this writing, but you might learn more about it at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/ (the originally cited link does not work), has been made a Dame (equivalent, so says the Encyclopedia Brittanica, to a knighthood). She is now a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. You can read more about this honor ... or honour ... at http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,1979986,00.html .

Graduate student Finale Doshi has been awarded a Marshall Scholarship for study at the University of Cambridge for 2007. Doshi, a native of Richmond, Va., graduated from MIT in June 2005 with dual bachelor's degrees in aerospace engineering and physics, as well as a minor in creative writing. She is now a graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science. Read more at http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2006/marshall.html

2. IN MEMORIUM

Professor Earll Murman has notified us that Dr. Duane McRuer died several days ago, at his home in Manhattan Beach, CA. He was 81. Prof. Murman writes, "(Dr. McRuer) was indeed a great man, and a wonderful friend to me and to many other people. He was a Hunsaker Professor in 1992 and a member of our Visiting Committee from 1985-1988. He was a wonderful colleague of Course 16. Dr. McRuer, who received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Cal Tech, was the founder and chairman of Systems Technology Inc. of Hawthorne, CA. Our condolences to his wife, Betty. http://www.systemstech.com/content/view/16/33/ .

3. CHANGES TO SECTOR HEAD LINEUP

Several changes in Aero-Astro Sector Heads have been announced. Information Sector is now co-headed by Professors Steve Hall and Jon How. Professors Dave Miller and John Hansman are co-heading the Systems Sector. And, Professors Dave Darmofal and Ian Waitz are co-heading the Vehicles Sector. A list of faculty by Sector association is posted at http://web.mit.edu/aeroastro/faculty/facultybysector.html .

4. AERO-ASTRO ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY SITE POSTED

Aero-Astro is committed to providing a safe environment. There are requirements, including training, for everyone in the department - students, faculty, and staff - who participates in workspace activities or has contact with potentially hazardous materials or activities. Information regarding department health and safety training, procedure, regulation, and contacts, is now available on a new Web page posted on the Aero-Astro Web site. The page includes an online signature form for certifying that one has read the Chemical Hygiene Plan, a requirement for all researchers and lab supervisors. Everyone in the department is encouraged to take a look at the page, which is posted at http://web.mit.edu/aeroastro/about/health-safety.html and linked throughout the "About" section of the Aero-Astro site.

5. MARS BIOSAT ON RADIO, SPHERES ON TV

Doctoral candidate Thaddeus Fulford-Jones was interviewed on the PBS's Radio program "Marketplace" this month about the Mars Gravity Biosatellite team's fundraising plan to sell advertising/message space on the skin of its spacecraft. You can listen to the interview (or read a transcript) at http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/01/17/AM200701172.html and learn more about the marketing plan by visiting http://yournameintospace.org./ If you'd like to keep up with the Mars Biosat project, you can subscribe to its e-newsletter by sending an email to mg-news-subscribe@lists.marsgravity.org

A production team from the Discovery Channel, which had been here recently to tape Professor Jon How's UAV research, returned last week to tape an entire program devoted to the SSL's http://ssl.mit.edu/index.html SPHERE's Lab. Much of the time was spent interviewing Professor Dave Miller about the project. We hope to notify readers about the air date.

6. "MINDS, MAPS AND MODELS" IS NEW 12-UNIT SUBJECT

"Minds, Maps and Models" is a new 12-unit MIT undergraduate subject (3-0-9), which will be taught by Professors Wesley Harris, Leon Trilling, and Michael Steifel. According to the course description, "The acquisition and communication of knowledge requires a coherent cognitive framework to reason about events and states in the world. Subject examines how sensory perceptions are transformed into useful representations and how the use of technology extends that process to the creation of maps and models to guide action." Meeting twice a week; students will do assigned readings and write several short essays on specific points of the readings. In addition, they will be required to carry out a term-long project. For more information, visit http://web.mit.edu/aeroastro/academics/9.91-sts901.html

If you know of events, honors, activities, or other information you'd like to see in the next issue of Aero-Astro enews, please send to wlitant@mit.edu - we'd be pleased to include it!

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