The Holy Grail of Spaceflight: Hypersonic Flight from the X-15 to through the Space
Shuttle
Speaker: ROGER D. LAUNIUS
AIAA Distinguished Lecturer
Within a decade after the end of World War II American flight researchers were probing the hypersonic realm,
generally accepted to begin at Mach 5 because that is when aerodynamic heating becomes important in aircraft
design. It also is the point at which the temperature in the boundary layer and on the surface of an object that is
traveling at Mach 5 reached about 1,800 ° F. This talk explores the evolution of research with flying vehicles in
this flight regime, especially the X-15 and the Space Shuttle but also including other vehicle types. It then discusses
the efforts to develop post-shuttle hypersonic vehicle designs.
Roger D. Launius is chair of the Division of Space History at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington , D.C. Between 1990 and 2002 he served as chief historian of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. A graduate of Graceland College in Lamoni , Iowa , he received his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University , Baton Rouge , in 1982. He has written or edited more than twenty books on aerospace history, including Space Stations: Base Camps to the Stars (Smithsonian Books, 2003), which received the AIAA's history manuscript prize; Flight: A Celebration of 100 Years in Art and Literature (Welcome Books, 2003), edited with Anne Collins Goodyear, Anthony M. Springer, and Bertram Ulrich; Taking Off: A Century of Manned Flight (American Institute for Aeronautics and Aastronautics, 2003), edited with Jonathan Coopersmith. He is frequently consulted by the electronic and print media for his views on space issues. His research interests encompass all areas of U.S. and space history and policy history, especially cultural aspects of the subject and the role of executive decision-makers and their efforts to define space exploration. Directions: [Map by Google Maps ]
From Downtown - Take Interstate 75 North to Interstate 285 West. Exit onto Cobb Parkway/state Highway 41 (Exit 259B). Turn left at the light. The hotel is immediately on your right side.
June 23, 2005
Menu:
Rosemary Chicken, wild rice, vegetables, salad, dessert
| 5:30 PM Social Hour |
$15 Members/Guests |
| 6:30 PM Dinner |
$19 Non-Members |
| 7:30 PM Program |
$15 Students |
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