Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Lecture 4: The Decision to Build the Shuttle

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16.885J / ESD.35J Aircraft Systems Engineering

As taught in: Fall 2005


Course Highlights

This course was administrated by shuttle astronaut and MIT Professor Jeff Hoffman and Professor Aaron Cohen, who was the Space Shuttle Orbiter Project Manager. Guest speakers provide the majority of the content in video lectures, discussing topics such as system design, accident investigation, and the future of NASA's space mission.

Course Description

16.885J offers a holistic view of the aircraft as a system, covering: basic systems engineering; cost and weight estimation; basic aircraft performance; safety and reliability; lifecycle topics; aircraft subsystems; risk analysis and management; and system realization. Small student teams retrospectively analyze an existing aircraft covering: key design drivers and decisions; aircraft attributes and subsystems; and operational experience. Oral and written versions of the case study are delivered. For the Fall 2005 term, the class focuses on a systems engineering analysis of the Space Shuttle. It offers study of both design and operations of the shuttle, with frequent lectures by outside experts. Students choose specific shuttle systems for detailed analysis and develop new subsystem designs using state of the art technology.
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Prof. Jeffrey Hoffman, 16.885J/ESD.35J Aircraft Systems Engineering, Fall 2005. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare), http://ocw.mit.edu (Accessed July 12, 2011). License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA
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A strange thing happened while reading e-mails. A question was asked and I did some looking.
(strange because the result of the search was very rewarding and opened up a new avenue for answers.
It almost seemed like I was supposed to find this resource.)
- LRK -
[FPSPACE] FW: The decision to build the shuttle - research inquire

We have seen various plans for NASA to go to space over the years since the beginning of the Apollo era and the formation of NASA.
These plans often changed over time and if not completely aborted before even getting started, were often modified in funding, and then maybe canceled as well.

The question was asked what was involved in the decision to build the shuttle?
I think if you have the time to view some MIT classes that are about 2 hours in length and while doing so consider the present time and what is happening in Congress with JWST or earlier with the Constellation mission, you will better understand how our government works, or doesn't. Watch carefully.  Try not to shake your head too hard.
- LRK -

There are 22 lectures in this series and I would start with Lecture 4: The Decision to Build the Shuttle. 
You should down load the PDF files of the Lecture notes to view as you watch the videos as the camera focuses on the speaker and not the projected material.
- LrK -

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Lecture Notes

The lectures from this course are available in video and audio formats. In many cases, the lecture slides are available to follow along with the videos, and biographies provide background of the guest speakers' careers.
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Lecture 4: The Decision to Build the Shuttle
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[On the lecture note, Video page, click on the "Related Resources" tab to save the PDF Lecture Notes and the Bio for Prof. John Logsdon.
Click on the "Down Load Video" tab if you want to save the video as an iTunes U MP4 - 251MB file of an Internet Archive MP4 - 423MB] - LRK -
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If you make it through Lecture: 4, then try Lecture: 1 and Lecture: 2.
If you want more and feel like you would like to go back to school, by all means continue with the rest of the 22 Lectures. :-)
I have been wearing my ears thin with watching them and looks like I will be tied up for awhile. :-)
- LRK -

After you digest the material in the lectures from those that were there in the beginning I believe you will see the chance of getting my wish below probably won't happen.
- LRK -
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My feeling is that it would be nice if Congress would agree from the beginning on what NASA proposes and then management follow through to ensure the missions are handled properly and completed instead spending a lot of money and then folding at the last moment for lack of funds. If the mission is worth doing there needs to be enough funds to complete the goal and new technology is often unpredictable in cost.
- LRK -
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At least you will have a better understanding of how our legislative system functions.  Do you fell warm and fuzzy yet?

Thanks for looking up with me.
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -

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