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Upgrading the Space Shuttle (1999)

Chapter: Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 1999. Upgrading the Space Shuttle. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6384.
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Appendix B Biographical Sketches of Committee Members

Bryan O'Connor, chair, is a consultant on aerospace safety. Previously, he served as the deputy associate administrator of the Office of Space Flight at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Headquarters, the chief of staff of the Naval Air Test Center, and a NASA astronaut. At NASA, he led the redesign of the space station program, founded and led NASA's Spaceflight Safety Panel, and introduced probabilistic risk assessment to the space shuttle and space station programs. He has been awarded NASA's Distinguished Service Medal, Exceptional Service Medal, and Outstanding Leadership Medal, as well as the Defense Superior Service Medal, and the Distinguished Flying Cross, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) System Effectiveness and Safety Award, and the Aviation Week Laurel. Mr. O'Connor holds degrees in engineering and aeronautical systems from the U.S. Naval Academy and the University of West Florida.

Stephen A. Book is a distinguished engineer at The Aerospace Corporation, serving as the corporation's principal technical authority on costs of space and space-related systems. At Aerospace, several innovative approaches to cost-risk analysis and other statistical aspects of cost and economics have been developed under his direction. Dr. Book served on the NASA Advisory Council's Cost Assessment and Validation Task Force for the International Space Station (the “Chabrow Committee”). He earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Oregon, Eugene, his A.B. degree in mathematics from Georgetown University, and his M.A. degree in mathematics from Cornell University.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 1999. Upgrading the Space Shuttle. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6384.
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Benjamin Cosgrove is a retired senior vice president of the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group. Mr. Cosgrove has been associated with almost all Boeing jet aircraft programs during his 44 years with the company. He was honored by the Society of Aviation and Space Technology for his role in converting the Boeing 767 transport design from a three-man to a two-man cockpit configuration and received the Ed Wells Technical Management Award for addressing aging aircraft issues. Mr. Cosgrove was honored with the 1991 Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy for his lifetime contributions to commercial aviation safety and for technical achievement. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of both the AIAA and England's Royal Aeronautical Society. He holds a B.S. degree in aeronautical engineering and an honorary D. Eng. degree from the University of Notre Dame.

Donald H. Emero is a retired former vice president of Rockwell's Space Systems Division. Mr. Emero was the chief engineer for the space shuttle orbiter from 1989 to 1993. In this position, he headed numerous teams assigned to resolve complex problems with the shuttle. Mr. Emero has been awarded the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal and the National Management Association Gold Knight of Management and is an associate fellow of the AIAA. He received an M.S. degree from the University of Massachusetts.

B. John Garrick was a founder of PLG, Inc., and retired as president and chief executive officer in 1997. Currently, he has an active consulting practice in the development and application of the risk sciences to nuclear power, space, chemical, and marine systems. His accomplishments include his Ph.D. thesis on unified systems safety analysis that first advocated what is now known as probabilistic risk analysis (PRA) and the establishment of the first consulting team to perform initial comprehensive and quantitative risk assessments for the commercial nuclear power industry. Dr. Garrick is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and has been a major contributor to the analytical methods and thought processes employed in PRA. He holds a Ph.D. in engineering and applied sciences from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

Richard Harper joined the staff of IBM Research on August 7, 1998. Previously, Dr. Harper was a senior technical consultant at Stratus Computer, Inc., where he served as senior technologist, consultant, cross-function problem solver, and technical advisor to senior engineering management. Dr. Harper has also worked as a principal member of the technical staff at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc., where he was the system architect and main investigator for numerous fault-tolerant processing system development programs. Dr. Harper received his Ph.D. in computer systems architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and his M.S. in aerospace engineering from Mississippi State University.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 1999. Upgrading the Space Shuttle. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6384.
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Nancy Leveson is professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT. Dr. Leveson is a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery and was awarded the 1995 AIAA Information Systems Award for contributions in space and aeronautics computer technology and science for “developing the field of software safety and for promoting responsible software and system engineering practices where life and property are at stake.” She has served as the editor-in-chief of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Transactions on Software Engineering and chaired the 1993 National Research Council study on Space Shuttle Software. Dr. Leveson received all of her degrees, in mathematics, management, and computer science, from UCLA.

Donald Maricle is a private consultant working on small electrochemical devices and fuel cells. For 23 years until 1996, he was manager for materials engineering at International Fuel Cells, where he worked on a variety of fuel cells and batteries. Previously, he was director of research at the Zito Company, where he was responsible for developing a zinc-bromine battery. Before that, he was a group leader at American Cyanamid, where he invented and developed the LiSO2 battery and discovered electrochemiluminescence. Dr. Maricle has a Ph.D. from MIT and a B.A. from Wesleyan University.

Robert Sackheim is manager of the Propulsion and Combustion Center at TRW, where he is responsible for liquid, solid, and gel propellant rocket propulsion as well as other areas related to rocket propulsion. He has served as manager of TRW's Propulsion and Power Laboratory and has worked on diverse in-space propulsion efforts, including the lunar module descent engine, the Mariner Mars flight propulsion system, and the TDRS-A recovery effort. He has also worked for the U. S. Air Force and COMSAT corporation and has 35 years of experience in the field of rocket propulsion and energy conversion research, technology, development, and flight applications. Mr. Sackheim is a fellow of the AIAA. He earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Virginia and Columbia University, respectively.

George Sutton is a principal engineer at ANSER. Dr. Sutton is an expert in thermal protection systems, ablation heat protection and materials, thermophysics, hypersonics, lasers, aero-optics, homing interceptors, and missile defense. He has served as scientific advisor to Air Force Headquarters, vice president of Jaycor, and chief scientist of Aero Thermo Technology, Inc. He is the author of more than 90 publications and holds 10 patents. Dr. Sutton is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the AIAA. He received his B.S. from Cornell University and his M.S. and Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 1999. Upgrading the Space Shuttle. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6384.
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Richard R. Weiss is a consultant in aerospace science and engineering involving launch vehicles and space systems. Previously, he was deputy director for space launch systems and technology in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense, Missiles and Space Systems. He served in the Air Force laboratory system as the chief scientist of the Rocket Propulsion Laboratory, director of the Astronautics Laboratory, and director of the Propulsion Directorate, Phillips Laboratory. Dr. Weiss has been involved in the development and transition of advanced technology for most of the space and missile systems (both strategic and tactical) in the U.S. inventory today. Dr. Weiss has received several awards including the Air Force Outstanding Civilian Achievement Award and AIAA's 1994 Wyld Propulsion Award for leadership in developing propulsion technology. Dr. Weiss holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Purdue University, an M.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Southern California, and a B.S. in aeronautical engineering from the University of Michigan.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 1999. Upgrading the Space Shuttle. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6384.
×
Page 60
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 1999. Upgrading the Space Shuttle. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6384.
×
Page 61
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 1999. Upgrading the Space Shuttle. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6384.
×
Page 62
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 1999. Upgrading the Space Shuttle. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/6384.
×
Page 63
Next: Appendix C: Shuttle Upgrades Presented to the Committee »
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The space shuttle is a unique national resource. One of only two operating vehicles that carries humans into space, the space shuttle functions as a scientific laboratory and as a base for construction, repair, and salvage missions in low Earth orbit. It is also a heavy-lift launch vehicle (able to deliver more than 18,000 kg of payload to low Earth orbit) and the only current means of returning large payloads to Earth. Designed in the 1970s, the shuttle has frequently been upgraded to improve safety, cut operational costs, and add capability. Additional upgrades have been proposed-and some are under way-to combat obsolescence, further reduce operational costs, improve safety, and increase the ability of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to support the space station and other missions.

In May 1998, NASA asked the National Research Council (NRC) to examine the agency's plans for further upgrades to the space shuttle system. The NRC was asked to assess NASA's method for evaluating and selecting upgrades and to conduct a top-level technical assessment of proposed upgrades.

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