NASA turns the big six-oh

by Mark Ollig

It began Jan. 7, 1958, as a US House resolution “to provide research into problems of flight within and outside the Earth’s atmosphere, and for other purposes.”

This introduction to US HR 12575, by the 85th Congress of the United States of America, established the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed his approval to HR 12575 July 29, 1958.

HR 12575 listed many objectives, such as the expansion of human knowledge, and the improvement of space vehicles carrying living organisms through space.

Section 102 (c) objective 5 states “The preservation of the role of the United States as a leader in aeronautical and space science and technology.”

In 1958, many felt, and with good reason – the United States was not preserving or leading in space exploration.

One year earlier, Russia shocked the US and the world by placing the first artificial satellite into Earth orbit.

Oct. 4, 1957, Russia successfully launched an Earth-orbiting satellite atop an R-7 Semyorka rocket.

The R-7 is a Russian Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile without the military warhead attachment.

Instead of a nuclear warhead, the rocket carried into space a payload called PS-1, better known as Sputnik 1.

Sputnik means “traveling companion.”

Sputnik 1 orbited the Earth once every 92 minutes, at a speed of 18,000 mph, from a height of 139 miles.

The Sputnik 1 satellite was a metallic, 23-inch-diameter orb made of an aluminum-magnesium-titanium combination weighing 184 pounds.

Throughout October 1957, the public became fixated listening to the repeating radio signal pattern of “beep-beep-beep-beep” being transmitted to Earth by Sputnik 1.

Sputnik’s radio transmissions were listened to by those around the world through their radios and televisions.

People on the ground looked up into the night sky and saw a bright globe quickly traveling over their heads. It was Sputnik. Sunlight reflected off its highly-polished surface as it sped across the dark, star-filled sky.

While Sputnik orbited above their heads, the emotions many Americans were feeling ranged from shock and amazement to being downright frightened and alarmed.

The population worried the next Soviet rocket might carry a nuclear warhead, which could be dropped on the United States.

After all, it was 1957, and the US and Soviet Union were in the middle of the Cold War.

One minute of recorded Sputnik 1 radio signal beeps can be heard at http://tinyurl.com/2u9b49.

Sputnik 2 was launched Nov. 3, 1957, and instead of carrying a nuclear warhead, it transported a living animal, a dog named Laika, into Earth orbit.

American citizens were now placing tremendous political pressure on Congress for the United States “to do something dramatic.”

And so, they did.

Friday, Dec. 6, 1957, the United States placed a 3.25-pound, 6-inch sphere satellite into the nose of a 72-foot-tall US Navy Vanguard rocket in its first attempt to launch its own satellite into Earth orbit.

At launch, the Vanguard rose 4 feet off the ground – fell, and exploded into an orange ball of flames on the Cape Canaveral launch pad at 10:45 a.m. CST.

In addition to the embarrassment of the launch failure, the explosion caused the satellite to detach and be thrown a short distance away, where it began to transmit radio signals while lying on the ground.

The front page of the Dec. 6, 1957, afternoon Minneapolis Star read “U.S. Satellite Rocket Explodes on Ground.” Beneath the headline was a UP Telephoto of the exploding Vanguard rocket.

Not to be deterred, America came back and successfully launched its first Earth-orbiting satellite, called Explorer 1, Jan. 31, 1958.

A Jupiter-C-modified Army Redstone rocket was used to get Explorer 1 into Earth orbit.

“U.S. Satellite Spins in Orbit” was the front-page headline of the Feb. 1, 1958, Minneapolis Star newspaper.

Experimental instruments onboard Explorer 1 confirmed charged particles were suspended in space by Earth’s magnetic field.

These charged particles are known as the Van Allen Belts.

During the past 60 years, NASA has sent 115 satellites into Earth-orbit to study our planet.

The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 officially launched (sorry for the pun) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Oct. 1, 1958.

NASA was America’s response to the growing Russian Soviet space program.

The rest, as they say, is history.

NASA’s roots can be traced back to March 3, 1915, and a US government agency called the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA).

NACA was established during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson to “supervise and direct the scientific study of the problems of flight, with a view to their practical solution.”

Orville Wright was a member of NACA from 1920 to 1948. He and his brother, Wilbur, are famously known for successfully flying the first airplane called the Wright Flyer, Dec. 17, 1903.

All of NACA’s aerospace personnel and technical assets were transferred to NASA Oct. 1, 1958.

Historical images from NACA can be seen at https://go.nasa.gov/2xMMwyz.

A piece of fabric and spruce wood from the Wright Flyer was taken to the moon during NASA’s July 1969 Apollo 11 mission. Check it out at https://s.si.edu/2NzSgX3.

The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 can be viewed at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/299868.

Happy 60th birthday, NASA. You arrived into the world one day before I did.

Looking back at Cerf, Kahn, Engelbart, and internet chronicles

            

©Mark Ollig

In 1973, 30-year-old Vinton Cerf was working in a lab at Stanford University, when Robert Kahn, who was employed by the US government’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), came by to visit.

Kahn discussed DARPA’s problem in making all the computers on separate packet-switched networks act as if they were part of one common network.

Five years earlier, both had seen and been impressed with a futuristic demonstration of a computing system presented by Douglas C. Englebart.

Engelbart revealed his concept of a future computer network using NLS, aka The Online System.

In 1957, Engelbart was doing research at Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park, CA.

There, he developed a working prototype of a futuristic computing system.

In 1968, Engelbart gave a remarkable presentation of “human-computer networking” during the Fall Computer Conference in San Francisco, CA.

Engelbart’s demonstration came to be known as “The Mother of All Demos.”

“A Research Center for Augmenting Human Intellect” was the title of Engelbart’s presentation.

Engelbart’s computer-based, interactive, multiconsole display system was fully-operational.

The NLS computer terminal console was linked via telephone lines to a host computer, located some 30 miles away inside the Stanford Research Institute.

Engelbart wore a headset with a microphone and was seated at a desk in the middle of the stage.

On the desk sat a computer terminal console display or CRT (cathode ray tube) connected to a huge video screen above the stage, facing an audience of approximately 1,000.

Many computing specialists in attendance curiously watched Engelbart as he typed various commands on a keyboard, while explaining each demonstration application to be used over a multi-computing network.

One surprise of the 1968 demo was the handheld “pointing device” Engelbart regularly used to move the cursor dot on the CRT monitor. It looked like the mouse we commonly use to maneuver around computer programs.

Yes, Engelbart was using a mouse.

Five years earlier, Engelbart developed the first working computer mouse.

When asked, “Why was it called a mouse?”

Engelbart explained how someone suggested this name in 1963, because the cord connected to it looked like a tail, and the wooden handheld device was small.

Engelbart obtained US Patent 3,541,541 Nov. 17, 1970, for “X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System.” I have a photo of the patent diagram on my weblog.

Meanwhile, Cerf and Kahn continued their research and developed the networking protocol layers that allow today’s internet to operate as it does.

In 1974, Cerf and Kahn published “A Protocol for Packet Network Interconnection,” which describes the details of Transmission Control Protocol (TCP).

During 1982, Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn’s Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) was used as the official protocol suite over the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPA).

The rest, as they say, became history; ARPA turned into the internet we use today.

Two weeks ago, Vinton Cerf spoke at Rice University’s James A. Baker III Hall in Houston, TX.

The, now, 75-year-old Cerf spoke about the past and future of the internet.

He recalled in 1976, how he and Kahn completed the final TCP/IP code using Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4).

IPv4 provides a maximum of 4.3 billion unique IP numerical assignments or addresses for identifying individual computing devices – think telephone numbers.

IPv4 is a four-decimal, 32-bit binary code.

Four decimal points separate each of the eight binary bits, which make up the 32 bits of the IPv4 code.

For example, a dotted, decimal format Internet Protocol (IP) address of 216.27.61.137 when written in binary code is 11011000.00011011.00111101.10001001.

It was 1976; given the small number of connection points linked across the existing network, Cerf and Kahn thought 4.3 billion IP addresses would last a long time.

Of course, they never envisioned billions of internet domains and the millions of future websites requiring IP addresses, which would exhaust the supply of IPv4 addresses so quickly.

By 2011, the IPv4 network layer protocol addressing scheme had (for the most part) run out of new, assignable IP addresses.

Luckily, an internet standards body known as the Internet Engineering Task Force developed IPv6, which is currently being implemented across the internet to replace IPv4.

There are 128 bits of address space using IPv6.

IPv6 provides some 340 trillion, trillion, trillion uniquely assignable IP addresses.

This capacity will provide a nearly limitless pool of unique IP addresses.

Currently, more than 9 million domain names and 23 percent of all networks use IPv6 connectivity.

Cerf has expressed his concern about hackers taking control of the IoT (Internet of Things) electronic devices currently being connected to the internet.

He feels IoT software is not easily upgradable, thus allowing IoT devices to become susceptible of being accessed by computer hackers.

“We are very vulnerable . . . no matter how secure you make software, if there is one hole, someone will find it. We have to write better software,” Cerf warned.

In December 1997, the US National Medal of Technology was presented to Vinton Cerf and Robert E. Kahn, for their work establishing and developing the internet.

To check whether your domain (or other websites) supports IPv6 connectivity, use this handy testing tool at http://ipv6-test.com.

Douglas Engelbart’s Dec. 9, 1968 demonstration video is now preserved on the Internet Archives at http://tinyurl.com/1968demo.

Next generation smartphones will use ‘Gorilla Glass 6’

 ©Mark Ollig


Revealed in Steve Jobs’ biography was his disappointment with the plastic display screen to be used on the first Apple iPhone.

Jobs, co-founder and chief executive officer of Apple Inc., learned initial 2006 tests revealed the plastic display screen was highly vulnerable to surface scratches.

He wanted a stronger and more scratch-resistant glass-like material to be used for the iPhone display screen; however, time was of the essence.

Jobs called Wendell Weeks, CEO of Corning Incorporated, a company which has been making glass for well over 100 years.

Weeks told Jobs about a unique strength-hardened glass which Corning had developed in the 1960s.

This promising chemically-strengthened glass was experimented with – but eventually abandoned, Weeks explained.

However, Jobs was immensely intrigued by the story.

He persuaded the Corning CEO to re-develop and manufacture this special glass so it could be used with Apple’s upcoming new iPhone.

Jobs told Weeks that within six months, he would need enough of the glass to be used on 1 million iPhones.

No pressure, right?

Corning quickly responded, and re-tooled their Kentucky plant (which made liquid crystal display (LCD) screens) to produce enough of the special glass to be used on the first iPhones.

And so, it was a Corning glass display screen on the first generation of iPhone’s sold in June 2007.

One year later, Corning publicly announced “Gorilla Glass” as a durable, scratch-resistant protective cover for other mobile handheld devices using touchscreens.

Rumors circulated for years that Corning actually manufactured Gorilla Glass in the 1960s.

Corning’s webpage says this belief is a “popular myth;” however, they did reveal experimenting with “chemically strengthened glass” in 1960, under the code name: Project Muscle.

Through the knowledge obtained from Project Muscle, Corning created a new damage-resistant glass called Chemcor in 1961.

Chemcor glass became popularly used in everyday kitchen glassware items, such as cookware, and was used for eyeglass lenses, and in automobiles and aircraft.

Gorilla Glass, according to Corning, is a different product and glass composition than Chemcor.

Today’s Corning Gorilla Glass is made using a proprietary fusion manufacturing ion-exchange process.

This ion-exchange is a chemical strengthening process where large ions are “stuffed” into the glass surface, creating a state of compression.

The process allows potassium ions to be dispersed beneath the glass surface, creating a high-compressive stress layer deep into the glass.

The compression layer acts like an “armored shield,” making the glass exceptionally tough, lightweight, resistant to scratches, and damage-resistant, thus the name Gorilla Glass.

Gorilla Glass is made in the US, Japan, and Taiwan.

Corning recently announced the next generation of Gorilla Glass.

“Gorilla Glass 6 is the company’s most durable cover glass to date,” according to Corning’s July press release.

Corning disclosed their scientists developed a new “chemically-strengthening” glass composition that provides a higher level of compression.

Gorilla Glass 6 can withstand multiple drops, and is highly resistant to scratches, chips, or breaks.

However, there are limits; if you repeatedly hit the glass with a hammer, of course, it would be damaged.

In 2011, Corning reported 200 million mobile display screens were made of Gorilla Glass.

Just seven years later, more than 40 manufacturers are using Corning glass on some 6 billion smartdevices.

Corning revealed its research team is exploring new application uses for its Gorilla Glass other than consumer electronics.

Although not yet publicly announced, I am confident Corning’s Gorilla Glass 6 will be used with the next generation of Apple iPhone screens.

The online Corning Museum of Glass can be viewed at https://www.cmog.org.

Watch the live demo of Gorilla 6 glass here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zfCaPTn0yA.

Screen grab taken from a live demo of Corning® Gorilla® Glass 6

Sending supplies and people into space using a space elevator

In 2057, a nano-tube ribbon cable will support a tethered “space elevator” for receiving and lifting payloads from, and into Earth orbit.

This futuristic vision is from the book, “I-Robot,” written by Isaac Asimov and published in 1957.

This week, the first step in what is hoped to become a 60,000-mile-high space elevator, is about to be tested.

The experiment will take place in Earth’s orbit using a box, or “miniature elevator,” 2.4 inches long, 1.2 inches wide, and 1.2 inches high, tethered in space to a 30-foot steel cable strung between two mini-satellites, which will be used to keep the cable stretched tight.

A motor inside the mini-elevator will move it back and forth along the cable in space; similar to a trolley car.

In the report I read in The Mainichi (Japan’s daily news service), this will be the first test to move a container on a cable in space.

Developed by researchers at Shizuoka University in Japan, the mini-space elevator experiment package will be launched into Earth’s orbit using Japan’s 186-foot-tall H2-B rocket.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has been working on plans calling for “research and development of low-cost space transportation technologies to establish space infrastructure.”

These plans include a fully-functioning hybrid space elevator.

Dec. 19, 2016; Shizuoka University’s mini-satellite was successfully launched from the International Space Station (ISS) as part of their space elevator experiment.

A somewhat similar test using a much longer space cable was attempted nearly two decades earlier by the US.

Feb. 25, 1996; the US Space Shuttle attempted to unravel a 12.5-mile cable with an attached satellite at the end.

The copper-braided wire within the cable was wound around a nylon string coated with Teflon-like insulation.

The outer cable covering was made of Kevlar, the same fiber used in bulletproof vests and body armor.

Just as the final length of cable was being unrolled from the Shuttle’s cargo bay; it suddenly broke off from the shuttle, and the wire with the attached satellite drifted off into space.

The satellite remained functioning and was tracked on the ground for a while, but it could not be retrieved.

When the shuttle returned to Earth, scientists examined the frayed end of the cable still attached in the cargo bay and found it snapped off, not because of tension, but from having its innermost core melted by 3,500 volts of electrical current.

NASA scientists said trapped air bubbles, which occurred during the cable’s manufacturing, caused the meltdown failure.

The two Shizuoka University satellites being used in this week’s mini-elevator experiment were designed by Shizuoka University Faculty of Engineering, and are equipped with cameras.

According to the Mainichi Daily News, “Should a space elevator ever actually be realized, people could travel to the ISS without using a launch vehicle, and transport supplies at low cost. It is envisioned that a variety of supplies – such as panels for solar power generation and materials for research and development in space – could also be transported to space.”

It comes down to the strength and durability of a cable that can withstand the elements of space, while being connected to the Earth.

Possible materials for a space elevator cable have been suggested, including carbon nanotube technology.

Also, a newly-created strength material, called “diamond nanothreads,” has been recommended for constructing the super-strong cable strands needed to support a space elevator.

“It is as if an incredible jeweler has strung together the smallest possible diamonds into a long miniature necklace,” said John Badding, who led the diamond nanothread’s research at Penn State University.

Concerns about a space elevator cable are, of course, having it struck by any space objects, and for the safety of aircraft flying near the vertical elevator cable within Earth’s atmosphere.

Of course, building an actual working space elevator would have to go down as one of humanity’s greatest engineering feats.

For me, this space elevator idea sounds like an attainable goal, but – remember folks, – I’ve watched a lot of “Star Trek.”

So, until the transporter chamber is invented, instead of beaming to an orbiting starship from a planet’s surface, we might just have to put up with using a space elevator – or perhaps a shuttlecraft.

On the bright side, having a space elevator will save time and money transporting equipment and satellites to and from space.

The space elevator will also come in handy for people traveling to and from Earth-orbiting hotels.

Don’t laugh. Orion Span, with headquarters in San Mateo, CA, and offices in League City, TX, recently announced plans for having a low-Earth orbiting hotel module ready for occupancy by 2022.

If you want to get away from it all, how about spending 12 days inside this 200-mile-high luxury hotel, nicknamed Aurora Station, for just $9.5 million?

If you act now, it will only cost $80,000 to reserve a room on board – but hurry, there’s a waiting list.

The $9.5 million covers the price of a rocket launch for getting you into space and to the Aurora Station, so you needn’t worry about how to get there. I assume this price also covers getting you back to Earth – you might want to check on that.

Reserve a room by visiting https://www.orionspan.com/reservation.

Orion Span will begin construction of its Aurora Station in 2019.

I hear the views will be out-of-this-world.

The Aurora Luxury Space Station (Hotel) 

An artist's rendering of a space elevator envisaged by Obayashi Corp. 

 AVIONEWS - World Aeronautical Press Agency