Runway to Orbit: Reflections of A NASA Engineer

In article , rk wrote:
Doing my assigned reading and ran into this one.

I do sometimes have to wonder quite what this assigned reading covers,
but hey ;-)

This will be a NASA History Publication.

summary

Runway to Orbit: Reflections of A NASA Engineer, by Dr. Kenneth Iliff, ushers
the reader through some of the pivotal aerospace projects undertaken by NASA
since the early 1960s. Iliff made critical contributions to research on the
X-15 aircraft, the lifting bodies, the XB-70 bomber, high angle-of-attack
aircraft, and the Space Shuttle, among others. His highly personal and
thoughtful narrative also describes his seminal contributions to parameter
estimation. Runway to Orbit is scheduled for publication in January 2004.

Certainly sounds worth seeking out...

--
-Andrew Gray

On 6 Dec 2003 00:09:07 GMT, Andrew Gray
wrote:

In article , rk wrote:

This will be a NASA History Publication.

summary

Runway to Orbit: Reflections of A NASA Engineer, by Dr. Kenneth Iliff, ushers
the reader through some of the pivotal aerospace projects undertaken by NASA
since the early 1960s. Iliff made critical contributions to research on the
X-15 aircraft, the lifting bodies, the XB-70 bomber, high angle-of-attack
aircraft, and the Space Shuttle, among others. His highly personal and
thoughtful narrative also describes his seminal contributions to parameter
estimation. Runway to Orbit is scheduled for publication in January 2004.

Certainly sounds worth seeking out...

I've read it. It's OK, I suppose, but it all seems so ordinary. It's
certainly not "Hypersonic" by Jenkins and Landis. It's just about
engineering.

It's got some nice photos. Although some of them haven't been
published much, a lot of them could have come right from my photo
collection. Ordinary, like I said.

The jacket painting is OK, probably the best thing about it. One of
the Dryden test pilots did it.

Someone told me that Amazon might carry it, even though it's GPO. I
don't know how that works.

Mary

--
Mary Shafer Retired aerospace research engineer

In article ,
Mary Shafer wrote:
Runway to Orbit: Reflections of A NASA Engineer, by Dr. Kenneth Iliff...
Certainly sounds worth seeking out...

I've read it. It's OK, I suppose, but it all seems so ordinary.

So, should we take up a collection to get that last sentence put on a
suitably-located billboard to celebrate publication? :-)

[In case there are newcomers to the group who find this a trifle cryptic:
(a) Ken Iliff is Mary Shafer's husband; (b) one of their wedding gifts was
a billboard with a snide comment on it, paid for by co-workers.]
--
MOST launched 30 June; first light, 29 July; 5arcsec | Henry Spencer
pointing, 10 Sept; first science, early Oct; all well. |

Henry Spencer wrote:

So, should we take up a collection to get that last sentence put on a
suitably-located billboard to celebrate publication? :-)

[In case there are newcomers to the group who find this a trifle cryptic:
(a) Ken Iliff is Mary Shafer's husband; (b) one of their wedding gifts was
a billboard with a snide comment on it, paid for by co-workers.]


It would be cool to have a autographed copy signed by both Mary and Mr.
Mary Shafer, and with Buzz and Neil's pawprints on it.

Pat

"Mary Shafer" wrote:
On 6 Dec 2003 00:09:07 GMT, Andrew Gray
wrote:

In article , rk wrote:

This will be a NASA History Publication.

summary

Runway to Orbit: Reflections of A NASA Engineer, by Dr. Kenneth Iliff,
ushers
the reader through some of the pivotal aerospace projects undertaken
by NASA
since the early 1960s. Iliff made critical contributions to research
on the
X-15 aircraft, the lifting bodies, the XB-70 bomber, high
angle-of-attack
aircraft, and the Space Shuttle, among others. His highly personal
and
thoughtful narrative also describes his seminal contributions to
parameter
estimation. Runway to Orbit is scheduled for publication in January
2004.

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/nltrc.html

It is about halfway down. Looks like several neat books will be coming out
from NASA.

Certainly sounds worth seeking out...

I've read it. It's OK, I suppose, but it all seems so ordinary. It's
certainly not "Hypersonic" by Jenkins and Landis. It's just about
engineering.

Okay, so you have a good sense of humor, Mary. Engineering can be quite
interesting even to persons who are not engineers. You just need the
interest in such things. Since "Runway to Orbit..." is a historical book
with a fascinating title, I doubt it is completely full of formulas.
Honestly though, do you think someone interested in flight would be
interested in "Runway to Orbit..."?

I just got Jenkin's and Landis' book "Hypersonic..." from Amazon about a
week ago. So far it seems to be well written and not as clunky as "Space
Shuttle". Of course I have not finished it yet, but I am intrigued by the
reference to a companion book entitled "X-15 scrapbook". The 108 page
softbound book is an overflow book which basically contains some 400
additional X-15 photographs with 12 pages in full color. I have not seen it
yet but if it is anything like "Hypersonic" it should be quite nice and a
much quicker read;-) I am curious to see how well Jenkins and Landis link
up the X-15 to the Space Shuttle.

--

Daniel
http://www.challengerdisaster.info
Mount Charleston, not Charleston, SC

rk wrote:


This is the internet; you'll get a digital signature. Just doesn't seem the
same. Unless they'll be travelling and doing real book signings at GPO
facilities around the country.

I say they send the Collies out to deliver the autographed books:
Scratching on door...."Who's there?"
More scratching...
"Who is it?"
Open door, Collie standing there with book in mouth.
"Oh, the book's here! Come in...which one are you?"
Dog sits, holds up front paw.
You go to shake hands...dog punches you in the face with paw.
"Buzz!"
Dog heads toward bathroom toilet, begins to drink heavily.
"Buzz! It _is_ you!"
You swat dog on rear with rolled-up Radio Shack ad flyer.
Mary approaches silently, and bites. :-)

Pat

t"rk" wrote:.
Pat Flannery wrote:

It would be cool to have a autographed copy signed by both Mary and Mr.
Mary Shafer, and with Buzz and Neil's pawprints on it.

This is the internet; you'll get a digital signature. Just doesn't seem
the
same. Unless they'll be travelling and doing real book signings at GPO
facilities around the country.

Where does the digital line start?

The traveling book tour is not very big:

http://www.access.gpo.gov/aboutgpo/bld3.html

Unless they also take the tour to some of the 1,300 depository libraries..

http://www.access.gpo.gov/aboutgpo/bld3.html

Oh and don't forget those book stores;-)

http://bookstore.gpo.gov/locations/


--
rk, Just an OldEngineer
"In God we trust, all others bring data."
-- Framed plaque from the '60s, hanging in the Mission Evaluation
Room at Johnson Space Center, downstairs from Mission Control.

"Mary Shafer" wrote in message
...

I've read it. It's OK, I suppose, but it all seems so ordinary.

Mary of course is one of the few folks here that can say that line with a
straight face.


It's
certainly not "Hypersonic" by Jenkins and Landis. It's just about
engineering.

It's got some nice photos. Although some of them haven't been
published much, a lot of them could have come right from my photo
collection. Ordinary, like I said.

The jacket painting is OK, probably the best thing about it. One of
the Dryden test pilots did it.

Someone told me that Amazon might carry it, even though it's GPO. I
don't know how that works.

Mary

--
Mary Shafer Retired aerospace research engineer

Mary Shafer wrote:

I've read it. It's OK, I suppose, but it all seems so ordinary.

I say the same thing about a lot of submarine books....

D.
--
The STS-107 Columbia Loss FAQ can be found
at the following URLs:

Text-Only Version:
http://www.io.com/~o_m/columbia_loss_faq.html

Enhanced HTML Version:
http://www.io.com/~o_m/columbia_loss_faq_x.html

Corrections, comments, and additions should be
e-mailed to , as well as posted to
sci.space.history and sci.space.shuttle for
discussion.

On Fri, 05 Dec 2003 23:52:12 -0600, Pat Flannery
wrote:

Henry Spencer wrote:

So, should we take up a collection to get that last sentence put on a
suitably-located billboard to celebrate publication? :-)

[In case there are newcomers to the group who find this a trifle cryptic:
(a) Ken Iliff is Mary Shafer's husband; (b) one of their wedding gifts was
a billboard with a snide comment on it, paid for by co-workers.]

It would be cool to have a autographed copy signed by both Mary and Mr.
Mary Shafer, and with Buzz and Neil's pawprints on it.

Neil and Buzz are up for it. They'll even throw in some shed hair and
a noseprint as a bonus. Maybe we'll get a carton and auction them off
on eBay.

We didn't even know about this announcement until I read rk's posting.
Ken was kind of startled by it. We've kept it very quiet because
there has been some question about it being published. Funding, you
know.

Did anyone else notice that Don Mallick's book is coming out in
December? That should be an interesting one, too.

Ken's book is really quite good, even though I'm heavily biased. He
worked really hard to find photos that hadn't been published all the
time, including getting some from my collection. It's a first-hand
narrative and it's very well-done. It's also very informative and
gives a good idea of some of the tedium that goes with the excitement
of flight research.

Bill Dana wrote the Foreword and he's right, the title of the NASP
chapter is worth the price of the book. Bill is a really great guy
and can be very funny.

Mary

--
Mary Shafer Retired aerospace research engineer