Lab connection looks long-term

Draper opening office as part of Ares moon project

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

By DONNA FORK

For the Times dfork@knology.net

Draper Laboratory - which provided the guidance system that helped put men on the moon - is opening an office in Rocket City.

"We've gone from not having a presence, to 10 people on site at Marshall (Space Flight Center)," Seamus Tuohy said in a telephone interview from his Cambridge, Mass., office. He is Draper's space exploration business area manager.

The Draper employees began working at MSFC this past fall, he said. The plan is to bring on five to 10 more people this year.

That may mean hiring new employees, or relocating some of the company's current employees to the new office, Tuohy said. He estimated as many as 30 Draper Laboratory employees might eventually be located in Huntsville.

"We have made a long-term commitment to Marshall," Tuohy said.

How long that long-term commitment will be depends on the status of the NASA programs the company will support. The new office will assist Marshall in its work on the Ares project, Tuohy said.

In June of last year NASA announced that the next generation of launch vehicles that will return humans to the moon and later take them to Mars and other destinations would be Ares. The crew launch vehicle is named Ares I; the cargo launch vehicle is Ares V.

While the company's office in Huntsville will be new, the Draper-Huntsville connection dates back to the Apollo missions to the moon.

The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Inc. started in the 1930s as an instrumentation lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology run by Charles Draper. Draper is sometimes called the "father of inertial navigation," Tuohy noted.

The MIT professor came up with a practical method for measuring certain physical forces for navigation, Tuohy explained. Draper was director of the lab when it was still part of MIT; today it is an independent not-for-profit corporation.

One of Draper's first great accomplishments was stabilizing gun platforms on ships, Tuohy said. Later achievements at the laboratory included strategic guidance systems for missiles and rockets, including the Trident and Polaris, which are submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

Draper Laboratory became a non-profit corporation in 1973 amid controversy over its defense contracts, to which MIT students at that time objected, according to information on the Draper Laboratory Web site.

In addition to developing missile guidance systems, Draper developed guidance systems for the space program, which is the basis for the Huntsville-Draper connection.

"We delivered the Apollo guidance computers," Tuohy said. The company worked on the command system module. "We built flight computers and software" playing "a key role in the guidance, navigation and control for the space shuttle," he said.

Historically, the laboratory was not involved with launch vehicles, Tuohy said. But Draper has a long history of doing "human-rated avionics and software," he said.

"Human-rated" means making the hardware and software that propel humans, rather than rockets or satellites, Tuohy explained.

Currently employing about 1,100 people, Draper Laboratory has offices in the Washington, D.C., area, California, Florida, Texas and Colorado. The main offices are in Cambridge, Mass., adjacent to the main campus of MIT. The company has five different business areas: Strategic Systems, Space Systems, Tactical Systems, Special Operations, and Biomedical Engineering.

Part of the impetus for establishing an office in Huntsville came as a result of President Bush's speech on Jan. 14, 2003, describing a new vision for space exploration - a return to the moon and beyond, Tuohy noted.

As a result of that announcement, Draper made a commitment on the corporate level to open up an office in Huntsville.

"Right now we are looking for a long-term lease," Tuohy said.

Cummings Research Park is one possible place to locate, he said, in part because Draper expects to work with other companies located there.

"The tech park is ideally suited," Tuohy said.



Lab connection looks long-term Draper opening office as part of Ares moon project Tuesday, January 16, 2007 By DONNA FORK For the Times dfork@knology.net Draper Laboratory - which provided the guidance system that helped put men on the moon - is opening an office in Rocket City. "We've gone from not having a presence, to 10 people on site at Marshall (Space Flight Center)," Seamus Tuohy said in a telephone interview from his Cambridge, Mass., office. He is Draper's space exploration business area manager. The Draper employees began working at MSFC this past fall, he said. The plan is to bring on five to 10 more people this year. That may mean hiring new employees, or relocating some of the company's current employees to the new office, Tuohy said. He estimated as many as 30 Draper Laboratory employees might eventually be located in Huntsville. "We have made a long-term commitment to Marshall," Tuohy said. How long that long-term commitment will be depends on the status of the NASA programs the company will support. The new office will assist Marshall in its work on the Ares project, Tuohy said. In June of last year NASA announced that the next generation of launch vehicles that will return humans to the moon and later take them to Mars and other destinations would be Ares. The crew launch vehicle is named Ares I; the cargo launch vehicle is Ares V. While the company's office in Huntsville will be new, the Draper-Huntsville connection dates back to the Apollo missions to the moon. The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Inc. started in the 1930s as an instrumentation lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology run by Charles Draper. Draper is sometimes called the "father of inertial navigation," Tuohy noted. The MIT professor came up with a practical method for measuring certain physical forces for navigation, Tuohy explained. Draper was director of the lab when it was still part of MIT; today it is an independent not-for-profit corporation. One of Draper's first great accomplishments was stabilizing gun platforms on ships, Tuohy said. Later achievements at the laboratory included strategic guidance systems for missiles and rockets, including the Trident and Polaris, which are submarine-launched ballistic missiles. Draper Laboratory became a non-profit corporation in 1973 amid controversy over its defense contracts, to which MIT students at that time objected, according to information on the Draper Laboratory Web site. In addition to developing missile guidance systems, Draper developed guidance systems for the space program, which is the basis for the Huntsville-Draper connection. "We delivered the Apollo guidance computers," Tuohy said. The company worked on the command system module. "We built flight computers and software" playing "a key role in the guidance, navigation and control for the space shuttle," he said. Historically, the laboratory was not involved with launch vehicles, Tuohy said. But Draper has a long history of doing "human-rated avionics and software," he said. "Human-rated" means making the hardware and software that propel humans, rather than rockets or satellites, Tuohy explained. Currently employing about 1,100 people, Draper Laboratory has offices in the Washington, D.C., area, California, Florida, Texas and Colorado. The main offices are in Cambridge, Mass., adjacent to the main campus of MIT. The company has five different business areas: Strategic Systems, Space Systems, Tactical Systems, Special Operations, and Biomedical Engineering. Part of the impetus for establishing an office in Huntsville came as a result of President Bush's speech on Jan. 14, 2003, describing a new vision for space exploration - a return to the moon and beyond, Tuohy noted. As a result of that announcement, Draper made a commitment on the corporate level to open up an office in Huntsville. "Right now we are looking for a long-term lease," Tuohy said. Cummings Research Park is one possible place to locate, he said, in part because Draper expects to work with other companies located there. "The tech park is ideally suited," Tuohy said. © 2007 The Huntsville Times © 2007 al.com All Rights Reserved.