Bruno Augenstein
Bruno Wilhelm Augenstein ( born March 16, 1923 in Ellmendingen, Baden, † 6 July 2005) was a German-born American mathematician and physicist, who made important contributions to space research, ballistic missile systems, satellites, antimatter and many other areas has done.
- 3.1 Literature
- 3.2 Marginal documents (selection)
Life
Bruno Augenstein was born in 1923 in Ellmendingen in Pforzheim. His parents Emma Augenstein and William Christopher, a mechanical engineer, left Germany in 1927 and moved for professional reasons in the United States to Brooklyn, New York; later to Providence, Rhode Iceland to work there for the watch manufacturer Speidel.
Even as a child Augenstein was an avid reader and read several books a week from the school library. Especially delight he settled for science fiction and adventure stories. Already at an early age he became interested in mathematics and physics. A math teacher of his school noticed his unusual talent and made sure that eye stone with 14 or 15 years was allowed to sit in the graduating class of Brown University.
In addition, he held the Rhode Iceland record in the discus at his high school. He left Brown University in 1943 with a bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics, and made 1945 a master's degree in aerospace engineering ( aeronautical engineering) at the California Institute of Technology.
At the same time he began to be interested in high-speed aerodynamics and rocket systems and spent a lot of time in training facilities for supersonic tests. He saw great potential in the missile tests of the California Institute of Technology and supported the research with the intention of in the distant future technologies have advanced so that the exploration of space would be possible.
Career
After an experiment for doctoral studies at Brown University in 1946, he returned to California and worked at North American Aviation in the Laboratory for Aero physics. Among his projects included work on the armament of V2 rockets, and the ramjet was which later developed for the Navaho missile. The North American Aviation, he made also the first contacts with the Rand Corporation (Research ANd Development ), a think tank (English " think tank" ) from the United States, which saw its task is to advise the Armed Forces of the United States.
In 1948 he left North American Aviation to teach at Purdue University in Indiana as a professor of aeronautics, but the boundaries of the Faculty confined him so much that he went to California in 1949 and joined the Rand Corporation. The main reason for this accession was in the interest of the Rand Corporation to carry out satellite and space programs and the reputation to be a workplace where unconventional thinking not only been heard, but also found a fertile soil and was further developed.
Augenstein identified with the unique organization of the Rand Corporation, which allowed ideas quickly and easily implement and enforce the interdisciplinary work, he was able to participate in a variety of solutions to problems that were not only physical or technical system, but also social and political.
ICBMs
Initially developed at the Rand Corporation, a fascination with long-range missiles, as this area at the political level was a lot of support ( much more than satellite system at that time). He was primarily interested in developing a missile system that would serve as a counterweight to the Soviet efforts in this area. In addition, a well-developed missile system was another hurdle on the way to a viable satellite system. In Rand Corporation is Augenstein additionally began to be interested in the development of space weapons systems.
Like many other colleagues at that time, thought Bruno Augenstein, it would be disastrous if the Soviet Union, the U.S. will supplant the development of an intercontinental ballistic missile system. In the early 1950's, he found that the ICBM program ( ICBM) by Convair is concentrated itself unnecessarily, while complying with strict guidelines that had no benefit. He contacted a team that conducted research on smaller, lighter warheads and reentry speeds of missiles and various other similar projects. His analysis showed that a working ICBM in the year 1960 would be possible, thus exceeding the targeted implementation date of Convair, which would have held no earlier than 1965 such rocket possible.
1954 was Augenstein his analysis in the edge - Corporation report " A Revised Development Program for Ballistic Missiles of Intercontinental Range" free, which laid the ground plan for a new project that the United States provided a new type of strategic power. These analyzes will be seen worldwide as the most important document of the missile age.
Satellite development
1954 Rand Corporation officially began its efforts to satellite development and Augenstein looked at the ICBM development for a very important procedure on the way to a functioning satellite system. The mid- 50s he undertook studies to determine what would be possible using satellites. So he began to be interested in for satellite reconnaissance.
1958 left Bruno Augenstein the Rand Corporation to the Lougheed Manifucaturing Aircraft Company, now known as Lockheed Martin join. As on October 4, 1957, the first Soviet satellite, Sputnik 1 reached orbit, which led to a shock in scientific circles of the USA. This, however, American satellite program should get sudden advances and increased interest. Lockheed Augenstein developed techniques and theories to explore the possibilities of space technology and the materials used fully exploited. He was appointed Chief Scientist for satellite programs and was Head of Planning at the Sunnyvale facility in California. At this time played Augenstein and his colleagues the leading role in the development of CORONA, the world's first reconnaissance satellite, which was launched in 1960.
Defense and intelligence
1961 Lockheed left eye stone to join the Department of Defense. He was still involved in satellite development, space programs and education and became vice-president for reconnaissance missions. One of the greatest successes of Defense was the Inproduktionsnahme the SR -71 Blackbird spy plane. For this got Augenstein the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Award for reconnaissance work.
In 1965 he joined the Institute for Defense Analysis in Washington, which supported the nonprofit organization the government on critical issues. His resignation from the Ministry of Defence was mainly due to the way how the Vietnam war was fought. In 1967 he joined again at the Rand Corporation in Santa Monica, California. This time, however, at the same time to work as a vice president and a leading scientist in fundamental analysis and national space programs.
Space technology and its basics
1971 left eye stone again Rand Corporation and founded Spectra Vision together with several colleagues. As a provider of space-related basic ideas and their elaboration, technological know -how and systems analysis were among the customers of Spectra Vision, among others, also NASA, Litton Industries, TRW, Rand Corporation and the U.S. Department of Energy.
In 1972 the USA was the ERTS -1 (later renamed Landsat ) Earth observation satellites, responsible for its theoretical basis and problem solving Augenstein. In 1978 he wrote a report for NASA and helped with a future direction for Erderkundungsprogramme set. During his years at Spectra Vision increasingly he took the role of a consultant at the Rand Corporation, where in 1981 he fully got in again. In the 1980s, he led the U.S. Air Force studies in the field of antimatter at the Rand Corporation and was co-author of a book on antiproton technology. In 1987, he held a conference on anti- protons to the biggest problems in the research process to reveal and define milestones in the exploration and thus to formulate a goal. Later he hit a propulsion system for antimatter rockets before (called by other " eye stone mirror matt engine" ), which would find both benefits in space, as well as on Earth.
Augenstein also took on an edge - Corporation study on the proposed National Aerospace Plane part ( NASP or Rockwell X-30 ), and in an aircraft which should pass through intercontinental routes with hypersonic speed, both in space and on Earth. Our study has revealed that there were serious doubts concerning costs and completion, as well as functioning of the project and thus was set in 1993.
Other activities
In 1992 he started in the Ministry of Defence a project to research microwave vehicles. A year later he was asked to record the history of the Rand Corporation mathematics department in writing. This collection of Rand Corporation innovations that we now accept as given, for example, included game theory, Monte Carlo simulation, dynamic programming, and many more. Wrote in 2002 Augenstein that John von Neumann's book bein consider a logical contradiction to quantum mechanics and thus is logically inconsistent.