Charles Stark Draper

Charles Stark Draper ( October 2, 1901 in Windsor, Missouri; † July 25, 1987 in Cambridge, Massachusetts ) was an American engineer. He is regarded as the "father of inertial navigation ."

Life

After high school, Charles Stark Draper studied from 1917, first at the University of Missouri and in 1919 at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. Here he received in 1922 the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.

From the same year, he studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Here he received in 1926 the degree of Bachelor of Science in technical electrochemistry and in 1928 a Master of Science in Physics. In 1938, he was also at MIT doctoral degrees in physics.

From 1939 Charles Stark Draper was at MIT professor of aeronautics and in 1940 he founded the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, which was split off in 1973 due to anti- war protests during the Vietnam War as The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc. from MIT.

Work

Charles Stark Draper invented and developed the technology that enables aircraft, spacecraft and submarines by a gyroscope, and similar devices to navigate. He was a leading role in the development of the navigation system of the Apollo spacecraft (Primary Guidance, Navigation and Control System).

Charles Stark Draper was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1981.

According to him, the Charles Stark Draper Prize is named, which is awarded annually by the United States National Academy of Engineering to deserving engineers.

Others

A cousin of Charles Stark Draper was Lloyd C. Stark (1886-1972), who was from 1937 to 1941 governor of the U.S. state of Missouri.