Space 1999: Soaring to the heavens in the electrical century

Abstract

Despite the early identification of Edison with space flight in science fiction, journalists and the public tend to view events such as the moon landing as the triumphs of mechanical and aeronautical engineers and rocket scientists. IEEE members know that the picture is more complex, and that the developments in flight and, more particularly, space travel in this century would not have been possible without the contributions of electrical, electronic and computer engineers, especially in the areas of telecommunications, telemetry, navigation and guidance. At the same time, the research and development sparked by astronautical needs made widespread contributions to the broader fields of electronics and computer engineering. As the author shows, most of the more spectacular advances in aircraft and rocketry were intertwined with developments in electrical engineering, particularly electronics and computing.