Hughes Aircraft Company Research Articles

Scanning Our Past: Spies, Brokers, and the State: Intelligence Operations and the Polish Computer Industry in the 1980s

The USSR’s orchestration of the acquisition of the scientific and technological intelligence has been intensively researched by journalists and historians as one of the most distinctive phenomena of the Cold War <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref1" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">[1]</xref> . While the KGB was the leader in the intelligence operations aimed at western research and development programs and facilities, its counterparts in the Warsaw Pact states were also deeply involved <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref2" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">[2]</xref> . The most vivid example of the Polish contribution to penetrating the United States’ technological infrastructure was Marian Zacharski’s recruitment of William Holden Bell, an employee of Hughes Aircraft Company. Acquiring Bell’s knowledge of radar, missile guidance, and other military systems is regarded as one of the greatest achievements of Polish and Eastern Bloc spycraft during the Cold War <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref3" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">[3]</xref> .

A road map for Feynman’s adventures in the land of gravitation

Richard P. Feynman's work on gravitation, as can be inferred from several published and unpublished sources, is reviewed. Feynman was involved with this subject at least from late 1954 to the late 1960s, giving several pivotal contributions to it. Even though he published only three papers, much more material is available, beginning with the records of his many interventions at the Chapel Hill conference in 1957, which are here analyzed in detail, and show that he had already considerably developed his ideas on gravity. In addition he expressed deep thoughts about fundamental issues in quantum mechanics which were suggested by the problem of quantum gravity, such as superpositions of the wave functions of macroscopic objects and the role of the observer. Feynman also lectured on gravity several times. Besides the famous lectures given at Caltech in 1962-63, he extensively discussed this subject in a series of lectures delivered at the Hughes Aircraft Company in 1966-67, whose focus was on astronomy and astrophysics. All this material allows to reconstruct a detailed picture of Feynman's ideas on gravity and of their evolution until the late sixties. According to him, gravity, like electromagnetism, has quantum foundations, therefore general relativity has to be regarded as the classical limit of an underlying quantum theory; this quantum theory should be investigated by computing physical processes, as if they were experimentally accessible. The same attitude is shown with respect to gravitational waves, as is evident also from an unpublished letter addressed to Victor F. Weisskopf. In addition, an original approach to gravity, which closely mimics (and probably was inspired by) the derivation of the Maxwell equations given by Feynman in that period, is sketched in the unpublished Hughes lectures.

A Classic on Airborne Radar [Book and Software Reviews

Presents a review of "Stimson’s Introduction to Airborne Radar, Third Edition" (Stimson, G.W., et al; 2014). There are four authors and nine expert contributors to this third edition of a classic introductory text. The original and key author, George Stimson, started the original manuscript when he was with Hughes Aircraft Company in the early 1960s to 1970s. As a private publication, the book was initially given away or sold at a nominal charge to Hughes’s customers and Stimson’s friends. He is a fine writer and has managed the production of the book for years. From the beginning, the book has had clear graphics and meticulous formatting of pages. This is an impressive book with a total of 52 chapters in 10 parts. It covers almost everything concerning airborne radar. It could serve as an airborne radar encyclopedia. Each chapter briefly introduces its subject, providing neither too much nor too little material. There are some mathematical equations, but all are at the algebra level and easy to grasp. The text includes many color graphs, drawings, and nice pictures, which makes it very easy to read. I would recommend this book to every radar designer, technician, operator, administrator, and program manager. The book covers the Doppler frequency of an aircraft, ground return, and return by a semiactive missile.

When Physics Meets Biology

We discuss a less known aspect of Feynman’s multifaceted scientific work, centered about his interest in molecular biology, which came out around 1959 and lasted for several years. After a quick historical reconstruction about the birth of molecular biology, we focus on Feynman’s work on genetics with Robert S. Edgar in the laboratory of Max Delbruck, which was later quoted by Francis Crick and others in relevant papers, as well as in Feynman’s lectures given at the Hughes Aircraft Company on biology, organic chemistry and microbiology, whose notes taken by the attendee John Neer are available. An intriguing perspective comes out about one of the most interesting scientists of the XX century.

General Motors Corporation, 1988 (a)

In the spring of 1988, GM is being criticized for poor financial performance. The student must evaluate corporate performance and identify the underperforming divisions. The case provides an opportunity to exercise a range of equity-pricing models: CAPM, APT, dividend growth, and earnings/price. The challenges in deriving an equity cost come to the forefront. Student and instructor spreadsheet files are available for use with this case and teaching note. Excerpt UVA-F-0789 GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, 1988 (A) In the spring of 1988, some observers were arguing that General Motors had misallocated its capital over the previous few years, and critics contended that GM's core business, automobile manufacturing, was the main arena of value destruction within the company. Among the automotive hands within the company, the criticism was apostasy. To long-time employees, GM was the virtual embodiment of the automobile industry, and to question GM's continuing investment in its automotive division was to challenge its very corporate identity. The debate over GM's performance focused on two specific topics. First, both the company's defenders as well as its critics wished to establish the soundness of GM's continued massive investment in its core automotive business, an investment which totaled roughly $ 40 billion in the 1980s alone for tooling, facilities, and product design. In order to assess this investment correctly, it would be necessary to determine the appropriate cost of capital for General Motors Corporation as a whole and also for GM's major non-automotive operating divisions. Second, in the spring of 1988 there were those who suspected that GM was attempting to overcome shortcomings in its automotive performance by shifting profits to other divisions such as its financing subsidiary General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) and its consolidated data-processing services division Electronic Data Systems (EDS). The Company In 1988 General Motors was composed of three major consolidated entities and one major unconsolidated operation, GMAC. The three consolidated divisions were, in order of revenues, the automotive operation (identified as GMC in this discussion to distinguish the corporation's automotive activities from the performance of GM, the consolidated corporate entity), the aerospace and electronics operation General Motors Hughes Electronics (GMHE) and Electronic Data Systems (EDS). GMC had 31 major operating divisions including its North American nameplates Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC Truck, and GMHE had two divisions, Hughes Aircraft Company and Delco Electronics Corporation. . . .

VIIRS constant spatial-resolution advantages

The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) was launched on 28 October 2011, nearly 20 years after the conceptual definition began at the Hughes Aircraft Company's Santa Barbara Research Center. Constrained off-nadir pixel growth, producing constant or near-constant VIIRS spatial resolution over the entire scan swath, is a patented design feature that dramatically improves imaging radiometry compared to VIIRS predecessors. VIIRS ground-projected east–west (across the orbit track) and north–south (along the orbit track) pixel dimensions are constrained to within a factor of two from nadir to ±1500 km off-nadir (edge of scan) in all 22 VIIRS spectral bands. The capability is a valuable improvement to previous systems' six-fold across-track pixel growth over narrower swaths, while improving signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) without larger optics. The technique allows the VIIRS day/night band (DNB) to offer nearly 9- to over 50-fold finer and truly constant area spatial resolution with enhanced sensitivity and dynamic range compared with the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operational Linescan System (OLS). This article reviews constant resolution from concept to VIIRS implementation and compares several VIIRS applications to similar applications of systems VIIRS replaces to demonstrate advantages of the new capability.

An Assessment of the First- and Second-Generation Navy Operational Precipitation Retrieval Algorithms

Rainfall estimates produced from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) data have been utilized operationally by the United States Navy since the launch of the first SSM/I sensor in June of 1987. The navy initially contracted Hughes Aircraft Company to develop a rainfall-retrieval algorithm prior to the launch of SSM/I. This first-generation operational navy rainfall retrieval algorithm, referred to as the D-Matrix algorithm, was used until the development of the second-generation algorithm by the SSM/I Calibration/Validation team, which has subsequently been replaced by a third-generation algorithm developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information System. Results from both the D-Matrix and Cal/Val algorithms have been included in a total of five algorithm intercomparison projects conducted through the Global Precipitation Climatology Project and WetNet. A comprehensive summary of both quantitative and qualitative results from these intercomparisons is given detailing many of the strengths and weaknesses of the algorithms. Based on these results, the D-Matrix algorithm was found to produce excessively large estimates over land and to poorly represent the spatial structure of rainfall systems, especially at higher latitudes. The Cal/Val algorithm produces more realistic structure within storm systems but appears to overestimate the region of precipitation for many systems and significantly underestimates regions of intense rainfall. While the Cal/Val algorithm appears to provide better instantaneous rainfall estimates in the Tropics, the D-Matrix algorithm provides reasonable time-averaged results for monthly or longer periods.

5669251 Liquid carbon dioxide dry cleaning system having a hydraulically powered basket : Townsend Carl W; Purer Edna M Los Angeles, CA, United States assigned to Hughes Aircraft Company

5669251 Liquid carbon dioxide dry cleaning system having a hydraulically powered basket : Townsend Carl W; Purer Edna M Los Angeles, CA, United States assigned to Hughes Aircraft Company

5616185 Solar cell with integrated bypass diode and method : Kukulka Jerry R Santa Clarita, CA, United States assigned to Hughes Aircraft Company

5616185 Solar cell with integrated bypass diode and method : Kukulka Jerry R Santa Clarita, CA, United States assigned to Hughes Aircraft Company

Evolution of technology management at Hughes

This paper addresses the effect of internal business culture on the local applicability, in fact the success or failure, of various technology management strategies. As an extension of our benchmarking studies of high technology companies, we trace the evolution of the internal culture and personality of Hughes Aircraft Company, paying particular attention to those factors affecting the management of technology. This leads to a clear description of the distinctive characteristics of the company today, as a basis for understanding the viability of various technology management tools and strategies.

NASA IN-STEP Cryo System Experiment flight test

The Cryo System Experiment (CSE), a NASA In-Space Technology Experiments Program (IN-STEP) flight experiment, was flown on Space Shuttle Discovery (STS 63) in February 1995. The experiment was developed by Hughes Aircraft Company to validate in zero- g space a 65 K cryogenic system for focal planes, optics, instruments or other equipment (gamma-ray spectrometers and infrared and submillimetre imaging instruments) that requires continuous cryogenic cooling. The CSE is funded by the NASA Office of Advanced Concepts and Technology's IN-STEP and managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The overall goal of the CSE was to validate and characterize the on-orbit performance of the two thermal management technologies that comprise a hybrid cryogenic system. These thermal management technologies consist of (1) a second-generation long-life, low-vibration, Stirling-cycle 65 K cryocooler that was used to cool a simulated thermal energy storage device (TRP) and (2) a diode oxygen heat pipe thermal switch that enables physical separation between a cryogenic refrigerator and a TRP. All CSE experiment objectives and 100% of the experiment success criteria were achieved. The level of confidence provided by this flight experiment is an important NASA and Department of Defense (DoD) milestone prior to multi-year mission commitment. Presented are generic lessons learned from the system integration of cryocoolers for a flight experiment and the recorded zero- g performance of the Stirling cryocooler and the diode oxygen heat pipe.

A Simplified Method for Requirements Flowdown and Test Limit Definition

AbstractA simple yet disciplined method for consistently flowing down requirements was created and implemented on a production radar program at Hughes Aircraft Company. This structured Requirements Flowdown Methodology was supplemented by a similar methodology developed for determining the limits at which the flowed down requirements are tested. These methodologies were created with the objective of producing a system that will better suit the needs of the customer. These customer needs include the need for proper operation of the product as specified for the entire product life under all specified environmental conditions, as well as improved system performance and increased reliability. With the structured definition of test limits as defined in the methodology described herein, a reduction in the number of field failures that cannot be duplicated at repair facilities is also accomplished. This reduces the amount of logistical support necessary to maintain an operational product in the field, minimizing the time necessary to isolate and repair failures, and resulting in increased customer satisfaction.

Successful Vendor Collaboration Deployinga Requirements Management Tool

AbstractThe paper describes a successful partnership between Hughes Aircraft Company and the tool vendor, QSS, to transition a requirements management tool into operational use within the company. We provide an overview of the Hughes objective to migrate to common processes and tools across a range of engineering disciplines. A discussion of the difficulties in achieving wide spread use of new processes and tools sets the stage for a description of the Hughes approach for adopting a requirements management process supported by the vendor's tool, DOORS. We validate our approach with examples of Hughes accomplishments to date. Based on our experience, we emphasize the importance of a positive relationship with tool vendors. Transition achievements allow us to provide illustrations of customer‐vendor cooperation to achieve mutually desirable goals.

LESSONS LEARNED IN THE SELECTION OF A COMPANY STANDARD REQUIREMENTS MANAGEMENT TOOL

AbstractAs systems engineering automation tools become more mature, and systems become more complex, companies are realizing that they must make use of these tools in order to remain competitive. One of the issues that is commonly debated is whether to select and implement a company standard tool, or allow individual projects to select their own tool. This paper describes the benefits and penalties of selecting standard tools and the rationale behind Hughes Aircraft Company's decision to select a standard Requirements Management tool. The process followed by Hughes to make the selection of a standard tool is described as are lessons learned during the implementation of the selection process.

Observations on the Measurement of Systems Engineering Capability

AbstractIn the past few years, several models have been developed to measure systems engineering process maturity. Two of these models have gained a great deal of attention: the INCOSE SECAM and the EPIC (formerly Industrial Collaboration) SE‐CMM. This paper describes the conduct of a dual systems engineering process assessment that applied both of these well known models to the same organization using the EPIC SE‐CMM Appraisal Method, rather than the shorter duration INCOSE SECAM Assessment Method. The assessment was conducted at Hughes Aircraft Company (HAC), Electro‐Optical Systems (EOS). The assessment is noteworthy since it is the first time both models have been applied concurrently. This paper provides a synopsis of both models along with a description of the dual assessment. Issues observed from the assessment regarding the models and the Appraisal Method are described; their resolution is important for the conduct of future assessments. Impacts upon the two models and application methods are discussed based upon the experiences gained from the dual assessment.

ALFS A REQUIREMENTS MANAGEMENT SUCCESS USING DOCUMENT DIRECTOR

AbstractThe Airborne Low Frequency Sonar System (ALFS), is the next generation of dipping sonar system being developed for the U.S. Navy Helicopters. ALFS is being built by the Naval And Maritime System Engineering Center, which is part of the Hughes Aircraft Company located in Fullerton, CA. This project is in the Engineering Developmental Model (EDM) Phase and will be conducting its Operational Developmental Testing in 1996. The ALFS project is a Military Standard 2167A program requiring requirements tracking throughout the programs life cycle. This paper will focus on how, the Requirements Management task was accomplished and the lessons learned.

How to build teamwork in the defence industry

In order to survive in today’s current downsizing within the defence sector, Hughes Aircraft Company has risen to the challenge by emphasizing teaming efforts, re‐engineering and adopting concurrent engineering process methods and has developed the integrated product development (IPD) management philosophy. The vehicle by which this philosophy will be implemented is integrated product teams (IPTs). Provides an overview of the process that was developed. Covers the definition of IPD, hurdles facing the IPT’s team dynamics and offers a conclusion. Notes that IPD philosophy was developed not from new techniques but by using existing teaming methods and that the main thrust of the new philosophy is the customer. Identifies one of the key philosophies as being the use of common terminology.

5370740 Chemical decomposition by sonication in liquid carbon dioxide: Chao Sidney C; Purer Edna M Manhattan Beach, CA, United States Assigned to Hughes Aircraft Company

5370740 Chemical decomposition by sonication in liquid carbon dioxide: Chao Sidney C; Purer Edna M Manhattan Beach, CA, United States Assigned to Hughes Aircraft Company

6.2.3 Industrial Collaboration Systems Engineering Capability Maturity Model Description and Overview of Hughes Pilot Appraisal

ABSTRACTThis paper describes the architecture and characteristics of the Industrial Collaboration Systems Engineering Capability Maturity Model (IC SE‐CMM), and the application of the model to an organization in a pilot appraisal performed at Hughes Aircraft Company. The appraisal methodology is discussed both in general terms and the Hughes specific application. Findings from the appraisal are reviewed in general terms, as well as the lessons that were learned from performing the appraisal.

5317677 Matching technique for context sensitive rule application : Charles P Dolan, David M Keirsey, Kurt Reiser assigned to Hughes Aircraft Company

5317677 Matching technique for context sensitive rule application : Charles P Dolan, David M Keirsey, Kurt Reiser assigned to Hughes Aircraft Company