25 September 1999 Walter Crosmer ('56)

Editor's note: The following note from Mr. Crosmer was in response to several questions I posed to physics graduates. He has had a remarkable career and I decided to share his entire reply with you here. (DDK)

On August 16, 1999 I retired from the Space Systems Division of Honeywell Inc. At the time I retired I was Manager of the Systems Engineering Department of Inertial Systems Engineering. This department was engaged in the design, development, and production of inertial reference systems for satellites, space probes, launch vehicles and interceptor missiles for defense. We supplied inertial reference units for satellites used in commercial communications ventures as well as scientific exploration. We supplied the inertial measurement units for the Mars Surveyor program and the European Mars Express and Rosetta programs. We supplied the guidance and control units for the Titan Centaur and Atlas Centaur launch vehicles. We supplied inertial units for the THAAD (Theater High Altitude Area Defense ) missile for missile defense and the Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3) missile for low altitude defense. The department provides technical directors and test managers for the programs and systems analyst support. I directed the day-to-day activities of these personnel and provided all administrative functions of the department. I held this position for nearly 15 years.

Products developed by Honeywell are based on use of the Ring Laser Gyro for rotational measurements and the force rebalance accelerometer for force (or acceleration measurements. Sophisticated software is used to compensate the gyro and accelerometer data and to determine attitude or to navigate. Testing requires complete calibration of the units using highly accurate rate tables and thermal ovens.

I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and Mathematics from Valparaiso in 1956. After attending Oklahoma A&M College (now Oklahoma State University) for a year of graduate study in Physics, I entered the Aerospace Industry at Boeing Airplane Company in Seattle in 1957.

At Boeing I was assigned to the Applied Physics Staff, Instrument Development Group. The group was involved in the development and testing of advanced control instruments, primarily rate gyros, pitot static probes , total temperature probes , and inertial systems for advanced missiles and military aircraft. The B52 bombers were being built at Boeing at that time. Sputnik was launched and it was a very exciting time to be in Aerospace. A major project I worked on was development of an altimeter to use in vehicles operating in the 100,000-150,000 ft. altitude range.

In 1960 I moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where I took a job with the Bendix Systems Division (now Allied Signal Corporation). At Bendix I had the opportunity to participate in a number of exciting space programs including the Apollo lunar landing and the Viking Mars mission. My involvement with the Apollo program was in the design and development of the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package. I worked directly with the principal investigators to turn their laboratory experiment units into flightworthy hardware to take to the moon. I was the primary systems engineer for the Lunar Surface. Gravimeter and the Lunar Surface Mass Spectrometer experiments=

I also worked on the passive and active seismic experiments and the thermal probes. I participated in the selection of lunar landing sites with the geological survey group at Flagstaff, as well as the training of the astronauts in the deployment of the experiments. For the Viking Mars mission I worked on the entry mass spectrometer, the life detection experiment and a backup to the gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer, called a pyrolisis-mass spectrometer. The latter instrument and some of its characteristics were described in a Review of Scientific Instruments article authored by myself and other contributors. My last activity at Bendix was devoted to an investigation of potential experiments for manufacturing in space. I investigated the use of electrophoresis in a low gravity environment and growth of crystals or manufacture of ball bearings under acoustic suspension.

In 1977 I joined the Honeywell Corporation in Clearwater, Florida. At Honeywell I was engaged in the development of the first interceptor missile guidance system, the Homing Overlay Experiment. I was then assigned to the Chemical Defense Center which was investigating methods for providingprotection against chemical, biological and nuclear warfare effects. I worked on a collective protection scheme to provide a shirt sleeve protection environment to crews within tanks and armored vehicles. I also worked on instrumentation for chemical agent detection based on the ion mobility spectrometer. Following this activity I returned to the inertial systems world and worked on the small ICBM guidance system and an advanced reentry vehicle system. This work involved design and development of the system as well as extensive testing at the Central Inertial Guidance Test Facility in New Mexico. This involved using rocket sleds propelled at very high speed down a track to excite the error mechanisms in the unit. Later the units were flight tested on a reentry vehicle.

While I was a student at VU I did not intend to be involved in the aerospace industry. However, physics provides the broad background and a depth of understanding required to be able to successfully operate in that industry's environment. I was taught good basic physical principles. I was given a lot of opportunity to work in the lab to work out problems and design experiments. The understanding of physical principles I obtained made it possible for me to communicate well with the host of scientists I came in contact with on the lunar and Mars programs. Since I was mainly involved with the development of instruments and instrument systems, a good physics background is essential. The principles taught are used to design experiments, to calibrate instruments, to troubleshoot problems encountered.

I am very thankful that I studied physics instead of engineering, because I feel it gave me the much broader background required to tackle design and development at the system level.

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