Former VKF engineer presents paper at technical excellence forum

Dr. Arloe Mayne, former Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) engineer in the von Kàrmàn Gas Dynamics Facility (VKF), presented a paper on Dr. Robert Goddard--his career and the first liquid-fueled rocket--at the center's technical excellence forum in April. The presentation was prepared in commemoration of that milestone flight.

On March 16, 1926, rocket pioneer Dr. Robert Goddard launched the first successful liquid-fueled rocket. Dr. Mayne discussed Dr. Goddard's career and the history, construction and launch of that first liquid-fueled rocket. He also reviewed the development of an operational replica of this rocket by personnel of

NASA-Marshall and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Alabama-Mississippi section and the effort involved in "designing" a 75-year-old rocket.

Prior to his retirement in 1997, Dr. Mayne was a systems engineer for TRW (now Northrop-Grumman) in Huntsville, Ala., and Laurel, Md. At TRW he supported the development of various weapons systems and C3I systems, including the ground data and operations system for the TERRA Earth-observing satellite.

Prior to his time with TRW, Dr. Mayne worked in AEDC's VKF where he was involved in computational fluid dynamics in support of a variety of supersonic and hypersonic vehicle developments, especially reentry vehicles.

Dr. Mayne received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Kentucky, and his doctorate from UTSI. He is the author of several papers related to fluid dynamics.

He is an Associate AIAA Fellow and has served the AIAA Alabama-Mississippi section in various positions including chairman of the section. Among other current activities he is a private pilot and manages Web sites for his church and for his AIAA section.