Lecturer: Professor John M. Logsdon
John M. Logsdon is Director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, where he is also Professor of International Affairs. From 1983-2001, he was also Director of the School’s Center for International Science and Technology Policy. He has been a faculty member at GW since 1970; from 1966-1970 he taught at the Catholic University of America. He holds a B.S. in Physics from Xavier University (1960) and a Ph.D. in Political Science from New York University (1970). Dr. Logsdon’s research interests focus on the policy and historical aspects of U.S. and international space activities.
Dr. Logsdon is the author of The Decision to Go to the Moon: Project Apollo and the National Interest and is general editor of the eight-volume series Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program. He has written numerous articles and reports on space policy and history, and has recently completed the basic article on “space exploration” for the new edition of Encyclopedia Britannica. Dr. Logsdon has lectured and spoken to a wide variety of audiences at professional meetings, colleges and universities, international conferences, and other settings, and has testified before Congress on several occasions. He has served as a consultant to many public and private organizations. He is frequently consulted by the electronic and print media for his views on space issues.
Dr. Logsdon in 2003 served as a member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. He is a former member of the NASA Advisory Council and a current member of the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee of the Department of Transportation. He is a recipient of the Distinguished Public Service and Public Service Medals from NASA. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the International Academy of Astronautics and Chair of its Commission on Space Policy, Law, and Economics. He is member of the Board of Directors of the Planetary Society and former chair of the Society’s Advisory Council. He is faculty member of the International Space University and former member of its Board of Trustees. He is on the editorial board of the international journal Space Policy and was its North American editor from 1985-2000. He is also on the editorial board of the journal Astropolitics.
Dr. Logsdon has served as a member of a blue-ribbon international committee evaluating Japan’s National Space Development Agency and of the Committee on Human Space Exploration of the Space Studies Board, National Research Council. He has also served on the Vice President’s Space Policy Advisory Board, the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board of the National Research Council, NASA’s Space and Earth Sciences Advisory Committee, and the Research Advisory Committee of the National Air and Space Museum. He has served as the Director of the District of Columbia Space Grant Consortium. He is former Chairman of the Committee on Science and Public Policy of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the Education Committee of the International Astronautical Federation. He has twice been a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and was the first holder of the Chair in Space History of the National Air and Space Museum.
A note from John Logsdon: I guess my "contribution" to the shuttle is publishing the first relatively full account of the shuttle decision in "Science," May 30, 1986, in the aftermath of Challenger.

Topics included:
Cryogenic fuel tanks, comparative space programs, costs, Nixon Space Doctrine. NASA budget. Exploration if the Moon. Phase B. Shuttle Family Tree. Factor for a decision on a New Reusable Space Transportation System. Economical Feasibility. Thrust Assisted Orbiter Shuttle (TAOS). External Oxygen/Hydrogen tanks the economically preferred choice. Demand for space transportation. Costs summary. Payload costs (satellites). Recurring costs. Non-recurring costs.

1. The Origins of the Space Shuttle
2. Space Shuttle History
3. Orbiter Sub-System Design
4. The Decision to Build the Shuttle
5. Orbiter Structure and Thermal Protection System
6. Propulsion - Space Shuttle Main Engines
7. Aerodynamics - (From Sub - to Hypersonic and Back)
8. Landing and Mechanical Systems
9. OMS, RCS, Fuel Cells, Auxiliary Power Unit and Hydraulic Systems
10. The DoD and the Space Shuttle
11. Use of Subsystems as a Function of Flight Phase
12. Aerothermodynamics
13. Environmental Control Systems
14. Ground Operations - Launching the Shuttle
15. Space Shuttle Accidents
16. Guidance, Navigation and Control
17. Mission Control 1
18. Mission Control 2
19. Design Process as it Relates to the Shuttle
20. EVA and Robotics on the Shuttle
21. Systems Engineering for Space Shuttle Payloads
22. Test Flying the Space Shuttle
23. Exemplary Lecture: Shuttle Operations Video

16.885J offers a holistic view of the aircraft as a system, covering: basic systems engineering; cost and weight estimation; basic aircraft performance; safety and reliability; lifecycle topics; aircraft subsystems; risk analysis and management; and system realization. Small student teams retrospectively analyze an existing aircraft covering: key design drivers and decisions; aircraft attributes and subsystems; and operational experience. Oral and written versions of the case study are delivered. For the Fall 2005 term, the class focuses on a systems engineering analysis of the Space Shuttle. It offers study of both design and operations of the shuttle, with frequent lectures by outside experts. Students choose specific shuttle systems for detailed analysis and develop new subsystem designs using state of the art technology. http://ocw.mit.edu