Eugene F. Lally
Encyclopedia
Eugene F. Lally is an American space scientist
, spacecraft and mission conceptual designer and photographer, and was born in South Boston, Massachusetts
in 1934. He was educated as an electrical engineer at Northeastern University. Lally writes for space, astrobiology, photography, travel, archaeology and economics publications.
Lally's technical papers are presented at national meetings of a variety of societies and published by: the American Rocket Society
, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
, IEEE
, American Astronautical Society
, in journals and magazines such as: Astronautics, Astronautica Acta, Design News
, Aviation Weekly, Anthropology News, Space Times and national and local newspapers.
He published technical papers about rockets and space flight while in college in the mid-1950s before the launch of Sputnik. Upon graduation he went to California to help start up the space program.
, Mercury
, Venus
, Mars
, Jupiter
, Saturn
, comet
s, asteroid
s, solar system escape probe, earth satellite
s and Direct TV. He proposed Manned Mars Missions using nuclear propulsion
stages and designed optical guidance and navigation for astronauts' onboard use. Simulated gravity was also included to create a more workable environment for the long mission and to protect them from bone mass loss during an otherwise long weightlessness trajectory.
One paper introduced digital photography
in 1961 while at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
for NASA
. It was titled, "Mosaic Guidance for Interplanetary Travel" presented at the annual convention of the American Rocket Society. It proposed for manned Mars missions the design of sensors employing mosaic arrays of photodetectors at the focal plane of cameras with their analogue output converted into the digital domain to provide real-time onboard guidance and navigation. Locations of stars, asteroids and planets were photographed for attitude and position referencing. This was the first presentation of a digital photography concept and digital camera design usable on spacecraft and for general photography..
His gravity simulation proposal for manned Mars missions was published in 1962 titled "To Spin or Not to Spin".
He worked and studied under Krafft A. Ehricke
, a German rocket scientist at Peenemünde
, who came to America after WWII. They worked together at Convair Astronautics in San Diego and when Lally left for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory they continued to collaborate through Space societies.
Lally's concept of onboard use of digital photos of planets, asteroids and comets during space trajectories for navigation purposes was adopted by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA. This system named AutoNav, ushered in a new era of low cost spacecraft missions starting with Deep Space 1
in 1998. This concept also was used on the European Space Agency's Rosetta Spacecraft to refine the approach distance to an asteroid in 2008. Its autonomous and real-time onboard determination of navigation eliminates the costly need of labor-intensive Earth tracking network antennas. It also provides time-distant spacecraft with onboard real-time decision making for thrusting maneuvers while approaching target destinations.
His asteroid landing concept is included on Rosetta scheduled in 2014 to fasten a spacecraft to a comet having essentially no gravity by firing projectiles into the comet's surface and reeling itself onto the surface. This same landing concept is proposed for missions to deflect asteroids headed for a collision with Earth by attaching a nuclear device to the asteroid or for nearby position control of a close following gravity tractor
spacecraft.
In 2008 he was asked by the University of California Berkeley, SETI Institute
, Carl Sagan Center to present at their Colloquium Series a summary of "How Spaceflight was Born...the Pioneers and the Ideas from Peenemunde to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
" discussing the accomplishments of five space pioneers: Goddard, Oberth, von Braun, Ehricke and himself.
A 2010 paper for the American Astronautical Society
included a conceptual design of an Exoplanet Explorer Spacecraft using infrared spectroscopy located at the Lagrange 2 point to investigate recently discovered exoplanets. The design will determine exoplanet atmospheric constituents and search for primordial and advanced atmospheres. Exoplanet evolution as well as detecting biomarkers of forms of life-as-we-know-them and clues to extremophiles or beyond life-as-we-know-it will be addressed. It defines the "Lally Life-forms Probability Index" rating system. Such information will advance our scientific orientation to new levels and prompt new space and astrobiology research.
In 2011 with NASA leadership politically confused and new useful programs not being suggested Lally wrote "Space Exploration...How Far Can We Reach and How Do We Get There" published in the American Astronautical Society's Space Times May/June 2011 issue. It included three advanced space missions. 1.) In-situ Manned Mars Mission using indigenous materials on Mars to live-off-the-land and for production of return propulsion fuel and oxdizer. 2.) An updated unmanned Exoplanet Explorer Spacecraft with an infrared telescope to determine atmospheric constituents of newly discovered Earth-like Exoplanets including determining probability of Earth related and extremophile life-forms. 3.) An unmanned Interstellar Explorer Spacecraft for a fast solar system escape trajectory using two in-space propulsion stages after Earth launch. Electric ion propulsion combined with solar sails are used to continually increase spacecraft velocity. Proximity science in the vicinity of the spacecraft in interstellar space and the process of autonomously selecting interstellar targets for viewing are discussed.
. His photographic techniques are included in anthropology university courses to assist in improving the presentation and content of journal papers.
Space science
The term space science may mean:* The study of issues specifically related to space travel and space exploration, including space medicine.* Science performed in outer space ....
, spacecraft and mission conceptual designer and photographer, and was born in South Boston, Massachusetts
South Boston, Massachusetts
South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. One of America's oldest and most historic neighborhoods, South Boston was formerly known as Dorchester Neck, and today is called "Southie" by...
in 1934. He was educated as an electrical engineer at Northeastern University. Lally writes for space, astrobiology, photography, travel, archaeology and economics publications.
Lally's technical papers are presented at national meetings of a variety of societies and published by: the American Rocket Society
American Rocket Society
The American Rocket Society began its existence on April 4, 1930, under the name of the American Interplanetary Society. It was founded by science fiction writers G. Edward Pendray, David Lasser, Laurence Manning and others. The members originally conducted their own rocket experiments in New York...
, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics is the professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA was founded in 1963 from the merger of two earlier societies: the American Rocket Society , founded in 1930 as the American Interplanetary Society , and the Institute...
, IEEE
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is a non-profit professional association headquartered in New York City that is dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence...
, American Astronautical Society
American Astronautical Society
Formed in 1954, the American Astronautical Society is an independent scientific and technical group in the United States dedicated to the advancement of space science and exploration. AAS supports NASA's Vision for Space Exploration and is a member of the Coalition for Space Exploration and the...
, in journals and magazines such as: Astronautics, Astronautica Acta, Design News
Design News
Design News is a US trade publication published by UBM Electronics, a division of United Business Media. Design News serves the information needs of the field of design engineering....
, Aviation Weekly, Anthropology News, Space Times and national and local newspapers.
He published technical papers about rockets and space flight while in college in the mid-1950s before the launch of Sputnik. Upon graduation he went to California to help start up the space program.
Career overview
Lally published initial papers outlining the exploration of the MoonMoon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
, Mercury
Mercury (planet)
Mercury is the innermost and smallest planet in the Solar System, orbiting the Sun once every 87.969 Earth days. The orbit of Mercury has the highest eccentricity of all the Solar System planets, and it has the smallest axial tilt. It completes three rotations about its axis for every two orbits...
, Venus
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
, Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
, Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
, Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
, comet
Comet
A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
s, asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
s, solar system escape probe, earth satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
s and Direct TV. He proposed Manned Mars Missions using nuclear propulsion
Nuclear propulsion
Nuclear propulsion includes a wide variety of propulsion methods that fulfil the promise of the Atomic Age by using some form of nuclear reaction as their primary power source.- Surface ships and submarines :...
stages and designed optical guidance and navigation for astronauts' onboard use. Simulated gravity was also included to create a more workable environment for the long mission and to protect them from bone mass loss during an otherwise long weightlessness trajectory.
One paper introduced digital photography
Digital photography
Digital photography is a form of photography that uses an array of light sensitive sensors to capture the image focused by the lens, as opposed to an exposure on light sensitive film...
in 1961 while at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...
for NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
. It was titled, "Mosaic Guidance for Interplanetary Travel" presented at the annual convention of the American Rocket Society. It proposed for manned Mars missions the design of sensors employing mosaic arrays of photodetectors at the focal plane of cameras with their analogue output converted into the digital domain to provide real-time onboard guidance and navigation. Locations of stars, asteroids and planets were photographed for attitude and position referencing. This was the first presentation of a digital photography concept and digital camera design usable on spacecraft and for general photography..
His gravity simulation proposal for manned Mars missions was published in 1962 titled "To Spin or Not to Spin".
He worked and studied under Krafft A. Ehricke
Krafft Arnold Ehricke
-External links:* * *...
, a German rocket scientist at Peenemünde
Peenemünde
The Peenemünde Army Research Center was founded in 1937 as one of five military proving grounds under the Army Weapons Office ....
, who came to America after WWII. They worked together at Convair Astronautics in San Diego and when Lally left for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory they continued to collaborate through Space societies.
Lally's concept of onboard use of digital photos of planets, asteroids and comets during space trajectories for navigation purposes was adopted by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA. This system named AutoNav, ushered in a new era of low cost spacecraft missions starting with Deep Space 1
Deep Space 1
Deep Space 1 is a spacecraft of the NASA New Millennium Program dedicated to testing a payload of advanced, high risk technologies....
in 1998. This concept also was used on the European Space Agency's Rosetta Spacecraft to refine the approach distance to an asteroid in 2008. Its autonomous and real-time onboard determination of navigation eliminates the costly need of labor-intensive Earth tracking network antennas. It also provides time-distant spacecraft with onboard real-time decision making for thrusting maneuvers while approaching target destinations.
His asteroid landing concept is included on Rosetta scheduled in 2014 to fasten a spacecraft to a comet having essentially no gravity by firing projectiles into the comet's surface and reeling itself onto the surface. This same landing concept is proposed for missions to deflect asteroids headed for a collision with Earth by attaching a nuclear device to the asteroid or for nearby position control of a close following gravity tractor
Gravity tractor
A gravity tractor is a spacecraft that deflects another object in space, typically a potentially hazardous asteroid that might impact Earth, without physically contacting it, using only its gravitational field to transmit the required impulse....
spacecraft.
In 2008 he was asked by the University of California Berkeley, SETI Institute
SETI Institute
The SETI Institute is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to “explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe”. SETI stands for the "search for extraterrestrial intelligence". One program is the use of both radio and optical telescopes to search...
, Carl Sagan Center to present at their Colloquium Series a summary of "How Spaceflight was Born...the Pioneers and the Ideas from Peenemunde to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...
" discussing the accomplishments of five space pioneers: Goddard, Oberth, von Braun, Ehricke and himself.
A 2010 paper for the American Astronautical Society
American Astronautical Society
Formed in 1954, the American Astronautical Society is an independent scientific and technical group in the United States dedicated to the advancement of space science and exploration. AAS supports NASA's Vision for Space Exploration and is a member of the Coalition for Space Exploration and the...
included a conceptual design of an Exoplanet Explorer Spacecraft using infrared spectroscopy located at the Lagrange 2 point to investigate recently discovered exoplanets. The design will determine exoplanet atmospheric constituents and search for primordial and advanced atmospheres. Exoplanet evolution as well as detecting biomarkers of forms of life-as-we-know-them and clues to extremophiles or beyond life-as-we-know-it will be addressed. It defines the "Lally Life-forms Probability Index" rating system. Such information will advance our scientific orientation to new levels and prompt new space and astrobiology research.
In 2011 with NASA leadership politically confused and new useful programs not being suggested Lally wrote "Space Exploration...How Far Can We Reach and How Do We Get There" published in the American Astronautical Society's Space Times May/June 2011 issue. It included three advanced space missions. 1.) In-situ Manned Mars Mission using indigenous materials on Mars to live-off-the-land and for production of return propulsion fuel and oxdizer. 2.) An updated unmanned Exoplanet Explorer Spacecraft with an infrared telescope to determine atmospheric constituents of newly discovered Earth-like Exoplanets including determining probability of Earth related and extremophile life-forms. 3.) An unmanned Interstellar Explorer Spacecraft for a fast solar system escape trajectory using two in-space propulsion stages after Earth launch. Electric ion propulsion combined with solar sails are used to continually increase spacecraft velocity. Proximity science in the vicinity of the spacecraft in interstellar space and the process of autonomously selecting interstellar targets for viewing are discussed.
Outdoor photography
Well known as an accomplished outdoor photographer his work was exhibited in a travelling show for five years starting in 2003 titled, "Southwest Indian Pueblos and People". It traveled to museums, universities, libraries and selected photos used on magazine and book covers. He combined photographs with archaeological topics of Native Americans with 12 articles published in Anthropology News of the American Anthropological AssociationAmerican Anthropological Association
The American Anthropological Association is a professional organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of anthropology. With 11,000 members, the Arlington, Virginia based association includes archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, biological anthropologists, linguistic...
. His photographic techniques are included in anthropology university courses to assist in improving the presentation and content of journal papers.