Environmental Specialists Help Win Top Air Force Award

WASHINGTON, D. C. (9/27/98) -- A team of environmental specialists from The Aerospace Corporation shared in the spotlight at the annual Air Force Chief of Staff Team Excellence Awards competition held in Washington, D.C., Sept. 14 through 16.

Led by Noble F. Dowling, systems director, Environmental Systems Directorate (ESD), Space Launch Operations, the Aerospace contingent joined partners from the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center's Launch Programs Office and from SRS Technologies in capturing a first place award, one of only five top awards given among 21 teams competing from throughout the Air Force.

SMC's Launch Program's Environmental Systems Team, which captured the honor, was one of two teams representing AF Materiel Command (AFMC). Team leader is Maj. Betty Bennette. In addition to Dowling, team members from The Aerospace Corporation are Dr. Gary Loper, Dr. Bart Lundblad, Dr. Marty Ross and Norm Keegan, all project engineers from ESD, and Jo Ann Kamada, senior systems analyst, and Andrea Ryan, administrative secretary, both of ESD.

Environmental Compliance 100 Percent

Dowling said members of his team managed many of the programs which formed the basis of the award, which recognized initiatives that have resulted in improvements in launch availability for Atlas, Delta and Titan vehicles from 62 to 90 percent. The improvements reflect 100 percent environmental compliance and no schedule delays because of environmental issues.

Dowling said the application of systems engineering principles to environmental activities has been the key to success. Defining critical areas and attacking each systematically has been the approach. As a result, EST has gained recognition as the Best Environmental Program for Space Systems by the AF program executive officer. The team was rated outstanding by the AFMC inspector general and was recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency and the United Nations as well. The team was credited with avoiding costs of $186 million in 1997 and has delivered a return on investment of more than 1,300 percent since inception.

Key Aerospace Corporation Programs

Key Aerospace Corporation programs contributing to environmental successes include the Atmospheric Dispersion Model Validation Program that predicts the impact of toxic gas clouds from launches, the Rocket Impacts on Stratospheric Ozone (RISO) program, and the Environmental Technology Improvement Program which comprises the oxidizer scrubber for nitrogen tetroxide propellant vapor, the fuel scrubber for hydrazine-type fuel vapor and the Hydrazine Fuel Vapor Detection system.

The chief of staff's competition was held in conjunction with the Air Force Association's national convention. Awards were presented Sept. 16.