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120-710: The laboratory was founded in 1932 by Charles Stark Draper at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to develop aeronautical instrumentation, and came to be called the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory . During this period the laboratory is best known for developing the Apollo Guidance Computer , the first silicon integrated circuit –based computer. It was renamed for its founder in 1970, and separated from MIT in 1973 to become an independent, non-profit organization. The expertise of

240-600: A MIRV missile is). The three warheads were stated to be equivalent in destructive power to a single one-megaton warhead due to their spread out pattern on the target. The first Polaris submarine outfitted with MRV A-3's was the USS Daniel Webster in 1964. Later the Polaris A-3 missiles (but not the ReBs) were also given limited hardening to protect the missile electronics against nuclear electromagnetic pulse effects while in

360-437: A security scanner similar to those used at airports, but special security clearances are not required to access the semi-public areas. The research-based Draper Fellow Program sponsors about 50 graduate students each year. Students are trained to fill leadership positions in the government, military, industry, and education. The laboratory also supports on-campus funded research with faculty and principal investigators through

480-509: A "whole new industry in inertial instruments and systems for airplanes, ships, submarines , missiles, satellites and space vehicles". The National Academy of Engineering established the Charles Stark Draper Prize in 1988 on behalf of the namesake's laboratory at MIT. The prize, which is awarded annually and consists of $ 500,000 in cash, a gold medallion, and a hand-inscribed certificate, aims to "increase public understanding of

600-456: A Special Project Office to develop Jupiter for the Navy in late 1955. The Jupiter missile's large diameter was a product of the need to keep the length short enough to fit in a reasonably-sized submarine. At the seminal Project Nobska conference in 1956, with Admiral Burke present, nuclear physicist Edward Teller stated that a physically small one-megaton warhead could be produced for Polaris within

720-601: A continuous dead reckoning update of the submarine's position between position fixes via other methods, such as LORAN . This was especially important in the first few years of Polaris, because Transit was not operational until 1964. By 1965 microchips similar to the Texas Instruments units made for the Minuteman II were being purchased by the Navy for the Polaris. The Minuteman guidance systems each required 2000 of these, so

840-545: A day by taking a drop of blood obtained by a pinprick and inserting the sample into a machine that can measure glucose level. The nano-sensor approach would supplant this process. Laboratory staff worked in teams to create novel navigation systems, based on inertial guidance and on digital computers to support the necessary calculations for determining spatial positioning. Draper Laboratory applies some of its resources to developing and recognizing technical talent through educational programs and public exhibitions. It also sponsors

960-448: A failsafe. They did this with the development of gas and air propulsion of the missile out of the submerged tube as well. The first Polaris missile tests were given the names “AX-#” and later renamed “A1X-#”. Testing of the missiles occurred: It was in between these two tests that the inertial guidance system was developed and implemented for testing. At the time that the Polaris project went live, submarine navigation systems accuracy

1080-634: A few years, and this prompted Burke to leave the Jupiter program and concentrate on Polaris in December of that year. Polaris was spearheaded by the Special Project Office's Missile Branch under Rear Admiral Roderick Osgood Middleton, and is still under the Special Project Office. Admiral Burke later was instrumental in determining the size of the Polaris submarine force, suggesting that 40–45 submarines with 16 missiles each would be sufficient. Eventually,

1200-503: A full-sized motion simulator like the one used by the astronauts to practice the actual mission. Talks by Draper staffers and retirees, and free public concerts rounded out the festivities. A special Hack the Moon website was created to memorialize the celebration. Other exhibitions have highlighted different aspects of the research projects conducted at Draper, including information about employment opportunities. All visitors must pass through

1320-561: A hardware check-out flight, was launched in February 1993, and the second flight, a STARS I reentry vehicle experiment, was launched in August 1993. The third flight, a STARS II development mission, was launched in July 1994, with all three flights considered to be successful by BMDO. The Secretary of Defense conducted a comprehensive review in 1993 of the nation's defense strategy, which drastically reduced

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1440-420: A length of 28.5 ft (8.7 m), a body diameter of 54 inches (1.4 m), and a launch weight of 28,800 pounds (13,100 kg). USS  George Washington was the first fleet ballistic missile submarine ( SSBN in U.S. naval terminology) and she and all other Polaris submarines carried 16 missiles. Forty more SSBNs were launched in 1960 to 1966. Work on its W47 nuclear warhead began in 1957 at

1560-453: A less than reliable system and soon after both systems were replaced by the Trident. A proposed Undersea Long-Range Missile System (ULMS) program outlined a long-term plan which proposed the development of a longer-range missile designated as ULMS II, which was to achieve twice the range of the existing Poseidon (ULMS I) missile. In addition to a longer-range missile, a larger submarine (Ohio-class)

1680-406: A live strategic nuclear missile. The two stages were both steered by thrust vectoring . Inertial navigation guided the missile to about a 900 m (3,000-foot) CEP, insufficient for use against hardened targets. They were mostly useful for attacking dispersed military surface targets (airfields or radar sites), clearing a pathway for heavy bombers, although in the general public perception Polaris

1800-411: A missile suitable for carrying such warheads began as Polaris, launching its first shot less than four years later, in February 1960. As the Polaris missile was fired underwater from a moving platform, it was essentially invulnerable to counterattack. This led the Navy to suggest, starting around 1959, that they be given the entire nuclear deterrent role. This led to new infighting between the Navy and

1920-413: A new anti-submarine weapon. Livermore received the project. When Teller returned to Livermore, people were astonished by the boldness of Teller's promise. It seemed inconceivable with the current size of nuclear warheads, and Teller was challenged to support his assertion. He pointed out the trend in warhead technology, which indicated reduced weight to yield ratios in each succeeding generation. When Teller

2040-679: A new method for turning the International Space Station , called the "optimal propellant maneuver", which achieved a 94 percent savings over previous practice. The algorithm takes into account everything that affects how the station moves, including "the position of its thrusters and the effects of gravity and gyroscopic torque". As of 2013, at a personal scale, Draper was developing a garment for use in orbit that uses Controlled Moment Gyros (CMGs) that creates resistance to movement of an astronaut's limbs to help mitigate bone loss and maintain muscle tone during prolonged space flight. The unit

2160-445: A new weapon bay housing three Mk 2 re-entry vehicles (ReB or Re-Entry Body in U.S. Navy and British usage); and the new W-58 warhead of 200  kt yield. This arrangement was originally described as a "cluster warhead" but was replaced with the term Multiple Re-Entry Vehicle (MRV). The three warheads, also known as "bomblets", were spread out in a "shotgun" like pattern above a single target and were not independently targetable (such as

2280-458: A sensor payload to achieve the intended mission. The NAVS must work in urban areas with little or no GPS signal availability, relying on vision-based sensors and systems. In 2009, Draper collaborated with the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary to develop an implantable drug-delivery device, which "merges aspects of microelectromechanical systems , or MEMS, with microfluidics, which enables

2400-416: A smaller, more easily manipulated design. Edward Teller was one of the scientists encouraging the progress of smaller rockets. He argued that the technology needed to be discovered, rather than apply technology that is already created. Raborn was also convinced he could develop smaller rockets. He sent officers to make independent estimates of size to determine the plausibility of a small missile; while none of

2520-410: A submerged submarine, improving submarine survivability. The prime contractor for all three versions of Polaris was Lockheed Missiles and Space Company (now Lockheed Martin ). The Polaris program started development in 1956. USS  George Washington , the first U.S. missile submarine, successfully launched the first Polaris missile from a submerged submarine on July 20, 1960. The A-2 version of

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2640-438: A substantial body research into the psychology of deception. As of 2010 Neil Adams, a director of tactical systems programs for Draper Laboratory, led the systems integration of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency 's (DARPA) Nano Aerial Vehicle (NAV) program to miniaturize flying reconnaissance platforms. This entails managing the vehicle, communications and ground control systems allow NAVs to function autonomously to carry

2760-489: A technology to detect potential terrorists with cameras and other sensors that monitor behaviors of people being screened. The project is called Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST). The application would be for security checkpoints to assess candidates for follow-up screening. In a demonstration of the technology, the project manager Robert P. Burns explained that the system is designed to distinguish between malicious intent and benign expressions of distress by employing

2880-585: A very delicate region of the ear, the implant will allow sensory cells to regrow, ultimately restoring the patient's hearing". As of 2010, Heather Clark of Draper Laboratory was developing a method to measure blood glucose concentration without finger-pricking. The method uses a nano-sensor, like a miniature tattoo, just several millimeters across, that patients apply to the skin. The sensor uses near-infrared or visible light ranges to determine glucose concentrations. Normally to regulate their blood glucose levels, diabetics must measure their blood glucose several times

3000-418: Is available on Earth from gravity. Without it an applied force would result in an equal force in the opposite direction, either in a straight line or spinning. In space, this could send an astronaut out of control. Currently, astronauts must affix themselves to the surface being worked on. The CMGs would offer an alternative to mechanical connection or gravitational force. On November 29, 2018, Draper Laboratory

3120-543: Is based on a design by a Japanese company called ispace , which is a team member of Draper in this venture. Subcontractors in this venture include General Atomics which will manufacture the lander, and Spaceflight Industries , which will arrange launch services for the lander. As of September 2023, Draper and ispace are developing a lunar lander called APEX 1.0 to deliver CLPS payloads to the moon in 2026. Draper researchers develop artificial intelligence systems to allow robotic devices to learn from their mistakes, This work

3240-412: Is called a Variable Vector Countermeasure suit, or V2Suit, which uses CMGs also to assist in balance and movement coordination by creating resistance to movement and an artificial sense of "down". Each CMG module is about the size of a deck of cards. The concept is for the garment to be worn "in the lead-up to landing back on Earth or periodically throughout a long mission". In 2013, a Draper/MIT/NASA team

3360-497: Is disadvantageous in launching a missile from a moving platform in certain sea states. By mid-July 1956, the Secretary of Defense's Scientific Advisory Committee had recommended that a solid-propellant missile program be fully instigated but not using the unsuitable Jupiter payload and guidance system. By October 1956, a study group comprising key figures from Navy, industry and academic organizations considered various design parameters of

3480-597: Is in support of DARPA -funded work, pertaining to the Army Future Combat System . This capability would allow an autonomous under fire to learn that that road is dangerous and find a safer route or to recognize that its fuel status and damage status. As of 2008, Paul DeBitetto reportedly led the cognitive robotics group at the laboratory in this effort. As of 2009, the US Department of Homeland Security funded Draper Laboratory and other collaborators to develop

3600-445: Is necessitated by gradual error growth or "drift"), because of the threat of hostile blocking or jamming of signal. A less accurate inertial system usually means a less costly system, but one that requires more frequent recalibration of position from another source, like GPS. Systems which integrate GPS with INS are classified as "loosely coupled" (pre-1995), "tightly coupled" (1996-2002), or "deeply integrated" (2002 onwards), depending on

3720-499: Is still in service with the Russian Navy As of 2021 (it's expected to be phased out after 2030). Solid fuels, on the other hand, make logistics and storage simpler and are safer. Not only was the Jupiter a liquid fuel design, it was also very large; even after it was designed for solid fuel, it was still a whopping 160,000 pounds. A smaller, new design would weigh much less, estimated at 30,000 pounds. The Navy would rather develop

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3840-675: The ASME 's Rufus Oldenburger Medal in 1971, the Robert H. Goddard Trophy in 1978, the AACC 's Richard E. Bellman Control Heritage Award and the Smithsonian 's Langley Gold Medal in 1981, and the National Academy of Engineering 's Founders Award. His renown was international, and was recognized by many foreign countries, including France , United Kingdom , Germany , Switzerland , Czechoslovakia , and

3960-833: The American Physical Society , the American Academy of Arts and Sciences , the American Society of Mechanical Engineers , and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers . Draper received more than 70 honors and awards, including the Howard N. Potts Medal in 1960, the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1961, the National Medal of Science from President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964,

4080-523: The Charles Stark Draper Prize , one of the three so-called "Nobel Prizes of Engineering" administered by the US National Academy of Engineering . From time to time, Draper Laboratory hosts free exhibitions and events open to the public, which are presented in special semi-public spaces at the front of the central atrium space in the main Duffy Building. For example, in 2019 Draper presented Hack

4200-494: The Charles Stark Draper Prize , which is administered by the National Academy of Engineering . It is awarded "to recognize innovative engineering achievements and their reduction to practice in ways that have led to important benefits and significant improvement in the well-being and freedom of humanity". Achievements in any engineering discipline are eligible for the $ 500,000 prize. Charles Stark Draper Charles Stark " Doc " Draper (October 2, 1901 – July 25, 1987)

4320-502: The GPS satellite navigation system, the Transit system (later called NAVSAT), was developed because the submarines needed to know their position at launch in order for the missiles to hit their targets. Two American physicists at Johns Hopkins 's Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), William Guier and George Weiffenbach, began this work in 1958. A computer small enough to fit through a submarine hatch

4440-609: The Google Lunar X Prize send the first privately funded robot to the Moon. To qualify for the prize, the robot must travel 500 meters across the lunar surface and transmit video, images and other data back to Earth. A team developed a "Terrestrial Artificial Lunar and Reduced Gravity Simulator" to simulate operations in the space environment, using Draper Laboratory's guidance, navigation and control algorithm for reduced gravity. In 2012, Draper Laboratory engineers in Houston , Texas developed

4560-762: The Italian Navy , this did not lead to use. The Polaris missile was gradually replaced on 31 of the 41 original SSBNs in the U.S. Navy by the MIRV -capable Poseidon missile beginning in 1972. During the 1980s, these missiles were replaced on 12 of these submarines by the Trident I missile. The 10 George Washington - and Ethan Allen -class SSBNs retained Polaris A-3 until 1980 because their missile tubes were not large enough to accommodate Poseidon. With USS  Ohio beginning sea trials in 1980, these submarines were disarmed and redesignated as attack submarines to avoid exceeding

4680-658: The SALT II strategic arms treaty limits. The Polaris missile program's complexity led to the development of new project management techniques, including the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) to replace the simpler Gantt chart methodology. The Polaris missile replaced an earlier plan to create a submarine-based missile force based on a derivative of the U.S. Army Jupiter Intermediate-range ballistic missile . Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Arleigh Burke appointed Rear Admiral W. F. "Red" Raborn as head of

4800-788: The Soviet Union . Draper was inducted as a member of the inaugural class to the International Space Hall of Fame . Draper was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1981. He died in the Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts , at age 85. He was eulogized as "one of the foremost engineers of our time", and Howard Wesley Johnson , Chairman of the MIT Corporation , credited him for creating

4920-608: The U.S. Air Force , the latter responding by developing the counterforce concept that argued for the strategic bomber and ICBM as key elements in flexible response . Polaris formed the backbone of the U.S. Navy's nuclear force aboard a number of custom-designed submarines. In 1963, the Polaris Sales Agreement led to the Royal Navy taking over the United Kingdom 's nuclear role, and while some tests were carried out by

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5040-493: The UGM-27 Polaris missile program. The Apollo software team was led by Margaret Hamilton (who wrote code to provide visual cues when prioritization was working correctly) and included work by programmers such as Hal Laning , Dick Battin and Don Eyles . Draper has locations in several US cities: Former locations include Tampa, Florida at University of South Florida (Bioengineering Center). According to its website,

5160-598: The University of Missouri in 1917, then transferred to Stanford University , California in 1919, from which he earned a B.A . in psychology in 1922. He matriculated at MIT in 1922, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in electrochemical engineering (1926), and Master of Science (1928), and a Doctor of Science (1938) degrees in physics . Charles Stark Draper's relatives were prominent in his home state of Missouri , including his cousin, Governor Lloyd C. Stark . Draper began teaching at MIT as an assistant professor. He

5280-504: The boost phase . This was known as the A-3T ("Topsy") and was the final production model. The initial test model of the Polaris was referred to as the AX series and made its maiden flight from Cape Canaveral on September 24, 1958. The missile failed to perform its pitch and roll maneuver and instead just flew straight up, however the flight was considered a partial success (at that time, "partial success"

5400-602: The 1960s, under the 1962 Nassau Agreement that emerged from meetings between Harold Macmillan and John F. Kennedy , the United States would supply Britain with Polaris missiles, launch tubes, ReBs, and the fire-control systems . Britain would make its own warheads and initially proposed to build five ballistic missile submarines , later reduced to four by the incoming Labour government of Harold Wilson , with 16 missiles to be carried on each boat. The Nassau Agreement also featured very specific wording. The intention of wording

5520-545: The ABM screen around Moscow. Britain's submarines featured the Polaris A3T missiles, a modification to the model of the Polaris used by the U.S. from 1968 to 1972. Similar concerns were present in the U.S. as well, resulting in a new American defense program. The program became known as Antelope, and its purpose was to alter the Polaris. Various aspects of the Polaris, such as increasing deployment efficiency and creating ways to improve

5640-643: The Apollo computers and software. Draper was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1981 for his multiple inventions and scientific contributions. Draper was a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering of the National Academy of Sciences as well as the French Academy of Sciences . He had served as president of the International Academy of Astronautics , and was a member of

5760-612: The British Prime Minister is and has always been required for the use of British nuclear weapons, including SLBMs. The operational control of the Polaris submarines was assigned to another NATO Supreme Commander, the SACLANT (Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic), who is based near Norfolk, Virginia, although the SACLANT routinely delegated control of the missiles to his deputy commander in the Eastern Atlantic area, COMEASTLANT, who

5880-613: The Joint Army-Navy Ballistic Missile Committee approved by Secretary of Defense Charles E. Wilson in early November of that year. The first IRBM boasted a liquid-fueled design . Liquid fuel is compatible with aircraft; it was considered less compatible with submarines in the West, even though in the Soviet Navy liquid-fuelled SLBMs, none of which used cryogenic components, were in overwhelming majority, and R-29RMU2

6000-548: The Jupiter proposals) was the need to surface, and remain surfaced for some time, to launch. Submarines were very vulnerable to attack during launch, and a fully or partially fueled missile on deck was a serious hazard. The difficulty of preparing a launch in rough weather was another major drawback for these designs, but rough sea conditions did not unduly affect Polaris' submerged launches. It quickly became apparent that solid-fueled ballistic missiles had advantages over cruise missiles in range and accuracy, and could be launched from

6120-515: The Labour Party provided a clear platform on nuclear weapons, the Chevaline program found supporters. One such individual who supported modification to the Polaris was the Secretary of State for Defence, Denis Healey . Despite the approval of the program, the expenses caused hurdles that augmented the time it took for the system to come to fruition. The cost of the project led to Britain's disbanding

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6240-510: The Moon , a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first Apollo Moon landing on July 20, 1969 . The exhibition featured artifacts, such as the Apollo Guidance Computer hardware developed at Draper, and the mission software developed by Draper staffers including Don Eyles , Margaret Hamilton , and Hal Laning . Visitors could practice landing the Apollo Lunar Module on a software simulator, and then attempt to land while riding inside

6360-550: The Moon and back safely to Earth. The laboratory contributed to the development of inertial sensors, software, and other systems for the GN&;C of commercial and military aircraft, submarines, strategic and tactical missiles, spacecraft, and uncrewed vehicles. Inertial-based GN&C systems were central for navigating ballistic missile submarines for long periods of time undersea to avoid detection, and guiding their submarine-launched ballistic missiles to their targets, starting with

6480-572: The Navy Secretariat decided to support SPO in heavily pushing for the new missile, now named Polaris by Admiral Raborn. There is a contention that the Navy's "Jupiter" missile program was unrelated to the Army program. The Navy also expressed an interest in Jupiter as an SLBM, but left the collaboration to work on their Polaris. At first, the newly assembled SPO team had the problem of making the large, liquid-fuel Jupiter IRBM work properly. Jupiter retained

6600-534: The Navy was involved in the Jupiter missile project with the U.S. Army , and had influenced the design by making it squat so it would fit in submarines. However, they had concerns about the use of liquid fuel rockets on board ships, and some consideration was given to a solid fuel version, Jupiter S. In 1956, during an anti-submarine study known as Project Nobska , Edward Teller suggested that very small hydrogen bomb warheads were possible. A crash program to develop

6720-528: The Polaris A3T, retaining a limited ability to re-arm and put to sea the submarine that was in refit. When replaced by the Chevaline warhead, the sum total of deployed RVs and warheads was reduced to three boatloads. The original U.S. Navy Polaris had not been designed to penetrate anti-ballistic missile (ABM) defenses, but the Royal Navy had to ensure that its small Polaris force operating alone, and often with only one submarine on deterrent patrol, could penetrate

6840-605: The Polaris Sales Agreement to cover the Polaris successor Poseidon due to its cost. The Ministry of Defence upgraded its nuclear missiles to the longer-ranged Trident after much political wrangling within the Callaghan Labour Party government over its cost and whether it was necessary. The outgoing Prime Minister James Callaghan made his government's papers on Trident available to Margaret Thatcher 's new incoming Conservative Party government, which took

6960-520: The Polaris guidance system may have used a similar number. To keep the price under control, the design was standardized and shared with Westinghouse Electric Company and RCA . In 1962, the price for each Minuteman chip was $ 50. The price dropped to $ 2 in 1968. This missile replaced the earlier A-1 and A-2 models in the U.S. Navy , and also equipped the British Polaris force. The A-3 had a range extended to 2,500 nautical miles (4,600 kilometres) and

7080-488: The Polaris missile was essentially an upgraded A-1, and it entered service in late 1961. It was fitted on a total of 13 submarines and served until June 1974. Ongoing problems with the W-47 warhead , especially with its mechanical arming and safing equipment, led to large numbers of the missiles being recalled for modifications, and the U.S. Navy sought a replacement with either a larger yield or equivalent destructive power. The result

7200-519: The Polaris system and trade-offs between different sub-sections. The estimate that a 30,000-pound missile could deliver a suitable warhead over 1500 nautical miles was endorsed. With this optimistic assessment, the Navy now decided to scrap the Jupiter program altogether and sought out the Department of Defense to back a separate Navy missile. A huge surfaced submarine would carry four "Jupiter" missiles, which would be carried and launched horizontally. This

7320-471: The STARS office acquired 117 first-stage and 102 second-stage surplus motors. As of December 1994, seven first-stage and five second-stage refurbished motors were available for future launches. BMDO is currently evaluating STARS as a potential long-range system for launching targets for development tests of future Theater Missile Defense 3 systems. STARS I was first launched in 1993, and from 2004 onwards has served as

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7440-546: The Strategic Defense Initiative would be depleted by 1988. SSDC tasked Sandia National Laboratories , a Department of Energy laboratory, to develop an alternative launch vehicle using surplus Polaris boosters. The Sandia National Laboratories developed two STARS booster configurations: STARS I and STARS II. STARS I consisted of refurbished Polaris first and second stages and a commercially procured Orbis I third stage. It can deploy single or multiple payloads, but

7560-616: The United Kingdom paid an additional 5% of their total procurement cost of 2.5 billion dollars to the U.S. government as a research and development contribution. In 2002, the United States Navy announced plans to extend the life of the submarines and the D5 missiles to the year 2040. This requires a D5 Life Extension Program (D5LEP), which is currently underway. The main aim is to replace obsolete components at minimal cost by using commercial off

7680-520: The University R&;D program. It offers undergraduate student employment and internship opportunities. Draper Laboratory conducts a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) K–12 and community education outreach program, which it established in 1984. Each year, the laboratory distributes more than $ 175,000 through its community relations programs. These funds include support of internships, co-ops, participation in science festivals and

7800-562: The agreement in this manner was to make it intentionally opaque. The sale of the Polaris was malleable in how an individual country could interpret it due to the diction choices taken in the Nassau Agreement. For the United States of America, the wording allowed for the sale to fall under the scope of NATO 's deterrence powers. On the other hand, for the British, the sale could be viewed as a solely British deterrent. The Polaris Sales Agreement

7920-595: The construction of the burn chambers. The later versions (the A-2, A-3, and B-3) were larger, weighed more, and had longer ranges than the A-1. The range increase was most important: The A-2 range was 1,500 nautical miles (2,800 kilometres), the A-3 2,500 nautical miles (4,600 kilometres), and the B-3 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 kilometres). The A-3 featured multiple re-entry vehicles ( MRVs ) which spread

8040-540: The contributions of engineering and technology to the welfare and freedom of humanity". Endowment for the prize was provided by the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory. UGM-27 Polaris The UGM-27 Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fueled nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). As the United States Navy 's first SLBM, it served from 1961 to 1980. In the mid-1950s

8160-409: The decision to acquire the Trident C4 missile. A subsequent decision to upgrade the missile purchase to the even larger, longer-ranged Trident D5 missile was possibly taken to ensure that there was missile commonality between the U.S. Navy and the Royal Navy , which was considerably important when the Royal Navy Trident submarines were also to use the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay . Even though

8280-416: The degree of integration of the hardware. As of 2006, it was envisioned that many military and civilian uses would integrate GPS with INS, including the possibility of artillery shells with a deeply integrated system that can withstand 20,000 g , when fired from a cannon. In 2010 Draper Laboratory and MIT collaborated with two other partners as part of the Next Giant Leap team to win a grant towards achieving

8400-425: The desired one-megaton thermonuclear warhead. This study brought Edward Teller from the recently formed nuclear weapons laboratory at Livermore and J. Carson Mark , representing the Los Alamos nuclear weapons laboratory. Teller was already known as a nuclear salesman, but this became the first instance where there was a big betting battle where he outbid his Los Alamos counterpart. The two knew each other well: Mark

8520-417: The development and early application of advanced guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) technologies to meet the needs of the US Department of Defense and NASA . The laboratory's achievements include the design and development of accurate and reliable guidance systems for undersea-launched ballistic missiles, as well as for the Apollo Guidance Computer that unfailingly guided the Apollo astronauts to

8640-486: The facility that is now called the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory by a team headed by John Foster and Harold Brown . The Navy accepted delivery of the first 16 warheads in July 1960. On May 6, 1962, a Polaris A-2 missile with a live W47 warhead was tested in the "Frigate Bird" test of Operation Dominic by USS  Ethan Allen in the central Pacific Ocean , the only American test of

8760-559: The final AX flight was conducted a year after the program began, 17 Polaris missiles had been flown of which five met all of their test objectives. The first operational version, the Polaris A-1, had a range of 1,400 nautical miles (2,600 kilometres) and a single Mk 1 re-entry vehicle, carrying a single W-47-Y1 600 kt nuclear warhead, with an inertial guidance system which provided a circular error probable (CEP) of 1,800 meters (5,900 feet). The two-stage solid propellant missile had

8880-610: The first contract given out for the Apollo program to send humans to the Moon , which was announced by President John F. Kennedy on 25 May of that year. This led to the creation of the Apollo Guidance Computer , a one-cubic-foot computer that controlled the navigation and guidance of the lunar module to the Moon on nine launches, six of which landed on the Moon's surface. Draper taught and conducted research at MIT until January 1970, devoting most of his energy during his final decade to completing

9000-488: The gyroscopes they would be implementing. This 'Stable Platform' configuration did not account for the change in gravitational fields that the submarine would experience while it was in motion, nor did it account for the ever-altering position of the Earth. This problem raised many concerns, as this would make it nearly impossible for navigational readouts to remain accurate and reliable. A submarine equipped with ballistic missiles

9120-478: The laboratory staff applies its expertise to autonomous air, land, sea and space systems; information integration; distributed sensors and networks; precision-guided munitions; biomedical engineering; chemical/biological defense; and energy system modeling and management. When appropriate, Draper works with partners to transition their technology to commercial production. The laboratory encompasses seven areas of technical expertise: Project areas that have surfaced in

9240-482: The laboratory staff includes the areas of guidance, navigation, and control technologies and systems; fault-tolerant computing; advanced algorithms and software systems; modeling and simulation; and microelectromechanical systems and multichip module technology. In 1932 Charles Stark Draper, an MIT aeronautics professor, founded a teaching laboratory to develop the instrumentation needed for tracking, controlling and navigating aircraft. During World War II , Draper's lab

9360-499: The multiple payloads cannot be deployed in a manner that simulates the operation of a post-boost vehicle. To meet this specific need, Sandia developed an Operations and Deployment Experiments Simulator (ODES), which functions as a PBV. When ODES was added to STARS I, the configuration became known as STARS II. The development phase of the STARS program was completed in 1994, and BMDO provided about $ 192.1 million for this effort. The operational phase began in 1995. The first STARS I flight,

9480-626: The news referred to Draper Laboratory's core expertise in inertial navigation , as recently as 2003. More recently, emphasis has shifted to research in innovative space navigation topics, intelligent systems that rely on sensors and computers to make autonomous decisions, and nano-scale medical devices. The laboratory staff has studied ways to integrate input from Global Positioning System (GPS) into Inertial navigation system -based navigation in order to lower costs and improve reliability. Military inertial navigation systems (INS) cannot totally rely on GPS satellite availability for course correction (which

9600-436: The number of Polaris submarines was fixed at 41 . The USS  George Washington was the first submarine capable of deploying U.S. developed submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM). The responsibility of the development of SLBMs was given to the Navy and the Army. The Air Force was charged with developing a land-based intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM), while an IRBM which could be launched by land or by sea

9720-461: The number of STARS launches required to support National Missile Defense (NMD)2 and BMDO funding. Due to the launch and budget reductions, the STARS office developed a draft long-range plan for the STARS program. The study examined three options: When the STARS program was started in 1985 it was perceived that there would be four launches per year. Because of the large number of anticipated launches and an unknown defect rate for surplus Polaris motors,

9840-539: The officers could agree on a size, their findings were encouraging nonetheless. The U.S. Navy began work on nuclear-powered submarines in 1946. They launched the first one, the USS Nautilus in 1955. Nuclear powered submarines were the least vulnerable to a first strike from the Soviet Union. The next question that led to further development was what kind of arms the nuclear-powered submarines should be equipped with. In

9960-444: The original buildings was converted into an enclosed 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m) multistory atrium to accommodate security scanning, reception, semipublic areas, temporary exhibition space, and employee dining facilities. The open, airy interior space, designed by Boston architects Elkus Manfredi , features a green wall planting and plentiful seating. A primary focus of the laboratory's programs throughout its history has been

10080-451: The penetrative power were specific items considered in the tests conducted during the Antelope program. The British's uncertainty with their missiles led to the examination of the Antelope program. The assessments of Antelope occurred at Aldermaston . Evidence from the evaluation of Antelope led to the British decision to undertake their program following that of the United States. The result

10200-464: The precise control of fluids on very small scales". The device is a "flexible, fluid-filled machine", which uses tubes that expand and contract to promote fluid flow through channels with a defined rhythm, driven by a micro-scale pump, which adapts to environmental input. The system, funded by the National Institutes of Health , may treat hearing loss by delivering "tiny amounts of a liquid drug to

10320-411: The program in 1977. The system became operational in mid-1982 on HMS  Renown , and the last British SSBN submarine was equipped with it in mid-1987. Chevaline was withdrawn from service in 1996. Though Britain adopted the Antelope program methods, no input on the design came from the United States. Aldermaston was solely responsible for the Chevaline warheads. The British did not ask to extend

10440-439: The project began with an above-water launch goal. They decided to continue the development of an underwater launch, and developed two ideas for this launch: wet and dry. Dry launch meant encasing the missile in a shell that would peel away when the missile reached the water's surface. Wet launch meant shooting the missile through the water without a casing. While the Navy was in favor of a wet launch, they developed both methods as

10560-641: The provision of tours and speakers-is an extension of this mission. As of 2021, Draper Laboratory also sponsors Draper Spark!Lab, at the National Museum of American History on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The hands-on invention workspace operated by the Smithsonian Institution is free to all visitors, and focuses on educational activities for children aged 6 to 12 years. The company endows

10680-529: The shelf (COTS) hardware; all the while maintaining the demonstrated performance of the existing Trident II missiles. STARS, the Strategic Target System program, is a BMDO program managed by the U. S. Army Space and Strategic Defense Command (SSDC). It began in 1985 in response to concerns that the supply of surplus Minuteman I boosters used to launch targets and other experiments on intercontinental ballistic missile flight trajectories in support of

10800-500: The short, squat shape intended to fit in naval submarines. Its sheer size and volatility of its fuel made it very unsuited to submarine launching and was only slightly more attractive for deployment on ships. The missile continued to be developed by the Army's German team in collaboration with their main contractor, Chrysler Corporation. SPO's responsibility was to develop a sea-launching platform with necessary fire control and stabilization systems for that very purpose. The original schedule

10920-522: The standard booster for trials of the Ground-Based Interceptor . From the early days of the Polaris program, American senators and naval officers suggested that the United Kingdom might use Polaris. In 1957 Chief of Naval Operations Arleigh Burke and First Sea Lord Louis Mountbatten began corresponding on the project. After the cancellations of the Blue Streak and Skybolt missiles in

11040-525: The summer of 1956, the navy sponsored a study by the National Academy of Sciences on anti-submarine warfare at Nobska Point in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, known as Project NOBSKA . The navy's intention was to have a new missile developed that would be lighter than existing missiles and cover a range up to fifteen hundred miles. A problem that needed to be solved was that this design would not be able to carry

11160-453: The time of the Vietnam War , despite the absence of a role of the laboratory in that war. As it divested from MIT, the laboratory was initially moved to 75 Cambridge Parkway and other scattered buildings near MIT, until a centralized new 450,000-square-foot (42,000 m) building could be erected at 555 Technology Square . The complex, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (Chicago),

11280-507: The validity of Teller's prediction in the Navy's eyes. Whether the warhead was half or one megaton mattered little so long as it fitted the missile and would be ready by the deadline. Almost four decades later, Teller said, referring to Mark's performance, that it was “an occasion when I was happy about the other person being bashful.” When the Atomic Energy Commission backed up Teller's estimate in early September, Admiral Burke and

11400-641: The warheads about a common target, and the B-3 was to have penetration aids to counter Soviet Anti-Ballistic Missile defenses. The U.S. Navy began to replace Polaris with Poseidon in 1972. The B-3 missile evolved into the C-3 Poseidon missile , which abandoned the decoy concept in favor of using the C3's greater throw-weight for larger numbers (10–14) of new hardened high-re-entry-speed reentry vehicles that could overwhelm Soviet defenses by sheer weight of numbers, and its high speed after re-entry. This turned out to be

11520-692: Was a programme called Chevaline that added multiple decoys, chaff , and other defensive countermeasures . Its existence was only revealed in 1980, partly because of the cost overruns of the project, which had almost quadrupled the original estimate given when the project was finally approved in January 1975. The program also ran into trouble when dealing with the British Labour Party . Their Chief Scientific Adviser, Solly Zuckerman , believed that Britain no longer needed new designs for nuclear weapons and no more nuclear warhead tests would be necessary. Though

11640-520: Was a strategic second-strike retaliatory weapon. To meet the need for greater accuracy over the longer ranges the Lockheed designers included a reentry vehicle concept, improved guidance, fire control, and navigation systems to achieve their goals. To obtain the major gains in performance of the Polaris A3 in comparison to early models, there were many improvements, including propellants and material used in

11760-492: Was adequate for existing weapons systems. Initially, developers of Polaris were set to utilize the existing 'Stable Platform' configuration of the inertial guidance system. Created at the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, this Ships Inertial Navigation System (SINS) was supplied to the Navy in 1954. The developers of Polaris encountered many issues from the outset of the project, including the outdated technology of

11880-412: Was also developing a CMG-augmented spacesuit that would expand the current capabilities of NASA's "Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue" (SAFER)—a spacesuit designed for "propulsive self-rescue" for when an astronaut accidentally becomes untethered from a spacecraft. The CMG-augmented suit would provide better counterforce than is now available for when astronauts use tools in low-gravity environments. Counterforce

12000-483: Was always a British admiral. Polaris was the largest project in the Royal Navy's peacetime history. Although in 1964 the new Labour government considered cancelling Polaris and turning the submarines into conventionally armed hunter-killers, it continued the program as Polaris gave Britain a global nuclear capacity—perhaps east of Suez —at a cost £150 million less than that of the V bomber force. By adopting many established, American, methodologies and components Polaris

12120-593: Was an American scientist and engineer , known as the "father of inertial navigation ". He was the founder and director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 's Instrumentation Laboratory, later renamed the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory , which made the Apollo Moon landings possible through the Apollo Guidance Computer it designed for NASA . Draper was born in Windsor, Missouri . He attended

12240-478: Was appointed a full professor in aeronautical engineering in 1939. It was here that he founded the Instrumentation Laboratory in the 1930s, spun off in 1973 as the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory . Draper's interest in flight instrumentation was influenced by becoming a pilot in the 1930s: although he failed to become an Air Corps pilot, he learned to fly by enrolling in a civilian course. Draper

12360-431: Was caused by cutbacks in defense funding, and changes in government contracting rules. In response, Draper expanded its work addressing non-defense national goals in areas such as space exploration, energy resources, medicine, robotics, and artificial intelligence, and also took measures to increase its non-government work, eventually growing to 1400 employees within the decade. In 2017, a formerly open-air courtyard between

12480-499: Was developed in 1958, the AN/UYK-1 . It was used to interpret the Transit satellite data and send guidance information to the Polaris, which had its own guidance computer made with ultra miniaturized electronics, very advanced for its time, because there wasn't much room in a Polaris—there were 16 on each submarine. The Ship's Inertial Navigation System (SINS) was developed earlier to provide

12600-489: Was finished on time and within budget. On 15 February 1968, HMS  Resolution , the lead ship of her class , became the first British vessel to fire a Polaris. All Royal Navy SSBNs have been based at Faslane , only a few miles from Holy Loch . Although one submarine of the four was always in a shipyard undergoing a refit, recent declassifications of archived files disclose that the Royal Navy deployed four boatloads of reentry vehicles and warheads, plus spare warheads for

12720-461: Was kept on a tight schedule and the only influence that changed this was the USSR's launching of Sputnik on October 4, 1957. This caused many working on the project to want to accelerate development. The launch of a second Russian satellite and pressing public and government opinions caused Secretary Wilson to move the project along more quickly. The Navy favored an underwater launch of an IRBM, although

12840-652: Was known as the Confidential Instrument Development Laboratory . Later, the name was changed to the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory or I-Lab . As of 1970, it was located at 45 Osborn Street in Cambridge. The laboratory was renamed for its founder in 1970 and remained a part of MIT until 1973 when it became an independent, not-for-profit research and development corporation. The transition to an independent corporation arose out of pressures for divestment of MIT laboratories doing military research at

12960-418: Was named a Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contractor by NASA , which makes it eligible to bid on delivering science and technology payloads to the Moon for NASA. Draper Lab formally proposed a lunar lander called Artemis-7 . The company explained that the number 7 denotes the 7th lunar lander mission in which Draper Laboratory would be involved, after the six Apollo lunar landings. The lander concept

13080-559: Was named head of the theoretical division of Los Alamos in 1947, a job that was originally offered for Teller. Mark was a cautious physicist and no match for Teller in a bidding war. At the NOBSKA summer study, Edward Teller made his famous contribution to the FBM program. Teller offered to develop a lightweight warhead of one-megaton strength within five years. He suggested that nuclear-armed torpedoes could be substituted for conventional ones to provide

13200-604: Was of little to no use if operators had no way to direct them. The Polaris developers then turned to a guidance system that had been abandoned by the U.S. Air Force, the XN6 Autonavigator. Developed by the Autonetics Division of North American Aviation for the U.S. Air Force Navaho , the XN6 was a system designed for air-breathing cruise missiles , but by 1958 had proved useful for installment on submarines. A predecessor to

13320-488: Was one of the pioneers of inertial navigation, a technology used in aircraft , space vehicles, and submarines that enables such vehicles to navigate by sensing changes in direction and speed using gyroscopes and accelerometers . A pioneering figure in aerospace engineering , he contributed to the Apollo space program with his knowledge of guidance systems. In 1961 Draper and the Instrumentation Lab were awarded

13440-487: Was opened in 1976 (later renamed the "Robert A. Duffy Building" in 1992). In 1984, the newly-built 170,000-square-foot (16,000 m) Albert G. Hill Building was opened at One Hampshire Street, and connected across the street to the main building via a securely enclosed pedestrian skybridge . However in 1989, Draper Lab was compelled to cut its workforce of over 2000 in half, through a combination of early retirement, attrition, and involuntary layoffs. This drastic shrinkage

13560-491: Was probably the never-built SSM-N-2 Triton program. However, a history of the Army's Jupiter program states that the Navy was involved in the Army program, but withdrew at an early stage. Originally, the Navy favored cruise missile systems in a strategic role, such as the Regulus missile deployed on the earlier USS  Grayback and a few other submarines, but a major drawback of these early cruise missile launch systems (and

13680-403: Was proposed to replace the submarines currently being used with Poseidon. The ULMS II missile system was designed to be retrofitted to the existing SSBNs, while also being fitted to the proposed Ohio-class submarine. In May 1972, the term ULMS II was replaced with Trident. The Trident was to be a larger, higher-performance missile with a range capacity greater than 6000 miles. Under the agreement,

13800-421: Was questioned about the application of this to the FBM program, he asked, ‘Why use a 1958 warhead in a 1965 weapon system?’ Mark disagreed with Teller's prediction that the desired one-megaton warhead could be made to fit the missile envelope within the timescale envisioned. Instead, Mark suggested that half a megaton would be more realistic and he quoted a higher price and a longer deadline. This simply confirmed

13920-501: Was signed on April 6, 1963. In return, the British agreed to assign control over their Polaris missile targeting to the SACEUR (Supreme Allied Commander, Europe), with the provision that in a national emergency when unsupported by the NATO allies, the targeting, permission to fire, and firing of those Polaris missiles would reside with the British national authorities. Nevertheless, the consent of

14040-459: Was tasked to the Navy and Army. The Navy Special Projects (SP) office was at the head of the project. It was led by Rear Admiral William Raborn . On September 13, 1955, James R. Killian , head of a special committee organized by President Eisenhower, recommended that both the Army and Navy come together under a program aimed at developing an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM). The missile, later known as Jupiter, would be developed under

14160-478: Was the W-58 warhead used in a "cluster" of three warheads for the Polaris A-3, the final model of the Polaris missile. One of the initial problems the Navy faced in creating an SLBM was that the sea moves, while a launch platform on land does not. Waves and swells rocking the boat or submarine, as well as possible flexing of the ship's hull, had to be taken into account to properly aim the missile. The Polaris development

14280-459: Was to have a ship-based IRBM system ready for operation evaluation by January 1, 1960, and a submarine-based one by January 1, 1965. However, the Navy was deeply dissatisfied with the liquid fuel IRBM. The first concern was that the cryogenic liquid fuel was not only extremely dangerous to handle, but launch-preparations were also very time-consuming. Second, an argument was made that liquid-fueled rockets gave relatively low initial acceleration, which

14400-466: Was used for any missile test that returned usable data). The next flight on October 15 failed spectacularly when the second stage ignited on the pad and took off by itself. Range Safety blew up the errant rocket while the first stage sat on the pad and burned. The third and fourth tests (December 30 and January 9) had problems due to overheating in the boattail section. This necessitated adding extra shielding and insulation to wiring and other components. When

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