Wikipedia

User:Kalpert94/sandbox

< User:Kalpert94

At the moment, both articles I will be creating are on this one sandbox page.

Harry Dornbrand

edit
Harry Dornbrand
 
Harry Dornbrand and his wife Mildred.
Born (1922-11-10) November 10, 1922 (age 101), Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York
NationalityUnited States of America
OccupationAerospace Engineer
PartnerMildred Dornbrand
AwardsNASA Distinguished Public Service Medal

Harry Dornbrand (November 10th, 1922 - present) is an American Aerospace Engineer. He was a leading figure in the development of satellite technologies during the space-race era, and worked as Vice President and President of Fairchild Industries Space and Electronics division[1][2][3], Vice President of Fairchild Industries (the parent corporation)[4], and President of American Satellite Corporation[5][6], a Fairchild subsidiary. The technologies and projects he managed for Fairchild and NASA in the 1960s and 1970s were crucial to the advancement of satellite technology worldwide and pioneered satellite broadcasting and orbital scientific experimentation. He was a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. In 1974 he was awarded the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal for his work managing the team that developed the ATS-6 satellite[3][7][8].

Biography

edit

Early Life

edit

Harry was born on November 10, 1922 and raised in Brooklyn to a family of Jewish European immigrants. His father Morris immigrated from Rohatyn, Austria-Hungary, and could not read or write in English. Like his father, Morris supported their family as a seasonal sweatshop laborer, by sewing pockets on vests in lower Manhattan during the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Harry enrolled at City College as a student of engineering, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1944[9][2][10]. During his time at City College he worked as a paper boy, delivering the New York Times to buildings at the college.

After school he enrolled in the United States Navy and was sent to Moffet Field to do research for NASA's predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics[1]. He published several technical research papers[2] (a couple listed here). Dornbrand later pursued further education and graduated with a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University in 1953[2][10]. He married Mildred F. Bernstein, a graduate of Brooklyn College with a degree in Biology, and they had three children, Phyllis (1951), Faith (1953), and Carol Lynn (1955).

Career

edit
 
Photo taken of Harry Dornbrand during his time at Fairchild Space and Electronics.

During his time in the United States Navy, Dornbrand specialized in heat transfer and thermodynamics, and fluid flow research with NACA, at the Ames Aeronautical Laboratory[10][3]. In 1946 he began work at Republic Aviation in Long Island, New York, where he was manager of space systems technology[10]. During his 20 years there he held management positions on the FIRE system, Advanced Orbiting Solar Observatory, Synchronous Meteorological Satellite and Manned Orbital Laboratory programs[10]. Republic was purchased by Fairchild Hiller in 1965 and Dornbrand moved to Fairchild's Germantown, Maryland facility.

Fairchild and American Satellite Corporation

edit

In 1966, Dornbrand joined Fairchild Industries Space and Electronics and worked as a Project Manager until 1973, when then-President Wilbur Pritchard elevated him to the rank of Vice President[2]. During his time at Fairchild he facilitated the design and launch of multiple aerospace projects, the most notable of which were satellites in the Applications Technology Satellite series commissioned by NASA. Following the success of the ATS-6, Dornbrand became President of Fairchild Space and Electronics in 1975[3]. In 1976 he was appointed President of American Satellite Corporation[6], a subsidiary company of Fairchild.

 
Harry Dornbrand receiving an unofficial award from colleagues at Fairchild Space and Electronics division after the team met the deadline for delivering the proposal for the ATS-6 satellite to NASA, in 1969.

While Dornbrand was a Program Manager and Assistant General Manager of Fairchild Space and Electronics Division, NASA contracted Fairchild to oversee the creation of the ATS-6 and ATS-7 (also known as ATS-F and ATS-G) satellites, and he was appointed to be manager of both projects[10][11]. The ATS-6 satellite was the most powerful telecommunications satellite of its time, the first Direct Broadcast Satellite, the first educational satellite, and the first 3-axis stabilized spacecraft in geostationary orbit, among other accolades[12]. It received high praise from NASA, and in 1975, Dornbrand along with other chief Fairchild representatives including Wernher von Braun demonstrated its ability to aim broadcast signals at any part of the United States, a technological breakthrough at the time[13].

NASA originally commissioned a seventh satellite in the ATS series, but despite a the construction of an ATS-G prototype, the project was never completed. In a 1976 article of the Fairchild World journal, Dornbrand said that due to the success of ATS-6 and "because the ATS-6 satellite gives promise of lasting for many more years than originally expected, NASA cancelled the second spacecraft"[14]. ATS-G sat for some years in a Fairchild lot, and was later donated to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Publications

edit

Technical specifications for the ATS-6 satellite written by Harry Dornbrand. NASA Technical Reports.

Infrared Defrosting and Deicing, 1952. Worldcat.

Theoretical and Experimental Study of Vortex Tubes, 1950. Worldcat.

Awards

edit

For his work with NASA leading the ATS-6 project, Dornbrand received the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest honor awarded to a non-government employee by that organization[3].

 
Harry Dornbrand (second left) and John Thole (second right) receive the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal and NASA Distinguished Service Medal (respectively) for their work managing the ATS-6 satellite.

See Also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b Shapiro, Ralph (September 1, 2012). From NYC Lower East Side to NASA Satellite Operations Manager. Xlibris Corporation. p. 62.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Four Named Vice President In Space, Electronics Co". Fairchild World. 10 (7): 1. July 1973.
  3. ^ a b c d e "President, Two V.P.s Appointed at Fairchild Space & Electronics Co". Fairchild World. 12 (4): 3. August 1975.
  4. ^ "Five Men Are Elected Vice Presidents". Fairchild World. 14 (2): 1, 6. February 1977.
  5. ^ "Who's Where". Aviation Week & Space Technology: 11. December 13, 1976.
  6. ^ a b "Dornbrand Named President of American Satellite Corp". Fairchild World. 13 (12): 2. December 1976.
  7. ^ "Award Winners and Proud Wives". Fairchild World. 11 (6): 1. December 1974.
  8. ^ NASA Historical Data Book, Vol. 4. Scientific and Technical Information Division, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 1988. p. 400.
  9. ^ "Class of 1944" (PDF). City College Fund. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
  10. ^ a b c d e f "ATS Manager Experienced". Fairchild World. 9 (11): 2. November 1972.
  11. ^ Dornbrand, Harry. "Applications Technology Satellite 6 - Upgrading the life style of millions of people". NASA Technical Reports Server. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
  12. ^ "Fairchild thanks the ATS-F team". The Wall Street Journal. June 13, 1974.
  13. ^ "Fairchild Awarded High Marks by NASA". Fairchild World. 12 (1). February 1975.
  14. ^ "Bicentennial Forecast Report". Fairchild World. 13 (1): 4. January 1976.

American Satellite Corporation

edit

American Satellite Corporation (ASC) was one of many Fairchild Industries subsidiary companies, and was established in partnership with Western Union[1] in 1972[2]. Emanuel Fthenakis was the the President and Chief Executive Officer upon the founding of the corporation[1]. He was replaced in 1976 by Harry Dornbrand[3], who was President of Fairchild Space and Electronics division at the time. Under their leadership ASC pioneered advancements in satellite broadcasting both domestically and abroad.

In June of 1973 ASC became the first company to transmit United States domestic television via satellite[4]. The first broadcast was of an address by then Speaker of the House Carl Albert delivered in Washington D.C. and sent to the National Cable Television Association convention in Anaheim, California[4]. On the same day, they became the first company to broadcast a major sports event via satellite: the fight between Jimmy Ellis and Ernie Shavers in Madison Square Garden[4].

In 1976 ASC began commercially delivering the Wall Street Journal via satellite[5].

ASC contributed to Department of Defense communications systems and built the first digital satellite route from Hawaii to the U.S. mainland via a land base in California[6]. The corporation also invented a shipboard antenna that could connect military vessels to satellite communications despite the pitch and yaw motion of the ship[7].

By 1978 ASC "established the first wideband digital data transmission service via domestic satellite for the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program"[8]. 1984 saw the corporation control the largest U.S. transceiver satellite communications network.

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "American Satellite Moving To Establish Early Service". Fairchild World. 9 (11). November 1972.
  2. ^ "Fairchild Industries, Inc. Collection" (PDF). Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
  3. ^ "Executive Corner". Computerworld: 48. Jan 17, 1977.
  4. ^ a b c "American Satellite Scores Historic First". Fairchild World. 11 (7): 1. July 1973.
  5. ^ "ASC Delivers the Journal". Fairchild World. 13 (1): 1, 6. January 1976.
  6. ^ "ASC Link to Reach Hawaii". Fairchild World. 13 (12): 2. December 1976.
  7. ^ "American Satellite Praised For Shipboard Antenna". Fairchild World. 13 (12): 2. December 1976.
  8. ^ Harrigan, Kathryn (Jan 1, 1985). Joint Ventures, Alliances, and Corporate Strategy. Beard Books. p. 197.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Kalpert94/sandbox&oldid=668434179"