Bio: Wally Short

Wallace Short, PhD  Chemical and Electrical Engineering, Calif. Inst. of Tech.  1958

I am currently retired.  The last 20 years of my professional life was spent as CEO of Applied Technology Assoc. (ATA), a small research company in Albuquerque, NM.  The roll of ATA was to support the US Defense Dept. in the development of pointing and tracking systems.  In this roll we developed and built sensors, data acquision and analysis systems for flight on aircraft and satellites.  One of the more interesting projects was the design, fabrication and flight-testing of a satellite system to relay a laser beam from one point on earth, to a satellite, then to a receiver on earth many hundreds of miles away.

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Wally Short: Rocket Science

Wally Short:  Rocket Science

November 10, 5:30pm

Explore rockets with our local Rocket Scientist, Wally Short. Learn how rocket engines work, explore different types of engines and, of course, launch rockets with solid propellant engines.

Rockets are truly fascinating—simple and complicated at the same time. In fact, only three countries have managed to send humans into space in a rocket. Come find out what that's all about.

Some interesting rocket facts:

First true rocket

In 1232 BC, the Chinese used rocket-arrows propelled by burning gunpowder in their war with the Mongols.

First launch into space

Germany launched the first rocket capable of reaching space, the V-2 rocket, in 1942. The missile was launched at sites in England and Belgium as part of the World War Two effort.

First private launch into Earth orbit

SpaceX, a company pioneering commercial space travel, launched Falcon 9 on December 10, 2010. With an unmanned capsule, it orbited Earth twice before landing in the Pacific.

–from How It Works magazine