General Applied Science Laboratory

General Applied Science Laboratory (GASL) is an American aerospace company, known as a pioneer of hypersonic propulsion.[1]

Description

General Applied Science Laboratory was founded in 1956 by Antonio Ferri[1] and became a developer and testing house for advanced propulsion systems. Another early researcher was Theodore von Kármán.[2][3] Its expertise in hypersonic harsh environments has allowed it to research and test materials and methods for extreme high temperatures as well as combustion systems relevant to current power generation and clean energy. The company is now based in Ronkonkoma, New York.[4]

In 1965, GASL became a subsidiary of The Marquardt Corporation of Van Nuys, California.[5] At that time the company was located in Westbury, Long Island, New York. GASL also had an electronics division with two locations in Syosset, Long Island. Part of the electronics operation was the manufacture of Janus doppler navigation devices for docking large ships. GASL also manufactured oscilloscopes and produced very advanced devices for laboratory use.

The electronic products operations were made part of Marquardt Industrial Products Company (MIPCO), headquartered in Pomona, California, in 1967.[6] The Janus products were ultimately transferred to Van Nuys, California, and formed a division named "Marquardt Marine Products", which was sold to Ametek in 1971.[7]

In 1967, Antonio Ferri resigned as President of GASL and Louis M. Nucci was elected president.[8] Antonio Ferri became the Vincent Astor Professor of Aerospace Sciences at New York University.

The company participated in the National Aero-Space Plane (X-30) and NASA X-43 programs in the 1990s.[1][3] GASL has a propulsion and combustion test complex with seven high pressure, high temperature test cells, and NASA's Hypersonic Pulse Facility (HYPULSE).[9]

GASL, Inc. was founded in 1956 as Gruen Applied Science Laboratories, Inc. Later in 1958 it changed its name to General Applied Science Laboratories, Inc. and subsequently changed its name to GASL, Inc. in 1995. On November 20, 2003, Alliant Techsystems (ATK) acquired GASL from Allied Aerospace.[10][11]

GASL developed Scramjet technology for propulsion such as the GASL Projectile fired in 2001.[12][13]

GASL upgraded the NASA-HYPULSE test facility to simulate Mach 7 and Mach 10 flight speeds.[9]

In January 2010, ATK's Center for Energy and Aerospace Innovation (CEAI) was dedicated at GASL to develop clean energy technologies.[14] One project, funded by the US Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) uses experience from hypersonic wind tunnel tests to improve CO2 capture from power plants.[15][16] Another 2010 project uses GASL expertise in managing hydrogen to develop storage systems for hydrogen vehicles.[17]

In May 2012, The Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation (HIFiRE), Flight 2 Payload System, designed and built by the GASL team at ATK (NYSE: ATK), executed a successful test flight achieving Mach 8.5 and acquiring the first-ever data on dual-mode-to-scramjet propulsion transition.[18]

Markets

GASL provides research, engineering and testing to government and businesses in 12 primary areas:

  • Hypersonic and propulsion systems testing
  • Combustion systems and components testing
  • High shear testing
  • High temperature material testing (Up to 4350F and 1500 psi)
  • Simulated blast testing (Shock Wave Tube)
  • Energy systems integration and testing
  • Gasification systems and components
  • Fuel reforming systems
  • Hydrogen based energy systems
  • Light weight energy storage devices
  • MEMS sensors for harsh environments
  • Cooling, Micro-cooling and fuel injected cooling systems

References

  1. ^ a b c T. A. Heppenheimer (September 2007). Facing The Heat Barrier: A History of Hypersonics (PDF). National Aeronautics and Space Administration. pp. 103, 115, 198, 270, 277. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  2. ^ Paul A. Libby (October 9, 1995). "Observations Concerning Supersonic Compustion". IUTAM Symposium on Combustion in Supersonic Flows. Poitiers, France: 2. ISBN 978-0-7923-4313-4.
  3. ^ a b "Overview of ATK Micro-Technologies for Aerospeace Applications" (PDF). Micro Tech Conference presentation. June 16, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 3, 2016. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  4. ^ "Research: Ronkonkoma company gets clean-energy grant". Newsday. May 5, 2010. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  5. ^ "Shareholders OK Purchase by Marquardt", Los Angeles, California, The Los Angeles Times, April 1, 1965, Page 63
  6. ^ "Marquardt Organizes New Group", Van Nuys, California, The Valley Times, January 20, 1967, Page 13
  7. ^ "Ametek Completes Acquisition", Paoli, Pennsylvania, The Wall Street Journal, June 29, 1971, Page 27
  8. ^ "Marquardt Subsidiary Elects New President", Van Nuys, California, The Valley Times, April 13, 1967, Page 8
  9. ^ a b Bakos, R. J.; Tsai, C.-Y.; Rogers, R. C.; Shih, A. T. (1999). The Mach 10 Component of NASA's Hyper-X Ground Test Program. Langley Research Center. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.30.7732.
  10. ^ Benno Groeneveld (November 24, 2003). "ATK buys hypersonic flight businesses". Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  11. ^ "ATK Acquires Hypersonic Flight Sectors From Allied Aerospace". Defense Daily. December 1, 2003. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  12. ^ David Schneider (November–December 2002). "A Burning Question". American Scientist. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  13. ^ "Hypersonic Scramjet Projectile Flys In Missile Test". Space Daily. September 4, 2001. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  14. ^ "ATK Dedicates Innovation Center for Energy and Aerospace at Ronkonkoma, New York". News release. PR Newswire. January 6, 2010. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  15. ^ "Rep. Israel & ATK Announce $1 Million Federal Award for Innovative Energy Research at Ronkonkoma Facility". Rep. Israel, House of Representatives News. May 4, 2010. Archived from the original on October 9, 2011. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  16. ^ "ARPA-E Carbon Capture funding". EP Overviews Publishing. May 5, 2010. Archived from the original on March 30, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  17. ^ "Toro Partners with ATK to Develop Fuel Cell Powered Utility Vehicles". Business Wire news release. October 29, 2010. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  18. ^ "HIFiRE Scramjet Research Flight Will Advance Hypersonic Tecgnology". News release. NASA Langley Research Center. May 11, 2012. Retrieved June 11, 2012.

38°53′41″N 77°4′21″W / 38.89472°N 77.07250°W / 38.89472; -77.07250