TRW
Encyclopedia
TRW Inc. was an American corporation involved in a variety of businesses, mainly aerospace
, automotive, and credit reporting. It was a pioneer in multiple fields including electronic component
s, integrated circuit
s, computer
s, software and systems engineering
. TRW built many spacecraft
, including Pioneer 1
, Pioneer 10
, and several space-based observatories
. It was #57 on the Fortune 500
list, and had 122,258 employees.
TRW’s roots were founded in 1901, and it lasted more than a century until being acquired by Northrop Grumman
in 2002. It helped create a variety of corporations, including Pacific Semiconductors, the Aerospace Corporation
, Bunker-Ramo
, Experian
, and TRW Automotive
which is now #159 on the Fortune 500.
In 1953, the company was recruited to lead the development of America’s first ICBM. Starting with the initial design by Convair
, the multi-corporate team launched Atlas in 1957 after some spectacular failures. It flew its full range in 1958, and was adapted to fly the Mercury
astronauts into orbit
. TRW also lead development of the Titan missile, which was later adapted to fly the Gemini
missions. The company served the Air Force as systems engineers on all subsequent ICBM development efforts, but TRW never produced any missile hardware
because of the conflict of interest
. In 1960, Congress spurred the formation of the non-profit Aerospace Corporation to provide systems engineering to the US government, but TRW continued to guide the ICBM efforts.
ed to the shafts. In 1904, a welder named Charles E. Thompson adapted their process to making automobile engine valves, and by 1915 they were the largest valve producer in America. Charles Thompson was named General Manager
of the company, which became Thompson Products in 1926. Their experimental hollow sodium
-cooled valves aided Charles Lindberg’s solo flight across the Atlantic.
In 1950, Simon Ramo
and Dean Wooldridge
worked for Hughes Aircraft, leading the development of the Falcon radar-guided missile
, among other projects. They grew frustrated with Howard Hughes
’ management, and formed the Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation in September 1953, with the financial support of Thompson Products. The detonation of a thermonuclear bomb by the Soviet Union
spurred Trevor Gardner
to form the Teapot Committee
in October 1953. Chaired by John von Neumann
, its purpose was to study the development of ballistic missiles, including ICBMs
. Ramo and Wooldridge were committee members, and Ramo-Wooldridge Corp. became the lead contractor
of the resulting ICBM development effort, reporting to the Air Force.
With continued backing from Thompson Products, Ramo-Wooldridge diversified
into computer
s and electronic components, funding Pacific Semiconductors in 1954. They also produced scientific spacecraft
such as Pioneer 1
. Thompson Products and Ramo-Wooldridge merged in October 1958 to form Thompson Ramo Wooldridge Inc. In February 1959, Jimmy Doolittle
became Chairman of the Board
of Space Technology Laboratories (STL), the division
which continued to support the Air Force ICBM efforts.
Other aerospace companies
challenged that TRW’s Air Force advisory role granted it unfair access
to its competitors’ technology, and in September 1959 the US Congress issued a report recommending that STL be converted to a non-profit organization
. With nearly half of STL’s employees, the Aerospace Corporation
was formed in June 1960, which headed the Atlas
conversion
for Mercury
, Titan
conversion for Gemini
, and provides ongoing systems engineering
support for the US government. The Air Force continued its ICBM work with TRW.
Dean Wooldridge retired in January 1962 to become a professor at Caltech. Simon Ramo became President
of the Bunker-Ramo Corp
in January 1964, a company jointly owned by TRW and Martin-Marietta for the production of computers and displays. Thompson Ramo Wooldridge officially became TRW Inc in July 1965. Free of anti-competitive restrictions except regarding ICBM hardware, STL was renamed TRW Systems Group, also in July 1965. The Credit Data group was formed in 1970 to compete with Dunn and Bradstreet, and ESL
was acquired in 1978, specializing in technical strategic reconnaissance. TRW Information Systems and Services Division (Credit Data) was spun off
in 1996 to form Experian
. TRW acquired LucasVarity
in 1999, then sold Lucas Diesel Systems to Delphi
, and Lucas Aerospace (then called TRW Aeronautical Systems) to Goodrich Corporation
.
The company was #57 on the Fortune 500
list of highest revenue
American companies in 1986, and had 122,258 employees in 2000, They had operations in 25 countries.
In February 2002 Northrop Grumman
launched a $5.9 billion hostile bid for TRW. A bidding war between Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems
and General Dynamics
ended on July 1, 2002 when Northrop's increased bid
of $7.8bn (£5.1bn) was accepted. Soon afterward, the automotive asset
s of Lucas, Varity and TRW's own automotive group were sold to the Blackstone Group
as TRW Automotive
.
led by John von Neumann
. TRW pioneered systems engineering
, and created the ubiquitous N2 chart
and the modern functional flow block diagram
. They served as the primary source of systems engineering for the United States Air Force
ballistic missile programs.
. These were intended to orbit
and photograph the Moon
, but launch vehicle
problems prevented this. NASA
launched Pioneer 1
as its first spacecraft
on October 11, 1958. It set a distance record from Earth, and provided data on the extent of Earth's radiation belts
.
Pioneer 10
and 11
were nearly identical spacecraft, designed and fabricated by TRW Systems Group. They were optimized for ruggedness since they were the first man-made objects to pass through the asteroid belt
and Jupiter's radiation belt. Simplicity, redundancy
, and use of proven components were essential. As NASA's first all-atomic powered spacecraft, these used plutonium-238
units developed by Teledyne
Isotopes. Pioneer 10 carried 11 instruments, and Pioneer 11 carried 12, for investigating Jupiter
and Saturn
, respectively. Data
was transmitted back to Earth at 8 Watt
s, 128 byte/s
at Jupiter, and 1 byte/s from further out. Pioneer 10 was the first man-made object past the planetary orbits
, and its last telemetry
was received in 2002, 30 years after launch.
TRW designed and built the descent engine
for the Apollo lunar lander
. Due to the need for a soft landing on the Moon, it was the first throttleable engine for manned space flight. This, and the requirements for high thrust
, low weight, and crushability (in case of landing on a large rock), earned surprising praise from NASA
's history pages, considering the complexity of the lunar missions: "The lunar module descent engine probably was the biggest challenge and the most outstanding technical development of Apollo". This engine was used on Apollo 13
to achieve free return trajectory
and make a minor course correction after damage to the Service Module
.
TRW Systems Group designed and built the instrument package which performed the Martian biological experiments
, searching for life aboard the two Viking Landers
launched in 1975. The 34 lb (15.5 kg) system performed four experiments on Martian soil using a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer
(GC-MS) and a combined biological instrument.
:
The teams developing the following observatories are continuing their work as part of Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems:
series of nuclear detection
satellite
s which monitored the 1963 establishment of the nuclear Partial Test Ban Treaty
. Subsequently, they produced the Advanced Vela series, first launched in 1967, which could detect nuclear air bursts using instruments actually called bhangmeter
s. It had the first dual-spin attitude control system
with the total system momentum
controlled to zero. The Vela and Advanced Vela satellites were the first to alert astronomers to the presence of gamma-ray bursts. They also reported a mysterious apparent nuclear test now called the Vela Incident
.
First launched in 1970, the company built all 23 reconnaissance satellites in the Defense Support Program
(DSP), which are the principal components of the Satellite Early Warning System currently used by the United States
. These are operated by the Air Force Space Command
, and they detect missile
or spacecraft
launches and nuclear explosions using sensors that detect the infrared
emissions from these intense sources of heat. During Desert Storm, for example, DSP satellites were able to detect the launches of Iraqi Scud
missiles and provide timely warnings to civilians and military forces in Israel
and Saudi Arabia
.
The initial seven Tracking and Data Relay Satellite
s (TDRS) were built by TRW to improve communication coverage for the Space Shuttle
, International Space Station
, and US military satellites. When first launched in 1983, the TDRS satellites were the largest, most sophisticated communications satellites ever built. The seventh vehicle in the series was ordered as a replacement when TDRS-2 was lost in the Challenger accident
.
Launched in 2002, TRW produced the Aqua
spacecraft based on their modular standardized satellite bus
. A joint project of the United States
, Japan
, and Brazil
, Aqua delivers 750 Gigabytes per day detailing the Earth's water cycle
in the ocean
s, lake
s, atmosphere, polar ice caps
, and vegetation
.
for commercial sales.
The company manufactured the RW-300 for sales in 1959, one of the first "all-transistor" computers with a power supply
that used vacuum tubes. The computer
was targeted at industrial control
applications, with 1024 analog
inputs multiplexed
to a 1.9K sample/s
10-bit analog-to-digital converter
which was transparent
to the programmer
. The real-time operating system
was written by John Neblett, and was the intellectual precursor of the RSX-11
operating system for the PDP-11
.
The TRW-130 computer was introduced in 1961, and designated the AN/UYK-1 by the US Navy as part of its pre-GPS TRANSIT (NAVSAT)
satellite-based location system
. It used Doppler shifts
to compute a location in about 15 minutes, and had rounded corners to allow installation in submarines.
The TTL logic gate, which was the electronics industry standard for two decades, was invented by TRW's James L. Buie in 1961.
In 1965, engineers Don Nelson and Dick Pick at TRW developed the Generalized Information Retrieval Language and System, for use by the U.S. Army to control the inventory of Cheyenne helicopter parts. This developed into the Pick Database Management System
.
TRW LSI Products, Inc. was a wholly owned subsidiary formed to commercialize the integrated circuit
technology the company had developed in support of its aerospace business. They produced some of the first commercially available digital signal processing
ICs including the TDC1008 multiplier-accumulator. They also made the first 8-bit flash ADC
IC, the TDC1007, resulting in an Emmy Award
for analog/digital video conversion technology.
was a TRW employee convicted of selling security secrets to the Soviet Union
via the Soviet embassy in Mexico City
in the mid-1970s. Boyce and his accomplice, Andrew Daulton Lee
, were the subjects of the best-selling Robert Lindsey
book The Falcon and the Snowman
, and the 1985 film of the same title.
Aerospace
Aerospace comprises the atmosphere of Earth and surrounding space. Typically the term is used to refer to the industry that researches, designs, manufactures, operates, and maintains vehicles moving through air and space...
, automotive, and credit reporting. It was a pioneer in multiple fields including electronic component
Electronic component
An electronic component is a basic electronic element and may be available in a discrete form having two or more electrical terminals . These are intended to be connected together, usually by soldering to a printed circuit board, in order to create an electronic circuit with a particular function...
s, integrated circuit
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
s, computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
s, software and systems engineering
Systems engineering
Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that focuses on how complex engineering projects should be designed and managed over the life cycle of the project. Issues such as logistics, the coordination of different teams, and automatic control of machinery become more...
. TRW built many spacecraft
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
, including Pioneer 1
Pioneer 1
On October 11, 1958, Pioneer 1 became the first spacecraft launched by NASA, the newly formed space agency of the United States. The flight was the second and most successful of the three Thor-Able space probes.- Spacecraft design :...
, Pioneer 10
Pioneer 10
Pioneer 10 is a 258-kilogram robotic space probe that completed the first interplanetary mission to Jupiter, and became the first spacecraft to achieve escape velocity from the Solar System. The project was managed by the NASA Ames Research Center and the contract for the construction of the...
, and several space-based observatories
Space observatory
A space observatory is any instrument in outer space which is used for observation of distant planets, galaxies, and other outer space objects...
. It was #57 on the Fortune 500
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
list, and had 122,258 employees.
TRW’s roots were founded in 1901, and it lasted more than a century until being acquired by Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American global aerospace and defense technology company formed by the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The company was the fourth-largest defense contractor in the world as of 2010, and the largest builder of naval vessels. Northrop Grumman employs over...
in 2002. It helped create a variety of corporations, including Pacific Semiconductors, the Aerospace Corporation
The Aerospace Corporation
The Aerospace Corporation is a private, non-profit corporation headquartered in El Segundo, California that has operated a Federally Funded Research and Development Center for the United States Air Force since 1960...
, Bunker-Ramo
Bunker Ramo Corporation
Bunker Ramo Corporation was founded by George M. Bunker and Simon Ramo in 1964, jointly owned by Martin-Marietta and Thompson Ramo Wooldridge TRW . The resulting company, Bunker-Ramo, was based in Trumbull, Connecticut....
, Experian
Experian
Experian plc, formerly known as CCN Systems, is a global credit information group with operations in 36 countries. The company employs 15,500 people with corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland and operational headquarters in Nottingham, England and Costa Mesa, California, US...
, and TRW Automotive
TRW Automotive
TRW Automotive , headquartered in Livonia, Michigan, USA, is a major global supplier of automotive systems, modules and components to automotive original equipment manufacturers and related aftermarkets....
which is now #159 on the Fortune 500.
In 1953, the company was recruited to lead the development of America’s first ICBM. Starting with the initial design by Convair
Convair
Convair was an American aircraft manufacturing company which later expanded into rockets and spacecraft. The company was formed in 1943 by the merger of Vultee Aircraft and Consolidated Aircraft, and went on to produce a number of pioneering aircraft, such as the Convair B-36 bomber, and the F-102...
, the multi-corporate team launched Atlas in 1957 after some spectacular failures. It flew its full range in 1958, and was adapted to fly the Mercury
Project Mercury
In January 1960 NASA awarded Western Electric Company a contract for the Mercury tracking network. The value of the contract was over $33 million. Also in January, McDonnell delivered the first production-type Mercury spacecraft, less than a year after award of the formal contract. On February 12,...
astronauts into orbit
Orbital spaceflight
An orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in space for at least one orbit. To do this around the Earth, it must be on a free trajectory which has an altitude at perigee above...
. TRW also lead development of the Titan missile, which was later adapted to fly the Gemini
Project Gemini
Project Gemini was the second human spaceflight program of NASA, the civilian space agency of the United States government. Project Gemini was conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, with ten manned flights occurring in 1965 and 1966....
missions. The company served the Air Force as systems engineers on all subsequent ICBM development efforts, but TRW never produced any missile hardware
Hardware
Hardware is a general term for equipment such as keys, locks, hinges, latches, handles, wire, chains, plumbing supplies, tools, utensils, cutlery and machine parts. Household hardware is typically sold in hardware stores....
because of the conflict of interest
Conflict of interest
A conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other....
. In 1960, Congress spurred the formation of the non-profit Aerospace Corporation to provide systems engineering to the US government, but TRW continued to guide the ICBM efforts.
History
TRW originated in 1901 with the Cleveland Cap Screw Company, founded by David Kurtz and four other Cleveland residents. Their initial products were bolts with heads electrically weldWelding
Welding is a fabrication or sculptural process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence. This is often done by melting the workpieces and adding a filler material to form a pool of molten material that cools to become a strong joint, with pressure sometimes...
ed to the shafts. In 1904, a welder named Charles E. Thompson adapted their process to making automobile engine valves, and by 1915 they were the largest valve producer in America. Charles Thompson was named General Manager
General manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...
of the company, which became Thompson Products in 1926. Their experimental hollow sodium
Sodium
Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal and is a member of the alkali metals; its only stable isotope is 23Na. It is an abundant element that exists in numerous minerals, most commonly as sodium chloride...
-cooled valves aided Charles Lindberg’s solo flight across the Atlantic.
In 1950, Simon Ramo
Simon Ramo
Simon "Si" Ramo is an American physicist, engineer, and business leader. He led development of microwave and missile technology and is sometimes known as the father of the intercontinental ballistic missile...
and Dean Wooldridge
Dean Wooldridge
Dean Everett Wooldridge was a prominent engineer in the aerospace industry....
worked for Hughes Aircraft, leading the development of the Falcon radar-guided missile
AIM-4 Falcon
The Hughes AIM-4 Falcon was the first operational guided air-to-air missile of the United States Air Force.-Development:Development of a guided air-to-air missile began in 1946. Hughes Aircraft was awarded a contract for a subsonic missile under the project designation MX-798, which soon gave way...
, among other projects. They grew frustrated with Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
’ management, and formed the Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation in September 1953, with the financial support of Thompson Products. The detonation of a thermonuclear bomb by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
spurred Trevor Gardner
Trevor Gardner
Trevor Gardner was Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Air Force for Research and Development during the early 1950s. Together with Bernard Schriever, the Air Staff's Assistant for Development Planning, Gardner was one of the prime movers of the U.S...
to form the Teapot Committee
Teapot Committee
The Strategic Missiles Evaluation Group, generally referred to by its codename as the Teapot Committee was a committee set up to evaluate strategic missiles of the U.S. Air Force.-Establishment:In October 1953, the Assistant Secretary of the U.S...
in October 1953. Chaired by John von Neumann
John von Neumann
John von Neumann was a Hungarian-American mathematician and polymath who made major contributions to a vast number of fields, including set theory, functional analysis, quantum mechanics, ergodic theory, geometry, fluid dynamics, economics and game theory, computer science, numerical analysis,...
, its purpose was to study the development of ballistic missiles, including ICBMs
Intercontinental ballistic missile
An intercontinental ballistic missile is a ballistic missile with a long range typically designed for nuclear weapons delivery...
. Ramo and Wooldridge were committee members, and Ramo-Wooldridge Corp. became the lead contractor
Defense contractor
A defense contractor is a business organization or individual that provides products or services to a military department of a government. Products typically include military aircraft, ships, vehicles, weaponry, and electronic systems...
of the resulting ICBM development effort, reporting to the Air Force.
With continued backing from Thompson Products, Ramo-Wooldridge diversified
Diversification (marketing strategy)
Diversification is a form of corporate strategy for a company. It seeks to increase profitability through greater sales volume obtained from new products and new markets. Diversification can occur either at the business unit level or at the corporate level. At the business unit level, it is most...
into computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
s and electronic components, funding Pacific Semiconductors in 1954. They also produced scientific spacecraft
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
such as Pioneer 1
Pioneer 1
On October 11, 1958, Pioneer 1 became the first spacecraft launched by NASA, the newly formed space agency of the United States. The flight was the second and most successful of the three Thor-Able space probes.- Spacecraft design :...
. Thompson Products and Ramo-Wooldridge merged in October 1958 to form Thompson Ramo Wooldridge Inc. In February 1959, Jimmy Doolittle
Jimmy Doolittle
General James Harold "Jimmy" Doolittle, USAF was an American aviation pioneer. Doolittle served as a brigadier general, major general and lieutenant general in the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War...
became Chairman of the Board
Chairman of the Board
The Chairman of the Board is a seat of office in an organization, especially of corporations.Chairman of the Board may also refer to:*Chairman of the Board , a 1998 film*Chairmen of the Board , a 1970s American soul music group...
of Space Technology Laboratories (STL), the division
Division (business)
A division of a business entity is a portion of that business that operates under a different name. It is the equivalent of a corporation or limited liability company obtaining a fictitious name or "doing business as" certificate and operating a business under that fictitious name...
which continued to support the Air Force ICBM efforts.
Other aerospace companies
Aerospace manufacturer
An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, and/or spacecraft....
challenged that TRW’s Air Force advisory role granted it unfair access
Unfair competition
Unfair competition in a sense means that the competitors compete on unequal terms, because favourable or disadvantageous conditions are applied to some competitors but not to others; or that the actions of some competitors actively harm the position of others with respect to their ability to...
to its competitors’ technology, and in September 1959 the US Congress issued a report recommending that STL be converted to a non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
. With nearly half of STL’s employees, the Aerospace Corporation
The Aerospace Corporation
The Aerospace Corporation is a private, non-profit corporation headquartered in El Segundo, California that has operated a Federally Funded Research and Development Center for the United States Air Force since 1960...
was formed in June 1960, which headed the Atlas
Atlas LV-3B
The Atlas LV-3B, Atlas D Mercury Launch Vehicle or Mercury-Atlas Launch Vehicle, was a man-rated expendable launch system used as part of the United States Project Mercury to send astronauts into low Earth orbit. It was derived from the SM-65D Atlas missile, and was a member of the Atlas family of...
conversion
Human-rating certification
Human-rated or man-rated are terms used to describe the certification of a spacecraft, launch vehicleor airplaneas worthy of transporting humans. NASA and the U.S. GAO now uses "Human-rating" when describing requirements for these systems...
for Mercury
Project Mercury
In January 1960 NASA awarded Western Electric Company a contract for the Mercury tracking network. The value of the contract was over $33 million. Also in January, McDonnell delivered the first production-type Mercury spacecraft, less than a year after award of the formal contract. On February 12,...
, Titan
Titan II GLV
The Titan II GLV or Gemini-Titan was an American expendable launch system derived from the Titan II missile, which was used to launch twelve Gemini missions for NASA between 1964 and 1966...
conversion for Gemini
Project Gemini
Project Gemini was the second human spaceflight program of NASA, the civilian space agency of the United States government. Project Gemini was conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, with ten manned flights occurring in 1965 and 1966....
, and provides ongoing systems engineering
Systems engineering
Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that focuses on how complex engineering projects should be designed and managed over the life cycle of the project. Issues such as logistics, the coordination of different teams, and automatic control of machinery become more...
support for the US government. The Air Force continued its ICBM work with TRW.
Dean Wooldridge retired in January 1962 to become a professor at Caltech. Simon Ramo became President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of the Bunker-Ramo Corp
Bunker Ramo Corporation
Bunker Ramo Corporation was founded by George M. Bunker and Simon Ramo in 1964, jointly owned by Martin-Marietta and Thompson Ramo Wooldridge TRW . The resulting company, Bunker-Ramo, was based in Trumbull, Connecticut....
in January 1964, a company jointly owned by TRW and Martin-Marietta for the production of computers and displays. Thompson Ramo Wooldridge officially became TRW Inc in July 1965. Free of anti-competitive restrictions except regarding ICBM hardware, STL was renamed TRW Systems Group, also in July 1965. The Credit Data group was formed in 1970 to compete with Dunn and Bradstreet, and ESL
ESL Incorporated
ESL Incorporated, or Electromagnetic Systems Laboratory, was a subsidiary of TRW, a high technology firm in the United States that was engaged in software design, systems analysis and hardware development for the strategic reconnaissance marketplace. Founded in January, 1964 in Palo Alto,...
was acquired in 1978, specializing in technical strategic reconnaissance. TRW Information Systems and Services Division (Credit Data) was spun off
Spin out
A spin-out, also known as a spin-off or a starburst, refers to a type of corporate action where a company "splits off" sections of itself as a separate business....
in 1996 to form Experian
Experian
Experian plc, formerly known as CCN Systems, is a global credit information group with operations in 36 countries. The company employs 15,500 people with corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland and operational headquarters in Nottingham, England and Costa Mesa, California, US...
. TRW acquired LucasVarity
LucasVarity
LucasVarity plc was a UK automotive parts manufacturer, created by a merger of the British Lucas Industries plc, and the North American Varity Corporation in August 1996.-Foundation:...
in 1999, then sold Lucas Diesel Systems to Delphi
Delphi (auto parts)
Delphi Automotive PLC is an automotive parts company headquartered in Troy, Michigan, USA. Delphi is one of the world's largest automotive parts manufacturers and has approximately 146,600 employees ....
, and Lucas Aerospace (then called TRW Aeronautical Systems) to Goodrich Corporation
Goodrich Corporation
The Goodrich Corporation , formerly the B.F. Goodrich Company, is an American aerospace manufacturing company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Founded in Akron, Ohio in 1870 as Goodrich, Tew & Co. by Dr. Benjamin Franklin Goodrich. The company name was changed to the "B.F...
.
The company was #57 on the Fortune 500
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
list of highest revenue
Revenue
In business, revenue is income that a company receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. In many countries, such as the United Kingdom, revenue is referred to as turnover....
American companies in 1986, and had 122,258 employees in 2000, They had operations in 25 countries.
In February 2002 Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American global aerospace and defense technology company formed by the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The company was the fourth-largest defense contractor in the world as of 2010, and the largest builder of naval vessels. Northrop Grumman employs over...
launched a $5.9 billion hostile bid for TRW. A bidding war between Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems
BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc is a British multinational defence, security and aerospace company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that has global interests, particularly in North America through its subsidiary BAE Systems Inc. BAE is among the world's largest military contractors; in 2009 it was the...
and General Dynamics
General Dynamics
General Dynamics Corporation is a U.S. defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world. Its headquarters are in West Falls Church , unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Falls Church area.The company has...
ended on July 1, 2002 when Northrop's increased bid
BID
Bid may refer to:*Bidding, making a price offer in an auction, stock exchange, or card games*Bid , a British home shopping channel...
of $7.8bn (£5.1bn) was accepted. Soon afterward, the automotive asset
Asset
In financial accounting, assets are economic resources. Anything tangible or intangible that is capable of being owned or controlled to produce value and that is held to have positive economic value is considered an asset...
s of Lucas, Varity and TRW's own automotive group were sold to the Blackstone Group
Blackstone Group
The Blackstone Group L.P. is an American-based alternative asset management and financial services company that specializes in private equity, real estate, and credit and marketable alternative investment strategies, as well as financial advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions ,...
as TRW Automotive
TRW Automotive
TRW Automotive , headquartered in Livonia, Michigan, USA, is a major global supplier of automotive systems, modules and components to automotive original equipment manufacturers and related aftermarkets....
.
Aerospace
TRW Inc. was active in the development of missile systems and spacecraft, notably the early development of the U.S. ICBM program under the leadership of the Teapot CommitteeTeapot Committee
The Strategic Missiles Evaluation Group, generally referred to by its codename as the Teapot Committee was a committee set up to evaluate strategic missiles of the U.S. Air Force.-Establishment:In October 1953, the Assistant Secretary of the U.S...
led by John von Neumann
John von Neumann
John von Neumann was a Hungarian-American mathematician and polymath who made major contributions to a vast number of fields, including set theory, functional analysis, quantum mechanics, ergodic theory, geometry, fluid dynamics, economics and game theory, computer science, numerical analysis,...
. TRW pioneered systems engineering
Systems engineering
Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that focuses on how complex engineering projects should be designed and managed over the life cycle of the project. Issues such as logistics, the coordination of different teams, and automatic control of machinery become more...
, and created the ubiquitous N2 chart
N2 Chart
The N 2 chart, also referred to as N 2 diagram, N-squared diagram or N-squared chart, is a diagram in the shape of a matrix, representing functional or physical interfaces between system elements. It is used to systematically identify, define, tabulate, design, and analyze functional and...
and the modern functional flow block diagram
Functional flow block diagram
A Functional Flow Block Diagram is a multi-tier, time-sequenced, step-by-step flow diagram of a system’s functional flow.The FFBD notation was developed in the 1950s, and is widely used in classical systems engineering...
. They served as the primary source of systems engineering for the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
ballistic missile programs.
Space exploration
Space Technology Laboratories (STL), then a division of Ramo-Wooldridge Corp., designed and produced the identical payloads for Pioneer 0, 1 and 2Pioneer program
The Pioneer program is a series of United States unmanned space missions that was designed for planetary exploration. There were a number of such missions in the program, but the most notable were Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11, which explored the outer planets and left the solar system...
. These were intended to orbit
Orbit
In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...
and photograph the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
, but launch vehicle
Launch vehicle
In spaceflight, a launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket used to carry a payload from the Earth's surface into outer space. A launch system includes the launch vehicle, the launch pad and other infrastructure....
problems prevented this. NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
launched Pioneer 1
Pioneer 1
On October 11, 1958, Pioneer 1 became the first spacecraft launched by NASA, the newly formed space agency of the United States. The flight was the second and most successful of the three Thor-Able space probes.- Spacecraft design :...
as its first spacecraft
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
on October 11, 1958. It set a distance record from Earth, and provided data on the extent of Earth's radiation belts
Van Allen radiation belt
The Van Allen radiation belt is a torus of energetic charged particles around Earth, which is held in place by Earth's magnetic field. It is believed that most of the particles that form the belts come from solar wind, and other particles by cosmic rays. It is named after its discoverer, James...
.
Pioneer 10
Pioneer 10
Pioneer 10 is a 258-kilogram robotic space probe that completed the first interplanetary mission to Jupiter, and became the first spacecraft to achieve escape velocity from the Solar System. The project was managed by the NASA Ames Research Center and the contract for the construction of the...
and 11
Pioneer 11
Pioneer 11 is a 259-kilogram robotic space probe launched by NASA on April 6, 1973 to study the asteroid belt, the environment around Jupiter and Saturn, solar wind, cosmic rays, and eventually the far reaches of the solar system and heliosphere...
were nearly identical spacecraft, designed and fabricated by TRW Systems Group. They were optimized for ruggedness since they were the first man-made objects to pass through the asteroid belt
Asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets...
and Jupiter's radiation belt. Simplicity, redundancy
Redundancy (engineering)
In engineering, redundancy is the duplication of critical components or functions of a system with the intention of increasing reliability of the system, usually in the case of a backup or fail-safe....
, and use of proven components were essential. As NASA's first all-atomic powered spacecraft, these used plutonium-238
Plutonium-238
-External links:**...
units developed by Teledyne
Teledyne
Teledyne Technologies Incorporated is an industrial conglomerate primarily based in the United States but with global operations. It was founded in 1960, as Teledyne, Inc., by Henry Singleton and George Kozmetsky....
Isotopes. Pioneer 10 carried 11 instruments, and Pioneer 11 carried 12, for investigating Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
and Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
, respectively. Data
Data
The term data refers to qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data are typically the results of measurements and can be the basis of graphs, images, or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which...
was transmitted back to Earth at 8 Watt
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
s, 128 byte/s
Data rate units
In telecommunications, bit rate or data transfer rate is the average number of bits, characters, or blocks per unit time passing between equipment in a data transmission system. This is typically measured in multiples of the unit bit per second or byte per second.- Avoiding confusion :To be as...
at Jupiter, and 1 byte/s from further out. Pioneer 10 was the first man-made object past the planetary orbits
Orbit
In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...
, and its last telemetry
Telemetry
Telemetry is a technology that allows measurements to be made at a distance, usually via radio wave transmission and reception of the information. The word is derived from Greek roots: tele = remote, and metron = measure...
was received in 2002, 30 years after launch.
TRW designed and built the descent engine
Rocket engine
A rocket engine, or simply "rocket", is a jet engineRocket Propulsion Elements; 7th edition- chapter 1 that uses only propellant mass for forming its high speed propulsive jet. Rocket engines are reaction engines and obtain thrust in accordance with Newton's third law...
for the Apollo lunar lander
Apollo Lunar Module
The Apollo Lunar Module was the lander portion of the Apollo spacecraft built for the US Apollo program by Grumman to carry a crew of two from lunar orbit to the surface and back...
. Due to the need for a soft landing on the Moon, it was the first throttleable engine for manned space flight. This, and the requirements for high thrust
Thrust
Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's second and third laws. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction on that system....
, low weight, and crushability (in case of landing on a large rock), earned surprising praise from NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's history pages, considering the complexity of the lunar missions: "The lunar module descent engine probably was the biggest challenge and the most outstanding technical development of Apollo". This engine was used on Apollo 13
Apollo 13
Apollo 13 was the seventh manned mission in the American Apollo space program and the third intended to land on the Moon. The craft was launched on April 11, 1970, at 13:13 CST. The landing was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded two days later, crippling the service module upon which the Command...
to achieve free return trajectory
Free return trajectory
A free return trajectory is one of a very small sub-class of trajectories in which the trajectory of a satellite traveling away from a primary body is modified by the presence of a secondary body causing the satellite to return to the primary body...
and make a minor course correction after damage to the Service Module
Apollo Command/Service Module
The Command/Service Module was one of two spacecraft, along with the Lunar Module, used for the United States Apollo program which landed astronauts on the Moon. It was built for NASA by North American Aviation...
.
TRW Systems Group designed and built the instrument package which performed the Martian biological experiments
Viking biological experiments
The two Viking spacecraft each carried four types of biological experiments to the surface of Mars in the late 1970s. These were the first Mars landers to carry out experiments to look for biosignatures of life on Mars. The landers used a robotic arm to put soil samples into sealed test containers...
, searching for life aboard the two Viking Landers
Viking program
The Viking program consisted of a pair of American space probes sent to Mars, Viking 1 and Viking 2. Each spacecraft was composed of two main parts, an orbiter designed to photograph the surface of Mars from orbit, and a lander designed to study the planet from the surface...
launched in 1975. The 34 lb (15.5 kg) system performed four experiments on Martian soil using a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer
Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry
Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry is a method that combines the features of gas-liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry to identify different substances within a test sample. Applications of GC-MS include drug detection, fire investigation, environmental analysis, explosives investigation,...
(GC-MS) and a combined biological instrument.
Space-based observatories
TRW designed and built the following space observatoriesSpace observatory
A space observatory is any instrument in outer space which is used for observation of distant planets, galaxies, and other outer space objects...
:
- HEAOHEAO ProgramThe High Energy Astronomy Observatory Program was a NASA program of the late 1970s and early 1980s that included a series of three large low-Earth-orbiting spacecraft for X-ray and Gamma-Ray astronomy and Cosmic-Ray investigations. After launch, they were denoted HEAO 1, HEAO 2 , and HEAO 3,...
1, 2, and 3, with HEAO 2 being the Einstein ObservatoryEinstein ObservatoryEinstein Observatory was the first fully imaging X-ray telescope put into space and the second of NASA's three High Energy Astrophysical Observatories...
, the first fully imaging X-rayX-rayX-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
telescopeTelescopeA telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...
put into space - Compton Gamma Ray ObservatoryCompton Gamma Ray ObservatoryThe Compton Gamma Ray Observatory was a space observatory detecting light from 20 KeV to 30 GeV in Earth orbit from 1991 to 2000. It featured four main telescopes in one spacecraft covering x-rays and gamma-rays, including various specialized sub-instruments and detectors...
which is the second of four among NASA'a Great Observatories programGreat Observatories programNASA's series of Great Observatories satellites are four large, powerful space-based telescopes. Each of the Great Observatories has had a similar size and cost at program outset, and each has made a substantial contribution to astronomy... - Chandra X-ray ObservatoryChandra X-ray ObservatoryThe Chandra X-ray Observatory is a satellite launched on STS-93 by NASA on July 23, 1999. It was named in honor of Indian-American physicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar who is known for determining the maximum mass for white dwarfs. "Chandra" also means "moon" or "luminous" in Sanskrit.Chandra...
is the third of NASA's Great Observatories
The teams developing the following observatories are continuing their work as part of Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems:
- SIM Lite space telescope which will search for Earth-sized planets in the habitable zoneHabitable zoneIn astronomy and astrobiology, a habitable zone is an umbrella term for regions that are considered favourable to life. The concept is inferred from the empirical study of conditions favourable for Life on Earth...
s around nearby stars (project cancelled) - James Webb Space TelescopeJames Webb Space TelescopeThe James Webb Space Telescope , previously known as Next Generation Space Telescope , is a planned next-generation space telescope, optimized for observations in the infrared. The main technical features are a large and very cold 6.5 meter diameter mirror, an observing position far from Earth,...
which will be the successor to the Hubble Space TelescopeHubble Space TelescopeThe Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...
Satellites
TRW Systems Group designed and manufactured the VelaVela
Vela may refer to:* Vela, a constellation * Vela Pulsar, a pulsar in the constellation of Vela* Project Vela, a system developed by the United States to monitor compliance with the Partial Test Ban Treaty...
series of nuclear detection
Nuclear detection
The threat of radiological attacks has led several organizations to develop specially designed nuclear detection systems. These systems differ in design and abilities.* * * Center for Neutron Research...
satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
s which monitored the 1963 establishment of the nuclear Partial Test Ban Treaty
Partial Test Ban Treaty
The treaty banning nuclear weapon tests in the atmosphere, in outer space and under water, often abbreviated as the Partial Test Ban Treaty , Limited Test Ban Treaty , or Nuclear Test Ban Treaty is a treaty prohibiting all test detonations of nuclear weapons...
. Subsequently, they produced the Advanced Vela series, first launched in 1967, which could detect nuclear air bursts using instruments actually called bhangmeter
Bhangmeter
A bhangmeter is a type of photometer used on reconnaissance satellites that is intended to detect atmospheric nuclear detonations.The first satellites which incorporated bhangmeters were the Advanced Vela satellites...
s. It had the first dual-spin attitude control system
Attitude control system
In spaceflight, the attitude control system or attitude determination and control system of a spacecraft consists of equipment to measure, report and change the orientation of the vehicle.- Components :...
with the total system momentum
Angular momentum
In physics, angular momentum, moment of momentum, or rotational momentum is a conserved vector quantity that can be used to describe the overall state of a physical system...
controlled to zero. The Vela and Advanced Vela satellites were the first to alert astronomers to the presence of gamma-ray bursts. They also reported a mysterious apparent nuclear test now called the Vela Incident
Vela Incident
The Vela Incident was an unidentified "double flash" of light that was detected by an American Vela Hotel satellite on September 22, 1979....
.
First launched in 1970, the company built all 23 reconnaissance satellites in the Defense Support Program
Defense Support Program
The Defense Support Program is a program of the U.S. Air Force that operates the reconnaissance satellites which form the principal component of the Satellite Early Warning System currently used by the United States....
(DSP), which are the principal components of the Satellite Early Warning System currently used by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. These are operated by the Air Force Space Command
Air Force Space Command
Air Force Space Command is a major command of the United States Department of the Air Force, with its headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. AFSPC supports U.S. military operations worldwide through the use of many different types of satellite, launch and cyber operations....
, and they detect missile
Missile
Though a missile may be any thrown or launched object, it colloquially almost always refers to a self-propelled guided weapon system.-Etymology:The word missile comes from the Latin verb mittere, meaning "to send"...
or spacecraft
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
launches and nuclear explosions using sensors that detect the infrared
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
emissions from these intense sources of heat. During Desert Storm, for example, DSP satellites were able to detect the launches of Iraqi Scud
Scud
Scud is a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and exported widely to other countries. The term comes from the NATO reporting name SS-1 Scud which was attached to the missile by Western intelligence agencies...
missiles and provide timely warnings to civilians and military forces in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
.
The initial seven Tracking and Data Relay Satellite
Tracking and Data Relay Satellite
A Tracking and Data Relay Satellite is a type of communications satellite that forms part of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System used by NASA and other United States government agencies for communications to and from independent "User Platforms" such as satellites, balloons, aircraft,...
s (TDRS) were built by TRW to improve communication coverage for the Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle program
NASA's Space Shuttle program, officially called Space Transportation System , was the United States government's manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011...
, International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
, and US military satellites. When first launched in 1983, the TDRS satellites were the largest, most sophisticated communications satellites ever built. The seventh vehicle in the series was ordered as a replacement when TDRS-2 was lost in the Challenger accident
Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, when Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of central Florida at 11:38 am EST...
.
Launched in 2002, TRW produced the Aqua
Aqua (satellite)
Aqua is a multi-national NASA scientific research satellite in orbit around the Earth, studying the precipitation, evaporation, and cycling of water. It is the second major component of the Earth Observing System preceded by Terra and followed by Aura .The name "Aqua" comes from the Latin word...
spacecraft based on their modular standardized satellite bus
Satellite bus
A satellite bus or spacecraft bus is the general model on which multiple-production satellite spacecraft are often based. The bus is the infrastructure of a spacecraft, usually providing locations for the payload .They are most commonly used for geosynchronous satellites, particularly...
. A joint project of the United States
U.S. Global Change Research Program
The United States Global Change Research Program or USGCRP coordinates and integrates federal research on changes in the global environment and their implications for society. The program began as a presidential initiative in 1989 and was codified by Congress through the Global Change Research Act...
, Japan
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
The , or JAXA, is Japan's national aerospace agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on October 1, 2003, as an Independent Administrative Institution administered by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the...
, and Brazil
National Institute for Space Research
The National Institute for Space Research is a research unit of the Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology, whose main goals are fostering scientific research and technological applications and qualifying personnel in the fields of space and atmospheric sciences, space engineering, and space...
, Aqua delivers 750 Gigabytes per day detailing the Earth's water cycle
Water cycle
The water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle or H2O cycle, describes the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth. Water can change states among liquid, vapor, and solid at various places in the water cycle...
in the ocean
Ocean
An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...
s, lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
s, atmosphere, polar ice caps
Polar ice packs
Polar ice packs are large areas of pack ice formed from seawater in the Earth's polar regions, known as polar ice caps: the Arctic ice pack of the Arctic Ocean and the Antarctic ice pack of the Southern Ocean, fringing the Antarctic ice sheet. Polar packs significantly change their size during...
, and vegetation
Vegetation
Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region; it refers to the ground cover provided by plants. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characteristics. It is broader...
.
Semiconductors and computers
The Ramo-Wooldridge Corp formed Pacific Semiconductors in 1954 to produce the recently invented transistorTransistor
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify and switch electronic signals and power. It is composed of a semiconductor material with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit. A voltage or current applied to one pair of the transistor's terminals changes the current...
for commercial sales.
The company manufactured the RW-300 for sales in 1959, one of the first "all-transistor" computers with a power supply
Power supply
A power supply is a device that supplies electrical energy to one or more electric loads. The term is most commonly applied to devices that convert one form of electrical energy to another, though it may also refer to devices that convert another form of energy to electrical energy...
that used vacuum tubes. The computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
was targeted at industrial control
Process control
Process control is a statistics and engineering discipline that deals with architectures, mechanisms and algorithms for maintaining the output of a specific process within a desired range...
applications, with 1024 analog
Analog signal
An analog or analogue signal is any continuous signal for which the time varying feature of the signal is a representation of some other time varying quantity, i.e., analogous to another time varying signal. It differs from a digital signal in terms of small fluctuations in the signal which are...
inputs multiplexed
Multiplexer
In electronics, a multiplexer is a device that selects one of several analog or digital input signals and forwards the selected input into a single line. A multiplexer of 2n inputs has n select lines, which are used to select which input line to send to the output...
to a 1.9K sample/s
Sampling rate
The sampling rate, sample rate, or sampling frequency defines the number of samples per unit of time taken from a continuous signal to make a discrete signal. For time-domain signals, the unit for sampling rate is hertz , sometimes noted as Sa/s...
10-bit analog-to-digital converter
Analog-to-digital converter
An analog-to-digital converter is a device that converts a continuous quantity to a discrete time digital representation. An ADC may also provide an isolated measurement...
which was transparent
Transparency (computing)
Any change in a computing system, such as new feature or new component, is transparent if the system after change adheres to previous external interface as much as possible while changing its internal behaviour. The purpose is to shield from change all systems on the other end of the interface...
to the programmer
Programmer
A programmer, computer programmer or coder is someone who writes computer software. The term computer programmer can refer to a specialist in one area of computer programming or to a generalist who writes code for many kinds of software. One who practices or professes a formal approach to...
. The real-time operating system
Real-time operating system
A real-time operating system is an operating system intended to serve real-time application requests.A key characteristic of a RTOS is the level of its consistency concerning the amount of time it takes to accept and complete an application's task; the variability is jitter...
was written by John Neblett, and was the intellectual precursor of the RSX-11
RSX-11
RSX-11 is a family of real-time operating systems mainly for PDP-11 computers created by Digital Equipment Corporation , common in the late 1970s and early 1980s. RSX-11D first appeared on the PDP-11/40 in 1972...
operating system for the PDP-11
PDP-11
The PDP-11 was a series of 16-bit minicomputers sold by Digital Equipment Corporation from 1970 into the 1990s, one of a succession of products in the PDP series. The PDP-11 replaced the PDP-8 in many real-time applications, although both product lines lived in parallel for more than 10 years...
.
The TRW-130 computer was introduced in 1961, and designated the AN/UYK-1 by the US Navy as part of its pre-GPS TRANSIT (NAVSAT)
Transit (satellite)
The TRANSIT system, also known as NAVSAT , was the first satellite navigation system to be used operationally. The system was primarily used by the U.S...
satellite-based location system
Global Navigation Satellite System
A satellite navigation or SAT NAV system is a system of satellites that provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning with global coverage. It allows small electronic receivers to determine their location to within a few metres using time signals transmitted along a line-of-sight by radio from...
. It used Doppler shifts
Doppler effect
The Doppler effect , named after Austrian physicist Christian Doppler who proposed it in 1842 in Prague, is the change in frequency of a wave for an observer moving relative to the source of the wave. It is commonly heard when a vehicle sounding a siren or horn approaches, passes, and recedes from...
to compute a location in about 15 minutes, and had rounded corners to allow installation in submarines.
The TTL logic gate, which was the electronics industry standard for two decades, was invented by TRW's James L. Buie in 1961.
In 1965, engineers Don Nelson and Dick Pick at TRW developed the Generalized Information Retrieval Language and System, for use by the U.S. Army to control the inventory of Cheyenne helicopter parts. This developed into the Pick Database Management System
Pick operating system
The Pick operating system is a demand-paged, multiuser, virtual memory, time-sharing operating system based around a unique "multivalued" database. Pick is used primarily for business data processing...
.
TRW LSI Products, Inc. was a wholly owned subsidiary formed to commercialize the integrated circuit
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
technology the company had developed in support of its aerospace business. They produced some of the first commercially available digital signal processing
Digital signal processing
Digital signal processing is concerned with the representation of discrete time signals by a sequence of numbers or symbols and the processing of these signals. Digital signal processing and analog signal processing are subfields of signal processing...
ICs including the TDC1008 multiplier-accumulator. They also made the first 8-bit flash ADC
Flash ADC
A Flash ADC is a type of analog-to-digital converter that uses a linear voltage ladder with a comparator at each "rung" of the ladder to compare the input voltage to successive reference voltages...
IC, the TDC1007, resulting in an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for analog/digital video conversion technology.
In the media
Christopher John BoyceChristopher John Boyce
Christopher John Boyce is a convicted KGB who sold U.S. spy satellite secrets to the Soviet Union in the 1970s.-Espionage:...
was a TRW employee convicted of selling security secrets to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
via the Soviet embassy in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
in the mid-1970s. Boyce and his accomplice, Andrew Daulton Lee
Andrew Daulton Lee
Andrew Daulton Lee is an American who was convicted of espionage for his involvement in the spying activities of his childhood friend, Christopher Boyce.Lee was the adopted eldest son of Dr. Daulton Lee, a wealthy California physician...
, were the subjects of the best-selling Robert Lindsey
Robert Lindsey (journalist)
Robert Lindsey is a journalist and author of several true crime books, including The Falcon and the Snowman: A True Story of Friendship and Espionage , the story of Christopher John Boyce and Andrew Daulton Lee, who were both convicted of selling information to the Soviets...
book The Falcon and the Snowman
The Falcon and the Snowman
The Falcon and the Snowman is a 1985 film directed by John Schlesinger about two young American men, Christopher Boyce and Daulton Lee , who sold U.S. security secrets to the Soviet Union...
, and the 1985 film of the same title.
Awards
- 1974 Nelson P. Jackson Aerospace Award to TRW Systems Group with NASA Ames Research Center for Pioneer 10Pioneer 10Pioneer 10 is a 258-kilogram robotic space probe that completed the first interplanetary mission to Jupiter, and became the first spacecraft to achieve escape velocity from the Solar System. The project was managed by the NASA Ames Research Center and the contract for the construction of the...
- 1978 Nelson P. Jackson Aerospace Award for HEAO ProgramHEAO ProgramThe High Energy Astronomy Observatory Program was a NASA program of the late 1970s and early 1980s that included a series of three large low-Earth-orbiting spacecraft for X-ray and Gamma-Ray astronomy and Cosmic-Ray investigations. After launch, they were denoted HEAO 1, HEAO 2 , and HEAO 3,...
- 1988-89 Emmy AwardEmmy AwardAn Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for analog/digital video conversion technology to TRW LSI Products - 1990 Goddard Award for Quality and Productivity to Space and Technology Group
- 1992 Nelson P. Jackson Aerospace Award to Space and Technology Group with NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
for Compton Gamma Ray ObservatoryCompton Gamma Ray ObservatoryThe Compton Gamma Ray Observatory was a space observatory detecting light from 20 KeV to 30 GeV in Earth orbit from 1991 to 2000. It featured four main telescopes in one spacecraft covering x-rays and gamma-rays, including various specialized sub-instruments and detectors... - 2001 Nelson P. Jackson Aerospace Award to TRW Systems Group with NASA Marshall Space Flight CenterMarshall Space Flight CenterThe George C. Marshall Space Flight Center is the U.S. government's civilian rocketry and spacecraft propulsion research center. The largest center of NASA, MSFC's first mission was developing the Saturn launch vehicles for the Apollo moon program...
for Chandra X-ray ObservatoryChandra X-ray ObservatoryThe Chandra X-ray Observatory is a satellite launched on STS-93 by NASA on July 23, 1999. It was named in honor of Indian-American physicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar who is known for determining the maximum mass for white dwarfs. "Chandra" also means "moon" or "luminous" in Sanskrit.Chandra... - 2004 Nelson P. Jackson Aerospace Award to Northrop GrummanNorthrop GrummanNorthrop Grumman Corporation is an American global aerospace and defense technology company formed by the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The company was the fourth-largest defense contractor in the world as of 2010, and the largest builder of naval vessels. Northrop Grumman employs over...
(formerly TRW) Space Technology Sector with NASA Goddard Space Flight CenterGoddard Space Flight CenterThe Goddard Space Flight Center is a major NASA space research laboratory established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center. GSFC employs approximately 10,000 civil servants and contractors, and is located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C. in Greenbelt, Maryland, USA. GSFC,...
for TDRSSTracking and Data Relay SatelliteA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite is a type of communications satellite that forms part of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System used by NASA and other United States government agencies for communications to and from independent "User Platforms" such as satellites, balloons, aircraft,...
See also
- Dean WooldridgeDean WooldridgeDean Everett Wooldridge was a prominent engineer in the aerospace industry....
- Northrop GrummanNorthrop GrummanNorthrop Grumman Corporation is an American global aerospace and defense technology company formed by the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The company was the fourth-largest defense contractor in the world as of 2010, and the largest builder of naval vessels. Northrop Grumman employs over...
- Simon RamoSimon RamoSimon "Si" Ramo is an American physicist, engineer, and business leader. He led development of microwave and missile technology and is sometimes known as the father of the intercontinental ballistic missile...
- Systems engineeringSystems engineeringSystems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that focuses on how complex engineering projects should be designed and managed over the life cycle of the project. Issues such as logistics, the coordination of different teams, and automatic control of machinery become more...
- Thompson TrophyThompson trophyThe Thompson Trophy race was one of the National Air Races of the heyday of early airplane racing in the 1930s. Established in 1929, the last race was held in 1961. The race was long with pylons marking the turns, and emphasized low altitude flying and maneuverability at high speeds...