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 Committee 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.[19]
Space exploration
Space Technology Laboratories (STL), then a division of Ramo-Wooldridge Corp., designed and produced the identical payloads for Pioneer 0, 1 and 2. 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.[20] 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.[21] 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.[22] As NASA's first all-atomic powered spacecraft,[23] these used plutonium-238 units developed by Teledyne Isotopes.[24] Pioneer 10 carried 11 instruments, and Pioneer 11 carried 12, for investigating Jupiter and Saturn, respectively.[25] Data was transmitted back to Earth at 8 Watts, 128 byte/s at Jupiter,[26] 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.[27]
TRW Systems Group designed and built the instrument package which performed the Martian biological experiments,[28] 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.
Space-based observatories
TRW designed and built the following space observatories:
The teams developing the following observatories continued their work as part of Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems:
Satellites
TRW Systems Group designed and manufactured the Vela series of nuclear detection satellites which monitored the 1963 establishment of the nuclear Partial Test Ban Treaty.[30] Subsequently, they produced the Advanced Vela series, first launched in 1967, which could detect nuclear air bursts using instruments actually called bhangmeters. It had the first dual-spin attitude control system with the total system momentum controlled to zero.[31] 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.[32]
The initial seven Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (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.[33] 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.[34] A joint project of the United States, Japan, and Brazil, Aqua delivers 750 Gigabytes per day detailing the Earth's water cycle in the oceans, lakes, atmosphere, polar ice caps, and vegetation.
Rocket Engines
TRW designed and built the descent engine or (LMDE) 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),[35] 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".[36] This engine was used on Apollo 13 to achieve free return trajectory and make a minor course correction after damage to the Service Module.
After the Apollo program moon landings, the LMDE was further developed into the TRW TR-201 engine. This engine was used in the second stage Delta-P of the Delta launch vehicle for 77 launches between 1972-1988.
