NASA Office of Logic Design

A scientific study of the problems of digital engineering for space flight systems,
with a view to their practical solution.

NASA Electronics Research Center

Model of Electronics Research Centers first phase of construction is examined by (from left) Dr. Albert J. Kelley, Deputy Director; Edward Durell Stone, architect, of the joint venture team which designed the facilities; and Dr. Winston E. Kock, Director.	W. Deter Straub, a scientist at the NASA Electronics Research Center's (ERC) Component Technology Laboratory, conducted this experiment with the "Gunn Effect." The Gunn Effect is the production of microwave oscillations when a constant voltage in excess of a critical level is applied to opposite faces of a semiconductor.	This Electronics Research Center scientist is researching magnetic materials, observing their performance in high temperatures.	Electronics Research Center's Astro-Physics Branch studied solar radiation with this equipment.	This Aerosol Particle Analyzer, being displayed by Theresa Thibodeau, was flown on Apollo. The device measured content of microscopic bits of solid of liquid matter in the spaceship cabin.
More ERC pictures on NASA GRIN site.

NASA's New Electronics Research Center Albert J. Kelley Deputy Director, NASA Electronics Research Center Astronautics & Aeronautics May 1965	Introduction During the last two years the term space electronics has received increasing prominence due in part to the public attention given to NASA's proposal to Congress for a new Electronics Research Center. This new Center, actually established on Sept. 1, 1964, represents part of a long-range NASA effort to upgrade its electronics-research capability, an effort which encompasses all NASA centers, and will draw upon the country's industrial and university resources. This article cites some reasons for increasing electronics research to meet the future needs of the space program and describes the intent and initial form of the center.
A REPORT ON THE CLOSING OF THE NASA ELECTRONICS RESEARCH CENTER CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS Boyd C. Myers, II and Members of the NASA Steering Group, Members of the ERC Task Force, and the Staff of the Department of Transportation October 1, 1970	Foreword (excerpt) The purpose of this report is to document some of the more important aspects and considerations by management officials relevant to planning and implementation of an orderly and effective closing of a major research establishment. It contains specific chapters on key areas of activity. The specific case-study treated here is that of the NASA Electronics Research Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts. The circumstances of the establishment of the Electronics Research Center, its growth for a relatively short period, and its demise is historically unique; the details may never be repeated again ever. But there seem to be many aspects of the ERC closing which have meaning in the "art of disestablishment of organizational and functional entities." It was hoped that this account of the closing of ERC as a NASA entity, of actions taken, and of the resultant conclusions that emerge might provide useful management perspective to others who may be faced with a similar unhappy task.
The Mission of the Electronics Research Center Dr. Winston E. Kock Director, NASA Electronics Research Center November 4, 1964	Northeast Electronics Research and Engineering Meeting (NEREM) Commonwealth Armory, Boston, Massachusetts Address Opening It is a pleasure for me to be here with you today and take part in the opening of NEREM-64. I am particularly honored to have been asked to address this initial get-together as I know you are all here by special invitation and are all distinguished leaders in the field of electronics, a field which continues to grow in national importance year after year.
The NASA Electronics Research Center and Its Relationship With Industry Dr. Winston E. Kock Director, NASA Electronics Research Center To The American Marketing Association Thursday, January 7, 1965	Address Opening    I am very pleased to be here today and to tell you a little about how the plans and activities of the Electronics Research Center will affect the marketing groups of many of the New England electronics industries.    I shall first review some of the ways in which your dealings with us will differ from your ways of dealing with industry, the Defense Department and even other NASA Centers. I hope to give you an insight as to the most effective way for you to proceed to insure that we can become properly aware of the superiority of the research capabilities of your individual companies.    In the Second part of my talk I shall tell you something of our plans for the future and why we feel that these plans will result in the most effective use of university and industry talents.     Mr. James E. Webb, the Administrator of NASA, stated in his Report to Congress that our Electronics Research center's function is "to ensure that an increased level of research is carried on in those areas of electronics essential to the mastery of space and in those universities, institutes, and industries which have the capability for the most advanced work and which are prepared to accept contracts and grants in support of such work."
Optics at the Electronics Research Center L. W. Roberts NASA Electronics Research Center Applied Optics, Vol. 9, No. 2 February 1970, pp. 335-337	Abstract Areas of optical research conducted at the NASA Electronics Research Center are identified by subject matter and also by organizational element in this paper.  Basic NASA requirements for optical research are briefly discussed and indications given as to how this research might benefit the space agency.
NASA History Division Page on the ERC
An In-House Experimental Air Space Multiprocessor-EYAM G. Y. Wang ERC Memo.KC-T-031 NASA Electronics Research Center September 20, 1967
Interconnection of Processors and Memory in the Multiprocessor System P. E. Wood, Jr ERC Memo KC-T-04L NASA Electronics Research Center February 5, 1968
Input/Output System for An Aerospace Multiprocessor P. E. Wood, Jr ERC Memo RC-T-062 NASA Electronics Research Center May 19, 1969
Present and future State of the Art in Guidance Computer Memories NASA Technical Note TN D-4224 Robert C. Ricci Electronics Research Center Cambridge, Mass. November, 1967 Scan html	Abstract A survey of the present and anticipated state of the art for 1970-1972 in guidance computer main memories is presented.  The selection of memory components for use in advanced guidance computer applications motivates the work reported.   Non-destructive read-out (NDRO) vs. destructive read-out (DRO) type memory techniques and technologies are discussed, with particular reference to six types of advanced solid-state memory devices: magnetic cores, plated wire, planar-magnetic thin films, etched-permalloy toroids, monolithic ferrites, and integrated-circuit memories.   Present characteristics of these devices are compared, and a summary of anticipated characteristics of memory devices for 1970-1972 is detailed.  Memory technologies available for implementation of a system-concept breadboard in 1967, as well as those most likely available for a prototype advanced guidance computer for flight in 1970-1972, are likewise identified.
Bibliography: NASA Electronics Research Center Andrew Butrica
NASA’s Electronics Research Center (ERC) Andrew J. Butrica	Abstract NASA’s Electronics Research Center (ERC), was located in Cambridge, MA, across the street from MIT at Kendall Square (formerly Technology Square). The ERC opened in September 1964, taking over the administration of contracts, grants, and other NASA business in New England from the antecedent North Eastern Operations Office (created in July 1962), and closed in June 1970. It served to develop the space agency’s in-house expertise in electronics during the Apollo era. A second key function was to serve as a graduate and post-graduate training center within the framework of a regional government-industry-university alliance. The ERC was just as important a NASA field center as the Langley Research Center or the Marshall Space Flight Center. By fiscal 1968, NASA planned for the ERC to be employing 1,600 professional and technical workers plus another 500 in administrative and support positions (Kelley, n.p.).
The Electronics Research Center: NASA'S Little Known Venture Into Aerospace Electronics Andrew J. Butrica, Ph.D. Historical Consultant College Park, MD 20740 Paper AIAA 2002-1138 40th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting Reno, NV January 14-17, 2002:	Abstract This paper reviews the origins of NASA's Electronics Research Center. Few know of the existence of the center, which remains the only major center that the space agency has closed. The center was located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, across the street from MIT, and functioned there briefly from 1964 to 1970. This paper surveys the process (from November 1961 to January 1963) by which NASA concluded that it needed the Electronics Research Center. It focuses on the agency's perceived need for internal electronics expertise in order to manage its many industry and university contracts. The paper also notes congressional opposition to siting the center in Cambridge, and briefly mentions a few of the center's major projects.
ERC Is Focal Point of Future Efforts John Rhea Aerospace Technology November 20, 1967 pp. 53-56	Research and development budget edges up as center begins to achieve maturity; Director Elms compares ERC's role to that of Langley in early NACA days. Excerpt: Cambridge, Mass. - The focal point of NASA's electronics efforts beyond the currently approved programs is the Electronics Research Center here.  As the NASA electronics research budget edges up steadily but modestly each year, the increase is absorbed by ERC. < snip > ERC Director James Elms draws a parallel between his center's role and that of Langley Research Center when it became the first laboratory of NASA's predecessor, the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA), 50 years ago.  Both perform the research, do experiments and provide the facilities that industry would not normally do as part of its development of specific products. In addition, ERC is building a pool of technical talent that could be available on a consulting basis to solve future space electronics problems - somewhat the way Langley engineers were brought in to aid military aviation during World War II.
Lunar Module/Abort Guidance System Design Survey NASA/ERC Design Criteria Program, Guidance and Control September, 1968	FOREWORD    This report is one of a series of design surveys being produced by industrial contractors as part of the NASA Design Criteria Program.  The objective of the Program is to provide a unification of design approaches for the development of space vehicles and their major components.  The surveys are intended to document design experience gained from specific NASA projects and will be used as an aid in identifying suitable topics for design criteria monographs.    This report summarizes TRW's design experience to data in developing the Lunar Module Abort Guidance System for the Apollo Program, and relates this experience to the NASA/ERC Design Criteria Program for Guidance and Control.    The preparation of this report was supervised and coordinated by Dr. T.W. Layton and J.A. Vanderlaan.  Major sections were prepared by: J.A. Vanderlaan, H.D. Blow, G.M. Petrov, F.A. Evans, W.M. Ashley, P.B. Aubol, M.L. Obright, and D. Sargent.  Additional contributors of technical content were J.S. Hill, H.A. Irwin, L.N. Jenks, D. Wedeland, T.A. Fuhrman, W.W. Benjamin, R.E. Morse, and H.A. Pudewa.

The following is a list of ERC symposia proceedings from: Bibliography: NASA Electronics Research Center

• Electronics Research Center. Evaluation of Motion-Degraded Images. NASA SP-193. Washington: Scientific and Technical Information Division, NASA, 1969.
• Electronics Research Center. Future Fields of Control Application. NASA SP-211.
• Washington, Scientific and Technical Information Division, NASA, 1969.
• Electronics Research Center. NASA Inter-Center Control Systems Conference.
• Washington: Scientific and Technical Information Office, NASA, 1978.
• Electronics Research Center. Proceedings of the Computer-aided System Design
• Seminar. Washington: NASA, 1969. MIT, April 9, 1969.
• Electronics Research Center. Recent Advances in Display Media. NASA SP-159.
• Washington: Scientific and Technical Information Division, NASA, 1968.
• Electronics Research Center. Spaceborne Multiprocessing Seminar. Cambridge: ERC, 1966.
• Kennedy, Robert S., and Sherman Karp, ed. Optical Space Communication. NASA SP 217. Washington: Scientific and Technical Information Division, NASA, 1969.
• Mannella, Gene G., ed. Aerospace Measurement Techniques. NASA SP-132.
• Washington: Office of Technology Utilization, NASA, 1967.
• Thompson, William I., III. The Color of the Ocean. Washington: NASA, 1969.

Apollo Guidance Computer and Other Computer History

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