Alfred J. Eggers, Jr. (June 24, 1922 – September 22, 2006) was

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's Assistant Administrator for Policy and devoted efforts to determine the influence of aviation technology in world peace and lectured widely. Eggers specialized in hypersonic and spaceflight research including the development of new

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and ballistic range facilities. He went to work for the

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in 1944 after completing the

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Biography

In 1954, he became Division Chief of the Vehicle Environment Division, which was composed of a physics branch, an entry simulation branch, a structural dynamics branch, the 3.5 foot

hypersonic wind tunnel A hypersonic wind tunnel is designed to generate a hypersonic flow field in the working section, thus simulating the typical flow features of this flow regime - including compression shocks and pronounced boundary layer effects, entropy layer an ...

branch and the hypervelocity ballistic range branch. In 1958, Eggers headed up the Manned Satellite Team, which was to design a practical system for a satellite while recommending a suitable research program. This ultimately led to Ames developing and managing the Pioneer program of planetary exploration probes. Although Eggers is most famous for his pioneering work on atmospheric reentry with a blunt body, arguably his greatest achievement was his work on supersonic interference lift. This work lead directly to the

XB-70 Valkyrie The North American Aviation XB-70 Valkyrie was the prototype version of the planned B-70 nuclear-armed, deep-penetration supersonic strategic bomber for the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command. Designed in the late 1950s by North Ame ...

supersonic bomber. In May 1964, Eggers was appointed Deputy Associate Administrator for Advanced Research and Technology. He became Assistant Administrator for Policy in January 1968, and served until March 1971. From 1969 to 1970, Eggers was a visiting professor at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

. Following his career at NASA, Eggers took a position as Assistant Director for Research Applications at the

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. His assistant, C. A. "Sy" Syvertson became Director of NASA Ames Research Center during probably its most productive years. A close friend of both was the legendary aerodynamicist, R. T. Jones.

References

External links

Profile
at the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...

NACA Biography
at NASA.gov 1922 births 2006 deaths NASA people University of Nebraska Omaha alumni Stanford University alumni National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics People from Omaha, Nebraska American aerospace engineers 20th-century American engineers {{space-stub