Maxwell White Hunter II (March 11, 1922 – November 10, 2001) was a prominent American
aerospace engineer
Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...
. He worked on the design of the
Douglas B-42 and
Douglas B-43 bombers, the
Honest John,
Nike-Ajax
The United States Army's Nike Ajax was the world's first operational guided surface-to-air missile (SAM), entering service in 1954. Nike Ajax was designed to attack conventional bomber aircraft flying at high subsonic speeds and altitudes abov ...
, and
Nike-Zeus missiles, the
Thor IRBM, and on parts of the
Strategic Defense Initiative
The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), derisively nicknamed the "''Star Wars'' program", was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic strategic nuclear weapons (intercontinental ballistic ...
.
In later years he worked on space-launch vehicles and was a proponent of
Single-stage-to-orbit
A single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) vehicle reaches orbit from the surface of a body using only propellants and fluids and without expending tanks, engines, or other major hardware. The term usually, but not exclusively, refers to reusable vehicles ...
(SSTO) designs. He was honored in 1995 by the
National Space Society
The National Space Society (NSS) is an American international nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational and scientific organization specializing in space advocacy. It is a member of the Independent Charities of America and an annual participant in the Combi ...
for lifelong contributions to the technology of spaceflight.
Early life and education
Maxwell Hunter was born in
Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania
Hollidaysburg is a borough in and the county seat of Blair County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is located on the Juniata River, south of Altoona and is part of the Altoona, Pennsylvania, metropolitan statistical area. In 1900, 2,998 ...
and graduated from
Washington and Jefferson College
Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries to ...
in that state with a degree in physics and mathematics. In 1944, he earned a Master's Degree in aeronautical engineering from 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 ...
(MIT).
Accomplishments in aerospace
After earning his MS from MIT, Hunter went to work for the Douglas Aircraft Company. He became their chief designer in aeronautics, working on modifications of the B-42 and B-43 bombers. Later he was promoted to chief engineer for space systems. In this position he oversaw the production of military missiles including the Honest John artillery rocket, the Nike antiaircraft missile, and the Sparrow air-to-air missile.
Douglas Aircraft began work on the
Thor
Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...
, an early
Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile
An intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) is a ballistic missile with a range of 3,000–5,500 km (1,864–3,418 miles), between a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) and an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Classifying ...
(IRBM), in late 1955 and put Hunter in charge of that program. He assembled a small team of crack designers and brought the development to success in a short time. Thor became the basis of the
McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own merger with Boeing in 1997, it produ ...
Delta rocket
Delta is an American versatile family of expendable launch systems that has provided space launch capability in the United States since 1960. Japan also launched license-built derivatives (N-I, N-II, and H-I) from 1975 to 1992. More than 300 ...
, whose descendants are still boosting payloads into Earth orbit today.
After working for Douglas Aircraft from 1944 to 1961, Hunter joined the staff of the
National Aeronautics and Space Council
The National Space Council is a body within the Executive Office of the President of the United States created in 1989 during the George H. W. Bush administration, disbanded in 1993, and reestablished in June 2017 by the Donald Trump administrati ...
, a group that advised the U.S. president on space policy. Following several years in that position, he went back to the aerospace industry in 1965, spending over two decades with Lockheed Missiles and Space Company (LMSC). (LMSC was a division of
Lockheed Corporation
The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer. Lockheed was founded in 1926 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995. Its founder, Allan Lockheed, had earlier founded the similarly named but ot ...
, which merged with
Martin Marietta
The Martin Marietta Corporation was an American company founded in 1961 through the merger of Glenn L. Martin Company and American-Marietta Corporation. In 1995, it merged with Lockheed Corporation to form Lockheed Martin.
History
Martin Mari ...
in 1995 to become
Lockheed-Martin
The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace manufacturer, aerospace, military, arms, defense, information security, and Technology company, technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the Horizontal integrati ...
.)
At LMSC, Hunter worked on a variety of projects including parts of the mammoth
Strategic Defense Initiative
The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), derisively nicknamed the "''Star Wars'' program", was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic strategic nuclear weapons (intercontinental ballistic ...
. SDI gave him a chance at realizing a dream he had nurtured since the 1960s: the construction of a
Single-stage-to-orbit
A single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) vehicle reaches orbit from the surface of a body using only propellants and fluids and without expending tanks, engines, or other major hardware. The term usually, but not exclusively, refers to reusable vehicles ...
(SSTO) vehicle. In 1984, Hunter proposed a vehicle he called the X-rocket, based on those earlier SSTO designs. The design was reviewed by LMSC's Astronautics Division (AD), which judged it worth pursuing, and by its Missile Systems Division (MSD), which did not.
LMSC then declined to support further work on the X-rocket, and Hunter retired. As an independent consultant, he renamed the concept SSX (for Space Ship Experimental), and began to refine it. In December 1988 the ad hoc
Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy
The Citizen's Advisory Council on National Space Policy was a group of prominent US citizens concerned with the space policy of the United States of America. It is no longer active.
History
The Council's roots date to 1980 as a group which pre ...
was briefed on the concept by Hunter and others. The general concept was endorsed by the Council and by High Frontier, Inc., a Washington-based group headed by Lt. Gen.
Daniel O. Graham
Daniel Orrin Graham (April 13, 1925 – December 31, 1995) was a United States Army officer who ultimately rose to the rank of lieutenant general (United States), lieutenant general. Graham served in Germany, Korea, and Vietnam and received sever ...
that lobbied for SDI programs. Working together, Hunter and High Frontier convinced SDI management and other national officials that a study should be initiated to determine once and for all the feasibility of SSTO vehicles for military missions.
This led to a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) program to design a single-stage vehicle that could replace military satellites on short notice during a national emergency. This vehicle was known as the Delta Clipper.
McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own merger with Boeing in 1997, it produ ...
Corporation was contracted to build and test fly a one-third-scale, suborbital testbed called the
DC-X
The DC-X, short for Delta Clipper or Delta Clipper Experimental, was an uncrewed prototype of a reusable single-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle built by McDonnell Douglas in conjunction with the United States Department of Defense's Strategic De ...
, or Delta Clipper Experimental. While not capable of spaceflight, the DC-X incorporated many of the technologies needed for an SSTO vehicle, including highly automated systems enabling a quick turnaround (just twenty-six hours) between launches. It made eight successful test flights between August 18, 1993, and July 7, 1995, and then was taken over by NASA and flown four times as the DC-XA between May 18 and July 31, 1996. It was damaged on its last flight when one landing strut failed to deploy and the vehicle tipped over at landing. Funding to make repairs and continue flight tests was not made available.
Max Hunter continued to advise on space policy issues and advocate the building of SSTO vehicles for airline-like access to space, a goal he was sure could be attained. He chaired the Rules Committee for the
Ansari X Prize, announced in 1996, a $10 million prize for the first reusable craft to reach space twice within two weeks without substantial refit. In October 2000, he agreed to serve as Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Undersea Hotel Project of the Cala Corporation. He died at Stanford Hospital, Stanford, California on the evening of November 10, 2001 after a lingering illness.
Honors, awards and affiliations
Max Hunter was
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
,
Tau Beta Pi
The Tau Beta Pi Association (commonly Tau Beta Pi, , or TBP) is the oldest engineering honor society and the second oldest collegiate honor society in the United States. It honors engineering students in American universities who have shown a ...
, and a Fellow of the
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA is the U.S. representative on the International Astronautical Federation and the International Council of ...
(AIAA), the
American Astronautical Society
Formed in 1954, the American Astronautical Society (AAS) is an independent scientific and technical group in the United States dedicated to the advancement of space science and space exploration. AAS supports NASA's Vision for Space Exploration ...
(AAS), and the
British Interplanetary Society
The British Interplanetary Society (BIS), founded in Liverpool in 1933 by Philip E. Cleator, is the oldest existing space advocacy organisation in the world. Its aim is exclusively to support and promote astronautics and space exploration.
Stru ...
(BIS). He was also a member of the
International Academy of Astronautics
The International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) is an independent non-governmental organization established in Stockholm ( Sweden) on August 16, 1960, by Dr. Theodore von Kármán, and recognized by the United Nations in 1996.
The IAA has electe ...
(IAA) and an honorary member of the
Japanese Rocket Society. In 1995, he received the Wernher von Braun Memorial Award of the
National Space Society
The National Space Society (NSS) is an American international nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational and scientific organization specializing in space advocacy. It is a member of the Independent Charities of America and an annual participant in the Combi ...
for "lifelong contributions to the fields of rockets, missiles and spaceflight." He was also the recipient of a NASA Public Service Medal for "the definition and promotion of the Space Shuttle and its utilization." The
Space Frontier Foundation
The Space Frontier Foundation is an American space advocacy nonprofit corporation organized to promote the interests of increased involvement of the private sector, in collaboration with government, in the exploration and development of space. I ...
bestowed its 1994 VISION TO REALITY AWARD on Hunter and other key members of the Delta Clipper (DC-X) Team.
SFF Annual Awards
References
External links
Max Hunter Memorial Pages
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Maxwell W.
American aerospace engineers
MIT School of Engineering alumni
Washington & Jefferson College alumni
1922 births
2001 deaths
20th-century American engineers