Peter Bielkowicz (1 February 1902 – 30 September 1993) was a physicist. He worked on designing the

Apollo Lunar Module The Apollo Lunar Module (LM ), originally designated the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), was the lunar lander spacecraft that was flown between lunar orbit and the Moon's surface during the United States' Apollo program. It was the first crewed sp ...

and many other projects. He developed and taught courses in many fields, including

aerodynamics Aerodynamics () is the study of the motion of atmosphere of Earth, air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dynamics and its subfield of gas dynamics, and is an ...

flight mechanics Aircraft flight mechanics are relevant to fixed wing ( gliders, aeroplanes) and rotary wing (helicopters) aircraft. An aeroplane (''airplane'' in US usage), is defined in ICAO Document 9110 as, "a power-driven heavier than air aircraft, deriving i ...

ballistics Ballistics is the field of mechanics concerned with the launching, flight behaviour and impact effects of projectiles, especially weapon munitions such as bullets, unguided bombs, rockets and the like; the science or art of designing and acceler ...

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

, and

astrodynamics Orbital mechanics or astrodynamics is the application of ballistics and celestial mechanics to rockets, satellites, and other spacecraft. The motion of these objects is usually calculated from Newton's laws of motion and the Newton's law of univ ...

. He created the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT)'s first courses in

space mechanics Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four ...

and

spaceflight Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly objects, usually spacecraft, into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such ...

. He was a doctor of mathematics working in the Polish aircraft industry when

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

overran

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. He evaded capture and made his way to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

only to be overrun again by the Germans. He escaped to Spain by crossing the Pyrenees Mountains on foot and then walked through Spain. Just as he was about to step onto British soil at

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

, the Spanish police arrested him. After two years in a Spanish prison, he was set free when the

Allies of World War II The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international Coalition#Military, military coalition formed during World War II (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers. Its principal members were the "Four Policeme ...

defeated the

Axis powers The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. He worked in the British

aircraft industry An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, in a few cases, direct downward thrust from its e ...

for a few years after the war, and later was recruited by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

while the

United States space program The United States has developed many space programs since the beginning of the spaceflight era in the mid-20th century. The government runs space programs by three primary agencies: NASA for civil space; the United States Space Force for milita ...

was still in its infancy. Professor Bielkowicz joined the faculty of the

Air Force Institute of Technology The Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) is a postgraduate institution and provider of professional and continuing education for the United States Armed Forces and is part of the United States Air Force. It is in Ohio at Wright-Patterson ...

School of Engineering in July 1953 as an assistant professor.Professor Emeritus Peter Bielkowicz
/ref> He worked on designing the

and many other projects including

reusable spacecraft Reusable spacecraft are spacecraft capable of repeated launch, atmospheric reentry, and landing or splashdown. This contrasts with expendable spacecraft which are designed to be discarded after use. Agencies operating reusable spacecraft aim t ...

. He developed and taught courses in many fields, including

, and

. He created AFIT's first courses in

and

. His astrodynamics courses were a central focus of the AFIT astronautics program introduced in 1958. He also introduced orbital mechanics and familiarized his students with Moulton’s text on

celestial mechanics Celestial mechanics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the motions of objects in outer space. Historically, celestial mechanics applies principles of physics (classical mechanics) to astronomical objects, such as stars and planets, to ...

. These classes taught missile trajectories and orbits. The missile ballistics class covered the

ballistic flight A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched. Hence, it will not complete one orbital revolution, will no ...

solutions and various empirical solutions that had been developed.

Publications

* P. Bielkowicz, R. C. Horrigan and R. C. Walsh. "Manual onboard methods of orbit determination", Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol. 8, No. 3 (1971), pp. 284–289. https://doi.org/10.2514/3.30261 * P. Bielkowicz. "Ground tracks of earth-period /24-hr/ satellites." AIAA Journal, Vol. 4, No. 12 (1966), pp. 2190–2195. https://doi.org/10.2514/3.3875 * P. Bielkowicz, A.F.R.Ae.S., (1947) "The Evolution of Energy in Jet and Rocket Propulsion", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 19 Issue: 1, pp.19-26, https://doi.org/10.1108/eb031459

References

External links

Paradoxes in Astrodynamics.Air Force Institute of Technology Homepage
1902 births 1993 deaths Apollo program Polish aerospace engineers 20th-century Polish physicists {{USAF-bio-stub