Implosion (eBook)

L. PARKER TEMPLE III, PhD, is a Senior Policy Analyst with more than forty years' experience in program management and execution, software and systems engineering, policy and systems analysis in national defense, and national security air and space programs. The recipient of numerous awards, Dr. Temple has worked with the National Reconnaissance Office; NASA; the Intelligence Community; the Departments of Transportation, State, and Commerce; the Office of the Secretary of Defense; and the armed services.

List of Figures vii

List of Tables ix

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xv

Acronyms, Abbreviations, and Program Names xvii

Part I Activation Energy (1931-1968)

1. Washington . . . We Have a Problem . . . 3

2. The Quantum Leap 6

3. Preparation 21

4. The Final Frontiers 29

5. Minuteman Means Reliability 58

6. Skinning Cats 68

Part II Startup Transient (1969-1980)

7. Changing the Sea State 87

8. Space Parts: From A to S 93

9. There's S, and Then There's S 122

10. A Little Revolution Now and Then Is Good 140

11. Quality on the Horizon 144

Part III Switching Transient (1980-1989)

12. Crossing the Operational Divide 153

13. Stocking the Shelves 168

14. Hammered 184

15. Battlegrounds: Reorganization and Reform 187

16. Implementing Change in a Changing World 207

Part IV Shorting To Ground (1989-2002)

17. Leap First, Look Later 231

18. Hardly Standing PAT 248

Part V Resetting the Circuit Breakers

19. Brewing the Perfect Storm 277

20. Summing the Parts 301

Epilogue: Can One Ever Truly Go Home Again? 309

Index 322

"It has elements of all four, but its real value is in the amalgamation of these divergent elements into a meaningful whole." (Quest: The History of Spaceflight, 1 March 2013)

Solid-state electronics enabled the amazing transformation of
life on Earth in countless ways during the second half of the
twentieth century. This technology has become so ubiquitous that
people worldwide take it for granted and, more often than not,
never contemplate what the world would be like without it. In
Implosion, historian Parker Temple captures in remarkable
detail the evolutionary complexity of one aspect of that
technological transformation--the requirement for and the
acquisition of highly reliable solid-state electronics for mission
assurance in U.S. national security and national defense space
programs. From the incorporation of strict military specifications
and standards for proliferating solid-state devices during the
1950-1960s to the inability of those specifications and standards
to keep pace with the evolution of electronics in the
1980s--1990s, Dr. Temple weaves an elaborate narrative. He
explains how military standards advanced the quality of solid-state
electronic devices generally, even as demands for more capabilities
engendered greater complexity, until concern about rising costs in
the waning years of the twentieth century politicized change
and resulted in the entropic unraveling of an optimized production
system.

Engineering instructors, students, industrial leaders, government
procurement officers, administrative policy makers, and legislators
all might benefit from contemplating Dr. Temple's critical analysis
of how the optimized production system for highly reliable
electronics came about, what sustained it over time, why it fell
apart, and whether a satisfactory replacement might again ensure
delivery of highly reliable electronic devices. History holds many
lessons for those who are willing to pay attention, and
Implosion reminds the attentive few that technological
complexity can harbor the seeds of its own collapse. As Dr.
Temple correctly acknowledges, it took decades to evolve an
optimized production system that once ensured highly reliable
solid-state electronic devices for U.S. rocket and space programs;
it likely will take decades before a fully acceptable replacement
system emerges. Well informed, historically astute participants,
playing many different roles, can help 'stay the course' that leads
to that new production system.

--Rick W. Sturdevant, Ph.D., Deputy Director of
History, HQ Air Force Space Command