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Memorial Tributes Volume 22 (2019) / Chapter Skim
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YVONNE C. BRILL
Pages 31-36

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From page 32...
... She originally planned to study engineering at the University of Manitoba, but women were not permitted to enroll in engineering because, at the time, the required summer engineering camp would not make the "special arrangements" needed for women. Instead, she studied mathematics and received a BSc degree in 1945.
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From page 33...
... and NASA. Yvonne joined the staff of RCA Astro Electronics in 1966 as a senior engineer in propulsion systems and later became manager of the NOVA satellite propulsion systems, directing processes from fabrication through qualification and flight for the Teflon Solid Propellant Propulsion System (TSPPS)
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From page 34...
... This accomplishment was especially noteworthy as the PPTs enabled a previously unattainable degree of real-time navigational accuracy for defense systems and represented the first operational use of electric propulsion on any Western spacecraft. Her work both enabled unprecedented navigational capability and opened the way for the now routine use of electric propulsion on commercial Western space systems.
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From page 35...
... During her service ASAP defined and recommended many technical and programmatic changes to enhance orbiter safety that were subsequently implemented by NASA, such as a modified space shuttle main engine design that enabled lower turbine inlet temperatures with greater safety margins. In recognition of her substantial contributions, Yvonne was elected to the National Academy of Engineering (1987)
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From page 36...
... In 2003 a small group of friends and colleagues gathered around her during the NAE annual meeting and honored her with a beautiful crystal plaque; it bore an amusing inscription but ended on a true note: "For all you have done to help others succeed, we thank you." The Yvonne C Brill Lectureship is a lasting tribute to her.
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Key Terms

  • electric propulsion
  • propellant management
  • nae aerospace
  • nova propulsion
  • rca astro

  • capillary propellant
  • aerospace engineering
  • inventors hall
  • astro electronics
  • rand corporation

  • nova spacecraft
  • commercial western
  • enabled lower
  • aerospace safety
  • main engine

  • shuttle main
  • nasa aerospace
  • space studies
  • maritime satellite
  • solid propellants

  • safety advisory
  • solid propellant
  • geo spacecraft
  • propulsion project
  • nasa administrator

  • satellite propulsion
  • shuttle orbiter
  • navy navigation
  • engineering camp
  • yvonne personally


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