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Navy electromagnetic railguns subject of Tuesday Director's Colloquium

Hans Mark, professor of aerospace engineering and engineering mechanics at the University of Texas at Austin, is presenting a Director's Colloquium talk focusing on electromagnetic railguns for use with naval applications. The talk is at 1:10 p.m., July 6 in the Physics Building Auditorium at Technical Area 3.

The United States Navy recently put a program in place to develop the electromagnetic railguns. These weapons are not limited by the thermodynamic constraints imposed on the muzzle velocities of conventional guns. A projectile fired by an electromagnetic gun with a muzzle velocity of 2,500 meters/second can achieve a range of about 450 kilometers, or approximately 280 miles. Mark will discuss the current status of this program and its future prospects.

The colloquium is open to badge holders who are U.S. citizens.

Mark holds a degree in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, a doctorate in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and four honorary degrees.

Mark was the deputy administrator of NASA under former President Reagan, undersecretary of the Air Force and director of the National Reconnaissance Office under former President Jimmy Carter, secretary of the Air Force and most recently the director of Defense Research and Engineering at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

Mark was elected to the National Academy of Engineering and is an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

For more information about the Director's Colloquium program, which is coordinated by STB, go to http://stb.lanl.gov/colloquium/ online.

--Ed Kellum

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