Life and Work
Draper was born in Windsor, Missouri. He attended the University of Missouri in 1917, then transferred to Stanford University, California in 1919, from which he earned a B.A. in psychology in 1922. He entered Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1922, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in electrochemical engineering (1926), and Master of Science (1928) and Doctor of Science (1938) degrees in physics.
Draper began teaching at MIT as an assistant professor. He was named a full professor in aeronautical engineering in 1939. It was here that he founded the Instrumentation Laboratory in the 1930s, spun off in 1973 as The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc. In 1961 Draper and the Instrumentation Lab were awarded the first contract given out for the Apollo program to send humans to the Moon, which was announced by President John F. Kennedy on 25 May of that year. This led to the creation of the Apollo Guidance Computer, a one-cubic-foot computer that controlled the navigation and guidance of the Lunar Excursion Module to the Moon on nine launches, six of which landed on the Moon's surface.
Draper's interest in flight instrumentation was also based on his becoming a pilot in the 1930s: although he failed to become an Air Corps pilot, he learned to fly by enrolling in a civilian course.
Draper invented and developed inertial navigation, a technology used in aircraft, space vehicles, and submarines that allows such vehicles to navigate by sensing changes in direction, using gyroscopes, and speed, using accelerometers. A pioneering figure in the aircraft engineering field, he also contributed to the Apollo space program with his knowledge of guidance systems. For his inventions and contributions, Draper was inducted to the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1981.
Draper received the Howard N. Potts Medal in 1960. In 1964 he was awarded the National Medal of Science. He is a 1981 recipient of the Langley Gold Medal from the Smithsonian Institution.
The Charles Stark Draper Prize is a prominent prize in engineering devoted to the memory of Charles Stark Draper. Charles Stark Draper's relatives were prominent in his home state of Missouri, including his cousin, Governor Lloyd C. Stark.
Draper continued working at MIT until January 1970, devoting most of his energy during his final decade to completing the Apollo computers and software. He died in the Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts at age 85. At his death he was eulogized as "one of the foremost engineers of our time".
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