Charles Stark Draper

Charles Stark Draper, born on October second, nineteen oh one, was a pioneering American scientist and engineer, widely recognized as the "father of inertial navigation." His remarkable career was marked by his role as the founder and director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Instrumentation Laboratory, which later evolved into the non-profit Charles Stark Draper Laboratory.

Beginning in the 1940s, Draper made significant advancements in inertial guidance systems for aircraft. His innovative spirit shone during World War II when he invented the first lead-computing gunsights for aircraft, a technology that would later be adapted for missile guidance systems.

In nineteen fifty-four, Draper's groundbreaking application of inertial controls to computerized autopilot enabled the Instrumentation Lab to achieve the first coast-to-coast unmanned flight. His contributions were pivotal in making the Apollo Moon landings a reality, thanks to the Apollo Guidance Computer designed for NASA.

In recognition of his extraordinary contributions to science and technology, Draper was honored as one of Time magazine's Men of the Year in nineteen sixty.