SPACEFLIGHT REVOLUTION L-66-6399 The ''picture of the century" was this first view of the earth from space. Lunar Orbiter I took the photo on 23 August 1966 on its 16th orbit just before it passed behind the moon. The photo also provided a spectacular dimensional view of the lunar surface. NASA SP~4308 SPACEFLIGHT REVOLUTION NASA Langley Research Center From Sputnik to Apollo James R. Hansen The NASA History Series • 1995 National AeronauticS and Space Administration Washington. DC NASA maintains an internal history program for two principal reasons: (1) Sponsorship of research in NASA-related history is one way in which NASA responds to the provision of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 that requires NASA to "provide for the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination of information concerning its activities and the results thereof." (2) Thoughtful study of NASA history can help agency managers accomplish the missions assigned to the agency. Understanding NASA's past aids in understanding its present situation and illuminates possible future directions. The opinions and conclusions set forth in this book are those of the author; no official of the agency necessarily endorses those opinions or conclusions. On the cover: Langley's innovative Little Joe rocket streaks into space from its launchpad at Wallops Island, Virginia, on 4 October 1959, two years to the day after the historic first orbit of the Soviet Sputnik 1. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hansen, James R. Spaceflight revolution : NASA Langley Research Center from Sputnik to Apollo/ James R. Hansen. p. em.- (NASA history series) (NASA SP ; 4308) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Langley Research Center-History. 2. Astronautics-United States-History. I. Title. II. Series. III. Series: NASA SP ; 4308. TL521.312.H36 1995 629.4'0973-dc20 94-24592 CIP For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop:. SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-9328 Contents Illustrations . ix Foreword XV Acknowledgments x:vii Prologue .... x:xv 1. The Metamorphosis . . 1 The Venerable Order of the NACA . 3 Glennan: Welcome to NASA 11 Air versus Space 15 The Public Eye . . . . . 22 2. The First NASA Inspection . 27 Following the NACA Way 33 Project Mercury 37 Big Joe, Little Joe 46 3. Carrying Out the Task 51 A Home at Langley 55 The Tracking Range . 63 Shouldering the Burden 69 The End of the Glamour Days 76 4. Change and Continuity . . . 81 The Organization . . . . 85 Thompson's Obscurantism 91 The Sinking of Hydrodynamics-and Aeronautics? 93 Growth Within Personnel Ceilings 102 The Shift Toward the Periphery 107 Contracting Out . . . . . . . 109 The Brave New World of Projects 112 Uncharted Territory ... 117 5. The "Mad Scientists" of MPD 121 The ABCs of MPD . . . 121 The Solar Wind Hits Home 122 The MPD Branch . . . . . 126 v Spaceflight Revolution Out of the Thnnel . . . . . . 132 Into the Cyanogen Fire 138 The Barium Cloud Experiment 142 The Search for Boundless Energy 147 A Hot Field Cools Off . . 150 6. The Odyssey of Project Echo 153 The International Geophysical Year and the V-2 Panel . 156 O'Sullivan's Design . . 159 Extraterrestrial Relays . 162 Finessing the Proposal . 164 The "Sub-Satellite" . . 166 Something the Whole World Could See 170 Big Ideas Before Congress 175 Assigning Responsibilities 177 Shotput . . . . . . 179 A Burst Balloon 185 "Anything's Possible!" 187 Reflections . . . . . 189 The Hegemony of Active Voice 193 7. Learning Through Failure: The Early Rush of the Scout Rocket Program . . . 197 "Itchy" for Orbit 197 Little Big Man 200 Little Foul-Ups 205 "3-2-1 Splash" 209 Recertification 214 An Unsung Hero 216 Postscript 219 8. Enchanted Rendezvous: The Lunar-Orbit Rendezvous Concept .................. . 221 Brown's Lunar Exploration Working Group 222 Michael's Paper on a "Parking Orbit" 226 The Rendezvous Committees . . . . 230 Houbolt Launches His First Crusade 233 The Feelings Against LOR . . . 237 The Early Skepticism of the STG . 241 Mounting Frustration . . . . . . 245 President Kennedy's Commitment 248 Houbolt's First Letter to Seamans 249 A Voice in the Wilderness 257 The LOR D~cision 260 Postscript . . . . . . . 267 vi Contents 9. Skipping "The Next Logical Step" 269 "As Inevitable as the Rising Sun" . 271 The First Space Station Task Force 274 From the Inflatable Torus to the Rotating Hexagon 277 Betwixt and Between . . . . . . . 286 Manned Orbital Research Laboratory 293 Keeping the "R" Alive . . . . . . 301 Understanding Why and Why Not 305 Lost in Space? . . . . . . . . . 307 10. To Behold the Moon: The Lunar Orbiter Project 311 The "Moonball" Experiment 315 Initiating Lunar Orbiter . . . 319 Project Management . . . . 321 The Source Evaluation Board . 326 Nelson's Team . . . . . . . 332 The Boeing Team . . . . . . 334 The "Concentrated" versus the "Distributed" Mission 336 "The Picture of the Century" . . . 344 Mission More Than Accomplished 346 Secrets of Success . . 350 11. In the Service of Apollo 355 Langley's "Undercover Operation" in Houston 357 The Dynamics of Having an Impact 361 Inside the Numbers . . 366 The Simulators . . . . . . . . . 369 Rogalla's Flexible Wing . . . . . 380 The Apollo Fire Investigation Board . 387 12. The Cortright Synthesis 393 The Stranger . . . 394 The Reorganization . 401 New Directions . . . 413 Critique from the Old Guard 418 Epilogue ... 427 Abbreviations 441 Notes 447 Index 519 The Author 537 The NASA History Series 539 vii Illustrations Earth as photographed by Lunar Orbiter I, 1966 ii Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1958 ........ . 3 Map of Tidewater Virginia, 1930s . . . . . . . 5 Floyd L. Thompson ............ . 6 Langley Aircraft Manufacturers' Conference, 1934 6 NACA Main Committee, 1929 . . . . . . . . 8 Henry J. E. Reid, Vannevar Bush, and George W. Lewis 9 George W. Lewis and Hugh L. Dryden ... . 11 T. Keith Glennan, 1958 . . . . . . ... . 13 T. Keith Glennan and Henry J. E. Reid, 1959 14 NACA test pilot Paul King, 1925 . . . . . . 16 Variable-Density Wind Thnnel, 1922 . . . . . 18 Bell P-59 Peashooter in Full-Scale Thnnel, 1944 . 18 Swallow arrow-wing model in 16-Foot Transonic Thnnel, 1959 21 X-15 model in 7 x 10-Foot High-Speed Thnnel, 1958 .... 21 Aerial photo of Langley, 1950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Mercury exhibit at NASA's First Anniversary Inspection, 1959 29 Ira H. Abbott and Henry Reid, 1959 . . . . . 29 T. Keith Glennan and Floyd L. Thompson, 1959 29 Walter Bonney and T. Keith Glennan, 1959 31 Full-size mock-up of the X-15, 1959 . . . . . . 32 John Stack and Axel Mattson . . . . . . . . 35 Goddard's exhibit at NASA's First Anniversary Inspection, 1959 ............. . 36 Robert R. Gilruth . . . . . . . . . 38 Diagram of Mercury mission concept 39 The Mercury astronauts . . . . . . 40 Molded couches for Mercury capsule . 44 Diagram of Mercury capsule . . . . 44 John Glenn inside Mercury capsule . 45 John Glenn and Annie Castor Glenn, 1959 46 Little Joe capsules constructed in Langley shops 48 Little Joe on the launchpad at Wallops Island 48 Little Joe blasting off from Wallops Island, 1959 49 Little Joe capsule recovered at sea . . . . . . 49 Model of Mercury capsule in Full-Scale Thnnel, 1959 61 Model of Mercury capsule in 7 x 10-Foot High-Speed Thnnel, 1959. . . . . . . . . . . ............ . 61 ix PRE~ PAGE BLANK NOT Fl~fll PAGE INTENTtONALL Y BlANK