Rocket Girl
Page 29
6. G. Richard Morgan, interview with the author, April 30, 2000. Dieter Huzel worked a short time at Fort Bliss and White Sands before obtaining a more permanent position with Rocketdyne in Canoga Park. He, Mary, and her husband Richard worked together at times.
7. Bergaust, Wernher von Braun, pp. 90, 91.
8. Ibid., p. 91.
9. Mark D. Bowles and Robert S. Arrighi, “NASA's Nuclear Frontier—The Plum Brook Reactor Facility,” published August 2004, p. 29, http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4533/Plum%20Brook%20Complete.pdf.
10. Ibid., p. 29.
11. Ibid., p. 30.
12. Ibid., p. 31.
13. Ibid., pp. 9, 10.
14. Ibid., pp. 22–24.
15. Ibid., p. 27.
16. Ibid.
17. Nahas, Journey of Private Galione, p. 59.
18. Ibid.
19. Ibid., pp. 63–67, 78.
20. Robert S. Kraemer, Rocketdyne: Powering Humans into Space (Reston, VA: AIAA, 2005), p. 11.
21. Piszkiewicz, Nazi Rocketeers, p. 191.
22. Bergaust, Wernher von Braun, pp. 90, 91.
23. Ibid., p. 91.
24. Piszkiewicz, Nazi Rocketeers, pp. 190, 191.
25. Ibid., p. 193.
26. Michael J. Neufeld, Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War (New York: Vintage Press, 2007), p. 197.
27. Ibid., p. 198.
28. Ibid., p. 199.
29. Ibid.
30. Ibid., p. 200.
31. Ibid.
CHAPTER 11: A NEW KIND OF WAR
1. G. Richard Morgan, interview with the author, December 5, 2005.
2. Irving Kanarek, interview with the author, Costa Mesa, March 6, 2011.
3. Two years after Mary stood at that intersection, the airport would be renamed Los Angeles International Airport.
4. Irving Kanarek, interview with the author, Costa Mesa, March 6, 2011. Though everyone, including Kanarek, agrees that he was fired from North American, there are several differing stories on what triggered his termination. Two engineers I interviewed said that Kanarek was fired after inadvertently leaving a briefcase full of secret documents in a bar in Los Angeles. Kanarek insists that story has no truth. Kanarek's version of the secretary's “correction” was verified by other sources, including Bill Webber. However, after North American and the FBI conducted an investigation and discovered the secretary did indeed alter Kanarek's application entry, he was not offered reemployment, lending credence to the idea that there might have been other problems.
CHAPTER 12: WHITEWASHED IN WHITE SANDS
1. Bob Ward, Dr. Space: The Life of Wernher von Braun (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2005), p. 59.
2. Erik Bergaust, Wernher von Braun (Washington, DC: National Space Institute, 1976), p. 83.
3. Ward, Dr. Space, p. 21.
4. Michael J. Neufeld, Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War (New York: Vintage Books, 2007), p. 218.
5. Ward, Dr. Space, p. 59.
CHAPTER 13: ALIAS CHIEF DESIGNER
1. James J. Harford, Korolev: How One Man Masterminded the Soviet Drive to Beat America to the Moon (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1997), pp. 57–63.
2. Matthew Brzezinski, Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries That Ignited the Space Age (New York: Times Books, 2007), p. 100. Brzezinski describes the living conditions at Tyuratam as “monastic.”
3. Victor L. Mote, “Steppe,” Encyclopedia of Russian History, 2004, available at Encyclopedia.com, http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/steppe.aspx.
4. Brzezinski, Red Moon Rising, p. 107.
5. Ibid., p. 108.
6. Ibid.
CHAPTER 14: RED
1. Carla Rivera, “Caltech Named Best Research University in the World—Again,” Los Angeles Times, October 5, 2012, http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/10/caltech-tops-list-of-worlds-universities-again.html.
2. “Liquid Oxygen and Liquid Hydrogen Storage,” NASA, last modified November 23, 2007, http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/LOX-LH2-storage.html.
3. Wikipedia, s.v. “Hydrazine,” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrazine.
4. “Military: V-2 Rocket,” Wikia, http://military.wikia.com/wiki/V-2_Rocket.
5. John D. Clark, Ignition! An Informal History of Liquid Propellants (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1972), p. 86..
CHAPTER 15: POLITICS, PHILOSOPHY, TELEVISION, AND CUSH' SOBASH'YA
1. Constance Green and Milton Lomask, Project Vanguard: The NASA History (Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2009), p. 180.
2. Mike Wright, “The Disney–Von Braun Collaboration and Its Influence on Space Exploration,” NASA, MSFC History Office, http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/vonbraun/disney_article.html. Originally presented by the author at “Inner Space/Outer Space: Humanities, Technology and the Postmodern World,” a Southern Humanities Conference in 1993; later included in Daniel Schenker, Craig Hanks, and Susan Kray, eds., Selected Papers from the 1993 Southern Humanities Conference (Huntsville, AL: Southern Humanities Press).
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. As Brzezinski put it, “von Braun quickly became America's space prophet.” Matthew Brzezinski, Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries That Ignited the Space Age (New York: Times Books, 2007), p. 91.
CHAPTER 16: YOUR VERY BEST MAN
1. The LOX/alcohol isp (specific impulse) value = 284 seconds, “LOX/Alcohol,” Encyclopedia Astronautica, http://www.astronautix.com/props/loxcohol.htm.
2. George P. Sutton, History of Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines (Reston, VA: AIAA, 2005), pp. 39–40, includes a brief description of Irving Kanarek and the invention of inhibited red fuming nitric acid.
3. G. Richard Morgan and Bill Webber, interviews with the author.
CHAPTER 17: WELCOME TO THE MONKEY CAGE
1. The “Talk” section of Mary's Wikipedia page can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Mary_Sherman_Morgan.
2. Bill Webber, interview with the author, October 23, 2012.
3. Wikipedia, “Will Beback Banned,” last modified July 16, 2012, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/TimidGuy_ban_appeal#Will_Beback:_banned (accessed April 16, 2013).
4. Robert S. Kraemer, Rocketdyne: Powering Humans into Space (Reston, VA: AIAA, 2005), p. 44.
5. This George is a reference, of course, to the author.
CHAPTER 18: THE MYSTERIOUS UNKNOWN PROPELLANT PROJECT
1. Michael J. Neufeld, Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War (New York: Vintage Books, 2007), p. 290.
2. Matthew Brzezinski, Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries That Ignited the Space Age (New York: Times Books, 2007), pp. 38, 39.
3. Ibid., p. 98.
4. Ibid., pp. 113, 114.
5. Pronounced “DEE-tuh.”
CHAPTER 19: SMOKE AND FIRE
1. Bill Vietinghoff, SSFL tour guide spiel, November 10, 2012.
2. Wikipedia, s.v. “Petroleum,” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum.
3. Wikipedia, s.v. “Pico Canyon Oilfield,” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pico_Canyon_Oilfield.
4. Irving Kanarek, Bill Webber, and G. Richard Morgan, interviews with the author.
5. Wikipedia, s.v. “Santa Susanna Field Laboratory,” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Susana_Field_Laboratory.
6. Bill Webber, interview with the author, October 28, 2012.
7. George Richard Morgan, interview with the author, September 23, 2012.
8. George Richard Morgan confirmed in his interview with the author that with some exceptions, engineers were rarely invited to firings and that a separate crew handled all test firings. This policy was verified by Bill Webber in his interview with the author.
9. Paul Costa, SSFL tour guide spiel, November 10, 2012.
10. Webber, interview.
11. Information in this section obtained from Webber and Morgan interviews.
12. These were called “SSFL oxygen races.” Webber interview.
CHAPTER 20: DON'T DRINK THE ROCKET FUEL
1. Interview with the author.
2. Background information for this chapter was supplied by Irving Kanarek and Bill Webber in interviews with the author from October 18, 2011, and December 15, 2007, respectively. The firing-sequence announcements were provided by Bill Webber.
3. The isp of hydyne is 309. “LOX/Hydyne,” Encyclopedia Astronautica, http://www.astronautix.com/props/loxydyne.htm.
4. Robert S. Kraemer, Rocketdyne: Powering Humans into Space (Reston, VA: AIAA, 2006), p. 39. The 110-second burn time was so built into the design that the Redstone engines were given a numbering system based on it. The first engine built was named NAA 75-110-01. The “75” stood for the thrust: 75,000 pounds. The thrust was later upgraded to 84,000 pounds, but the numbering system remained unchanged.
CHAPTER 21: PUSK!
1. Matthew Brzezinski, Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries That Ignited the Space Age (New York: Times Books, 2007), p. 145.
2. James J. Harford, Korolev: How One Man Masterminded the Soviet Drive to Beat America to the Moon (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1997), p. 129; and Brzezinski, Red Moon Rising, pp. 152, 153.
3. Brzezinski, Red Moon Rising, p. 153.
4. Ibid., p. 156.
5. Ibid. for Soviet firing sequence.
CHAPTER 22: THE DUTCHMAN COMETH
1. Matthew Brzezinski, Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries That Ignited the Space Age (New York: Times Books, 2007), p. 100.
2. Matt Bille and Erika Lishock, The First Space Race (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2004), p. 106.
3. Ibid., endnote 32 of chapter 6.
4. Constance Green and Milton Lomask, Project Vanguard: The NASA History (Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2009), p. 186.
5. Bille and Lishock, First Space Race, p. 109.
6. Michael J. Neufeld, Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War (New York: Vintage Books, 2007), p. 311.
7. Ibid., p. 312.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid., p. 313.
10. Green and Lomask, Project Vanguard, p. 206.
11. Ibid., p. 208.
12. Ibid., p. 209.
13. “James Howard “Dutch” Kindelberger,” Boeing: History, http://www.boeing.com/history/bna/biog.html.
14. Wikipedia, s.v. “United States Army Air Forces,” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Air_Forces.
15. Bill Webber, interview with the author.
16. See the author's note.
17. Per Bill Webber, interview with the author, October 28, 2012, everyone at NAA was aware of Kindelberger's propensity to fire 5 percent of the employees every year.
CHAPTER 23: 310 AT 1.75 AND 0.8615 FOR 155
1. Bill Webber, interview with the author; see also author's note.
2. Bill Vietinghoff, interview with the author, November 30, 2012, detailing his contribution.
3. Robert S. Kraemer, Rocketdyne: Powering Humans into Space (Reston, VA: AIAA, 2006), p. 38.
CHAPTER 24: THE LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES
1. Dorothy Hegstad is a member of the Sherman family living in Phoenix, Arizona.
CHAPTER 25: SATELLITE WITHOUT A NAME
1. Michael Neufeld, Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War (New York: Vintage Books, 2007), p. 320.
2. Ibid., p. 18.
3. Matt Bille and Erika Lishock, The First Space Race (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2004), p. 128, and JPL Explorer 1 archives, p. 20.
4. Bille and Lishock, First Space Race, p. 129.
5. Ibid., p. 130.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid., p. 132.
CHAPTER 26: WINGS OF THE CONDOR
1. Information in this section gathered from G. Richard Morgan, interviews with the author.
alcohol. See ethyl alcohol (as rocket fuel)
Amenhoff, Carl
coworker of Mary at North American Aviation, 153
member of Mary's bridge group, 178
American Rocket Society
Mary presents paper at, 187–188
bagel
Mary's name for new propellant, 218–219
Bing, Delores
hires new TACIT director, 206
member Caltech faculty, 206
bridge (card game)
Mary's interest in, 14, 101, 164–165
championship player, 23
future husband's interest in, 164–165
OCD behavior involving, 36, 131
part of North American Aviation culture, 14, 154, 179–180, 233
Brophy, Brian, 162, 163
author's first meeting with, 206
directs Rocket Girl (play), 207
hired by Caltech Arts Department, 206
played Commander Maddox on Star Trek, 206
Caltech
author meets Brian Brophy at, 206
Bing, Delores, 206
Brophy, Brian, hired by, 206
Marneus, Shirley
director of TACIT, 45
retires from Caltech, 46
Morgan, G. Richard
attended, 161
freshman antics, 162
graduated from, 164
played football at, 162
play script sent to, 45
produces Rocket Girl (play), 8, 16, 46, 187–188
TACIT, 45, 47, 206
top research university, 304n1
Webber, Bill, graduated from, 197
Chief Designer. See Korolev, Sergei
Collier's Weekly
increased circulation, 213
influenced Walt Disney, 167
published von Braun articles, 167, 213
DeSales College
closing of, 48
founded by Sisters of Notre Dame, 79
Mary
attends, 74, 80
drops out, 103, 183
receives scholarship, 80, 105
relationships, 101
runs away from home to attend, 70–78
studies chemistry, 82, 89, 93, 97, 183
naming of, 79
diethylenetriamine
introduced, 186
Mary considers use of, 215–219
miscibility with UDMH, 227
mixture ratio with UDMH, 190
Disney, Walt
infatuated with space, 167
influence on Mary, 229–230
TV show features von Braun, 167, 168, 203, 273, 304n2
Dornberger, Walter
arranged Kummersdorf visit for Hitler, 67–68
collaborates with von Braun, 67–68, 121, 126
occupation and military rank, 67, 121
surrenders to Allied forces, 128–129
worked at Peenemünde, 67
Eisenhower, President Dwight D.
dismissed von Braun warnings, 253–254
political fallout from Sputnik, 168, 253
pressures Kindelberger, 259
ethyl alcohol (as rocket fuel)
density of, 205
eliminated as a contract candidate, 195
hydyne superior to, 219
Santa Susanna Field Laboratory technician inebriated by, 239–240, 245
specific impulse with LOX, 173
used as a fuel in German V-2, 163
used as a fuel in Redstone, 192, 195
used at Santa Susanna Field Laboratory, 239
FLOX
considered for Redstone, 192, 200
drawbacks of, 200
formulation and definition, 164
fluorine
drawbacks and challenges of, 164, 192
mixed with LOX, 164, 192, 200
potential fuel partners, 200
Fort Bliss
conditions at, 146–147
gateway to White Sands Proving Grounds, 147
German rocket scientists sent to, 146, 169
Huzel, Dieter, hired from, 302n6
US Army base, 146
Francis, Sister Robert
author's 7th grade teacher, 134
Friedman, Joe
fires George Toumey
member of Mary's bridge group, 178
North American Aviation supervisor, 239
promoted to senior engineer, 283
worked on hydyne instability, 264
Galione, John
character of, 111–116, 118–124
discovers death train, 112–113
discovers Dora death camp, 124
discovers V-2 hiding place, 123–124
follows rail track, 113–116, 118–124
place in history, 124
US Army rank, 111
Harz Mountains
Galione's journey in, 111–116, 118–120, 123–124
hiding place of V-2 blueprints and records, 121
hiding place of V-2 components, 124
Hegstad, Dorothy
author learns he has a secret sibling, 268–271
e-mails from, 268–270
member of Sherman family, 308n1
provides Sherman genealogy, 298
Hibbard, Dudley Irving and Mary Grace
discussed with Ruth Fichter, 271
errors contained in e-mails, 270
from Huron, Ohio, 301n1
mentioned in Hegstad e-mails, 269
preservation of records, 301n4
Hibbs, Al
assigned to track Explorer 1, 275
declares satellite launch a success, 275–276
Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer, 275
Hill, the. See Santa Susanna Field Laboratory (SSFL)
Hitler, Adolf
Alpine Redoubt, 126
commits suicide, 112, 128
envisions the ICBM, 145–146
murders his enemies, 43
orders destruction of rocket technology, 118
post-WWI armament strategy, 43
von Braun pleased with Hitler's death, 128
Huntsville
climate compared to Washington, DC, 278
General Medaris stationed at, 172
German scientists become naturalized citizens, 203
Huzel, Dieter, worked at, 262
Redstone project directed from, 208, 254
satellite listening station, 274
Huzel, Dieter
employed by North American Aviation, 121, 262, 264
Fort Bliss, 302n6
hid rocket blueprints in gold mine, 121, 126
von Braun's close associate, 262
White Sands, 302n6