oo Page 4 of 4 .

« It does not appear actical to use a vehicle-borne nuclear power supply tf
. there is photographic Als slog However, it may be possible to use the
nuclear power supply with the videcon equipment.

A satisfactory nuclear * Supply for vehicle use will not be available belore
1960. There is, therefore. & very strong incentive to the development of
a non-nuclear power supply for use with Photographic equipment,

i The open rocket turbine xator is considered capable of
° producing tr Pelee die of elecarical power with fooongscared capable of
per Kilowathchon of hired There is, tarebons 2 inceakive 00 Sener
r - output, ze: an j
Sificiancy rocker turbine-driven generator systems, i

£. The solar Power supplies which depend on focus: mirrors and a closed
thermal cycle lack appeal, The machinery requived to maintets siete atric | i
vehicles Conssranlicated and interferes with the attitude settee ee : |
vehicle, Consequently, emphasis on the photovoltaic approach is recommended.

8. Eastman Kodak has estimated that approximately two pounds of film per week
would be required. .

In the discussion with representatives of all three contractors, it was indicated:
that an all-inertial system was preferred, even this was not officially
Proposed, due toa misunderstanding of Air Force requirements, The rience
which the group at MIT (and A.C, Sparkplug) has gained in the all-ine: field was
One of the guiding factors in selecting MIT over North American Aviation for the :
guidance and attitude stablization equipment, i

It was also recommended that all further work on vehicle-borne star trackers and
horizon seekers be carried at a low priority. The passive stabilization system is
attitude contral.

believed to be better suited for vehi

of approximately-200 people would be required to provide adequate systems man. :-
&@gement for the 117L Project, . . .

None sting conte acertracting toams has. made adequate use of the USAF s ’ sored , j
Contracts or has. made full use of information available on other Ale a
Force programs,



Dare: 22 March 1956 .
L. G.

a CoRBeaPONDENcE
To: Commander R, Truax (2) om: ¥. Donovan (2)
: J. C. Fletcher

S. Ramo

: . VU
Sumueor: Recommendations for Fie aniel From R. Cornog ne! .
WS 117L Development A ae s _
; 1

“his memorandum confirms the zecommendations made to the WS 117L Evaluation
joard on Thursday, 15 March 1956. The recommendations were made by Cornog,
iughes and Shulman of The Ramo- Wooldridge Corporation in the capacity of technical
dvisor to WDD. ‘The recommendations are the result of reviewing the three competing
ontracting teams at Wright Field on the 12th, 13th and 14th of March. The Evaluation .
soard is composed of six members, headed by Col. Baines as President, and including
‘dr. Truax and Lt, Washburn of WDD.

“he recommendations were based on the following criteria: ;
+ Confine recommendations to technical matters of which direct knowledge was _
available, wear

+ Ghoose recommendations which will result in minimum possible interference with ‘
the ws 107 Program, .

Ghoose a plan of action which will maximize the Probability of success of the
S.117L Project. . : :

he following are the recommendations made:
It is felt that none of the contracting teams, or any of the ‘programs which were
suggested by these teams, are adequate to meet the requirements of the Project.

Consequently, it is Fecommended that a number of contracts be awarded to various .

contractors as specified én the tables below, each designed to provide the maxi.
muy utilisation of the technical People available. Thus, each contractor will work
only in the field of his maximum experience, background and ability. .

An additional benefit to be derived from the division of responsibility is the provi-
sion of backup for all of the important components of the WS 1I7L, Project. In this

z, each of the various contractors is competing with someone else to achieve
a worl ble product, ~ oe
In addition to the division of contractual responsibility as outlined above, it is °
recommended that the mana, ment of these contracts not ba given to any of the .
three contracting teams, ‘8 recommendation is made because it was felt that
none of the three contracting teams presented a self-consistent development plan,

The WS 117L Program is of unparalleled breadth and Scope. It encompasses new
frontiers in many fields. None of the three teams appeared to have provided an
administrative organization and talent equal to the program requirements,

‘ DOWNGRADED AT 12 YEAR
INTERVALS; NOT AUTOMATICALLY
DECLASSIFIED. DoD DIR 5200.19

WwW ”

’ 4

Tie

y



. ; _— Page 2 of 4

In addition, it appears that thé most adequate way of incor ating the experience
and knowledge gained in related projects such as the WS 167 3 Progr: :

WS 117L Development is by the retention of WS 117: management by the Air Force.

is Tables I, I, IX and IV summarise the recommendations
tables indicate contracts that could be made at this time,

1am into the

that were made. The
Some further study is.

required, particularly in the area of ground-to-ground communications, and the
s

indicate no recommendation for this part of the

TABLE I

system,

VEHICLE GUIDANCE, ATTITUDE CONTROL, AND.

tem Subject
1 Guidance from
ground to orbit

and
attitude control

2 Electric power

supply-chemical
3 Electric power
supply-solar
4 Electric power
supply-nuclear

em Subject
1 Airframe* for

ferret mission

2 Payload for
ferret mission

Bell Telephone Labs See text, part 4d and 4f,
North American Aviation
TABLE It
VEHICLE AND CONTENTS FOR FERRET MISSION
Recommended Contractor Remarks :
Glenn L, Martin The increased payload of the SM-
68, relative ta the SM-65, should
on : be useful for ferzet. Also priority
: oun ferret is lowdr than visual,
No recommendation R-W did not monitor contractor
Presentations. *<
See Table I

3 Guidance, ete,

ELECTRIC POWER SUPPLY .
(Both visual and ferret vehicles)

Recommended Contractor

Remarks

MIT and A.C, Sparkplug This team is already

IBM

to be first tested

in 1957. This package is. suitable

for ascent

guidance. MIT to do

the development and.A.C. to do
the production design and produc-

See text, part 4d and.4e.

\irframe contract includes: (1). airframe, (2) propulsion, (3) correlation of vehicle
‘sign to provide suitable environment for desired payload, and

ight tests,

(4) Programming of



we . es ~ .
. ~) eno -_ ) aM 56-1121
. Page 3 of 4

. TABLE II . : i
tem Subject Recommended Contractor _ Remarks
1 Airframe* for Lockheed (or Bell) Martin is tied too closely to XBM- |
visual mission 68 booster. There may be resul-
tant delay in 117L, and possible
2  Vehicle-borne Eastman Kodak Either the aphic or the TV
photographic . fystem beni eee airframe,
system L
3. Vehicle to ground C.B.S, This transmitter tied to Eastman :
Photo transmitter . Photographic equipment. } :
4° Vehicle-borne = B.C. A, This contract to include equipment
TV system for image atorage and transmission
to ground.

Airframe contract includes: (1) airframe, (2) propulsion, (3) correlation of vehicle _
esign to provide suitable environment for desired payload, and (4) programming of v |
ight tests. :

TABLE Iv
GROUND STATIONS FOR BOTH VISUAL AND FERRET VEHICLES

em Subject Recommended Contractor Remarks f.
sm —Soommended Contractor .

Ground trackin; R.C.A, The G.E. development for the |
(radar), gr - WS 107 Program will serve as

air link and . backup. :
vehicle receiver . |

2 Ground-to-ground All Proposals inadequate. Further study required.
communications: :

3 Data processing 4 seed operational analysis of WS 117L System is badly needed. |
30

~

development contracts should be placed for te g and
machinery to process WS 117L data, International ss
Machine is a possible contractor. Eastman minicard storage
should probably be included as a part of the system,

Considerations that were used in arriving at the recommendations include: _

a. By the time the 117L System becomes operational, the visual missions will |
probably be of greater strategic importance than the ferret missions, .

b. At the present state of the art, it is possible to collect and store better visual.
images with a Photographic system than with an all-TV system, .