FOUNDATIONS NASA’S ROOTS IN THE 

MID-TWENTIETH CENTURY

 A booklet entitled “Monroe Methods for Algebra” (held by W. H. 

Rankins in this photo), which described shortcuts for solving 

frequently used algebraic formulas with a Monro-Matic calculating machine, was tested by human computers at the NACA’s 

Langley Research Center in 1951. (Photo credit: NACA/Bill Taub)

2 From the Chief Historian

4 Goddard Space Flight Center’s Beginnings 

in Project Vanguard

6 Flight Research in the NACA Era

10 Through Unprecedented Circumstances, 

NASA’s Oral History Team Raced to 

Preserve Stories from the NACA

13 Abraham Hyatt in the Early 

Days of NASA

16 The Journey to Adulthood

21 The NACA’s Collier 

Trophy Awards

23 The Origins of International 

Relations at NASA

26 Pearl Irma Young

30 Langley’s Unusual “Igloo”: 

The World’s First HighSpeed Wind Tunnel

33 News from Around NASA

37 Other Aerospace History News

38 Obituary

39 Upcoming Meetings

Volume 41, Number 1 Spring 2024

NASA HISTORY

NEWS&NOTES

NASA HISTORY OFFICE

OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

I

N THE BEGINNING, the National 

A d v i s o r y C o m m i t t e e f o r 

Aeronautics (NACA) was charged 

with a critical mandate, “to supervise 

and direct the scientific study of the 

problems of flight, with a view to their 

practical solution, and to determine the 

problems which should be experimentally attacked, and to discuss their solution and their application to practical 

questions.”1 No trivial task, given the 

small amount of resources appropriated 

at the time and over the next decades. 

The NACA was born in the crucible 

of one war, and it would be the unfortunate sequel to World War I that 

would truly set research and development on a new course in the United 

States. As historian Walter McDougall 

argues, “twentieth-century warfare 

finally established state-sponsored 

and directed R & D as a public duty 

and necessity” as preparation for the 

next total war became “an imperative 

of national survival.”2 By any metric, 

World War II changed the game. 

The Cold War generally, and Sputnik 

specifically, sparked a massive restructuring and funding profile—a process from which NASA emerged on 

1 October 1958. For historians willing 

to tackle them, many key questions 

remain related to the persistence and 

configurations of this transformation. 

What aspects of the Agency’s predecessors are with us today? Is there a level of 

continuity with the NACA pre–World 

War II experience, or was that transformation complete? Did changes in the 

United States parallel efforts across the 

globe? And finally, are there important 

lessons in this history for NASA as it 

moves into the future? 

This spring, the NASA History Office 

will publish Alex Spencer’s edited volume, A Wartime Necessity: The National 

Advisory Committee for Aeronautics 

(NACA) and Other National Research 

Organizations’ Efforts at Innovation 

During World War II. This significant 

From the 

Chief Historian

 Testing of a North American XP-51B Mustang with cropped wings in the Ames 

Laboratory’s 16-Foot High-Speed Tunnel. Researchers were able to trace the source of 

a serious rumble to the plane’s air scoop below the fuselage. (Photo credit: NACA)

What aspects of the 

Agency’s predecessors 

are with us today?

2
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

volume considers the tremendous 

impact of war on aeronautical research 

and development undertaken by the 

NACA at a moment of world crisis. 

A Wartime Necessity also provides an 

opportunity to assess how this critical 

inflection point in world history influenced the direction aeronautical, and 

later aerospace, research and development would take in the early years of 

the emerging Cold War. What traces 

of this experience remain in the DNA 

of NASA today? 

To continue the conversation kicked 

off in A Wartime Necessity, our office is 

partnering with the German Aerospace 

Center (DLR) for a March 2025 

workshop entitled “NASA and DLR: 

The Beginnings of Institutionalized 

Research in the Field of Aviation in 

the Early 20th Century.” This project 

will consider not only the contributions of NASA and DLR predecessor 

organizations, but also how these histories influenced the approaches to 

research at those institutions moving 

forward. Crucially, the workshop is 

also an opportunity to consider the 

international and transnational contexts for research and development 

and its long-term impact on our 

current institutions. 

Confronting these questions about 

our predecessor organizations stimulated our office to take an initial dive 

into the topic. The result is this issue 

of News & Notes. Here, our historians and archivists explore an array of 

topics including the creation of NASA 

Centers, important research and projects, biographies of key individuals, 

archival and oral history collections, 

the experience of women at the NACA, 

and much more. Our goal is not only 

to share some incredible history but to 

stimulate new research questions for 

current scholars. We certainly have 

much to learn from those who blazed 

the trail forward. 

Brian C. Odom

Chief Historian

Endnotes

1 Quoted in Alex Roland, Model Research: 

The National Advisory Committee for 

Aeronautics, 1915–1958, Volume Two

(Washington, DC: NASA SP-4103, 

1985), p. 394.

2 Walter McDougall, ...The Heavens and 

the Earth: A Political History of the Space 

Age, 2nd ed. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins 

University Press, 1997), p. 5.

From the Chief Historian (continued)

 An NACA researcher measures the ice thickness on a landing antenna model in the Icing 

Research Tunnel at the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo 

credit: NACA)

 Hired by the NACA in 1939, Kitty Joyner 

is believed to be the NACA’s first female 

engineer. She is pictured at Langley 

Research Center in 1952. (Photo credit: 

NACA)

3
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

Goddard Space 

Flight Center’s 

Beginnings in 

Project Vanguard

» By Christine Stevens, NASA Chief Archivist

I

N THE DAWN OF THE SPACE AGE, a group of scientists and engineers from the Naval Research 

Laboratory (NRL) had their eye on a new frontier: 

the uncharted expanse of space. Project Vanguard, initiated in 1955, aimed to launch the first American 

satellite into Earth orbit as part of the International 

Geophysical Year (July 1957 to December 1958). Led 

by NRL, the project envisioned a three-stage rocket 

design and emphasized scientific instrumentation 

over military application while showcasing American 

ingenuity. Project Vanguard had ambitious goals 

but encountered difficulties. The first five Vanguard 

launch attempts suffered critical failures, earning it the 

nickname “Flopnik” in the press. The public, eager for 

American success in space following the Soviet Union’s 

launch of Sputnik, was disappointed in Vanguard’s performance. 

However, Vanguard’s legacy extends beyond its initial setbacks. 

On 17 March 1958, Vanguard TV-4, also known as Vanguard I, 

achieved orbit to become America’s second satellite and the world’s 

fourth artificial satellite in space. This success marked a major 

milestone and instilled renewed confidence in the project. Today, 

Vanguard I remains in space as the oldest satellite orbiting Earth.

A few months after the launch of Vanguard I in 1958, the National 

Aeronautics and Space Act was passed, establishing the National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and on 1 May 

1959, NASA Administrator Dr. T. Keith Glennan announced 

that the Beltsville Space Center would become Goddard Space 

Flight Center. The Center would be under the overall guidance of 

Dr. Abe Silverstein, then Director of Space Flight Development at 

NASA Headquarters. 

 The Vanguard II satellite 

is prepared for launch 

on the Vanguard SLV-4 

rocket in early 1959. 

(Photo source: NASA 

Goddard Archives)

 The sphere-shaped Vanguard II satellite reflects the scene 

in this 1959 photo from the preparations for its launch. 

(Photo source: NASA Goddard Archives)

4
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

Recognizing the expertise and dedication of the NRL team, 

NASA transferred many employees from Project Vanguard 

to form the nucleus of Goddard Space Flight Center in 

Greenbelt, Maryland. The migration of NRL scientists and 

engineers to Goddard was not merely a paperwork shuffle; it 

was the transfer of their vital knowledge and experience. 

Their impact was immediate. While initially tasked with 

completing Vanguard’s mission, Goddard quickly expanded 

its scope, encompassing Earth science, astrophysics, and 

space exploration. Early Goddard employees formed the core 

of several projects, including the Explorer series of satellites 

Goddard Space Flight Center’s Beginnings in Project Vanguard (continued)

 Five of the original employees at Goddard Space Flight Center 

participated in a celebration of Vanguard II’s 60th anniversary in 

2019. From left to right, they are Andy Anderson, Ed Habib, Bill 

Hocking, Ron Muller, and Pete Serbu. (Photo credit: NASA/GSFC)

 Top: The parking area outside Building 1 at Goddard Space 

Flight Center circa 1960 left room for improvement. Bottom:

Portable toilets were also parked outside Building 1 circa 1960, 

when running water at the site was still unavailable. (Photo 

sources: NASA Goddard Archives)

and the (Television Infrared Observation Satellite) TIROS 

Program. They tackled the challenges of satellite communication, laying the groundwork for technologies that would 

be used for years. 

Goddard’s dedication ceremony took place on 16 March 

1961, but its employees were hard at work well before that 

day. According to one employee’s account, the Applied 

Mathematics Branch moved from an office in Anacostia to 

the Greenbelt site on 9 May 1960. Other employees from a 

Massachusetts Avenue office building in Washington, DC, 

arrived around the same time. Those early days at Goddard 

were not easy. Parking lots had not been paved and signs 

at the Center directed employees to park their cars under 

a large grove of oak trees. Some buildings did not yet have 

running water, and portable toilets were located outside. 

In celebration of Vanguard II’s 60th anniversary in 2019, 

the Goddard Archives installed newly preserved flight 

spares of Vanguard II and Vanguard III. Vanguard II hangs 

in the atrium of Building 33, and Vanguard III hangs in 

the visitor’s center. The Goddard Archives also hosted an 

event to highlight Goddard’s roots in Project Vanguard. In 

attendance were NRL historian Angelina Callahan, who 

gave a short talk about NRL and Project Vanguard, and 

five employees who worked at Goddard when it was first 

established. The legacy of the early work at NASA Goddard 

endures, not just in its scientific achievements, but also in 

its inspiring work exploring the frontiers of the universe. 

5
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

» By Robert Arrighi, NASA Historian

F

OR MANY, the thought of 

National Advisory Committee 

for Aeronautics (NACA) aircraft 

conjures images of the seminal X-plane 

and Skystreak flights over the California 

desert, which broke the sound barrier 

and laid the groundwork for the space 

program. The NACA, however, utilized 

hundreds of conventional aircraft over 

its 40-plus-year existence to conduct 

flight research on aircraft components, 

propulsion systems, safety issues, and 

high-speed aerodynamics.

The focus here is on flight research, 

which utilizes traditional aircraft to 

carry out investigations and can be conducted on any aircraft that meets the 

requirements for the test. Flight testing, 

on the other hand, entails flying new 

or experimental aircraft. Similarly, test 

pilots fly the latter types of missions, 

and engineering or research pilots perform the former. 

Although the NACA prided itself on 

its wind tunnels and other groundbased test facilities, research flights 

were required to validate the tunnel 

data and obtain measurements for 

parameters that could not be replicated in facilities, particularly the 

transonic realm. Flight research often 

led to new avenues of research unforeseen by engineers. 

Although pilots such as Joe Walker, 

Scott Crossfield, and Neil Armstrong 

gained fame, flight research relied on a 

host of unsung researchers to develop 

the test programs, engineers to integrate the experiment into the aircraft, 

and technicians to install instrumentation and maintain the aircraft.

During early research flights, the pilots 

had to manually notate data while 

maintaining control of the aircraft. 

This became untenable as technology 

advanced and aircraft speeds increased, 

so NACA engineers developed a system that took high-speed photographs 

of the plane’s control surfaces. The 

NACA’s steady improvement of instrumentation in the 1920s and 1930s 

not only improved the quality of the 

measurements, but also significantly 

reduced the number for flights required 

to obtain the requested data.

NACA flight research got off to an 

inauspicious start with the preflight 

cancellation of the first project in 

1918 due to delays caused by the construction of the Langley Memorial 

Aeronautical Laboratory. The first success came almost immediately thereafter, however, when Langley researchers 

used two Curtiss JN-4 Jennies to 

Flight Research 

in the NACA Era

 An Ames flight mechanic installs a towing 

apparatus onto P-51B without its propeller prior to a dive test over Muroc Army 

Air Field in 1944. The tow plane, a P-61A, 

is out of view. (Photo credit: NACA) 

 One of Langley’s Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” 

aircraft flies above fields with a model 

wing suspended from it. (Photo credit: 

NACA)

6
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

gather stability and loads data to compare with wind tunnel findings. 

The NACA’s first significant achievement in flight research came in 1923 

with the testing of an early supercharger 

incorporated into a Liberty engine and 

flown on a De Havilland DH-4. The 

NACA’s addition of radiators to the 

device eliminated a cooling issue and 

increased the performance ceiling from 

10,000 to 20,000 feet. The system was 

then successfully tested on three different aircraft models. Superchargers 

became a key component of nearly all 

military piston engine–powered combat aircraft.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Langley 

rapidly increased its complement of 

both wind tunnels and aircraft. The 

laboratory utilized over 160 different planes between 1919 and 1940, 

including a specially designed Boeing 

PW-9 used to analyze the loads 

encountered during dives and other 

high-stress maneuvers. 

In the late 1930s, Langley began an 

extensive effort to study stability 

and control aspects that affect flight 

safety and the ability to fly the aircraft 

with comfort and precision. Langley 

pilots put more than 60 planes, from 

single-engine planes to the four-engine 

B-17 Flying Fortress, through specific 

maneuvers to record control and motion 

data. This “flying qualities” program 

led to the development of specifications 

for aircraft manufacturers.

Just prior to the onset of World War II, 

the NACA established two new laboratories—the Aircraft Engine Research 

Laboratory (today, Glenn Research 

Center) in Cleveland, Ohio, and the 

Ames Aeronautical Laboratory in 

Sunnyvale, California. In both cases, 

hangars were the first buildings to be 

completed, and most of the research 

staff, including the pilots, transferred 

to the new location from Langley. The 

first research flights at Ames took place 

in the fall of 1940, but the construction of temporary offices inside the 

Cleveland hangar delayed the initial 

flights there until March 1943. 

The NACA’s mission during the war 

shifted from fundamental research 

to the quick resolution of operational 

problems for specific military aircraft. 

The military loaned a bevy of contemporary planes to all three NACA laboratories to use in conjunction with the 

ground facilities. Langley and Ames 

focused on aerodynamic and handling 

issues while the Cleveland laboratory 

attacked engine-related problems 

related to cooling, superchargers, 

and fuel mixtures. For the most part, 

wartime researchers used the types of 

aircraft that the studies were intended 

to improve.

Icing research was one subject investigated by all three NACA laboratories. Langley began the effort in the 

1930s by experimenting with different 

methods of preventing ice buildup on 

aircraft. Lockheed incorporated the 

most promising concept, which transferred engine heat to the wings and 

Flight Research in the NACA Era (continued)

The NACA’s mission 

during the war shifted from 

fundamental research to 

the quick resolution of 

operational problems for 

specific military aircraft.

 An NACA engineer explains the intensive effort at the Cleveland Laboratory to improve 

the cooling of the supercharged Wright R-3350 engines that powered the new B-29 

Superfortress. The modifications were flight-tested on the bomber in the summer of 1944. 

(Photo credit: NACA)

7
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

other vulnerable surfaces, into a 12-A 

Electra aircraft for the NACA. In 1940, 

the 12-A and icing researchers moved 

to the new Ames laboratory. Ames led 

the NACA’s icing research throughout 

the war, testing the heat induction system on B-17 and B-24 bombers and a 

C-46A Commando. The effort led to a 

Collier Trophy award for NACA engineer Lewis Rodert. In 1946, the icing 

program was relocated to the Cleveland 

laboratory, which had performed its 

own icing research during the war. For 

nearly a decade, their pilots purposely 

flew the induction-system-protected 

B-24M Mitchell and XB-25E Liberator 

into dangerous icing conditions around 

the country, initially to examine ice 

buildup on components and early 

jet engines, then to study the atmospheric conditions that produced icing 

droplets. The effort led to advanced 

instrumentation 

and federal icing 

requirements for 

civilian aircraft.

During the war, 

researchers at Ames 

were conducting 

their own drag, 

loads, and compressibility studies 

to complement the 

Langley high-speed 

flight research. In 

the summer of 1944, 

the military allowed 

Ames researchers 

to use their Muroc 

Flight Test Facility 

in the Mojave Desert. 

There, a P51-B 

Mustang without 

its propeller that 

was released from a 

tow plane attained 

speeds of Mach 0.76. Several months 

later, Ames returned to Muroc to 

perform higher-velocity dives using a 

jet-powered P-80 Shooting Star. These 

tests were critical in the validation 

of high-speed wind tunnel data, but 

the non-fatal crash landings of both 

aircraft were sharp reminders of the 

dangers associated with flight research. 

The emergence of the jet engine and 

rocket-powered missile during World 

War II immediately raised the prospect 

of supersonic flight. The NACA was 

just beginning to build small supersonic tunnels, so flight-testing was 

essential. The Army, Navy, and NACA 

agreed to collaborate on a program to 

design experimental research aircraft 

that resulted in the Bell X-planes and 

the Douglas D-558s.

In 1946, the NACA established a small 

facility at Muroc staffed by a modest 

contingent of Langley personnel to 

conduct these experimental high-speed 

research flights, resulting in the breaking of the sound barrier in October 

1947. Subsequent studies included 

swept-wing and delta-wing technologies and the X-15 spaceplane. Muroc 

would become a magnet for NACA 

pilots and several future astronauts.

Flight research using conventional 

aircraft continued at the centers, often 

using surplus military aircraft as testbeds. In Cleveland, a B-29 bomber was 

modified to lower full-scale turbojet or 

ramjet engines from the bomb bay and 

operate them at high altitudes. Similar 

tests were carried out using a P-61 Black 

Widow. In addition, researchers also 

used the B-29, F-82 Twin Mustangs, 

 In this photo taken in November 

1948, a researcher at the Cleveland 

laboratory measures ice buildup on 

a Westinghouse 24C turbojet 

installed under the B-24M’s wing. 

(Photo credit: NACA)

Flight Research in the NACA Era (continued)

 Douglas test pilot 

Eugene May and NACA 

research pilot Howard 

Lilly (right) pose with the 

Douglas D-558-1 

Skystreak #2. On 3 May 

1948, Lilly became the 

first NACA pilot to die 

on duty when a control 

system failure caused 

this aircraft to crash. 

(Photo credit: NACA)

8
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

and later a B-57 Canberra to carry 

ramjet-powered missiles over Wallops 

Island. The missiles relayed data as they 

achieved supersonic speeds during their 

descent toward the ocean.

The disbanding of the NACA in 1958 

led to a severe curtailment of flight 

research at the Langley, Ames, and 

Cleveland laboratories. Although flight 

research resumed at the three former 

NACA centers in the late 1960s, often 

focusing on civilian aviation, scientific 

research, and remote sensing, it never 

again reached the peak levels from 

the 1940s and 1950s. Muroc (today, 

NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research 

Center) remains the world’s premiere 

atmospheric flight research center. 

Flight Research in the NACA Era (continued)

COMING SOON

A WARTIME 

NECESSITY

The National Advisory Committee for 

Aeronautics (NACA) and Other National 

Aeronautical Research Organizations’ 

Efforts at Innovation During World War II

This newest work in the NASA History Series, edited 

by Alex M Spencer, investigates a broad range of topics 

associated with aeronautical research and development 

during World War II within both Allied and Axis countries. It demonstrates how the technological improvements derived from their research were critical to those 

on the front line of combat as well as how wartime expedience and technology required institutions to adapt to 

the world crisis.

 Technicians load a supersonic ramjet-powered missile onto a B-57 Canberra in 

September 1957. (Photo credit: NASA)

9
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

ORAL HISTORY

Through Unprecedented 

Circumstances, NASA’s 

Oral History Team Raced 

to Preserve Stories from 

the NACA

» By Sandra Johnson, NASA Oral History Lead

I

n 2005, NASA’s Chief Historian, 

Dr. Steven Dick, asked the Johnson 

Space Center (JSC) History Office 

to collect oral histories with former 

National Advisory Committee for 

Aeronautics (NACA) employees before 

the opportunity disappeared. This 

would be a new project and distinct 

from the other oral history endeavors 

that Headquarters had traditionally 

supported. The NACA alumni group 

organized reunions periodically at the 

former agency locations in Virginia, 

Ohio, and California, and they were 

gathering near Ames Research Center 

that fall. Dick realized the importance 

of capturing the memories and firsthand experiences of the pioneers of 

aerospace research before they were 

lost, and he provided funds for the 

JSC oral history team to travel to the 

event. The first NACA reunion, held 

almost 30 years earlier, had boasted 611 

participants. A record 810 people took 

part in Reunion IV in 1991. After that, 

attendance steadily dwindled, and 

most of the remaining retirees attending Reunion XI were in their 80s and 

90s. Time was of the essence.

After the call to action from the chief 

historian, the JSC history office manager contacted the reunion organizers 

to obtain the names of the confirmed 

attendees and start the project rolling. 

After identifying potential interview 

subjects, the team followed established 

protocol and sent letters of introduction to each attendee, explaining the 

project, the purpose, and the oral history process. The interview packet also 

included a copy of a standard release, a 

list of general interview questions about 

the NACA, and a biographical form for 

the participants to send back. Having 

this information ahead of the reunion 

allowed alumni the opportunity to 

decide to participate in a recorded 

oral history interview or to provide a 

written response. The team made travel 

arrangements for California, finalized 

the interview schedule, and prepared 

for the new project by researching the 

NACA’s long history. However, before 

reaching the West Coast, the JSC team 

had to take an unexpected detour.

Just a month before the reunion, 

Hurricane Katrina, a devastating 

Category 5 storm, hit the Louisiana 

 Engineer-in-Charge Dr. Smith “Smitty” 

DeFrance greets the NACA’s Ames 

Laboratory original staff members as 

they prepare to have their photo taken on 

30 August 1940. (Photo credit: NACA)

10
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

and Mississippi coasts with catastrophic results. With more than 1,300 

fatalities and damage in the billions 

of dollars, Katrina’s horror played out 

daily on television and dominated the 

news cycle for days. The most active 

Atlantic hurricane season on record at 

the time also included Hurricane Rita, 

which formed a couple of weeks later. 

The fourth-largest tropical cyclone in 

the Atlantic, with record-setting low 

pressure after moving into the warm 

waters of the Gulf of Mexico, Rita 

rapidly strengthened to a Category 5 

hurricane and became the most intense 

storm ever recorded in the Gulf. 

The intensity of the storm as it churned 

toward the mid-Texas coastline and 

the recent devastation by Hurricane 

Katrina combined to trigger one of 

the largest mass evacuations in United 

States history. On 21 September, 

officials began ordering people in 

low-lying areas along the coast to leave 

for safer ground, which included parts 

of Clear Lake and Galveston County, 

where the team members made their 

homes. Fears about a second Katrinalike storm created a chaotic event, overwhelming highways and resulting in 

more than 3 million people attempting 

to leave the Houston/Galveston area at 

the same time instead of the planned 

staggered and orderly evacuation. 

More than two-thirds of those running 

were inland from the coast, not in locations that were in immediate danger or 

under orders to leave. But the devastation from Katrina was still fresh in the 

minds of residents who did not want to 

get trapped in flooded homes like the 

people of New Orleans. 

As the orders to leave came for the 

Galveston County and JSC areas, the 

history team scrambled to protect 

and secure the audio and recording 

equipment, computers, project records, 

books, and all the preparatory material gathered for the NACA project. 

Evacuating with the portable recording 

equipment and research in tow “just in 

case,” no one knew what type of damage would be encountered on return to the 

area after the storm, 

much less when or if 

a flight to California 

would be available. 

The team members 

packed up and joined 

the throngs hoping to 

escape with their families and pets to ride 

out the storm further 

inland. Widespread 

gridlock caused 10- to 

36-hour road trips 

that on a normal day 

would only take 1 to 

5 hours. Gas stations 

along the escape routes 

quickly ran out of fuel 

and supplies, causing more problems 

with stalled vehicles blocking traffic. Temperatures reaching over 100 

degrees with high humidity resulted in 

107 deaths in the rush to escape, most 

of those from heat exhaustion. 

The storm took a late turn away from 

the Houston/Galveston area, adding 

to the traffic snarl across the state, and 

finally made landfall on the border 

between East Texas and Louisiana. 

Leaving a wide swath of destruction 

in its path, Rita was the strongest hurricane to strike Southeast Texas and 

Southwest Louisiana since Hurricane 

Audrey in 1957. 

After another long road trip in reverse 

to get back home, there was no time 

to relax before the trip to California 

for the NACA reunion weekend, but 

the extra effort proved worthwhile and 

yielded 13 recorded interviews and 59 

written biographical submissions. The 

attendees were welcoming and excited 

to have a chance to tell their stories 

and already looking forward to another 

opportunity in Virginia. 

Three years later, at Langley Research 

Center, NACA Reunion XII provided 

more willing oral history participants, 

but because of the aging alumni, it 

became the last organized event for the 

Through Unprecedented Circumstances, NASA’s Oral History Team Raced to Preserve Stories from the NACA (continued)

 Hurricane Rita swirling in the Gulf of Mexico, as seen by an 

Expedition 11 crewmember on the International Space 

Station on 25 September 2005. The hurricane was heading toward the Texas coast. (Photo credit: NASA)

Widespread gridlock 

caused 10- to 36-hour 

road trips that on a normal 

day would only take 1 to 

5 hours.

11
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

NACA. The effort to collect their oral 

histories continued in 2014 and 2015 

and included visits to the former NACA 

sites in Ohio, Virginia, and California, 

resulting in 48 more interviews. Their 

stories capture the experiences of only 

a handful of people who worked at the 

facilities but provide the human story of 

America’s endeavor to serve as the leader 

in aeronautical research and the technical innovations that resulted from their 

labors. The contributions documented 

through the project vary widely and 

reveal the expertise and ingenuity of 

aeronautical researchers and engineers 

utilizing wind tunnels, the bravery and 

thrill of flying test aircraft, the fear and 

sadness of losing a husband to that service, and the mundane day-to-day work 

behind the scenes that kept the NACA 

moving forward. 

Young men and women fresh out of 

school, or just back from serving their 

nation in World War II, traveled across 

the country on trains and planes, some 

for the first time, and made their homes 

in unfamiliar locations without family 

support, in questionable accommodations, and in fields of work that 

were just opening up to women and 

minorities. By making the decision 

to join the NACA, many discovered 

their future—in their career and their 

lives. They married, put down roots 

in the area, and raised their families. 

They transformed their neighborhoods 

and communities, sometimes labeled 

“NACA-nuts” by the locals because of 

their unique way of tackling problems. 

Some designed and constructed their 

own homes with help from their colleagues, adding avant-garde options the 

same way they engineered and built the 

emerging field of aeronautical research. 

They developed lifelong friendships and 

played as hard as they worked. Their 

memories were shared through smiles 

and laughter, as well as tears, but most 

referred to their time with the NACA 

as the best time of their lives. 

Through Unprecedented Circumstances, NASA’s Oral History Team Raced to Preserve Stories from the NACA (continued)

 Langley Research Center’s Building 1146 is in the foreground in this photograph of the 

16-Foot High-Speed Tunnel taken 15 March 1949. (Photo credit: NACA)

NASA’S ORAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS

contain informal interviews dating 

back to the early days of NASA and 

conducted by Center historians and 

authors researching specific subjects 

for their publications. However, the first 

large-scale and formally organized oral 

history program was not established 

until 1997. At that time, Johnson 

Space Center Director George Abbey, 

inspired by the work of historian 

Stephen Ambrose, commissioned a 

project to preserve the stories from 

the pioneers of human spaceflight 

before the veterans of those programs 

were lost. Created with the charter 

to conduct as many interviews as 

possible with JSC retirees, current 

employees, and contractors, the 

transcripts would then be archived and 

made available for use by researchers 

and the general public. Known as the 

JSC Oral History Project, the effort 

later became a function of the JSC 

History Office, and the team continued 

to collect and preserve the history 

of the Houston center for the next 

25 years. Through the team’s work, 

JSC was soon recognized as the 

Center for excellence for oral history at 

NASA, and successive chief historians 

requested additional Agency-wide 

projects each year beginning in 

1999. Over the successive years, the 

team talked with more than 1,000 

participants and contributed over 

1,300 interviews to the archives. Now 

as a part of the larger History and 

Information Services Division, NASA 

historians and oral history specialists 

continue to conduct interviews and 

add to this impressive collection.

Read the NACA oral histories Read NASA’s oral histories

12
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

Abraham Hyatt in the Early 

Days of NASA

From Fighting Nazis to 

Collaborating on Apollo

» By Julie Pramis, NASA Archivist

NOVEMBER 1957: Hugh Dryden, 

Director of Aeronautica l 

Research for the NACA and 

soon-to-be Deputy Administrator of 

NASA, brings together leaders from 

across the federal government, the 

private sector, and several universities 

to create the Special Committee on 

Space Technology. This new committee would advise the U.S. government 

on the development of a national space 

program. Among its members was 

Abraham Hyatt, Chief Scientist and 

Research Analysis Officer for the Navy 

Bureau of Aeronautics.

Hyatt had operated under the Navy’s 

Bureau of Aeronautics since his time in 

active duty as a Marine in World War II 

(WWII). During the war, he worked 

with the Bureau gathering intelligence 

in Germany and Eastern Europe: “[I]t 

was our function to proceed with the 

front line troops. When we entered a 

place where there were any technical 

work, research or developments going 

on we were to assess what was there and 

send the information back.”1 Hyatt and 

his team members obtained information, then sent their findings on to specialists who could exploit the intel for 

the allied forces. After the war, Hyatt 

moved up the ranks with the Bureau’s 

Research Division in progressively 

higher positions of management.

With this experience, as well as his 

bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering from Georgia Tech and his previous work in the private sector for other 

aircraft companies, Hyatt was an ideal 

hire when the NACA was absorbed into 

NASA. The Special Committee published “Recommendations Regarding 

a National Civil Space Program” in 

1958, just as Hyatt was serving as the 

Assistant Director of Propulsion for the 

new space agency.

Shortly thereafter, Hyatt would 

work with members from the Special 

Committee again, in particular with 

Wernher von Braun, on the Saturn 

Vehicle Team. Von Braun received a 

doctorate in physics in Berlin and, in 

1940, had served as a junior SS officer. Following the war, von Braun was 

moved to the United States as a part of 

Operation Paperclip—a secret movement of German scientists, engineers, 

and technicians to work for the U.S. 

government. Von Braun and Hyatt 

worked together on Saturn I, under 

Abe Silverstein, an NACA/NASA 

employee and American Jew who had 

 The Special Committee on Space 

Technology, called the Stever Committee 

after its chairman, Guyford Stever, meets 

at the NACA Lewis Flight Propulsion 

Laboratory in Ohio, 26 May 1958. Left to 

right, Edward R. Sharp, Colonel Norman 

C. Appold, Abraham Hyatt, Hendrik W. 

Bode, W. Randolph Lovelace II, S.  K. 

Hoffman, Milton U. Clauser, H. Julian 

Allen, Robert R. Gilruth, J. R. Dempsey, 

Carl B. Palmer, H. Guyford Stever, Hugh 

L. Dryden, Dale R. Corson, Abe 

Silverstein, and Wernher von Braun. 

(Photo credit: NACA)

13
Abraham Hyatt in the Early Days of NASA (continued)

NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

worked on aircraft research for World War II combat. 

To be a fly on that wall!

One critical decision the Saturn Vehicle Team made was 

to use liquid hydrogen as a second-stage propellant for 

Saturn I, Block II. This method would then continue to 

be used for upper stages throughout the Apollo program. Among Hyatt’s handwritten notes on the plans 

for Saturn is a letter he wrote 10 years later to NASA 

Administrator Dr. Thomas Paine about his team’s work:

there were a handful of decisions which can be 

classed as truly overriding in their importance 

to the ultimate success of the Lunar Landing 

Program.... One of these dominating contributions, I believe, was the decision to use LOX 

Hydrogen as the propellants for the upper stages 

of the Saturn Launch Vehicle.2

According to Hyatt, consensus from the team on using 

liquid hydrogen as a propellant took time and convincing, particularly to earn von Braun’s agreement. In the 

end, the Saturn Team left behind a significant legacy on 

spaceflight history.

In the six short years that he worked for NASA, Hyatt 

had a great impact on its operations. He started with the 

Saturn Vehicle Team in the role of Assistant Director for 

Propulsion Development. Later he would be promoted 

to Deputy Director for the Launch Vehicle Directorate, 

and in 1960 he was promoted again to Director of 

Long-Range Planning and Program Evaluation, a 

position he held through the remainder of his time at 

NASA. Hyatt was awarded the NASA Certificate of 

 Poster of the Saturn V launch vehicle from the Abraham Hyatt 

Collection in the NASA Headquarters Archives. (Photo source: NASA 

Headquarters Archive)

“One of these dominating 

contributions, I believe, was the 

decision to use LOX Hydrogen as the 

propellants for the upper stages of 

the Saturn Launch Vehicle.”

14
Abraham Hyatt in the Early Days of NASA (continued)

NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

Appreciation in 1963, his last year with 

the Agency.

The “Recommendations Regarding a 

National Civil Space Program” report, 

Abraham Hyatt’s letter to Dr. Thomas 

Paine, several of his handwritten notes 

on the Saturn Vehicle Team, and the 

images shown here are all available 

to view and research in the NASA 

Archives’ Abraham Hyatt Collection 

in the Headquarters Archives. A digital 

copy of the transcript of Hyatt’s oral history interview is available upon request 

from the Headquarters Archives. The 

Abraham Hyatt Collection holds 

materials from the breadth of his 

adult life and career. Beyond everything already described above: his 

personal correspondence, speeches 

given to Congress, involvement with 

the American Institute of Aeronautics 

and Astronautics, lectures at the 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 

and more. Further materials about his 

work at NASA are also available from 

other collections in the archive, all of 

which just scratch the surface of a fascinating life and career. 

 Abraham Hyatt receives the NASA Certificate of Appreciation in 1963. (Photo source: 

NASA Headquarters Archive)

STAY UP 

TO DATE

SUBSCRIBE to the NASA 

History Office’s mailing list to get 

updates on events and publications.

Send a blank e-mail to 

history-join@lists.hq.nasa.gov

Endnotes

1 John W. Young Oral History Interview, 28 June 1974, transcript available in the NASA 

Headquarters Archives.

2 Abraham Hyatt, letter to Dr. Thomas Paine, 24 November 1969, “[Papers on hydrogen propulsion/Saturn/Apollo],” HQ-2019-07, box 15, folder 3, NASA Headquarters 

Archives, Washington, DC.

15
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

» By Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, NASA Historian

F

OR YOUNG AMERICAN WOMEN, 

securing a job at one of the 

National Advisory Committee for 

Aeronautics (NACA) laboratories and 

sites in the 1940s and 1950s represented 

the first step on their path to adulthood. 

A position with the NACA promised 

women financial independence and 

allowed them to transition from adolescence and, for many, the opportunity 

to move out of their childhood homes. 

Here, at these research laboratories and 

sites, young single women established 

their careers; met, dated, and married 

their husbands; built lifelong friendships; started their families; and even 

had some fun along the way. Some 

stayed for many years, while others left 

after marriage and returned after raising 

their children. As was expected, most 

of these women accepted positions in 

traditionally female occupations; they 

were secretaries, stenographers, typists, 

nurses, and librarians. Others worked 

as mathematicians or computers, and a 

handful as engineers. While some saw 

women as temporary employees assisting with the war effort, or as wives and 

mothers first and foremost, some men 

saw what these girls had to offer, if given 

the chance. For most young women 

working at the NACA, that great adventure known as life began when they 

received their job offer. 

Many came to the NACA after completing high school or earning their 

baccalaureate degree. To encourage 

girls to apply for open positions, the 

Civil Service Commission offered 

the civil service exam in some high 

schools. Students who took the exam 

and received a high rating remembered 

how this accomplishment incentivized 

women to work for the federal government. Some were as young as 17 

when they received offers to become 

secretaries or typists. Opportunities 

abounded for women with degrees in 

mathematics, and the NACA recruited 

The Journey to Adulthood

First Stop, NACA

 A group of women scientists at NASA’s 

Langley Research Center in 1959. From 

left to right, they are Emily Stephens 

Mueller, Jean Clark Keating, Dottie Lee, 

Katherine Collie Speegle, Ruth Whitman, 

and Lucille Coltrane. (Photo credit: 

NASA/Bill Taub)

16
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

women from female colleges across 

the South to fill computer and mathematician positions at the Langley 

Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory 

in Hampton, Virginia. On the West 

Coast, the committee relied on word 

of mouth to attract computers and 

offered positions to women attending 

California colleges. The need for mathematicians was so great that Eleanor 

“Jerry” Jaehnig received an offer even 

before she graduated from Winthrop 

College in South Carolina. Higher pay 

and a chance to work on cutting-edge 

research encouraged women to reconsider the traditional path to adulthood, 

as a wife and mother, and to instead 

consider a career with the NACA.1

Like many Americans, young women 

were increasingly mobile in the 1940s 

and 1950s, often moving to seek better 

opportunities. Leaving home could be 

the ticket to building a secure future. 

Plus, moving enabled women to break 

free from their parents and their generational attitudes about what girls could 

and should do. They made their own 

decisions on their own terms. 

One of the first decisions they had to 

make after being hired was how to 

reach their destination and then find 

a place to live. Sugenia M. Johnson 

ended up in Norfolk and had to find 

her way over to Hampton with her 

luggage. Not knowing any better, she 

ended up accepting a ride from a kind 

stranger at the train depot, who she 

later learned was the local bookie’s 

girlfriend. As she explained, options 

for housing for single women were limited. She secured a spot in government 

housing, which she described as a “a 

two-story chicken coop. That’s the only 

way I could explain it.” The unit had 

been shoddily constructed during the 

war, and, she recalled, “The woman 

that was in charge of it looked like 

a madam.”2

Another young woman, Mary Ann 

Johnson, had never flown on a plane 

before and did not know what to 

expect once she arrived at Langley. “I 

just thought it would be something 

different. I thought, well, this sounds 

like fun.” She flew into Norfolk and 

took the ferry into Hampton Roads. 

She did not know where she would 

stay and had no car, but she located 

a temporary place to stay and waited 

for her roommate, who arrived three 

or four months later. Finding housing in Hampton could be difficult, so 

some of the girls rented rooms from 

local homeowners and took meals at a 

nearby boarding house.3

Transportation to and from the labs was 

also an issue for young women without 

vehicles. Some of the women relied on 

male colleagues to drive them to and 

from work, while others took the bus. 

For those who moved from out of 

state to work at one of the labs, the 

surrounding communities had a familiar feel. Mary Ann Johnson likened 

South Hampton to “a college campus” 

when she arrived. “It was so filled with 

young people—young single people.” 

None were bored or lonely. Leisure 

activities were affordable and enabled 

youth to share experiences that drove 

them together. Groups of young people 

hung out together and bowled, skied, 

cheered on local baseball teams, and 

attended picnics and dances. To let off 

steam after work, employees grabbed a 

beer or shared a meal. Many of “these 

people were just out of school, and they 

were really spreading their wings.”4

The Journey to Adulthood (continued)

 The staff of the 4-foot by 4-foot Supersonic Pressure Tunnel at Langley gather for a photo 

on August 15, 1956. (Photo credit: NACA)

17
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

Concentrated in clerical positions, 

young women handled the paperwork 

generated by their divisions and offices. 

Engineers and scientists relied on their 

secretaries to type their reports and 

handle correspondence. There was 

so much typing at the Lewis Flight 

Propulsion Research Lab in Ohio that 

June C. Bahan-Szucs recalled being 

asked if she like to type. When she 

replied yes, her supervisor said, “‘Well, 

you’d better. You’re going to be typing a lot.’ And boy,” she added, “that 

was the greatest understatement of the 

world.” NACA technical reports were 

complicated. In addition to summarizing research findings and conclusions, 

these reports included statistics, charts, 

figures, and equations—all of which 

clerks had to learn to type. And mistakes were “not acceptable in any form, 

any shape. It had to be perfect.” On top 

of that, the publications had to meet 

NACA standards.5

Even though their tasks could be overwhelming, these young women found a 

way to make their work fun. To ensure 

they had not made any mistakes, they 

often read the papers out loud, but 

because they did not know how to 

pronounce the Greek symbols or aeronautical terms, they “made up our own 

Greek. We made some other pronunciations that were quite funny, like a 

manometer, that was a man-o-meter.” 

When reading “the equations, instead 

of deltas, you’d have triangles, and 

then instead of psis, you’d have pitchforks, and then you’d have all manner 

of things.” Those readings often broke 

out in fits of laughter because the paper 

sounded so silly.6

As was the case with clerical work, 

women held a near total monopoly on 

library positions within the NACA. 

Jane S. Hess, who served as a librarian at Langley, worked closely with 

engineers, pilots, and scientists. She 

was involved in aeronautical and flight 

research and learned “all about it,” she 

said. “I had to know about it because I 

had to acquire the proper materials.” To 

identify the books and journals the lab 

needed access to, she formed a library 

committee that included a researcher 

from each division. This team, along 

with her guidance, helped build an outstanding scientific library.7

Nursing was another female occupation at the NACA. They worked in the 

dispensary, where they saw employees 

with “colds, stomach aches, hangnails, 

cuts, bruises, hangovers [after a] bad 

night, and of course, pneumonia.” If 

someone had a serious injury, they 

sent them to the nearby hospital, but 

most of the time the nurses made 

their own decisions without consulting a physician. Marilyn Lunney, who 

worked at Lewis, explained, “You learn 

very soon that you make choices and 

decisions you are going to have to live 

with, and so was the patient.” She also 

educated patients who had received 

a diagnosis “but had no clue what it 

was. ... They’d come in with whatever 

books they found, ‘Can you tell me 

what this means? Can you tell me what 

that means?’”8

Other women at the NACA worked as 

computers. They read flight tape and 

film, analyzed the data, and plotted 

figures. Using their Friden calculators 

or slide rules, they filled out data sheets. 

One of those computers, Mary Ann 

Johnson, called this type of work “very 

boring” until she started working more 

closely with engineers on their projects. 

“I went to school to do all of this,” she 

thought to herself. “All I’m doing is 

punching this little machine.”9

Some engineers saw potential in many 

of the young female computers and provided them with opportunities to gain 

greater responsibility and more authority. Philip Donely at Langley assigned 

Jaehnig the task of measuring the gravity and speed of the P-40 aircraft using 

a V-G recorder. “He did a lot for me,” 

she said. “He was determined that he 

was going to make an engineer out of 

me,” but was disappointed when she 

The Journey to Adulthood (continued)

“...these people were just 

out of school, and they 

were really spreading 

their wings.”

—Mary Ann Johnson

 Portrait of Marilyn Lunney. (Photo credit: 

NACA) 

18
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

got married and quit working. Maxime 

A. Faget trained Dorothy B. “Dottie” 

Lee to become an engineer, after she 

filled in for his secretary while she was 

on her honeymoon. Lee worked as a 

computer, and later as a mathematician, 

but agreed to substitute for Faget’s secretary because one of her projects at the 

time “was to solve a triple integral for 

an engineer, so it didn’t require using 

my calculator. I could just do it at my 

desk.” She shared an office with his 

secretary, so she worked on her triple 

integral while answering the phone 

and handing out the mail. After the 

two weeks were up, Faget asked her to 

join his group, so she worked for the 

Pilotless Aircraft Research Division, 

and she eventually spent time at 

Wallops Island testing rockets.10

Finding a job, especially one that paid 

well and was fulfilling, was important 

to becoming an adult, but the NACA 

was not all about work. Forming 

romantic relationships and long-lasting 

friendships was another important step 

toward reaching adulthood that the 

committee helped to foster. 

One secretary described the NACA as 

“a lovely marriage factory.” In at least 

one instance, Lewis’s Director, Edward 

R. Sharp, played matchmaker. When 

he visited the onsite clinic, he joked 

with his youngest nurse, Marilyn, who 

was still single. “Have you not found 

anybody out here yet? Do I need to 

hire some more young engineers?” he 

The Journey to Adulthood (continued)

 A Langley computer works with a Friden machine nearby. (Photo credit: NACA)

19
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

asked. “I want to be sure we get you 

a good guy. Now, tell me what you’re 

looking for.” When she said many of 

the men who came to the clinic needed 

help with “hangnails and hangovers,” 

he replied, “Oh they’re just looking you 

over.” Once she started to date Glynn 

Lunney (her future husband) Sharp 

asked her, “Do you think this one is 

okay, or do I need to hire some more?” 

After all, there were plenty of fish in 

the sea. (Bahan-Szucs recalled that at 

one point there were 80 men for every 

woman on site.) That did not mean that 

every man was “Mr. Right.” Sharp just 

had to find her the right one. Finding a 

match at Lewis and the other labs was 

sometimes more complicated.11

For the young women working in 

Personnel, it might have been a bit easier to find someone suitable because 

they had access to employee records 

and photos. Bahan-Szucs joked that 

the women working there determined 

“who we wanted to date by how much 

money they made, how cute they were, 

and if they were single. You know, we 

really had it made.”12

The young women also had to figure out 

how to handle some of the men they 

worked with. There were some issues 

with so few women working on site. 

Some men harassed the women. Many 

ogled them from a distance. There was 

such concern about men, who overwhelmingly outnumbered the women, 

and their bad behavior (whistling or 

watching the women walk to lunch—

with binoculars) that the supervisor of 

the clerical staff armed her employees 

with cayenne pepper and refused to 

let her girls go to the cafeteria alone. 

They relied on the buddy system. None 

recalled any real danger, however, and 

some sneaked out without their pals 

“because it was so much fun” to have 

the men appreciate their moxie.13

Besides dating, the women formed 

friendships with each other. Many 

were around the same age, and they 

stayed in touch after they married 

and throughout their lives. “One of 

the most wonderful things [about the 

NACA],” Bahan-Szucs shared, “are the 

friends that I have developed and kept 

all through the years.” These friendships extended to the couples working 

at the NACA.14

Receiving a job with the NACA was an 

integral step for young female employees 

becoming adults and learning to make 

their own life choices for the first time. 

Leaving home was a leap of faith during 

those years but allowed these women 

to spread their wings. They faced many 

new decisions such as where to live, with 

whom to live, and how to get to work 

and navigate a whole new unfamiliar 

world of aerospace research. Although 

some NACA engineers saw women’s 

primary role as that of mother and wife, 

some saw their promise and offered 

them opportunities to challenge this 

bias. While the women at the NACA 

worked hard, everyone made time for 

fun, new experiences, and friendships, 

which were maintained even after marriage and raising children. Their NACA 

years, these women believe, represented 

the start of their most fulfilling years 

of life. 

One secretary described 

the NACA as “a lovely 

marriage factory.”

The Journey to Adulthood (continued)

Endnotes

1 Eleanor “Jerry” Jaehnig, interview by 

Sandra L. Johnson, 2 April 2014, transcript, NASA Headquarters NACA Oral 

History Project (hereafter NHNOHP); 

Sheryll Goecke Powers, Women in Flight 

Research at NASA Dryden Flight Research 

Center from 1946 to 1995 (Washington, 

DC: NASA SP-4506, 1997), p. 11. 

2 Sugenia M. Johnson, interview by 

Rebecca Wright, 2 April 2014, transcript, NHNOHP.

3 Mary Ann Johnson, interview by 

Sandra L. Johnson, 3 April 2014, transcript, NHNOHP; Jaehnig interview. 

4 Mary Ann Johnson interview; Jaehnig 

interview.

5 June C. Bahan-Szucs, interview by 

Sandra L. Johnson, 29 September 2005, 

transcript, NHNOHP.

6 Ibid. 

7 Jane S. Hess, interview by Sandra 

L. Johnson, 2 April 2014, transcript, 

NHNOHP. 

8 Marilyn K. Lunney, interview by 

Rebecca Wright, 11 June 2014, transcript, NHNOHP.

9 Mary Ann Johnson interview. 

10 Jaehnig interview; Dorothy B. “Dottie” 

Lee, interview by Rebecca Wright, 10 

November 1999, JSC Oral History 

Project.

11 Ba han-Szucs inter view; Lunney 

interview. 

12 Bahan-Szucs interview. 

13 Ibid. 

14 Ibid.

20
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

The NACA’s Collier Trophy Awards

F

OR OVER 100 YEARS, the annual Collier Trophy has 

signified the greatest achievement in the aerospace field 

from the previous year. NASA’s most recent award, 

with a Northrop Grumman–led industry team, recognized 

the success of the James Webb Space Telescope. In the years 

before NASA, the celebrated breakthroughs from the NACA 

relied on processes and methods more than any unique 

gadget. Individuals led, but people—teams, not singular 

mythical geniuses working in solitude—have advanced the 

insights that contribute to the performance, efficiency, and 

safety of aeronautical technology.

For more on each award up to the Hubble Space Telescope, 

see From Engineering Science to Big Science: The NACA 

and NASA Collier Trophy Research Project Winners,

edited by Pamela E. Mack (NASA SP-4219). Relevant 

chapters are highlighted below.

1929 Low-Drag Engine Cowling

It defied intuition that covering a hot radial engine to streamline 

its aerodynamics could also cool the engine, but that was exactly 

what happened after the NACA systematically tested cowling 

variations and found a custom design that achieved both. The 

NACA lacked, however, an analytical understanding for why their 

cowling design worked. As new engines and new aircraft were 

built, the award-winning cowling was not plug-and-play. It was 

not a radical innovation. The NACA responded in the 1930s by 

modifying their approach, applying more mathematics, and gaining fundamental insight into the airflow involved (after winning 

the award). In this 1929 photo, a Langley flight crew installs an 

experimental low-drag cowling on the Fokker Trimotor.

See James R. Hansen, “Engineering Science and the 

Development of the NACA Low-Drag Engine Cowling.” 

(Photo credit: NACA)

1946 Wing De-Icing System

Like the NACA cowling, thermal de-icing was not a radical innovation, nor did the work rely on much theory. Instead, an NACA 

team led by Lewis Rodert (front row, center) employed practical 

experimentation in flight to address a deadly problem that had 

plagued aircraft operations for years. They investigated and 

refined multiple approaches to de-icing before and during World 

War II. Their experimental, cut-and-try methods provided insight 

for both industry and the military, who had been devising their 

own de-icing systems. The NACA continued the work in its Icing 

Research Tunnel, which initially wound down in the late 1950s with 

icing seemingly solved, but returned to prominence with advances 

in aviation that presented new icing problems for helicopters and 

more efficient jets.

See Glenn E. Bugos, “Lew Rodert, Epistemological Liaison, and 

Thermal De-Icing at Ames.” 

(Photo credit: NACA)

21
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

The “Greatest Communications Experiment in History” or a Case Study in Geopolitics During the Cold War? (continued)

1951 Slotted-Throat Wind Tunnel

Four years later, Stack and his associates won the award again, 

this time for the work that led to the transonic wind tunnel. In 

1946, NACA physicist Ray Wright had realized that partially 

opened walls in a wind tunnel would more accurately simulate 

the atmosphere, since a wind tunnel’s walls were well known to 

distort the air flow. Stack led the team that first prototyped the 

slotted concept and then quickly converted Langley’s existing 

8-Foot High-Speed Tunnel into the 8-Foot Transonic Tunnel. Its 

test section is shown in the photo. Other NACA tunnels soon followed suit. It was the first time the Collier Trophy had recognized 

a specific research tool, as opposed to specific airplanes, flights, 

or pieces of equipment.

See Steven T. Corneliussen, “The Transonic Wind Tunnel and the 

NACA Technical Culture.” 

(Photo credit: NACA)

1954 Whitcomb’s Area Rule

Tests conducted in the newly converted 8-Foot Transonic Tunnel 

at Langley led directly to the NACA’s fifth and final Collier Trophy 

before the advent of NASA. Richard Whitcomb, seen here in the 

test section of the 8-Foot Tunnel, devised the Area Rule. The 

rule’s influence is evident in the signature “Coke bottle” shape 

of the fuselage, which dramatically reduces drag at high speeds. 

The adoption of the rule in airplane design can be seen in virtually 

every transonic or supersonic aircraft from the era. Whitcomb was 

awarded the trophy a mere two months after his classified work 

had been made public.

See Lane E. Wallace, “The Whitcomb Area Rule: NACA 

Aerodynamics Research and Innovation.” 

(Photo credit: NACA)

1947 Supersonic Flight

Unlike the NACA cowling and the de-icing work, flying faster than 

sound was a culmination of more than two decades of high-speed 

flight research at the NACA, blending practical engineering 

approaches with theoretical, scientific knowledge. When that 

work contributed to the success of the Bell X-1, it was John Stack 

who had been leading the team of NACA researchers engaged 

in the effort. Stack was a co-recipient of the trophy for breaking 

the sound barrier. He shared the award with two other individuals: 

Lawrence Bell and Chuck Yeager.

See John D. Anderson, Jr., “Research in Supersonic Flight and 

the Breaking of the Sound Barrier.” 

(Photo credit: NACA)

The NACA’s Collier Trophy Awards (continued)

22
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

The Origins of 

International 

Relations at NASA

Arnold Frutkin’s Principles 

for Space Cooperation

» By Steve Garber, NASA Historian

HOW DID NASA’S EFFORTS at international cooperation come about? While NASA’s predecessor organization, the National Advisory Committee for 

Aeronautics (NACA), dates back to 1915, it was largely 

focused on strengthening American domestic aeronautics 

capabilities in the face of international competition. Things 

changed, however, in 1958 with the passage of NASA’s 

founding charter, the National Aeronautics and Space Act. 

The “Space Act” explicitly called for peaceful “cooperation by 

the United States with other nations and groups of nations in 

work done pursuant to this Act.”1 So NASA and other government leaders needed a basic blueprint for when and how 

to cooperate in space, given that geopolitics often intervened 

in specific efforts. 

Enter Arnold Frutkin. NASA’s first international relations 

chief early on laid out some fundamental, if informal, principles for international cooperation.2

 As background, it is useful 

to be familiar with a little bit of Frutkin’s personal biography. 

Frutkin was born in 1918, and after graduating from college 

in 1940, he worked as an economist, served in the Navy 

during World War II, and then worked as a journalist for 

over a decade. In 1957, his career pivoted when he became 

involved with the International Geophysical Year (IGY), 

as the Director of the Office of Information and Deputy 

Director for International Affairs at the National Academy 

of Sciences’ Committee for the IGY. Shortly after the birth 

of NASA in 1958, Frutkin came aboard in 1959, essentially 

as the head of NASA international relations. He worked in 

this role for two decades, with his title changing a few times 

along the way.3

Early in his career at the Agency, Frutkin deliberately framed 

NASA international relations as a choice between foreign aid 

and support versus literal cooperation, favoring the latter.4

This was perhaps the most fundamental tenet underlying his 

philosophy. While he may not have laid down his principles 

for NASA international cooperation in a formal policy document, he did write about them and express them in oral 

histories. His international relations staff members and successors have largely embodied and espoused these principles 

in various forms to this day.

Frutkin deliberately framed NASA international relations as a choice between 

foreign aid and support versus literal 

cooperation, favoring the latter. 

 Prominent Soviet scientists from the Commission for 

Interplanetary Travel of the Soviet Academy of Science visited 

NASA Langley Research Center in November 1959. Arnold 

Frutkin is in the second row, just right of center, wearing a 

light-colored jacket. (Photo credit: NASA)

23
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

Frutkin’s first principle was simply no 

exchange of funds. This meant that 

NASA would not pay foreign governments to cooperate on aerospace 

projects, nor the reverse. A corollary 

of this was that training for foreign 

nationals would be paid for by their 

home nation.5 Aside from such training, if one country paid another for 

specific work, it would be more of a 

contractual or aid relationship, rather 

than genuine collaboration.

The principle of no exchange of funds 

was directly related to Frutkin’s second principle: mutual national interest.6

 Again, if a project was only in 

one nation’s interest, it would not be 

true cooperation.

Third, there should be substantive scientific value to each instance of international cooperation that also reflected 

broad national merit. While this may 

sound obvious, an alternative of domestic political goals could rapidly become 

a slippery slope. For example, Frutkin 

recounted an anecdote in the early 

1960s in which a developing country 

requested assistance with a small rocket 

experiment that would have taken 

place on its independence day; this 

experiment would have been clearly 

visible for hundreds of miles, even in 

a neighboring, rival country. Frutkin 

and other NASA personnel rejected 

this proposal as blatantly political and 

lacking scientific merit.7 Frutkin also 

emphasized that the content should 

reflect national goals, not just those of 

scientists in a particular discipline. 

The Origins of International Relations at NASA (continued)

 The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project joint flight readiness review was signed in Moscow in ceremonies on 22 May 1975. Academician Vladimir 

A. Kotelnikov (on left) and NASA Deputy Administrator George M. Low (in center) are seen affixing their signatures to the ASTP document. 

Kotelnikov was the Acting President of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Seated at far left is Professor Konstantin D. Bushuyev, the Soviet 

Technical Director of ASTP. Dr. Glynn S. Lunney, the U.S. Technical Director of ASTP, is seated on Dr. Low’s left. Arnold W. Frutkin (in the 

light jacket standing behind Dr. Low) was the NASA Assistant Administrator for International Affairs. Academician Boris N. Petrov (in dark 

suit), Chairman of the USSR Council for International Cooperation in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, is standing behind 

Kotelnikov. (Photo credit: NASA)

24
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

As a corollary, Frutkin encouraged 

cooperation in less sensitive areas of 

basic scientific research, as opposed to 

aerospace technologies such as launch 

vehicles, at least initially.8 Presumably 

part of his rationale was what later 

became known as “dual-use” considerations, whereby certain technologies 

could be used for either civilian or 

military use (e.g., rockets could launch 

scientific payloads into space, or they 

could be used as Intercontinental 

Ballistic Missiles).

Fourth, NASA’s international cooperation efforts should be civilian in 

nature.9 NASA was deliberately created 

as a civilian organization, but this point 

should not simply be assumed. Since 

the Wright brothers first flew successfully, the military has understandably 

been interested in aerospace technology. The NACA and then NASA 

have made significant contributions 

to national security over the years, but 

Frutkin’s point was that cooperation 

with foreign militaries should be left to 

the U.S. military.

Frutkin also believed that cooperation 

should be framed on a project-by-project 

basis, providing flexibility to tailor 

efforts based on specific, evolving scientific and national needs.10

Sixth, these international cooperative 

projects should be negotiated with central governmental technical authorities, 

rather than on an indirect diplomatic 

basis or with individual foreign companies or research institutes.11 People 

from NASA’s international counterpart agencies would understand their 

specific technical needs more than 

State Department or Foreign Ministry 

diplomats per se. Negotiations with 

individual foreign entities other than 

central technical authorities would lack 

the foreign policy imprimatur of the 

foreign national government. 

Although perhaps never codified in 

a formal policy document, Frutkin’s 

principles have held up over the decades. 

Staff in NASA’s Office of International 

and Interagency Relations still use 

these as an operating framework and 

mention them in public presentations.12

While there certainly have been exceptions to these principles, in general 

they have proved to be an effective 

means for a technical, civilian agency 

to navigate the complicated waters 

of geopolitics. 

The Origins of International Relations at NASA (continued)

FRUTKIN’S PRINCIPLES 

OF INTERNATIONAL 

COOPERATION

No exchange of funds

» Training for foreign 

nationals paid for by 

their home nation

Mutual national interest

Substantive scientific value 

with broad national merit

» Basic scientific research 

as less sensitive than 

technology development

Civilian character

Project-by-project basis

Government-to-government 

negotiations with central 

technical authorities

Endnotes

1 See https://www.nasa.gov/history/

national-aeronautics-and-space-actof-1958-unamended/ (accessed 27 

February 2024).

2 The principles in this article are gleaned 

from Arnold Frutkin’s oral history with 

Rebecca Wright, 11 January 2002, pp. 

5–7; https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.

gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_

histories/NASA_HQ/Administrators/

FrutkinAW/FrutkinAW_1-11-02.

pdf (accessed 27 February 2024), and 

Arnold W. Frutkin, International 

Cooperation in Space (Englewood Cliffs, 

NJ: Prentice Hall, 1965), p. 35.

3 From 1959 to 1963, Frutkin was Director 

of International Programs; from 1963 to 

1978, he was Assistant Administrator for 

International Affairs; for brief periods in 

1978, he was Deputy and then Acting 

Associate Administrator for External 

Affairs; and from 1978 to 1979, he was 

Associate Administrator for External 

Relations before retiring. See, for example, his oral history with Wright. 

4 Frutkin, International Cooperation, p. 32.

5 Frutkin oral history with Wright, 

pp. 5–7. 

6 Ibid.

7 Frutkin, International Cooperation, p. 33.

8 Ibid.

9 Frutkin oral history with Wright, 

pp. 5–7.

10 Frutkin, International Cooperation, p. 35.

11 Ibid.

12 For a slightly dated, but still useful, 

country-by-country survey of NASA’s 

international cooperation efforts, see 

https://www.nasa.gov/technology/

global-reach-a-view-of-nasasinternational-cooperation/ (accessed 27 

February 2024).

25
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

Pearl Irma Young

The Lasting Impact of the NACA’s 

First Female Technical Employee

» By Dr. Caitlin Milera, Director of the North Dakota Space Grant Consortium and 

North Dakota NASA Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, 

and Research Assistant Professor at the University of North Dakota

P

EARL IRMA YOUNG was a scientist, an educator, a technical editor, and a researcher. Her work 

at the National Advisory Committee 

for Aeronautics (NACA) and later at 

the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA) has had lasting impacts on the scientific community. She was a trailblazer not only for 

women, becoming the first female technical employee of the NACA in 1922, 

but for all in the field of aerospace. 

Young made significant contributions 

to the scientific community throughout her career, most notably through 

her publication, the Style Manual for 

Engineering Authors.

1

 In addition to her 

technical work, Young forged lasting 

friendships, traveled the globe, and 

believed in a world bigger than herself.

Pearl Young was born on 12 October 

1895 in Taopi, Minnesota, the second 

oldest of 11 children. She worked 

through school as a “domestic,” which 

often included household duties such 

as maid and caregiver, and graduated 

from Rugby High School in North 

Dakota in 1914.

Young continued to work her way 

through college and was active in service to her community, through the 

Young Women’s Christian Association 

and the Phi Beta Kappa Honor 

Society. At a time when it was highly 

uncommon for women to even attend 

college, let alone major in one STEM 

field, Young graduated with honors as 

a triple major in physics, mathematics, 

and chemistry from the University of 

North Dakota (UND) in 1919.

Young then served as physics faculty at 

UND and taught at Alvarado Schools 

in northern Minnesota before beginning her career with the NACA. Her 

scores in physics and chemistry on the 

Civil Service Examination qualified her 

for a technical position at the NACA, 

with her first day at the agency on 

4 April 1922. Young was about to begin 

a decades-long career with the NACA, 

starting with Langley Memorial 

Aeronautical Laboratory (LMAL).

During Young’s time at LMAL, she 

served in roles such as Laboratory 

Assistant and Junior Physicist, and 

she made contributions in the 

Instrumentation and Aerodynamics 

Divisions, as well as the Technical 

Editing Offices. While at LMAL, 

Young also worked as a part-time 

reporter for the local newspaper and 

even interviewed Eleanor Roosevelt for 

a front-page feature story.

Referring to her early years with the 

NACA, Young stated, “Those were 

fruitful years. I was interested in good 

writing and suggested the need for a 

technical editor. The engineers lacked 

the time to make readable reports.”2

Three years after this suggestion, Young 

was reassigned to the role of Assistant

Technical Editor in the Publications 

 Pearl I. Young (second from left) is pictured at LMAL on 24 May 1927. (Photo 

credit: NACA/Langley)

26
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

Section, in 1935. After six years in that 

role, Young earned the title of Associate

Technical Editor in 1941.

It wasn’t until 1943 that Young was 

promoted to full Technical Editor. 

She had been invited to transfer to 

the newly established NACA field 

center, the Aircraft Engine Research 

Laboratory (AERL) in Cleveland, Ohio 

(now known as NASA Glenn Research 

Center) to lead a new technical editing 

section. Her section included women 

with STEM degrees who were responsible for editing technical reports of all 

STEM areas. The AERL’s Wing Tips

described Young’s office as one that 

embodied “constant vigilance” and 

encompassed a “rigidly trained crew.”3

There, Young published the infamous 

Style Manual for Engineering Authors.

In his 1995 speech honoring Pearl 

Young’s many accomplishments, 

William Hewitt Phillips (Young’s 

colleague and friend) stated that after 

Young created what was known as the

style manual, “Reports soon became 

known for their form and accuracy 

as well as their technical content.”4

Young has even been referred to as 

the “architect of the NACA Technical 

Reports System.”5 AERL’s Wing Tips 

described Young’s manual as “setting 

forth rules structurally sound. This 

manual assists NACA authors to present their findings tactfully, strategically, 

and with telling force.”6

Young’s development of this style manual was further essential for efficient 

World War II operations. “Reports 

became shorter, more concrete, and 

less polished in appearance but perhaps never before had they been 

so thoroughly read and so urgently 

requested.”7 Reports following Young’s 

style manual were also instrumental in 

communicating technological progress 

across the United States, as well as to a 

global audience, even being translated 

into multiple languages.

Pearl Irma Young (continued)

“Reports soon became 

known for their form and 

accuracy as well as their 

technical content.”

—William Hewitt Phillips

 Pearl Young and the Technical Report Editing Section pose for a photo at AERL on 3 February 1947. Young is seated on the far right in 

the patterned dress. (Photo credit: NASA)

27
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

Following Young’s time at the NACA, 

she made lasting contributions as 

a professor of engineering physics at 

two universities, and she even returned 

to NASA after teaching, to complete 

research on historical aviators.

But what truly makes Young’s story so 

inspiring is not necessarily her technical 

achievements. It was her character that 

played a pivotal role in lasting positive 

impacts on the lives of others. Despite 

the countless barriers that women 

faced in STEM and at the NACA/

NASA, Young persisted. She did so 

through acts of advocacy, establishing 

a network of connectedness, and in 

remaining true to her authentic self.

Young’s fierce advocacy for herself and 

others sometimes required that she 

challenge authority or resist change. 

She stood up for her editing section 

when male supervisors wrongfully 

accused them of making mistakes. 

She wrote official proposals to properly classify her office in the Research 

Division at the AERL. She regularly 

recognized others’ talents and efforts, 

such as securing extra personnel to 

lessen unbearable workloads or writing 

official memorandums to ensure that 

deserving colleagues earned rightful 

promotions at the NACA. She regularly 

acknowledged the contributions of her 

entire team for shared achievements, 

including the infamous style manual. 

Young’s active advocacy ensured that 

she and her colleagues were all able to 

persist. Young often referred to these 

actions as “raising hell.”8

Given her advocacy, it is no surprise 

that Young lived a life full of connections with her colleagues and friends. 

She enjoyed cookouts, parties, picnics, 

poker nights with cocktails, swimming, 

Pearl Irma Young (continued)

PEARL YOUNG’S 1943 STYLE 

GUIDE PRESERVED

In addition to being the first female technical employee at the NACA, Pearl 

I. Young is also known for spearheading the effort to establish a standard 

of excellence for the NACA’s technical reports and becoming Langley’s 

first Chief Technical Editor. In 1943, she authored a document entitled Style 

Manual for Engineering Authors, which served as a style guide for authors at 

Langley and other NACA laboratories. Her methodology for editing became 

the standard for the agency and helped build its reputation as a preeminent 

aeronautical research institution. 

In late 2023, an original copy of Young’s Style Manual, located in Langley’s 

technical library, was scanned by Langley’s Office of the Chief Information 

Officer photo archives team, revealing that the paper was deteriorating and 

had suffered some water damage. Langley’s history and archives program 

manager, Rob Wyman, brought this to the attention of NASA’s History and 

Information Services Division.

“Although we knew that photocopies of this original publication were located 

at a few other NASA libraries, we wanted to try and determine whether or not 

this one was the sole remaining original,” Wyman said. “I’ve been in touch 

with other Centers’ archives and libraries, and as best I can tell, this is the only 

original that remains in NASA’s possession. Because of that, it’s important 

we treat it as the preservation copy. We don’t have an archivist at Langley, so 

I’m coordinating with the NASA chief archivist to transfer it to another NASA 

archives where it can be properly preserved to minimize further deterioration.”

28
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

golf, dogs and dog shows, photography 

(especially of nature), riding, theater, 

and (likely her favorite) travel. Young 

traveled to Europe with friends via 

steamship in 1927, and she even flew 

aboard the Hindenburg in 1936. In 

1960, she also joined a UND alumni 

trip to Hawaii. She kept scrapbooks 

of each of her travels, full of poetry 

and journaling, always fully immersed 

in the world around her. She wrote of 

her appreciation for those in service 

positions, such as chauffeurs, porters, 

“sweet” store clerks, secretaries, and 

maids. Young consistently did small 

things to improve the lives of those 

she encountered in her life, seemingly 

never missing an opportunity to lift 

others up. Pearl Young’s achievements 

and actions at the NACA, NASA, and 

in higher education paved the way 

for generations of women in STEM 

to dismantle barriers and continue 

to persist. 

 On a UND Alumni Trip in Hawaii in 1960, Pearl Young is pictured at the top of the stairs, 

waving with fellow UND alumni. (Photo source: Pearl Young Papers [1927–1995]; 

OGLMC1602, box 1, folders 1–13, scrapbooks 1–4, Elwyn B. Robinson Department of 

Special Collections, Chester Fritz Library, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks)

Pearl Irma Young (continued)

For more about Pearl Young 

and the sources used for this 

article, be sure to read Caitlin 

Milera’s dissertation, “Ms. Pearl 

Irma Young: ‘Raising Hell’ for 

Women in STEM Fields and 

Women at NASA, 1914–1968,” 

available at https://commons.

und.edu/theses/4279/. 

Young’s active advocacy 

ensured that she and her 

colleagues were all able 

to persist. Young often 

referred to these actions 

as “raising hell.”

Endnotes

1 P. I. Young, Style Manual for Engineering 

Authors. National Advisory Committee 

for Aeronautics (Washington, DC: 

NACA CN-154, 1943), p. 822.

2 O. Gresmer, “Space Women: Pioneer 

Aviator’s Diary Puts Technical Editor 

on His Trail,” Cleveland Plain Dealer

(August 1959), NASA Glenn Research 

Center Archives.

3 “Pearl I. Young and Her Editorial Staff,” 

Wing Tips (3 September 1943), NASA 

Glenn Research Center History Office.

4 Pearl Young Papers (1927–1995), 

OGLMC1602, box 1, folders 1–13, 

scrapbooks 1–4, Elwyn B. Robinson 

Department of Special Collections, 

Chester Fritz Library, University of 

North Dakota, Grand Forks.

5 NASA, “NACA/NASA 1915–2015: 

Solving decades of aviation challenges,” 2015, https://www.nasa.gov/

wp-content/uploads/2023/07/nacanasa-aero-contributions-timeline.pdf.

6 “Pearl I. Young and Her Editorial Staff,” 

Wing Tips (3 September 1943), NASA 

Glenn Research Center History Office.

7 P. I. Young, “Reports—Laboratory 

Product,” Wing Tips (15 February 1946), 

NASA Glenn Research Center History 

Office.

8 Pearl Young Papers (1927–1995); P. I. 

Young, “Reports—Laboratory Product” 

(15 February 1946).

29
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

Langley’s Unusual “Igloo”: 

The World’s First HighSpeed Wind Tunnel

» Submitted by Rob Wyman, NASA Langley Research 

Center History and Archives Program Manager

AS INTEREST in the field of highspeed aerodynamics increased 

in the early 1930s, the existing 

wind tunnels at the NACA Langley 

Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory—

today known as NASA Langley 

Research Center—proved too small and 

underpowered for effective high-speed 

aircraft testing. Understanding that 

a new facility in Hampton, Virginia, 

would give U.S. engineers a decided 

advantage in the ever-growing aeronautical field, Langley’s director of research, 

George W. Lewis, authorized the design 

and construction of a larger high-speed 

wind tunnel in 1933.

Construction of the 8-Foot HighSpeed Tunnel (HST), including its 

unique concrete-encased, igloo-shaped, 

8 -foot-d ia meter te st cha mber, 

was funded by the Public Works 

Administration and was completed in 

1936 at a cost of $266,000. 

The tunnel complex was located on the 

original 1917 parcel of land—allocated 

to the NACA by the U.S. Army—along 

the southwest branch of the Back River, 

land today that is home to a variety of 

U.S. Air Force commands.

This tunnel was a landmark in wind 

tunnel design at the time. It was the 

first continuous-flow high-speed tunnel, meaning it could operate almost 

indefinitely, thereby giving engineers 

sufficient time to run their tests and 

check their results. Its test section was 

large enough to accommodate largescale models, and even actual sections 

of aircraft, at speeds approaching the 

speed of sound. For the first time, 

Langley engineers had a research tool 

that could supply high-speed test 

results on a large scale.

Early research in the HST included the 

investigations of lift and drag effects 

caused by various bumps on an airplane’s wing. One example of this was 

a 1937 test on the drag effects of rivet 

size, type, and arrangement.

Leading up to and during World 

War II, much of the lab’s work involved 

refinement of manufacturers’ designs, 

ranging from fighters through bombers 

like the B-29. Wartime research also 

focused on stability and control problems being experienced by early military aircraft during high-speed flight. 

After the war, NACA researchers 

turned their attention to solving many 

of the basic problems that were preventing aircraft from reaching supersonic 

 This photograph, taken 13 March 1936, shows the HST on the shores of the Back River. 

Its igloo-shaped test section with 1-foot-thick concrete walls can be seen in the foreground of the picture, with the Propeller Research Tunnel behind it and the Full-Scale 

Tunnel to the right. (Photo credit: NACA)

30
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

speeds. To achieve supersonic flight, 

an aircraft would have to fly briefly in 

the transonic range, the speed regime 

between subsonic and supersonic flight, 

so knowing what happened to aircraft 

in this transition zone was critical to 

the design of supersonic fighters and 

bombers in the postwar era. 

Tunnel testing at transonic speeds was 

needed, but there was a problem. As 

the airflow speed approached the speed 

of sound, the wind tunnels began to 

“choke” because of compressibility 

effects and shock waves that formed 

in the tunnel sections. This choking 

interfered with the accuracy of the 

data measurements within the test 

section, rendering much of the data 

useless. The future of supersonic flight 

depended upon finding a solution to 

the choking problem.

Langley physicist Ray H. Wright 

observed that interference from wind 

tunnel walls could be minimized by 

placing slots in the test section, a concept 

that became known as “slotted throat” 

design. These slots were strategically 

positioned at critical locations in the 

throat of the test section. In February 

1950, the HST was shut down and slotted walls were added to the test section. 

The test runs provided encouraging and 

promising results. The slotted-throat 

tunnel worked, and the shock waves 

and other compressibility effects were 

minimized to a point where it became 

possible to accurately evaluate aerodynamic characteristics of aircraft models 

through the speed of sound.

Langley now had the first wind tunnel 

in the world that would give accurate 

test results in the transonic range. The 

slotted-throat concept was immediately 

put to work testing the next generation 

of American aircraft.

Other Langley high-speed tunnels 

went on to incorporate the slotted-throat design, but it was here in the 

8-Foot HST where the original slotted throat led to other revolutionary 

aerodynamic breakthroughs. 

This tunnel continued in use until 

being deactivated 1956. For the next 

15 years, the 16,000-horsepower motor, 

drive shaft, and fans were kept operational through scheduled maintenance. 

In 1976, the fan blades, hub, nacelles, 

shaft, and turning vanes were removed 

and sent to Wright-Patterson Air Force 

Base in Ohio, where they were used in 

the construction of a new facility in the 

early 1980s.

The historical significance of the HST 

and its many contributions to aerospace technology were recognized 

Langley’s Unusual “Igloo”: The World’s First High-Speed Wind Tunnel (continued)

 A model of Vought’s F4U-1 Corsair with a high-speed cowling was tested in the 8-Foot 

High-Speed Tunnel in April 1943. Between 1941 and 1945, Langley tested 137 different 

airplane types in its various tunnels or in flight, including virtually all types that saw 

combat service. Of note, this photo was taken before the tunnel was converted to a 

“slotted-throat” tunnel. (Photo credit: NACA)

 In the mid-1950s, the slotted throat test 

section of the HST facilitated important 

research in body and wing design for 

supersonic aircraft. Langley engineer 

Richard Whitcomb, shown here, used the 

tunnel to develop the revolutionary “area 

rule” principle that demonstrated how 

using a “wasp-waisted” or “Coke-bottle” 

shaped fuselage for supersonic jet fighters would allow them to break the sound 

barrier. For his efforts, Whitcomb was 

awarded the 1954 Collier Trophy for the 

greatest achievement in aviation. (Photo 

credit: NACA)

31
NEW from the 

NASA HISTORY OFFICE

For over 30 years, NASA’s Discovery 

Program has funded relatively 

small, focused, and innovative missions to 

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and drive new technology innovations. In

NASA’s Discovery Program, the newest 

release in NASA’s History Series, Susan M. 

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NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

when it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 

1985. The office portion of the facility was remodeled and 

leased to the Air Force in the early 2000s, while the tunnel 

circuit remained abandoned. In 2011, the tunnel circuit was 

demolished, and in 2016 the office portion of the building 

and test chamber of the 8-Foot HST were permanently 

transferred to the Air Force.

Although the wind tunnel itself is gone, after undergoing 

extensive renovations, the remaining original office spaces 

and wind tunnel test chamber will be used by staff from 

the U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command’s headquarters, 

Directorate of Operations.

The NASA Langley history and archives program worked 

closely with the Air Force to provide them with the history 

of the tunnel, as well as photographs and artifacts that will 

be on display in the test section to help document and share 

the significant aeronautical advances that came from the 

research conducted there over the years. 

Langley’s Unusual “Igloo”: The World’s First High-Speed Wind Tunnel (continued)

 The HST’s test chamber was converted into a conference room 

for the U.S. Air Force’s Air Combat Command, seen here during 

ongoing renovations in September 2022. (Photo credit: NASA/

Rob Wyman)

32
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

CALL FOR PAPERS: NASA and Archaeology from Space

A Symposium in Honor of Dr. Thomas L. Sever 

18–19 September 2024 • Washington, DC

T

HE ORGANIZERS invite proposals 

for papers to be presented at a 

two-day symposium to be held 

in person 18–19 September 2024 in 

Washington, DC. We welcome diverse 

voices and perspectives to examine 

the history of NASA and archaeology 

from space.

The purpose of this symposium is to 

honor the pioneering work of former 

NASA archaeologist Dr. Thomas L. 

Sever in the field of archaeology and 

remote sensing over his many decades 

of service and numerous contributions. 

The symposium also seeks to provide 

insight and contextualization of past 

archaeology projects at NASA, highlight the current state of the field in 

terms of research and capabilities, and 

point to new opportunities in government and commercial sectors.

Potential topics include, but are not 

limited to, past archaeological projects, 

technology/capability developments, 

geopolitical considerations, assessments of the current state of remote 

sensing/archaeology, future trajectories, 

potential breakthroughs, and interdisciplinary approaches.

Presentations might also consider the 

impact of environmental, geopolitical, 

social, and cultural issues on archaeology/remote sensing projects over the 

decades and today.

The symposium will be a combination 

of panel discussions, keynote talks, and 

presentations on current NASA and 

industry capabilities. The intention is to 

publish an anthology of selected papers.

Submission Procedures

If you are interested in presenting, 

please send your presentation’s title, an 

abstract of no more than 300 words, 

and a short biography or curriculum 

vitae, including affiliation, by 15 April 

2024 to Brian C. Odom or Kelsey 

Herndon. Questions about the symposium are also welcome.

Learn more about 

Dr. Thomas Sever’s 

archaeological research.

News from Around NASA

NASA HISTORY OFFICE 

LUNCHTIME 

SPEAKERS

The NASA History Office invites you 

to attend these upcoming presentations on Microsoft Teams. Join our 

mailing list for event links.

20 March, noon ET 

Chris Gunn

“Documenting the Development of the 

James Webb Space Telescope through 

Photography”

17 April, 12:30 p.m. ET

Caitlin Milera

“A STEM Pioneer at the NACA and NASA: 

The Pearl Young Story”

22 May, noon ET

Andrew J. Ross

“Ranges of Empire: U.S. Missile Ranges, 

Planetary Infrastructure Building, and 

Global Militarism, 1945–65”

33
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

CALL FOR PAPERS

Contributions of the DC-8 to Earth System Science at NASA: 

A Workshop

21–22 August 2024 • Washington, DC

Jointly organized by the NASA History 

Office and the Earth Science Division, 

this workshop seeks to document the 

important contributions of airborne 

campaigns implemented on NASA’s 

DC-8 Airborne Science Laboratory. 

The workshop will be a combination of 

keynote talks, panel discussions, and 

roundtables. The intention is to publish an anthology of selected papers of 

key presentations.

NASA’s DC-8 aircraft recently completed nearly four decades of service 

to NASA, with its retirement in early 

2024 following the completion of the 

Airborne and Satellite Investigation 

of Air Quality campaign. The DC-8, 

which NASA acquired in 1985, was 

a workhorse aircraft for the Airborne 

Science Program of NASA’s Earth 

Science Division (ESD), serving as the 

primary platform—or one of several 

platforms—of many airborne campaigns. Its contributions are legendary, 

from flying as part of the first polar 

stratospheric ozone campaigns in the 

late 1980s through campaigns focused 

on ice sheets, sea ice, terrestrial ecology, 

greenhouse gases, and air quality that 

continued throughout its lifetime.

Besides the process knowledge that 

the DC-8 provided, it served as an 

important proving ground for new 

instrumentation and techniques that 

helped pave the way for their eventual 

use in ESD’s spaceflight program; as 

a source of calibration/validation data 

for ESD’s satellite instruments; and as 

a flying laboratory for students, postdocs, and early-career professionals to 

design, build, and test instruments and 

acquire and analyze data. It also was 

the primary platform for NASA’s now15-year-old Student Airborne Research 

Program (SARP), which has provided 

hands-on opportunities for well over 

400 young scientists and has an outstanding “STEM retention rate” for its 

past participants.

In this workshop, ESD and related 

investigator communities are invited 

to share examples of the scientific, programmatic, and human achievement of 

the DC-8 over its nearly four decades 

of service to NASA. Besides descriptions of the science accomplished, 

workshop planners invite discussion of 

“lessons learned” about the operation 

of a large airborne research laboratory 

that can be used as NASA moves 

ahead with furnishing and outfitting 

the DC-8’s successor, a B-777 that 

NASA acquired in 2023 in response to 

a strong recommendation from a 2021 

report by the National Academies of 

Science, Engineering, and Medicine 

that said ESD needed to have such a 

platform following the retirement of 

the DC-8 (Airborne Platforms to 

Advance NASA Earth System Science 

Priorities: Assessing the Future Need 

for a Large Aircraft).

Workshop planners are seeking proposals for papers from ESD and related 

investigator communities—including 

academia, interagency and international partners, and private-sector/

nonprofit entities—that detail scientific and programmatic results, lessons 

learned, and personal examples of how 

the DC-8 advanced science, informed 

decisions, and provided training 

opportunities for several generations of 

NASA workers.

If you wish to present a paper, please 

send an abstract of no more than 250 

words and a short biography or curriculum vitae, including affiliation, by 

31 March 2024 to Dr. Brian C. Odom. 

Questions about the symposium are 

also welcome.

More about the DC-8 program.

News from Around NASA (continued)

34
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

NASA History and Archives Branch 

Personnel Updates

On the heels of her internship in 

the summer of 2023, Julie Pramis

was hired as an archivist at NASA 

Headquarters in the fall. Born and 

raised in Northern Virginia, Julie 

graduated with a Master of Science 

in Library and Information Sciences 

degree from The Catholic University 

of America in May 2023. After completing work on the Abraham Hyatt 

collection (see p. 13), she is currently 

working on the Gordon Johnston collection at Headquarters, which covers 

topics such as the Viking and Galileo 

missions and Earth science technology.

In December 2023, the NASA History 

and Archives Branch team said a tearful 

goodbye to the leader of the Agency’s 

Archives Program, Holly McIntyre. 

Holly had worked as an archivist at 

Goddard Space Flight Center since 

October 2015, stepping into the role 

of Acting Chief Archivist in 2020. 

Her masterful work in planning 

for the digital preservation of assets 

and work to standardize the archival 

policy and archival work across the 

Agency were vital contributions to the 

future of the Archives Program. She 

is now working as the Digital Asset 

Management Section Supervisor at 

The Johns Hopkins University Applied 

Physics Laboratory.

Jessica Kelly, a Houston-area native, 

started her first internship at NASA’s 

Johnson Space Center in January 

2022 while working on her Master of 

Library Science degree. In fall 2022, 

she temporarily relocated to Maryland 

for an in-person internship with the 

Goddard Archives. Jessica graduated 

in December 2022 and did a remote 

internship with the NASA Archives in 

the spring of 2023, working on its digital archive, transitioning into a temporary role on the Archives team upon 

its completion. In January of this year, 

she was hired as an archivist working at 

the Agency level supporting all of the 

Centers. She is currently standing up 

the permanent Agency web archiving 

program, assisting the NASA Center 

archives with migration of their archival descriptions into our Agency-wide 

virtual archive, and providing archival 

support in person at Johnson Space 

Center for their physical collections 

and backlog. Outside of work, she is 

an avid reader, gardener, and collector 

of vintage clothes (to match the eras of 

the records she works with).

With a longtime interest in NASA’s 

history, Emily Goss joined the 

NASA History Office as an intern 

for the spring 2024 term. Emily 

has a bachelor’s degree in history 

and is currently getting her 

Master of Library and Information 

Studies degree with a focus on 

archives. Working from Langley 

Research Center, she is doing the 

important work of processing and 

describing the Center’s unprocessed archival collections.

INTERN SPOTLIGHT

 Jessica Kelly poses at the Shuttle 

Avionics Laboratory (SAIL) at NASA’s 

Johnson Space Center in front of the 

open Space Shuttle payload mock-up. 

(Photo courtesy of Jessica Kelly)

 Julie Pramis recently joined the Archives 

Program staff at NASA Headquarters. 

(Photo courtesy of Julie Pramis)

News from Around NASA (continued)

35
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

NASA History Program Award 2023 Recipient: 

Michele Ostovar

» By Brian Odom, NASA Chief Historian

Please join me and the NASA History Office in congratulating our 

2023 NASA History Program Award recipient, Michele Ostovar! 

Over the past year, Michele has led our office’s public communication 

efforts on our NASA History social media platforms; served as editor 

for News & Notes; headed the NASA History Web Modernization 

activity; coordinated the Aeronautics and Space Report of the President; 

and much, much more. Michele has accomplished all this with superior leadership, innovative thinking, and an unmatched initiative to 

take on new challenges and opportunities. 

Jessica Herr, who served as the 

archivist and history point of contact at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, 

departed in January after nearly eight 

years with the Agency. She has taken 

a position as the librarian at the 

Armed Forces Retirement Home in 

Gulfport, Mississippi.

After filling in since Holly McIntyre’s 

departure, Christine Stevens became 

NASA’s new Chief Archivist in 

February. Christine studied history 

at the University of Delaware, graduating in 2017. In February 2018, 

while in graduate school, she became 

a Pathways Intern in the Goddard 

Archives. In 2019, she graduated with 

her Master of Library and Information 

Studies degree with a concentration in Archival Studies from the 

University of Alabama and was hired 

as an archivist at Goddard. In 2020, 

she harvested seeds from Goddard’s 

Moon Tree, a sycamore grown from a 

seed flown on Apollo 14, and sprouted 

second-generation Moon Trees, two of 

which were planted at Goddard to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 14. 

Christine’s favorite part of being a 

NASA archivist is learning about the 

people who have made NASA what it 

is today, and she is excited to continue 

preserving NASA’s history. In her free 

time, she enjoys horseback riding; 

gardening; and hanging out with her 

dog, Louie.

 Christine Stevens, NASA’s new Chief Archivist, grew this second-generation Moon Tree 

from seeds harvested from the Moon Tree outside the visitor’s center at Goddard Space 

Flight Center. In 2021, she planted two of the resulting young trees at Goddard in celebration of Apollo 14’s 50th anniversary. (Photo courtesy of Christine Stevens)

 Communications Lead Michele Ostovar is the 2023 

recipient of the NASA History Program Award. 

(Photo courtesy of Michele Ostovar)

News from Around NASA (continued)

36
Other Aerospace 

History News

Fellowships in Aerospace 

History: Applications Due 

1 April 

The Fellowships in Aerospace History 

are offered annually by NASA to 

support significant scholarly research 

projects in aerospace history. These 

fellowships grant the opportunity to 

engage in significant and sustained 

advanced research in all aspects of the 

history of aerospace, from the earliest 

human interest in flight to the present, 

including cultural and intellectual history; economic history; history of law 

and public policy; and the history of 

science, engineering, and management. 

NASA provides funds to the American 

Historical Association (AHA) and to 

the History of Science Society (HSS) 

to allow both associations to award 

fellowships. Three fellowships will be 

offered for the 2023–24 term; applications will be entered into consideration 

for all three fellowships:

• AHA Fellowship in Aerospace 

History

• AHA Fellowship in the History of 

Space Technology

• HSS Fellowship in Aerospace 

History

Applicants must possess a PhD in 

history or in a closely related field or 

be enrolled as a student (having completed all coursework) in a doctoral 

degree-granting program. Preference 

will be given to scholars at early stages 

in their careers. Stipends may be 

awarded only to U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

The fellowship term is for a period of six 

to nine months and should commence 

no later than January of the fellowship 

term. The fellow will be expected to 

devote the term largely to the proposed 

research project and to write a report 

and present a public lecture on the fellowship experience.

For details on the fellowship and how 

to apply, visit https://www.historians.

org/awards-and-grants/grants-andfellowships/fellowships-in-aerospacehistory. Questions can be directed 

to awards@historians.org.

Call for Submissions for 

fPET 2024

» By Zach Pirtle, fPET Co-Chair

The 2024 Forum on Philosophy, 

Engineering, and Technology (fPET 

2024) will take place at Karlsruhe 

Institute of Technology (KIT) in 

Karlsruhe, Germany, 17–19 September 

2024. An optional satellite workshop 

on Normative Energy Ethics follows 

on 20 September 2024.

The conference will bring together 

researchers from the fields of engineering, philosophy, and neighboring disciplines such as technology assessment 

to address the theme of Understanding, 

Assessing, and Designing Responsible 

Futures. fPET 2024 will provide an 

opportunity to meet like-minded 

researchers and to present and discuss 

issues on the intersection of engineering and philosophy.

The mission of fPET is to encourage 

reflection on engineering, engineers, 

and technology and to build bridges 

between existing organizations of philosophers, engineers, and scholars in 

related fields.

The organizers invite abstracts for paper 

presentations, posters, panels, and 

experimental sessions on the following 

(broad) topics:

• Philosophy of engineering and 

technology

• Ethics, social philosophy, and political philosophy in engineering and 

technology

• Practitioners’ reflections on engineering and technology

• Epistemology of engineering and 

technology

• Engineering a nd technolog y 

education

• Interdisciplinary studies of engineering and technology, especially 

(but not limited to) technology 

assessment (TA), responsible innovation (RI), value-sensitive design 

(VSD), and science and technology 

studies (STS)

We explicitly welcome proposals 

addressing new or underexplored topics, 

the reflective submissions of engineers 

or other technology practitioners, and 

abstracts of an interdisciplinary nature. 

The deadline for abstract submissions is 

15 March 2024.

Visit http://www.fpet2024.org for 

guidelines for submitting abstracts, 

conference registration, and other 

details of the fPET conference and 

following workshop. Please direct 

any queries related to the conference 

to fpet2024@itas.kit.edu. 

NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

37
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

Remembering

Richard Truly

» By Michele Ostovar, NASA History Communications Lead

F

ORMER ASTRONAUT and NASA 

Administrator Richard H. Truly, 

who flew some of the first flights 

of the Space Shuttle, passed away on 

27 February 2024 at the age of 86.

Truly was born on 12 November 1937 in 

Fayette, Mississippi. He graduated from 

the Georgia Institute of Technology in 

1959 with a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering. It wasn’t until his 

time at Georgia Tech that he became 

interested in aviation and applied for 

flight school, earning his wings as a 

naval aviator in the fall of 1960. His 

acceptance into test pilot school sent 

him to the U.S. Air Force Aerospace 

Research Pilot School at Edwards Air 

Force Base, California, in early 1964. 

It was there that Chuck Yeager set him 

on a course to the space program and 

he was selected as an astronaut for the 

U.S. Air Force’s Manned Orbiting 

Laboratory (MOL) program.

In his 2003 oral 

history, Truly 

comments, “we 

worked like the 

devil from that 

day until that 

program was eventually cancelled 

in 1969 by President Nixon.” At 

NASA Deputy Administrator George 

Mueller’s request, the seven youngest 

MOL astronauts, including Truly, were 

transferred to NASA.

Once at NASA, Truly began working 

on the Skylab program, serving as a 

CAPCOM for the Skylab missions 

in 1973 and 1974 and again for the 

Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975.

In 1977, Truly was part of a team of 

four astronauts that flew the Enterprise 

orbiter for the Space Shuttle Program’s 

Approach and Landing Tests. He made 

his first flight to space with Joe Engle 

on his 44th birthday—12 November 

1981—on the second test flight of the 

Shuttle, STS-2.

Nearly two years later, Richard Truly 

served as the mission commander on 

his second and final spaceflight, the sixday STS-8 mission, notable for being 

the first night launch and landing of 

a Space Shuttle. Not long after this 

flight, he left NASA to become the 

first commander of the Naval Space 

Command, established 1 October 

1983. He didn’t have any intention 

of returning to NASA, but after the 

Challenger disaster in January 1986, 

he was sent to NASA Headquarters to 

lead the accident investigation and the 

Shuttle’s return-to-flight efforts. He 

described it as the toughest job he’d 

ever done.1

Shortly after the Shuttle returned to 

flight in 1988, Truly was nominated by 

President George W. Bush to become 

NASA’s eighth Administrator, serving 

in this role until April 1992.

Current NASA Administrator Bill 

Nelson shared his heartfelt sentiments 

in the Agency’s 29 February 2024 press 

release: “Richard had the makings 

of someone who understood that we 

choose to do great things not because 

they are easy, but because they are 

hard. ... I invite all those who care for 

humanity’s quest to reach ever higher 

to join me in saying farewell to a great 

public servant.” 

Endnote

1 Paul Brocker, “Library Conversations. 

The Richard H. Truly U.S. Space 

Program Collection: An Interview with 

Vice Admiral Richard H. Truly,” Check 

It Out 6, no. 3 (fall 2007): 7.

 Richard H. Truly was NASA’s eighth Administrator, but the first 

who had been to space. (Photo credit: NASA)

 Richard Truly (far right) poses for a photo 

with fellow Approach and Landing Tests 

astronauts on 17 September 1976. 

(Photo credit: NASA)

38
NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES Volume 41, Number 1 • Spring 2024

Upcoming Meetings

20–22 MARCH 2024

American Astronautical Society’s 

Annual Robert H. Goddard 

Memorial Symposium

College Park, Maryland

https://astronautical.org/

events/goddard/

26–28 MARCH 2024

International Astronautical 

Federation Spring Meetings 2024

Paris, France

https://www.iafastro.org/

events/iaf-spring-meetings/iafspring-meetings-2024.html

3–7 APRIL 2024

American Society for Environmental 

History Annual Meeting

Denver, Colorado

https://www.aseh.org/events

8–11 APRIL 2024

39th Space Symposium

Colorado Springs, Colorado

https://www.spacesymposium.org/

11–14 APRIL 2024

2024 Conference on American History

New Orleans, Louisiana

https://www.oah.org/

conferences/oah24/

12–15 APRIL 2024

National Council on Public History 

Annual Meeting: “Historical Urgency”

Salt Lake City, Utah

https://ncph.org/

conference/2024-annual-meeting/

30–31 MAY 2024 

Society for History in the Federal 

Government Annual Meeting

Washington, DC

https://shfg.wildapricot.

org/page-18391

13–14 JUNE 2024

Discovery@30, New 

Frontiers@20 Symposium

Washington, DC

Contact Dr. Brian Odom

for information

20–21 JUNE 2024

Environmental Justice 

in Space Workshop

Virtual meeting 

https://bit.ly/ejis-workshop

9–11 JULY 2024

International Conference on 

Transdisciplinary Engineering 2024

London, England

https://www.te2024.org.uk/

9–14 JULY 2024

Society for the History of Technology 

(SHOT) Annual Meeting

Viña del Mar, Chile

https://www.historyoftechnology.

org/annual-meeting/2024-jointicohtec-shot-annual-meeting/ 

15–17 JULY 2024

American Astronautical Society’s 

John Glenn Memorial Symposium

Cleveland, Ohio

https://astronautical.org/events/

john-glenn-memorial-symposium/

16–19 JULY 2024

European Association for the 

Study of Science and Technology 

(EASST)–Society for Social Studies of 

Science (4S) Joint Conference 2024

Amsterdam, Netherlands

https://www.4sonline.org/meeting.php

22–28 JULY 2024

Experimental Aircraft Association 

(EAA) AirVenture

Oshkosh, Wisconsin

https://www.eaa.org/airventure/

29 JULY–2 AUGUST 2024

2024 AIAA Aviation and Aeronautics 

Forum and Exposition

Las Vegas, Nevada

https://www.aiaa.org/aviation

21–22 AUGUST 2024

Contributions of the DC-8 to Earth 

System Science at NASA: A Workshop

Washington, DC

https://www.nasa.gov/history/

contributions-of-the-dc-8-to-earthsystem-science-at-nasa-a-workshop/

15–17 AUGUST 2024

ARCHIVES * RECORDS 2024 

(88th Annual Meeting of the 

Society of American Archivists)

Chicago, Illinois

https://www2.archivists.org/conference

17–19 SEPTEMBER 2024

2024 Forum on Philosophy, 

Engineering, and Technology Meeting

Karlsruhe, Germany

https://www.fpet2024.org 

18–19 SEPTEMBER 2024

NASA and Archaeology from 

Space: A Symposium in Honor 

of Dr. Thomas L. Sever

Washington, DC

https://www.nasa.gov/history/

nasa-and-archaeology-from-space/

39
NASA’s Discovery Program

By Susan M. Niebur with 

David M. Brown (ed.)

COMING SOON

A Wartime Necessity

Edited by Alex M Spencer

EXPLORE

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in the NASA 

History Series

NACA to NASA to Now 

by Roger D. Launius

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters

300 E Street SW 

Washington, DC 20546

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NASA HISTORY NEWS&NOTES

Newsletter Editor and Graphic Designer

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DOWNLOAD

more editions of NEWS&NOTES

at www.nasa.gov/history

The 16-Foot High-Speed Tunnel (HST) was the first wind 

tunnel built in the West Area of what is now NASA’s Langley 

Research Center. This photo, taken in March 1951, is a view 

from inside the tunnel. (Photo credit: NACA)