National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration

Volume 37, Number 1 First Quarter 2020

NASA HISTORY DIVISION

OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

IN THIS ISSUE:

1 From the Chief Historian

1 A Life of Numbers: 

Remembering the Remarkable 

Legacy of Katherine Johnson

5 News from Headquarters and

the Centers

12 Upcoming Meetings

13 Not Child’s Play, Toys that

Inspired NASA Innovations

16 Making Every Day Earth Day

19 Groundbreaking for the

Mississippi Army Ammunition 

Plant (MSAAP)

20 Missing Tapes and Acceptable 

Risk: Apollo 13 in Real Time

22 Recent Publications

24 Other Aerospace History News

25 Retirement of Colin Fries

26 In Memoriam

FROM

THE CHIEF 

HISTORIAN

Congratulations t o o u r v e r y 

own Steve Garber 

and Glen Asner, 

authors of Origins of 

21st-Century Space Travel: A History of NASA’s 

Decadal Planning Team and the Vision for 

Space Exploration, 1999–2004—again! You 

may recall that the last edition of News and 

Notes started with a very similar line because 

Steve and Glen were about to be presented 

the American Institute for Aeronautics and 

Astronautics (AIAA) 2020 History Manuscript 

Award. In early January, they went to the 

award ceremony at the AIAA Science and 

Technology Forum and Exposition (SciTech 

2020) in Orlando, Florida. Just a month 

later, we got advance notification from the 

Society for History in the Federal Government 

(SHFG) that Steve and Glen’s book was the 

winner of the prestigious SHFG Henry Adams 

Prize. The Henry Adams Prize is presented 

annually to the outstanding major publication 

in federal history as judged by fellow government historians. Steve and Glen will be presented the Adams Prize at the SHFG annual 

meeting, which will be held at the Robert C. 

Byrd Center for Congressional History and 

Education in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, 

March 13–14, 2020. As you can see in the 

image on page 2, the cover of Origins... is now 

getting pretty crowded with awards. While 

quite a number of the 214 NASA history publications have been recognized with a variety 

continued on next page

A LIFE OF NUMBERS: 

REMEMBERING THE REMARKABLE 

LEGACY OF KATHERINE JOHNSON

By Catherine Baldwin

“

I

counted everything. I counted the steps 

to the road, the steps up to church, 

the number of dishes and silverware I 

washed... anything that could be counted, 

I did.”

Katherine Johnson’s life was defined by 

her love of numbers. Born on 26 August 

1918 in West Virginia, Katherine was a 

precocious child. Her love of math propelled her through school, allowing her 

to graduate early from high school and 

enter West Virginia State College at the 

age of 15. Recognizing her bright mind 

and aptitude for learning, mathematician 

W. W. Schieffelin Claytor mentored her 

throughout her college experience and 

encouraged her to become a research 

mathematician, an ideal job which would 

plant itself in the back of her mind. After 

graduating in 1937, Katherine Johnson 

went on to teach in her local community. 

She returned to school to pursue a graduate degree in mathematics but ultimately 

left after one semester to raise her family. 

After her three daughters were older, she 

continued on page 3
2

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

From the Chief Historian (continued)

of awards, multiple award-winning books are very rare. We are 

thrilled by the success of this 

book, thankful for outstanding 

work by Steve, Glen, and the 

team that produced the book, 

and appreciative of the SHFG 

recognition.

I’m also thrilled that there will 

be more recognition of NASA 

history at the SHFG award ceremony on March 14. One of that 

organization’s newer awards is the 

annual Excellence in New Media 

Award, presented to a digital 

born or based historical exhibit 

or project that contributes to a 

broader understanding of the 

federal government created by 

any agency or unit of the federal 

government. The award can also 

recognize nongovernmental organizations, including 

federal contractors, who created something on behalf 

of a unit of the federal government. The Excellence in 

New Media Award for 2020 will be presented to Ben 

Feist of the ARES Division at Johnson Space Center. 

If you are thinking, “Hmm...that name sounds familiar...,” you may recall mentions of Ben and his work 

in our summer and winter 2019 issues, or on the 

NASA website. But, most probably, you know Ben 

from his phenomenal work on https://Apollo17.org

and Apollo 11 in Real Time. Ben and an amazing 

team of volunteers are being recognized by SHFG for 

the Apollo 11 in Real Time site. I wish the history program could claim a bit of the credit for this amazing 

digital extravaganza, but our contribution was limited 

to cheering from the sidelines. Nonetheless, I will be 

bursting with pride at the SHFG award ceremony as 

Ben, Steve, and Glen collect a pair of well-deserved 

prizes for their works on NASA history. (PS: Wait 

until SHFG and all the rest of us see what Ben and his 

team have in store for Apollo 13 in Real Time.)

Origins of 21st-Century Space Travel. (Credit: NASA)

NASA history is not just a

story about awards; it is also 

a story of change. In the last 

couple of months, we’ve experienced that in bittersweet 

ways with the departure of two 

of our archivists. Long-serving 

archivist Colin Fries decided 

to retire in mid-December 

2019. For over 20 years, Colin 

has been the constant face of 

the Headquarters Historical 

Reference Collection to a 

generation of researchers. His 

name appears in the acknowledgments section in a phenomenal number of books about 

NASA history; for example, 

his is the first name mentioned 

in the acknowledgments 

in Margot Lee Shetterly’s 

path-breaking Hidden Figures. 

Colin has certainly earned a long, healthy, and happy 

retirement, but we are going to miss him. You can read 

more about Colin and his retirement send-off inside 

this issue. In February, Craig Haibon also left the 

archive. Craig had been brought on for a special project funded by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate 

about a year ago. He did great work on that project 

and was also an important addition to our archival 

team. With the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) 

project wrapped up on schedule, Craig is moving on 

to a full-time civil service job, and we wish him the 

best. But, we’ll miss his dedication, diligence, and 

especially, his gentle humor.

Until next time, Godspeed,

William P. Barry

Chief Historian
3

Volume 37, Number 1 Third Quarter 2020

A Life of Numbers: Remembering the Remarkable Legacy of Katherine Johnson (continued)

returned to teaching but continued to hope that she 

would one day become a research mathematician. 

In 1953, Katherine Johnson began her career with 

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics 

(NACA) as a human computer at the West Area 

Computing section of NACA’s Langley Laboratory. 

Under the management of Dorothy Vaughan, 

Katherine was assigned to the Maneuver Loads Branch 

of the Flight Research Division. What was originally 

a temporary position soon became permanent, and 

she spent the next four years analyzing data from 

flight tests. When NACA transitioned into NASA, 

Katherine transitioned into a new role. 

“We wrote our own textbook, because there was 

no other text about space. We just started from 

what we knew. We had to go back to geometry 

and figure all of this stuff out. Inasmuch as 

I was in at the beginning, I was one of those 

lucky people.”

In 1960, she and engineer Ted Skopinski coauthored 

a report called Determination of Azimuth Angle at 

Burnout for Placing a Satellite Over a Selected Earth 

Position.

1

 The report presented the equations necessary 

for an orbital spaceflight with a specified landing position. This was the first time any woman in the Flight 

Research Division had received credit as an author of 

a research report. Being the only woman was nothing 

new to Katherine. She was known for her inquisitive 

nature. The details of the program mattered to her, 

and she was determined to get the answers she sought, 

attending briefings and meetings that originally were 

only open to men. Despite the obstacles she experienced due to her race and gender, Katherine became 

an extremely valuable member of the team and went 

on to perform important calculations for the start of 

the human spaceflight program, including the trajectory analysis for Alan Shepard’s inaugural flight in 

Freedom 7. 

1 https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19980227091.pdf

Katherine Johnson working at her desk in 1966. (Credit: NASA)

In 1962, NASA was preparing for the mission that 

would become Katherine Johnson’s most famous: 

MA-6, also known as Friendship 7. John Glenn would 

take the United States’ first human orbital flight, a 

feat that had not been attempted by NASA. The math 

necessary to successfully complete an orbital flight is 

enormously complex. NASA had to construct a worldwide communications network which linked tracking stations to IBM computers in Washington, DC, 

Cape Canaveral, and Bermuda. The IBM computers 

were programmed with the equations that would 

control Glenn’s trajectory. However, the astronauts 

were rightfully leery of the numbers calculated by the 
4

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

IBM computers, as the machines were notoriously 

unreliable. As recounted in Margot Lee Shetterly’s 

book, Hidden Figures, during preflight, John Glenn 

decided that the numbers from electronic calculating 

machines needed a second check and said, “Go get the 

girl.” He requested that Katherine Johnson run the 

numbers again to check against the computer. “If she 

says they’re good,” Glenn purportedly said, “I’m ready 

to go.” Katherine reported that the computer’s math 

was correct and John Glenn’s flight was a success. 

Katherine Johnson at NASA Langley facility opening in 2017. (Credit: NASA)

Katherine Johnson continued to work at NASA 

Langley Research Center, coauthoring over 20 

research reports and doing critical calculations for a 

number of NASA missions, including Project Apollo, 

the Lunar Orbiter Spacecraft, the Space Shuttle, and 

the Earth Resources Technology Satellite (later known 

as Landsat). She retired in 1986, after 33 years of 

working for NASA. She loved her work. “I found what 

I was looking for at Langley,” she said. “This was what 

a research mathematician did. I went to work every 

day for 33 years happy. Never did I get up and say, ‘I 

don’t want to go to work.’”

Later in life, in large part due to her depiction in 

Margot Lee Shetterly’s book, Hidden Figures, and 

subsequently the movie of the same name, Katherine 

Johnson was honored for her contributions. She was 

awarded an honorary doctorate from The College of 

William and Mary, had a Barbie doll designed after her 

likeness, and had two separate NASA facilities named 

after her. In 2015, she was presented the Presidential 

Medal of Freedom, one of our nation’s highest honors. 

Katherine Johnson passed away on 24 February 2020, 

at the age of 101. The loss of Katherine Johnson is 

one that is felt deeply by NASA. Her mathematical contributions to the early Space Program helped 

propel NASA to the Moon and beyond. A trailblazer, 

she has left a legacy that continues to inspire people from all around the world. As President Obama 

said, “Katherine G. Johnson refused to be limited by 

society’s expectations of her gender and race while 

expanding the boundaries of humanity’s reach.”

Read more about Katherine Johnson’s incredible life 

here: https://www.nasa.gov/langley/katherine-johnson.

A diagram from Determination of Azimuth Angle at Burnout for Placing a 

Satellite Over a Selected Earth Position.
5

Volume 37, Number 1 Third Quarter 2020

NEWS FROM HEADQUARTERS AND THE CENTERS

NASA HEADQUARTERS

Washington, DC

By Bill Barry

The winter of 2019–2020 has been full of highs and lows in terms of personnel. In mid-December, 

we said “happy retirement” to archival icon Colin 

Fries. You can read more about his career and his sendoff elsewhere in this issue. The next day, we also said 

farewell to our amazing fall interns Andrew Parco 

and David Skogerboe. Going into the holidays, we 

hoped that Craig Haibon would shift from his special 

project for Science Mission Directorate over to the 

contract archival position vacated by Colin Fries. But 

it didn’t work out that way for long, and we wish 

Craig the best as he moves onward. Nonetheless, we 

were fortunate to get our spring semester interns in 

early this year. Stacy Bishop, a former teacher back 

in school herself working on her master’s degree at 

the University of Maryland, and Alisa Greenhalgh, a 

junior at Brigham Young University who is here on a 

semester in Washington, DC, program, arrived here 

along with many other folks just coming back from 

the holiday break on 6 January. Their quick adjustment has gone a long way toward smoothing out the 

personnel turbulence at the start of the year. Stacy 

and Alisa will be with us until April. While it seems 

like we are just getting to know them, in February we 

were already interviewing applicants for our summer 

intern positions.

Along with the usual focus on Black History Month 

(February) and Women’s History Month (March), 

we’re also preparing for some other significant anniversaries this spring. First up is the 50th anniversary of 

Apollo 13. That story may be well known, but thanks 

to some incredible work by Ben Feist and his team of 

volunteers, this year we’ll be able to gain insights into 

the flight from Mission Control. For the first time 

in five decades, we’ll be able to hear the taped audio 

of the “loops” at Mission Control for the entire mission. While most of the recorded audio was available 

in Houston, there hasn’t been a way to play it back. 

Moreover, many of the tapes that covered the time 

immediately after the explosion of the oxygen tank on 

Apollo 13 had been sent to Langley Research Center 

to be used in the investigation of the accident. After 

the investigation was completed, those tapes wound 

up in the hands of the National Archives. Thanks to 

some great detective work, those tapes were tracked 

down and digitized. While there will be a number of 

Apollo 13 anniversary events and publications, the 

most exciting new development will be a chance to 

listen to the unfolding drama in real time at: https://

apolloinrealtime.org/. The other significant anniversary this spring will be 22 April 2020, Earth Day. 

That will mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, 

and NASA history will be helping the Agency to 

celebrate the importance of our favorite (and, so far, 

only) planet. While we don’t have 30-track audio from 

the first Earth Day, we will be helping to mark this 

important milestone in a number of ways. 

You may be wondering how things are going with 

the Mission Support Future Architecture Program 

(MAP) History Working Group. In December, the 

Working Group made a good start on coming up with 

MAP options for the history and archival programs 

at NASA. Yet it quickly became apparent that things 

were more complex than we imagined. As this is being 

written, the team has concluded data-gathering and is 

coming up with proposals for implementing MAP in 

the history and archival programs. We expect to brief 

the initial proposals to the MAP program managers 

and various leaders here at Headquarters in March. 

It is much too early at this point to know how this 

process will turn out. The range of potential answers 

swings from hardly any noticeable change at all, to a 

major overhaul of our history and archival program. 

Regardless of the specific MAP plans, I believe that 

this is the best chance we have had in decades to 

address some of the challenges that have faced our 

Agency’s history efforts in recent decades. Keep your 

fingers crossed. 
6

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

From the Archives:

By Robyn Rodgers

NASA Headquarters Archives would like to thank 

Craig Haibon for his year of hard work, hard decisions, 

and good nature. The Regional Planetary Information 

Facilities (RPIF) have undergone a review, and Craig 

was the archivist working to help determine which of 

their images were historic in nature. As he moves on 

to his next adventure, we wish him and his family well. 

NASA History Publications:

By Steve Garber

We’re pleased to have recently submitted two manuscripts for production (copyediting, layout, and 

then printing) with our esteemed colleagues in the 

Communications Support Services Center (CSSC). 

First, Linda Billings has graciously edited a collection 

of essays stemming from a symposium we had several years ago on the 50th anniversary of robotic solar 

system exploration. This volume includes a number 

of thoughtful, interesting chapters. Second, Chris 

Gainor has written a fine operational history of the 

Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Designed as a complement to Robert Smith’s well-known development 

history of HST, this book expertly covers a number of 

important themes and will be heavily illustrated. Both 

of these volumes should appear later this year.

The third volume of Wind and Beyond, an aerodynamics documentary history, is currently in layout. Edited 

by Jeremy Kinney and Jim Hansen, this comprehensive volume will cover airships, flying boats, and rotorcraft and should also go to print later this year. 

Emily Cook recently completed writing a manuscript 

on the history of NASA’s Stennis Space Center (SSC). 

This carefully researched and well-written manuscript should serve as an excellent follow-up to Mack 

Herring’s Way Station to Space, with a focus on both 

the technical details of rocket propulsion testing and 

the social and economic impact that SSC has had on 

the local area. Her manuscript should go out for peer 

review shortly. 

AMES RESEARCH CENTER

Moffett Field, California

By James Anderson

On 14 November 2019, Ames had the honor of 

hosting Vice President Mike Pence for a visit to the 

Center. This was just the third visit of a sitting Vice 

President to Ames, the others being Lyndon Johnson 

in 1961 and George H.W. Bush in 1988. While it’s 

not uncommon for Air Force One to land at Moffett 

Field, Ames has never hosted a sitting President. The 

hours of history-sleuthing to elucidate those little 

facts for the occasion were made possible from the 

years of work that have gone into the archives and 

the coverage afforded by the Astrogram newsletter. In 

orchestrating the actual visit, the team in the Office of 

Communications did a tremendous job in making the 

event a success. 

The following month, Ames celebrated the 80th anniversary of its ground-breaking as the NACA’s second 

laboratory on 20 December. Center Director Eugene 

Tu spoke to Ames staff during a cake-cutting ceremony in the cafeteria, and historian James Anderson 

introduced a letter collection box to complement the 

existing Ames time capsule. That time capsule was created in 1989, when Ames celebrated its 50th anniversary. The capsule is sealed at the intersection of King 

Road and DeFrance Avenue, on a patch of ground 

where a wooden shack was constructed that served 

as an office for planning the construction of the first 

facilities at Ames. The capsule awaits opening at the 

centennial celebration in 20 years. In the meantime, 

letters submitted to the collection box from the Ames 

community will be archived and shared in the future. 

The plan is to continue and build upon the submission 

campaign annually as we look toward the centennial.

The last few months have remained quite busy. A short 

publication covering Ames’ history is currently under 

review and being edited in the office. An update of the 

Center-at-a-Glance is also underway. At the end of 

February, James will present a talk about Ames history 

to the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars, 

who will be at Ames for a workshop.
7

Volume 37, Number 1 Third Quarter 2020

ARMSTRONG FLIGHT RESEARCH 

CENTER (AFRC) 

Edwards Air Force Base, California

By Christian Gelzer

Work on the reference collection has begun again following the return of two pallets of boxes—scanned—

and a hard drive with the first batch of data. Karl 

Bender (research librarian) and Christian Gelzer are 

starting the quality control process with the data files. 

Gelzer’s article, “The Longest Flight in the X-15 

Reconsidered” was accepted by the International Test 

and Evaluation Journal and will appear in March 

2020. On 20 April 1962, Neil Armstrong made his 

second-to-last flight in the X-15. Trying to trigger 

an experiment while on the way back to Edwards, 

he bounced off the atmosphere and found himself 

headed toward Los Angeles. He thought about landing at LAX but turned the aircraft around; he was, by 

then, over one of the metropolis’ suburbs. Armstrong 

is considered the culprit in the usual telling of the 

story, but evidence drawn from flight transcripts, postflight debriefings, and other primary sources, offers 

nuance to the story. High on the list of issues endemic 

to the X-15 were spotty radio communication, poor 

visibility downward, and regular calls of smoke in the 

cockpit during flights. This particular flight lasted 12 

minutes 38 seconds, 11 minutes 07 seconds of which 

were spent mostly without radio contact with NASA. 

This mattered because the pilots depended on ground 

control to get themselves home safely. Following a 

flight, Joe Walker admitted that, on his way home, 

he could see the tops of the mountain chain near 

the base, but could not see the base itself because of 

visibility issues in the X-15—the Antelope Valley is 

big and was visible to shuttle pilots coming across 

the Pacific. Perhaps what drew the most attention 

was Center management’s comments in a post-flight 

report, which stated, “smoke was observed emanating from above the instrument panel at 90,000 feet 

during the entry.” Three factors conspired to limit 

Armstrong’s situational awareness on his flight, and it 

is my contention that he was not the primary cause of 

the “excursion,” as Milt Thompson called it.

PERHAPS WHAT DREW THE 

MOST ATTENTION WAS...

COMMENTS IN A POST-FLIGHT 

REPORT, WHICH STATED, 

‘SMOKE WAS OBSERVED 

EMANATING FROM ABOVE THE 

INSTRUMENT PANEL AT 90,000 

FEET DURING THE ENTRY.’

Flight path for Neil Armstrong’s X-15 long flight in 1962. (Credit: NASA)

This image is the flight trace from the control room 

plotting board for Neil’s long flight. The top trace 

shows the X-15’s horizontal displacement (latitude-longitude), and the bottom trace shows its vertical displacement (altitude) during the flight. The 

traces run from right to left, the horizontal trace ending in a fishhook. Burnout is marked (5550 fps on the 
8

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

altitude trace); thereafter, the X-15 flew on its recently 

imparted kinetic energy while acquiring potential 

energy (altitude) all the way to apogee. As kinetic 

energy declined thereafter, the pilot drew on potential 

energy to reach home. The bounce is plotted. There 

are four shorthand and two longhand cardioids—the 

thick, hand-drawn lines superimposed on the flight 

trace. These heart shapes are indicators of the X-15’s 

diversion range at that point in the flight based on its 

total remaining energies. The cardioids diminish in 

area as the aircraft descends and slows. 

GLENN RESEARCH CENTER (GRC)

Cleveland, Ohio

By Anne Mills

Glenn Contributions to the Apollo 13 Mission

“Cleveland, Ohio, June 12—The unique capabilities 

of a facility to produce weightlessness here on earth at 

NASA’s Lewis Research Center are being used to help 

pinpoint the cause of the oxygen failure tank which 

crippled the Apollo 13 spacecraft on its way to the 

moon last April 13.”

This year marks 50 years since NASA’s most “successful 

failure.” The above quote opened a 1970 press release 

from Lewis Research Center (now Glenn) detailing 

how the relatively new Zero Gravity Facility contributed to the accident investigation. The Zero Gravity 

Facility came online in 1966. The tower dropped 

460 feet and provided researchers 5.2 seconds of 

microgravity to better understand its effects on liquid 

hydrogen. In 1985, the facility was designated as a 

National Historic Landmark and today continues to 

provide valuable information on fluid physics and 

combustion in near weightless conditions. 

During the Apollo 13 accident investigation, the 

“Zero G” was tasked with testing a theory that burning 

Teflon insulation around a shorted wire in the oxygen 

tank caused the explosion. It was previously believed 

that Teflon would not burn in space conditions, but 

testing at Lewis proved otherwise. This information 

was part of the investigation board’s final report and 

was utilized in improving the safety of future missions. 

Lewis employee Irv Pinkel, who could arguably be 

considered the “father” of the NASA safety program, 

served as an official observer to the Apollo 13 accident 

investigation after his key contributions to the Apollo 

1 investigation.

Apollo 13 Lunar Module Pilot Fred Haise (like fellow 

Apollo astronaut Neil Armstrong) began his NASA 

career at Lewis Research Center as a research pilot. 

Haise flew at Lewis from 1959 to 1963 and published 

several papers on research he supported. Most notably, 

he piloted the Center’s AJ-2 Savage in microgravity, 

inducing parabolic flights over Lake Erie for early 

microgravity studies.

JOHNSON SPACE CENTER (JSC)

Houston, Texas

By John Uri

Early in the new year, Jennifer Ross-Nazzal conducted 

a joint interview with Harry Larson and David 

Myers, two members of the group known as the 

Gallaudet 11. The Gallaudet 11, a misnomer since the 

group included more than 11 members, participated 

in studies of the vestibular system led by noted neuroscientist Dr. Ashton Graybiel from 1961 to 1968. 

Scientists selected Larson and Myers, then students 

at Gallaudet University for the deaf, for a number 

of reasons, including their ability to communicate. 

The childhood meningitis that led to their deafness 

also rendered their vestibular systems resistant to all 

forms of motion sickness. As subjects in a variety of 

experiments, they provided significant help to NASA 

in understanding the causes and the prevention of 

motion sickness early in the human spaceflight era. 

The oral history with Larson and Myers was videotaped using sign language interpreters, and the final 

product will be used in promoting the contributions 

of the Gallaudet 11 to aerospace medicine. The two 

men, along with Dr. John Allen, Program Executive 

for Crew Health and Safety at NASA Headquarters, 

described the program and their contributions 

during a panel session at the annual Human Research 
9

Volume 37, Number 1 Third Quarter 2020

Program Investigators Workshop in 

Galveston, Texas, and during a special 

program at Space Center Houston. Dr. 

Allen publicly recognized Jennifer and 

Sandra’s efforts, as well as the overall 

JSC oral history project, during both 

sessions as well as in an e-mail to their 

management. In his e-mail, Dr. Allen 

expressed his gratitude and admiration for the oral history and complimented them on their leadership.

In January, the JSC History Office 

helped to acquire some of the 

personal records of Apollo geologist Bill Muehlberger. This came 

about because of some of the 

research we provided to the Human 

Exploration and Operations Mission 

Directorate. Geoscientist Pat Dickerson, who searched 

Muehlberger’s records on our behalf, decided that his 

papers at the University of Texas at Austin needed 

to be in a publicly accessible archive with climate 

control. The JSC History Archives at the University 

of Houston—Clear Lake (UHCL) was suggested, 

and the papers were shipped at the end of January. 

Arrangements have been made with JSC Archivist 

Mark Scroggins to house the items until UHCL 

takes ownership. Additional conversations are ongoing about other Muehlberger materials at the Walter 

Geology Library.

The JSC History Office has been actively participating in an effort led by the JSC External Relations 

Office (ERO) to celebrate key moments leading up 

to the 20th anniversary of permanent occupancy of 

the International Space Station (ISS) on 2 November 

2020. Feature articles to date highlighted the history1

and assembly2 of ISS, the announcement of the 

1 https://www.nasa.gov/feature/space-station-20th-historical-origins-of-iss

2 https://www.nasa.gov/feature/iss20th-high-flying-construction

3 https://www.nasa.gov/feature/space-station-20th-expedition-1-crew-named

4 https://www.nasa.gov/feature/space-station-20th-celebrating-birthdays-on-iss

naming of the Expedition 1 crew3, the first to occupy 

ISS, and how astronauts celebrate their birthdays 

aboard the orbiting laboratory.

4

We continue to work with the JSC ERO on a series 

of articles commemorating other significant historical milestones, in particular the 50th anniversary of 

Apollo 13, the 45th anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz 

Test Project, and further afield the 40th anniversary 

STS-1. The content is posted on the www.nasa.gov

website and JSC’s Facebook and Twitter accounts. 

Select articles are posted on JSC’s Roundup Reads

and abstracts of the articles appear online in JSC’s 

Roundup Today. The features often highlight the 

anniversaries of less-celebrated events and people that 

were nevertheless important to the Apollo Program 

and other spaceflight endeavors. We would like to 

thank history and archive personnel at other NASA 

Centers for their valued help and contributions to 

many of these products. 

David Myers and Harry Larson, members of the Gallaudet 11, during their presentation at the Human Research Program 

Investigators Workshop. (Credit: NASA)
10

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER

Huntsville, Alabama

By Brian Odom

Over the past few months, the Marshall History Office 

and Archives have been busy with the usual research, 

writing, and reference requests. One of the more interesting projects was the development of a public history 

course, taught at the University of Alabama Huntsville. 

Through a series of guest lectures, this course explores 

both the history and current state of NASA in the region, 

spanning impacts on everything from religion to architecture. This series features guest talks from contributors 

to the forthcoming work, NASA and the American South. 

The Marshall History Office also continued planning 

for a March 2021 symposium—NASA and the Rise of 

Commercial Space. This symposium will examine the 

evolution of commercial space activities in Low-Earth 

orbit and beyond—tackling the evolving legal framework for commercial space and a philosophy of New 

Space, and sorting through the varying definitions of 

commercial. The Call for Papers for this symposium 

is forthcoming. 

Research continues into the long history of Gravity 

Probe B—the Stanford mission designed to test two 

important aspects of Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Key components of the experiment 

were two pairs of spherical, electrostatically suspended, 

spinning rotors. Made from Homosil-grade fused silica and roughly 1.5 inches (3.81centimeters) across 

in size, these rotors hold the Guinness World Record 

by being the “Most Spherical Manmade Object.” In 

fact, the rotors were so round that if enlarged to the 

size of the Earth, the tallest mountain and the deepest 

ocean trench would measure only 8 feet. Last month, 

Brian interviewed precision machinist Joe Hayden. 

Now retired from the Speedring company, Hayden 

was responsible for the initial machining of the rotors 

(and gyroscope housings) before shipping to Stanford 

for final polishing. 

Hayden’s work for the space program did not begin 

with Gravity Probe B. During the Apollo program, 

Hayden and the Speedring company where he was 

employed provided precision machining for many 

aspects of the Apollo 11 mission, including mirrors 

for both the optical unity assembly for the Apollo 

guidance system and the retroreflectors that were part 

of the Lunar Laser Ranging experiment. 

Yet, while showing me around his shop in Cullman, 

Alabama, Hayden noted he was most proud of his 

work developing those all-too-critical rotors for 

Gravity Probe B. Preserving the stories of the scientists, 

engineers, and technicians like Hayden is certainly 

one of the most important and fulfilling functions of 

the NASA History Program. 

More information on Gravity Probe B is located here: 

https://einstein.stanford.edu/

Joe Hayden displays a mock-up of the rotor and gyroscope housing 

developed for the Gravity Probe B experiment. (Credit: Brian Odom)
11

Volume 37, Number 1 Third Quarter 2020

STENNIS SPACE CENTER

Hancock County, Mississipi

By C. Lacy Thompson 

NASA Artemis Program and Stennis Space 

Center Set the Stage for Testing in 2020 

All eyes were on south Mississippi with last month’s 

delivery and installation of NASA’s Space Launch 

System (SLS) rocket’s first core stage to Stennis Space 

Center for a milestone Green Run test series prior to 

its Artemis I1 flight.

The Green Run2 testing will be the first top-to-bottom 

integrated testing of the stage’s systems prior to its 

maiden flight. The testing will be conducted on the 

B-2 Test Stand at Stennis, located near Bay St. Louis, 

Mississippi, and the nation’s largest rocket propulsion 

test site. Green Run testing will take place over several 

months and culminates with an 8-minute, full-duration hot fire of the stage’s four RS-25 engines to 

generate 2 million pounds of thrust, as during an 

actual launch. 

“This critical test series will demonstrate the rocket’s core stage propulsion system is ready for launch 

on missions to deep space,” Stennis Director Rick 

Gilbrech said. “The countdown to this nation’s next 

great era of space exploration is moving ahead.”

NASA is building SLS as the world’s most-powerful rocket to return humans to deep space, to such 

destinations as the Moon and Mars. Through the 

Artemis program, NASA will send the first woman 

and next man to the Moon by 2024. Artemis I will be 

a test flight without crew of the rocket and its Orion 

spacecraft. Artemis II3

 will carry astronauts into lunar 

orbit. Artemis III will send astronauts to the surface 

of the Moon.

SLS at sunset. (Credit: NASA)

The SLS core stage, the largest rocket stage ever built by 

NASA, stands 212 feet tall and measures 27.6 feet in 

diameter. It is equipped with state-of-the-art avionics, 

1 https://www.nasa.gov/feature/around-the-moon-with-nasa-s-first-launch-of-sls-with-orion

2 https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/green-run-test-paves-way-for-nasa-moon-missions.html

3 https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-s-first-flight-with-crew-important-step-on-long-term-return-to-the-moon-missions-to

miles of cables, propulsion systems, and propellant 

tanks that hold a total of 733,000 gallons of liquid 

oxygen and liquid hydrogen to fuel the four RS-25 

engines during launch. The core stage was designed 

by NASA and Boeing in Huntsville, Alabama, then 

manufactured at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility 

in New Orleans by lead contractor Boeing, with input 

and contributions from more than 1,100 large and 

small businesses in 44 states.

“Delivering the Space Launch System rocket core stage 

to Stennis for testing is an epic historical milestone,” 

said Julie Bassler, the SLS stages manager. “My team 

looks forward to bringing this flight hardware to life 

and conducting this vital test that will demonstrate 

the ability to provide 2 million pounds of thrust to 

send the Artemis I mission to space.”
12

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

The stage was transported from Michoud to Stennis 

aboard the specially outfitted Pegasus barge. It arrived 

at the B-2 dock on 12 January and was rolled out onto 

the test stand tarmac that night. Crews then began 

installing ground equipment needed for lifting the 

stage into a vertical position and onto the stand.

The lift was performed on 21–22 January during optimal weather and wind conditions. Crews then worked 

to fully secure the stage in place and to stand systems.

NASA completed extensive modifications4 to prepare 

the B-2 stand for the test series. The stand has a notable history, having been used to test Saturn V stages 

that helped launch astronauts to the Moon as part of 

the Apollo Program and the three-engine propulsion 

system of the space shuttle prior to its first flight. 

Preparing the stand for SLS core stage testing required 

upgrades of every major system on the stand, as well 

as the high pressure system that provides hundreds of 

thousands of gallons of water needed during a test. It 

also involved adding 1 million pounds of fabricated 

steel to the Main Propulsion Test Article framework 

that will hold the mounted core stage and extending 

the large derrick crane atop the stand that will be used 

to lift the SLS stage into place.

4 https://www.nasa.gov/centers/stennis/news/Stennis-Reaches-Readiness-Milestone-in-Preparation-for-Space-Launch-System-Testing

5 https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/avionics.html

With the core stage installed on the stand, operators 

began the Green Run series with an initial end-ofthe-month modal test. In coming months, they will 

power up avionics;5 conduct main propulsion system 

and engine leak checks; and check out the hydraulics 

system and the thrust vector control unit that allows 

for rotating the engines to direct thrust and “steer” the 

rocket’s trajectory.

They also will conduct a simulated countdown as well 

as a “wet dress rehearsal” in which propellants are 

loaded and flow throughout the stage system. The 

rehearsal exercise will end just prior to engine ignition, 

with the full four-engine hot fire to come in subsequent days.

After the hot fire test, crews plan to perform refurbishment work on the stage and inspect and configure it 

for shipment to Kennedy Space Center. The stage will 

be removed from the stand, lowered to its horizontal 

position on the tarmac, and reloaded into Pegasus for 

the trip to Florida.

At Kennedy, the stage will be joined with other SLS 

elements and prepared for launch. The next time its 

four RS-25 engines fire, Artemis I will be taking flight.

UPCOMING MEETINGS

The annual meeting of the Organization of American 

Historians was scheduled for 2–5 April 2020 in 

Washington, DC, but is cancelled due to Covid-19. 

Visit https://www.oah.org for more details.

The semiannual Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives 

Conference was scheduled for 16–18 April 2020 in 

Harrisonburg, Virginia, but is cancelled due to Covid19. Visit https://www.marac.info for more details.

The annual meeting of the Society of American 

Archivists will be held 2–8 August 2020 in Chicago, 

Illinois. Visit: https://www2.archivists.org/conference 

for more details.

The annual meeting of the Society for the History 

of Technology will be held 7–11 October 2020

in New Orleans, Louisiana. Visit https://www.

historyoftechnology.org/annual-meeting for more details.
13

Volume 37, Number 1 Third Quarter 2020

NOT CHILD’S PLAY: TOYS THAT INSPIRED NASA INNOVATIONS

By Stacy Bishop, NASA History Division Intern

1 Peabody, Zanto, “Car Designer to the Stars George Barris Has NASA Toying With One of His Early Ideas,” Los Angeles Times, (22 April 

2000), Valley Edition.

2 David Zax, “Galileo’s Revolutionary Vision Helped Usher in Modern Astronomy,” Smithsonian Magazine (August 2009). https://www.

smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Galileos-Revolutionary-Vision-Helped-Usher-In-Modern-Astronomy-34545274/.

3 National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, Public Law #85-568, 72 Stat., 426. Signed by the President on 29 July 1958, Record Group 

255, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC; available in NASA Historical Reference Collection, History 

Office, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC (hereafter “HRC”).

4 News Direct, “NASA’s Inflatable Heat Shield: Aeroshell Inspired by a Toy Could One Day Help Humans Land on Mars,” YouTube 

Video, 0:56 (3 February 2015). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jq7pPvcBLk

“

Scientists go through their toy bins all the time for inspiration.” —Phil West, NASA spokesman, 

20001

Baby toys and Martian landers may not be connected 

thoughts for most people, but toys have served as 

sources of inspiration for several NASA projects. The 

concept of using toys to inspire science dates back, at 

least, to the time Galileo considered a toy spy glass, 

eventually turning it into his famous telescope.2 Many 

toys have “played” a part in space science. 

NASA’s influence on the toy market is commonplace. 

Model rockets, LEGO sets, and even an American 

Girl Doll all draw inspiration from the space agency. 

As part of the Space Act of 1958, section 203, NASA 

must “provide for the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination of information concerning its 

activities and the results thereof.”3 Toys present a 

unique opportunity to increase awareness of NASA’s 

strategic themes and NASA missions. NASA has a 

fairly straightforward merchandise approval process 

for toys and products that seek to carry the NASA 

logo or other NASA references. Many of these NASAinspired toys also aim to encourage children to be 

interested in science and engineering. However, the 

toys have returned the favor, with children’s playthings 

inspiring NASA scientists and engineers.

LEGO bricks at “Build the Future” at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in 

Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Credit: NASA)

As NASA looks towards the Moon and Mars, the 

development of new technology will be essential. As 

scientists and engineers at NASA’s Langley Research 

Center toyed with ideas for how to land future 

spacecraft, a toy was exactly what they needed. The 

plastic stacking rings, found in most playrooms, 

stirred the ideas of those designing an inflatable heat 

shield.4 These stacking ring toys, meant for babies, 
14

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

are often made of wood or plastic with the rings of 

increasing size in different colors or textures. The heat 

shield, named The Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an 

Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID), also has a set of 

inflatable rings of increasing size. The stackable rings 

will be packed for the journey and inflate with gas 

when they reach the Martian surface. Using inflatable, 

stackable rings allows the spacecraft to have more 

room for experiments, equipment, or even people. 

LOFTID is set to launch in 2022.5

Super Ball Bot is an all-in-one landing and mobility platform based on tensegrity structures, allowing 

for lower-cost and more reliable planetary missions. (Credit: NASA)

In 2013, a robotics researcher at NASA Ames Research 

Center stood in front of a crowd with a small springy 

toy designed for babies. He said, “So the initial 

5 LOFTID Fact Sheet. 2020. www.nasa.gov. https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/loftid_fact_sheet_june2019.pdf.

6 NASAeClips,“NASA 360 Talks - Super Ball Bot,” YouTube video, 2:20 19 February 2015. https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=0eC4A2PXM-U

7 Zanto Peabody, “Car Designer to the Stars George Barris Has NASA Toying with One of His Early Ideas,” Los Angeles Times (22 April 

2000), Valley Edition.

8 Edward Lozzi, “Holy Martian Batmobile! NASA Mars Mission Engineers Consult with George Barris, Hollywood Car Designer and 

Creator of the Batmobile,” Toys, Impact Box 120, HRC, Washington, DC; Los Angeles, California, 16 March 2000.

9 Zanto Peabody, “Car Designer to the Stars George Barris Has NASA Toying With One of His Early Ideas.” Los Angeles Times, (22 April 

2000), Valley Edition.

inspiration was, we took one of these toys and we’d say, 

what can we use this for?”6 The rattle and teether is 

made of wooden dowels, wooden balls, and elastic. The 

toy hardly resembles a spacecraft, but Vytas SunSpiral 

saw a landing robot saying, “Well they make them as 

baby toys because they’re really safe; it’s hard to break 

them, and hard to hurt yourself with it, hard for a 

baby to hurt themselves with it, and you can throw 

it on the ground really hard and you’re not going to 

break it. Okay, that’s a landing robot!” The Super Ball 

Bot is designed for planetary landing and exploration. 

This experimental robot concept would bounce, bend, 

fold, and stretch to explore unknown terrains. 

In the archives of NASA Headquarters, there are articles that exist about a car designer named George 

Barris.7 His famous works include the TV Batmobile, 

K.I.T.T. from Nightrider, and the Munster’s unique 

automobile. Barris also designed model cars intended 

for children to build. It was in the year 2000 that a 

model car concept caught the attention of Robert 

Yowell, a NASA engineer based in Houston. Yowell 

was working on a design for a rover that could navigate Mars. He became intrigued by the wheel design 

and suspension of an old model car kit for a fantasy 

lunar rover named Moonscope.8 Moonscope was 

a model car kit designed by George Barris in 1971 

and manufactured by Model Products Corporation. 

Yowell wrote to George Barris asking if he would share 

his design for the rover. “I was intrigued by the wheel 

and suspension design and how far ahead of its time 

it was,” said Yowell. Barris was flattered, agreed to 

share any designs and notes he had for the model car 

kit, and told NASA to use whatever they could.9 Toy 

designers, particularly those designing fantasy space 
15

Volume 37, Number 1 Third Quarter 2020

vehicles, are not bound by the physics of actual space 

travel. This freedom allows for creative design. 

In 2003, when the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s 

Space Vehicles Directorate was tasked with bringing electronic components to spacecraft, they again 

looked toward toys, particularly the interchangeability of LEGO bricks.10 According to the Manager of 

Strategic Alliances at NASA, “NASA and LEGO have 

a history of collaboration aimed at inspiring the next 

generation of space explorers and builders. LEGO 

wishes to further this partnership with NASA to bring 

to life even more of the stories, careers, technology, 

and science behind the various endeavors surrounding 

missions into space.” In fact, some of the latest LEGO 

sets have “Inspired by NASA” right on the box. As 

LEGO has been inspired by NASA, the engineers at 

AFRL became inspired by aspects of LEGO bricks. 

By designing interchangeable parts with standardized ports that fit together, similar to LEGO bricks, 

they are able to move and manipulate parts without 

completely redesigning a whole instrument. Another 

advantage of building a modular system like LEGO 

bricks is, if there was a problem with a component, 

only that part could be replaced instead of having 

to rebuild the whole instrument. While designed for 

monetary savings as well as ease of use, this idea had 

the added benefit of being able to be transported in 

pieces and assembled in space. 

10 Rich Tuttle, “USAF Eyes Lego Concept for Space Structures,” Aerospace Daily, (13 August 2003).

Developing technology for space and exploration 

requires hardware that has never been made before. 

Beyond being technically knowledgeable, scientists 

and engineers need to be creative and able to look 

at everyday objects, even toys, in a new way. While 

NASA-inspired toys grace the shelves of retailers, toys 

have helped NASA scientists find original solutions 

to unique problems. Space science and engineering 

demand creativity and ingenuity, the same ideals that 

toys seek to nurture. It makes perfect sense that toys 

would serve as inspiration for the people solving some 

out-of-this-world challenges. NASA will continue to 

partner with toys that aim to share the excitement of 

space science with future generations. NASA scientists and engineers will always continue to look at the 

world around them as inspiration for innovations. 

George Barris’s Moonscope 

toy (Credit: scalemates) and 

Sojourner Rover. (Credit: NASA) 

BEYOND BEING TECHNICALLY 

KNOWLEDGEABLE, SCIENTISTS 

AND ENGINEERS NEED TO BE 

CREATIVE AND ABLE TO LOOK 

AT EVERYDAY OBJECTS, EVEN 

TOYS, IN A NEW WAY. 
16

MAKING EVERY DAY EARTH DAY

By Alisa Greenhalgh, NASA History Division Intern

1 Earth Day, “The History of Earth Day,” Accessed 28 January 2020. https://www.earthday.org/history/.

2 NASA, “Explorer 1,” Accessed 26 January 2020. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/explorer-1/.

3 Edward S. Goldstein and Tabatha Thompson, “Earth Science: NASA’s Mission to Our Home Planet,” NASA. Last Modified 6 August 

2008. https://www.nasa.gov/50th/50th_magazine/earthSciences.html.

This year, the world is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Earth Day was started in 

1970 to raise awareness of and further environmental 

movements to save our planet from the carelessness 

of humans. Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson recognized the need for action and reached out to college-aged activists already involved in anti-war, civil 

rights, and other movements. To accommodate the 

younger audience, Earth Day was scheduled for 22 

April, a date between spring break and finals. The 

original Earth Day was widely successful in America 

with approximately 20 million people participating in 

rallies across the country. Earth Day became a global 

movement in 1990 with 141 countries participating 

in rallies as well as increasing awareness about recycling.1

 From grassroots to global, Earth Day has raised 

awareness of how people can be better stewards of this 

planet that has given us life. 

When you hear “Earth Day,” you probably think 

about “going green” or planting trees. What might not 

come to mind is the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration. However, the famous “Earthrise” 

photo taken by Apollo 8 astronauts in 1968 has been 

credited, in part, for inspiring the environmental 

movement. Photographing Earth is not the only way 

that NASA has been contributing to protecting the 

planet. In fact, NASA’s Earth Science Division works 

every day to collect and study data that will help 

humans better understand planet Earth. This process 

has been ongoing for many decades now. 

Iconic Apollo 8 “Earthrise” at its original orientation. (Credit: NASA)

Since NASA’s beginning, scientists looked to the stars 

to learn about the vast unknown of outer space, but 

the further they got into space, the more they realized 

they still knew very little about the planet we live on. 

The first satellite sent to orbit Earth was Explorer 1 in 

1958. The mission of Explorer 1 was to measure the 

radiation element in Earth’s atmosphere.2 Explorer 

learned a lot about the atmosphere it was orbiting in. 

However, it did little to learn more about the planet 

itself. As NASA entered the 1960s, satellites collecting 

data on weather patterns were sent up, which was a 

huge step to humans’ understanding weather patterns. 

According to the former director of NASA’s Earth 

Science Division, Dr. Michael Freilich, before those 

satellites went up, “the human race had never had an 

image of a complete hurricane’s cloud patterns.”3

As wonderful as these findings were, NASA did not 

start looking at Earth as “one huge life supporting 

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes
17

system made up of discrete parts working together” 

until the 1970s and early 1980s.4 This desire to study 

Earth as a huge singular system from space brought 

in a new generation of scientists ready to discover 

the unknown that was still here at home. In 1973, 

NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher told a Senate 

committee, “NASA is called the space Agency, but in 

4 Land-Related Global Habitability Science Issues Working Group, “Land-Related Global Habitability Science Issues,” NASA. July 1983. 

Accessed online at https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19830021473.pdf.

5 Kurtis Thome, “Terra,” NASA. Accessed 28 January 2020. https://terra.nasa.gov/.

a broader sense, we could be called an environmental 

Agency...Perhaps that is our essential task, to study 

and understand Earth and its environment.” 

Earth Day 2017 poster featuring the total solar eclipse. (Credit: NASA)

These ideals stated by Fletcher were considered as 

NASA’s Earth Science Division started looking at how 

to study the long-term changes of Earth and whether 

or not human activity was affecting the planet. In the 

early 1980s, NASA published a technical memorandum titled, “Land-Related Global Habitability Issues.” 

This report outlined a vision of studying Earth as a 

single system. The plan was to have a satellite capable 

of studying global energy, water cycles, land surface, 

biological productivity on land, and the atmosphere. 

As this idea was further researched, NASA organized 

the Earth Observatory System (EOS) in 1990. 

NASA IS CALLED THE SPACE AGENCY, 

BUT IN A BROADER SENSE, WE COULD BE 

CALLED AN ENVIRONMENTAL AGENCY... 

PERHAPS THAT IS OUR ESSENTIAL TASK, 

TO STUDY AND UNDERSTAND EARTH AND 

ITS ENVIRONMENT.

—James C. Fletcher, Former NASA Administrator

The planning went well through the decade, and on 

18 December 1999, the first of many EOS satellites 

was launched. The Terra satellite fulfilled the hopes 

of the 1983 memorandum with five sensors that are 

able to “explore the connections between Earth’s 

atmosphere, land, snow and ice, ocean, and energy 

balance to understand Earth’s climate and climate 

change and to map the impact of human activity and 

natural disasters on communities and ecosystems.”5

Since then, there have been nine other satellites that 

Volume 37, Number 1 Third Quarter 2020
18

have been used specifically for EOS missions. The 

Terra satellite, though only meant to function for five 

to six years, has been in operation for more than 20 

years now. According to Steve Running, the former 

Chair of NASA’s Earth Science Subcommittee, “Many 

of the Terra platform datasets, now more than 20 

years long, are unique worldwide; no other country 

has developed, deployed, maintained, and distributed 

this type of critical Earth system datastream. Many 

Earth scientists worldwide use Terra datasets regularly, 

even though their country launches satellites of their 

own.”6 The data collected by Terra and the other EOS 

missions have allowed NASA to better understand the 

relationships among Earth, water, and the atmosphere, 

the changes the world is going through, and how the 

human race is affecting the planet.

Outside of the EOS missions, there are currently 36 

satellites that are either orbiting or are being prepared 

6 “Terra Research.” Terra Research, 28 January 2020.

7 “Every Day Is Earth Day,” NASA. Accessed 29 January 2020. https://sservi.nasa.gov/articles/every-day-is-earth-day/.

to orbit Earth to continue these studies. Last year, 

NASA’s administrator was quoted as saying, “At NASA, 

every day is Earth Day, as 20 missions continuously 

orbit the planet to study climate change, the behavior 

of oceans, precipitation worldwide, and many other 

Earth vital signs that help us become better stewards 

of our home.”7 Among many other benefits, these 

Earth-focused satellites have allowed scientists to track 

the quality of air, so that we may know if those conditions are no longer safe, and firefighters to safely 

navigate dangerous wildfires, to both extinguish them 

and evacuate affected areas. 

As the 50th anniversary of Earth Day approaches, it is 

important to remember the beauty of Earth that we 

live on. Though NASA continues to push boundaries 

and go where no human has gone before, we cannot 

forget to look back and remember our responsibilities 

on planet Earth. 

As of 10 October 2019, these were all the active Earth Observing satellites NASA associates with. (Credit: NASA)

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes
19

Volume 37, Number 1 Third Quarter 2020

GROUNDBREAKING FOR THE MISSISSIPPI 

ARMY AMMUNITION PLANT (MSAAP)

By Jessica Herr

The Mississippi Army Ammunition Plant was completed in 1983 on the 

site of what is now known as Stennis Space Center. (Image source: NASA)

One thing Jackson Balch tried to do as Director of the Mississippi Test Facility (MTF), now known 

as Stennis Space Center, was bring agencies and organizations together so that their work and research 

would benefit each other. In 1971, the Army was 

looking for a place to build a plant for their ammunition modernization program. This was a classified 

program named “Steel City.” At first, it was suggested 

that the Army look at Camp Shelby, just south of 

Hattiesburg, for their ammunition plant, but the 

Army had its sights set on the Mississippi Test Facility. 

The Army estimated that the plant was going to cost 

$500 million with about 1,200 employees. These 

were overwhelming numbers compared to the smaller 

installations on site at MTF. Balch also worried that 

the ammunition plant would overshadow the space 

and environmental work that was being done at MTF. 

However, Balch did not need to worry. The Army did 

initially suggest some changes at MTF, like moving 

engine testing to another site in Florida, but NASA 

and Senator Stennis maintained that engine testing 

would stay at MTF. The Army, MTF, and Senator 

Stennis all wanted to work together to make Steel City 

work. The Senate Armed Services Committee, chaired 

by Senator Stennis, gave the Army funding to begin 

construction of MSAAP. Despite all that was happening at MTF at that time, Jackson Balch was focusing 

on building up the agencies that would call MTF 

home. He convinced Dr. George Constan, a former 

manager of Michoud Assembly Facility, to serve as the 

liaison between NASA and the Army. The building of 

Steel City began with the groundbreaking ceremonies 

on 10 January 1978. There were 1,500 people from 

the surrounding areas that celebrated the building of 

this monumental facility. Senator Stennis was joined 

by Jerry Hlass as well as U.S. Representatives Trent 

Lott and Sonny Montgomery; Deputy Secretary of 

Defense Charles Duncan, Jr.; Secretary of the Navy 

W. Graham Clator, Jr.; Rear Admiral J. Edward 

Snyder, Jr.; and Deputy Administrator of NASA Alan 

Lovelace. In his address at the groundbreaking ceremony, Senator Stennis congratulated the arrangement 

of agencies at the site stating, “Today, this Facility 

exists as a national model of federal agency coordination and cooperation.”

...SENATOR STENNIS CONGRATULATED THE ARRANGEMENT OF 

AGENCIES AT THE SITE STATING, 

‘TODAY THIS FACILITY EXISTS 

AS A NATIONAL MODEL OF FEDERAL AGENCY COORDINATION 

AND COOPERATION.’
20

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

MISSING TAPES AND ACCEPTABLE RISK: APOLLO 13 IN REAL TIME

By Catherine Baldwin

1 Found at https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=055:55:37.

2 https://apolloinrealtime.org/11/

3 https://apollo17.org/

Nearly 15 minutes pass between the arguably 

most famous statement in 

NASA history, “Houston, 

we’ve had a problem”1 and 

“We are venting something out 

into space.”

Apollo 13 in Real Time website. (Credit: Ben Feist)

Unlike any Hollywood reenactment, things in Mission 

Control unfold slowly. On Ben 

Feist’s new website, Apollo 13 

in Real Time, you can hear the 

polyphony of voices, slowly 

adding to the fray, as each member of Mission Control realizes 

the magnitude of the problem. In real time, you hear 

the team discuss the problem and offer solutions, one 

after the other. The stress is palpable, and the strain in 

their voices is audible. Then, suddenly, you hear the 

long, anxiety-filled silences before instructions are sent 

to the astronauts. Despite the days it takes, listening to 

the mission is as riveting as any movie.

Feist’s new Apollo 13 website is now part of his 

growing collection of Apollo in Real Time, already 

populated with Apollo 112 and 173. A much quicker 

process than its predecessors, the creation of Apollo 

13 in Real Time will only take about eight months, as 

opposed to the two years taken for Apollo 11, and the 

six years needed for Apollo 17. This dramatic decrease 

in the time necessary to create this website is mostly 

due to the addition of a team! For Apollo 17 in Real 

Time, Ben Feist did 99 percent of the work, and for 

Apollo 11, he did about 90 percent; but for this mission, the site became much more of a group effort. 

Apollo 13 was created with a full team of passionate and skilled volunteers: Jeremy Cooper (software 

engineer), Stephen Slater (archive producer), David 

Charney (graphic designer), Johannes Kemppanen 

(historical researcher), Robin Wheeler (editor on the 

Apollo 10 flight journal), and Ernie Wright (science 

visualizer at NASA Goddard’s Scientific Visualization 

studio). Just like Feist, all the people on this team are 

volunteers who, as Feist says, “do this work for the 

love of it.”

The most exciting part of this already unbelievable 

website is the “discovery” of missing tapes. For years, 

there had been four tapes missing from the 21-tape 

collection of Mission Control audio. These tapes 

contained the audio surrounding the onboard explosion. Their whereabouts were not clear until Dan 

Rooney of the National Archives found them stored 

with the accident investigation material and e-mailed 

Feist saying, “I found them!” It is likely that these last 
21

Volume 37, Number 1 Third Quarter 2020

four tapes were separated as evidence for the accident 

investigation that took place in 1972. With these four 

tapes, the Apollo 13 in Real Time team has digitized 

50 channels of Mission Control audio, totaling 7,500 

hours in length. As Feist makes clear, “Getting [the 

tapes] digitized has been a joint effort between NASA 

JSC and the National Archives.”

THE MOST EXCITING PART OF 

THIS ALREADY UNBELIEVABLE 

WEBSITE IS THE ‘DISCOVERY’ 

OF MISSING TAPES.

Since this is the first time these tapes will be heard in 

50 years, everything the public hears from them will 

be completely new! Like Apollo 11 in Real Time, there 

are moments and people to look out for. The tape 

recorders at the consoles were voice-activated, so every 

time someone spoke, the tape would record them. 

This, of course, led to the capture of some interesting 

moments. Some of them are large pieces of history, 

like Tom Stafford calling Vice President Spiro Agnew4

to update him on the problem. Then, other moments 

are as simple and human as phone calls home to make 

sure their wives were not worried. One particularly 

interesting moment is captured when a young man, 

in the midst of all that is happening, decides he must

take the time to ask a young lady out on a date.5

Spoiler alert: It turned out that she had another date 

that night.

Images of Historical Recorders 1 and 2. (Credit: Ben Feist)

Rediscovered tape reel. (Credit: Ben Feist)

With the addition of Apollo 13, the collection has 

become a kind of a retrospective on the Apollo 

Program. Contrasting the three missions against each 

other, it is clear that, despite their inherent similarities, they each displayed a different facet of the space 

program. In the words of Fiest, “Apollo 11 was really 

4 Found at https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=058:01:38&ch=52.

5 Found at https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=076:58:56&ch=46.

a mission about engineering operations and survival, 

while Apollo 17 was the ‘crown jewel.’ There were so 

many firsts happening during the mission that it was 

more than possible that something serious could go 

wrong. Apollo 13 was unique because everyone had to 

work way outside of their normal jobs, in great coordination, and Apollo 17 was the science-focused ‘crown 

jewel’ of the Apollo program, with almost everything 

going perfectly and the successful return of a payload 
22

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

of scientific data that continues to be studied now 48 

years later.”

Apollo 13 is rightfully hailed as one of NASA’s greatest successes. Feist was struck most by the focus and 

professionalism of the entire mission, both onboard 

and in Mission Control. The teamwork that brought 

Lovell, Haise, and Swigert home safely is nothing short 

of remarkable. Consequently, the success of Apollo 13 

is often framed as a miracle. However, this event didn’t 

happen in a vacuum. Just like every mission before it, 

Apollo 13 was preceded by a prolonged and intense 

training period. As Feist puts it, “Planning, simulation, 

and training can make risk acceptable risk. The Apollo 

program had a contingency ready for problems like 

the one that occurred on Apollo 13. One contingency 

that was used allowed the use of the Lunar Module as 

a lifeboat to get the crew home in case the Command 

Module was disabled. This is exactly what needed to 

be done, and they had already thought of this ‘what 

if’ and were ready. It’s an excellent example of what 

it takes to balance acceptable risk with the inherently 

dangerous prospect of exploring other planets. Apollo 

13 is an example of how to do it right.”

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Disclaimer: This list was adapted from the astronautics 

list compiled by Gideon Marcus for 2019. The NASA 

History Office thanks him for allowing us to use his list. 

Please note that the list of titles does not represent an 

endorsement by NASA.

A Computer Called Katherine: How Katherine Johnson 

Helped Put America on the Moon, by Veronica 

Miller Jamison and Suzanne Slade (Little, Brown 

Books for Young Readers, 2019).

A History of Space Exploration in 100 Objects, by Sten 

Odenwald (Experiment, 2019).

A History of the Italian Space Adventure: Pioneers and 

Achievements from the XIVth Century to the Present, 

by Giovanni Caprara (Springer, 2019).

Apollo 11: 50th Anniversary of the First Man on the 

Moon, by David Baker (Mortons Media Group, 

2019).

Apollo 11: The Moon Landing in Real Time, by Ian 

Passingham (Pen and Sword History, 2019).

Apollo Confidential: Memories of Men on the Moon, by 

Lukas Viglietti (Morgan James Publishing, 2019).

Apollo Mission Control: The Making of a National 

Historic Landmark, by Manfred “Dutch” von 

Ehrenfried (Springer International Publishing, 

2019).

Chasing the Moon: The Story of the Space Race—from 

Arthur C. Clarke to the Apollo Landings and the 

Space Shuttle, by Alan Andres and Robert Stone 

(William Collins, 2019).

China’s Space Station: Reaching for the Moon and Mars, 

by Brian Harvey (Springer, 2019).

Daring Dozen: The Twelve Who Walked on the Moon, 

by Alan Marks and Suzanne Slade (Charlesbridge, 

2019).

Destination Moon: The Remarkable and Improbable 

Voyage of Apollo 11, by Richard Maurer (Roaring 

Brook Press, 2019).

Disaster Strikes!: The Most Dangerous Space Missions 

of All Time, by Jeffrey Kluger (Philomel Books, 

2019).

DK Life Stories: Katherine Johnson, by Charlotte Ager 

and Ebony Joy Wilkins (DK Children, 2019).

DK Readers Level 3: Moon Landings, by DK and 

Shoshana Weider (DK Children, 2019).

Dr Space Junk vs The Universe: Archaeology and the 

Future, by Alice Gorman (The MIT Press, 2019).

From Cave Man to Cave Martian: Living in Caves on 

the Earth, Moon and Mars, by Manfred “Dutch” 

von Ehrenfried (Springer, 2019).

Geopolitics of the Outer Space: A European Perspective, 

by Bohumil Domos (Springer, 2019).
23

Volume 37, Number 1 Third Quarter 2020

Handprints on Hubble: An Astronaut’s Story of Invention, 

by Kathryn D. Sullivan (The MIT Press, 2019).

Heroes of Space: Who Changed the World (Graphic 

Greats), by Emily Sohn (B.E.S., 2019).

Ike: The Memoir of Isom “Ike” Rigell, by Ike Rigell 

(Koehler Books, 2019).

Interplanetary Robots: True Stories of Space Exploration, 

by Rod Pyle (Prometheus, 2019).

John F. Kennedy: From Florida to the Moon, by Raymond 

B. Sinibaldi (Arcadia Publishing, 2019).

Light from the Void: Chandra X-Ray Observatory, 

by Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory 

(Smithsonian Books, 2019).

Manned Lunar Landing and Return, by Robert Godwin 

(CG Publishing, 2019).

Mars: A Journey of Discovery, by Rod Pyle (Andre 

Deutsch Ltd., 2019).

Moon Mission: The Epic 400-Year Journey to Apollo 11, 

by Sigmund Brouwer (Kids Can Press, 2019).

Moon Rush: The New Space Race, by Leonard David 

(National Geographic, 2019).

Moon: Architectural Guide, by Paul Meuser (DOM 

Publishers, 2019).

Moonshots: 50 Years of NASA Space Exploration through 

the Lens of Hasselblad, by Piers Bizony (Voyageur 

Press, 2019).

Moving to Mars: Design for the Red Planet, by Andrew 

Nahum (The Design Museum, 2019).

My Journey to the Stars (Step into Reading), by André 

Ceolin and Scott Kelly (Random House Books, 

2019).

NASA and the Long Civil Rights Movement, by Brian 

Odom and Stephen Waring (University Press of 

Florida, 2019).

One Giant Leap: The Untold Story of How We Flew 

to the Moon, by Charles Fishman (Simon & 

Schuster, 2019).

Picturing Apollo 11: Rare Views and Undiscovered 

Moments, by John Bisney and J. L. Pickering 

(University Press of Florida, 2019).

Planetary Rovers: Mobile Robots in Extreme 

Environments, by Lutz Richter (Springer, 2019).

Project Apollo: The Moon Odyssey Explained, by Norman 

Ferguson (The History Press, 2019).

Reaching for the Moon: The Autobiography of NASA 

Mathematician Katherine Johnson, by Katherine 

Johnson (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 

2019).

Rocket to the Moon!, by Don Brownie (Harry N. 

Abrams, 2019).

Russia’s Posture in Space: Prospects for Europe, by Marco 

Aliberti and Ksenia Lisitsyna (Springer, 2019).

Shoot for the Moon: Achieve the Impossible with the 

Apollo Mindset, by Richard Wiseman (Quercus, 

2019).

The Apollo Missions: The Incredible Story of the Race to 

the Moon, by David Baker (Arcturus, 2019).

The Astronaut Who Painted the Moon: The Story of 

Alan Bean, by Dean Robbins and Sean Rubin 

(Orchard Books, 2019).

The Case for Space: How the Revolution in Spaceflight 

Opens Up a Future of Limitless Possibility, by 

Robert Zubrin (Prometheus Books, 2019).

The Consequential Frontier: Challenging the 

Privatization of Space, by Peter Ward (Melville 

House, 2019).

The Eagle Has Landed: 50 Years of Lunar Science Fiction, 

by Neil Clarke (Night Shade Books, 2019).

The History of the American Space Shuttle, by Dennis R. 

Jenkins (Schiffer, 2019).

The Mission of a Lifetime: Lessons from the Men Who 

Went to the Moon, by Basil Hero (Grand Central 

Publishing, 2019).

The View from Space: NASA’s Evolving Struggle to 

Understand Our Home Planet, by Thor Hogan 

and Richard Leshner (University Press of Kansas, 

2019).

Wally Funk’s Race for Space: The Extraordinary Story of a 

Female Aviation Pioneer, by Sue Nelson (Chicago 

Review Press, 2019).

Where Once We Stood: Stories of the Apollo Astronauts 

Who Walked on the Moon, by Martin Impey and 

Christopher Riley (Harbour Moon Publishing, 

2019).
24

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

OTHER AEROSPACE HISTORY NEWS

AMERICAN ASTRONAUTICAL SOCIETY 

(AAS) HISTORY COMMITTEE

By Michael Ciancone

2019 Emme Award for Astronautical Literature

The Emme Award Panel, chaired by Dr. Don Elder, 

is early in the process of soliciting and reviewing 

selected titles. Ronald Reagan and the Space Frontier, 

by Dr. John Logsdon, was the recipient of the 2018 

Emme Award. Other members of the Panel are Dr. 

Rick Sturdevant, Dr. Jennifer Levasseur, and Dr. De 

Witt Kilgore.

2019 Astronautics Booklist 

Marcus Gideon is in the process of assembling the 

annual booklist. We will circulate the list for comment 

before posting for wider dissemination.

Dr. Rick Sturdevant also reports that the FY20 

NDAA redesignated the Air Force Space Command 

(AFSPC) as the United States Space Force (USSF). 

The change became effective on 20 December 

2019. His title changed from Deputy Director of 

History, HQ AFSPC, to Deputy Director of History 

for HQ USSF (USSF/HO). In addition, since the 

establishment of United States Space Command 

(USSPACECOM) on 29 August 2019, his office 

has been dual-hatted as the USSPACECOM history 

office (USSPACECOM/J012).

Bernard S. Finn IEEE History Prize

The Bernard S. Finn IEEE History Prize is awarded 

annually to the best paper in the history of electrotechnology—power, electronics, telecommunications, 

and computer science—published during the preceding year. Any article published in a learned periodical 

or collection of essays is eligible if it treats the art 

or engineering aspects of electrotechnology and its 

practitioners. The article must be written in English, 

although the journal or periodical in which it appears 

may be a foreign language publication. The prize consists of a cash award of $1,000 and a certificate. In 

addition, IEEE will provide a travel subsidy ($750 

domestic, $1,000 international) to allow the winner 

to attend SHOT’s annual meeting, and SHOT will 

waive the basic registration and awards-banquet fees 

for the winner.

The deadline for submissions is 15 April 2020. Please 

e-mail a copy of the paper to Paul Israel at pisrael@

taep.rutgers.edu.

The website for the award is located at https://www.

historyoftechnology.org/about-us/awards-prizes-andgrants/the-bernard-s-finn-ieee-history-prize/.

NASA HEADQUARTERS HISTORY DIVISION 

STAFF CONTACT INFORMATION

William Barry bill.barry@nasa.gov

Chief Historian 202-358-0383

Nadine Andreassen nadine.j.andreassen@nasa.gov

Program Support Specialist 202-358-0087

Catherine Baldwin catherine.e.baldwin@nasa.gov

Editor 202-358-4397

Stephen Garber stephen.j.garber@nasa.gov

Historian 202-358-0385

Robyn Rodgers robyn.k.rodgers@nasa.gov

Chief Archivist 202-358-2798

Elizabeth Suckow elizabeth.suckow-1@nasa.gov

Archivist 202-358-0375

Stacy Bishop stacy.bishop@nasa.gov

Intern 202-358-1738

Alisa Greenhalgh alisa.greenhalgh@nasa.gov

Intern 202-358-0478
25

Volume 37, Number 1 Third Quarter 2020

RETIREMENT OF COLIN FRIES

Senior Archivist at Headquarters Colin Fries retired in December after over 20 years with the History 

Division. Acknowledged in an unbelievable number 

of books, aerospace history and otherwise, Colin has 

been a staple of the Historical Research Collection. 

When collecting well-wishes for Colin’s retirement 

party, we received countless notes from people who 

have been touched by Colin and his expertise. His 

dedication has truly left a mark on the aerospace community. Filled with gratitude and admiration, these 

notes were read aloud at Colin’s retirement party.

Here are some excerpts:

“Thank you for your help with my research, but 

more importantly, for your years of dedication 

to preserving the history of one of humanity’s 

greatest achievements.” 

—Margot Lee Shetterly

“I do think it will take the history of what has 

preceded to inspire future generations to strive 

to achieve even greater feats of exploration. 

You are owed a debt of gratitude for your role 

in preserving this history—thank you!” 

—Richard Faust

“As someone who has relied on the resources 

of the NASA Headquarters Archives for most 

of my books, I want to express my thanks 

to Colin Fries for his important but rarely 

acknowledged contributions to the work we 

historians do.” 

—Chris Gainor

“Colin’s helpfulness and knowledge, as well as 

patience and humility, are a rare combination, 

and he made the process of mining the NASA 

archives for golden nuggets of details and historic facts that much easier and enjoyable.” 

—Richard Jurek

“Many thanks for all those folders pulled out, 

all those questions answered and all those 

e-mails taken care of. Every single time I have 

come to the NASA History Office over the 

past decade I have been looking forward to 

seeing and chatting with you, and every single 

time it has been such a pleasure.” 

—Alexander Geppert

Colin Fries at his retirement party in December. (Credit: Aubrey Gemignani/NASA)

“While we wish you a most pleasant, healthy, 

and long retirement, we will miss the expertise, dogged determination, and good fellowship that you brought to the NASA History 

Division. I can’t tell you how many times in 

conversations someone would say, ‘Well, we 

better check with Colin,’and all of us knew 

who exactly that was. Your contributions have 

been many, varied, and lasting, and I know I 

speak for many when I say that you will be 

greatly missed.” 

—Dick Hallion

The History Division will miss Colin, but we will 

always be grateful for the impact he has made on this 

office. We wish him a happy and healthy retirement!
26

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

IN MEMORIAM 

REMEMBERING JULIUS MONTGOMERY: 

SPACE PROGRAM PIONEER

By Richard Paul

This article originally appeared on the Smithsonian 

website. We are so grateful that the Air and Space 

Museum allowed us to reprint it and continue to share 

this beautiful story. 

J

ulius Montgomery, a pioneering African American 

in the space program, died on 22 January 2020, 

in Florida. He was the first African American ever 

hired at the Cape Canaveral space facility to work as a 

technical professional. Additionally, he integrated the 

Florida Institute of Technology and was the first black 

member of the Melbourne, Florida, City Council.

Julius Montgomery at work as a “Range Rat.” The Range Rats repaired the 

electronics in malfunctioning ballistic missiles. (Photo by USAF/AMR Cape 

Canaveral. Courtesy Jack Tolman and Vic Craft)

When Julius Montgomery came to the Cape from 

Alabama in 1956, the Ku Klux Klan controlled east 

central Florida. The Orange County Sheriff was a 

Klansmen, as were city commissioners, Alderman, and 

county commissioners. One historian has said, “Local 

businessmen joined the Klan almost like joining the 

Rotary club.” In the Klan’s wake, of course, came 

lynching. In the Southern states where the space 

program was based, Florida had the highest lynching 

rate per capita, so the racial animus was palpable on 

Montgomery’s first day.

As he remembered it, “I was a strange person coming 

into an all-white building. All white.” As he entered 

his new workplace, the RCA Development Lab, 

“Nobody would shake my hand,” he recalled. One 

by one, each of his coworkers turned away. “I got to 

the last fellow,” he said, “and I said, ‘Hello, I’m Julius 

Montgomery.’ He said, ‘Look boy, that’s no way to 

talk to a white man!’” In a story indicative of who 

Julius Montgomery was—one he told many times 

during his life, “I said, ‘Ah, forgive me, oh great, white 

bastard. What should I call you?’ And I laughed, and 

he laughed, and he shook my hand.”

Montgomery began his career as a member of the 

“Range Rats,” technicians who repaired malfunctioning ballistic missiles. Their work mostly involved 

developing circuits, as there was no “over-the-counter 

equipment to do the jobs” at the time, Montgomery 

said. The team also traveled out to the ships that, he 

said, “searched the skies for anything the Russians 

were doing,” to perform maintenance on the 

satellite equipment.

At the end of the 1950s, a senior member of 

Montgomery’s team went to his bosses at RCA and 

told them he wanted to open a school to keep workers up to date on the state-of-the-art in engineering. 

The school, originally called Brevard Engineering 

College (BEC), began with three rented classrooms 

at a public junior high school. Montgomery signed 

up to attend the new school and, on the sign-up 

sheet, listed that he had earned his undergraduate 

degree at Tuskegee Institute. Within days, the county 

superintendent of schools was on the phone to BEC, 

telling them that the school system was canceling 

their contract to rent the classrooms. The all-white 
27

Volume 37, Number 1 Third Quarter 2020

Florida public schools could not allow a black man 

through its doors.

Julius Montgomery (in sunglasses), the first African American hired as 

a professional at Cape Canaveral, spoke on a panel at the National Air 

and Space Museum with Morgan Watson, NASA’s first African American 

engineer, and astronauts Leland Melvin and Mae Jemison. This event was 

held in February 2010. (Image courtesy of Smithsonian Institution)

BEC’s founder summoned Montgomery to his office, 

told him his dilemma, and begged him to drop out 

and spare the school. Montgomery did, only enrolling 

after the school had its own building. Today, Florida 

Tech (which BEC became) acknowledges that it would 

not exist without Montgomery’s sacrifice and, 

in his honor, presents the Julius Montgomery 

Pioneer Award annually. Days before 

Montgomery’s death, the school also awarded 

him an honorary doctorate in humane letters.

Montgomery was also a pioneer in Florida 

politics. Standing for elections beginning in 

1956 (when fewer than 50 African Americans 

held elected office in the former Confederate 

states) and finally prevailing in 1969, he 

became the first African American ever to 

win a seat on the Melbourne City Council.

Julius Montgomery’s story is one of many 

stories of the space program’s African 

American pioneers that does not comport 

with what we read about civil rights achievement in the standard high school textbook. 

Not everyone reached the ends of the Civil 

Rights Movement by marching, picketing, 

and saying “no.” Many did, of course, but others, like 

Julius Montgomery, applied the principles of self-help 

and—often—accommodation to reach the same ends.

On 20 February 2010, Julius Montgomery appeared 

on a panel at the National Air and Space Museum 

with NASA’s first black engineer, Morgan Watson, 

and astronauts Leland Melvin and Mae Jemison. 

Montgomery told the story of his first day at the 

Cape. After the talk, as people snapped pictures of 

Mae Jemison with the Tuskegee Airmen, also at the 

event that day (it was tough to tell who was more 

honored to meet whom), Julius Montgomery sidled 

over to Leland Melvin and looked up (the astronaut, 

a former wide receiver who had briefly been drafted 

by the Detroit Lions, towered over the older man) 

with wide-eyed awe. “I’ll tell you,” Montgomery said, 

“You astronauts, you’re the bravest people I ever met.” 

Leland Melvin returned the look, and his grin broke 

into a wide, beaming smile. “No, sir,” he said. “I heard 

your story out there. You are the bravest person I ever 

met.” And Julius laughed, and Leland laughed, and 

they shook hands.

In January 2020, Julius Montgomery received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Florida Institute of 

Technology. Pictured are Florida Tech President Dwayne McCay and Julius Montgomery’s daughters, Gaye and Lisa, 

with their dad. (Image courtesy of Florida Tech)
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