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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MSFC TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword

1. Texas to Alabama

2. Army Ballistic Missile Agency

3. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Wins

4. Formation of George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)

5. MSFC Is First Year

6. MSPG1s Second Year

7. MSFC's Third Year

8. MSFC Is Fourth Year

9. MSFC 's Fifth Year

10. MSFC1s Sixth Year

11. The Current Organization FOREWORD

A rocket from the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center will carry the first American to the moon, and the deadline is 1970. Because of the Center's expanding role in space, there are increasing requests for information about our activities. This brief historical sketch should help to answer questions about our past, our present, and our hopes for

the future.

Marshall Space Flight Center (MSPC) is the largest installation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The Marshall

Center is NASA's agency responsible for large space rockets and related research. MSFC employs about 7500 civil service employees with an annual payroll of more than $82 million. In addition approximately

4300 contractor employees work for MSFC on the Arsenal, earning an estimated $43 million. The Center occupies about 1800 acres near

Huntsville, Alabama; in this large area are 270 buildings with floor space totalling about 4,000,000 square feet for a real estate and pro- perty value of about $325 million. MSFC's 1966 fiscal year budget was

$1.8 billion. Obviously MSFC has much human and monetary worth behind

United States round trips to the moon and beyond.

In addition to its size, MSFC is unique because it has a large rocket development team with more than three decades of experience.

Prior to the rocket work that dates back to Peenemuende the world heard little and cared less concerning rockets and space. As a group Marshall has always thought big. It has worked together as a group, and equally well with fellow scienusts throughout the Free World, to get the most into space soonest. This is why there is increasing interest in larger and larger rockets and rocket programs from our Center, a fact generating more and more questions about our Center, and in turn generating a

"workload" request for this sketch by the Historical Office.

We hope that you enjoy our historical sketch, which could as well be entitled "Closer and Closer Views of the Moon and Beyond."

David S. Akens MSFC Historian TEXAS TO ALABAMA

After World War I1 the White Sands Proving Ground had top personnel from Peenemuende as well as 300 freight car loads of V-2 components.

White Sands' flat, isolated desert area, about 125 by 40 miles, also had the world's most massive building in 1946, the firing site block- house. Its concrete walls, from ten to twenty-seven feet thick, could withstand a 2,000 mph rocket. The White Sands Proving Ground would be the U. S. center of rocket development for half a decade.

Early in 1946 White Sands readied its first V-2 for launching from

Amerisan soil, to be followed by about two V-2 launchings a month until the last one on June 28, 1950. Dr. and his fellow scientists static-fired V-2 Number 1 on March 15, 1946; V-2 Rocket Number

17, first night firing of a V-2 in the United States, reached a record- making altitude of 116 miles and a velocity of 3,600 mph on December 17,

1946. From these early firings came mush of the American rocket knowl- edge of today.

Another pioneer rocket project at White Sands was ORDCIT (Ordnance-

California Institute of Technology). This project began when Dr. Theodore von Karman in 1936 organized at Cal Tech a small group of scientists interested in rocketry. Project ORDCIT paralleled the V-2 and other rocket projects at White Sands, producing newer and improved rocket models such as Private, Corporal, Wac Corporal, and the more sophisticated

Bumper-Wac. The Bumper-Wac was a multi-stage vehicle with a V-2 first stage, the V-2's nose modified to accommodate a Wac Corporal rocket. Dr. von Braun and other top scientists from Peenemuende, JPL, Douglas

Aricraft Company, General Electric Company, and Army Ordnance led in this Bumper-Wac multi-stage rocketry at White Sands. On February 24,

1949, Bumper-Wac No. 5 sent its upper stage about 250 miles high at a speed of about 5,510 miles per hour. This was the highest velocity and altitude yet reached with an object made by man.

Those early days at White Sands Proving Ground were both hectic and historic. One V-2 strayed from its pre-set path, passed over El Paso,

Texas,and disrupted a gay fiesta at Juarez, Mexico, before impacting harmlessly nearby. White Sands operations halted pending adoption of effective safety systems. Despite such growing pains, records achieved at White Sands lasted several years, such as the February 24 Bumper-Wac flight. Without White Sands, or its counterpart, the Explorers and

Pioneers of this past decade might still be on the drawing board.

Fort Bliss officials, seeking improved rocket facilities in Sep- tember 1949, inspected Huntsville Arsenal, the Army's Chemical Corps installation in Alabama. These officials proposed the transfer to

Huntsville of the White Sands rocket scientists and their equipment.

On October 28, 1949, the Secretary of the Army approved. By November

1950, 500 military personnel, 130 German scientists, 180 General Electric contractor personnel, and 120 civil service employees had moved from

Fort Bliss to Arsenal. They brought along their rocket scien- tific equipment. Thus, after traveling 3,000 miles from Peenemuende through Texas to Huntsville, the nucleus of the present MSFC group was ready for business at in Huntsville, Alabama, in the fall of 1950. 5 ARMY BALLISTIC MISSILE AGENCY

At Redstone ~rsenal' from April 1950 to November 1952 Dr. von Braun was technical director of the Guided Missile Development Group. His group included the team from Peenemuende. In November 1952 the Guided

Missile Development Group became the nucleus of the Guided Missile

Development Division, with Dr. von Braun as its chief. During these years, prior to the Army Ballistic Missile Agency, the group began re- search and development of the Redstone guided missile, an outgrowth of the V-2 and General Electric's Project Hermes. To develop a Redstone with 200 miles range the Army awarded North American Aviation's Rocket- dyne division a contract to modify its promising Navaho engine. In 1952

Rocketdyne delivered its first modified Navaho engine to Redstone Arsenal, a Redstone Project milestone. Army personnel began building this and later modified Navaho engines into rocket bodies and nicknamed this rocket the ~rbaor Major. On April 8, 1952, the Army officially named the rocket the Redstone, after the Arsenal. In June of 1953 the Army

1. Redstone Arsenal almost began as Sibert Arsenal, named for Army General Sibert. Instead, on August 4, 1941, the Army activated with the name Huntsville Arsenal a Chemical Corps installation occupy- ing almost 40,000 acres southwest of Huntsville. Then on October 6, 1941, the Army activated Redstone Ordnance Plant in conjunction with and geographically adjoining the Huntsville Arsenal chemical installa- tion. Redstone referred to the color of rocks and soil at Huntsville. On February 26, 1943, the Army redesignated the Redstone Ordnance Plant as Redstone Arsenal, On April 1, 1950, with the arrival of the von Braun Group from Texas, the Army merged the old Huntsville Arsenal chemical installation with the small Redstone Arsenal installation and called the 40,000-acre installation Redstone Arsenal. I awarded Corporation a contract for Redstone research and develop- ment. Later in 1953 the Redstone Arsenal missilemen headed by Brig. Gen.

H. N. Toftoy and Dr. Wernher von Braun, military and civilian chiefs on the Arsenal, completed fabrication and assembly of the first Redstone.

On August 20, 1953, Dr. von Braun's firing personnel at Cape Canaveral,

Florida, launched the first flight Redstone. There were guidance prob- lems in this short flight of 8,000 yeards, but technicians assessed the flight as satisfactory for development purposes. These Redstones were

69 feet long and 70 inches in diameter, weighed 61,000 pounds at launch, and produced 75,000 pounds of thrust at sea level. Yet the Redstone, however small, pioneered this country's man-in-space program.

In 1954 Dr. von Braun published a plan for orbiting an satel- lite. The Army advocated Dr. von Braun's proposal, and requested Naval assistance. Project Orbiter evolved, a joint Army-Navy concept for launching an earth . There was great space interest at Red- stone, and satellite proposals accompanying Orbiter were Project Slug and Project Church Mouse. All of Redstone Arsenal's space proposals lost out when Project won.

However, while Arsenal scientists lost their satellite proposals they won their rocket development. The Jupiter A and the Jupiter C were improved Redstones. The Jupiter A program began at Redstone Arsenal late in 1955, and from it came the famous Jupiter C. With Jupiter C the Arsenal scientists perfected an ablation reentry heat shield principle, one of the von Braun group's major contributions to rocketry. Also, the Army was preparing to launch important space flights with Jupiter C. The first stage of the Jupiter C was an improved Redstone; the second and third stages had solid propellant rocket motors developed by Jet

Propulsion Laboratory.

Scientists or military officers named rockets, sometimes leaving the laymen confused. The Jupiter A and Jupiter C, improved Redstones, preceded Jupiter itself. This borrowing of names resulted from the

Arsenal" need to borrow money from other projects to pay for the

Reds tone.

The Jupiter missile program began on November 8, 1955, when Secretary of Defense Charles A. Wilson authorized the Army to assist the Navy in developing an intermediate range ballistic missile. The Army saw in

~flson's directive a green light for rocket emphasis, and on February 1,

1956, established the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) at Redstone Arsenal. The nucleus of this new super-streamlined rocket organization was the former Guided Missile Development Division of the Ordnance

Missile Laboratory at Redstone Arsenal, familiarly "the von Braun Group."

This group interpreted rocket emphasis to include space flight, and space proposals mushroomed, including Project Man Very High and Project

Adam. THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION WINS

Following I on October 4, 1957, SecFetary of Defense Wilson directed the Army to prepare to attempt two satellite launchings during

March of 1958. Secretary of the Army Rucker recommended to Secretary

Wilson that the Army launch the first satellite on January 30, 1958, and Wilson accepted.

Within four months after Sputnik I, ABMA's Jupiter C Number 29 on

January 31, 1958, sent Explorer I into orbit; bad weather had postponed launching on January 29 and 30. On March 5, 1958, ABMA failed to orbit

Explorer 11, but on March 26 orbited Explorer 111. Jupiter Missile 5, on May 18, 1958, launched America's first tactical reentry nosecone, and within five hours the Navy recovered it from the sea. The first completely guided Jupiter flight, Jupiter Missile 6, was successful on

July 17, 1958. ABMA orbited Explorer IV on July 26, with four radiation counters aboard. On December 6, still in 1958, ABMA's Pioneer I11 missed its target, the moon, but set an altitude record of 66,654 miles. ABMA's final important firing of 1958 was Jupiter Missile 13 carrying Gordo, a South American squirrel monkey, though searchers failed to recover the cone or its passenger.

Project Man Very High was ABMA's plan for Army-Navy-Air Force team- work in flying a living passenger and instrumentation "upward a hundred or so miles." Failing to enlist a team, the Army decided to "go it alone," forsook the name Man Very High, and named the project Adam. Project

Adam became ABMA's celebrated proposal for placing a man in space. Project Adam, still earthhnd, ended on January 8, 1959, when the

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) saw ABMA's potential

for NASA's Project Mercury.

AMhad found a godfather. ABMA's boss at Redstone Arsenal, the

Army Ordnance Missile Command, at first saw NASA as godfather also and offered to supply Jupiters as well as Redstones to NASA's Project Mer- cury. ABMA in fact began to assemble two Mercury-Jupiter vehicles, but this work ended only a few months after Sputnik I when NASA decided

to "an-rate" only the "Old Reliable" Redstone.

Meanwhile, ABMA scientists were improving their space potential with larger vehicles and larger vehicle proposals ranging from Juno I

to Juno V. On February 3, 1959, the Advanced Research Projects Agency officially named ABMAns Juno V program the . This was Am's most ambitious flight program to date.

ABMA momentum increased in 1959, beginning with Pioneer IVts

37,000-mile miss of the moon before it continued to orbit the .

Pioneer PV was our first solar satellite. The next ABMA space shot in

1959, on May 28, carried two monkeys, and Baker, into and back from space. ABMAPs last space shot in 1959, on October 13, orbited complex Explorer VII, the von Braun group's last satellite orbiting before joining NASA,

Throughout 1959 the von Braun group as usual sought more and bigger ways to reach space. Simultaneously the National Aeronautics and Space

Administration sought mare and more of ABMA. Ironically, NASA in 1958 had asked for, but failed to receive, part of the Development Operations Division of AM. In 1959 NASA received, without asking for it, the

entire division. Late in this year Secretary of Defense Neil McElroy approached NASA Director T, Keith Glennan about NASA's interest in acquiring ABMA. NASA responded warmly. On October 7, 1959, the White House hosted a high-level "space meeting." As a result NASA fell heir to AM'S Development Operations Division and the Saturn Project as well. On January 14, 1960, President Eisenhower submitted a space-team transfer plan to Congress. On March 14, 1960, came Congressional con- currence. Mass transfer of personnel took place on July 1, 1960. Many detailed operating agreements were still to be finalized. FORMATION OF THE GEORGE C, MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER

The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, named for General

Marshall, officially began on July 1, 1960. On that date, in a ceremony in front of the MSFC-ABMA joint headquarters, General August Schomburg formally transferred the agreed-upon missions, personnel, and facilities from the Army to Dr. Wernher von Braun, Director of NASA's new Center.

Because most employees continued to work in the same physical area on

Redstone Arsenal, the move from the Army to NASA was primarily a "paper transfer .I'

In the mass transfer, 3,989 of 4,179 employees left ABMA's Develop- ment Operations Division for NASA. Joining these 3,989 were 311 employ- ees from ABMA's Technical Materials and Equipment Branch (a warehousing operation). Th.us MSFC began with 4,670 employees. Then on July 3 MSFC's personnel strength grew to 4,900 when 41 more employees transferred from

ABMA and 178 from the Redstone Arsenal's Post Engineer Office. After six months, MSFC civil service employment was 5,367.

MSFC began with 14 staff and project offices: Agena and Centaur

Systems, Chief Counsel, Financial Management, Future Projects, Management

Services, Operations Analysis, Patent Counsel, Procurement and Contracts,

Public Information, Reliability, Technical Program Coordination, Technical

Services, Saturn Systems, and Weapons Systems.

It had nine organizations responsible for technical functions: Aero- ballistics, Computation, Fabrication and Assembly Engineering, Guidance and Control, Launch Operations Directorate, Quality, Research Projects, Structures and Mechanics, and Test. The Center's major programs when 9t began operation were the Juno and Saturn, the development of the Centaur , development of the Agena B stage of the -Agena B and

Thor-Agena B boosters, supervision of the F-1 single engine program, and development of the Mercury-Redstone vehicle for NASA's Project Mercury.

Climax of the transfer to NASA was President Eisenhower's dedication ceremony on September 8, 1960. Here with President Eisenhower were

Mrs. George C. Marshall, Dr. T. Keith Glennan, Alabama Governor John

Patterson, and many other dignitaries. Dedicated was our $100,000,000 MSFC complex occupying 1200 a.cres. President Eisenhower praised General Marshall as a 'han of war, yet a builder of peace ...the symbol of renewed hope for scores of millions of suffering people through his great plan for Europe that will forever bear his name." President Eisenhower praised the Army missile and space achievements at Redstone Arsenal, and pointed to the scientists who today feel "as if Venus and Mars are more accessible to them than a regimental headquarters was to me as a platoon commander forty years ago.''

Highlighting the occasion was the unveiling by Mrs. Marshall and

President Eisenhower of General Marshall's bust, sculptured by Kalervo

Kallio. The bust, 21 inches high and 18 inches wide, is in red granite.

Today it guards the main entrance of the MSFC Headquarters Building.

Following the Ceremony, the President and other visitors toured the

Center. MSFC employees lined many streets and sidewalks during the two- hour tour, and returned to work with renewed dedication. Mindful of their rich traditions and long experience, Center personnel looked for- ward to the scientific exploration of space, which held great promise

for the benefit of all mankind. Born in war, and nutured by military

requirements, rocket propulsion was and is one of the great technological

developments of all time. In this challenging effort the people at

Huntsville would undoubtedly play a prominent role. MSFC'S FIRST YEAR

July 1, 1960 - July 1, 1961 In MSFC's first payload launching for NASA, Explorer VIII on Novem-

ber 3, 1960, orbited the earth. Jubilation among scientists diminished,

however, amid problems on November 7 that forced postponement of the

first Mercury flight, MR-1. On this same day two Centaur engines exploded

in a Pratt & Whitney test, damaging support equipment as well as the test stand. Compounding MSFC's problems, all construction trades at the Cape struck on November 18. Then, on November 21MR-1 failed at launch because of improper separation of electrical connectors between the

launching table and the vehicle. MSFC's fortune changed in late winter; the Saturn barge Palaemon arrived at the MSFC pier, its white paint shining in the Alabama sunlight, its deck ready to bear the first Saturn booster from the Center to the Gape. Almost coinciding with Palaemon's arrival at MSFC, the strike ended at Cape Canaveral. On December 19, 1960, the first Mercury-Redstone, unmanned, flew a suborbital trajectory as scheduled from Cape Canaveral. Then, on January

31, 1961, at Cape Canaveral NASA's Mercury-Redstone MR-2 sent the chim- panzee Ham on a safe ride 155 miles high and 420 miles downrange. MSFC was ending 1960 well. Our success increased in 1961. MSFC completed the Arsenal dynamic test stand for the giant Saturn program on April 17, 1961. On April 27 Explorer XI, a gamma ray telescope satellite, orbited the earth. f Climax of current achievements involving MSFC personnel was astronaut

Alan Shepard's ride on May 5, 1961, 115 miles high and 302 miles across the ocean, pioneer manned ride of our astronaut program. So great had been Shepard's achievement that Juno I1 vehicle AM-19G went relatively unnoticed on May 24 when it failed to orbit from Cape Canaveral. And a day later our first Saturn booster, SA-1, left its MSFC test stand after 12 successful weeks of tests. On May 30 NASA" Agena B vehicle arrived at Cape Canaveral for the Ranger I launch.

A quick review of MSFC's first year is reassuring: The President had come in person to dedicate our Center, and the following month MSFC orbited Explorer VIII. Then MSFC launched Mercury-Redstone-1 for NASA from Cape Canaveral, and the followi.ng day at MSFC scientists successfully tested all eight of the Saturn booster's engines. MSFC began 1961 by helping send Ham roundtrip 155 miles high and 420 miles downrange. Later in the spring MSFC personnel helped orbit Explorer XI, gamma ray telescope satellite. Climax of MSFC's first year came on May 5 with , our first astronaut. Midway in 1961 the first Saturn booster was ready for the Cape after three successful flight qualifi- cation tests here at the Arsenal. Meanwhile, an Agena vehicle was arriving at the Cape for the launch of Ranger I. For MSFC in space, all signs remained "go. " MSFC'S SECOND YEAR

July 1, 1961 - July 1, 1962

On July 1, 1961, an estimated 50,000 visitors at MSFC, including

NASA Administrator James E. Webb, celebrated the Center's first birth- day. After this auspicious beginning, Mercury astronaut Virgil I.

Grissom on July 21, 1961, rode "Liberty Bell 7" in our country's second manned space flight. This second successful Mercury flight overshadowed a disappointing Ranger I flight on August 23 when an Agena B rocket after liftoff from Cape Canaveral failed to shove Ranger I into a deep space orbit. Instead, Ranger I had to settle for a of little more than 300 miles altitude.

In the fall of 1961 NASA made two significant facility decisions affecting MSFC. On September 7 NASA selected the Michoud Ordnance Plant near New Orleans as a site for industrial production of Saturn boosters.

On October 25 NASA selected the Pearl River site in southwestern Midsis- sippi, 35 miles from the Michoud plant, as a static. test area for Saturn vehicles. MSFC would operate both facilities.

Probably the most historic date in MSPC'S second year was October

27, 1961, when Saturn vehicle SA-1 "on a perfect rocket day" flew as planned, pioneering the historically successful Saturn program. Amid such scientific success, relatively unnoticed was NASA'S administrative decisions to move the electric propulsion program from MSFC to Lewis

Research Center, and to begin negotiation with Chrysler Corporation for industrial development of the Saturn S-1 stage. Contrasting the spectacular successes of Grissom and early in MSFC's second year was the failure of Ranger 2. On November 18 an

Atlas-Agena B sent Ranger 2 into a parking orbit around the earth instead of its intended elliptical orbit in deep space. Two farsighted contract decisions, however,. followed this scientific failure. On November 28

NASA selected North American Aviation to build a three-man Apollo space- craft, and on December 14 NASA announced selection of the Boeing Company to develop the S-IC, a Saturn booster of at least 3 million pounds thrust.

MSFC began Calendar Year 1962 amid disappointment. On Jaunary 26

Ranger 3 left the Gape on a flight that missed the moon and instead orbited the sun. Meanwhile, however, the Saturn program continued as the MSFC mainstay, and alter approving the advanced Saturn C-5 program on January 25, NASA on March 2 awarded the first portion of an estimated

$300,000,000 contra.ct to the Boeing Company for development of the

Saturn @-5 first stage.

An important administrative decision was NASA's March 7 termination of the MSFC Launch Operations Directorate and establishment of a Launch

Operations Center at Gape Canaveral, effective July 1, 1962. Further indication of NASA's expanding programs came later in March when about

60 MSFG management personnel began moving their families to Michoud

Operations.

On April 23, 1962, was only partly successful. An apparent failure of the spacecraft's central computer and sequencer prevented

Ranger 4 from making a controlled descent onto the moon, and impact on the lunar surface destroyed the instrument package. This was, however, the first U. S, Landing on the moon. 18 When Saturns flew, they apparently flew right. On April 25, Saturn

SA-2 left Cape Canaveral for a second successful Saturn flight in a row.

Considerably less successful was the first Centaur launch which followed on May 8. Delayed several times since January because of mechanical problems, this flight ended a minute after liftoff when a fuel tank ruptured and the Centaur exploded.

To Lockheed Missiles and Space Company in May 1962 went a contract for designing, developing, fabricating, and testing the reactor-in-flight

(RIFT) stage, a nuclear upper stage for the Saturn C-5 vehicle. Then on May 26 the 's F-1 engine, world's largest known engine to date, fired for full duration in its first full-thrust firing test at Edwards

Air Force Base, California. At the end of its second year the Center contracted for design of a C-5 dynamic test facility at MSFC,

In summary, MSFC participated in three outstanding successes during its second year. In July of 1961 Virgil Grissom in "Liberty Bell 7" followed Astronaut Alan Shepherd into space. During October of 1961 and then April of 1962 the Saturn flew successfully. Less successful were the first four Ranger flights in MSFC's second year, but all pro- vided valuable space information, as did the first Centaur although it exploded a minute after launch. As the second year ended, rocket scientists at MSFC pointed with most pride to the successful Saturn flights which seemed destined to provide a large and sure gateway to the moon and beyond. MSFC'S THIRD YEAR

July 1, 1962 - July 1, 1963

Marring the start of MSFC's third year, the Atlas-Agena vehicle carrying the Mariner R-1 enu us probe on July 22, 1962, deviated from course early in flight from Cape Canaveral until destroyed by the range safety officer. Off setting this disappointment, the Saturn program continued well, and on July 27 MSFC awarded Chrysler Corporation a contract for 21 Saturn S-I stages to be produced at the Michoud plant near New Orleans. On August 1 Roeketdyne delivered the first of five

F-1 mockup engines to MSFC for Saturn C-5 booster development. Then on

August 8 MSFC awarded Douglas Aircraft Company a contract for eleven

S-IVB (third) stages of the Saturn C-5 vehicle.

Appropriate to NASA's increasing space stature, the second Mariner launch vehicle rose successfully from Cape Canaveral on August 27 enroute to Venus. On September 4 radio signals to Mariner R-2, now nearly one and one-half million miles from earth, aimed the probe straighter toward

Venus. Appropriately also, President Kennedy, Vice President Johnson, and NASA Administrator Webb visited the Center on September 11, 1962, and highly complimented the Center's Saturn program. Then on September

28 the Alouette, a Canadian scientific satellite launched by NASA's

Thos-Agena B vehicle, went successfully into polar orbit from the

Pacific Missile Range.

Important in October, NASA transferred MSFC's Centaur program to

Lewis Research Center, permitting MSPC to concentrate upon the Saturn. And on October 12 NASA awarded North American Aviation a contract for development of 14 S-I1 stages, the second stage for the Saturn C-5 vehicle.

The month ended less well, however, when on October 18 lost itself in space with dead batteries approximately nine hours after leaving Cape Canaveral.

On November 16, Saturn SA-3 flew upward 103 miles and outward over the Atlantic Ocean 128 miles for a third successful Saturn firing in a row. Then on November 28 nine new (second-generation) astronauts, accompanied by three of the original astronauts (Glenn, Schirra, and

Slayton), visited MSFC for a Saturn briefing. Appropriately Mariner R-2, on December 14, 1962, with scanning instruments in operation, passed within 21,600 miles of the planet Venus, 109 days and 180 million miles after launch. The spacecraft sent back excellent data concerning the planet, Meanwhile, anticipating future space achievements, Dr. von

Braun and other dignitaries broke ground in late December for the Univer- sity of Alabama Research Institute, a major space research center near the University's Huntsville Center.

Early in February of 1963 NASA changed Saturn names. The Saturn

C-I became Saturn I; the C-IB became Saturn IB; and the C-5 became

Saturn V. On February 21 NASA Headquarters awarded the Boeing Company a contract for ten Saturn V boosters. On March 20 the Mobile District

Corp of Engineers awarded the construction contract for a Saturn V dynamic test facility to be built at MSFC in Huntsville.

NASA successes climaxed MSFC's third year. On March 28 NASA launched

SA-4 for another perfect Saturn launch, the fourth in a row. Further 1 indicating MSFC momentum, some 1200 MSFC employees in late June of 1963 began moving into Building 4200, the Center's sew Headquarters Building.

This ten-story modernistic building was a symbol of higher and higher penetration of space. MSFC'S FOURTH YEAR

July 1, 1963 - July 1, 1964

Typically, MSFC began its fourth year with expansion. In July of

1963 the Army transferred to MSFC 202 acres of land adjoining the existing

NASA area on Redstone Arsenal, thus enlarging the MSFC complex to 1786

acres. The following month MSFC completed movement of more than 1,000

personnel into the new Headquarters Building 4200. On August 30 NASA

approved an administrative reorganization of MSFC, dividing the Center's

dual mission into two major areas, Industrial Operations and Research

and Development Operations. Also in August MSFC completed contract

negotiations with Chrysler for S-IB stages, with Douglas Aircraft for

S-IVB stages for the Saturn IB vehicle project, and with International

Business Machines for Saturn V digital guidance computers.

On November 8 MSFC directed to begin development of the

200K version of the H-1 engine for the S IB stage. NASA on December 11

contracted with Douglas for ten S-IVB stages, four for the Saturn IB

program, and six for the Saturn V program. On December 13 Lynn A.

Townsend, president of Chrysler Corporation, presented the first industry-

built S-I stage to Dr. Wernher von Braun, at a ceremony in Michoud,

Here at the Arsenal, MSFC Test Laboratory personnel on December 3 con-

ducted the first MSFC firing of an F-1 engine.

MSFC began calendar year 1964 with the fifth Saturn success in

five flights. SA-5 on January 29 was the first Saturn to fly both the

first and second stages live. To support its successful Saturn program,

MSPC now was employing more than 7,000 civil service and 6,000 contractor

personnel. 2 3 Accompanying the Center's growth in acreage and personnel was increasing emphasis upon cost reduction. On February 14, 1964, an

MSFC contract with Lockheed Missiles and Space Company ended after

NASA and the Atomic Energy Commission cancelled the RIFT nuclear vehicle project. Also in February, the MSFC Director supported the President's government-wide economy program with a plan to cut administrative and support costs by $4 million at the Center. In addition, a Center-wide job evaluation program began here in February with the aim of modernizing position classifications.

Appropriate to the Center's national role, Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson visited us on Marsh 24. Accompanied by NASA Administrator James E. Webb and other dignitaries, Mrs. Johnson toured MSPC, viewed two static firings, and made three speeches.

In March NASA awarded a $5.5 million contract to IBM for additional instrument unit support of the Saturn IB and Saturn V programs. Then on

March 30 NASA awarded Rocketdyne a $158.4 million contract for production and delivery of F-1 engines. In April NASA added $12.3 million to its

S-I1 contract with North American Aviation, for a new value of $337.3 million.

Our expanding Center emphasized economy with growth. On April 16,

1964, we established the Cost Reduction and Value Engineering Office to direct our program of cost reduction and control. NASA made this new office responsible for monitoring the cost program of ten major con- tractors. Also in April, after builders completed the second of three buildings in the MSFC headquarters complex, approximately 650 Industrial

Operations personnel moved into this six-story structure, !*MSFC Building

4201.

On May 28 Saturn SA-6 rose from Launch Complex 37B at Cape Kennedy, the sixth Saturn success in six flights. SA-6 carried an Apollo space- craft model into earth orbit for the first time.

In summary, scientific highlights of MSFC's fourth year were the two successful Saturn launchings, SA-5 in January and SA-6 in May.

Meanwhile, MSFC Director Dr. von Braun supported the President's govern- ment-wide economy program with a plan to cut costs here by $4 million.

Indicative also of MSFC" nationwide role, Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson aceom- panied by top NASA officials visited our Center on March 24. On hand at the Arsenal airport to greet Mrs. Johnson's plane was a representative crowd from the Center" more than 7,000 civil service and 6,000 contractor employees, most of them in Saturn programs. By the end of its fourth year MSFC was definitely "big business," and three Saturn programs were its main product. MSFC'S FIFTH YEAR

July 1, 1964 - July 1, 1965

In its fifth year MSFC scheduled three Saturn flights and expanded

the Saturn IB and Saturn V programs. On August 24, 1964, MSFC announced

the purchase of 102 additional 5-2 engines for Saturn IB and Saturn V vehicles. Cost approximated $165 million. Then on September 18, 1964,

the Saturn SA-7 continued Saturnus successful record. The S-IQ stage,

instrument unit, and an Apollo model entered orbit. This seventh Saturn

flight transmitted more measurements to earth stations than any previous

U. S. spacecraft. Ninety -one "ground cameras" photographed the flight, and on the craft were eight more cameras. After ejection from the

Saturn these eight fell into the Atlantic; two were recovered and their valuable films studied by scientists.

Here at the Center by September 30 the Saturn V F-1 engine test

stand in Huntsville awaited its first test occupant. On October 6 the booster for the last of the ten Saturn I flight vehicles passed its

third and final acceptance test, also at MSFC. Later in October NASA

Administrator James Webb visited Huntsville and MSPC to discuss the

Center's role in NASA's future.

On October 9 NASA activated its $34 million F-1 engine acceptance

test complex at Edwards Air Force Base, California. MSFC officials witnessed a readiness firing demonstration of the three new stands.

By the end of 1964 Rocketdyne had completed the F-1 flight rating tests, a major milestone. MSFC began calendar year 1965 with still another successful Saturn

flight, the eighth. NASA launched SA-9 instead of SA-8 on this date,

February 16, 1965, because SA-9 had progressed through manufacture and

testing more rapidly than had SA-8. Thus SA-9 rather than SA-8 orbited

the first Pegasus satellite. The Pegasus, still attached to the S-IV

stage, deployed its "wings" to a span of 96 feet and began its function

of identifying meteoroid punctures.

Meanwhile, work on the two other Saturn programs, IB and V, progressed

rapidly. Chrysler completed pre-static checkout of the first Saturn IB

flight booster in February and began reinstalling uprated H-1 engines

and readying the sta.ge for shipment to MSFC. By the end of February

MSFC and contractors had completed ground firing versions of all three

st,ages for Saturn 'V. On March 1 MSFC lifted the first Saturn V boaster

ground test stage (S-PC-T) into its test stand at the Center. On April 1

Center technicians static-fired the first Saturn IB flight stage. During

April significant milestones in Saturn V development occurred with the

first ground firings of S-IC-T: April 10 MSFC successfully test-fired

a single F-1 engine on the stage for 16.73 seconds; and on April 16 the

Center successfully test fired all five of the stage's F-1 engines, this

time for 6.5 seconds.

MSFC ended its fifth year with still another Saturn I success from

the Cape. SA-8, on May 25, 1965, carried the second Pegasus meteoroid

technology satellite into orbit in a dramatic predawn launch. SA-8 was

the ninth successful Saturn I flight. A week later the final Saturn I

booster, second one assembled at Michaud Operations, arrived at Cape

Kennedy aboard the barge Promise. 2 7 Thus, MSFC ended its fifth year with three Saturn flights, a single year's record, and with the last Saturn I awaiting liftoff from the

Cape. Meanwhile, Saturn IB and V programs expanded. In the spring of

1965 Center technicians static-fired the first Saturn IB flight stage.

Technicians also were completing the ground firing versions of all three

Saturn Q stages. Significant Saturn V milestones included the first ground firings of the booster stage, initially with one engine and a week later with five engines. MSFG ended its fifth year as the largest

NASA Center, with more than 22,000 civil service and contractor employees,

Huge engine firings were more and more numerous, some from static test stands 30 stories high. MSFC 'S SIXTH YEAR

July 1, 1965 - July 1, 1966

Saturn 1's successful conclusion, and Saturn IB and V progress, highlighted MSFCb sixth year. On July 8, 1965, MSFC activated its F-1 engine test stand for the mamoth Saturn V program. Then on July 30

Saturn SA-10 elded the historic Saturn I program. SA-10 lifted into orbit the third Pegasus meteoroid technology satellite. Saturn I high- lights included the largest rocket engines to date, and orbiting of the heaviest earth --more than 37,000 pounds on SA-5, SA-6, and

SA-7. Because of Saturn I, three Pegasus satellites carried aloft by the last three Saturn I flights are now sweeping space to measure the frequency and energy of meteoroids near earth.

Hundreds of firms contributed to the Saturn I program. Chrysler

Corporation, under contract to build all Saturn IB boosters, also built the Past two Saturn I boosters. MSFC designed and built the first eight

Saturn I boosters. Douglas Aircraft Company built the S-IV stages. North

American Aviation built the engines for the booster, and Pratt & Whitney the engines for the second stage. Major suppliers of guidance equipment included IBM and Bendix. Fairchild-Hiller built the Pegasus satellites.

After SA-10 Dr. von Braun congratulated Center personnel by saying that the Saturn I proved that many of his leading scientists were correct in their "heavy duty launch vehicle theories." NASA Administrator James

Webb sent this congratulatory message: "Dr. Dryden, Dr. Seamans, and the entire NASA team join me in congratulating you upon the successful completion of the Saturn I program with the launching of the tenth Saturn

I and its Pegasus C payload. The Saturn I marks the first 100 per cent successful NASA launch vehicle program for which you and your associates can justly feel proud."

In concluding his congratulatory remarks to Center personnel

Dr. von Braun mid: '%Although we have worked long and hard on Saturn I programs, we .st set even higher goals with the Saturn IB and Saturn V.

Let's continue to make the word 'Saturn' synonymous with success."

With increasing reassurance Saturn IB and Saturn V continue to do just that. On August 5, 1965, all five of the Saturn V booster test engines fired for 2% minutes, their first full duration firing. MSFC scientists studied more than 1200 channels of information after this test involving

7.5 million pounds of thrust. Meanwhile, NASA awarded more than a million dollars in study contracts divided among Boeing, North American,

Douglas, and Chrysler to improve Saturn IB and Satvrn V launch vehicles.

These studies, in addition to determining how to improve present vehicle configurations, further defined concepts of intermediate vehicles, for one with a payload capability between th.ose of Saturn IB and Saturn V.

MSFC began calendar year 1966 with greatly increased visible signs of Saturn progress. In January four Saturn V boosters, the world's largest, were si.multaneously on Arsenal roads to different destinations.

Two of the boosters were ground-test and two were flight stages. In- dicating further progress, 'by February MSFC had seven ocean-going vessels-- six barges and one ship--transporting large Saturn rocket stages and components between manufacturing, test, and launch sites. All Saturn V

first and second stages have been too large for conventional road, rail,

or air transport. Scientists built the Saturn V booster 138 feet long

and 33 feet in diameter, with a weight of 300,000 pounds empty.

Appropriately, MSFC approached the end of its sixth year with

Sat,urnusmost histori.~: flight to date. On February 26 NASA's Saturn IB,

after several holds including a last-minute reversal of the decision to

scrub the launch, ~wc~essfullypioneered this new series of Saturn flights.

Saturn PB lifted a 45,000-pound payload, hea.viest launched by NASA to

date. As millions watched on television the Saturn IB sent an Apollo

spacecraft skyward on a journey 300 miles up and 5,000 miles out from

Cape Kennedy. Over the Atlantic the Apollous parachute lowered it

gently i.nto the Atlantic ocean near i.ts recovery carrier, the USS Boxer.

Asked abo.ut the possibility of flying a manned ApollolSaturn IB in calendar year 1966, Manned Space Flight Director Dr. George Mueller said, "It

is always possible, but the probability is reasonably good that we will

fly the first man next year."

MSFC c,ould view its sixth year with pleasure. The Saturn I program had ended suce:.assfully, and the Saturn IB program 'had begun with success.

Meanwhile, gigantic Saturn V boasters were on crissclaossing paths at

Redstone Arsenal. As the Center ended its sixt'h year, all signs remained

"go ,11 THE CURRENT ORGANIZATION

MSFC, like other NASA centers, has a proven staff of rocket experts.

Dr. von Braun's deputies are Dr. Eberhard F. M. Rees, technical, and

Harry H. Gorman, administrative. Hans Maus heads the Executive Staff;

Bart Slattery, Public Affairs; W. E. Guflian, Chief Counsel; V. C.

Sorensen, Management Services; Garland Buckner, Purchasing; D. E. Foxworthy, Technical Services; T. U. Hardeman, Financial Management; Keith Wible,

Manpower Utilization and Administration; and Gordon Dykes, Facilities

and Design.

Edmund F. O'Connor heads Industrial Operations; Hermann Weidner,

Research and Development Operations. Industrial Operations directs

the major contractors responsible for development and manufacture of

key stages and engines. Research and Development Operations performs

the Center's in-house development rocketry, primarily supporting Indus-

trial Operations.

The Marshall Center's R&D Operation has four offices and eight

laboratories. F. E. Williams is director of Advanced Systems Office;

L. G. Richard, Technical Systems Office; K, K, Dannenberg, Technical

Staff Office; and W. Scott Fellows, Operations Management Office. The

eight laboratories and their heads are as follows: Aero-Astrodynamics

Laboratory, E. D. Geissler; Astrionics Laboratory, W. Haeussermann;

Computation Laboratory, H, Hoelzer; Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory,

W, R. Kuers; Propulsion and Vehicle Engineering Laboratory, W, R. Lucas;

Qusl.ity and Relia.bilfty Assurance Laboratory, D, Grau; Research Projects

Laboratory, E. Stuhlinger; and Test Laboratory, K. L. Heimburg.

The heads and facilities under Edmund OBConnor, Industrial Opera-

tions, are: Contracts Office, 0. M. Hirseh; Facilities Projects Office,

A, V. Daly; Project Logistics Office, J, C, Goodrum; Resources Management

Office, C. E. Andressen, Jr.; Saturn I~TBProgram Office, L. B. James;

Saturn IBfCentaur Program Office, S. Re Reinartz; Saturn V Program Office,

A. Rudolph; Engi.ne Program Office, L. I?. Belew; Mission Operations Office, I?. A. Speer. 33 The Center operates Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans,

Louisiana, and Mississippi Test Facility in southern Mississippi, formerly

Michoud Operations and Mississippi Test Operations. Four principal contractors operate the Michoud Assembly for Marshall: Boeing, Chrysler,

Mason-Rust, and Telecomputing Services, Inc. The main Michoud complex covers 900 acres. Manager George N. Constan of Michoud employs more than 11,500 government and contractor personnel, for an annual payroll exceeding $85 million. The Mississippi Test Facility for rocket tests includes 13,427 acres, approximately five miles square. An acoustical buffer zone of 128,344 acres surrounds the test area. Manager Joseph

M. Balch has more than 250 prime and subcontractors from throughout the country, employing nearly 2,300 personnel constructing Mississippi Test

Facility. This is in addition to the Facility's 3,000 permanent operating personnel.

The scientific knowledge of these MSFG leaders represents many years of rocket experience; a third of them have been in rocketry more than three decades. With this type of organization MSFC ends its sixth year, confident of reaching farther and farther toward the stars.