R O C K E T D Y Thirty-Five Years in Power for America Rochb,JOH -AL hternaund 4@ocae¢dgne Divis!o n ~PaosRExa; For more Ham a ienemfani, Rockeidync has been ont then, where t/te net iou i s must color(I I I nud intense . As ill,, natim i /ills u « nn°d inl apace, pna°r 1,q Rm 1, 1,1 ync has Dorn a key rlemru f` ,,fill esua"s shny,roilh/' ;fOu/nm/sear idreliabilitu/ urunatcln'd bymnlal/rerrudcrli'ii necumpmutin t/c:maldd. AndOilhI/in( has been thegrnzoth of Rnrketdlpu info a murlel-c/mss loader hr directed enlryy technology, spare-horse puroer sgsteurs and n uc learpmlrr-all a direct rejl eciat I "four pride it l hin" a part of Hie American space, enet'gy and dejolse efforts . Front the rent fires, WI''ii' /ten t/sri' with the best tilenf and oil of the cner ;y roc, nI muslcr, ulillr our ambitions set Otl file must distant stars . Front the uoeninq slur/ 35 years ago, iuc'ire been with the Americml tram drat ta,ardred humankind into space, and in turn, brow ;/lit the 6enl'fits of spare back to Fai lh . Edited by J . Mitchell / Designed by J . Allstott Production by Racketdyne Pub'ications Services Our special appreciatimt to Elm vaurfuez-MOrrtsan of Media 5eroice3 Corporation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for their help in securing marry of the photos that appear in this Wok . We are theeprygrateful . The Early Years Thirty-Five Years The Rocketdyne I started working for many years ago was called the Propulsion Center of MACE (Missile and Control Equipment) of North American Aviation . There mere three facilities : the Slausoa plant off the Santa Ana Freeway in Cornrnerce, the Propulsion Fiel d Laboratory at Santa Susana, and the Deering facility in Canoga Park. in Power Slauson was a factory warehouse-hot, stuffy, badly lit, with engineering and manufacturing slopping over into each other . It was close enough to the stockyards that flies were a problem . Plant engineers treated the high ceilings with fly spray, and flies died in droves , for America crashing down from the open rafters to the drafting tables and into typewriters. Some of its lived in the Valley and drove to Slauson each day. It was considered essential for every new employee to make at least one trip to the Propulsion Field Laboratory (PFL, now SSFL) to see a firing. We were less jaded then, and when a Redstone or G-38 Navaho cut loose, you got a gut feeling that there really was something happening. PFL was designed with real, hard, engineering ends in mind; but the effect couldn't have been more dramatic if they tried. An equally essential part of the trip was to stop at the Wooden Shoe for lunch on the way back . The Wooden Shoe was at Roscoe and Topanga then, aad their huge barbeque sandwiches beef, pork, or ham-cost 55 cents . Canoga Park was growing-housing tracts sprang up on both sides of Vanowen ; apartments were built on Sherman Way . Canoga Avenue was lined with pepper trees to Ventura Boulevard, a cool tunnel of green leaves . The Valley was pepper trees, corn fields, truck gardens and, as the oldtimers are quick to tell you, "I remember this Valley when it was nothin' but orange groves and chicken ranches." Sherman Way's stately California palms marched the length of the Valley. Even from the far west end you could see the brewery it, Van Nuys A History of the breathin g a high plume o f steam and the airport with the Air National Guard Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell International p,acticing deadstick landings into the housing tracts. A bit of poetry from that period: When there's thunder on the mountains, Every evening just at nine, And your walls begin to tremble, It's not God , It's Rocketdyne, This can be sung to the ft- of" Clememine" . We grew up, matured, did things a little more smoothly, with more finesse. We watched the Atlas, Jupiter and Thor develop during the Schriever peak of the late 1950s. We set our eyes on the moon, cranked out the proposal for the big F-I that nobody could believe was that big, then the f-2 ("Oxygen and hydrogen? Are you crazy?"). Built some more buildings, including a fancy headquarters with a heliport on top, and sortie fancy test stands on the Hill . The city moved in around us . We got stores arid civilization and culture. But I think Rocketdyne is what it is-kind ofgreat-partly because we roughed it a little in those first years, pioneered the Valley like we pioneered the rocket engine business, kept our cool while we struggled to make it go, and solved problems we didn't know couldn't be solved . - Jim McCafferty Fanner Manager of Publications, Graphics and ,muting Rocketdyne Suge 4 7 2 Dear Reader: Dept. Hire Date* Servtce * Edwin H. Schaper Mark T . Dixon 579 10/06/52 37. 6 Since its formation 35 years ago, Rocketdyne has been in the forefront of the nation's technology in the areas of William G . Dickey 544 10/03/52 37 .6 Dept . Hire Date* Service * propulsion, directed energy and space power systems . Today we hold leadership positions with growth potential Robert E . Folsom 592 10/01/52 37 .6 556 12/04/46 44 .9 in all of these areas . Robert D. O'Neill 569 09/1 5/.52 37 .7 GeorgeBrody 518 08/22/52 37 .7 Actually, it goes back further than that . Ed We are particularly proud in having powered the first U.S . astronaut into space, and that we later had a key role Edward G . Walker 534 10/27/52 37 .7 Schaper first signed on with North American in sending astronauts to the moon and then provided the means to bring them back safely. We've also been Robert L. Shealy 506 08/21/52 37 .7 Aviation in 1943 in the Los Angeles Division, responsible for the fi rst fully reusable rocket engine for the Russell B . Bottomley 519 08/11/52 37 .8 working the cowlings and fairings sec ti on space shuttle, and provided the workhorse Atlas and Delta George D . Davis 526 07/10/52 37 .9 before joining the U .S. Navy. After a three- Tzolag R. Margosan 545 05/09/52 38 .0 engines for the fleet of expendable launch vehicles . Other year hitch, he was rehired by North American Richard L. Jacobson 579 04/28/52 38 .1 in 1946 d over the years he had a hand in notable propulsion achievements have included projects Richard E. Durand 635 04/07/52 38 .1 , an such as Agena, Mars Mariner, Minuteman, Lance and Clarence Ackerman 598 08/02/54 38 .1 almost every major program to make it by the front doors Peacekeeper. Bobby J . Bennett 526 03/24/52 38 .2 . Now active in testing on the Hill, Simon R . Escarcega 087 03/17/52 38 .2 he has compiled a truly amazing a ttendance In space power systems we created the first and only Horace H . Neely 027 02/21/52 38 .2 record-in 45 years he's been absent a total of nuclear reactor in space-the SNAP II-and now we're Jon T . Nagarnalsu 597 02/11/52 38 .3 nine days ! building the electrical power system for the nation's next Joe D . Serra, Jr. 503 01/30/52 38 .3 That is dedication . major space endeavor, Space Station Freedom . We've also Jesse Seward , Jr. 423 12/21/51 38 .4 developed a directed energy technology capability covering Billy J . Cruce 579 12/07/51 38 .5 Richard F. Knowles 586 11/75/51 38 .5 a wide range of devices and applications, with an optics Dean R . Hansen 425 09/18/51 38 .7 staff unequaled in the nation . Neil B. Paris 656 08/20/51 38 .7 Parnell DeBurgh 538 07/02/51 38 .9 Looking ahead , we see growth opportunities in combined Marceline, E. Villa 538 07102151 38 .9 cycle propulsion (the National Aero-Space Plane); in heavy Norman J. Silvers 512 05/21/51 39 .0 lift vehicles (advanced launch systems ) ; space propulsion Irving Fisher 572 02/05/51 39 .3 and power (for the Space Exploration Initiative); and Carl W. Stevens 558 02/02/51 39 .3 propulsion , space power and directed energy systems for Robert M . Moore 585 01/04/51 39 .4 Loretta D. Larsen 065 12/11/50 41 .1 the Strategic Defense Initiative Office, the Air Force and Paul J. Kisicki, Jr . 598 06/24/48 41 .9 the Army. Wallace A . Erskine 504 11/12/47 42 .5 Donald E . Mussel) 545 06/24/48 42 . 6 All of these successes and opportunities are scarcely an accident. I believe they reflect a very special brand of Frank R . Buzza 519 08/25147 42 . 7 people who prefer bring on the cutting edge of technology; people who are never content with the status quo, who Robert C. Bousman 512 06/30/47 43 .4 are forever looking ahead . Thomas E . Lloyd 298 11/18/46 43 .5 Edwin H . Schaper 550 12/04/46 44 . 9 As you walk through this colorful story, I think you'll see exactly what I mean . And I think you'll be struck by the ample evidence of the energy and dedication that has made Rocketdyne the unquestioned leader in the "I he number endlcates curnulatwe seroice for Kockwell lntenla! ionat, wile the dee industry.