Wallops Station and the Creation of an American Space Program
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By Harold D. NASA SP-4311 WALLOPS STATION AND THE CREATION OF AN AMERICAN SPACE PROGRAM HaroldD. WallaceJr. The NASA History Series National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA History Office Office of Policy and Plans Washington, D.C. 1997 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wallace, Harold 0., 1960 Wallops Station and the Creation of an American Space Program/ Harold D. Wallace Jr. p. cm.- (The NASA history series) (NASA SP: 4311) Includes bibliographical references ( p. ) and Index. 1. Wallops Flight Facility-History. 2. Astronautics-United States-History. I. Title. IL Series: NASA SP: 4311. TL862.W35W35 1997 97-30983 629.4'09755' 16-dc21 CIP To the Memory of Florence C. Anderson- who always believed that an education was something that could never be taken away. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter ~ Acknowledgment ........................................................................................... v About the Author............................................................................................ vii List of Acronyms............................................................................................. ix Maps of Wallops ............................................................................................. xi I. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................... 1 Notes...................................................................................................... 17 II. SPUTNIK, NASA, AND INDEPENDENCE....................................... 23 Notes...................................................................................................... 42 III. PILOTED SPACE FLIGHT..................................................................... 55 Notes...................................................................................................... 71 IV. SPACE SCIENCE RESEARCH.............................................................. 79 Notes...................................................................................................... 97 V. CHANGES AMID CONSTANCY......................................................... 107 Notes...................................................................................................... 120 APPENDIX 1. RESEARCH VS. DEVELOPMENTAL LAUNCHES, NACA ERA ............................................................................ 125 APPENDIX 2. ORGANIZATIONAL CHARTS ......................................... 127 APPENDIX 3. WALLOPS' COMPLEMENT.............................................. 137 APPENDIX 4. SELECTED INTERNATIONAL COOPERATIVE PROGRAMS........................................................................... 139 APPENDIX 5. WALLOPS' FUNDING........................................................ 141 NOTE ON SOURCES..................................................................................... 143 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................... 145 INDEX.............................................................................................................. 149 THE NASA HISTORY SERIES ..................................................................... 163 iii ACKNOWLEDGMENT This thesis marks the culmination of my master's program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and I owe thanks to a number of people for its successful completion. I wish first to thank the mentor of this work, Joseph N. Tatarewicz, for his encouragement, advice, and constructive criticism. His optimism and support kept this endeavor on track, and his willingness to work with my sometimes inconvenient schedule was greatly appreciated. Also deserving of thanks are the members of my review committee in the History Department of UMBC: Sandra Herbert, Joseph L. Arnold, and Gary L. Browne, all of whom waded through the review copy of this work on short notice, and provided pertinent and instructive comments. The research for this work would have been vastly more difficult if not for the assistance of Keith Koehler, Public Information Officer at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. His guidance regarding Wallops' record collection, and his assistance in arranging interviews was indispensable. I also wish to recognize the aid rendered by Roger D. Launius and Lee D. Saegesser at the NASA History Office in Washington. Their comments and counsel helped me to maximize scarce research time. Similarly, Richard T. Layman and Garland Gouger at NASA's Langley Research Center kindly took time from other duties to facilitate my research during my visit there. I would especially like to thank Robert T. Duffy, J.Chris Floyd, Marvin W. McGoogan, Joyce B. Milliner, Joseph E. Robbins, and Abraham D. Spinak, all of whom graciously consented to provide the oral history that was needed to fill in the gaps in the written record. Finally, I thank my family, friends, and co-workers for their understanding and support during this project. Their patience during those times I was consumed with this work is greatly appreciated. Thanks particularly to Catherine Anderson for help with the tables, and Michelle Wallace for the map and chart. Responsibility for errors of fact or interpretation, of course, rests solely with the author. v ABOUT THE AUTHOR Harold D. Wallace Jr. is an historian working in the Electricity and Modern Physics Division of the National Museum of American History. Current projects include an exhibit studying invention in modern lighting and research into historic aspects of restructuring in the electric power industry. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Mr. Wallace received an M.A. in the history of technology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Prior to employment with the Smithsonian, he enjoyed a successful management career in the retail and wholesale hardware trades. He is a member of the American Historical Association, the Baltimore County Historical Society, and the Society for the History of Technology. vii LIST OF ACRONYMS ABMA: Army Ballistic Missile Agency AEC: Atomic Energy Commission AFRS: Auxiliary Flight Research Station AGARD: Advisory Group for Aeronautical Research AMPD: Advanced Materials and Physics Division AMR: Atlantic Missile Range (Cape Canaveral, Patrick AF Base) AO: Administrative Operations ARC: Ames Research Center ARDC: Air Research and Development Command ARPA: Advanced Research Projects Agency CAA: Civil Aeronautics Administration CNAS: Chincoteague Naval Air Station CNO: Chief of Naval Operations CoF: Construction of Facilities DOD: Department of Defense DOVAP: Doppler Velocity and Position FAA: Federal Aviation Administration FRC: Flight Research Center (HSFS) GEOS: Geodynamics Experimental Ocean Satellite GSFC: Goddard Space Flight Center (Beltsville Space Flight Center) HSFS: High Speed Flight Station (FRC) IBM: International Business Machines ICBM: Intercontinental Ballistic Missile IGY: International Geophysical Year IQSY: International Year of the Quiet Sun IRD: Instrument Research Division JPL: Jet Propulsion Laboratory La RC: Langley Research Center (LMAL, LAL, LRC) Le RC: Lewis Research Center MIT: Massachusetts Institute of Technology MSC: Manned Spacecraft Center (Houston) MSFC: Marshall Space Flight Center MSFN: Manned Space Flight Network MSTS: Military Sea Transport Service NACA: National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization NBS: National Bureau of Standards NRL: Naval Research Laboratory OLVP: Office of Launch Vehicle Programs OSFD: Office of Space Flight Development ix OSFP: Office of Space Flight Programs OSO: Orbiting Solar Observatory OSSA: Office of Space Science and Applications OTDA: Office of Tracking and Data Acquisition PARD: Pilotless Aircraft Research Division PMR: Pacific Missile Range (Vandenberg AF Base) PSAC: President's Science Advisory Committee RAM: Radio Attenuation Measurement R&D: Research and Development RAND: Research And Development Corporation RCA: Radio Corporation of America S&E: Salary and Expenses Scout: Solid Controlled Orbital Utility Test System Spandar: Space Ranging Radar SRB: Solid Rocket Booster SSUA: Special Subcommittee on the Upper Atmosphere STADAN: Space Tracking and Data Acquisition Network STG: Space Task Group TAGIU: Tracking and Ground Instrumentation Unit Tiros: Television Infra-Red Observation Satellite TOS: Tiros Operational System UARRP: Upper Atmosphere Rocket Research Panel USNS: United States Naval Ship VPI: Virginia Polytechnic Institute x --Salisbury - - Assateague Island Atlantic Ocean ' ' 'Wallops Island ~. NASA's Wallops Station on the Delmarva ~: Wallops Flight Facility Main Base (formerly Chincoteague ~-- Naval Air Station, ' ' ' ' ' INSET 1 - Baltimore 2 - Washington 3 - Hampton 4 - Wallops Station 5 - Salisbury NASA's Wallops Station (in three sections) Mercury-Atlas 30 25 Scout 20 Mercury Little Joe 15 Javelin Nike Tomahawk 10 Nike Cajun Apache 5 Areas 2 Selected NASA Launch Vehicles (scale in meters) Cliapter1 INTRODUCTION The course of the Space Age underwent a fundamental shift during the decade of the 1980's. The heady era of Sputnik, Apollo, and the Cold War fueled space race shifted to an era of more methodical activities as space operations became popularly mundane. Similarly, seminal works pertaining to the history of conspicuous early space projects have been joined on the library shelf by words examining less glilmorous, but still important topics. The big, visible space projects e'<i:-ted its much for reasons