April 1,1968 LEWIS NEWS 3

Staff Conference Technical Features Mohole Papers Now available at the Center Library are the following recently- published technical papers written by Lewis staff members: TECHNICAL NOTES Thermal Radiation Absorpbnce and Vacuum Outgassing Charac- terinitcs of Several Metallic rtnd Coated Surfaces, T. Mimura, E. Anagnostou and P. E. ColarusSO, TN D-3234. Dependence of Surface Conduc- tivity of Sodium Chkoride on the Chemical Nature of the Surface, C. E. May and J. P. Jayne, TN D- Mas C. McLean 3236. Basic Studies of a Low Density Max C. McLean, assistant to the Hall Current Ion Accelerator, Mohole Project Director, National D. L. Chubb and G. R. Seikel, TN Science Foundation, Washington, D-3250. will present a talk, movies and Effects of a Magnetic Field on Has lewis Ties slides for ‘the Lewis Staff Confer- the Conduction Heat Transfer at ence on LMonday, April 4, at 8 p.m. the Stagnation Point of a Padally “I’ve wanted to be an NACA test pilot all my life.” in the DEB Auditorium. Ionized Argon Gas, J. F. Schmidt, So spoke Neil Armstrong, command pilot of the March Although born and raised in the TN D-3251. 16 abbreviated Gemini 8 mission, during an interview at Purdue Univer- heart of the Rockies at Ogden, Experimental Pressure Drop In- si,ty in 1955 with Bob Graham of Lewis’ Chemistry and Energy Con- Utah, McLean had extensive sea vestigation of Wetting and Non- version Division. Flight Research Cen,ter in Cali- service in the Merchant Marine wetting Mercury Condensing in “I was so impressed with his fornia. Eventually, he was assign- and U. S. Navy. After earning Uniformly Tapered Tubes, J. A. sincerity,” recalls Dr. Graham, ed as one of the prime pilots in bachelor’s and a master’s degrees, Albers and H. B. Block, TN D-3253. “that we hired him immediately.” the X-15 research program. he worked with the Navy’s ocean- Evaluation of Impregnated Lub- ography, hydrographic and geo- ricants in Ball-Bearing Retainers Armstrong’s career at Lewis as Thus, in addition to being Amer- physics efforts. He also had more at 10-6 Torr, L. D. Smith, D. C. an aeronautical research pilot was i’ca’s first civilian astronaut in than four ye.ars of duty at the Glenn and H. W. Scibbe, TN D- short-lived, however, as he trans- , he is also .the first to have Woods Hole Oceanographic Insti- 3259. ferred within a year to the NASA flown both in space and ip the tution before joining the NSF in Cold Prrformance Evaluation of rocket-powered X-16 ., 1964. a 4.59-inch Radial-Inflow Turbine The history and scientific ob- For his work with ,the X-15, he Designed for a Brayton-Cycle Speakers received the IAS Octave Chanute jectives of the Mohole Project will Space Power System, C. A. Was- Award in 1962. He is a senior mem- be reviewed. Conducted unger the serbauer, M. G. Kofskey and W. J. ber of AIAA and a member of the a.egis of the National Science Foun- Nusbaum, TN D-3260. Corner Experimental Test Pilots Assn. dation, this work is a major effort Stress-Intensity Factors by to explore ,the Earth’s crust and Boundary Collocation for Single- April showers will also bring a Armstrong is a native of Ohio. mantle by drilling three miles or Edge-Notch Specimens Subject to shower of NASA space information His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Stephen more into the ocean ,bottom. The Splitting Forces. B. Gross and J. E. to members of eight organizations Armstrong, still reside in Wapa- project name is derived from the Srawley, TN 0-3295. within the next two weeks. Lewis’ koneta. Mohorovicic seismic discontinuity speakers and their engagements in- separating the mantle from the clude : Next Staff Social crust. March Retirements I. Irving Pinkel who will address The project timetable will be members of the Dover Masonic Set For April 75 discussed. A 12-minute movie will A total of almost 50 years of Lodge at Westlake on April 1; The Guerin House again will be show test drillings conducted last George Darchuk has been book- service was compiled by the three the scene of Lewis staff social ye.ar near Uvalde, Texas, where ed for a talk a;t the Lynite Club, a Lewis employees who retired in on Friday, April 15, from 5 to 7 newly developed equipment was March. They are: Aluminum Company of America on evaluated. April 12; p.m. JOHN R. CRANE Warren Mirshak who is sched- Participating in this get-togeth- John R. Crane, an experimental uled to speak at the Assembly Pro- Chess Tourney Set electronic equipment mechanic, er will be staff members of ,the fol- gram .at Wisconsin State Univer- lowing groups :, AD&E, Facilities The annual NASA Open Chess worked in the Electronic Shop & sity, Plateville, Wis., on April 13; Computer Service Section. The Engineering, Sheetmetal Branch Tournament will get underway on Bela Nagy wili be the featured (Fabrication), Personnel a n d Monday, April 11. All Lewis em- “newest” of the trio of retirees, speaker at the Welcome Wagon Crane joined Lewis more than 9 Mechanized Computation & Analy- ployees and members of their im- Sponsor’s Dinner at West Rich- sis Br,anch !I&C). mediate families are eligible to en- years ago. field on April 14; ter. BEN JANAS On the same date Paul Wieber Men’s Softball League Douglas Andersor., ,tournament Ben Janas, who came to Lewis appears before the American As- socia,tion of University Women, chairman, said the tourney consists early in World War 11, has been Captains Meet April 7 of six rounds. One round is played an experimental metal model mak- Euclid Branch; each week. er in the General Machine Section. Dale Cooper is the third Lewis Opening day for the Men’s Soft- Each player is matched against With his service spanning 23 years, speaker with an April 14 date with ball League is scheduled for May an opponent with a similar won- Janas has had a personal part in a talk scheduled for the Roosevelt 2. There is a limited number of op- lost record so that the later games the historic growth of Lewis. School PTA at Elyria; enings for new teams in this year’s will be between opponents of ap- James Diedrich will be behind league competition. Deadline for proximately equal ability. The time EDWARD T. CAHOON the podium on consecutive days, entry of new teams will be the and place of play are arranged by Edward T. Cahoon, an areospace April 15 and 16, with the former Captain’s Meeting to be held opponents for their mutual con- mechanic assigned to the Materials appearance at a meeting of the Thursday, April 7, at 9 a.m. in venience. & Stresses Service Section, is the YMCA Indian Guides, Parma, and Room 133, M&S. Entry blanks and further infor- most recent retiree after compil- the lat.ter before the Ohio State mation are available from Ander- ing almost two decades of service Refrigeration Service Engineers Further information is available son, PAX 2174. at the Center. Society at the Pick-Carter Hotel. from Bill Waters, PAX 4175. 2 LEWIS NEWS Julv 18. 1969 James Useller dies N N

James Useller, aeronautical research scientist in the Spacecraft Technology Division, died June 29 following a brief illness. Joining Lewis upon his graduation from Carnegie Tech in 1948, Useller assisted in experimental develop- ment of turbojet thrust augmentation devices including high temperature afterburners. He was involved in the Center’s re- search of unconventional fuels for turbojets including metallic slur- 5 S ries, boron compounds and the use of hydrogen to increase operating TYPICAL MARINER TV COVERAGE OF MARS altitudes and extend ai r c r a f t ranges. Useller trained the original in the use of the man- Mariner twins perform ualattitude controller for the Mer- cury space vehicle and contributed to the knowledge of ocular nystagmus, an involuntary eye oscillation that oc- after six-month journey curs during aircraft maneuvering. While associated with After traveling over 225 planet July 31, with its sis- will probe the atmosphere the Flight Operations Branch, Useller supervised t h e million miles in little more ter, Mariner VII, following of Mars. An occultation ex- design, development and testing of recovery systems for than six months, the Marin- five days later on a polar periment, passing radio retrieval of data nose cones fired from Aerobee rockets er ‘69 twins will soon meet pass. In this way the twin signals through the Mar- at Wallops Island. Since 1966 he had been associated the challenge of helping spacecraft can furnish data tian atmosphere while the with the Zero Gravity Research Facility. determine whether or not as different as possible spacecraft swings behind the planet, will yield data The author of several technical papers, Useller was the environment on the from the standpoint of planet Mars is suitable for Martian geography and cli- on atmospheric pressures a full fellow in the Royal Aeronautical Society. He was life. mate. and densities. secretary of the Lewis Sportsmen’s Club. The project responsibil- Each of the 900-pound The Mariner ‘69 flights Survivors include his father, Walter J., a brother ity for the Mariner ’69 mis- Mariners is equipped with are a second step in the Walter F., and a sister, Mrs. Teresa Tritsch all of Penn- sion is assigned to the Jet two television cameras to Mars investigation series. sylvania. Useller was buried at Gettysburg National Propulsion Laboratory, photograph the disc of The first fly-by was in Cemetery. managed for NASA by the Mars during the approach 1964-65. In 1971 two Mari- California I n s t i t ut e of to the planet and the sur- ner-type vehicles will orbit Technology, P a s a d e n a, face during fly-by. The res- Mars for three months, Two appointed to FEB Calif. The launch vehicle olution of the surface pic- performing experiments responsibility rests with tures is expected to be similar to the Moon’s Lu- New appointments to the The Federal Executive the Lewis Launch Vehicles about 900 feet, compared nar Orbiters series. The Cleveland Federal Execu- Board is established under Division, which managed with two miles in resolu- 1973 proposed m i s si o n, tive Board for 1969-70 in- the direction of the Presi- the dual launches on Atlas- tion which the Mariner IV Project Viking, involves clude the appointment of dent of the United States Centaur vehicles. took in its 1965 flight. two spacecraft orbiting Richard Tilton of the Per- to coordinate and interlock Mariner VI, launched Two instruments, an in- Mars and detaching soft sonnel Division as FEB Federal efforts and pro- last Feb. 24, will fly past frared spectrometer and an landers to descend to the Program Chairman and Dr. grams in urban areas. the equator of the red ultraviolet spectrometer, surf ace. Betty Del Duca of the Di- Tracking and communi- rect Energy Conversion Di- Recruiter reminisces cations for the ’69 mission vision as Chairman of the is handled by the Deep Federal Women’s Program. Space Network, operated Dr. Charles D. Ferraro Moonman started at Lewis for NASA by JPL. of the Personnel Division has completed a year as by In encouraging Armstrong to join the Chairman of the Equal Dr. W. Graham NACA ranks, I talked to him about the Coapman Employment Opportunity (Ed. note: Dr. Graham, head of the Ex- prospects in high-speed sub-orbital flight Committee. The Center Di- perimental Heat Transfer Section, Physics which was currently under study. Also, merits DFC rector, Dr. Abe Silverstein, and Chemistry Division, was a personnel just a year before, the X-15 program had was the FEB’s first Chair- recruiter for NACA/NASA until 1959. been approved, and we talked of the pos- man in 1967-68 and re- This article gives his reflections of an in- sibility that he might find an opening at mains a member of the terview with Purdue University senior Edwards Flight Research Center for test FEB Policy Committee. Neil Armstrong in 1955). pilot training. Michael Halloran of the If I had been asked, ten years ago at Armstrong’s interest in flying was Veterans Administration the completion of my recruiting assign- very great, and he said he would be will- h a s succeeded Internal ment for NACA/NASA, which college ing to hire on in any capacity that might Revenue’s Frank Turbett student had impressed me the most in lead him to test pilot training. NACA as FEB Chairman for my interview with him, I would have un- salary offers in 1955 were not too com- 1969-70. hesitatingly answered “Neil Armstrong.” petitive, and we were emphasizing the fringe benefits and advanced education assistance for applicants. Yet not once Morthland in this interview did Armstrong mention salary. His career flying interest seemed is retiring to overshadow all other considerations. John E. Morthland, a I was so impressed by the qualifica- Just prior to being trans- painter in the Building and tions and determination of this young ferred to Wright-Patter- Maintenance Section of the man that at the close of tqe interview I son Air Force Base in Day- Plant Services Division, re- assured him that he would receive an of- ton, Col. A. Lincoln Coap- tired J u 1 y fer from Lewis or Edwards. Lewis did man was awarded the Dis- 17. Morth- DR. GRAHAM cut young college accept Armstrong as a member of its tinguished Flying Cross land joined senior was articulate and self assured. flight crew in February, 1955 and a few f o r meritorious service Lewis in His ambition was backed up by the fact months later he transferred to Edwards during a combat mission in July 1961 that he learned to fly at the age of 16. Flight Research Center in California. Vietnam. a n d had I asked him what experience he had and worked here he modestly stated that he had over 1,000 THE LEWIS NEWS presents the Lewis Research Center story in terms of as a steam- hours of experience flying high-speed jet its people, its purpose and its progress. Published on alternate Fridays, the News plant operator before be- aircraft with the U.S. Navy. He entered is produced by the Public Information Office, Lewis Research Center, National college at Purdue after his military ser- Aeronautics and Space Administration, 21000 Brookpark Road, Cleveland, Ohio coming a painter. We wish 44135. him and his wife, Ellen, ;t vice because he knew that a prerequisite News items should be phoned into PAX 2140, or sent to Room 218, Ad. Bldg., happy and active retire- for test pilot status was a degree in en- Mil Shop 3-11. Deadline is ten days prior to publication. ment. gineering. Editor ...... George T. Hoy 6 Lewis News July 20, 1979

(Continued, -- from ~-Page 5) Recalling the recruitment of Neil Armstrong Ifor Lewis -- BY DR. ROBERT W. GRAHAM he wanted to know was how he Armstrong the official offer in could become involved in such person. a program. Frankly, I was so After I found out that NACA taken back by his qualifications had hired him, I was very inter- and by his approach that 1 ested in following his career. He hardly knew what to say at first. spent a short time here at Lewis Obviously, he was a real ‘find’ and then was given the oppor- and so I told him with consid- tunity to become a part of the erable enthusiasm that he XI5 program at Edwards Air- would have no difficulty begin- force Base in California. 1 ning in such a test pilot pro- noted that he later flew the XI5 gram with NACA. in some of its record-making Even though 1 could not an- flight missions. Next, I became ticipate what would eventually aware that he had applied for happen to this person in his the astronaut program and career, this particular interview soon was assigned as one of the always stood out in my mind as Gemini mission pilots. From DR. ROBERT W. GRAHAM one of the most memorable that that particular program, he I ever conducted in the recruit- went on to the Apollo program. In the early 1950’s, I was in- ing program. Frequently, in Then, a5 we all know, he was Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin, lunar module pilot, walks near the volved in the Center’s recruit- talks that I had to give to young selected to be the Commander lunar module during Apollo 11 extra vehicular activity. ment efforts at Purdue Univer- people in schools, I cited this of the historic Apollo 11 mis- sity and the University of Illi- experience as an example of a sion, the first flight to the nois. In 1955, Bill McCann young person who was com- moon. (now retired) and 1visited these pleting his education and knew I have had the thrilling ex- universities. On this particular exactly what he wanted to do. It perience of talking with him trip, the recruitment office re- was also significant to observe twice since the moon landing; quested that we try to interview that Neil Armstrong was not once here in Cleveland at the candidates who would qualify interested in the kind of salary Lewis Center and the second as test pilots for the upcoming offer NACA could make. He time in New York City at a X 15 experimental rocket pow- was primarily interested in the meeting of the American Soci- ered plane. kind of challenge that a test ety of Mechanical Engineers, At Purdue, a young man pilot position would offer. where he received a medal for came in who said, that in addi- When 1 returned to Cleve- his space exploits. tion to his aeronautical degree, land with the interview form in During the live television he had 1500 hours of jet experi- which I recommended that Neil broadcast of the Apollo 11 ence as a pilot with the Navy. Armstrong be hired by our moon landing, I felt a strong Not only were these credentials agency, his qualifications made personal identification with the impressive to me because of the a great impression on the man- mission. Fourteen years earlier, need for a qualified test pilot, agement here. Irving Pinkel, 1 wouldn’t have imagined that a but I was impressed by his who was then the Division young Purdue graduate being quiet, assured manner. He said Chief in charge of flight opera- interviewed would become the that his life-time ambition was tions at Lewis, decided that he first man to set foot on the to be a NACA test pilot and all should go to Purdue and give moon.

Astronaut Aldrin performs activities on the Moon.

10th ANNIVERSARY OF LUNAR LANDING MOON BASE PICNIC GROUNDS

PICNIC MENU: DINNER MUSlC5p.m. to8p.m. 10 OL FILET STEAKS CLEVELAND’S JAZZ EXPRESS BAKED POTATOES DANCING 9 p. m. to 1a.m. HOME MADE SALAD GEORGE HUNYADI ORCHESTRA SOFT DRINKS & SNACKS -- USUAL REFRESHMENTS .fk HOST FOR PICNIC - AERONAUTICS DIRECTORATE SUBSIDIZED BY NASA EXCHANGE

Lunar module ascent stage photographed from the command service module.