An Illustrated Chronology of the NASA Marshall Center and MSFC Programs 1960-1973

417 Pages·2006·21.11 MB·English

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. . MAY 1974
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(NASA-TM-X-70382) AN TLLUSTRATED
ClJEONOLOG'(OF THE N&S_ MAESfiALLCRNTER
AND HSPC PEOGBAHS1960-1973 (HAS_)
_38 p tic $9.00 CSCL 22C
AN ILLUSTRATEDCHRONOLOGY
OF THE
NASA
MARSHACLLENTER
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AND
ffSFCPROGRAMS
1960,4,1973
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May 1974
An Illustrated Ciwonolol_y
of the
NASAMard.dlCenter
m:d
MSFCPmlP'anm
1960.1973
By
Da_'idS. Akens
HistoricalS_ff
ManagemenStervicesOffice
GeorlioC,MarshnlSlpaceFIIilhtCenter
NATIONALAERONAUTICASNDSPACE,%DMINISTRATION
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Postscript
Althoushthischronologyendson June30, 1973, iZ seemsappropriateto add a few
wordsabouttheSkylabproipramafterthatdateandpriortochronologypublication.On
July28, 1973,theSkylabI! astronauts(SL-3,SecondMannedMission)wentintospace
and,aftera suco,-nful59-dayflPJ)t,returnedsafelyto earthon September25. Finally,
the SkylabIII (SL-4) astronauts,in thelastflightmissionin theSkylabproipramr,ose
from earth on November 16. The Skylab II astronautssuccessfullycompletedtheir
mlsdolland,after84daysin space,retumedsafelyto earthonFebruaw8, 1974.
A finalpostscrip€otncerns majorchanBesat MSFCsubsequentto its first 13 years.On
March5, 1974, NASA announcedthat Dr. RoccoPetronewould8o to Washinstonto
become NASA associateadministrator,the asency'sthird hlBhestrankinl[official.
ReplaclnllOr. Petroneas MSFC directorwould be Dr. WilliamR. Lucas,the MSFC
, deputydirector.TheofficialchanseovefrromPetroneto LucaswaslaterresetforJune
'_" 15, 1974.Concurr_,_wtith theannouncemenotf thosemajorpersonneclhangesat MSFC,
NASA aim announceda majorreorganizationof MSFCto becomeeffectiveMay 30,
1974, parallelinilan MSFC reduction-in-forcethat would be effectivethat date,The
Centerissuedlayoff noticesto 397 penonsanddownsradinlnloticesto 259, Thisnew
pared-downMSFCwork forcewascc,nsldereda moreefficientorpnlzatlonfor carp/InS
on the futureMSFCroles.
DSA
May3I, 1974
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i' INTRODUCTION
€
NASA's largest center, the Marshall Space Flight Center, played a major role in
developing the largesttechnological programin the history of mankind.Thh IIl,lztrated
Chronology of tile NASA Marshall Center and MSFC Programs highlights the Center's
activities as well as the activities of Its majorproglamsfrom the Center'sbeginningIn
F July 1960 to the end of its 13th year inJune 1973. Inaddition to highlightsduringthe
Center'sfirst 13 years,,this volume also gives backgroundInformationconcerningevents
thatwere Importantin the Center'sformation.
I
" Contributingto the preparationof this volume were Mr,Erich Neubertof theOffice of
_ Director,MSFC;Mr.Don Lakey and Mrs.Betty Davisof the MSFCHistoricalStaff;and
Mr.JamesR. Bishopof the MSFCSkylabOffice.
The Appendices in the back of this book include summary charts showing MSFC's
personnelstrengthatthe endof Its Ist yearand atthe end of its 13thyear,a._well as on
its peak day of personnelstrength, April 30, 1965. For those desiringclarificationof
terms in the text, there is a list of acronyms and abbreviations. Also Included is a
Id.qoricalsummaryof MSFC'sfirst 13years.
NOTE
MSFC in this chronology stands for the MarshallSpace Flight Center
complex in Huntsville,Alabama. Michoud Assembly Facility (MAP)and .
MississippiTest Facility (MTF) are partof the MSFC organl,.atlcn, but
physically are located in Louisianaand Mississippi,respectively,Whenan
event in this chronology is cited as occurringat MSFC,the citation refers
i to the Huntsvillecomplex. MASand MTFarecited separately,
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May 31, 1974
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CONTENTS
Page
:, .... 195";.................................................... I
' i959 ............................................. 5
1960 ....................................... II
1961....................................... 21
1962.................................... 43
196i ...... • ............. 57
1964 .......... 77
1965 ..... .... 99
1966 .......... 119
196'7 .... 141
1968 . . 167
1969. . . 203
|910 .... 235
1971 .... 271
1972 ...... 303
1973 ...... 327
AppendixA - Document_tJon ......... 345
AppendixB- AbbreviationsandAcmnyml 389
Appendix(' H!_toflcalSummaryof MSFC. , . . 401
AppendixD - 'L_,rlie_OtrilJnlzatlonalChazts . . . 415
AppendixE- M_FC'sManpowerStatus...... 419
AppendixF - RepreuntatlvePersonneClharts. . . 425
AppendixG - MSFCFundlni................ 431
PItECK01_OPAOEBLANKNOT__
Ul
t,
n
APRIL - DECEMBER1957
1957
In April the scientificorganizationdirectedby Dr. Wernhervoh Braunbegan studies
which led to Saturn,America'sfirst rocket developedforspace investigation.The teamat
Redstone Arsenal,Alabama,hoped to design launchvehicles that could carry20 000- to
_. 40 O00-pound payloads for orbital missions or 6000. to 1200e-pound payloads for
escape missions. High-thrust L,oosterstages wave essential, in December the yon Braun
, group, then workin8 with the Army 13allLsti¢Missile A8en_y (ABMA), proposed a
! progranl to the Departmentof Defense. At that time the Unit, States was €onsidering
i an [ntelpratedmissile and spa_ vehicle development protpam. Creationof a bousterwith
!. I 500 000 poundsof thrustwas the aim of the proposedprogram [I].
i
IJ
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L
SaturnIB
f
AUGUST - DECEMI_It 1958
1958
On Ausust 15 the AdvancedResearchProjectsAgency (ARPA) fonnally initiatedwhat
was to become the Saturn project. The agency, a separately orsanized research and
development armof the Departmentof Defense, authorized ABMAto conduct a research
and development programat Redstone Arsenal for a I500 000-pound thrust vehicle
booster. A number of availablerocket enginas would be clustered. This dasignwould be
testedby a full-scalestat!c firingby the endof 1959 [2].
A €ontract wa_awarded Rocketdyne Division of NorthAmerican Aviationon September
II to uprate S-3D, the Thor-Jupiter engine. After redesign, simplification, and
modification, the enginewould be the H-I [3].
In October ARPA expandedits programobjectives. A multistage carriervehicle capable
of performing advanced space missions would be built. The vehicle was tentatively
identified as Juno V. ARPA requested Re&tone penonnel to study a complete vehicle
systemso that upper-stageselection anddevelopmen;could beginand initiated astudy of
Atlantit_Miudle Range (AMR) launch facilities which could accommodate the launch
vehicle [41. Later, on December II, ARPA authorized the Army Ordnance Missile
Command(AOMR) to begindesign,modification,andconstructionof acaptlv_staticlest
tower and facilitiesfor useIn the bomter developmentprogram.AOMC wasalsoto
determinethodesignrequirem_ntsfornecessarylaunchfacilities[5].
WIzUethe booster-vehicleprogramwas being formulatedand expanded,development
work on the H-I enginecontinued.The tint full.powerH-I enginefiringoccurredin
Decemberat the Rocketdyne facility inCanogaPark,California [6].
Prol_s_l con_ruratlon
Final preparatlolt for launch ofJlr_t U.$. of a clustered hoosier
satellite, January 31, 1958. hrsert shows
close-up of satellite atop the Jupiter C.
Thisfirs! U.S.satellitepioneeredthe U.S.
spaceprogramthat led to Satunland
•" beyond.
PRBCEDINQPAGEBLANKNOTFILMED 3
1958
Thor_lupiter engine i
EarlyH-I enghze
Iloosler loolln#
Dr. T. Kelth Glennan oil AuSust 19, 195_, became the JlrJt
admlnbtrator of NA,_A. lie would serveuntil his replacement
by James b.:IVebbcm February 14, 1961.
i
........ j
JANUARY- JULY 1959
1959
Concurrentlyvclthdevelopment of the H-I entdne,studies were conducted to deterr,lLne
the feasibll|t),of a largersingle-cham_r rocket engine.On January9 Rocketdynealpreed
by contract to design, develop, and test such msengine, designated as the F-I. Tlds
engine, blaming Iox and RP-I, n kate,sane-typefuel, would generatea very high thrust,
approximately ! 500 000 pounds[71.
Construction of the ABMA static test stand for large boosters began January 10.
Meanwhge,Army representativesof the ARPAboardvisitedAMRto discussselectionof
asite forlargevehicle launchfacilitiesat CapeCanaveral,Florida.By Februaryacontract
had been awardedfor construction of the blockhouse at the site (LaunchComplex34).
A design contract was also awarded for a movable str.tcturewhich would be used to
assembloand servicethe vehicleon the launch pedestal[8].
On January27 the NationalAeronauticsand SpaceAdministration(NASA) submittedto
the President a report containing its recommendations for n National Space Vehicle
Program:the development of a seriesof generalpurposespace-flightvehiclesof Increasing
payloadcapability for successiveperiods of use, with the aim of achievinga highdegree
of reliabilityand reduced costs. Four types oFvehicles,Atlas-Vega,Atlas4_entaur,Juno
V, and Nova, were susgested and were discussedin termsof configuration,payloadand
mludon capability,anddevelopmentand operationaltime andcost.
Conc_:rningthe Juno V, the third of the proposedNational series, the reportudd, "A
typical mission would involvesending a crew of men into orbitwith enough facilitiesto
sustainthem for a long periodof time and the necessary equipment to permit them to
perform experiments and make observations. This vehicle may well become the basi_
vehicle ('ororbital supply mlulons, involving the transportof food and suppliesto crews
In orbit, the exchange of crew members, and the transport of additional Fuel and
equipmentto the orbitingvehlch%"
The reportwaspreparedby the PropulsionStaff of NASA,in consultationwith ARPAof
the Departmentof Defense [91.
On February3 an ARPAmemorandumofficially renamedthe largelaunch vehicleproject
Saturn. ARPA representatives presented the proposed National Vehicle Programto the
President_ndthe NationalAeronauticsand SpaceCouncilon March2. Includedwere the
proposedSaturnBand C vehiclesystems [10].
By April28 the first production H-I engine (H-1001) hadbeendeliveredon schedule to
ABMA.ABMA's tint firing test of this engine, later used In the first test booster, was
performedsucceufully on May26 [111.
OII July 5 constructionof the Saturnblockhousfeor LaunchComplex34bepn atCape
Canaveral,On July27 whenthe lastJttplterairframewascompleted,lledstoneArsenal
shopsbeganretoolingtosupporttheSaturnproject[I 2].
,I