George Morgan - Rocket Girl

meets with Khrushchev, 204

name becomes a state secret, 158

other imprisonments, 155

R-7 rocket, 208, 211

regains freedom, 156

secret plans for a satellite, 159, 169, 248–249

worked at Tyuratam Rocket Base, 155

Kraemer, Robert S.

as author, 12–13

published book on Rocketdyne

comments on aerospace record keeping, 12–13

credits hydyne to Irving Kanarek, 189–190

hydyne formulation error, 190

refutes Silverman claim, 190

research source for this book, 189

Kummersdorf

Adolf Hitler visits, 67–68

attracts military funding, 44

successor to the Raketenflugplatz, 44

LaJoie, Ida (Mary’s aunt)

mentioned in Hegstad e-mails, 268

provided lodging for Mary in Ohio, 70

Ley, Willy

close friend of von Braun, 43

immigrates to America, 43

liquid oxygen. See LOX

LOX

acronym for liquid oxygen, 163

combined with alcohol, 239

combined with “bagel,” 218

combined with diethylamine, 210–211

combined with fluorine, 164, 192, 200

combined with hydyne, 218, 235–238, 285

combined with pentaborane, 263

North American Aviation proposes replacing, 192

potential fuel partners for, 200

properties and characteristics of, 163

Redstone oxidizer, 173, 192

specific impulse with alcohol, 173

V-2 oxidizer, 173

von Braun’s preference for, 173

Luftwaffe

existence violated Treaty of Versailles, 43

rebuilt German air force, 43

Marneus, Shirley

author receives letter from, 45

Caltech finds replacement for, 206

director of TACIT, 45

retires from Caltech, 206

Medaris, General Bruce

demands orbital progress report, 275

Eisenhower declines his request, 254

initiates Redstone propellant contract, 172–173, 181, 183

lobbied by von Braun, 254

orders von Braun to put 2,000 lbs. of ballast into Redstone, 209–210

orders von Braun to Washington, DC, 273

oversees launch of Explorer 1 , 275

seeks satellite launch vehicle, 172–173, 180–181

Meyers, Tom

advice to Mary on contract, 205

approves hydyne for testing, 218–219

author’s discussion of, 296

discusses assigning Mary to propellant contract, 182–184

hiring Mary, 142–143, 152

introduces Mary to her future husband, 164

meets Mary for first time, 151

North American Aviation engineering department supervisor, 140–143, 154, 284

oversees hydyne instability problem, 262

receives notice of hydyne success, 265

receives US Army contract, 176–177, 179

receives visit from Kindelberger, 257–262

restricts Mary’s access to Santa Susanna Field Laboratory test, 228

Minot State College

author’s search for Mary’s transcripts, 47, 270

mentioned in Hegstad e-mails, 268

Mittelwerk

Colonel Toftoy retrieves V-2 components, 124–125

Private Galione discovers, 124

supported by slave labor, 124

Morgan, G. Richard

bridge player, 164–165

Caltech graduate, 162, 164

love of cars, 176, 276, 284

marriage of, 47

nicknamed “Red,” 161

on the Hill, 285, 287, 291

played football for Caltech, 162

present during Mary’s death, 11

research resource, 298, 300n11, 302n6, 306n7

specialized in heat-transfer problems, 162, 164, 194–195

worked at North American Aviation, 162–165, 193–194

Morgan, George Douglas (author)

attends Mary’s funeral, 12–14, 280–281

boyhood recollections of Mary, 35–36

conversations with Caltech, 206–207

corrects Wikipedia article on Mary, 187–190

creates May Sherman Morgan blog, 267–272

deals with elderly parents, 95–97

decides to write a play about Mary, 15–16

deliver’s Mary’s eulogy, 13

discovers secret sibling, 267–271

discussions and interviews with Mary’s former coworkers, 13–14, 35, 37, 39–41, 188

flies liquid-propellant rocket, 280

grade-school experience, 131–134

high-school years, 279

investigates sister’s birth, 107–108

Mary rebuffs his attempt to tell her story, 15

Mary’s OCD, 36–38, 131–133

problems with Mary’s photographic record, 48–49

daughter Carley assists, 48

sisters offer partial explanation, 49

receives birthday present from Kanarek, 39–41

requests copies of Silverman files from NASA, 189

requests Mary’s transcripts from Minot State, 47

submits Mary’s obit to the Los Angeles Times , 11–16

submits Rocket Girl to MIT and Caltech, 45

production problems with, 46–47

receives response from TACIT, 45

tracks down Irving Kanarek, 38–40

wife and, as foster parents, 35

Morgan, Mary Sherman

attended college ( see DeSales College)

background, 7

birth, 11

birth of son Stephen, 36

blog, 16, 267–268

bridge player, 23, 101, 154, 179–180

character of, 8, 11, 34, 50, 53, 55–56, 58, 64, 99–100, 139–140

death, 11

first pregnancy, 98–108, 268–269

gives child up for adoption, 106

letter to adoptive mother, 108–110

Patrick (boyfriend), 103

given horse by North Dakota, 21

Hegstad e-mails, 268–270

high-school years ( see Ray High School)

hydyne, invention of, 212–218

naming, 218–219

tested at Santa Susanna Field Laboratory, 219, 224–236, 237–241, 245–246, 264–265

interest in chemistry, 56–57, 73, 80–82, 97, 99

Los Angeles Times refuses to publish obit of, 12, 15–16

love of nature, 49–50, 81

marriage of, 49, 165

meets future husband, 164–165

moves to Los Angeles, 136

OCD symptoms, 36–38

prevented from attending school, 18–20

problems with historical record, 47–49

religion, 13, 69, 79, 105–108, 131

secretive nature, 14–16, 35–36, 47–49, 70, 267–268, 281

stage play of ( see Rocket Girl [play])

Webber and Shimizu assigned to, 196–197

Wikipedia page on, 187–190

worked as chemist, 23 ( see also Plum Brook Ordnance)

worked at North American Aviation

chosen to head propellant contract, 182–184, 186–187

coworkers ( see Amenhoff, Carl; Friedman, Joe; Kanarek, Irving; Meyers, Tom; Morgan, G. Richard; Huzel, Dieter; Shimizu, Toru; Webber, Bill)

first day of work, 152

last day of work, 283–292

NALAR, 154, 177, 186, 280

NAVAHO, 177, 186, 202

retires from, 36

theoretical performance specialist, 121, 153–154, 182–183, 261

worked at Plum Brook ( see Plum Brook Ordnance)

worked on family farm ( see Sherman farm)

See also hydyne; North American Aviation (NAA)

Morgan, Stephen

birth of, 36

Mary pregnant with, 285

notified of mother’s death, 11–12

occupation of, 12

part of liquid-fuel-rocket team, 280

MUPP (Mysterious Unknown Propellant Project)

Mary’s name for propellant contract, 196

Webber and Shimizu contributions to, 199–212

NAA. See North American Aviation (NAA)

NALAR

definition and design, 154

full name of, 154

Mary worked on, 177, 186, 280

similarities to author’s project, 280

NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

creation of, 213

gaps in historical record, 15

Green and Lomask book on, 253

inspired by Russian innovations, 250

Silverman, Jack, files at

author requests copy of files, 189

errors with, 189–190

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. See NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)