George Morgan - Rocket Girl

Sputnik 2

America’s reputation tarnished by, 12

SSFL. See Santa Susanna Field Laboratory (SSFL)

Stalin, Joseph

obsessed with the ICBM, 253

puts captured German rocket scientists to work, 149

sends Sergei Korolev to the gulags, 69, 157

succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev, 203

von Braun and colleagues avoid capture, 158

Stuhlinger, Ernst

brings bad news on Redstone, 171–172

von Braun team member, 171

Sutton, George

Mary recommends his book, 202–203

TACIT (Theatre Arts at the California Institute of Technology)

Brian Brophy hired to lead, 206

full name of, 45

letter from, 45

loses theater director, 46

produces Rocket Girl at Caltech, 46–47, 207, 298

Shirley Marneus director of, 45

Theatre Arts at the California Institute of Technology. See TACIT (Theatre Arts at the California Institute of Technology)

Tormey, John

North American Aviation manager, 205

Tom Meyers’s supervisor, 205

Toumey, George

drinks the rocket fuel, 238–239

fired by Joe Friedman, 240

Tyuratam Rocket Base

geographical location, 149

Khrushchev visits, 204

living conditions, 155–156

Sputnik launched from, 250–251

UDMH. See Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine (UDMH)

Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine (UDMH)

abbreviated as UDMH, 207–209

combined with diethylene triamine, 215, 217, 227

considered as Redstone propellant, 207, 211, 214, 215

Robert Kraemer book mentions, 189–190

V-2 rocket

comparisons with Redstone, 277

components moved to Mittelwerk, 117

John Galione discovers hiding place of, 124–125

Peenemünde, 118

propellant combination of, 163

specific impulse of, 173

Russian share of booty, 158

shipping problems, 148

tests at White Sands, 148

Vanguard rocket

failures of, 168, 255

General Medaris discusses, 210

Green and Lomask book on, 253

launch explosion, 255

politics of, 210

von Braun’s opinion of, 254

Vietinghoff, Bill

arranges Santa Susanna Field Laboratory tour, 298

quoted, 221

recommends book by Robert Kraemer, 189

works on hydyne instability, 264

Vincentini, Ksenia

marriage to Sergei Korolev, 157

von Braun, Magnus

sent by von Braun to find Allied troops, 129

younger brother of von Braun, 129

von Braun, Wernher

Alpine Redoubt hideout, 126–127

arranges hiding of V-2 parts, 121

Cape Canaveral, 210, 213

demonstrates rockets for Hitler, 68–69

discusses ICBMs, 145–146

Fort Bliss, 146–147, 169

friend of Willy Ley, 43

held as bargaining chip, 126–127

meets General Kammler, 118, 120

picked up by SS, 117–118

public figure, 15, 148, 158, 167–169, 203, 213, 273, 276, 279

quoted, 25, 185

Raketenflugplatz, 27

receives funding from German military, 44

seeks out US Army, 129

Voskresenskiy, Leonid

celebrates R-7 success, 211

plugged LOX leak with urine, 208

Webber, Bill

assists Mary, 196–213

CHNOF paper coauthor, 187

dialogue of, 295

favorite colleague, 298

interviews with, 35–37, 296

Kanarek’s firing, 303n4

Kindelberger’s “5 percent rule,” 308n17

Mary’s last day, 285

naming of new propellant, 218

newly hired, 196–198

not related to Monica Weber, 268

Santa Susana Field Laboratory

condor interrupts test, 288

firing sequence, 306n2, 306n12

visitation policy, 306n7

saves George Toumey, 238, 239

Silverman claim, 188, 189

Weber, Monica (Morgan)

assists with interviews, 297–298

e-mails regarding Ruth Fichter, 268

informed of mother’s death, 12

mother’s OCD, 36, 37

moved to Oregon, 36

photos of mother, 49

Wengler, Amy. See Sherman, Amy

White Sands Proving Grounds

Germans worked at, 147–149

Huzel, Dieter, 302n6

North American Aviation receives visitor from, 178

V-2’s shipped from Germany, 125

Published 2013 by Prometheus Books

Rocket Girl: The Story of Mary Sherman Morgan, America’s First Female Rocket Scientist . Copyright © 2013 by George D. Morgan. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or conveyed via the Internet or a website without prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Prometheus Books recognizes the following trademarks, registered trademarks, and service marks mentioned within the text: Apple®, Boeing™, Boy Scouts of America®, Chevrolet®, Chrysler®, Coca-Cola®, Craigslist®, Facebook®, Ford®, Formica®, Gallup SM, Harley-Davidson®, iCloud®, IMDb®, Jeep®, John Deere®, Kodak®, Lifetime®, Lucky®, Mercedes®, Mustang®, Pratt & Whitney®, Rocketdyne®, Trivial Pursuit®, Volkswagen®, Volkswagen Bug®.

The Internet addresses listed in the text were accurate at the time of publication. The inclusion of a website does not indicate an endorsement by the author or by Prometheus Books, and Prometheus Books does not guarantee the accuracy of the information presented at these sites.

Cover design by Nicole Sommer-Lecht

Cover photo of Mary Sherman Morgan courtesy of G. Richard Morgan

Cover image of the Redstone/Jupiter C rocket with Explorer 1 satellite courtesy of NASA

Inquiries should be addressed to

Prometheus Books

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Morgan, George D.

Rocket girl : the story of Mary Sherman Morgan, America’s first female rocket scientist / George D. Morgan.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-61614-739-6 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-1-61614-740-2 (ebook)

1. Morgan, Mary Sherman, 1921-2004. 2. Rocketry—United States—Biography. 3. Women scientists—United States—Biography. 4. Rocketry— United States—History—20th century. I. Title.

TL781.85.M67M67 2013

509.2—dc23

[B]

2013010090

Printed in the United States of America

Robert S. Kraemer, Rocketdyne: Powering Humans into Space (Reston, VA: AIAA, 2005). Quote is from the liner notes.

Walter Unterberg, interview with the author, August 10, 2004.

First quoted by H. G. Wells, made famous by President Woodrow Wilson. Wikipedia , s.v. “The War to End War,” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_war_to_end_all_wars.

Bob Ward, Dr. Space: The Life of Wernher von Braun (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2005), p. 12.

Michael J. Neufeld, Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War (New York: Vintage Books, 2007), p. 47.

Erik Bergaust, Wernher von Braun (New York: Cobb/Dunlop, 1976), p. 40.

Mary’s 1974 employment application, courtesy of G. Richard Morgan.

Michael J. Neufeld, Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War (New York: Vintage Books, 2007), p. 70.