1. Homer E. Newell, Jr. and the Development of U.S. Space Science By John D. Ruley, Space Studies. Advisor: Dr. Paul S. Hardersen. Research Question: How did U.S. unmanned space science develop in the 1950s and 60s, and how was it related to the manned space program? Methodology: A biographical approach using the career of Dr. Homer E. Newell, first head of NASA’s unmanned science and applications program, as a lens through which to examine how these programs developed. Newell’s involvement with what became space science actually went back to 1945, when the Naval Research Lab (NRL) began flying instruments on ex- Nazi V2 missiles acquired in the U.S. Army’s Operation Paperclip. His background and education turned out to be key factors in his career – thus the project broadened into a full biography. Sources: Over 2,000 pages of original documents copied during three visits to the Washington DC area at sites including NASA headquarters (history division), National Archives II and Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Additional material included a copy of Newell’s federal personnel files from the National Personnel Records Center, document copies from the NRL library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Johnson Space Center (JSC) archives and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests were executed against the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with negative results. Secondary sources include contemporaneous newspaper, magazine and journal articles, published books by Newell and others, and oral history interviews – including one conducted in person and several others by electronic mail and / or telephone. Highlights of Newell’s Career: 1915 : He is born in March – the same month as legislation establishing a National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) the predecessor of NASA. 1929 : He becomes fascinated with astronomy. 1936 - 44 : B.A. (cum laude) and A.M.T. degrees in math from Harvard, PhD in math from the University of Wisconsin. Assistant professor of math, U. Maryland. 1944 - 45 : Special assistant to head of NRL guided missile section, which becomes sounding rocket section after war ends. 1945 - 55 : Supervises development of Viking sounding rocket to replace ex- Nazi V2. 1952 : Co-authors “Pressures, Densities and Temperatures in the Upper Atmosphere” in Physical Review. 1959 : Starts NASA’s first official program for unmanned lunar exploration – two years before President Kennedy makes a manned landing U.S. policy. 1960 : Establishes procedures for space flight experiment selection through a space science steering committee that he chairs personally until 1963. The same basic procedures are used to select NASA flight experiments today! 1961 - 63 : Assigned to head NASA’s sustaining university program (SUP), which eventually spends $100 million on training, institutional and facility grants. Among the facilities funded are two ground-based planetary observatories still in use today. 1961 – 63 : President Kennedy makes a manned lunar landing “before this decade is out” a national priority. Newell accelerates the unmanned lunar exploration program. 1964 : Ranger VII becomes the first man- made object to take close-up photos of the Moon, after six failed attempts. Newell reverses previous policy, instructing his staff that supporting the manned space program must take precedence over pure science. 1965 : “Lunar Exploration Plan” explicitly subordinates science on early missions (both manned and unmanned) to engineering objectives. Science to be featured on later Apollo Applications missions that are never flown. April 2 1958: Newell is credited as “The Sparkplug” for creation of a civilian space agency by scientists including James Van Allen and Fred Whipple, among others. (NASA History Office) 1966 : Applications Technology Satellite I is launched into geostationary orbit. It employs a new “spin-scan” technique (invented by University of Wisconsin meteorologist Vernor Soumi) to deliver a complete image of the hemisphere every 20 minutes, providing the basis for continuous analysis of weather patterns. Newell supported development of Soumi’s technique over the objections of his own staff. 1972 – 74 : Elected president of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). Earlier, he founded the Union’s planetary sciences section. 1973 - 74 : Newell retires from NASA, but serves as a consultant, among other things leading an advisory committee that recommends integrating scientists as payload specialists and mission specialists on space shuttle flights. 1975 - 78 : Newell negotiates a $30,000 per year contract for three years, an office at NASA headquarters and a full- time assistant, jointly funded by the NASA history division and office of space science to write a history of space science. Chapters are reviewed by a wide range of officials. 1980 : Newell’s last book, Beyond the Atmosphere: Early Years of Space Science. (Washington, DC: NASA SP- 4211) is published, to mixed reviews. It eventually becomes a standard reference on the subject. 1983 : Newell dies of a stroke in Alexandria, VA. He is denied a posthumous National Medal of Science because his work has been mainly administrative. The GSFC library and an asteroid are eventually named for him. Conclusions: Plans for unmanned lunar exploration predate Kennedy’s decision to land a man on the moon in the 1960s. That decision appears to have accelerated the unmanned program, but also changed its focus from scientific research to acquiring engineering data supporting the manned landings. By 1964, Newell made this clear to his staff, and by 1965 it was official NASA policy. He told an interviewer in 1972 that the overall lunar program could have been improved if the unmanned missions continued. He also pointed out that manned lunar missions were supported by unmanned spacecraft, including Pioneer deep space probes that sampled the cislunar radiation environment, weather satellites that predicted conditions in the launch and recovery areas, and communications satellites that relayed television images and flight data from the spacecraft to users on Earth. Newell’s unique background as both a government research scientist and teacher were critical to the development of space science early on – he was uniquely able to bridge the concerns of the NASA staff, dominated by engineers and managers, with those of the scientific community. This was helped by his low-key personality and willingness to let others take credit for accomplishments. Later, when he was given responsibility for NASA-wide planning, Newell was less successful. This also reflected his personality – both at NRL and in his earlier NASA career he employed tough, no-nonsense deputies who could (and did) enforce his decisions. This did not happen in his later role as associate administrator, which coincided with a low point in NASA funding. Newell’ official photo (NASA) Mauna Kea Summit, Hawaii – the second small dome from the right houses the first telescope on this site – a 2.2 meter instrument funded by Newell in 1964 over the objections of his staff to provide improved atmospheric density measurements in support of Mars probes. A 1973 Skylab ATM photo of the Sun in Ultraviolet light – Newell advocated for space science using both manned and unmanned platforms. The ATM was operated by Scientist-Astronauts, one of whom flew on each Skylab,mission (NASA Photo) December 6, 1958: Vanguard Test Vehicle 3 explodes on the launch pad. Newell was responsible for the satellite, which survived and is now in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. 1953 - 55 : Publishes High Altitude Rocket Research (NY: Academic Press), the first of his nine books. 1955 - 58 : Science coordinator for Project Vanguard, the first U.S. satellite program. 1957 : Sputnik I orbits the Earth. 1957 - 1958 : Agitates for civilian control of the space program. Meets with Vice President Nixon. Congratulated by colleagues when NASA is created. 1958 : Joins NASA as assistant director for space sciences and recruits more than 50 scientists from NRL. 1967 - 73 : Newell becomes associate administrator of NASA (3rd ranking position in the agency), but not general manager, which both of his predecessors were. His initial assignment is to develop “an orderly, routine approach to long- term planning.” 1968 : Apollo 8 circles the Moon and James E. Webb Jr. resigns as administrator of NASA. He is succeeded by Thomas O. Paine, who is not impressed by Newell’s approach to planning. 1969 : Apollo 11 lands on the Moon. 1970 - 71 : Paine assigns Werner von Braun, designer of the Saturn V moon rocket as Newell’s deputy for planning. Attempts to sell an expanded space program fail, and NASA’s budget is sharply reduced. 1971 : Newell meets with Scientist- Astronauts, who expected to fly on now- cancelled Apollo Applications missions. He recommends that at least one of them be assigned to a lunar landing, and two on each of three Skylab Earth- orbiting mission. Geologist Harrison Schmitt is eventually assigned to Apollo 17, becoming the last man (and only scientist) to set foot on the Moon, but only one scientist flies on each of the Skylab missions. Manned space exploration meets unmanned space science in 1969 when Apollo 12 lands within sight of Surveyor 3, which arrived on the Moon two years earlier (NASA Photo). The first image showing both the Earth and Moon (top of picture), taken by the ATS-1 spin-scan system in 1966. (NASA photo). Homer E. Newell, Jr. in 1937 (U. Wisconsin)