Book & Author
Manfred "Dutch" von Ehrenfried : The Birth of NASA —The Work of the Space Task Group —America’s First True Space Pioneers
By Dr Ahmed S. Khan
Chicago, IL
“Science at NASA is all about exploring the endless frontier of the Earth and space…Our country invests a tiny fraction of 1 percent in NASA, and this is what's so amazing to me, is with that small investment, we do so much for the country.”
After the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik — the world’s first man-made satellite — on October 4, 1957, the United States responded with the creation of a new agency to manage its civilian space program. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was established in 1958 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act into law on July 29, 1958. To head the new organization, President Eisenhower nominated T. Keith Glennan as administrator and Hugh L. Dryden as deputy administrator. After confirmation by the Senate, they were sworn in on August 19, 1958.
NASA’s very first act was to establish the Space Task Group (STG) with the objective of launching the first Americans into space. During the past 65 years NASA has pioneered new fields of aeronautics, earth and space science and successfully completed dozens of space exploration missions. In the 1960s, NASA worked towards carrying out President Kennedy’s visionary challenge: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.” Today, NASA is an engine of technological innovation and a global leader in space exploration.
The Birth of NASA —The Work of the Space Task Group —America’s First True Space Pioneers (2015) by Manfred "Dutch" von Ehrenfried chronicles the establishment and evolution of NASA during last five decades, and narrates the story of the men and women who became America's first true space pioneers after the launch of Sputnik. The author narrates how the Space Task Group (STG) was created, managed, and flew Project Mercury and how America became a space exploring nation. To implement the space program, Robert R. Gilruth established the Space Task Group (STG) at Langley Field, Virginia, where Max Faget, Charles Mathews, and James Chamberlin served as the first three division chiefs.
Manfred "Dutch" von Ehrenfried II had the extremely good fortune to have worked at NASA for a number of space missions. For Mercury, Gemini 4-7 Apollo 7 and 8 and Skylab projects the author worked in the areas of mission rules, countdowns, operational procedures, and coordination with remote tracking station flight controllers. He also worked in the nuclear industry for seven years and on the Space Station Program for ten years. He has written several books about his experiences at NASA.
The author was a young member of the STG training as a flight controller in the Mercury Control Center. He has contacted his former colleagues —many of them in their eighties and nineties — and several NASA historians, and researched a plethora of reference books to narrate the story of the STG —America's first true space pioneers.
The author has skillfully juxtaposed history and technical details of various themes and space missions: Sputnik reaction (The President, The National Security Council, The Congress, The Department of Defense and Other Agencies), Creation of the Space Task Group (The Lewis Contribution, The Goddard Contribution, The Ames Contribution, Wallops Island Contribution, The High Speed Flight Station's Contribution, White Sands Missile Range Contribution, The Arnold Engineering Contribution), Marshall Space Flight Center, STG Organization (The Directive, Staff Offices, Flight Systems Division, Operations Division, Engineering and Contracts Division, STG Contractors, STG hiring), Project Mercury (Control Center Contractors, Need for more people, Langley Support, Key Project Mercury Decisions and Lessons Learned: Management, Engineering, Operations, Scientific, Medical), Mission Designs and Concepts, and the Impact of NASA and STG on history. In seven appendices, the author has documented very useful information: STG Organization lists, charts and manning, Biographies of key NASA people, STG Technology, some historic photos, quotes about NASA, and stories and trivia.
Reflecting on the dedicating of the book to NASA people, the author observes: “When I first started this book, I wanted to dedicate it to the approximately 750 people who were at the Space Task Group (STG) at the Langley Research Center between 1958 and 1961, many of whom then stayed into 1962. I also wanted to include the small group at the NACA NASA Headquarters who met at the Dolley Madison House to kindle the sparks of a new spaceflight organization and program. These were the people that I thought of as America's first true space pioneers. But then I realized that hundreds of Langley Research Center scientists, engineers, technicians, tradesmen, secretaries, clerks, and others had also been working hard to support the STG without formally being part of the STG organization. I also realized that many of the men and women's families were also heavily involved. Everyone supporting Project Mercury worked very long hours and took the work home to the dinner table and often burned the ‘midnight oil.’”
Continuing with dedication, the author further states: “Then I also realized that the entire Hampton, Virginia community and surrounding towns and villages were involved as well. They provided the food, the cars, the gasoline, the schools, the shops, and the entire infrastructure to support those working at Langley Field to establish a new space program. Then there were hundreds of contractors across the Nation supporting the project and, later, thousands of civilian and military people providing launch and recovery support. Also, there were people all around the world at tracking stations and in other support roles. How can I dedicate the book to only 750 people?”
In the preface, commenting on the role of early pioneers, the author notes: “This book should have been written about half a century earlier! For such a great period in space history, more can be said about the personal contributions and stories of the early space pioneers who scrambled after the surprise of Sputnik to start the American space program. While I knew many of the people in the Space Task Group (STG) at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, there are hundreds I didn't know. Even then, as a young man, I had little knowledge of their backgrounds and experiences. I was what they now call a ‘newbie.’ In those more formal days of the 1950s and early 1960s, we might be addressed as ‘young man.’ There were many of us in our twenties. Our managers were, for the most part, in their late twenties to middle thirties.”
Describing the objective of the book, in the preface the author states: “the intent for this book is to capture as much as possible, the roles of America's first true space pioneers. Most are now in their twilight years. Many of those that feature in the history books are long gone, having taken the ultimate spaceflight. So, the intent of this book is to chronicle as much as possible the Space Task Group's contributions to history; if not for the participants themselves then for their children and grandchildren. Lago Vista, TX, USA Manfred "Dutch" von Ehrenfried Winter of 2015.”
Expounding on various issues faced by President Eisenhower leading to the launch of Sputnik, the author notes: “President Dwight Eisenhower was dealing with a lot of major issues even prior to the events of October 4, 1957. This was the period of the Hungarian Uprising, the Suez Crisis, the McCarthy ‘witch hunts,’ schoolchildren practicing ‘Duck & Cover’ air raid drills, and the riots in Little Rock Central High School. For us, nowadays, to judge Eisenhower's response to Sputnik, I think it is important that the reader have a good understanding of his position at the time, and in particular what his advisors were telling him. This will facilitate an appreciation of why first NASA and then the STG were created.”
The author has included the text of a press conference where journalists asked President Eisenhower lots of tough questions regarding why America lagged behind Russia in launching of satellite. In response to the question: “Mr President, do you think our scientists made a mistake in not recognizing that we were, in effect, with Russia — in a race with Russia in launching this satellite, and not asking you for top priority and more money to speed up the program?” President Eisenhower said: “Well, no I don't, because as — even yet, let's remember this: The value of that satellite around the Earth, going around the Earth, is still problematical, and you must remember the evolution that our people went through and the evolution that the others went through. From 1945, when the Russians captured all of the German scientists in Peenemunde, which was their great laboratory and experimental grounds for the production of the ballistic missiles they used in WWII, they have centered their attention on the ballistic missile. Originally, our people seemed to be more interested in the aerodynamic missile, and we have a history of – going back for quite a ways – in modest research in the intercontinental ballistic missile, but until there were very great developments in the atomic bomb, it did not look profitable and economical to pursue that course very much, and our people did not go into it very earnestly until somewhere along about 1953, I think. Now, so far as this satellite itself is concerned, if we were doing it for science and not for security, which we were doing, I don't know of any reasons why the scientists should have come in and urged that we do this before anybody else could. Now, quite naturally, you will say, ‘Well, the Soviets gained a great psychological advantage throughout the world,’ and I think in the political sense that is possibly true. But in the scientific sense it is not true, except for the proof of the one thing, that they have got the propellants and the projectors that will put these things in the air.”
Reflecting on the objectives and guidelines of project Mercury, the author notes: “From the inception of project Mercury to its declared conclusion with the launch on May 15, 1963, of Gordon Cooper's MA-9 was barely 4 years and 8 months! There were only three project objectives: To place a manned spacecraft in orbital flight around the Earth, to investigate man's performance capabilities and his ability to function in the environment of space, to recover the man and spacecraft safely. There were only four guidelines to achieve those three straightforward objectives: Existing technology and off-the-shelf equipment should be used wherever practical; the simplest and most reliable approach to system design would be followed; an existing launch vehicle would place the spacecraft into orbit; a progressive and logical test program would be employed.”
Today, many space probes — designed with the technology of the 1970s and 1980s — are still exploring deep space and sending signals back to earth. Commenting on how human drive to explore has changed the world, the author states: “The writing of this book was essentially completed in October 2015, exactly 57 years after the start of the American space program in 1958. In that time, there have been several generations of launch vehicles and spacecraft. We've been to the Moon, but it has been over 40 years since humans have been that far into space. And the Moon isn't really all that far away. Humans are driven to explore; it is our nature. The spinoff from that urge to explore has changed the world. Always remember, it was the NASA STG that paved the way for the American space program. So, where are we going now?”
Expounding on the future and predicting NASA’s mission to Mars, the author observes: “Depending on when that mission decision is undertaken, it may be possible for the mission to occur by 2028. I also predict that the first manned landing on either Phobos or Mars will occur on or about March 30, 2036! That of course is just my dream to have the landing on my 100th birthday. When you consider this nation's great debt and the fact that 66% of our GDP goes to pay off this debt and the out-of-control entitlement programs, with defense consuming another 17%, there is precious little left for all the other programs, let alone space exploration. Perhaps 2050 or later is a more realistic date for a Mars mission.”
Commenting on NASA’s Technology Transfer for public benefit, the author states: “As technology spinoffs emerged in the Apollo era NASA started to send reports to Congress to demonstrate the results of its Industrial Applications Program. It followed up with its annual Spinoff publication. Today, Technology Transfer is a major NASA effort at Headquarters and at each of its field centers. It covers the following areas: Health and Medicine, Transportation, Public Safety, Consumer Goods, Energy and Environment, Information Technology, and Industrial Productivity…. Even the spinoffs from the current Mars rovers have resulted in software imaging technology that can detect heart disease earlier than was previously feasible. One trip to a hospital emergency room will open your eyes to space age spinoffs. There are books elaborating thousands of spinoffs. NASA is tapping into the imagination of American youth to see what they envisage for the world by sponsoring essay contests.”
Describing America's national pride for NASA’s space exploration, the author notes: “Why do a million people crowd the roads to Cape Canaveral to see a rocket launch? Why do a million people watch astronauts parade down New York's Canyon of Heroes? Although there may be some who do so on the off-chance of seeing a rocket blow up, most are there to join in the celebration of a human being going into space. They celebrate because they are proud of the astronaut, the team, and their country. Why do people remember where they were and who they were with when Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the Moon? For sure American pride is part of the celebration. Americans, Russians, Chinese, and Europeans all have an emotional attachment to their astronauts, cosmonauts, taikonauts and spationauts; it's a matter of national pride. The success of a ‘ticker-tape’ parade in New York is officially measured by the Department of Sanitation that has to clean up the mess. John Glenn's parade generated 3,474 tons of paper, making it the largest parade cleanup since V-J Day.”
Reflecting on the impact of NASA and STG on history, the author observes: “NASA set up an organization called the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) to develop the crosscutting, pioneering, new technologies and capabilities required to achieve its current and future missions. This work takes place in all the NASA centers, academia, industry, and both US and international partnerships. The program seeks to identify and rapidly mature innovative and high impact capabilities and technologies…The world population in 1958 was about 2.8 billion people. One estimate by the United Nations for 2050 is 9.3 billion. That's a lot of people to feed, clothe and shelter. But the space age technology spinoff is helping farmers to be more productive even today.” The author concludes the discussion by stating: “In summary, there is no question that Project Mercury had a positive and long lasting impact on American society that has been felt for generations. While the Atlas and the Mercury capsule are primitive by today's standards, one could think of them as the Model T's. And although the STG people who started it all are now old or gone, they have inspired at least two generations of space workers. Hopefully, the spark of imagination for youngsters will keep the space program going; be it manned or unmanned spaceflight. I fear that I will never live to see humans walking on Mars, but you might!”
The Birth of NASA — The Work of the Space Task Group — America's First True Space Pioneers by Manfred "Dutch" von Ehrenfried chronicles the accomplishments of NASA, established in response to the launch of Sputnik. The author has done a wonderful job of researching and documenting details of NASA’s development and its various space missions. The book is an essential reading for all technical and non-technical minds interested in discovering the history of NASA’s evolution and its past, present and future space exploration ventures.
(Dr Ahmed S. Khan — dr.a.s.khan@ieee.org — is a Fulbright Specialist Scholar)
