NASA Takes Over
NASA Takes Over
The incorporation of NACA into NASA had a massive effect on the structure and activity of LRC. However, we were not just a space agency, but an aeronautics and space agency, and so authorized to conduct all manner of basic research related both to aeronautical and space engineering. Those first few years were exciting years filled with new basic research possibilities that we attacked with energy and enthusiasm. For example, it was obvious that outer space is an extremely unfriendly environment for human existence. That fact opened the door to research into robotics. But there would have to be a way to control the robots remotely, which should lead to developments in remote control, which would also lead to advances in pilotless, remotely guided aircraft development. The concept of using a moving magnetic field to propel charged particles could be adapted to the use of such a moving field to accelerate a projectile to a higher speed than a conventional gun. A similar rail gun device could be used to launch airplanes or rockets. Magnetic levitation would make possible higher speeds for ground based vehicles by eliminating the need for wheels, whose rotational speeds are limited by centrifugal force considerations.
Those possibilities represent only a sample of the tremendous variety of projects that invited our efforts. And many of them came to fruition - but not for decades, and not as a result of NASA research. After the success of the Apollo Project, a new wave of professional managers took over NASA's research labs, and instituted a management system apparently modeled on the manufacturing industry. The agency became more project-oriented, at the expense of basic research, because a minimum of motivation was minimal for basic research, and maximal for project management. The changes in the environment, organization, reward system, etc. wrought by professional managers made basic experimental research almost impossible. However, many of those exciting concepts were taken over by the military, private industry, or other nations, where they were eventually brought to fruition - but decades later than would have been possible if NASA had kept its original research system.
However, in those first few years when we could conduct basic experimental work, we mined that fertile field of research possibilities. Having no experience in experimental work, and little experience in fluid mechanics theory, I was an unlikely candidate for making a contribution in that field. However, I jumped in anyway. When I had completed my assignment for Dr. Katzoff, he could no longer be my supervisor because he was the Assistant Division Chief, and protocol required me to be assigned to a branch. By default I was assigned to Ray Wright's branch, entitled Full Scale Analysis. That title was a kind of inside joke. The “Full Scale” resulted from the fact that the branch was included in the Full Scale Division. However, nothing that we did in that branch dealt directly with full scale airplanes. The “Analysis” resulted from the fact that all of the theoretical work done in the division was done in that branch. However, even though the branch head, Ray Wright, did no experimental work, the assistant branch head, Virgil Ritchie, did only experimental work. So I felt no qualms about asking for a chance to give it a try. The following post tells that story.
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