How It Works - UK (2020-05)

D

uetoherhumilit yandthetop-secret

natureofherwork,Mar y’s

accomplishmentsonlycametolight

whenherson,George,wastoldherobituar y

couldnotbeverified.Hemadeit hismissionto

publicisewhatshehadmadepossible,

highlightingherroleasthesav iouroftheUSin

itsspace-faringstruggles.

Bornonherfamily’sfarmin

Ray,NorthDakota,Mar ywas

keptoutofschoolsoshecould

helpherfatherwithfarmwork.

Theauthoritiessoon

inter vened,andshewassentto

attendthesmall-town

schoolhouse.Beinga fewyears

behinddidn’tholdherback,

andbythetimeshegraduated

highschool,sherepresented

herclassasvaledictorian.

Awareofherintelligence,sheranawayfromRay

toattendMinotStateUniversit yasa chemistr y

major,whereherskillwasev ident.

TheoutbreakofWorldWarIIresultedina

nationalshortageofchemistsandscientists.In

spiteofthefactshewasstilla student– anda

woman– duetohertalentsshewasoffereda job

asa chemicalanalystwithPlumBrookOrdnance

Works,producingexplosivesforthewartime

effort.Sheputherdegreeonholdandmovedto

Ohio,takingonthedangerousjobofanalysing

volatilechemicalstoproduceweaponr y.

A fterthewarendedtherewasa fallin

demandforexplosives,soshemadea moveto

thefieldofaeronautics,movingtoCaliforniato

workforNA A(NorthA mericanAv iation).The

onlywomanoutof 900 engineers,shewassoon

promotedtoa rolewhichinvolvedcalculating

theperformanceofrocketpropellantsand

designingspecialt yfuelstoworkwithdifferent

engines.However,havingneverreturnedto

completeherdegree,shewasnotaffordedthe

rankorhigherpayofanengineer,eventhough

sheboastedalltheskillsandknowledgeofone.

Herexperiencewithpropellantsmeantthat

whenNA Awastaskedwithsolv ingproblems

withrocketfuel,Morganwasappointed

technicalleadontheproject.

Sheneededtofinda fuel

capableofliftingredesigned

Redstonerocketsintospace.

Nationalpridewasonthe

line,soMorgansetabout

investigatingfuels,finding

severalinsufficientor

incompatiblebeforefinally

designingherownmixture,

whichwasnamedHydyne.

Hydynetestedwellwith

Redstonemissiles,andsubsequentlyJupiter-C

rockets,prov ingtobea quicksolutiontogetto

spacewithouta totalrocketredesign.Thefuel

madethefirstsuccessfulUSsatellitelaunch

possible,evenif Morgansilentlyslippedaway

fromhersuccess,retiringtofocusonherfamily,

leav ingherchemistr ycareerbehind.

Mary Sherman

Morgan

Discover how the first female rocketscientistsecretly

influenced the international SpaceRace

1947

Maryappliedfora jobwithNorthAmericanAviation.

Shewasshortlypromotedtotheoreticalperformance

specialist,workingwithrocketpropellants.

1955

Mary,pregnantwiththeirsecondchild,

announcedherretirementfromNAAto

focusonherfamily.

1 February 1958

Explorer1 is launchedonJunoI,

derivedfromtheJupiter-Crocket,

onlypossiblebecauseofHydyne.

29 July 1951

MarymarriedRichardMorgan,a co-worker

andmechanicalengineeringgraduatefrom

theCaliforniaInstituteofTechnology.

1956

ThefirstHydyne-powered

researchanddevelopment

testingofRedstonerockets

2004

Mary,a smokerthroughout

herlife,diedofemphysema

on4 August2004.

WiththelaunchofSputnikin1957,theUS

wasincrisis.It neededtolauncha

satelliteintospace,buthadnofuel

powerfulenoughtolaunchtheheavy

Redstone-derivedrocket,andtheneedfor

morefuelwouldonlyincreasethisweight.

WithWernhervonBraunandothertop

engineersunabletofinda solution,the

problemwasoutsourcedtoNorth

AmericanAviation’sRocketdyneDivision.

Morganwasnamedtechnicalleadonthe

projectduetoherexpertise,andherwork

resultedina newpropellant,Hydyne.

60 percentunsymmetrical

dimethylhydrazineand 40 percent

diethylenetriamine,Hydyneprovidedthe

boostneededfortheUStogetoffthe

ground,puttingExplorer1 intoorbitand

thecountrybackonevenfootinginthe

SpaceRace.

Explorer1 wasthefirstspacecrafttodetectthe

VanAllenradiationbeltaroundtheEarth

How her

Hydyne fu

saved the US in

the Space Race

uel

US in

THE BIG

IDEA

FIVE LEGENDS ABOUT...

MARY SHERMAN MORGAN

http://www.howitworksdaily.com HowIt Works 075

1

Helping

horse

Marywassupposedly

givena horsetohelp

hermakethejourney

toschoolasa child

afterherparents

weretoldshehadto

startattending.

3

Bagel

andLOX

Morgansuggested

thenamebagelfor

herfuel,a playon

liquidoxygenanda

brinedsalmoncalled

Lox,whichwaspaired

withbagels.

2

Firstchild

In 1943shefell

pregnantoutof

wedlock,seenas

shamefulin the1940s.

Shegavethechildup

tohercousinMary

Hibbardandher

husbandIrving.

4

Credit

checker

Hydynehasbeen

falselycreditedto

Morgan’ssupervisorat

NorthAmerican

Aviation,Jack

Silverman,andalso

IrvingKanarek.

5

Bestat

bridge

Afterherretirement

Morganplayedthe

cardgamebridge

often,winningseveral

tournaments.She

wouldplayherself

obsessivelyathome.

“She needed to

find a fuel

capable of lifting

the redesigned

Redstone

rockets into

space, andsoon”

s.

g

HowIt Works 07

©NASA

Words by Nikole Robinson