Pursuit of Power by Robert S. Arrighi

Author:Robert S. Arrighi
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: power, PSL, Arrighi, Propulsion, NASA, pursuit, wind tunnel
Publisher: NASA
Published: 2012-10-12T04:00:00+00:00

Image credit: NASA C–1955–38660

Image 92: The PSL, partially obscured by a cloud of steam, was located in a densely populated area of NACA’s Cleveland lab. The 8- by 6-Foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel is in the foreground, the Chemistry Lab, the PSL Operations Building, and Instrument Lab are in the background. Other nearby facilities, including the Engine Propeller Research Building and the Engine Components Research Laboratory, are not visible.

TRANSFORMATION

According to Howard Wine, Sputnik had an almost immediate effect on the PSL. “They were running the Iroquois engine…and on the night that the Sputnik went up, we were scheduled to run that again. And [the supervisor] said, ‘Hold that off. We’re going to change over and get into rocket testing.’ So we didn’t even run that night. That very night we just changed it.”10

NACA records indicate that the last run of an airbreathing engine in the PSL was on 8 March 1958, but there is little doubt that planning for a long-term study of rocket nozzles in simulated altitudes began the previous October. The newly formed Propulsion Systems Division took over most of the PSL research. The changeover from airbreathing engines to rockets in 1958 resulted in the PSL’s lowest annual usage rate to date, but that would soon change.12

NASA was officially established on 1 October 1958. NASA expanded from NACA’s handful of research laboratories to a dozen centers specializing in spaceflight. The NACA Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory became the NASA Lewis Research Center. The staff and facilities at all of the centers expanded. In addition, NASA moved into the management of large projects and the oversight of work performed by industry contractors.

After leading the center for 20 years, Ray Sharp retired in December 1960. He passed away seven months later. In October 1961 Abe Silverstein, Sharp’s trusted partner, returned from a three-year detail at NASA Headquarters to assume Sharp’s former position of Center Director.

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