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<!DOCTYPE HTML>
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<HEAD>
<title>Chariots For Apollo, ch1-4</title>
<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
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<BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF">
<p>
<h2>The Goett Committee</h2>
<p>
On 1 April 1959, NASA Headquarters called for representatives from its
field centers to serve on a Research Steering Committee for Manned Space
Flight, headed by Harry Goett, an engineering manager at Ames who became
Director of the new Goddard center in September. Goett and nine others<a
href = "#explanation1">*</a> began their deliberations in Washington on
25 May. Milton W. Rosen, NASA Chief of Propulsion Development, led off
with a report on the national booster program. Next, representatives of
each center described the status of work and planning toward
man-in-space at their respective organizations.<a href =
"#source17">17</a><p>
Laurence K. Loftin, Jr., said that 60 percent of Langley's effort
pertained to space and reentry flight research; Maxime A. Faget, of the
Space Task Group, discussed Mercury's development. Alfred J. Eggers,
Jr., told the group what Ames was doing and then advocated that NASA's
next step be a spacecraft capable of flying two men for one week, with
enough speed to escape the earth's gravitational pull, fly to the moon,
orbit that body, and return to the earth.<p>
Bruce Lundin described propulsion and trajectory studies under way at
Lewis and warned against "setting our sights too low." As
Glennan and Dryden had done, Lundin took a broad view of space
exploration, reminding the committee that a manned lunar landing was
merely one goal, leading ultimately to manned interplanetary travel.<p>
It was apparent that NASA leaders intended to aim high. Faget, one of
the inventors of the Mercury capsule, and George Low urged manned lunar
landings as NASA's next objective. Low stressed study of ways to perform
the mission, using several of the smaller Saturns in some scheme besides
direct ascent to avoid total dependence upon the behemoth that Nova
might become. The Goett Committee then recorded its consensus on the
priority of NASA objectives:<p>
<ol>
<li>Man in space soonest - Project Mercury
<li>Ballistic probes
<li>Environmental satellite
<li>Maneuverable manned satellite
<li>Manned space flight laboratory
<li>Lunar reconnaissance satellite
<li>Lunar landing
<li>Mars-Venus reconnaissance
<li>Mars-Venus landing<a href = "#source18">18</a></ol>
<p>
The next meeting of the Goett Committee was at Ames 25–26 June. Going
into details about technical problems and their proposed solutions as
seen from different pockets of experience around the country, the
members heartily endorsed moon landing and return as NASA's major
longrange manned space flight goal. As Goett later remarked:
<blockquote><p>A primary reason for this choice was the fact that it
represented a truly end objective which was self-justifying and did not
have to be supported on the basis that it led to a subsequent more
useful end.<a href = "#source19">19</a></blockquote><p>
At this meeting, the Goett Committee members compared direct ascent with
rendezvous in earth orbit. At Low's request, John H. Disher first
reviewed the sizable activity at Huntsville. In February 1959, the
Department of Defense had announced that development of the
5,800-kilonewton (1.3-million-pound-thrust) rocket had been designated
Project Saturn. Less than six months later, Disher reported, the von
Braun group already had its sights set on a Saturn II (a three-stage
version with an 8,900-kilonewton [2 million-pound-thrust] first stage)
and rendezvous in earth orbit, even working on some modes that called
for refueling in space. Von Braun's team was also studying a Nova-class
vehicle for direct ascent.<p>
Lundin then made some disquieting comments. For direct flight to the
moon, propulsion needs were staggering. Even with cryogenic propellants
in the upper stages of the launch vehicle, the combined weight of rocket
and spacecraft would be about 4,530 to 4,983 metric tons - a formidable
size. He also noted that prospects for earth-orbital rendezvous seemed
little brighter; such a procedure (launching more than a dozen
Saturn-boosted Centaurs to form the lunar vehicle) required complex
rendezvous and assembly operations. Lundin ticked off several areas that
would need further study, regardless of which mission mode was chosen:
cryogenic storage in space, a throttleable lunar-landing engine, a
storable-propellant lunar-takeoff engine, and auxiliary power systems.<a
href = "#explanation2">**</a> <a href = "#source20">20</a> <p>
On 8 and 9 December 1959 at Langley, Goett's group met for the third
(and apparently last) time. The main discussions centered on lunar
reentry heat protection, all-the-way versus assembly-in-orbit, parachute
research, environmental radiation hazards, and the desirability of or
necessity for a manned orbiting laboratory. Most of the field center
studies were predicated on a two-man, 14-day circumlunar flight, boosted
by some sort of Saturn vehicle and protected by ablative shielding. Very
little specific thought, however, had been given to the actual lunar
landing.<a href = "#source21">21</a><p>
<p align=center>
<img src = "images/c010.jpg" width=412 height=576 ALT="Lenticle-shaped S/C">
<p>
<cite>Using a lenticle-shaped spacecraft for a reentry vehicle.</cite>
<p>
<hr>
<p>
Opinion within the committee on what NASA's next (as opposed to its
long-range) program should be had been far from unanimous, however.
Langley, which by this time had begun extensive studies of space station
concepts and related problems including rendezvous, strongly favored
earth-orbital operations.<a href = "#explanation3">***</a> Faget was
allied with Langley, because the Space Task Group was greatly concerned
about the unknowns in lunar operations, especially radiation. But Goett
and Low remained unswerving in their advocacy of lunar flight. They
insisted that the technology for flying to the moon could be applied to
near-earth missions, but not vice versa. Indeed, Low perhaps more than
any other pushed for landing rather than just circumlunar flight, but
neither the committee as a whole nor the chairman was willing to go that
far. "In fact," Low later said, "I remember Harry Goett
at one time was asked, 'When should we decide on whether or not to land
on the moon? And how will we land on the moon?' And Harry said, 'Well,
by that time I'll be retired and I won't have to worry about
it.'"<a href = "#source22">22</a><p>
Although the time had come for someone in authority to start making the
decisions that could lift the moon mission out of the realm of research
and start it on the path toward development, Glennan could not commit
the agency to any specific long-range programs, especially lunar flight.
Knowing that the President's intent to "balance the budget, come
hell or high water," would preclude anything beyond Project Mercury
just then, Glennan bided his time. Without executive approval, NASA
could only continue its studies and wait for a more propitious moment.<a
href = "#source23">23</a><p>
<hr>
<p>
<a name = "explanation1">*</a> Goett's committee consisted of Alfred
J. Eggers, Jr. (Ames), Bruce T. Lundin (Lewis), Loftin (Langley),
DeElroy E. Beeler (High Speed Flight Station), Harris M. Schurmeier
(JPL), Maxime A. Faget (Space Task Group), and George M. Low, Milton B.
Ames, Jr., and Ralph W. May, Jr., secretary (Headquarters). Ames was a
part-time member.<p>
<a name = "explanation2">**</a> Cryogenic fuels are corrosive and are
difficult to store for any length of time because of the low
temperatures required to maintain the proper state of the oxidizer - in
this case, liquid oxygen. This fuel, moreover, requires the extra
complication of an igniter to fire it. A throttleable engine is one that
can be started and stopped as needed. Storable propellants are
hypergolic fuels that ignite on contact with the oxidizer, demand no
special temperature controls, are not corrosive, and can remain in
storage indefinitely. The power systems Lundin talked about were fuel
(or solar) cells that could generate the electrical energy needed on
long flights without the weight penalties attached to the more
conventional batteries used in Mercury.<p>
<a name = "explanation3">***</a> On the instigation of E. C. Braley and
Loftin, Langley had held a conference on 10 July 1959 to study the
aspects of placing a manned space laboratory in operation. This project
was seen as a step to the eventual landing of a man on the moon in 10 to
15 years.<p>
<hr>
<p>
<a name = "source17"><b>17</b>.</a> John W. Crowley, Jr., to Ames, Lewis,
and Langley Research Centers and to High Speed Flight Station,
"Research Steering Committee on Manned Space Flight," 1 April
1959; Crowley to Jet Propulsion Laboratory, subj. as above, 8 April
1959; Ralph W. May, Jr., secy., minutes of meeting of Research Steering
Committee on Manned Space Flight, 25–26 May 1959.<p>
<p>
<a name = "source18"><b>18</b>.</a> May, minutes, Research Steering Committee,
25–26 May 1959.<p>
<p>
<a name = "source19"><b>19</b>.</a> May, minutes of meeting of Research
Steering Committee, 25–26 June 1959; Harry J. Goett to Ira H. A. Abbott,
"Interim Report on Operation of 'Research Steering Committee on
Manned Space Flight,'" 17 July 1959.<p>
<p>
<a name = "source20"><b>20</b>.</a> U.S. Army Ordnance Missile Command news
release, 12 Feb. 1959; May, minutes, Research Steering Committee, 25–26
June 1959.<p>
<p>
<a name = "source21"><b>21</b>.</a> May, minutes of meeting of Research
Steering Committee, 8–9 Dec. 1959.<p>
<p>
<a name = "source22"><b>22</b>.</a> Goett, interview, Palo Alto, Calif., 26
June 1968; George M. Low, interviews, Washington, 1 May 1964, and
Houston, 7 Feb. 1967; Beverly Z. Henry, Jr., to Assoc. Dir., Langley,
"Langley Manned Space Laboratory Effort," 5 Oct. 1959.<p>
<p>
<a name = "source23"><b>23</b>.</a> Goett and Low interviews; Dwight D.
Eisenhower to Swenson, 5 Aug. 1965.<p>
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