[NARRATOR] HI, I’M BILL BARRY, NASA’S CHIEF HISTORIAN.
WE’RE HERE IN THE NASA HEADQUARTERS HISTORICAL REFERENCE COLLECTION – A PLACE WHERE WE
MAINTAIN AN ARCHIVE OF DOCUMENTS, RECORDS, AND REFERENCE BOOKS THAT RESEARCHERS CAN USE
AND THAT WE USE TO ANSWER ALL SORTS OF QUESTIONS.
IN ADDITION TO NASA RECORDS, WE ALSO HAVE RECORDS FROM THE NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
FOR AERONAUTICS – THE NACA.
WE’VE BEEN PRETTY BUSY HERE FOR THE LAST YEAR GETTING READY TO MARK THE CENTENNIAL
OF THE CREATION OF THE NACA.
BUT THE IMPORTANCE OF THE NACA IS NOT JUST A MATTER OF OLD BOOKS AND DUSTY RECORDS – THE
STORY OF THE N-A-C-A IS ONE OF INCREDIBLY DEDICATED PEOPLE PUSHING
THE CUTTING EDGE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND DOING THAT IN NEW AND CREATIVE WAYS.
IT HAD SUCH A REVOLUTIONARY IMPACT ON OUR WORLD THAT WE HARDLY NOTICE IT THESE DAYS.
BUT, YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE GUESSED THIS FROM ITS MODEST BEGINNINGS.
WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE NAVAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT ON MARCH 3, 1915, THE NACA CAME INTO EXISTENCE.
IT’S MISSION: TO SUPERVISE AND DIRECT THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF THE PROBLEMS OF FLIGHT
WITH A VIEW TO THEIR PRACTICAL SOLUTION, AND TO DETERMINE THE PROBLEMS WHICH SHOULD BE
EXPERIMENTALLY ATTACKED, AND TO DISCUSS THEIR SOLUTION AND THEIR APPLICATION TO PRACTICAL
QUESTIONS.
ORIGINALLY THE COMMITTEE WAS JUST THAT – A 12 MEMBER GROUP APPOINTED FROM THE MILITARY
AND OTHER PARTS OF THE GOVERNMENT, AS WELL AS ACADEMIA AND INDUSTRY EXPERTS.
ALTHOUGH IT WOULD BE 2 YEARS BEFORE THE UNITED STATES JOINED THE CONFLICT, IN 1915 WAR WAS
ALREADY RAGING ACROSS EUROPE AND GROWING ON THE OCEANS.
WAR HAD ALSO MOVED INTO THE AIR…
IT WAS JUST ABOUT A DOZEN YEARS SINCE THE WRIGHT BROTHERS FIRST SUCCESSFUL FLIGHTS AT
KITTY HAWK.
BUT, MUCH TO OUR SURPRISE, THE UNITED STATES FOUND ITSELF TO BE FAR BEHIND EUROPE IN AERONAUTICS.
HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?
WELL, AFTER THE WRIGHTS DEMONSTRATED THEIR FLYER IN FRANCE IN 1908 EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS
AND INDIVIDUALS BEGAN TO INVEST MILLIONS IN AERONAUTICS RESEARCH.
BY 1912 THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT WAS SPENDING $6.4 MILLION DOLLARS ANNUALLY ON AIRCRAFT
RESEARCH AND CONSTRUCTION.
THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE WASN’T FAR BEHIND THAT YEAR AT $5 MILLION.
IN THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT SPENDING ON AVIATION IN 1912 WAS ONLY $140,000.
BY 1911 EVERY MAJOR COUNTRY IN EUROPE HAD A GOVERNMENT FUNDED AERONAUTICS LABORATORY.
AS A RESULT, BY THE START OF WORLD WAR I, EUROPE WAS FAR AHEAD IN AIRCRAFT TECHNOLOGY
AND EVEN SHEER NUMBERS OF MILITARY PLANES.
WHEN THE WAR STARTED THE FRENCH FIELDED 1,400 MILITARY AIRPLANES, GERMANY 1,000, IMPERIAL
RUSSIA 800, AND GREAT BRITAIN 400.
THE US HAD JUST 23 MILITARY AIRCRAFT.
THE UNITED STATES WAS CERTAINLY NOT AGAINST TECHNOLOGY – AFTER ALL BY DECEMBER OF 1915
HENRY FORD HAD ROLLED HIS 1 MILLIONTH CAR OFF THE ASSEMBLY LINE.
SILENT FILMS WERE ALL THE RAGE – BUT BETWEEN THE WRIGHT BROTHER’S PATENTS AND A LACK
OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST, WE LAGGED FAR BEHIND EUROPE IN AERONAUTICS – AND WOUND UP HAVING
TO USE EUROPEAN AIRCRAFT WHEN WE ENTERED THE WAR.
AT THE FIRST MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE ON APRIL 23, 1915, THEY SELECTED AN EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
TO MANAGE DAY-TO-DAY ISSUES.
CHARLES WALCOTT, SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN, WAS CHOSEN AS CHAIRMAN OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
EVEN THOUGH THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS WERE NOT PAID, THE MEAGER $5,000 BUDGET DID NOT GO
VERY FAR.
FOR THE MOST PART IT WENT TO PAY RESEARCHERS IN ACADEMIA AND OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES.
THE COMMITTEE WOULD ISSUE A RESEARCH AUTHORIZATION ON A TOPIC IT THOUGHT WAS OF INTEREST AND
OTHERS WOULD DO THE WORK.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN WALCOTT, AND A GROUP OF OTHERS, HAD MUCH GREATER HOPES.
WALCOTT MADE IT HIS BUSINESS TO PUSH FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF NACA RESEARCH FACILITIES.
IT WAS AN UPHILL STRUGGLE – WITH PRESIDENT WILSON HIMSELF OPPOSED TO IT, BUT CONGRESS
VOTED IN FAVOR OF ADDING $85,000 TO THE NACA BUDGET FOR A LABORATORY IN 1916 AND WORK ON
IT FINALLY BEGAN IN 1917.
IT WAS NAMED IN HONOR OF WALCOTT’S PREDECESSOR AS SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN, THE LANGLEY
MEMORIAL AERONAUTICAL LABORATORY AND IT ROSE SLOWLY NEAR HAMPTON, VIRGINIA.
EVENTUALLY THE NACA WOULD GROW TO A TOTAL OF 3 MAJOR LABORATORIES AND 2 MAJOR TEST FACILITIES.
JUST BEFORE WORLD WAR II AMES RESEARCH CENTER WAS BUILT IN CALIFORNIA’S BAY AREA.
THIS WAS QUICKLY FOLLOWED BY THE AIRCRAFT ENGINE RESEARCH LABORATORY IN CLEVELAND OHIO.
AFTER THE WAR, IT WAS RENAMED IN HONOR OF THE LATE NACA DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH GEORGE
LEWIS – THE LEWIS LABORATORY.
IT HAS SINCE BEEN RENAMED IN HONOR OF OHIO NATIVE JOHN GLENN.
AFTER THE WAR THE NACA ALSO ESTABLISHED A TEST FACILITY AT WALLOPS ISLAND, VIRGINIA,
AND A HIGH SPEED FLIGHT TEST FACILITY IN THE HIGH
DESERT OF CALIFORNIA – NOW KNOWN AS THE ARMSTRONG FLIGHT RESEARCH CENTER.
THESE FACILITIES, AND THE AMAZING PEOPLE WHO WORKED AT THEM, WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR MANY
BREAKTHROUGHS IN AERONAUTICS AND SPACE.
BUT FOR THE 200 HUNDRED OR SO PEOPLE THAT WORKED AT LANGLEY, the FIRST BIG BREAKTHROUGH
CAME IN THE LATE 1920S.
USING WHAT WAS THEN THE WORLD’S LARGEST WIND TUNNEL, AND ONE DESIGNED TO STUDY PROPELLERS,
NACA RESEARCHERS LED BY FRED WEICK DISCOVERED THAT WRAPPING AIRPLANE ENGINES IN A PROPERLY
SHAPED METAL COWLING NOT ONLY GREATLY REDUCED THE DRAG ON THE AIRPLANE, BUT IT ACTUALLY
IMPROVED ENGINE COOLING.
UP TO THAT POINT AIRPLANE ENGINES HAD USUALLY BEEN FULLY EXPOSED, IN THE BELIEF THAT THIS
WAS THE ONLY WAY TO KEEP THEM FROM OVERHEATING.
THIS FINDING HAD HUGE EFFECTS – INCREASING THE SPEED AND RANGE OF AIRCRAFT, AT AN EXTREMELY
SMALL COST TO MANUFACTURERS.
IN 1929 THE NACA WAS AWARDED THE FIRST OF 5 COLLIER TROPHIES – AN AWARD PRESENTED
FOR THE GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT IN AERONAUTICS EACH YEAR.
IT ALSO LED TO A SIGNFICANT BUDGET INCREASE FOR THE NACA WHICH ALLOWED IT TO BUILD MANY
MORE FACILITIES AT LANGLEY.
THE NACA IS PROBABLY BEST KNOWN FOR ITS MANY WIND TUNNELS – ONES THAT COULD SIMULATE
VARIOUS SPEEDS AND ALTITUDES AND THAT RANGED FROM SMALL MODELS TO FULL SIZE AIRPLANES.
BUT THE NACA ALSO USED TOW TANKS TO STUDY AMPHIBIOUS AND FLOAT PLANES.
THE NACA ALSO PIONEERED THE FIELD OF SYSTEMATIC FLIGHT RESEARCH.
STARTING WITH A COUPLE OF BORROWED ARMY JN-4 JENNIES, NACA TECHNICIANS DEVELOPED THE TOOLS
AND EQUIPMENT NEEDED TO TAKE PRECISE MEASUREMENTS IN THE AIR – FREEING THE RESEARCH PILOTS
FROM HAVING TO TAKE HANDWRITTEN NOTES.
THEY USED THIS EQUIPMENT TO STUDY THE PERFORMANCE OF AIRFOILS – WINGS – AND ALSO THE STRUCTURE
OF AIRPLANES, TO MAKE SURE THEY DIDN’T BREAK UP UNDER THE STRESSES OF FLIGHT.
IN ESSENCE THE VERY SHAPE OF MODERN AIRCRAFT IS A RESULT OF THE RESEARCH DONE BY THE COMMITTEE.
THE FRENCH CAUDRON G-4 WAS REPRESENTED THE PEAK OF DESIGN IN 1915 – IT WAS A PLANE
USED BY ALL OF THE ALLIES IN WORLD WAR I – INCLUDING THE UNITED STATES.
BUT IN ABOUT 2 DOZEN YEARS AIRPLANE DESIGN HAD CHANGED DRAMATICALLY – AND TO THE SHAPE
WE ALL RECOGNIZE NOW.
THE METAL TUBULAR BODY, ENGINES MOUNTED ON THE FRONT OF THE WINGS, A SINGLE WING, AND
ONE THAT IS PLACED LOW DOWN TO THE BODY.
ALL OF THESE ELEMENTS WERE TESTED AND PROVEN BY NACA RESEARCH IN THE 1920’S AND 30’S.
NACA SHARED THIS RESEARCH WITH THE WORLD AND DID ITS WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH INDUSTRY.
AS A RESULT, NACA RESEARCH WAS EMBEDDED IN THE AIRPLANE AS WE KNOW IT.
IT IS PART OF THE DNA OF THE AIRPLANE.
IN FACT, NACA DESIGNED WINGS WERE NOT ONLY ON US AIRCRAFT DURING WORLD WAR II, BUT ON
ALLIED AIRCRAFT LIKE THE BRITISH SPITFIRE, AND EVEN ENEMY AIRCRAFT LIKE THE GERMAN FOCKE
WULF 190.
IN ADDITION TO INNOVATIONS IN AIRCRAFT AND RESEARCH, THE NACA ALSO BEGAN TO TRY NEW THINGS
WITH ITS STAFF PRIOR TO WORLD WAR II.
IN THE MID-1930S THE NACA HIRED COMPUTERS TO DEAL WITH THE HUGE FLOW OF DATA COMING
FROM ALL OF THE WIND TUNNELS AND FLIGHT RESEARCH.
THESE WEREN’T COMPUTERS LIKE WE THINK OF THEM – THEY WERE WOMEN.
INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, AS LABOR SHORTAGES GREW DURING THE WAR, THE NACA ALSO REACHED ACROSS
THE RACIAL BARRIER AND HIRED AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN TO SERVE AS COMPUTUERS.
WHILE THIS WAS A SMALL STEP, IT REPRESENTED A MAJOR SHIFT WITH REPERCUSSIONS THAT WOULD
ECHO LONG AFTER.
WORLD WAR II CHANGED LOTS OF THINGS – INCLUDING THE PACE OF WORK AT THE NACA, AND THE KIND
OF WORK BEING DONE AS WELL.
VIRTUALLY EVERY AIRCRAFT FLOWN BY THE UNITED STATES IN THE WAR WAS TESTED AND IMPROVED
IN THE WIND TUNNELS AT LANGLEY AND AMES.
ENGINE PERFORMANCE AND RELIABILITY WAS ALSO RAISED TO NEW LEVELS BY WORK IN CLEVELAND
AT WHAT IS NOW GLENN RESEARCH CENTER.
THE CUMULATIVE EFFECT OF THIS WORK HAD A HUGE IMPACT ON THE COURSE OF WORLD WAR II AND GAVE
THE ALLIES AN IMPORTANT MARGIN IN ENSURING VICTORY IN THE AIR.
AFTER THE CONCLUSION OF TWO WORLD WARS THE JET AGE ARRIVED AND NACA WAS AT THE CUTTING
EDGE OF THIS TECHNOLOGY WITH FLIGHT TEST, IMPROVEMENTS AND DEVELOPMENT.
THE NACA ESTABLISHED A NEW TYPE OF PARTNERSHIP WITH THE AIR FORCE AND BELL AIRCRAFT TO BUILD
A RESEARCH CRAFT AIMED AT ACHIEVING SUPERSONIC FLIGHT.
IN 1947, AIR FORCE PILOT CHUCK YEAGER WOULD BE THE FIRST PERSON TO FLY SUPERSONIC IN THE
BELL X-1.
THIS WORK WON THE NACA (ALONG WITH THE AIR FORCE AND BELL) ITS THIRD COLLIER TROPHY IN
1947.
WITH WIND TUNNELS NOT YET ABLE TO OPERATE RELIABLY AT SUPERSONIC SPEEDS, FLIGHT TEST
BECAME A CRITICALLY IMPORTANT TOOL.
THE NACA, OFTEN IN COLLABORATION WITH THE MILITARY SERVICES AND INDUSTRY BUILT A SERIES
OF EXPERIMENTAL OR “X” PLANES TO FURTHER PUSH THE BOUNDARIES.
THE BEST AND BRIGHTEST WERE TACKLING THESE PROBLEMS AND MOVING FORWARDS TOWARDS CONQUERING
THE HURDLES OF HIGH SPEED FLIGHT.
BUT OTHER NACA RESEARCHERS WERE TURNING THEIR MINDS TO THE EDGE OF SPACE AND BEYOND.
EVEN IN THE LATE 1940S, THE NACA WAS BECOMING A SPACE AGENCY…
ONE OF THE MOST CRITICAL BREAKTHROUGHS IN THAT SPACE RESEARCH WAS MADE BY HARVEY ALLEN.
ONE OF THE LANGLEY CADRE THAT HAD HELPED SET UP AMES RESEARCH CENTER IN 1940, ALLEN WAS
CHIEF OF THE HIGH SPEED RESEARCH DIVISION AT AMES BY 1945.
IN THE SUMMER OF 1952, HE DEVELOPED THE BLUNT BODY CONCEPT.
IT HAD LONG BEEN ASSUMED THAT RE-ENTERING SPACECRAFT WOULD BE POINTED, LIKE ARTILLERY
SHELLS.
OR LIKE BUCK ROGERS SPACECRAFT OF THE 1930S.
BUT, EARLY EXPERIMENTS WITH DESIGNS OF THIS SORT PROVED DISASTROUS, AS
RE-ENTRY VEHICLES WERE UNABLE TO SURVIVE THE INTENSE HEAT.
IN ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE COUNTERINTUITIVE NACA INSIGHTS, ALLEN PROPOSED THAT A BLUNT SHAPE
WOULD SET UP A SHOCK WAVE AHEAD OF ITSELF AND THEREFORE KEEP THE HEAT FROM REACHING
THE VEHICLE INSTEAD IT WOULD BE DISSIPATED ON THE SHOCKWAVE .
HIS 1952 PAPER ON THIS PROVED QUITE CONTROVERSIAL, BUT SINCE THE MILITARY WAS ALSO INTERESTED
IN THIS QUESTION FOR BUILDING NUCLEAR MISSILE WARHEADS THE WORK WAS CLASSIFIED AND NOT WELL
KNOWN UNTIL THE LATE 1950S.
NONETHELESS, ALLEN AND HIS TEAM PROVED HIS THEORIES IN THE WIND TUNNELS AT AMES AND,
IN THE PROCESS, DEFINED THE SHAPE OF ALL SPACECRAFT THAT FOLLOWED.
ALLEN’S BLUNT BODY WORK WAS NOT ONLY OBVIOUS IN THE SPACE CAPSULES OF THE 1960S, BUT WAS
ALSO INCORPORATED INTO THE X-15, VARIOUS LIFTING BODIES, THE SPACE SHUTTLE AND TODAY WITH COMMERCIAL
CREW VEHICLE DESIGNS OF THE CST-100 AND DRAGON CAPSULES AND THE FUTURE CAPSULE FOR DEEP SPACE
EXPLORATION NASA’S ORION.
BETWEEN IT’S CREATION IN 1915 AND ITS RE-CREATION AS NASA IN 1958, THE NACA’S SYSTEMATIC APPROACH
TO “THE PROBLEMS OF FLIGHT” MADE FUNDAMENTAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE WORLDWIDE DEVELOPMENT
OF AERONAUTICS AND BEYOND.
[DRYDEN] “THE NACA IS IN THE PROCESS OF GREAT CHANGE.
AS YOU KNOW, THE FINAL DECISIONS ARE BEING MADE BY THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES OF OUR CHOSEN
FORM OF GOVERNMENT THAT WILL RESULT IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A NEW AGENCY, THE NATIONAL
AERONAUTICS AND SPACE AGENCY, BUILT AROUND THE PRESENT NACA WITH RESPONSIBILITIES FOR
THE NON-MILITARY ASPECTS OF SPACE ACTIVITIES.”
[NARRATOR]
THE CULTURE THAT IS THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION IS BUILT UPON THE
TENACITY AND EXPERTISE OF THOSE THAT TRANSITIONED FROM NACA TO NASA IN 1958.
IT’S A PART OF THE DRIVE BEHIND EVERYONE WITH A PASSION FOR SPACE TRAVEL AND MODERN
FLIGHT.
DURING THE 50’S AND 60’S AERONAUTICS ENGINEERS TRANSITIONED INTO SPACE FLIGHT DIRECTORS.
WIND TUNNELS ONCE USED FOR AIRCRAFT TEST NOW WERE BEING USED TO TEST BOTH ROCKETS AND AIRCRAFT.
CENTERS OF AVIATION NOW BUILT, DESIGNED AND TESTED SPACE CRAFT.
CLOSE: IN LESS THAN 70 YEARS WE AS A NATION AND A
WORLD HAD GONE FROM A FLEDGLING MOTORIZED FLIGHT ON A SAND DUNE IN NORTH CAROLINA , TO
SUPER SONIC FLIGHT ABOVE CALIFORNIA’S MOJAVE DESERT TO WALKING OUT OF A SPACECRAFT ONTO
THE LUNAR SURFACE, THESE ACCOMPLISHMENT AND MANY MORE REST VERY SQUARELY ON THE SHOULDERS
OF THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTICS.
NASA WAS FOUNDED IN OCTOBER OF 1958 BUT IT WAS BORN ON THE THIRD OF MARCH 1915
THIS LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE CONTINUES IN NASA WHERE NOT ONLY ARE WE ON A JOURNEY TO MARS
BUILDING ON THE LEGACY OF NACA ENGINEERS BUT WE CONTINUE TO PUSH THE BOUNDARIES OF PERFORMANCE
AND EFFICIENCY IN THE AIR - NASA’S WITH YOU WHEN YOU FLY.
[GLENNAN]
BUT NOW WE HAVE COME TO A NEW DAY.
NACA IS TO BECOME PART OF A NEW AGENCY, THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION.
BUT, AND THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT BOTH TO YOU AND TO ME AS INDIVIDUALS AND TO THE
SUCCESS OF OUR MISSION.
NASA MUST BE LIKE NACA IN THE QUALITIES OF STRENGTH AND CHARACTER THAT MAKE AN ORGANIZATION
GREAT
[KENNEDY] WE CHOOSE TO GO TO THE MOON IN THIS DECADE
AND DO THE OTHER THINGS.
NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE EASY BUT BECAUSE THEY ARE HARD.
[ARMSTRONG] TRANQUILITY BASE HERE, THE EAGLE HAS LANDED.
THIS IS A LEGACY; THIS IS A HISTORY WELL WORTH CELEBRATING.