Part I
Major Events Leading to Project Mercury
1944
March 16
At a National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) seminar, in Washington, D. C., with Air Force and Navy personnel attending, NACA personnel proposed a jet-propelled transonic research airplane be developed. This proposal ultimately led to the "X" series research airplane projects.[1]
December 9
A meeting was held at the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, to discuss the formation of an organization that would devote its efforts to the study of stability and maneuverability of high-speed weapons (guided missiles). From the outset, work was pointed toward supersonic flight testing. In early 1945, Congress was asked for a supplemental appropriation to fund the activation of such a unit, and in the spring of that year the Auxiliary Flight Research Station (AFRS—later known as the Pilotless Aircraft Research Division) was opened on Wallops Island, Virginia, with Robert R. Gilruth as its director. On July 4, 1945, the AFRS launched its first test vehicle, a small two-stage, solid- fuel rocket to check out the installation’s instrumentation.[2]
During the Year
Congress appropriated funds to carry out a rocket aircraft research program. The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the Air Force, and the Navy were designated participating members.[3]
1
- ↑ Eugene M. Emme, Aeronautics and Astronautics: An American Chronology of Science and Technology in the Exploration of Space: 1915-1960 (Washington: NASA HHR-8, 1961), p. 47. Hereinafter cited as Emme, Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1915-1960.
- ↑ Data supplied by Joseph A. Shortal, Chief, Applied Materials and Physics Division (formerly PARD), Langley Research Center, May 28, 1963.
- ↑ Charles V. Eppley, The Rocket Research Aircraft Program: 1946-1962 (Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.), p. 1. Hereafter cited as Eppley, Rocket Research Aircraft Program: 1946-1962.
