We’ve always heard that CSA began in 1964 with the growing need for cryogenics in the burgeoning Space Age. We decided to take a look at the unfolding of this phenomenon in the pages of Cryogenic Technology, “the Journal of the Cryogenic Society of America,” Volume 1, 1964-1965.
These early publications carried ads for such companies as North American Philips Company, Inc., whose ad showed a contrail ascending upward, and Sulfrian Cryogenics, Inc., whose ad showed dewars and other equipment floating in space.
As early as Volume 1, Number 3, March-April 1965, articles were published with these space-related topics:
- “Use of cryogenics in new missile and rocket propellant testing,” by CSA founders Dr. N. Tiner and Dr. W. English, of the Astropower Laboratory, Missile and Space Systems Division, Douglas Aircraft Company.
- “Measuring flow of cryogenic fluids in a liquid rocket system (for Titan I rocket),” by J. Bell, Jr., Chrysler Corporation, Space Division. (Bell wrote several more articles on similar topics for the journal.)
- “Propellant systems at Mississippi test operations,” by A. Manassero, West Coast consultant for NASA Marshall Space Flight Center on cryogenic problems relative to engine test facilities.
- Volume 1, Number 6, 1965, quotes NASA Tech Briefs’ discussion “Inert gas spraying device aids in repair of hazardous systems,” which dealt with repairs to piping, flanges, valves and safety devices of a cryogenic fluid system.
An extremely interesting article appeared in Cryogenic Technology, Volume 1, Number 2, January-February 1965: “Cryogenics in space,” the text of a talk given by R. Hallet, Jr., at CSA’s first national meeting, October 27, 1964, in Los Angeles. Hallet was the director of Research and Development at Douglas Missile and Space Systems Division.
It was noted that “Mr. Hallet has authored numerous technical papers, primarily in the fields of heat transfer, propulsion and nuclear systems… has discussed nuclear propulsion as applicable to space travel on the NBC television program ‘Survey in Space,’ [and] been guest lecturer on space systems to the graduating classes of the Air Force Academy and the United States Naval Graduate School. He is a senior member of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics.”
Excerpts from his speech:
Hallet began by noting that “the Cryogenic Society is presently in its early phases of development… this is your first meeting. In that respect, you have much in common with space flight, which is also in its infancy, with a lifetime ahead that recognizes no limitation. Its ultimate influence is likely to be as broad as the total effect of all previously accumulated scientific knowledge. Its ultimate success is likely to depend, to a great extent, on the successful applications of cryogenics.”
“October 1965 marked the dawn of this new age—the Space Age. During the six years following that date, the United States and Russia have orbited a total of 305 satellites, have sent probes to the moon, have photographed the side previously hidden to man’s view and have photographed the near side of the moon to a resolution 1,000 times better than the most powerful telescope here on Earth. Probes have been sent into the solar system close enough to the planet Venus to determine, far more accurately than ever before, the environmental conditions existing in our sister planet. We have demonstrated clearly the potential of meteorological satellites for worldwide microwave and television relays, and we have orbited 13 humans in space for a total accumulated time of 21 days.
“At the present time, the United States is deeply involved in building the hardware that will put men on the moon and in testing the first nuclear rockets for space propulsion.”
Hallet noted that there had been a “drastic reduction in the time span between invention and applications and in the resulting impact on the economy.” He looked back at the time lag before widespread implementation of inventions such as the steam engine, photography, elevators and the telephone. “In contrast,” he said, “while America’s space exploration program… came into being as recently as October 1958, its impact on the economy has probably been sharper and faster than that of any single new program ever conceived.”
He saw a parallel between space flight and cryogenics: “Although the birth of cryogenics took place many years prior to that of space flight, its real growth has occurred simultaneously with that of space flight and, like that of space flight, is essentially unlimited.”
Hallet stated that cryogenics would play an important role in future missions sent up to bring new information about old theories and models of the solar system. Cryogenics was helping and would continue to help solve several specific problems troubling space engineers. He cited the Goldstone antenna, which, with the aid of cryogenics, was able to pick up power levels of the order of 10-17 watts, thus helping us to receive data from millions of miles away in space. Low temperature liquefied gases were already enabling military infrared detection systems. “The extent to which cryogenics can be applied to extending the wave length of various sensors for detecting storms, typhoons, tornadoes and even fossil fuel deposits on Earth from aboard an orbiting space station is presently being investigated,” he noted.
Vacuum technology, the speaker stated, had been advanced greatly by cryogenics. “The need for… an ultra-high vacuum facility is clear as an engineering simulator device for lunar environment. High vacuum techniques supported by cryopumping have provided the environments for generating pure crystals of metallic materials having structural strength many times those of present strengths and for thin film deposition in the microminiaturization of electronic circuits.”
Beyond these and other contributions of cryogenics, the most important role it had played, Hallet said, was in the technology of rocket propulsion. “The primary parameter defining the effectiveness of a rocket propulsion system is specific impulse, and the fuels and oxidizers that provide the highest specific impulse seem to have the lowest liquefaction temperatures.” He spent much of the rest of his speech speculating on the kinds of fuels that might be used in the future, including “nuclear fuels,” and discussing ways in which liquid hydrogen technology might come to the forefront.
