Group of NASA engineers working on the human spaceflight program starting in 1958
The
Space Task Group
was a working group of
NASA
engineers created in 1958, tasked with managing America's
human spaceflight
programs. Headed by
Robert Gilruth
and based at the
Langley Research Center
in
Hampton, Virginia
, it managed
Project Mercury
and follow-on plans. After President
John F. Kennedy
set the goal in 1961 for the
Apollo Program
to land a man on the Moon and bring him back safely to Earth, NASA decided a much larger organization and a new facility was required to perform the Task Group's function, and it was transformed into the Manned Spacecraft Center (now the
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
), located in
Houston, Texas
.
In later years, the term
Space Task Group
was ambiguously reused to refer to an
ad hoc
committee appointed by the
President
to recommend human spaceflight programs, usually chaired by the
Vice President
. For instance, President
Richard Nixon
appointed such a group in February 1969 to outline a post-Apollo spaceflight strategy, chaired by Vice President
Spiro T. Agnew
.
[1]
History
[
edit
]
Created on November 5, 1958, the Space Task Group was headed by
Robert Gilruth
. Originally it consisted of 45 people, including eight secretaries and "computers", the occupational title for women who ran calculations on mechanical adding machines. Of its 37 engineers, 27 were from
Langley Research Center
, and 10 had been assigned from
Lewis Research Center
in
Cleveland, Ohio
. Original members of the group included
Charles Donlan
, Gilruth's deputy;
Max Faget
, head of engineering; Chuck Mathews, head of flight operations;
Chris Kraft
, also in flight operations; and
Glynn Lunney
, who at 21 was the youngest member of the group. The head of the public affairs office was
John "Shorty" Powers
.
In 1959, the group was expanded by the addition of 32 engineers from Canada, who had been left without jobs when the
Avro Arrow
project was cancelled.
[2]
These new engineers included
Jim Chamberlin
,
George Harris
,
John Hodge
,
Owen Maynard
,
Bryan Erb
,
Rodney Rose
, and
Tecwyn Roberts
.
[3]
After President John F. Kennedy set the national goal on May 25, 1961, of landing a man on the Moon by the end of the 1960s and bringing him back to Earth, it became clear to NASA administrator
James E. Webb
that Gilruth would need a much larger organization and facilities, in fact a new dedicated NASA center, to administer US human spaceflight programs. Webb got the approval of Kennedy, and the Congress, and in August 1961 appointed a team to select a site for the new center. On September 19, Webb announced the new
Manned Spacecraft Center
(MSC) would be built on a
Houston, Texas
site donated by
Rice University
. Gilruth immediately began the transition of his Task Group into the new MSC, planning his increased staff organization and its move to Houston, using temporary leased office and test facility space on 12 sites while the new facility was being built. By September 1962, his organization was moved to Houston and construction had begun, effectively marking the end of the Task Group. The MSC facility was completed in September 1963.
Reuse of the name
[
edit
]
The
National Aeronautics and Space Act
of 1958, which established NASA, also directed the President of the United States to chair a National Aeronautics and Space Council (later the
National Space Council
), including the Secretaries of State and Defense, the NASA Administrator, the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, and any additional members that the president chose to appoint. This council was tasked with making recommendations on the direction of the US civilian and military space programs. Occasionally this council was referred to as a "Space Task Group". President
John F. Kennedy
persuaded Congress to modify the law to give him the authority to appoint the Vice President to chair the council in his place. As the
Apollo program
reached its climax in 1969, President
Richard M. Nixon
directed Vice President
Spiro T. Agnew
's "Space Task Group" to recommend a future direction of the US human spaceflight program. Agnew enthusiastically supported an ambitious
Space Transportation System
program including reusable spacecraft, permanent Earth and Lunar stations, and human flight to
Mars
. However, Nixon knew the mood in the US Congress would not continue to sustain funding at the level of Apollo, and cut these plans back to only the development of the
Space Shuttle
, with possible eventual establishment of an Earth orbital space station.
References
[
edit
]
Citations
[
edit
]
- ^
Compton, W. David; Benson, Charles D. (1983),
"Chapter 5: Years of Uncertainty, 1967-1969"
,
Living and Working in Space: A History of Skylab
, vol. SP-4208, Washington, D.C.: NASA, p. 101
- ^
Murray & Cox (1989), pp. 33-35.
- ^
Gainor (2001), pp. 270-276.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
|
Primary 10 centers
| |
---|
Other facilities
| |
---|
Related
| |
---|
|
---|
General
| | |
---|
Missions
| |
---|
Flown non-human
| |
---|
Astronauts
| General
| |
---|
In order of flight
| |
---|
Equipment
| |
---|
|
---|
Subprograms
| |
---|
Contractors
| |
---|
Rockets
| |
---|
Launch sites
and Control Center
| |
---|
Related programs
| |
---|
Related
| |
---|