This collection consists of approximately 45 cubic feet of papers, photographs, audio recordings, reports, drawings, correspondence and film, created or collected by Darrell Romick. The papers highlight his visionary space engineering, especially during his time at Goodyear during the 1950s and early 1960s.
Biographical / Historical:
Darrell C. Romick (1915-2008) was a missile engineer for Goodyear during the 1950s and 1960s and one of the most significant American visionaries of space travel. He made hundreds of presentations all over the country, appeared on national television and was quoted in most major newspapers and magazines. Romick's best know design was Project METEOR, an acronym for Manned Earth-satellite Terminal evolving from Earth-Orbit ferry Rocket vehicles. The project was a space exploration plan to produce a fleet of reusable Shuttle-like orbital launch vehicles to service an orbiting space city. Romick graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana with a Bachelor of Science in engineering physics. He became an engineer in the aircraft industry, and he worked for Taylorcraft as a chief engineer. He then worked as a designer for Moulton Taylor on a flying car project before he was hired by Goodyear in 1946 as a project engineer for an experimental missile project. While that particular missile project was canceled, Romick continued working for Goodyear in its missile department. During this time he became very active in the American Rocket Society (ARS) and the British Interplanetary Society, and began his long friendships with other rocket visionaries, including Hermann Oberth, Werner Von Braun, Willy Ley, and Krafft Ehricke. In 1949, Romick became head of Goodyear's General Missile Design Group and he started his staff working unofficially on a space ship design that would become part of METEOR. The design work became an official project of Goodyear after Romick's presentation at the ARS annual meeting in 1954, which made an immediate impact as many of the leading magazines and newspapers covered the story. By 1957 Romick and his Goodyear design team had devised a reduced-scale plan, due to the projected expense of METEOR. Romick presented the METEOR Jr. System Concept at the International Astronautical Federation Congress shortly after the launch of Sputnik 1. However, even as Project METEOR generated headlines, its direct contribution to the development of space flight as the reusable vehicle model was eclipsed as the United States space programs turned to expendable boosters as opposed to reusable vehicles. In 1964, Goodyear shifted its resources from the METEOR project to defense missile work and water-recovery balloons for the Gemini Project. While this shift in resources ended the METEOR Project, several of its basic principles survived and influenced the proposed reusable single stage to Earth orbit vehicles.
Provenance:
Randy Liebermann, Gift, 2013
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
This collection consists of two cubic feet of documentation (from 1978-1986) on the Massively Parallel Processor (MPP), including the following: Goodyear Aerospace Corporation reports, internal memorandums, project notes, correspondence, diagrams, a handwritten manuscript of a MPP manual, and progress reports.
Biographical / Historical:
The Massively Parallel Processor (MPP) is the 16,384-processor computer developed by Goodyear Aerospace for 1983 installation at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Earth and Space Data Computing Division (ESDCD) at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The MPP pioneered the linking together of a collection of computers to accomplish large tasks quickly via network. The MPP was retired from service with GSFC in 1991 and was donated to the National Air and Space Museum in 1995.
Provenance:
Carl Mickelson, Gift, Year received
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Richard H. Emmons (1919-2005), astronomer, engineer, and proponent of astronomy education, taught astronomy and physics at Kent State University and later worked as
an engineer for Goodyear Aerospace Corporation. He was well-known for the planetariums he established, over 23 in all. Emmons was also the team leader for the North Canton
Moonwatch Team. Moonwatch teams were established around the world by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Moonwatch Division, 1956-1975, to track and photograph artificial
satellites. This accession consists of records created and maintained by Emmons documenting his work as an astronomer and an engineer, his participation in Moonwatch, and
his research interests. This accession also documents the creation and dissolution of both the Moonwatch program as well as the North Canton Moonwatch Team. Materials include
correspondence, reports, clippings, articles, fact sheets, photographs, lecture notes, announcements, newsletters, calculations, notes, and related materials as well as an
autobiography of H. H. Emmons with a postscript written by his son, Richard H. Emmons.
Richard H. Emmons (1919-2005), astronomer, engineer, and proponent of astronomy education, taught astronomy and physics at Kent State University and later worked as
an engineer for Goodyear Aerospace Corporation. He was well-known for the planetariums he established, over 23 in all. Emmons was also the team leader for the North Canton
Moonwatch Team. Moonwatch teams were established around the world by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Moonwatch Division, 1956-1975, to track and photograph artificial
satellites. This accession consists of records created and maintained by Emmons documenting his work as an astronomer and an engineer, his participation in Moonwatch, and
his research interests. Materials include correspondence and memoranda; theories, calculations, charts, graphs, and notes; images of astronomers, equipment, facilities, and
the sky; articles written and co-written by Emmons; newspaper clippings; professional society and astronomy club newsletters; and research and reference materials such as
journal articles, manuscripts, predictions, and technical documents. Some research and reference materials pre-date the date span of this accession, but would have been collected
during this time period.
"Visual Determinations of Stellar Magnitudes and Analyses for Grid Sphere Drag Experiment Satellites," by Richard H. Emmons (Goodyear Aerospace Corporation), October 1972
