Mary Sherman Morgan facts for kids

Mary Sherman Morgan (born November 4, 1921 – died August 4, 2004) was an American rocket fuel scientist. She is famous for inventing the liquid fuel called Hydyne in 1957. This special fuel powered the Jupiter-C rocket. The Jupiter-C rocket launched Explorer 1, which was the United States' first satellite, into space!

Early Life and Education

Mary Sherman was born on a farm in Ray, North Dakota. She was the second youngest of six children. In 1939, she finished high school as the top student in her class.

After high school, she went to Minot State University in North Dakota. She chose to study chemistry.

Her Career Journey

While Mary was in college, World War II started. Many men went overseas to fight. This caused a shortage of scientists and chemists in the United States.

A recruiter heard that Mary knew about chemistry. He offered her a job at a factory in Sandusky, Ohio. He couldn't tell her what the factory made or what her job would be. He only said she needed a top secret security clearance. Mary needed money, so she took the job. This meant she had to pause her college degree.

The factory was the Plum Brook Ordnance Works. It made explosives for the military during the war. This site produced a huge amount of explosives.

After the war, Mary applied for a job at North American Aviation. She worked in their Rocketdyne Division in Canoga Park, California. She was quickly promoted to a role where she calculated how new rocket fuels would perform. She was the only woman among 900 engineers. She was also one of the few without a college degree.

While working there, she met George Richard Morgan. He was a mechanical engineer from Caltech. They got married and had four children: George, Stephen, Monica, and Karen.

The Space Race and Hydyne

During the Space Race, the United States wanted to launch satellites into orbit. Wernher von Braun's team used modified Redstone rockets, called Jupiter Cs. They needed a more powerful fuel for the first stage of the rocket. So, they asked North American Aviation's Rocketdyne Division to create one.

Mary Morgan was chosen to lead this important project. Her hard work led to a new fuel called Hydyne. The regular Redstone rocket used a fuel with 75% ethyl alcohol. But the Jupiter-C needed something stronger. Hydyne was a mix of 60% unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) and 40% diethylenetriamine (DETA). This new fuel was more powerful than ethyl alcohol.

The first test flight using Hydyne happened on November 29, 1956. Hydyne then powered three test flights for the Jupiter-C nose cone.

In 1957, both the Soviet Union and the United States wanted to launch satellites. This was part of a global science event called the International Geophysical Year. The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957. Soon after, a U.S. Vanguard rocket exploded during its launch.

This put a lot of pressure on U.S. leaders. They allowed Wernher von Braun to prepare his Jupiter C rocket for an orbital flight. This rocket was renamed Juno I. On January 31, 1958, the Hydyne fuel helped launch America's first satellite, Explorer I, into orbit! After the Jupiter-C and six Juno I launches, the U.S. started using even more powerful fuels.

A Fun Fuel Name Idea

The Redstone rocket used Hydyne and liquid oxygen (LOX) as its fuel. Mary Morgan jokingly suggested naming her new fuel "Bagel". This way, the rocket's fuel would be called "Bagel and Lox"! However, the U.S. Army did not approve this name.

Later Life and Legacy

Mary Sherman Morgan passed away on August 4, 2004, at the age of 82.

In 2013, the BBC made a short video tribute to Mary. Her son, George, narrated it. Mary's son also wrote a play about her life called Rocket Girl. It was performed at Caltech in 2008. He later turned the play into a book.

George shared that he didn't know much about his mother's work until she passed away. This was because her job involved national security, so she couldn't talk about it much. He recalled building homemade rockets with friends. He wished he had known how much his mother knew about rockets. She could have helped them a lot!