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Mary MorganAmerican scientist
Date of Birth: 04.11.1921
Country:  USA |
Content:
- Biography of Mary Sherman Morgan
- Early Life
- World War II and Early Career
- Work at North American Aviation
- Development of Hydyne Fuel
- Later Life and Legacy
Biography of Mary Sherman Morgan
Mary Sherman Morgan was an American scientist credited with the invention of Hydyne, a liquid fuel, in 1957. This fuel was used to power the 'Jupiter-C' carrier rocket, which launched the first American satellite 'Explorer 1'.
Early Life
Mary Sherman Morgan, the fourth of six children of Michael and Dorothy Sherman, was born on November 4, 1921, on a family farm in Ray, North Dakota. In 1939, she was chosen to deliver the farewell speech at her high school graduation. She then enrolled at Minot State University, where she chose chemistry as her major.
World War II and Early Career
Mary's college years coincided with the outbreak of World War II. Many men were sent overseas, and the United States was in need of additional chemists. One of the recruiters learned about Sherman's strong knowledge of chemistry and offered her a job in Cleveland. With no money in her pocket, Morgan agreed without fully knowing what she would be doing. She was brought to the Plum Brook Ordnance Works, where she was responsible for producing explosives such as TNT, DNT, and pentolite.
In 1943, Morgan became pregnant while unmarried. At the time, she was living with her aunt and cousin in Huron, Ohio. In 1944, she gave birth to a daughter, Mary J. Sherman, whom she later gave up for adoption to her cousin Mary Hibbard and her husband Irving. The child's name was changed to Ruth Esther.
Work at North American Aviation
After spending the war years developing explosives for military purposes, Morgan applied for a job at the aerospace company 'North American Aviation' and was hired in the rocket division 'Rocketdyne' located in Canoga Park, California. Soon after her assignment, Sherman was promoted to the position of theoretical specialist, responsible for calculating the expected performance of new rocket propellants. She was one of the few women among the nine hundred engineers in the company and lacked a formal education in the field.
At 'North American Aviation', Mary met her future husband George Richard Morgan, a graduate of the mechanical engineering department at Caltech. The couple had four children together - George, Steven, Monica, and Karen.
Development of Hydyne Fuel
During the support phase of the 'Jupiter' re-entry vehicle program, rocket engineer Wernher von Braun's team used modified 'Redstone' rockets, which were named 'Jupiter-C'. As part of the initial development, a contract was signed with the 'Rocketdyne' division to invent a more powerful fuel. Morgan worked in a team with Dr. Jacob Silverman, and her knowledge and experience with rocket propellants helped her become a leading technical specialist.
Sherman succeeded in developing a new propellant called Hydyne. The first flight of the 'Redstone' rocket with the new fuel took place on November 29, 1956, followed by test flights with three Jupiter-C nose cones. The successful launch of the American satellite 'Explorer 1' using Hydyne fuel instead of ethyl alcohol took place on January 31, 1958.
Hydyne was a mixture of 60% unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine and 40% diethylenetriamine. It proved to be more powerful than ethyl alcohol but also more toxic. After the launch of 'Explorer 1', the production of Hydyne was discontinued, and more advanced types of fuel were used.
Later Life and Legacy
Mary Sherman Morgan passed away on August 4, 2004, due to complications from emphysema. Her son George wrote a semi-biographical play, 'Rocket Girl,' about his mother. The play was performed at the California Institute of Technology on November 17, 2008.
