“Women in Computation Lab Help Plot No. IV’s Orbit,” Redstone Rocket, 30 July 1958, p. 13.

            Pioneers in a brand-new field of endeavor for the fair sex, three women employed in the Computation Laboratory of ABMA helped to determine the orbit of EXPLORER IV, newest in the Army series of earth satellites.

            They are Miss Joan Kassner, Miss Mildred Letherwood and Mrs. Doris E. Roden.

            During the hours immediately following the launching of EXPLORER IV, Miss Kassner helped to make a rapid determination of the elements of the satellite’s orbit.

            She is a graduate of the University of Alabama and a mathematician in the Digital Projects Branch. She lives at 1505 Randolph Street, Huntsville.

            Working with her was William Smythe of 4105 Toftoy Street, Huntsville, employed by the Huntsville Computer Center operated by General Electric in the Army laboratory.

            The Computation Laboratory, equipped with the IBM 704 computer and many other computing devices, was the focal point for early orbital calculations. The problem of determining the refined orbit will be approached through a joint effort between the Laboratory and the Smithsonian Institute at Cambridge, Massachusetts.

            Miss Kassner, Miss Letherwood and Mrs. Roden are members of a seven-member team calculating the orbit. The work will continue for several months, so long as the instrumentation carried in EXPLORER IV continues to furnish data to ground stations.

            Miss Letherwood is a mathematician in the Digital Projects Branch also. She received her mathematics degree at Jacksonville State College. She lives at 402 E. Holmes Street, Huntsville.

            Mrs. Roden, a resident of Arab, is a tabulating project planner in the same branch and has received special IBM training.

            Miss Kassner is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James L. Kassner of 1620 Second Avenue, Tuscaloosa. Miss Letherwood is the daughter of Mrs. Sudie V. Letherwood of 802 W. 57^th Street, Anniston.

            Male members of the team include Charles P. Hubbard, chief of the Digital Projects Branch; James H. Golmon, F.W. Seubert and C. L. Cozelos, branch mathematicians. …

            The Computation Laboratory is also responsible for compiling and reducing Doppler data obtained from the satellite at the ground tracking stations.

            Evaluating this information are John C. Lynn …; Paul O. Hurst … and Jerry Peddycoart …, all mathematicians of the Data Reduction Branch. …

            The Laboratory, in cooperation with the Aeroballistics Laboratory, established the propelled and coasting trajectories for the JUPITER C launching vehicle prior to the actual launch.

            Taking part in this phase were the following GE employees:  F.R. Calhoun …; William Martin …; Ralph Roddy …; Daniel Harton …; Benjamin T. Kay … and William Smythe.

“Women Scientists at ABMA Contribute Much to Army’s Space Probe Project,” Redstone Rocket, 11 March 1959, p. 6.

            From the drawing board to the launching pad, women scientists at the Army Ballistic Missile Agency have participated and are participating in the Army’s space probe project, working alongside their male counterparts in five of the Agency’s 10 laboratories.

            The Army Ballistic Missile Agency was responsible for preparing the modified Jupiter missile which served as first stage for the launching vehicle. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, supplied the high speed, solid propellant upper stages and the Pioneer III probe.

            In the Guidance and Control Laboratory at the Army Ballistic Missile Agency, Mrs. Mary Cox, Mrs. Willie S. Byars, and Mrs. Mary W. Derryberry manned drawing boards, preparing layouts to be followed in fabricating various components of the big rocket and its supporting systems.

Electrical System

            Mrs. Cox, an engineering draftsman, and Mrs. Byars, an engineering designer, were concerned with the Juno II’s electrical system—an intricate maze of wiring and cabling which serves as the missile’s nervous system. Mrs. Cox worked on wiring diagrams and cable layouts, used in accomplishing the layout of the complex system. Mrs. Byars worked on drawings for distributors, which regulate the distribution of power in the electrical system.

            Mrs. Derryberry, an engineering designer, prepared drawings for various support equipment for the missile, including vibration brackets used in the testing of components and telemetering equipment, which transmits data from the rocket as it travels through space.

In S&M Lab

            In the Structures and Mechanics Laboratory, engineering aides Mrs. Valeria G. Wells and Mrs. Lakie S. Mowell worked on dynamics and load analysis of the Juno II structure, conducting studies of missile weights and stresses as they would occur during various stages of flight. These factors had to be known in order to maintain the correct attitude of the missile in flight.

            In the Structures and Mechanics Laboratory, mathematician Miss Joan Kramer and engineer Mrs. Elizabeth Varnedoe also contributed to the probe project. Miss Kramer conducted analysis work in connection with fluid mechanics, or the flow of fuel in the missile. Mrs. Varnedoe was concerned with evaluation of the missile’s engine system so as to determine the performance to be expected during launching and flight. She is now following up this work by evaluating the actual performance of the engine based on data received from Juno II.

            As part of the Army’s extensive testing program for the experiment, the Systems Analysis and Reliability Laboratory conducted a wide variety of tests on the modified Jupiter’s numerous components to assure that each would function properly during missile flight. Assisting with the Laboratory’s testing program were mathematicians Mrs. Ann B. Folsom and Miss Betty Jo Long, and statistical clerk Mrs. Rachel H. Cook, all part of the Test Evaluation Unit of the Performance Test Branch.

            They participated directly in the work of the unit, which involved the evaluation of missile measuring gages, the telemeter information system, and simulated flight tests. They handled as many as 10,000 pieces of data during a single acceptance test, aided in maintaining the extensive file system required to support and document the testing operation, and helped in the preparation of the laboratory report on the final acceptance testing of the components.

            In the Aeroballistics Laboratory, Mrs. Anne McNair, mathematician, is assisting with various factors of flight evaluation for the Juno II, including the determination of the injection point into spatial flight and flight performance analysis of the high speed cluster supplied by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

            Six more women, all mathematicians, assisted with the project in the Computation Laboratory. This Laboratory utilizes electronic computing devices, including the IBM 704 computer, to solve a wide variety of problems connected with missile development.

            Mrs. Inge Bergeler worked on the trajectory computations prior to launching, utilizing such data as velocity, firing angle, and gravitational pull of the earth and moon to determine the most advantageous trajectories for use in launching the probe vehicle.

            Mrs. Marion C. Sims and Miss Martha E. Smith are concerned with flight evaluation of the Juno II. Mrs. Sims is assisting with the analysis of the missile’s flight to determine overall performance of the vehicle. Miss Smith is assisting with the performance evaluation of various missile components, such as the guidance system and power plant.

            Tracking is the primary interest for Miss Betty Harrison, Miss Mildred Letherwood and Miss Joan Kassner. Miss Harrison and Miss Letherwood are concerned with tracking the Juno II as well as the calculations for the probe. Miss Kassner is concerned entirely with calculations for the probe.

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