From Athena to Artemis: Mary Sherman Morgan

Mary Sherman Morgan grew up in a small town by the name of Ray, North Dakota, harboring less than 1,000 citizens. After being awarded as valedictorian in her class, she began college at Minot State University in the late 1930’s. During her time at the college, Plum Brook Ordnance Works, a weaponry company for the U.S. army, offered her a position as a chemical analyst before she even graduate, she rightfully accepted. Once the war was over, and military contracts were not in high demand, she perused another route, applying for a job at California’s North American Aviation branch. Since she did not finish her college degree, she continued her title as an analyst, giving lower pay and title that the 900 men that worked with her. Morgan, being in the field at the start of the Space Race, was working during the time of the first rockets being launched into space. The US, who had Wernher von Braun and his team working for them, were still a step behind the soviets due to a lack of propellant to accurately launch the Redstone rocket into orbit. In 1957, the US government decided to outsource to find the propellant needed to launch the rocket, they turned right to NAA where their leading propellant analyst could take over. Not surprisingly at all, she cracked the code and created a propellant using a mixture of dimethylhydrazine and diethylenetriamine. In 1958, the Redstone rocket launched the US’s first satellite, Explorer-1, into orbit. Shortly after her major contribution, Morgan retired and proceeded with a full time job mothering her two children.