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NASA Glenn: 1952–1957

High Energy Propulsion: The Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory refocused again in 1949 and expanded its research, particularly in regards to the study of rocket propellants. This led to the determination that the lightweight and highly reactive liquid hydrogen could be safely used as a fuel. The improvement of jet and ramjet engines continued throughout the 1950s, and the icing program continued to make strides. The lab also led a presidentially mandated effort to reduce fatalities in low-speed aircraft crashes. In the mid-1950s NACA researchers began to study nuclear propulsion for both aircraft and rockets.

A researcher at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory checks the setup of a RJM-2...
A staff member from the Computing Section at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory operates...
One of the two primary coolers at the Propulsion Systems Laboratory at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis...
William Kerslake, a combustion researcher at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory, examines the setup...
NACA staff members queue up in the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory cafeteria in August 1952. The cafeteria originally opened in...
A Wright Aeronautical XRJ47-W-5 ramjet installed in a test chamber of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics’ (NACA) new Propulsion...
A materials researcher at the NACA’s Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory examines a surface crack detection apparatus in the Materials and...
A Fairchild C-82 Packet is purposely destroyed by researchers at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion...
Craftsmen work in the wood model shop at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory. The...
The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory acquired two Boeing R4D‒6 Skytrain aircraft in the fall...
R4D‒6 Skytrain Aircraft
The Administrative Services Building at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory after the structure’s relocation...
Exterior view of Administrative Services Building.
Draftsmen in the Materials and Stresses Building at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory create...
At approximately 9:45PM on Monday June 8, 1953 a tornado swept through the southwestern section of the National Advisory Committee...
Damaged building.
A .10-scale model of Convair’s XF-102 in the 8- by 6-Foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel at the National Advisory Committee for...
Lyman Briggs, center, of the National Bureau of Standards is greeted at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis...
Three men in front of building entrance.
Nobel Prize winner Dr. James Franck visited former students Robert Lad and Sidney Simon at the National Advisory Committee for...
Four men and a woman standing in office.
An apprentice at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory shown training on the altitude supply...
A researcher at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory prepares for a test of an...
The US Air Force loaned a Republic F-84 Thunderjet to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion...
A rocket using high-energy propellant is fired from the Rocket Laboratory at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis...
A researcher measures the blades on a 12-stage axial-flow compressor at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight...
Man pointing to multi-stage compressor.
This time-lapse photograph shows the test of a pilot seat and restraint designed by researchers at the National Advisory Committee...
The Engine Propeller Research Building, referred to as the Prop House, emits steam from its acoustic silencers at the National...
Steam rising from building.
A mechanic checks the tubing on one of the many jacks which control the nozzle section of the 10- by...
Researchers at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory purposely wreck a McDonnell FH-1 Phantom as...
The Propulsion Systems Laboratory’s exhaust system was expanded in 1955 at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight...
Irving Pinkel, Associate Chief of the Physics Division at the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory, receives his award and pin for...
Three men standing in office.
An engineer examines the main compressor for the 10- by 10-Foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel at the National Advisory Committee for...
The new 10-by 10-Foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel at the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory included high tech data acquisition and analysis...
Two woman working with large computer.
Abe Silverstein, Associate Director of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory, provides a personal tour...
Man leading group tour of wind tunnel.
A Rolls Royce Avon RA-14 engine was tested in the Altitude Wind Tunnel at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics’...
Howard Hasbrook volunteers for a demonstration of a scaled-down version of Lieutenant Colonel John Stapp’s rocket sled set up in...
A 24-foot diameter swing valve is seen in an open position inside the new 10- by 10-Foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel...
A female computer plotting compressor data in the Engine Research Building at the NACA’s Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory. The Computing...
Attendees listen during the May 22, 1956 Inspection of the new 10- by 10-Foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel at the National...
The NACA’s Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory acquired the Grumman S2F-1 Tracker from the Navy in 1955 to study icing instrumentation....
Addison Rothrock, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics’s (NACA) Assistant Director of Research, speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony for the...
A group of apprentices takes a break from their studies to pose for a photograph at the National Advisory Committee...
Group of young men posing outside building.
A vehicle leaves the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio. The guard house...
A researcher examines the drive fan inside the Icing Research Tunnel at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Flight...