Memorial Tributes Volume 19 (2015) / Chapter Skim
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EDGAR M. CORTRIGHT
EDGAR M. CORTRIGHT
Pages 73-82
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From page 74... ...
's Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory, where he investigated aerodynamic issues with high-speed inlets and nozzles and headed activities in supersonic wind tunnels. In 1957 he was selected for a series of space-related planning committee projects that led to his transfer to headquarters in 1958.
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The Saratoga spent the remainder of the war training air crews in Hawaii, and Ed was assigned to the Naval Air Modification Unit in Johnsonville, Pennsylvania, where as a project engineer he installed turbo superchargers on Vought Corsair fighter aircraft. He returned to Rensselaer in the fall of 1946 and, as a research assistant, performed theoretical analysis on General Electric air-to-air missile systems.
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The base bleed concept allowed a small amount of flow to leak behind the base to increase the pressure which reduced drag. The method was verified with wind tunnel tests using artillery shells.
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Ed was responsible for identifying the requirements for a multiuse space flight test facility that would include a nuclear rocket test stand. The proposed laboratory did not come to fruition, but Ed's experience establishing the budget, schedule, and logistics opened the door to his role in planning the new space agency.
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As director of the former, Ed managed all lunar, planetary, and interplanetary exploration efforts, including Mariner, Ranger, Lunar Orbiter, and Surveyor (both the spacecraft and their launch vehicles)
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He retained responsibility for the lunar and planetary exploration missions and launch vehicles, while resuming his earlier management of earth and space observation satellites. His management was a key aspect of NASA's 50 successful unmanned missions completed by September 1965.
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He increased NASA oversight, implemented additional subsystem testing, and integrated subprime contractors in the decision process. During the next several months he began carving out a niche for himself with Skylab and other postApollo missions while keeping an eye out for other positions.
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In April 1970 Ed was appointed chair of the Apollo 13 Review Board, with representatives from the astronaut corps, Air Force, headquarters, and field centers. The board spent two months in Texas reviewing and analyzing the mission data and, after more than 100 different tests, concluded that the oxygen tank ignited after the Teflon wiring inside the tank sparked.
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He participated in the investigation of a TriStar airliner crash in 1980, and served on the Shuttle Safety Advisory Board that investigated Challenger as well as the National Research Council panel that advocated NASA's mixed fleet launch vehicle policy. In addition to the NAE, Ed was a member of Sigma Xi, Tau Beta Pi, Pi Delta Sigma, and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and American Astronautical Society (AAS)
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