Facing the Heat Barrier: a History of Hypersonics

It is a pleasure to note the numerous people who helped me with this book. My personal involvement in hypersonics dates to 1982. I wrote a number of free-lance articles, along with three book-length reviews, before beginning work on the present book in 1999. During these past two decades, several dozen people kindly granted interviews in the course of these assignments. This book draws on discussions with the following:

J. Leland Atwood, Robert Barthelemy, George Baum, Fred Billig, Richard Booton, Peter Bradshaw, William Cabot, Robert Cooper, Scott Crossfield,

Paul Czysz, William Dannevik, Anthony duPont, James Eastham, John Erdos, Maxime Faget, George Gleghorn, Edward Hall, Lawrence Huebner, Antony Jameson, Robert Jones, Arthur Kantrowitz, James Keller, George Keyworth, William “Pete” Knight, John Lumley, Luigi Martinelli, Robert Mercier, Parviz Moin, Gerhard Neumann, Louis Nucci, Philip Parrish, John Pike, Heinz Pitsch, Jerry Rising, Anatol Roshko, Paul Rubbert, Ron Samborsky, Robert Sanator, George Schairer, David Scott, Christian Stem – mer, Arthur Thomas, Steven Weinberg, and Robert Williams.

In the NASA History Division, NASA Chief Historian Steven Dick served effec­tively as my editor. NASA-Langley has an excellent library, where I received par­ticular help from Sue Miller and Garland Gouger. In addition, Dill Hunley, the historian at NASA-Dryden, hosted me for a week-long visit. The archivist, Archie DiFante, gave similar strong support during my visits to Maxwell Air Force Base. The Science and Technology Corporation, administered my work under subcon­tract, for which I give thanks to Andrea Carden, Carla Coombs, Sue Crotts, Marion Kidwell, and George Wood.

Dennis Jenkins provided me with documents and answered a number of ques­tions. The artists Don Dixon and Chris Butler, who helped me on previous book projects, provided valuable assistance on this one as well. In addition, as for previous books, Phyllis LaVietes served as my secretary.

This book reflects my interest in the National Aerospace Plane effort, which I covered as a writer beginning in 1985. It is a pleasure to recall my ongoing friend­ships with Robert Williams, who gave me access to sources; Fred Billig, who helped me learn the trade of hypersonics; and Arthur Kantrowitz, who was present at the beginning. These three stand out among the dozens of people with whom it has been my privilege to conduct interviews and discussions.