Beyond the Atmosphere; Early Years of Space Science. NASA SP-4211
Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Scientific and Technical Information Branch, 1980. Presumed First Paperback Edition, First printing. Trade paperback. xviii, 497, [5] pages. Wraps. Color two-page frontis. Illustrations. Figures. Tables. Appendices. Bibliographic Essay. Source Notes. Index. Cover has some wear and soiling. This is one of the NASA History Series. Homer Edward Newell Jr. (March 11, 1915 – July 18, 1983) was a mathematics professor and author who became a powerful United States government science administrator—eventually rising to the number three position at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In the early 1960s, he either controlled or influenced virtually all non-military unmanned space missions for the free world. In 1944 he became an NRL employee. In 1945, the communications security section became the rocket section. Newell became successively head of the theoretical analysis subsection, associate head of the section, and by 1947 headed the section; which performed upper atmosphere research using rockets including German-built V2s, US-built Aerobees and eventually NRL's own Viking. More