Hydyne is a mixture of 60%

unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (abbreviated as UDMH; also known as 1,1-dimethylhydrazine, heptyl or Geptil) is a chemical compound with the formula H2NN(CH3)2 that is primarily used as a rocket propellant. At room temperature, UDMH is a colorle ...

(UDMH) and 40%

diethylenetriamine Diethylenetriamine (abbreviated and also known as 2,2’-Iminodi(ethylamine)) is an organic compound with the formula HN(CH2CH2NH2)2. This colourless hygroscopic liquid is soluble in water and polar organic solvents, but not simple hydrocarbons. ...

(DETA), developed in 1957 at

Rocketdyne Rocketdyne is an American rocket engine design and production company headquartered in Canoga Park, California, Canoga Park, in the western San Fernando Valley of suburban Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, in southern California. Rocketdyne ...

for use in

liquid-fuel rocket A liquid-propellant rocket or liquid rocket uses a rocket engine burning liquid propellants. (Alternate approaches use gaseous or solid propellants.) Liquids are desirable propellants because they have reasonably high density and their combustio ...

s.Morgan, George
America's First Lady of Rocketry
Caltech News, California Institute of Technology, Vol.42, No.1. Hydyne was used as the fuel for the first stage of the

Juno I The Juno I was a four-stage American space launch vehicle, used to launch lightweight payloads into low Earth orbit. The launch vehicle was used between January 1958 to December 1959. The launch vehicle is a member of the Redstone launch vehi ...

rocket that launched

Explorer 1 Explorer 1 was the first satellite launched by the United States in 1958 and was part of the U.S. participation in the International Geophysical Year (IGY). The mission followed the first two satellites, both launched by the Soviet Union duri ...

, the first successful

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

launch conducted by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. As part of Mixed Amine Fuel series of rocket fuels, it was designated as MAF-4.

Improved performance

In 1955,

Wernher von Braun Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( ; ; 23 March 191216 June 1977) was a German–American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and '' Allgemeine SS'', the leading figure in the development of ...

, employed by the U.S. Army, calculated his Redstone rocket could launch a satellite into orbit if its performance could be improved. A contract to develop a more powerful propellant was awarded to the Redstone's main stage builder,

. The contract required the replacement of the

PGM-11 Redstone The PGM-11 Redstone was the first large American ballistic missile. A short-range ballistic missile (SRBM), it was in active service with the United States Army in West Germany from June 1958 to June 1964 as part of NATO's Cold War defense of ...

fuel (including 25% water and 75%

ethyl alcohol Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is an alcohol, with its formula also written as , or EtOH, where Et is the pseudoelement symbol ...

) with a compound that would boost the rocket's performance by at least 8%. Mary Sherman Morgan was assigned to head up a small team of engineers to find a solution. The

Jupiter-C The Jupiter-C was an American research and development vehicle developed from the Jupiter-A. Jupiter-C was used for three Uncrewed vehicle, uncrewed sub-orbital spaceflights in 1956 and 1957 to test Re-entry vehicle, re-entry nosecones that were ...

and Juno I rockets used the same first-stage engines as the missile, but needed more thrust due to the increased size of the payload. With the use of the newly developed Hydyne, composed of a blend of 60%

(UDMH) and 40%

(DETA),NASA
The Mercury-Redstone Project
p. 2-2. the Jupiter-C and Juno I engines gained a 12% increase in thrust and higher

specific impulse Specific impulse (usually abbreviated ) is a measure of how efficiently a reaction mass engine, such as a rocket engine, rocket using propellant or a jet engine using fuel, generates thrust. In general, this is a ratio of the ''Impulse (physics), ...

. The resulting fuel was more powerful than alcohol, but also more toxic.NASA
The Mercury-Redstone Project
p. 3-2, 4-42. The first Hydyne-powered Redstone R&D flight took place on November 29, 1956. After two Jupiter C and six Juno I launches including the launch of America's first satellite,

Explorer I Explorer 1 was the first satellite launched by the United States in 1958 and was part of the U.S. participation in the International Geophysical Year (IGY). The mission followed the first two satellites, both launched by the Soviet Union duri ...

), Hydyne was discontinued in favor of higher performing fuels.

Unofficial name

'Bagel' was the whimsical name suggested by Morgan, who engineered the Hydyne-LOX (

Liquid OXygen Liquid oxygen, sometimes abbreviated as LOX or LOXygen, is a clear cyan liquid form of dioxygen . It was used as the oxidizer in the first liquid-fueled rocket invented in 1926 by Robert H. Goddard, an application which is ongoing. Physical ...

) propellant combination used by

North American Aviation North American Aviation (NAA) was a major American aerospace manufacturer that designed and built several notable aircraft and spacecraft. Its products included the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F- ...

in their early U.S. rocket designs of the incipient space race. Morgan was considered a rocketry pioneer as she was the only female technical analyst employed by NAA in

Downey, California Downey is a city located in Southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States, southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. It is considered part of the Gateway Cities. The city is the birthplace of the Apollo space program and Taco Bell. It is ...

. Morgan suggested calling her new fuel invention '

Bagel A bagel (; ; also spelled beigel) is a bread roll originating in the Jewish communities of Poland. Bagels are traditionally made from yeasted wheat dough that is shaped by hand into a torus or ring, briefly boiled in water, and then baked. ...

', allowing the Redstone propellant combination to be then called 'Bagel and LOX' (a tongue in cheek reference to the brined salmon,

lox Lox is a fillet of brined salmon, which may be smoked. Lox is frequently served on a bagel with cream cheese, and often garnished with tomato, onion, cucumber, and capers. Etymology The American English word ''lox'' is a borrowing of Yiddi ...

, which is served with bagels and cream cheese).Lerner, Preston, "Soundings: She Put The High In Hydyne".

Air & Space ''Air & Space/Smithsonian'' was a quarterly magazine published by the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city an ...

Smithsonian Magazine, March 2009, Vol.23, No.6, pp.10, ISSN 0886-2257. Her suggested name for the new fuel was not accepted, and 'Hydyne' was chosen instead by the U.S. Army.

Popular culture

The creation of Hydyne was dramatized in a stage play entitled ''Rocket Girl'' which chronicles the life of Mary Sherman Morgan, Hydyne's inventor. The play was written by Morgan's son, George D. Morgan and ran at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

in November, 2008, . The story is also told in ''Rocket Girl: The Story of Mary Sherman Morgan, America's First Female Rocket Scientist'' also by George D. Morgan.

Improved performance

Unofficial name

Popular culture

References

Further reading