| The period between 1934 and 1959 was one of maturation and evolution for aviation medicine, growth initiated and orchestrated largely by Army flight surgeon Harry Armstrong and Luftwaffe laboratory director Hubertus Strughold. It was carried out at the Army's School of Aviation Medicine, Armstrong's lab at Wright Field, and at several German institutes. World War II was pivotal because of advances in aircraft design and enormous increases in military flying personnel. Extreme altitudes and speeds of new aircraft created formidable challenges: oxygen deprivation, severe cold, flak, windblast, toxic exposures, and high-altitude bailout. It was also the germination period for manned space flight, demonstrated in America's postwar acquisition of German V-2 missiles (and their designers); rocket-powered aircraft and jets; and under Project Paperclip, the world's leading aviation medicine researchers. Physicists used V-2s to investigate the fringes of space, missile specialists designed a launch system, and an integrated medical team evaluated the space environment and planned means to make it survivable.; The Soviets reached space first with Sputnik, however, which many Americans perceived as a threat to national security. Lyndon Johnson led the strong Congressional response, while president Dwight Eisenhower adopted a wait-and see position. Both agreed to establish a new civilian space agency to retake the technological lead.; Aviation medicine had been the domain of the military, so many assumed it would continue its work, baring facilities and talent to NASA to avoid costly duplication. A hybrid team evaluated and selected the first astronauts, but that partnership collapsed, chiefly because of John Kennedy's commitment to go to the Moon.; This dissertation describes the actions of key aerospace medicine figures, their autoexperimentation, the professionalization of their discipline, their similarities to test pilots, and the adjustments Americans and Germans made to work together. It suggests how advances in engineering and physics were crucial contributors to space readiness, and details the Mercury astronaut selection process, connecting it to earlier Air Force programs. Finally, it outlines the military's expectations for its role in the manned space program and offers reasons for the failure of NASA and the Air Force to combine efforts. |
