Should NASA keep their funding.

Robert Johnson Omohundro


He worked as a radio tester with Western Electric Company. Later he helped design devices to detect and measure radiation emissions from nuclear warheads, machines used in airports to detect fissionable materials, and portable neutron detectors for the officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency in their effort to prevent the proliferation of plutonium. Omohundro also authored and co-authored more than
forty scientific articles in his field of study, and received two patents
for his inventions. He worked as a research nuclear physicist until his
retirement from the Naval Research laboratory.

Always a very private man, he was well respected by all his colleagues.
In retirement, he served as a treasurer and vestry board member of St.
Augustine’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. and volunteered
helping the homeless. He died on May 14th, 2000.

Lloyd Albert Quarterman

Scientist specializing in fluoride chemistry, nuclear chemistry, and spectroscopy. Assistant to associate research scientist and chemist on the Manhattan Project, New York, NY, and Chicago, IL, 1943-46; nuclear and fluoride chemist at Argonne National Laboratories, Chicago, 1946-1970s; developed the "diamond window," 1967; performed initial research on synthetic blood during the 1960s; created new compounds and molecules. Author or coauthor of many professional papers in his fields of specialization.

An Ebony article written in 1949 profiled the ten African-American scientists working at Argonne, including Quarterman, and stressed the positive potential that scientists then saw in nuclear physics: "Most of the experiments at Argonne are involved in such projects as disease prevention, prolonging human life and producing new sources of power." At the time, Quarterman expressed his usual feeling of excitement at discovery: "You can expect almost anything when you are exploring. It's just like playing poker; you've got to keep your eyes open."

He continued to work with Fermi's team of scientists, who contributed to the first nuclear power plant. Although the process of producing energy from nuclear fission has become controversial because of possible dangers and resulting pollutants, the scientists involved in this project in the late 1940s believed that they were creating a revolutionary peacetime possibility from their military research. For Quarterman, this became the opportunity to study quantum mechanics under a world-renowned scientist, augmenting and strengthening his skills as a chemist and physicist. In 1952, Quarterman earned a master's of science degree from Northwestern University.

The bulk of Quarterman's work involved his skills as both a nuclear chemist and a fluoride chemist: he primarily occupied himself with creating new chemical compounds and, consequently, new molecules, from fluoride solutions. Van Sertima described the nature and significance of this work: "When Quarterman was going to school there were no 'compounds' of zeon or argon or krypton. These were ... thought to stand sovereign and alone, reacting with nothing. But Quarterman and his team made them react with the fluorine atoms. They made zeon tetrafluoride--zeon difluride--zeon hexafluoride.... Quarterman took zeon difluoride and incorporated it in other experiments, making a whole series of new compounds." Van Sertima concluded that "for a period of time they were the greatest fluoride chemists on earth."

Quarterman also worked as a spectroscopist, studying the interactions between matter and radiation. Van Sertima compared this field of specialization to "a man peering into the depths of the universe with a dozen eyes or windows.... He can study the composition of elements in our universe that are either invisible or elusive or obscure to us." In order to "look at" a highly corrosive solution, hydrogen fluoride, Quarterman developed a unique, corrosion resistant "window" made of diamonds--aptly referred to as the "diamond window." It was after a long period of exploration that Quarterman succeeded with the "first discovery trial" of the diamond window in 1967. By 1971, his credentials were such that his alma mater awarded him an honorary doctorate of science in chemistry.

In the last twenty years of his life, before a paralyzing illness began to slow him down, Quarterman initiated research on a medical possibility known as "synthetic blood"--"work which," Van Sertima commented, "had he been allowed to complete it, might have been one of America's major medical accomplishments." The reason that Quarterman was not able to continue with this work has never been explained, although "the loss of an opportunity to work on this project, which he felt might have saved thousands of lives," is said to have greatly disappointed Quarterman. He told Van Sertima only that he "ran into socio-political problems."


William Jacob Knox

William Knox earned his Master’s degree and his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1929 and 1935 respectively. From 1935 to 1942, Knox was a professor in the chemistry department at North Carolina A&T; College. He left in 1942 to become chair of the chemistry department at Talladega College. One year later, however, he joined a team of scientists at Columbia University who were devising a way to separate the two uranium isotopes using gaseous diffusion, a complex process that made use of uranium hexafluoride, an extremely corrosive material. Though he did not know it at the time, his work was essential to the development of the atom bomb. Knox also holds the distinction of being a supervisor on the project.

Because of his work on corrosive substances, he was hired as a research scientist for Eastman Kodak in Rochester, New York in 1945. During his time at Kodak he received patents at a rate of nearly one per year, totaling 21 patents in 25 years. Knox retired from Kodak in 1970. Knox briefly returned to teaching at North Carolina A&T;, remaining there until his permanent retirement in 1973.


James A Parsons Jr.

James A. Parsons Jr. was a scientist, inventor, and university professor, whose research with rust resistant metals and iron alloys is credited with leading to the development of stainless steel. During his lifetime, he received several patents pertaining to metals for his achievements. Parsons was highly respected among his peers in the scientific community and widely regarded as one of the nation’s leading metallurgists.

After Renesselaer, Parsons returned to his hometown and was hired by Duriron in 1922 for the job of analytical chemist, a position that was certainly more befitted to his credentials and intellect than foundry laborer. He worked with aluminum bronze and made a lasting contribution to the Aluminum Bronze Foundation. In 1927, Parsons won the prestigious Harmon Foundation award in science, the first of its kind, for the advances he made with rust-resistant or non-corrosive metals. His gold medal was presented by Orville Wright, one of Ohio’s most famous sons, and Charles Kettering, an acclaimed engineer, gave the address for the event. During the early 1930s, Parsons continued to rise through the Duriron company ranks.


In 1935, Duriron had a reputation as the sole world manufacturer of specific kinds of non-corrosive metals. A 1939 article in the Journal of Negro Education mentions that the president of Duriron wrote Parsons a laudatory and appreciative letter praising his performance and his “valuable development work,” as well as commending him for the patents the firm had been credited with because of Parsons’ accomplishments. Citing Parsons’ “executive ability,” the letter indicated that he was not only superlative in his chosen field of electrical engineering but could hold his own in chemistry and metallurgy.

Between 1929 and 1949, Parsons received eight patents pertaining to the development and application of non-corrosive metals, which were credited to the Duriron Company. In 1929, he received Patent Number 1,728,360 on an iron alloy, and four years later he acquired Patent Number 1,819,479 for discovering a way to make silicon iron compounds. In 1934 and 1935, Parsons acquired Patents Number 1,912,103 and CA 348312 for inventing a process for treatment of silicon alloy castings. During the two-year span between 1938 and 1940, Parsons received three patents (2,134,670; 2,185,987; and 2,200,208) on corrosion-resisting ferrous alloy. Not one to rest on his laurels, he achieved Patent Number 2,318,011 on a cementation process for treating metals in 1943. Parsons was awarded his final patent, Number 2,467,288, in 1949 for a nickel-based alloy.

In the 1940s, Parsons became the chief metallurgist and a laboratory manager at the Duriron Company. Parsons’ department, which was comprised of an entirely African American staff with chemical expertise, researched aluminum bronze and tested treating iron and steel to be resistant to the corrosiveness of acids, such as sulphuric and hydrochloric. Parsons was so successful in discovering new measures for testing and protecting metals from corrosion that by 1950 he was widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading scientists, an expert on rust-resistant metals.

Louis W Roberts

Roberts was a pioneer in optics and microwave electronics technology. He was
also one of the highest-ranking African-American scientists working for NASA
during our race to the moon. Roberts holds eleven patents for electronic
devices and is the author of papers on electromagnetism, optics, and
microwaves.

Roberts began his research on optics and microwave electronics. Over time, his
pioneering work earned him 11 patents and led him to a research position with
Sylvania Electric. Eventually he left Sylvania and formed his own company to
continue research and development of microwave applications. He eventually
started three other research companies that were a catalyst for rapid
development in this new field.

His pioneering work brought him to the attention of NASA in the early 1960s. The
space agency pulled him away from private research and made him chief of NASA's
Microwave and Optics Laboratory. This position made him one of the highest
ranking Black Americans in the space program at the height of the Apollo era.
Louis Roberts stayed with NASA for the better part of a decade.


When the big budget cuts began at NASA at the end of the Apollo program in the early 1970s, Louis Roberts moved on to the Department of Transportation, where there were
new opportunities for microwave applications.

As the Director of Energy and Environment at the Transportation System Center in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, from 1977 to the present, Louis Roberts helps develop
energy conservation practices for the transportation industries. Currently, transportation accounts for over half of the United States' consumption of petroleum. However, the Energy Conservation Policy Act requires the transportation sector to reduce fuel consumption in all types of vehicles.


David Nelson Crosthwait Jr.

During his time with the company, Crosthwait held many positions, including director of research. While at Dunham, he conducted research in several areas, including heat transfer and steam transport. His work led to many innovations in HVAC devices and technology and held more than 30 U.S. patents. Crosthwait designed HVAC systems; the heating system at Radio City Music Hall in New York City is perhaps the best-known example of his work.

Besides research, product development, and HVAC system design, Crosthwait also advanced his field by writing articles and revising sections of several editions of American Society of Heating and Ventilation Engineers Guide. His accomplishments were recognized by many in his field. He won a medal from the National Technological Association in the 1930s and was made a fellow of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) in 1971??the first African American to received the honor.

The list goes on and on; the space program needs to stay and be revised, it is greatly needed. Government is doing a disservice to this country by stunning our innovation.