Atta Astronautiea Vol. 13. No. 4, p 210. 1986 0094-5765/86 $3.(K~± .I)O Printed in Great Britain. ~ 1986 Pergamon Press Ltd.

IN MEMORIAM

EUGENE MORLOCK E M M E

1920-1985

Eugene Morlock Emme, Ph.D., died June 24, 1985 at Silver Spring, Maryland. He was 65. A member of the IAA, Section 4 Social Sciences, Emme was a Fellow of the AAS, AIAA and BIS. He is survived by his wife Ruth and three children.

Emme became the first Historian of the National Aer- onautics and Space Administration (NASA), serving from 1959 until his retirement in 1978. In this period Dr. Emme established astronautical history programs, not only at NASA, but in astronautical organizations in the United States and the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA). He was founding Chairman of the History Com- mittees of the National Space Club (1960), the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (1968), and the American Astronautical Society (1973).

With IAA Co-Chairman Viktor Sokolsky (U.S.S.R.), Emme established the annual History Symposia, comm- encing at the Belgrade Congress of the International As- tronautical Federation in 1967. He proposed and obtained the annual Robert H. Goddard History Essay of the Na-

tional Space Club, the AIAA History Manuscript Award and the History Series volumes of the American Astro- nautical Society.

Emme promoted astronautical history as a subject wor- thy of recognition and support. He encouraged students to write history, rocket pioneers to produce memoirs, and astronautical societies to document their own histories.

While at NASA Emme organized a superb program of historical publications and encouraged the establishment of history offices at major NASA Centers. Not only did he oversee the writing and publication of contemporary history of U.S. space programs, but he arranged the trans- lation into English of important seminal writings of as- tronautical pioneers, including K. E. Tsiolkovsky, E A. Tsander, N. A. Rynin, H. Oberth, E. S~inger, and M. Valier.

All of us who knew and worked with Gene Emme feel a great loss.

F. C . D U R A N T , 111

Acta Astronauti~a Vol 13. No. 4. pp 210-212, 1986 Printed in Great Britain.

00~4-5765'86 $3.00 + .(KI ( ' 1986 Pergamon Press l.td

IN MEMORIAM

RICHARD GREINACHER

Richard Greinacher, an expert on aerodynamics and on aeronautical statics, highly renowned in professional cir- cles, member of the IAA Section 2 engineering sciences, has died in Berne on the eve of his 75th birthday. The two culminating points of his career were the designing of the C 36 Swiss military airplane and the assessment of the Mirage |II, crucial matters that show the wide range of his activities. Greinacher, who knew the first pioneers of Swiss aviation (Bider) and who was a friend of the first American astronauts, had the good fortune to live through the extensive evolution in aeronautics and to adapt himself to it.

After obtaining his degree as a statics and aerodyn- amics engineer at the Federal Technical College in Zu- rich, with special mention by the examining board, and

spending a year working with the professors R. Dubs and L. Karner in the capacity of first assistant, Richard Grein- acher went into industry. In 1937, the only opportunities in this field were those offered by the Federal construction workshops in Thun, which at that time were concerned with the development of military aircraft.

At Thun, and later on at the time of the establishment of the Federal Aircraft Factory at Emmen, he was re- sponsible for projects in his field, trials in aerodynamic tunnels, research into resistance and fatigue in the struc- ture of military airplanes as well as the analysis of the results of flying tests.

In 1946, Richard Greinacher joined the Department of Military Engineering in Berne in the capacity of Head of the aeronautical engineering department and subse-

210

In Memoriam

quently as Head of the scientific aeronautical section until 1964. Ten years of practical experience added to eighteen years with the Federal Centre for Military Purchases en- abled him to know the ups and downs of a profession in constant evolution.

After he had submitted, unsuccessfully, a design of his own for a fighter plane, the revolutionary design of the Federal armaments factory by the name of N 20 carried the hopes of the air force and of industry. When the politicians lost their courage in supporting this proj- ect, shortly before its first flight, the prototype of P 16, designed by a private company F.F.A. Altenrhein, made its appearance.

Richard Greinacher was then entrusted with the check- ing of the design and with supervising its construction. Once again, this project sank into oblivion, the details having their origin in the history of Swiss aeronautics but also in that of our politicians.

The decision to acquire the Mirage III and its adap- tation to the specific requirements of Switzerland was one of the highlights in the life of Richard Greinacher. In 1964 a considerable storm was caused by the over- stepping of credits. However, the commissions of enquiry proved that, both from the technical aspect and from the

211

tactical aspect, the assessment had been perfectly correct with the result that Richard Greinacher emerged from this experience with his reputation undamaged.

As a result of this affair, parliament decided upon the reorganization of the Department of Military Engineering and its transformation into an Armaments Group, in- volving structural and personal changes to which Richard Greinacher could not and did not wish to submit. He suffered the consequences and left the service of the Confederation in the middle of 1964. He then devoted himself, in the capacity of consultant, to various national and international organizations and also to industrial con- ceres, including the English construction company Hawker Siddeley, which equipped our air force with 160 Hunter aircraft.

The worldwide reputation of Richard Greinacher was only one facet of his personality. Nothing escaped his analyses, which were as relevant as they were accurate. His qualities as a boss who not only demanded a lot but gave a lot as well were accentuated by not only a rare intellectual sharpness but also by a genuine sense of hu- mour.

ERIC MULLER

IN MEMORIAM

RICHARD GREINACHER

A la veille de son 75e anniversaire, Richard Greinacher, spEcialiste de l'aErodynamique et de la statique aEron- autique, tr~s connu des milieux professionnels, membre de I 'IAA Section 2 sciences de l'lngEnieur, est dEcEdE .~ Berne. Les deux points culminants de sa carri~re furent la rEalisation de l 'avion militaire suisse C 36 et l'Eval- uation du Mirage I11, points cruciaux qui marquent Fen- vergure de son activitE. Lui, qui a connu les premiers pionners de l'aviation suisse (Bider) et qui fut l 'ami des premiers astronautes amEricains, eut la chance de vivre I'Evolution considerable de l'aEronautique et de s'y adapter.

AprEs un diplEme d'ingEnieur en statique et adrodyn- amique obtenu avec felicitations du jury b. l'Ecole poly- technique fEdErale de Zurich et un an de collaboration avec les professeurs R. Dubs et L. Karner, en qualitE de premier assistant, Richard Greinacher se lanqa dans Fin- dustrie. En 1937, les seules possibilitEs dans ce domaine Etaient offertes par les Ateliers fEdEraux de construction de Thoune qui s'occupaient alors de l'aviation militaire en dEveloppement.

A Thoune et plus tard lors de la creation de la Fabrique FEdErale d'Avions b. Emmen, il fut responsable de projets dans son domaine, des essais dans les tunnels aErodyn- amiques, de l'Etude de la resistance et de la fatigue des structures d'avions militaires ainsi que de I'exploitation des rEsultats des essais en vol.

En 1946, Richard Greinacher entra au Service tech- nique militaire ~ Berne, en qualitE de Chef du Service technique aEronautique, et plus tard en qualitE de Chef de la section scientifique aEronautique jusqu'en 1964. 10 ans de pratique auxquels s'ajoutent 18 ans au service de la centrale fEdErale d'achats militaires lui firent connaitre les hauts et les bas marquant une profession en constante Evolution.

AprEs avoir present& sans succEs, un projet personnel d'avion de combat, le projet rEvolutionnaire de la Fab- rique fEdErale d'arme appelE N 20 fut porteur des espoirs de l'ArmEe de FAir et de l'lndustrie.

Lorsque les politiciens perdirent le courage de soutenir ce projet, peu avant son premier vol, apparut le prototype de P 16 rEalisE par une sociEtE privEe E E A . Altenrhein.

Richard Greinacher fut alors charge de verifier le projet et d'en assurer la surveillance de la construction. Une fois de plus ce projet sombra dans l'oubli, le detail procEde de l'histoire de l'aEronautique suisse mais aussi de celle de nos politiciens.

La decision d'acquisition du Mirage 111 et son adap- tation aux besoins spEcifiques de la Suisse furent Fun des hauts moments de la vie de Richard Greinacher.

En 1964, un orage considerable fut provoquE par les dEpassements de credit, les commissions d'enqu6tes dE- montr~rent aussi bien au plan technique que tactique, que