[v] This thesis marks the culmination of my master's program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and I owe thanks to a number of people for its successful completion.
I wish first to thank the mentor of this work, Joseph N. Tatarewicz, for his encouragement, advice, and constructive criticism. His optimism and support kept this endeavor on track, and his willingness to work with my sometimes inconvenient schedule was greatly appreciated.
Also deserving of thanks are the members of my review committee in the History Department of UMBC: Sandra Herbert, Joseph L. Arnold, and Gary L. Browne, all of whom waded through the review copy of this work on short notice, and provided pertinent and instructive comments.
The research for this work would have been vastly more difficult if not for the assistance of Keith Koehler, Public Information Officer at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. His guidance regarding Wallops' record collection, and his assistance in arranging interviews was indispensable. I also wish to recognize the aid rendered by Roger D. Launius and Lee D. Saegesser at the NASA History Office in Washington. Their comments and counsel helped me to maximize scarce research time. Similarly, Richard T. Layman and Garland Gouger at NASA's Langley Research Center kindly took time from other duties to facilitate my research during my visit there.
I would especially like to thank Robert T. Duffy, J. Chris Floyd, Marvin W. McGoogan, Joyce B. Milliner, Joseph E. Robbins, and Abraham D. Spinak, all of whom graciously consented to provide the oral history that was needed to fill in the gaps in the written record.
Finally, I thank my family, friends, and co-workers for their understanding and support during this project. Their patience during those times I was consumed with this work is greatly appreciated. Thanks particularly to Catherine Anderson for help with the tables, and Michelle Wallace for the map and chart. Responsibility for errors of fact or interpretation, of course, rests solely with the author.