HEROES OF SPACE
HUGH L. DRYDEN
He built NASA into the world’s greatest space agency
© Wikimedia Commons
From an early age it was apparent that Dryden was gifted. By the age of 22 he held a PhD in physics and mathematics and was the director of the Aerodynamics Division at the National Bureau of Standards. His aptitude with mathematics and aerodynamics saw him become a member of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the precursor agency to NASA, in 1939, and ten years later he was its director. During his time at NACA he oversaw, among other things, the hugely successful X-15 rocket plane program.