From Steamboats to Space

You may remember my writing about the Bucks County Ale Trail in one of my earlier posts. Highlighted on the tee shirt I received from visiting a certain number of breweries on the trail was Tranquility Brewing Company in Warminster. That’s one I hadn’t visited, so I started planning a day trip.

Tranquility Brewing is in a building called “The ‘Fuge”. Huh…that’s an odd name. I had to know more. This began a fascinating dive into history. Did you know that Warminster was a major site for aeronautics research? After reading a bit on the internet, I found that there is a museum there dedicated to the history of the Naval Air Development Center and the Johnsville Centrifuge (a-ha – that’s what the ‘Fuge is!). A visit to the museum (and brewery) was on the schedule!

A little backtracking to explain my interest – I’ve read many books about the space program. I wouldn’t say I’m into “space”, but I like learning about the engineering and what the scientists and astronauts worked through to get to space. My favorites are The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe and Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham. That same interest is also why I like The Martian by Andy Weir (both the book and the movie), the movie Apollo 13, and the movie First Man. I am hoping to one day be writing posts about visiting Cape Canaveral, the Kennedy Space Center, and the Johnson Space Center! (Wait, am I into space?!?)

Back to the museum. It’s official name is the Johnsville Centrifuge and Science Museum and it’s located in the John Fitch Steamboat Museum (open 12-3pm, the second Sunday of every month). Okay. Well, I can’t say I’m all that interested in steamboats, so this will be a quick walk through that bit to get to the space stuff. Except, when we went, we were the only people there. And there was a volunteer primed to welcome visitors.

I am pretty shy, and I’ve already said I’m not a steamboat buff, so a private tour of the history of the steamboat, including small talk, wasn’t something I’d say I would enjoy. I wouldn’t be more wrong. The museum volunteer made the story of John Fitch and his steamboat design so interesting! He started with explaining why steam works to run machines. Though it sounds like an old technology, today’s electricity ultimately comes from steam. Even when you hear something is powered by nuclear energy – like an aircraft carrier - it’s really steam that is doing the work. He then went through early steam engines and their innovations over the years, culminating in John Fitch’s adaptation for boats, his patent and investor tribulations, and many tries at making a go of his steamboat business. John Fitch led an unlucky and unsuccessful life; Robert Fulton, with his Mississippi steamboats, is the person we remember from history.

Then onto airplanes and space! Warminster was the site of the Naval Air Development Center and, at the time, largest centrifuge for studying the effects of g-forces. Astronauts from the Gemini, Mercury, Apollo, and early Space Shuttle programs rode this centrifuge to prepare for space travel. Right in Bucks County! Many other aviation and sensor developments occurred at the NADC until it was closed in 1996. The NADC was also the site of the world’s largest computer – the Typhoon, developed at RCA in Princeton.

- Andrea at Hopewell