Henry Y Sampson (1934), Jackson, Mississippi
Sampson graduated from Lanier High School in his hometown, 1951, and attended Morehouse College for two years, he transferred to Purdue University where he graduated with a Degree in Chemical Engineering. As a research chemical engineer at the U.S. Naval Weapons Center, China Lake, California he trained in the area of high energy solid propellants and case bonding materials for solid rocket motors. Sampson holds patents related to solid rocked motors and conversion of nuclear energy into electricity.
Dr. Sampson co-invented the Gamma-Electric cell which received the patent # 3,591,860 (abstract) on July 6, 1971, and lead to his Gamma – Electric cell device converts nuclear radiation from reactors or isotopes, directly into electricity without going through a heat cycle.
For many years Sampson was the Director of Mission Development and Operations, Space Test Program at the Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, California, where a great deal of his pioneering work was developed. He has written papers in rocket propulsion, direct conversion of nuclear energy to electricity and computer simulation of electrical systems
