research in

nasa history

A Guide to the NASA H istory Program

Steven J. Dick

Stephen J. Garber

Jane H. Odom

Compilers

m o n o g r a p h s i n a e r o s p a c e h i s t o r y , n o . 4 3

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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I SBN 978-0-16-082601-6

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NASA History Division

Office of External Relations

NASA Headquarters

Washington, DC 20546

April 2009

NASA SP-2009-4543
Cover Images:

In 1995, the Hubble Space Telescope captured images of the majestic spiral galaxy NGC 4414. An 

international team of astronomers, led by Dr. Wendy Freedman of the Observatories of the Carnegie 

Institution of Washington, observed this galaxy on 13 different occasions over the course of two months. 

Hubble’s Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) acquired images through three different color filters. 

(Space Telescope Science Institute image PR99-25)

The NASA-Army-Bell XV-15 tiltrotor research aircraft hovers during a test flight in 1976. The aircraft 

demonstrated conversion and forward flight in 1978 as the first tilting rotor vehicle to solve the problems 

of “prop whirl.” As a result of tremendously difficult research, the tiltrotor aircraft was able to combine the 

advantages of vertical liftoff and landing capabilities, which are inherent to the traditional helicopter, with 

the forward speed and range of a fixed-wing turboprop airplane. (NASA image Ames EC80-75)

This gravity model of Africa and Europe was prepared using data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate 

Experiment (GRACE), which was launched on 17 March 2002. (Figure prepared by The University 

of Texas Center for Space Research as part of a collaborative data-analysis effort with the NASA Jet 

Propulsion Laboratory and the GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam. Image provided by University of Texas 

Center for Space Research and NASA.)

The Space Shuttle Atlantis takes flight on its STS-27 mission on 2 December 1988, 9:30 a.m. eastern 

time. (NASA image MSFC 898508)
 RESEARCH IN

A Guide to the NASA History Program

Steven J. Dick

Stephen J. Garber

Jane H. Odom

Compilers

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Office of External Relations

History Division

Washington, DC 20546

MONOG R A PHS IN A E ROS PAC E HISTO R Y, NO . 43

Third Edition

2009

NASA SP-2009-4543
082601-6

26016

90000

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I tn re en :t tskoob ro e enohPvog.opg. : lot ( eerf l 5)668 

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ISBN 978-0-16-082601-6 

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data 

Research in NASA history : a guide to the NASA history program / Steven J. Dick . . . [et al.] compilers.—3rd ed. 

p. cm.—(Monographs in aerospace history ; No. 43) 

Includes bibliographical references and index. 

1. United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration—History. 2. Astronautics—United States—History. 

I. Dick, Steven J. II. United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. History Office. 

TL521.312.R475 2008 

025.06’62940973—dc22 2008010945 
Contents 

Part 1: The NASA History Program 5


1. Introduction 
 7 

2. The NASA History Program 
 9 

3. NASA History Series Publications 
 13 

Part 2: Sources of NASA History in the Washington, DC, Area 25


4. Resources of the NASA History Division 
 27 

5. Resources at Related NASA Offices 
 37 

6. Guide to Related Government History Resources 
 39 

Part 3: Sources of NASA History at the Centers 45


7. Historical Research at the NASA Centers 
 47 

8. Historical Materials at Ames Research Center 
 49 

9. Historical Materials at Dryden Flight Research Center 
 51 

10. Historical Materials at Glenn Research Center 
 53 

11. Historical Materials at Goddard Space Flight Center (Including Wallops Flight Facility) 
 55 

12. Historical Materials at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology 
 57 

13. Historical Materials at Johnson Space Center 
 59 

14. Historical Materials at Kennedy Space Center 
 69 

15. Historical Materials at Langley Research Center 
 75 

16. Historical Materials at Marshall Space Flight Center 
 83 

17. Historical Materials at Stennis Space Center 
 85 

Contents 3 
History is not just a backdrop or a scene-setter. History is cause. 

Columbia Accident Investigation Board Report, volume 1 (2003), p. 195 

Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness . . . . 

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. 

—George Santayana, The Life of Reason (1905) 
PArT 1:


The NASA 

History Program 

Introduction 1

As the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) celebrated its 50th anniversary 

in 2008, historians as well as scientists and engineers could look back on a record of accomplishment. Much has been written about the evolution of NASA’s multifaceted programs and 

the people who carried them out. Yet much remains to be done, and we hope this publication 

will facilitate research in this important field. 

As an active internal function, NASA history also marks its 50th year in 2009. Aware of the 

historic mission on which it was embarking, NASA hired its first Chief Historian, Eugene M. 

Emme, in 1959. Emme remained on the job until 1978 and was the first of an unbroken line 

of NASA Chief Historians that included Monte D. Wright (1978–82), Sylvia Fries (1983–90), and 

Roger D. Launius (1990–2002). These individuals also served as Directors of the History Office 

at NASA Headquarters. As is evident from this publication, the various NASA Centers also carry 

out historical and archival functions. 

Research in NASA History describes the efforts of NASA to capture and record the events of 

its past and to make that past accessible to NASA personnel, the historical community, and 

researchers. It describes the research opportunities and accomplishments of NASA’s Agencywide history program. It also offers a concise guide to the historical documentary resources 

available at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC; at NASA facilities located around the country; and through the federal records systems. 

This third edition of Research in NASA History replaces the first two editions published in 1992 

and 1997, respectively. Those editions were preceded by History at NASA (1986), prepared by 

Sylvia Fries, and the Guide to Research in NASA History, first issued in 1976 and written by Alex 

Roland (second through seventh editions). 

As an introduction to the field of space history, researchers may wish to consult Critical Issues 

in the History of Spaceflight (NASA SP-2006-4702), edited by Steven J. Dick and Roger D. 

Launius and published in 2006. Readers will find there some measure of the riches that await 

researchers in NASA history. 

Steven J. Dick 

NASA Chief Historian 

Director, NASA History Division 

February 2009 

Introduction 7 

The NASA History Program 2 

Background and PurPose 

First established in 1959, the NASA History Program is 

one of more than 250 public history functions within 

the federal government. It is a dedicated, long-term 

effort to provide a comprehensive understanding of 

the institutional, cultural, social, political, economic, 

technological, and scientific aspects of NASA’s activities in aeronautics and space. The program resulted 

from an executive order, first issued by President 

Franklin D. Roosevelt and periodically reemphasized, 

that federal agencies objectively record the history of 

their activities in order to assess policy and departmental effectiveness. 

NASA maintains this historical program for three principal reasons: 

1.	 Publication of historical research on U.S. civilian 

aerospace activities sponsored by NASA is one 

of the ways NASA responds to that provision of 

the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, 

as amended, which requires NASA to “provide for 

the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination of information concerning its activities and the 

results thereof” [42 U.S.C. 2473(a)(3)]. 

2.	 Historical research also responds to NASA’s mandate to study the societal impact of space exploration, namely “the establishment of long-range 

studies of the potential benefits to be gained 

from, the opportunities for, and the problems 

involved in the utilization of aeronautical and 

space activities for peaceful and scientific purposes” [42 U.S.C. 2451(d)(4)]. 

3.	 The thoughtful study of NASA history can assist 

Agency managers in accomplishing the missions 

that are assigned to the Agency. Understanding 

NASA’s past promotes a more complete understanding of its present condition and illuminates possible 

future courses, including corrective measures to 

be taken. As the Columbia Accident Investigation 

Board concluded in its Report, “History is not just 

a backdrop or a scene-setter. History is cause” 

(vol. 1, p. 9). 

These grand strategic ideas have found tangible expression in efforts to ensure that the documentary foundation of the Agency’s history is captured and preserved 

for current and future generations, to stimulate historical research in areas of inquiry that may broaden our 

perceptions of the modern age of aerospace research 

and development, and to disseminate the results of the 

Agency’s historical documentation and research activities. The result of these efforts has been a multilevel 

effort to preserve and disseminate historical knowledge 

about the Agency. 

The NASA History Division has built a significant collection of reference materials organized by subject for use 

by both the public and NASA personnel. These resources 

are used for answering specific requests for information 

by NASA officials and for researching and writing Agency 

history. The office also encourages the development 

of similar collections at NASA Centers throughout the 

nation. The visitors’ log at the NASA Headquarters History 

Division is evidence of the hundreds of persons inside 

and outside the Agency who have used these materials 

in their daily work. As numerous authors have graciously 

acknowledged, the NASA History Program has provided 

the indispensable starting point for research in the history 

of federally sponsored aerospace research and development. From school students preparing a class report to 

busy NASA managers—from congressional staffers, documentary film producers, and journalists to dissertation 

writers—all sorts of researchers have come to rely on 

NASA’s Agency-wide History Program for help in their 

pursuit of knowledge. 

The NASA History Division also has long been active in 

providing context and details of historical developments 

within NASA for use by internal management in assisting with policy decision-making. These staff support 

activities have taken the form of answering information 

requests, researching and writing short historical papers 

The NASA History Program 9 
on issues of significance inside the Agency, and preparing briefings and lectures on contemporary concerns that 

can be illuminated with historical information. 

In addition, the NASA History Program has emphasized, 

as its hallmark, the research and writing of a wide range 

of scholarly works on the history of the American aerospace program. Funded by the Agency, a large number of 

university and independent scholars have contributed to 

the publication of an impressive series of official books, 

monographs, and journal articles. The program also has 

fostered historical research through an annual research 

fellowship competition administered by the American 

Historical Association (AHA) and, more recently, 

through its sponsorship of the History of Science Society 

Fellowship in the History of Space Science, as well as the 

NASA Fellowship in the History of Space Technology. 

Each of these activities is described in subsequent sections of this publication. 

During its first decade, the NASA History Office conducted these three aspects of its mission—reference 

materials collection, staff support, and historical research 

and writing—as a balanced program. Administrator James 

E. Webb (1961–68) was an active user and supporter of 

the division, and other senior-level NASA managers often 

asked the office to provide information and context for 

their then-current concerns. In addition, widespread public interest in the early human spaceflight program led 

NASA to emphasize the publication of narrative histories 

of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo projects, all of which 

were published in the 1960s and 1970s. The aftermath 

of the Challenger and Columbia tragedies has brought 

about major changes in the way NASA sends humans 

into space, and scientists, scholars, and even the general 

public look to this recent past in order to gain a better 

understanding of NASA’s direction. 

With the exception of a limited number of space science, NASA management, and unpiloted space project 

histories, NASA’s historical publications have focused 

overwhelmingly on the human spaceflight program. The 

professional credibility of these publications has been 

consistently high because the Chief Historian (serving 

as the Director of the NASA History Division) has taken 

great care to ensure that manuscripts for publication 

receive thorough “peer” and technical review to guarantee accuracy and objectivity. More recently, the NASA 

History Division, in conjunction with the Science Mission 

Directorate, has begun supporting a large number of histories of space and Earth science in order to redress the 

imbalance of previous decades. Similarly, it is addressing 

large thematic gaps in NASA history, including the societal impact of spaceflight, NASA’s international relations, 

and its life sciences and aeronautics programs. And, as 

section 3 of this volume shows, the NASA History Division 

continues to update its series of reference works, including the documentary histories Exploring the Unknown 

and The Wind and Beyond. 

To answer research questions from NASA personnel, 

journalists, scholars, students, and other interested parties from around the world and to provide a foundation 

for historical research in aeronautics and space history, 

the NASA History Division maintains an on-site archive. 

The History Division also sponsors and organizes academic conferences, workshops, and special events several times each year, as well as posting and maintaining a 

large number of Web sites on NASA history. 

For NASA scientists and engineers who are unfamiliar 

with history, as well as academically oriented historians 

who are unfamiliar with NASA, the “Thinking About 

NASA History” guide is a good introduction to what the 

NASA History Program does and how. It is available at 

http://history.nasa.gov/thinking/index.html on the Web. 

Additional information on the NASA History Program 

may be found at http://history.nasa.gov/program.html. 

The nasa hisTory division’s 

organizaTional seTTing 

The NASA History Division at Headquarters is a part of 

the Office of External Relations, which reports to the 

NASA Administrator. The history programs of each of 

the 10 NASA Centers are embedded in distinct hierarchies within their respective Centers. While this means 

that the Center history programs do not report to the 

NASA Chief Historian, the NASA History Division at 

Headquarters coordinates closely with each Center’s 

programs and provides oversight on various Center 

History projects. The Annual History Review meeting, 

held at a different Center each year, provides the opportunity for NASA historians and archivists to exchange 

ideas and coordinate plans. 

indePendenT inquiry and 

nasa hisTory 

The strength and reach of the NASA History Program 

throughout its existence have been attributable to the 

established institutional commitments and practices of 

the larger organization it serves. Paramount among these 

is that NASA is primarily a research community; therefore, 

the Agency appreciates the importance, in any attempt 

to understand human events, of independent inquiry 

and of a continuing dialogue among researchers. NASA 

10 Research in NASA History 
does not intend the publications in its professionally recognized History Series to be “definitive” accounts, nor 

has their original designation as “official” histories ever 

implied bureaucratic censorship or constraint of individual authors. NASA’s history publications occasionally 

stimulate controversy both inside and outside the Agency. 

This is as it should be, and it testifies to the freedom given 

to NASA-sponsored historians to interpret historical evidence in light of their own best professional judgment. 

NASA’s contractual agreements with scholars for historical research and writing contain an “academic freedom” 

clause that assures each scholar full academic freedom of 

research and expression. All authors are asked to observe 

the highest professional standards for achieving historical accuracy in the representation of facts and events. 

Interpretations should be based on solid primary-source 

evidence, and speculations should be noted as such. In 

turn, NASA-sponsored researchers are granted access to 

all relevant documents and data, subject only to national 

security, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Privacy Act, 

export control, and proprietary considerations. 

FellowshiP Program 

As of 2009, the NASA History Division sponsors three 

fellowships: 

1.	 The NASA-AHA Fellowship in Aerospace 

History. On behalf of NASA, the American 

Historical Association annually administers a fellowship competition for predoctoral or postdoctoral research in any area of NASA-related 

aerospace history. See the AHA Web site at http:// 

www.historians.org/prizes/NASA.htm for further 

information. 

2.	 The History of Science Society Fellowship in 

the History of Space Science. This fellowship 

funds a nine-month research project that is related 

to any aspect of the history of space science, 

from the earliest human interest in space to the 

present. The program is broadly conceived and 

includes the social, cultural, institutional, and personal context of space science history. Proposals 

of advanced research related to all aspects of the 

history of space science are eligible. Space sciences and sciences affected by data and concepts 

developed in connection with space exploration 

include astronomy, Earth science, optics, meteorology, oceanography, and physiology. The fellowship is open to applicants who hold a doctoral 

degree in history or a closely related field, as well 

as students who have completed all requirements 

for the Ph.D., except the dissertation, in the history of science or a related field. The total stipend 

is $17,000 U.S.; the fellowship term is nine months 

and must fall within the period of 1 July to 30 June 

of the award year. Go to http://hssonline.org for 

further information and an application form. The 

deadline for applications is 1 March each year. 

3.	 The NASA Fellowship in the History of Space 

Technology. This fellowship, administered by the 

Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), 

funds one predoctoral or postdoctoral Fellow for 

up to one academic year to undertake a research 

project related to the history of space technology. 

The fellowship may support advanced research 

related to all aspects of space history and leading to publications on the history of space technology broadly considered, including cultural and 

intellectual history, institutional history, economic 

history, the history of law and public policy, and 

the history of engineering and management. The 

fellowship carries a total stipend of $17,000, paid 

quarterly. Funds may not be used to support tuition 

or fees. The NASA Fellow will also receive complimentary SHOT membership for the year of fellowship. The Fellow will be offered opportunities to 

present research results at SHOT’s annual meeting, 

in SHOT’s newsletter, in the electronic version of 

Technology and Culture, through the SHOT Web 

site, or in other outlets as appropriate. Fellows will 

carry out their research projects using personal 

office space, equipment, and supplies. Applicants 

must possess a doctorate in the history of technology or in a closely related field, or be enrolled 

as a student in a doctoral degree program and 

have completed all the requirements for the Ph.D., 

except the dissertation, in the history of technology or a related field. Eligibility is not limited 

to U.S. citizens or residents. More information 

is available at the SHOT Web site: http://www. 

historyoftechnology.org/awards/nasa.html. 

inTernshiPs 

NASA is committed to the educational development of 

future generations. Each NASA Center offers sponsored 

internships on an ongoing basis for students majoring 

in a wide variety of academic fields. During the fall 

and spring school semesters, unpaid internships are 

available for experience or academic credit. Paid fulltime internships are available during the summer as 

well. Interns work on a wide variety of projects. Some 

typical tasks include researching and writing biographical sketches; handling a wide variety of information 

The NASA History Program 11 
requests; updating as well as creating Web pages; 

researching and documenting photos; and arranging, 

describing, and preserving archival materials. For the 

most current information on NASA History Division 

internships at NASA Headquarters, please visit http:// 

history.nasa.gov/interncall.htm. 

conTracT oPPorTuniTies For 

sPonsored research 

A fundamental characteristic of NASA’s history is that 

many of its research and development programs are carried out by the university and industrial communities 

on the basis of contracts with the Agency. As a result, 

aerospace research opportunities are not confined to 

the Agency but are available to innumerable researchers 

in the private sector and in the academic community. 

Similarly, NASA has typically extended its opportunities 

for Agency-sponsored historical research to universityaffiliated and independent scholars throughout the country. The entire scholarly community may thus benefit 

from NASA’s history function, while NASA in turn benefits from the knowledge and research talents of an everwidening circle of professional historians. 

Historical research and writing on the basis of a contract award differ from the research grant more familiar 

to many academic scholars in that contract historians are 

obligated to produce a specified “product” as a result 

of their work. Depending on the contract (and each 

contract is unique), a “product” might be a publishable 

manuscript, a research report, a collection of documents, 

finding aids, or a combination of all four. 

Periodically, the NASA History Division invites scholars to 

submit proposals for research, writing, and documentation projects on subjects of current interest to the Agency. 

These solicitations are publicized in the newsletter of 

the Society for the History of Technology, the History of 

Science Society, the Organization of American Historians, 

and the American Historical Association. They are also 

advertised in the Commerce Business Daily, the official 

vehicle for advertising all contracts awarded by the federal government. The individual solicitation documents 

contain full details on the nature of the historical research 

and writing desired and the specifics of proposal preparation and submission. 

The History Division maintains an electronic mailing list 

of individuals and organizations who want to receive 

information on history contracts. To be added to this list, 

please follow the directions available at http://history. 

nasa.gov/listserv.html online. Those specifically interested in NASA contract opportunities may arrange to 

receive tailored e-mail notifications through the NASA 

Procurement Office’s site at http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/ 

cgi-bin/nens/index.cgi on the Web. 

Authors are also welcome to submit unsolicited NASA 

history proposals. There is guidance about how to do 

this at http://history.nasa.gov/thinking/nasahist-2.html 

on the Web. 

12 Research in NASA History 
NASA History Series Publications 3 

inTroducTion 

The NASA History Division’s publication program is an 

ongoing, long-term effort to publish books, monographs, 

articles, and other studies on the history of NASA and 

its multifaceted research and development of space and 

aeronautical systems, its space exploration efforts, and its 

space science and applications programs. The publications issued under the auspices of the History Division 

respond to the provisions of the National Aeronautics 

and Space Act of 1958, which requires NASA to “provide 

for the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination 

of information concerning its activities and the results 

thereof.” The publications program is reappraised at regular intervals to ensure that subjects of priority to the 

Agency are properly documented. 

The nasa hisTory series 

The list of published works from the NASA History Division 

includes books written by historians officially employed 

by NASA as well as books prepared by historians working 

under contract to the Agency, by individuals outside official NASA channels, and occasionally by staff members. 

Books published as part of the NASA History Series have 

typically appeared in the Special Publications (SP-4000) 

series and are classified in one of several categories. 

Categories of Publications 

The NASA History Division has published significant historical works in various categories, organized generally 

by SP numbers, as follows: 

•	 Reference Works (SP-4000)—The books in this 

category provide information, usually in dictionary, encyclopedia, or chronological form, for use by 

NASA personnel, scholars, and the public. 

•	 Management Histories (SP-4100)—This category 

contains historical works analyzing the institutional 

development of NASA, its institutional culture, and 

its broad functions in the execution of its aeronautics 

and space mission. 

•	 Project Histories (SP-4200)—This category contains the largest number of works, all relating to the 

various aeronautics and space efforts undertaken by 

NASA over its history. 

•	 Center Histories (SP-4300)—The books in this 

category cover the specific histories of the various 

NASA Field Centers. 

•	 General Histories (SP-4400)—This category’s 

publications analyze, in detail, a variety of topics of 

interest to NASA, special issues in the development 

of spaceflight, and the evolution of the aerospace 

program as it relates to the Agency. 

•	 Monographs in Aerospace History (SP-4500)— 

These are studies, shorter than book length, that 

focus on specific issues in NASA’s history that have 

immediate relevance for public policy formulation 

and administration. 

•	 Electronic Media (SP-4600)—This category consists of media resources, including DVDs and CDs, 

available for research purposes. 

•	 Conference Proceedings Series (SP-4700)—This 

category includes the proceedings of NASA conferences and conventions. 

•	 Societal Impact Studies (SP-4800)—The works 

in this collection relate to the impact of space activities, programs, and technologies upon society. 

•	 New Series in NASA History—Published by the 

Johns Hopkins University Press, this category of 

books was initiated in 1987 to increase public awareness of the history of NASA. 

NASA History Series Publications 13 
•	 Contractor Reports and Technical Memoranda— 

The publications in this category are designed for 

internal NASA use to enhance Agency personnel’s 

knowledge and use of history in their current work. 

•	 Historical Reports (HHR)—This category includes 

a series of studies, both published and unpublished, 

generated under the auspices of the NASA History 

Division to satisfy requirements within the Agency. 

Many NASA History Series publications originated as 

HHRs, but only those not otherwise listed will be 

noted in this booklet. 

•	 NASA-Sponsored Historical Works Published 

by Other Presses—These are books sponsored by 

NASA but not published under NASA auspices. 

•	 Translations—This category consists of translations, many of them from Russian, of classic studies 

about space. 

Purchasing nasa hisTory Books 

The following is a list of the various titles published in the 

NASA History Series. Many of these works, unfortunately, 

are no longer in print. However, copies are available in 

many government documents sections at major libraries, 

both university and public, throughout the United States; 

additionally, many of them are available online. 

Books currently in print are available for sale through 

three different avenues—through the Center for AeroSpace 

Information (CASI), the Government Printing Office, and 

the Information Center at Headquarters. Those publications available for purchase through CASI may be purchased online at http://www.sti.nasa.gov/. Likewise, those 

works published through the Government Printing Office 

may be purchased online at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/ 

or by mail. A list of NASA History publications available 

through the Headquarters Information Center is available at http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/hqlibrary/ic/ic2. 

htm#pubs, although customers wishing to purchase publications from the Information Center should either send a 

check or money order or come in person. In-print monographs are made available to the public for the cost of a 

self-addressed, stamped envelope. 

consolidaTed lisT is kePT 

uPdaTed online 

For an updated list indicating which publications are 

in print and how to purchase them, which are available online, and which are out of print, please see 

http://history.nasa.gov/series95.html on the Web. This 

site also has links to online versions of other related 

works that are not in the formal NASA History Series of 

publications. 

FlagshiP PuBlicaTions 

Exploring the Unknown 

This is a projected eight-volume series of selected documents in the history of the U.S. civil space program. 

•	 Logsdon, John M., editor, with Linda J. Lear, Jannelle 

Warren Findley, Ray A. Williamson, and Dwayne A. 

Day. Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in 

the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program, Volume I: 

Organizing for Exploration. NASA SP-4407, 1995. 

•	 Logsdon, John M., editor, with Dwayne A. Day and 

Roger D. Launius. Exploring the Unknown: Selected 

Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space 

Program, Volume II: External Relationships. NASA 

SP-4407, 1996. 

•	 Logsdon, John M., editor, with Roger D. Launius, 

David H. Onkst, and Stephen J. Garber. Exploring 

the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of 

the U.S. Civil Space Program, Volume III: Using Space. 

NASA SP-4407, 1998. 

•	 Logsdon, John M., editor, with Ray A. Williamson, 

Roger D. Launius, Russell J. Acker, Stephen J. Garber, 

and Jonathan L. Friedman. Exploring the Unknown: 

Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil 

Space Program, Volume IV: Accessing Space. NASA 

SP-4407, 1999. 

•	 Logsdon, John M., editor, with Amy Paige Snyder, 

Roger D. Launius, Stephen J. Garber, and Regan 

Anne Newport. Exploring the Unknown: Selected 

Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space 

Program, Volume V: Exploring the Cosmos. NASA 

SP-2001-4407, 2001. 

•	 Logsdon, John M., editor, with Stephen J. Garber, 

Roger D. Launius, and Ray A. Williamson. Exploring 

the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of 

the U.S. Civil Space Program, Volume VI: Space and 

Earth Science. NASA SP-2004-4407, 2004. 

•	 Logsdon, John M., editor, with Roger D. Launius. 

Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the 

History of the U.S. Civil Space Program, Volume VII: 

14 Research in NASA History 
Human Spaceflight: Projects Mercury, Gemini, and 

Apollo. NASA SP-2008-4407, 2008. 

The Wind and Beyond 

How ideas about aerodynamics first developed and how 

the science and technology evolved to forge the airplane 

into the revolutionary machine that it became is the epic 

story told in this projected six-volume series. 

•	 Hansen, James R., editor. The Wind and Beyond: 

Journey into the History of Aerodynamics in America, 

Volume 1: The Ascent of the Airplane. NASA SP-2003­

4409, 2003. 

•	 Hansen, James R., editor. The Wind and Beyond: 

Journey into the History of Aerodynamics in America, 

Volume 2: Reinventing the Airplane. NASA SP-2007­

4409, 2007. 

Brief Histories of NASA 

Overviews of National Advisory Committee for 

Aeronautics (NACA) and NASA accomplishments in aeronautics and space. 

•	 Anderson, Frank W., Jr. Orders of Magnitude: A 

History of NACA and NASA, 1915–1980. NASA 

SP-4403, 1981. Out of print. 

•	 Bilstein, Roger E. Orders of Magnitude: A History 

of the NACA and NASA, 1915–1990. NASA SP-4406, 

1989. Out of print. 

•	 Bilstein, Roger E. Testing Aircraft, Exploring Space: 

An Illustrated History of NACA and NASA. Baltimore: 

Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003. This book is 

an update of Orders of Magnitude: A History of the 

NACA and NASA, 1915–1990. 

Critical Issues in the History of Spaceflight 

This is a volume consisting of scholarship on the current 

state of the discipline of space history presented in a joint 

NASA and National Air and Space Museum (NASM) conference in 2005. The essays presented in the book explore 

such issues as the motivations for spaceflight and the relative merits of human and robotic space exploration. 

•	 Dick, Steven J., and Roger D. Launius. Critical Issues in 

the History of Spaceflight. NASA SP-2006-4702, 2006. 

Societal Impact of Spaceflight 

The purpose of this volume is to examine the effects of 

spaceflight on society through scholarly research, making use especially of the tools of the historian and the 

broader social sciences and humanities. Has the Space 

Age indeed had a significant effect on society? If so, what 

are those influences? What do we mean by an “impact” 

on society? And what parts of society? Conversely, has 

society had any effect on spaceflight? What would be different had there been no Space Age? 

•	 Dick, Steven J., and Roger D. Launius. Societal Impact 

of Spaceflight. NASA SP-2007-4801, 2007. 

Memoirs 

This autobiography by Boris Chertok, a towering figure 

in Soviet/Russian space history, was originally published 

in Russian and has now been specially translated and 

edited for publication in the NASA History Series. These 

two books are the first of four volumes of Chertok’s 

insightful reminiscences on his 60-year career in aviation 

and space. 

•	 Chertok, Boris. Rockets and People, Volume I. NASA 

SP-2005-4110, 2005. This volume is also available 

online. 

•	 Chertok, Boris. Rockets and People, Volume II: 

Creating a Rocket Industry. NASA SP-2006-4110, 

2006. 

This thoroughly researched, insightful biography by 

a fellow New Zealander who came to the U.S. and 

worked with William Pickering, who became the 

Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), is a 

timely addition to the aerospace history literature and 

an engaging portrait of one of the pioneers of early 

U.S. robotic spaceflight. 

•	 Mudgway, Douglas J. William H. Pickering: America’s 

Deep Space Pioneer. NASA SP-2007-4113, 2007. 

Aeronautics and Space Report of the President 

The annual Aeronautics and Space Report of the 

President is a summary of the government’s aerospace 

activities each year. Mandated by law, it contains information on aerospace activities conducted by 14 federal 

departments and agencies. It also contains an executive 

summary organized by agency and narrative sections 

organized by subject, as well as extensive appendices 

containing useful historical data on spacecraft launches, 

NASA History Series Publications 15 
budget figures, key policy documents from the fiscal 

year, and a glossary. 

•	 Electronic versions of the editions for 1995 through 

2006 are available from http://history.nasa.gov/ 

presrep.htm online. 

•	 Previous volumes are available in hard copy. 

NASA Historical Data Books 

The NASA Historical Data Book Series provides a statistical summary of the first 40 years of the National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA finances, 

personnel, and installations are covered, along with the 

Agency’s major programs and projects. Volumes I and II 

are currently out of print and unavailable in electronic 

format. Volumes VII and VIII for 1989–98 will be published soon. 

•	 Van Nimmen, Jane, and Leonard C. Bruno, with 

Robert L. Rosholt. NASA Historical Data Book, Volume 

I: NASA Resources, 1958–1968. NASA SP-4012, 1976, 

rep. ed. 1988. 

•	 Ezell, Linda Neuman. NASA Historical Data Book, 

Volume II: Programs and Projects, 1958–1968. NASA 

SP-4012, 1988. 

•	 Ezell, Linda Neuman. NASA Historical Data Book, 

Volume III: Programs and Projects, 1969–1978. 

NASA SP-4012, 1988. 

•	 Gawdiak, Ihor, with Helen Fedor. NASA Historical 

Data Book, Volume IV: NASA Resources, 1969–1978. 

NASA SP-4012, 1994. 

•	 Rumerman, Judy A. NASA Historical Data 

Book, Volume V: NASA Launch Systems, Space 

Transportation, Human Spaceflight, and Space 

Science, 1979–1988. NASA SP-4012, 1999. 

•	 Rumerman, Judy A. NASA Historical Data Book, 

Volume VI: Space Applications, Aeronautics, and 

Other Topics, 1979–1988. NASA SP-4012, 1999. 

•	 Rumerman, Judy A. NASA Historical Data 

Book, Volume VII: NASA Launch Systems, Space 

Transportation/Human Spaceflight, and Space 

Science, 1989–1998, forthcoming in 2009. 

•	 Rumerman, Judy A. NASA Historical Data Book, 

Volume VIII: NASA Space Applications, Aeronautics, 

Technology, Tracking and Data Acquisition, Facilities, 

and Resources, 1989–1998, forthcoming in 2009. 

Astronautics and Aeronautics Chronology 

A chronology of events in aeronautics, aviation, space 

science, and space exploration. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1963: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4004, 1964. 

Out of print. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1964: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4005, 1965. 

Out of print. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1965: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4006, 1966. 

Out of print. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1966: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4007, 1967. 

Out of print. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1967: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4008, 1968. 

Out of print. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1968: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4010, 1969. 

Out of print. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1970: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4015, 1972. 

Out of print. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1971: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4016, 1972. 

Out of print. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1972: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4017, 1974. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1973: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4018, 1975. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1974: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4019, 1977. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1975: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4020, 1979. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1976: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4021, 1984. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1977: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4022, 1986. 

16 Research in NASA History 
•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1978: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4023, 1986. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1979–1984: Chronology 

of Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4024, 1988. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1985: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4025, 1990. 

•	 Gawdiak, Ihor Y., Ramon J. Miro, and Sam Stueland, 

compilers. Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1986– 

1990: A Chronology. NASA SP-4027, 1997. 

•	 Gawdiak, Ihor Y., and Charles Shetland. Astronautics 

and Aeronautics, 1990–1995: A Chronology. NASA 

SP-2000-4028, 2000. 

nasa PuBlicaTions By sPecial 

PuBlicaTion (sP) numBer 

Reference Works, NASA SP-4000 

•	 Grimwood, James M. Project Mercury: A Chronology. 

NASA SP-4001, 1963. 

•	 Grimwood, James M., and Barton C. Hacker, with 

Peter J. Vorzimmer. Project Gemini Technology and 

Operations: A Chronology. NASA SP-4002, 1969. 

•	 Link, Mae Mills. Space Medicine in Project Mercury. 

NASA SP-4003, 1965. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1963: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4004, 1964. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1964: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4005, 1965. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1965: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4006, 1966. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1966: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4007, 1967. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1967: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4008, 1968. 

•	 Ertel, Ivan D., and Mary Louise Morse. The Apollo 

Spacecraft: A Chronology, Volume I: Through 

November 7, 1962. NASA SP-4009, 1969. 

•	 Morse, Mary Louise, and Jean Kernahan Bays. 

The Apollo Spacecraft: A Chronology, Volume II: 

November 8, 1962–September 30, 1964. NASA 

SP-4009, 1973. 

•	 Brooks, Courtney G., and Ivan D. Ertel. The Apollo 

Spacecraft: A Chronology, Volume III: October 1, 

1964–January 20, 1966. NASA SP-4009, 1973. 

•	 Ertel, Ivan D., and Roland W. Newkirk, with Courtney 

G. Brooks. The Apollo Spacecraft: A Chronology, 

Volume IV: January 21, 1966–July 13, 1974. NASA 

SP-4009, 1978. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1968: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4010, 1969. 

•	 Newkirk, Roland W., and Ivan D. Ertel, with 

Courtney G. Brooks. Skylab: A Chronology. NASA 

SP-4011, 1977. 

•	 Van Nimmen, Jane, and Leonard C. Bruno, with 

Robert L. Rosholt. NASA Historical Data Book, 

Volume I: NASA Resources, 1958–1968. NASA 

SP-4012, 1976, rep. ed. 1988. 

•	 Ezell, Linda Neuman. NASA Historical Data Book, 

Volume II: Programs and Projects, 1958–1968. 

NASA SP-4012, 1988. 

•	 Ezell, Linda Neuman. NASA Historical Data Book, 

Volume III: Programs and Projects, 1969–1978. 

NASA SP-4012, 1988. 

•	 Gawdiak, Ihor, with Helen Fedor. NASA Historical 

Data Book, Volume IV: NASA Resources, 1969–1978. 

NASA SP-4012, 1994. 

•	 Rumerman, Judy A. NASA Historical Data 

Book, Volume V: NASA Launch Systems, Space 

Transportation, Human Spaceflight, and Space 

Science, 1979–1988. NASA SP-4012, 1999. 

•	 Rumerman, Judy A. NASA Historical Data Book, 

Volume VI: Space Applications, Aeronautics, and 

Other Topics, 1979–1988. NASA SP-4012, 1999. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1969: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4014, 1970. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1970: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4015, 1972. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1971: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4016, 1972. 

NASA History Series Publications 17 
•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1972: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4017, 1974. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1973: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4018, 1975. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1974: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4019, 1977. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1975: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4020, 1979. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1976: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4021, 1984. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1977: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4022, 1986. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1978: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4023, 1986. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1979–1984: 

Chronology of Science, Technology, and Policy. 

NASA SP-4024, 1988. 

•	 Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1985: Chronology of 

Science, Technology, and Policy. NASA SP-4025, 1990. 

•	 Noordung, Hermann. The Problem of Space Travel: 

The Rocket Motor. Edited by Ernst Stuhlinger and J. D. 

Hunley, with Jennifer Garland. NASA SP-4026, 1995. 

•	 Gawdiak, Ihor Y., Ramon J. Miro, and Sam Stueland, 

compilers. Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1986– 

1990: A Chronology. NASA SP-4027, 1997. 

•	 Gawdiak, Ihor Y., and Charles Shetland. Astronautics 

and Aeronautics, 1990–1995: A Chronology. NASA 

SP-2000-4028, 2000. 

•	 Orloff, Richard W. Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical 

Reference. NASA SP-2000-4029, 2000. 

Management Histories, NASA SP-4100 

•	 Rosholt, Robert L. An Administrative History of 

NASA, 1958–1963. NASA SP-4101, 1966. 

•	 Levine, Arnold S. Managing NASA in the Apollo Era. 

NASA SP-4102, 1982. 

•	 Roland, Alex. Model Research: The National Advisory 

Committee for Aeronautics, 1915–1958. NASA 

SP-4103, 1985. 

•	 Fries, Sylvia D. NASA Engineers and the Age of 

Apollo. NASA SP-4104, 1992. Available online at 

http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4104/sp4104.htm. 

•	 Glennan, T. Keith. The Birth of NASA: The Diary 

of T. Keith Glennan. Edited by J. D. Hunley. NASA 

SP-4105, 1993. 

•	 Seamans, Robert C. Aiming at Targets: The 

Autobiography of Robert C. Seamans. NASA SP-4106, 

1996. 

•	 Garber, Stephen J., editor. Looking Backward, 

Looking Forward: Forty Years of Human Spaceflight 

Symposium. NASA SP-2002-4107, 2002. 

•	 Mallick, Donald L., with Peter W. Merlin. The Smell 

of Kerosene: A Test Pilot’s Odyssey. NASA SP-4108, 

2003. 

•	 Iliff, Kenneth W., and Curtis L. Peebles. From Runway 

to Orbit: Reflections of a NASA Engineer. NASA 

SP-2004-4109, 2004. 

•	 Chertok, Boris. Rockets and People, Volume I. NASA 

SP-2005-4110, 2005. 

•	 Chertok, Boris. Rockets and People, Volume II: Creating 

a Rocket Industry. NASA SP-2006-4110, 2006. 

•	 Laufer, Alexander, Todd Post, and Edward Hoffman. 

Shared Voyage: Learning and Unlearning from 

Remarkable Projects. NASA SP-2005-4111, 2005. 

•	 Dawson, Virginia P., and Mark D. Bowles. Realizing 

the Dream of Flight: Biographical Essays in Honor of 

the Centennial of Flight, 1903–2003. NASA SP-2005­

4112, 2005. 

•	 Mudgway, Douglas J. William H. Pickering: America’s 

Deep Space Pioneer. NASA SP-2008-4113, 2008. 

Project Histories, NASA SP-4200 

•	 Swenson, Loyd S., Jr., James M. Grimwood, and 

Charles C. Alexander. This New Ocean: A History of 

Project Mercury. NASA SP-4201, 1966, rep. ed. 1999. 

•	 Green, Constance McLaughlin, and Milton Lomask. 

Vanguard: A History. NASA SP-4202, 1970; rep. ed. 

Smithsonian Institution Press, 1971. 

•	 Hacker, Barton C., and James M. Grimwood. On 

Shoulders of Titans: A History of Project Gemini. 

NASA SP-4203, 1977, rep. ed. 2002. 

18 Research in NASA History 
•	 Benson, Charles D., and William Barnaby Faherty. 

Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and 

Operations. NASA SP-4204, 1978. 

•	 Brooks, Courtney G., James M. Grimwood, and 

Loyd S. Swenson, Jr. Chariots for Apollo: A History of 

Manned Lunar Spacecraft. NASA SP-4205, 1979. 

•	 Bilstein, Roger E. Stages to Saturn: A Technological 

History of the Apollo/Saturn Launch Vehicles. NASA 

SP-4206, 1980 and 1996. 

•	 Compton, W. David, and Charles D. Benson. Living 

and Working in Space: A History of Skylab. NASA 

SP-4208, 1983. 

•	 Ezell, Edward Clinton, and Linda Neuman Ezell. 

The Partnership: A History of the Apollo-Soyuz Test 

Project. NASA SP-4209, 1978. 

•	 Hall, R. Cargill. Lunar Impact: A History of Project 

Ranger. NASA SP-4210, 1977. 

•	 Newell, Homer E. Beyond the Atmosphere: Early 

Years of Space Science. NASA SP-4211, 1980. 

•	 Ezell, Edward Clinton, and Linda Neuman Ezell. On 

Mars: Exploration of the Red Planet, 1958–1978. 

NASA SP-4212, 1984. 

•	 Pitts, John A. The Human Factor: Biomedicine in the 

Manned Space Program to 1980. NASA SP-4213, 1985. 

•	 Compton, W. David. Where No Man Has Gone 

Before: A History of Apollo Lunar Exploration 

Missions. NASA SP-4214, 1989. 

•	 Naugle, John E. First Among Equals: The Selection of 

NASA Space Science Experiments. NASA SP-4215, 1991. 

•	 Wallace, Lane E. Airborne Trailblazer: Two Decades 

with NASA Langley’s 737 Flying Laboratory. NASA 

SP-4216, 1994. 

•	 Butrica, Andrew J. Beyond the Ionosphere: Fifty Years 

of Satellite Communications. NASA SP-4217, 1997. 

•	 Butrica, Andrew J. To See the Unseen: A History of 

Planetary Radar Astronomy. NASA SP-4218, 1996. 

•	 Mack, Pamela E., editor. From Engineering Science 

to Big Science: The NACA and NASA Collier Trophy 

Research Project Winners. NASA SP-4219, 1998. 

•	 Reed, R. Dale. Wingless Flight: The Lifting Body Story. 

NASA SP-4220, 1998. 

•	 Heppenheimer, T. A. The Space Shuttle Decision: 

NASA’s Search for a Reusable Space Vehicle. NASA 

SP-4221, 1999. 

•	 Hunley, J. D., editor. Toward Mach 2: The Douglas 

D-558 Program. NASA SP-4222, 1999. 

•	 Swanson, Glen E., editor. “Before This Decade Is 

Out . . .”: Personal Reflections on the Apollo Program. 

NASA SP-4223, 1999. 

•	 Tomayko, James E. Computers Take Flight: A History 

of NASA’s Pioneering Digital Fly-By-Wire Project. 

NASA SP-4224, 2000. 

•	 Leary, William M. We Freeze to Please: A History 

of NASA’s Icing Research Tunnel and the Quest for 

Safety. NASA SP-2002-4226, 2002. 

•	 Mudgway, Douglas J. Uplink-Downlink: A History of 

the Deep Space Network, 1957–1997. NASA SP-2001­

4227, 2001. 

•	 Dawson, Virginia P., and Mark D. Bowles. Taming 

Liquid Hydrogen: The Centaur Upper Stage Rocket, 

1958–2002. NASA SP-2004-4230, 2004. 

•	 Meltzer, Michael. Mission to Jupiter: A History of the 

Galileo Project. NASA SP-2007-4231, 2007. 

•	 Heppenheimer, T. A. Facing the Heat Barrier: A 

History of Hypersonics. NASA SP-2007-4232, 2007. 

•	 Tsiao, Sunny. “Read You Loud and Clear!” The Story 

of NASA’s Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network. 

NASA SP-2007-4233, 2008. 

Center Histories, NASA SP-4300 

•	 Rosenthal, Alfred. Venture into Space: Early Years of 

Goddard Space Flight Center. NASA SP-4301, 1985. 

•	 Hartman, Edwin P. Adventures in Research: A History 

of Ames Research Center, 1940–1965. NASA SP-4302, 

1970. Available online at http://history.nasa.gov/ 

SP-4302/sp4302.htm. 

•	 Hallion, Richard P. On the Frontier: Flight Research at 

Dryden, 1946–1981. NASA SP-4303, 1984. 

NASA History Series Publications 19 
•	 Muenger, Elizabeth A. Searching the Horizon: A 

History of Ames Research Center, 1940–1976. NASA 

SP-4304, 1985. 

•	 Hansen, James R. Engineer in Charge: A History of 

the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory, 1917–1958. 

NASA SP-4305, 1987. Available online at http:// 

history.nasa.gov/SP-4305/sp4305.htm. 

•	 Dawson, Virginia P. Engines and Innovation: Lewis 

Laboratory and American Propulsion Technology. 

NASA SP-4306, 1991. 

•	 Dethloff, Henry C. “Suddenly Tomorrow Came . . .”: 

A History of the Johnson Space Center, 1957–1990. 

NASA SP-4307, 1993. 

•	 Hansen, James R. Spaceflight Revolution: NASA 

Langley Research Center from Sputnik to Apollo. 

NASA SP-4308, 1995. 

•	 Wallace, Lane E. Flights of Discovery: An Illustrated 

History of the Dryden Flight Research Center. NASA 

SP-4309, 1996. 

•	 Herring, Mack R. Way Station to Space: A History of the 

John C. Stennis Space Center. NASA SP-4310, 1997. 

•	 Wallace, Harold D., Jr. Wallops Station and the 

Creation of an American Space Program. NASA 

SP-4311, 1997. 

•	 Wallace, Lane E. Dreams, Hopes, Realities. NASA’s 

Goddard Space Flight Center: The First Forty Years. 

NASA SP-4312, 1999. 

•	 Dunar, Andrew J., and Stephen P. Waring. Power to 

Explore: A History of Marshall Space Flight Center, 

1960–1990. NASA SP-4313, 1999. 

•	 Bugos, Glenn E. Atmosphere of Freedom: Sixty Years 

at the NASA Ames Research Center. NASA SP-2000­

4314, 2000. 

•	 Schultz, James. Crafting Flight: Aircraft Pioneers and 

the Contributions of the Men and Women of NASA 

Langley Research Center. NASA SP-2003-4316, 2003. 

•	 Bowles, Mark D. Science in Flux: NASA’s Nuclear 

Program at Plum Brook Station, 1955–2005. NASA 

SP-2006-4317, 2006. 

•	 Wallace, Lane E. Flights of Discovery: An Illustrated 

History of the Dryden Flight Research Center. NASA 

SP-4318, 2007. Revised version of SP-4309. 

General Histories, NASA SP-4400 

•	 Corliss, William R. NASA Sounding Rockets, 1958– 

1968: A Historical Summary. NASA SP-4401, 1971. 

•	 Wells, Helen T., Susan H. Whiteley, and Carrie 

Karegeannes. Origins of NASA Names. NASA 

SP-4402, 1976. 

•	 Anderson, Frank W., Jr. Orders of Magnitude: A 

History of NACA and NASA, 1915–1980. NASA 

SP-4403, 1981. 

•	 Sloop, John L. Liquid Hydrogen as a Propulsion 

Fuel, 1945–1959. NASA SP-4404, 1978. 

•	 Roland, Alex. A Spacefaring People: Perspectives on 

Early Spaceflight. NASA SP-4405, 1985. 

•	 Bilstein, Roger E. Orders of Magnitude: A History of the 

NACA and NASA, 1915–1990. NASA SP-4406, 1989. 

•	 Logsdon, John M., editor, with Linda J. Lear, Jannelle 

Warren Findley, Ray A. Williamson, and Dwayne A. 

Day. Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in 

the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program, Volume I: 

Organizing for Exploration. NASA SP-4407, 1995. 

•	 Logsdon, John M., editor, with Dwayne A. Day and 

Roger D. Launius. Exploring the Unknown: Selected 

Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space 

Program, Volume II: External Relationships. NASA 

SP-4407, 1996. 

•	 Logsdon, John M., editor, with Roger D. Launius, 

David H. Onkst, and Stephen J. Garber. Exploring 

the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of 

the U.S. Civil Space Program, Volume III: Using Space. 

NASA SP-4407, 1998. 

•	 Logsdon, John M., editor, with Ray A. Williamson, 

Roger D. Launius, Russell J. Acker, Stephen J. Garber, 

and Jonathan L. Friedman. Exploring the Unknown: 

Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil 

Space Program, Volume IV: Accessing Space. NASA 

SP-4407, 1999. 

•	 Logsdon, John M., editor, with Amy Paige Snyder, 

Roger D. Launius, Stephen J. Garber, and Regan 

Anne Newport. Exploring the Unknown: Selected 

Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space 

Program, Volume V: Exploring the Cosmos. NASA 

SP-4407, 2001. 

20 Research in NASA History 
•	 Logsdon, John M., editor, with Stephen J. Garber, 

Roger D. Launius, and Ray A. Williamson. Exploring 

the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of 

the U.S. Civil Space Program, Volume VI: Space and 

Earth Science. NASA SP-2004-4407, 2004. 

•	 Logsdon, John M., editor, with Roger D. Launius. 

Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the 

History of the U.S. Civil Space Program, Volume VII: 

Human Spaceflight: Projects Mercury, Gemini, and 

Apollo. NASA SP-2008-4407, 2008. 

•	 Siddiqi, Asif A. Challenge to Apollo: The Soviet Union 

and the Space Race, 1945–1974. NASA SP-2000­

4408, 2000. 

•	 Hansen, James R., editor. The Wind and Beyond: 

Journey into the History of Aerodynamics in America, 

Volume 1: The Ascent of the Airplane. NASA SP-2003­

4409, 2003. 

•	 Hansen, James R., editor. The Wind and Beyond: 

Journey into the History of Aerodynamics in America, 

Volume 2: Reinventing the Airplane. NASA SP-2007­

4409, 2007. 

•	 Hogan, Thor. Mars Wars: The Rise and Fall of the 

Space Exploration Initiative. NASA SP-2007-4410, 

2007. 

Monographs in Aerospace History (SP-4500 Series) 

•	 Launius, Roger D., and Aaron K. Gillette, compilers. 

Toward a History of the Space Shuttle: An Annotated 

Bibliography. Monograph in Aerospace History No. 

1, 1992. 

•	 Launius, Roger D., and J. D. Hunley, compilers. 

An Annotated Bibliography of the Apollo Program. 

Monograph in Aerospace History No. 2, 1994. 

•	 Launius, Roger D. Apollo: A Retrospective Analysis. 

Monograph in Aerospace History No. 3, 1994. 

•	 Hansen, James R. Enchanted Rendezvous: John 

C. Houbolt and the Genesis of the Lunar-Orbit 

Rendezvous Concept. Monograph in Aerospace 

History No. 4, 1995. 

•	 Gorn, Michael H. Hugh L. Dryden’s Career in Aviation 

and Space. Monograph in Aerospace History No. 5, 

1996. 

•	 Powers, Sheryll Goecke. Women in Flight Research 

at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center from 1946 

to 1995. Monograph in Aerospace History No. 6, 

1997. 

•	 Portree, David S. F., and Robert C. Trevino. Walking 

to Olympus: An EVA Chronology. Monograph in 

Aerospace History No. 7, 1997. 

•	 Logsdon, John M., moderator. Legislative Origins of 

the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958: 

Proceedings of an Oral History Workshop. Monograph 

in Aerospace History No. 8, 1998. 

•	 Rumerman, Judy A., compiler. U.S. Human 

Spaceflight: A Record of Achievement, 1961–1998. 

Monograph in Aerospace History No. 9, 1998. 

•	 Portree, David S. F. NASA’s Origins and the Dawn of 

the Space Age. Monograph in Aerospace History No. 

10, 1998. 

•	 Logsdon, John M. Together in Orbit: The Origins 

of International Cooperation in the Space Station. 

Monograph in Aerospace History No. 11, 1998. 

•	 Phillips, W. Hewitt. Journey in Aeronautical 

Research: A Career at NASA Langley Research Center. 

Monograph in Aerospace History No. 12, 1998. 

•	 Braslow, Albert L. A History of Suction-Type LaminarFlow Control with Emphasis on Flight Research. 

Monograph in Aerospace History No. 13, 1999. 

•	 Logsdon, John M., moderator. Managing the Moon 

Program: Lessons Learned From Apollo. Monograph 

in Aerospace History No. 14, 1999. 

•	 Perminov, V. G. The Difficult Road to Mars: A Brief 

History of Mars Exploration in the Soviet Union. 

Monograph in Aerospace History No. 15, 1999. 

•	 Maisel, Martin, Demo J. Giulanetti, and Daniel C. 

Dugan. The History of the XV-15 Tilt Rotor Research 

Aircraft: From Concept to Flight. Monograph in 

Aerospace History No. 17, NASA SP-2000-4517, 2000. 

•	 Jenkins, Dennis R. Hypersonics Before the Shuttle: 

A Concise History of the X-15 Research Airplane. 

Monograph in Aerospace History No. 18, NASA 

SP-2000-4518, 2000. 

• Chambers, Joseph R. Partners in Freedom: 

Contributions of the Langley Research Center to 

U.S. Military Aircraft of the 1990s. Monograph in 

Aerospace History No. 19, NASA SP-2000-4519, 

2000. 

NASA History Series Publications 21 
•	 Waltman, Gene L. Black Magic and Gremlins: 

Analog Flight Simulations at NASA’s Flight Research 

Center. Monograph in Aerospace History No. 20, 

NASA SP-2000-4520, 2000. 

•	 Portree, David S. F. Humans to Mars: Fifty Years 

of Mission Planning, 1950–2000. Monograph in 

Aerospace History No. 21, NASA SP-2001-4521, 2001. 

•	 Thompson, Milton O., with J. D. Hunley. Flight 

Research: Problems Encountered and What They 

Should Teach Us. Monograph in Aerospace History 

No. 22, NASA SP-2001-4522, 2001. 

•	 Tucker, Tom. The Eclipse Project. Monograph in 

Aerospace History No. 23, NASA SP-2001-4523, 

2001. 

•	 Siddiqi, Asif A. Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology 

of Deep Space and Planetary Probes, 1958–2000. 

Monograph in Aerospace History No. 24, NASA 

SP-2002-4524, 2002. 

•	 Merlin, Peter W. Mach 3+: NASA/USAF YF-12 Flight 

Research, 1969–1979. Monograph in Aerospace 

History No. 25, NASA SP-2001-4525, 2001. 

•	 Anderson, Seth B. Memoirs of an Aeronautical 

Engineer: Flight Tests at Ames Research Center: 

1940–1970. Monograph in Aerospace History No. 

26, NASA SP-2002-4526, 2002. 

•	 Renstrom, Arthur G. Wilbur and Orville Wright: A 

Bibliography Commemorating the One-Hundredth 

Anniversary of the First Powered Flight on December 

17, 1903. Monograph in Aerospace History No. 27, 

NASA SP-2002-4527, 2002. 

There is no Monograph 28. 

•	 Chambers,Joseph R.ConcepttoReality:Contributions 

of the NASA Langley Research Center to U.S. Civil 

Aircraft of the 1990s. Monograph in Aerospace 

History No. 29, SP-2003-4529, 2003. 

•	 Peebles,Curtis,editor. The Spoken Word: Recollections 

of Dryden History, The Early Years. Monograph in 

Aerospace History No. 30, SP-2003-4530, 2003. 

•	 Jenkins, Dennis R., Tony Landis, and Jay Miller. 

American X-Vehicles: An Inventory—X-1 to X-50. 

Monograph in Aerospace History No. 31, SP-2003­

4531, 2003. 

•	 Renstrom, Arthur G. Wilbur and Orville Wright: A 

Chronology Commemorating the One-Hundredth 

Anniversary of the First Powered Flight on December 

17, 1903. Monograph in Aerospace History No. 32, 

NASA SP-2003-4532, 2002. 

•	 Bowles, Mark D., and Robert S. Arrighi. NASA’s 

Nuclear Frontier: The Plum Brook Research Reactor. 

Monograph in Aerospace History No. 33, SP-2004­

4533, 2003. 

•	 Matranga, Gene J., C. Wayne Ottinger, Calvin R. 

Jarvis, and D. Christian Gelzer. Unconventional, 

Contrary, and Ugly: The Lunar Landing Research 

Vehicle. Monograph in Aerospace History No. 35, 

NASA SP-2004-4535, 2006. 

•	 McCurdy, Howard E. Low-Cost Innovation in 

Spaceflight: The History of the Near Earth Asteroid 

Rendezvous (NEAR) Mission. Monograph in Aerospace 

History No. 36, NASA SP-2005-4536, 2005. 

•	 Seamans, Robert C., Jr. Project Apollo: The Tough 

Decisions. Monograph in Aerospace History No. 37, 

NASA SP-2005-4537, 2005. 

•	 Lambright, W. Henry. NASA and the Environment: 

The Case of Ozone Depletion. Monograph in 

Aerospace History No. 38, NASA SP-2005-4538, 

2005. 

•	 Chambers, Joseph R. Innovation in Flight: Research of 

the NASA Langley Research Center on Revolutionary 

Advanced Concepts for Aeronautics. Monograph in 

Aerospace History No. 39, NASA SP-2005-4539, 2005. 

This monograph is available only online. 

•	 Phillips, W. Hewitt. Journey into Space Research: 

Continuation of a Career at NASA Langley Research 

Center. Monograph in Aerospace History No. 40, 

NASA SP-2005-4540, 2005. This monograph is available only online. 

•	 Rumerman,Judy A.,compiler.U.S. Human Spaceflight: 

A Record of Achievement, 1961–2006. Monograph 

in Aerospace History No. 41, NASA SP-2007-4541, 

2007. This is an update by Chris Gamble and Gabriel 

Okolski of the similarly titled Monograph 9 that was 

published in 1998. 

Dryden Historical Studies 

•	 Tomayko, James E., author, and Christian Gelzer, editor. The Story of Self-Repairing Flight Control Systems is 

Dryden Historical Study No. 1. This study is available 

22 Research in NASA History 
from the Dryden Flight Research Center History 

Division by sending a self-addressed 9-by-11-inch flatrate Priority Mail envelope for each study to the NASA 

Dryden Flight Research Center History Division, Mail 

Stop 1613, P.O. Box 273, Edwards, CA 93523. 

Electronic Media (SP-4600 Series) 

•	 Remembering Apollo 11: The 30th Anniversary Data 

Archive CD-ROM. SP-4601, 1999. 

•	 The Mission Transcript Collection: U.S. Human 

Spaceflight Missions from Mercury Redstone 3 to 

Apollo 17. SP-2000-4602, 2001. 

•	 Shuttle-Mir: The United States and Russia Share 

History’s Highest Stage. SP-2001-4603, 2002. 

•	 U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission Presents “Born of 

Dreams—Inspired by Freedom.” SP-2004-4604, 2004. 

•	 Of Ashes and Atoms: A Documentary on the NASA 

Plum Brook Reactor Facility. NASA SP-2005-4605, 

2005. 

•	 Taming Liquid Hydrogen: The Centaur Upper Stage 

Rocket Interactive CD-ROM. SP-2004-4606, 2004. 

•	 Fueling Space Exploration: The History of NASA’s 

Rocket Engine Test Facility DVD. NASA SP-2005-4607, 

2005. 

•	 Altitude Wind Tunnel at NASA Glenn Research 

Center: An Interactive History CD-ROM. NASA 

SP-2008-4608. 

Conference Proceedings (SP-4700 Series) 

•	 Dick, Steven J., and Keith L. Cowing, editors. Risk 

and Exploration: Earth, Sea and the Stars. NASA 

SP-2005-4701, 2005. 

•	 Dick, Steven J., and Roger D. Launius. Critical 

Issues in the History of Spaceflight. NASA SP-2006­

4702, 2006. 

•	 Dick, Steven J., editor. Remembering the Space Age: 

Proceedings of the 50th Anniversary Conference. 

NASA SP-2008-4703, 2008. 

Societal Impact of Spaceflight (SP-4800 Series) 

•	 Dick, Steven J., and Roger D. Launius. Societal Impact 

of Spaceflight. NASA SP-2007-4801, 2007. 

New Series in NASA History Published 

by the Johns Hopkins University Press 

•	 Cooper, Henry S. F., Jr. Before Lift-off: The Making 

of a Space Shuttle Crew. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins 

University Press, 1987. 

•	 McCurdy, Howard E. The Space Station Decision: 

Incremental Politics and Technological Choice. 

Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990. 

•	 Hufbauer, Karl. Exploring the Sun: Solar Science 

Since Galileo. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University 

Press, 1991. 

•	 McCurdy, Howard E. Inside NASA: High Technology 

andOrganizationalChangeintheU.S.SpaceProgram. 

Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993. 

•	 Lambright, W. Henry. Powering Apollo: James E. 

Webb of NASA. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University 

Press, 1995. 

•	 Bromberg, Joan Lisa. NASA and the Space Industry. 

Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999. 

•	 Beattie, Donald A. Taking Science to the Moon: Lunar 

Experiments and the Apollo Program. Baltimore: 

Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001. 

•	 McCurdy, Howard E. Faster, Better, Cheaper: LowCost Innovation in the U.S. Space Program. Baltimore: 

Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001. 

•	 Johnson, Stephen B. The Secret of Apollo: Systems 

Management in American and European Space 

Programs. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University 

Press, 2002. 

•	 Lambright, W. Henry, editor. Space Policy in the 

21st Century. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University 

Press, 2002. 

•	 Bilstein, Roger E. Testing Aircraft, Exploring Space: 

An Illustrated History of NACA and NASA. Baltimore: 

Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003. 

•	 Butrica, Andrew J. Single Stage to Orbit: Politics, Space 

Technology, and the Quest for Reusable Rocketry. 

Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005. 

•	 Conway, Erik M. High-Speed Dreams: NASA and 

the Technopolitics of Supersonic Transportation, 

1945–1999. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University 

Press, 2005. 

NASA History Series Publications 23 
•	 Launius, Roger D., and Howard E. McCurdy. Robots 

in Space: Technology, Evolution, and Interplanetary 

Travel. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 

2008. 

•	 Conway, Erik M. Atmospheric Science at NASA: A 

History. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 

2008. 

NASA History Published by Texas A&M 

University Press 

•	 Schorn, Ronald A. Planetary Astronomy: From 

Ancient Times to the Third Millennium. College 

Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1998. 

•	 Hunley,J.D.TheDevelopmentofPropulsionTechnology 

for U.S. Space-Launch Vehicles, 1926–1991. College 

Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2007. 

NASA History Published by the


University Press of Kentucky


•	 Gorn, Michael H. Expanding the Envelope: Flight 

Research at NACA and NASA. Lexington: The 

University Press of Kentucky, 2001. 

•	 Reed, R. Dale. Wingless Flight: The Lifting Body Story. 

Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2002. 

•	 Launius, Roger D., and Dennis R. Jenkins, editors. To Reach the High Frontier: A History of U.S. 

Launch Vehicles. Lexington: The University Press of 

Kentucky, 2002. 

NASA History Published by the


University Press of Florida


•	 Swanson, Glen W., editor. “Before This Decade Is 

Out . . .”: Personal Reflections on the Apollo Program. 

Gainesville: The University Press of Florida, 2002. 

•	 Benson, Charles D., and William B. Faherty. Moon 

Launch!: A History of the Saturn-Apollo Launch 

Operations. Gainesville: The University Press of 

Florida, 2001. 

•	 Benson, Charles D., and William B. Faherty. Gateway 

to the Moon: Building the Kennedy Space Center 

Launch Complex. Gainesville: The University Press 

of Florida, 2001. 

•	 Bilstein, Roger E. Stages to Saturn: A Technological 

History of the Apollo/Saturn Launch Vehicles. 

Gainesville: The University Press of Florida, 2003. 

•	 Siddiqi, Asif A. The Soviet Space Race with Apollo. 

Gainesville: The University Press of Florida, 2003. 

•	 Siddiqi, Asif A. Sputnik and the Soviet Space 

Challenge. Gainesville: The University Press of 

Florida, 2003. 

•	 Lipartito, Kenneth, and Orville R. Butler. A History of 

the Kennedy Space Center. Gainesville: The University 

Press of Florida, 2007. 

NASA History Published by Harwood 


Academic Press


•	 Launius, Roger D., John M. Logsdon, and Robert W. 

Smith, editors. Reconsidering Sputnik: Forty Years 

Since the Soviet Satellite. London: Harwood Academic 

Press, 2000. 

NASA History Published by the


University of Illinois Press


• Launius, Roger D., and Howard McCurdy, editors. 

Spaceflight and the Myth of Presidential Leadership. 

Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997. 

NASA History Published by 


Greenwood Press


• Launius, Roger D. Frontiers of Space Exploration. 

Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. 

NASA History Published by the


Smithsonian Institution Press


•	 Heppenheimer, T. A. Development of the Shuttle, 

1972–1981. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution 

Press, 2002. 

•	 Dethloff, Henry C., and Ronald A. Schorn. Voyager’s 

Grand Tour: To the Outer Planets and Beyond. 

Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003. 

•	 Hallion, Richard P., and Michael H. Gorn. On the 

Frontier: Experimental Flight at NASA Dryden. 

Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003. 

24 Research in NASA History 
PArT 2: 


Sources of NASA 

History in the 

Washington, DC, Area 

resources of the NASA History Division 4

TheNASAHistoryDivisionislocatedatNASAHeadquarters 

in Washington, DC, on the corner of 4th and E Streets 

Southwest. The closest Metro station is Federal Center 

Southwest. The L’Enfant Plaza Metro station is also nearby. 

The office mailing address is NASA History Division, NASA 

Headquarters, Suite CO72, 300 E Street SW, Washington, 

DC, 20546-0001. The telephone number is 202-358-0384. 

The office is open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, excluding federal holidays. 

The History Division staff is as follows: 

Steven J. Dick, Chief Historian 

Nadine Andreassen, Program Support Specialist 

Colin Fries, Contract Archivist 

Stephen J. Garber, Historian 

John Hargenrader, Contract Archivist 

Jane H. Odom, Chief Archivist 

Elizabeth Suckow, Contract Archivist 

Each staff member can provide guidance and assistance; 

however, for reference requests, it is usually best to start 

with the archival staff. 

newsleTTer and lisTserv 

The NASA History Division publishes a quarterly newsletter that gives information on its recent and upcoming publications, upcoming conferences, new online 

resources, archival activities, and other relevant news. 

The most current issue of the newsletter is posted at 

http://history.nasa.gov/nltrc.pdf. Older issues are available online at http://history.nasa.gov/histnews.htm. 

We encourage interested parties to sign up to receive the 

newsletter electronically through our NASA history listserv. Instructions for subscribing, changing one’s e-mail 

address, and unsubscribing are located online at http:// 

history.nasa.gov/listserv.html. Listserv recipients also 

receive periodic timely notices about new publications, 

Web sites, events, and contract opportunities. This Web 

page also includes instructions for signing up to receive 

NASA press releases, as well as tailored e-mail notification of NASA contract opportunities. 

nasa hisTory online 

The NASA History Division has a wide variety of resources 

available to researchers electronically via the Internet. 

Special thanks go to a number of dedicated volunteers 

who devoted countless hours to preparing various materials for our now-extensive Web site. Our main page is 

located at http://history.nasa.gov. 

Most, although not all, books and monographs in the formal NASA History Series are now available on the History 

Division Web site, thanks in large measure to a small corps 

of dedicated volunteers. A comprehensive list of all NASA 

History publications is available online at http://history.nasa. 

gov/series95.html, which also includes links to the online 

versions, as well as instructions and links for how to purchase hard copies of the various books and monographs. 

The Apollo Lunar Surface Journal (ALSJ) is a remarkable 

resource about Apollo put together by a vast team of volunteers led by Eric Jones. It is among the most comprehensive sources on Apollo available online. The ALSJ contains 

the complete transcripts of the lunar-surface-to-Earth 

transmissions of the 12 Apollo astronauts who walked on 

the Moon, with extensive explanatory annotations. It also 

includes technical essays, still images, and video footage. 

The ALSJ site is at http://history.nasa.gov/alsj/ online. 

A companion site, the Apollo Flight Journal, similarly 

provides heavily annotated transcripts of the complete 

air-to-ground transmissions (beyond just what took place 

on the lunar surface) for several Apollo missions. The 

coeditors of the Apollo Flight Journal, David Woods and 

Frank O’Brien, are also volunteers who devoted enormous amounts of time and energy to developing this site. 

Like the ALSJ, the Apollo Flight Journal includes technical essays and audiovisual materials about both specific 

Apollo missions and the program in general. It is accessible from http://history.nasa.gov/afj/ online. 

Resources of the NASA History Division 27 
AnothermajorsitethattheNASAHistoryDivisionmaintains 

is the Centennial of Flight (http://www.centennialofflight. 

gov) area. Congress established a national commission to 

commemorate and coordinate activities and information 

related to the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ 

first powered, heavier-than-air, controlled flight on 17 

December 1903. This commission oversaw the creation of 

an extensive Web site about aerospace history. Following 

the 100th anniversary, NASA took over this Web site. 

The History Division Web site also provides a great deal 

of other information. The site includes features such as 

frequently asked questions, “What’s New with NASA 

History,” information about the different NASA Field 

Centers, background information about doing research 

at/with NASA and about the Division itself, and even an 

excellent resource page for kids interested in NASA and 

the history of space travel. 

The sources available through the History Division Web 

site can be accessed using three distinct search tools: an 

alphabetical index that lists materials from A to Z by keyword topic; a hierarchical subject index, which enables 

researchers to look for material relating to a broader subject (for example, human spaceflight); and a keyword 

search option that allows researchers to search for material within the NASA History Web site proper, the ALSJ, or 

the Centennial of Flight Web site. Researchers may search 

all three of these NASA History areas simultaneously or 

independently. 

grin PhoTo daTaBase 

The NASA History Division is also responsible for GReat 

Images in NASA (GRIN), a still-image database available at 

http://grin.hq.nasa.gov online. This site is unique among 

NASA history resources. Although not comprehensive, 

GRIN contains over one thousand high-resolution images 

of events, people, and activities that the History Division 

considers significant from either a historic or a symbolic 

standpoint. The site is free and easy to search. Detailed 

captions complement the images, and links to other 

NASA sites allow researchers to search for images not 

available in GRIN. Researchers also may request glossy 

prints or transparencies from still-image libraries at NASA 

Headquarters and the Centers, usually for a fee. 

PuBlic inquiries 

We encourage NASA staff and members of the general 

public who have detailed questions about specific aspects 

of NASA history to make an appointment to come in person to our office to do research in the NASA Historical 

Reference Collection (see below and http://history.nasa. 

gov/contact.html). You may send e-mail to histinfo@ 

hq.nasa.gov to schedule a research trip. 

If you are unable to visit in person to do research or have 

other questions about NASA history, comments about our 

Web site, or other history-related concerns, please e-mail 

us at histinfo@hq.nasa.gov. 

nasa hisTorical reFerence 

collecTion 

When considering researching NASA history, it is important to understand that the collection of documents contained within the Headquarters History Division is not 

an official archive, but an artificial reference collection 

(that is, a collection compiled by someone other than the 

creator and consisting of copies of official documents 

as well as published materials gathered from a number 

of sources to form reference files about one or more 

topics) containing copies of historically significant NASA 

materials. This Historical Reference Collection (HRC) is 

overseen by a civil servant and three contract archivists, 

who work closely with the historians in the NASA History 

Division. Details regarding a more specific description 

of the working relationship between the archivists and 

NASA historians, as well as an account of the general contents of the Headquarters Historical Reference Collection, 

can be found online at http://history.nasa.gov/thinking/ 

nasahist-4.html. 

By law, NASA’s official records go to the National 

Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which is a 

rich source of NASA history as well. Details regarding the 

storage of NASA and NACA records at NARA are available at the NASA Web site (http://history.nasa.gov/nara1. 

html). This link is especially important to the researcher 

because it not only provides details about the record 

holdings of specific NARA facilities, but it also provides 

the location of facilities and a description of content. 

More general information about NARA is available at 

http://www.archives.gov/. The presidential libraries, which 

are administered by NARA, are another useful resource. 

The main Web site for presidential libraries is http://www. 

archives.gov/presidential-libraries/contact/libraries.html, 

which can be reached through the NASA Web page. 

The archival collection housed in the History Division is 

commonly known as the Historical Reference Collection 

(HRC). It includes approximately 1,700 cubic feet of primary and secondary source materials and thousands 

of books. An additional 600 cubic feet (approximately) 

of records are stored at the Federal Records Center in 

28 Research in NASA History 
Suitland, Maryland. NASA archivists began collecting 

historical information not long after the creation of the 

history program at NASA Headquarters in 1959. Twelve 

major series, or types of material, make up the Historical 

Reference Collection. Included in nearly every series 

are the following types of documents: photographs, 

news releases, correspondence, memoranda, pamphlets, 

speeches, annual reports, organizational charts, reports, 

internal and external studies, budget briefings, oral history interviews, Congressional Record remarks, and congressional testimony. The Historical Reference Collection 

also contains a large number of newspaper and magazine articles culled from a variety of secondary sources 

and filed by subject. 

Since 1988, the NASA History Division has been engaged 

in an ongoing effort to automate its holdings. A database 

serves a dual purpose: use by staff to answer reference 

requests and use by on-site visitors who are conducting 

research. The system is part finding aid and part electronic repository. Approximately 90 percent of the HRC 

is described in the catalog portion of the database; the 

other 10 percent is unprocessed. In the electronic repository are 15 series of material, containing thousands of 

documents that have been scanned. 

The HRC also includes hundreds of published and unpublished historical books and studies prepared under the 

auspices of the NASA History Division. These are classified in the following series: Special Publications (SP), 

Historical Monographs (HHM), Historical Reports (HHR), 

Historical Notes (HHN), and Educational Publications 

(EP). The History Division houses thousands of other 

books, which the history staff regularly consult to answer 

queries. 

Described below are the archival series that comprise the 

Historical Reference Collection: 

Series 1 

Aeronautics Files 

52 cubic feet (1945 to present) 

Subjects include, but are not limited to, aircraft design, 

aircraft engines, human-powered flight, solar-powered 

flight, remotely piloted vehicles, aerodynamics, wind 

tunnels, aerospace safety, aircraft accidents, aeronautical statistics and records, aeronautical research and 

development, civil aviation, NASA aircraft, helicopters, 

commercial aircraft, experimental aircraft, vertical takeoff and landing, supersonic transport, experimental 

vehicles (both aircraft and rockets), and lifting bodies. 

The Aeronautics Files are arranged by topic and therein 

chronologically. 

Series 2 

Aerospace Industry 

and Organization Files 

35 cubic feet (1945 to present) 

Included are files on remote sensing and space commercialization. There are files on industries such as Aerospace 

Corporation, American Airlines, Boeing Company, British 

Aerospace Company, Comsat Corporation, Douglas 

Aircraft Company, Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, North 

American Aviation Incorporated, and Rand Corporation. 

Additional, there are materials on organizations such as 

the Aerospace Industries Association, American Institute 

of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Space Club, 

and Society for History in the Federal Government. This 

series is arranged alphabetically by name of industry or 

name of organization and therein chronologically. 

Series 3 

Biographical Files 

180 cubic feet (ca. 1915 to present) 

This series contains information on thousands of persons, including NASA and NACA officials and employees, aviation pioneers, astronauts, cosmonauts, test pilots, 

government and military officials, contractors, historians, 

scientists, and others. See NASA Administration and 

Organization Files—Administrator/Deputy Administrator 

Files for biographical information on NASA’s top officials. 

The Biographical Files are arranged alphabetically by last 

name of individual and therein chronologically. 

Series 4 

Federal Agency Files 

87 cubic feet (ca. 1942 to present) 

This series is comprised of government agency files and 

White House files. Within the government agency files are 

materials on the Atomic Energy Commission, the Central 

Intelligence Agency, the Federal Aviation Administration, 

the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

the Department of Defense, the Air Force and various Air 

Force bases, the Navy, the National Academy of Sciences, 

and the National Research Council, among others. Subjects 

include, but are not limited to, the Dyna-Soar Project, the 

Manned Orbiting Laboratory, military aircraft and missiles, 

militaryhistories,interagencycooperation,andtheStrategic 

Defense Initiative. These files are arranged alphabetically 

by name of federal agency and therein chronologically. 

In the White House files are documents recording space 

policy decisions of presidential administrations from 

Herbert Hoover’s to the present. Also included are 

Resources of the NASA History Division 29 
materials relating to the various science and technology 

councils that advise the President. There are files on the 

activities of the National Security Council, the National 

Aeronautics and Space Council, the National Space 

Council, the President’s Science Advisory Committee, 

and the Office of Science and Technology Policy. These 

files contain selections from the Weekly Compilation of 

Presidential Documents and copies of space policy materials that were donated to this repository from several of 

the presidential libraries. The dates of material for each 

administration’s files typically correspond to the dates 

of each respective presidency, although some earlier 

material is included in the files of a few administrations. 

The files of the advisory councils precede the files of 

presidential administrations, which are in order by name 

of administration. Within each council or administration grouping, files are arranged topically and therein 

chronologically. 

Series 5 

Impact Files, 45 cubic feet 

(1950 to present) 

These files document the impact of the space program 

on nearly every facet of life: art, economics, education, 

humor, literature, medicine, motion pictures, music, 

numismatics, philately, politics, public opinion, religion, 

science fiction, society, space history, space souvenirs, 

technology, television, toys, and dozens of other topics. 

Also included is material on criticism of the space program. This series is arranged alphabetically by subject 

and therein chronologically. 

Series 6 

International Cooperation 

and Foreign Country Files 

70 cubic feet (ca. 1915 to present) 

This series contains files on U.S. cooperation and competition with foreign countries in space endeavors. There 

are files on dozens of countries from Afghanistan to 

Zimbabwe, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, 

India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, the People’s Republic of 

China, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Unique 

to this series are foreign-language materials and translations of foreign materials. Notably, these files contain 

materials pertaining to the former Soviet Union and its 

space activities, including files on Soviet piloted and 

robotic vehicles, arranged alphabetically. Subjects within 

the Soviet files include Sputnik, Lunik, Venera, Molniya, 

Soyuz, Voskhod, Buran, Mir, and launch facilities. The 

arrangement of this series is alphabetically by name of 

country and therein chronologically. 

Series 7 

National Advisory Committee for 


Aeronautics Files


25 cubic feet (1915–1958) 

The NACA Files include subject files, biographical files, 

patent files, reunion files, interviews with individuals 

involved in early aeronautical research, and other materials. The official records of the NACA are available for use 

at the National Archives; the finding aid is online at http:// 

history.nasa.gov/nara1.html. 

Series 8 

NASA Administration 

and Organization Files 

356 total cubic feet (1910 to present) 

This series includes, but is not limited to, Administrator/ 

Deputy Administrator files, files documenting 

Headquarters and Center activities, budget files, and 

history files. Documented here are the activities of the 

NASA Advisory Council (NAC), NASA Management 

Council, Civilian Military Liaison Committee, Aeronautics 

and Astronautics Coordinating Board, and Aerospace 

Safety Advisory Panel. Below is a description of each of 

the larger components of the NASA Administration and 

Organization Files and the volume of each. 

NASA Administration and Organization Files— 

Administrator and Deputy Administrator Files, 

63 cubic feet (1958 to present) 

Included are materials documenting the activities of NASA 

Administrators and Deputy Administrators throughout 

the history of the Agency. Provided below is a chronological list of the names of past and present officials with 

the dates of their service. The dates of the material in 

each official’s files nearly always pre- and postdate that 

person’s term(s) of service. Arrangement is by name of 

individual and therein by topic and/or chronologically. 

Administrators 

•	 Glennan, T. Keith, 1958–61 

•	 Webb, James E., 1961–68 

•	 Paine, Thomas O., 1969–70 

•	 Fletcher, James C., 1971–77, 1986–89 

•	 Frosch, Robert A., 1977–81 

•	 Beggs, James M., 1981–85 

30 Research in NASA History 
•	 Graham, William R., 1985–86 (Acting) 

•	 Truly, Richard H., 1989–92 

•	 Goldin, Daniel S., 1992–2001 

•	 Mulville, Daniel R., 2001 (Acting) 

•	 O’Keefe, Sean, 2001–05 

•	 Gregory, Frederick D., 2005 (Acting) 

•	 Griffin, Michael, 2005–09 

Deputy Administrators 

•	 Dryden, Hugh L., 1958–65 

•	 Seamans, Robert C., 1965–68 

•	 Paine, Thomas O., 1968–69 

•	 Low, George M., 1969–76 

•	 Lovelace, Alan M., 1976–81 

•	 Mark, Hans, 1981–84 

•	 Graham, William R., 1985–86 

•	 Myers, Dale D., 1986–89 

•	 Thompson, James R., Jr., 1989–91 

•	 Cohen, Aaron, 1992 

•	 Dailey, John R., 1992–99 (Acting) 

•	 Mulville, Daniel R., 2000–03 

•	 Gregory, Frederick D., 2002–05 

•	 Dale, Shana, 2005–09 

NASA Administration and Organization Files— 

Budget Files, 35 cubic feet (1958 to present) 

Included are NASA budget estimates, chronologies of NASA 

budget submissions, budget planning documents, budget 

histories, Congressional Record remarks, hearing records, 

background briefings, the U.S. Budget Brief prepared by the 

Office of Management and Budget (OMB),and NASA authorizations. The Budget Files are arranged chronologically by 

fiscal year. See also the Congressional Documents Collection 

in the Headquarters Library for related information. 

NASA Administration and Organization Files— 

Headquarters Files, 120 cubic feet (1958 to present) 

In this series are files for existing as well as previous 

program offices; Headquarters reorganizations usually take place every couple of years. There are files 

on dozens of entities, including the History Program. 

These files are arranged by name of program office and 

therein topically and/or chronologically. Documentation 

is available for offices such as these: 

•	 Office of the Chief Engineer 

•	 Office of the Chief Scientist 

•	 Office of Inspector General 

•	 Office of Advanced Research and Technology 

•	 Office of Equal Employment Opportunity 

•	 Office of Management 

•	 Office of Manned Space Flight 

•	 Office of Personnel 

•	 Office of Procurement 

•	 Office of Public Affairs 

•	 Office of Safety, Reliability, and Quality Assurance 

•	 Office of Space Science and Applications 

•	 Office of Tracking and Data Acquisition 

•	 Office of University Programs 

NASA Administration and Organization Files— 

Field Center Files, 73 cubic feet (1915 to present) 

Included are files on present and past NASA installations. 

These files contain information on site selection, facilities and equipment, military components, annual reports, 

and other materials. Some installations, over the ensuing years, have been renamed or abolished by NASA. 

This series is arranged alphabetically by name of Center 

and therein by subject and/or chronologically. The HRC 

includes files on the following installations: 

•	 Ames Research Center 

•	 Dryden Flight Research Center 

Resources of the NASA History Division 31 
•	 Electronics Research Center 

•	 Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field 

•	 Goddard Space Flight Center 

•	 Jet Propulsion Laboratory 

•	 Johnson Space Center 

•	 Kennedy Space Center 

•	 Langley Research Center 

•	 Marshall Space Flight Center 

•	 Michoud Assembly Facility 

•	 Stennis Space Center 

•	 Wallops Flight Facility 

NASA Administration and Organization Files— 

History Files, 65 cubic feet (1958 to present) 

This series includes, but is not limited to, materials on 

policy meetings, procurement activities, planning activities and conferences, staffing and organizational studies, 

key personnel changes, anniversary events, the National 

Aeronautics and Space Act, Administrators’ staff meetings, and the Advisory Committee on the Future of the 

Space Program. These materials are arranged by topic 

and therein chronologically. 

Series 9 

Propulsion Files 

16 cubic feet (1956 to present) 

Included is information on chemical, electric, liquid, 

solid, ion, nuclear, and other forms of propulsion. 

Additionally, there is material on subjects such as avionics, guidance, reentry projects, orbital debris, and 

safety. This series is arranged topically and therein 

chronologically. 

Series 10 

robert Sherrod Apollo Collection 

28 cubic feet (1960–1978) 

This series includes Apollo documentation collected by 

journalist Robert Sherrod for a book that was never completed. The collection contains subject files, biographical 

files, audio recordings of interviews Sherrod conducted, 

interview transcripts, a book outline, and chapter drafts. 

Arrangement is by type of material. 

Series 11 

Sciences Files 

62 cubic feet (1958 to present) 

Included are files describing space sciences, life sciences, and research and development activities in this 

area. Included in the space sciences files are materials 

on astronomy, planets, geophysics, volcanoes, meteorology, oceanography, atmospheric research, solar power, 

nuclear weapons, asteroids, meteoroids, comets, planets, 

moons, solar exploration, radar astronomy, air pollution, 

global warming, energy resources, and other topics. In 

the life sciences area are files on topics such as astrobiology, space medicine, extraterrestrial life, animals in space, 

lunar quarantine, and radiation. Included in the research 

and development files is information on spacecraft guidance, science policy, aerodynamics, computers, and lasers. 

Arrangement is by topic and therein chronologically. 

Series 12 

Spaceflight Files 

477 total cubic feet (1945 to present) 

This series includes, but is not limited to, files on 

human spaceflight, satellites and probes, launch vehicles, and tracking and data acquisition. Below is a 

description of each of these larger components of the 

Spaceflight Files. 

Spaceflight—Human Spaceflight, 295 cubic feet 

(1953 to present) 

In this series are materials describing the Mercury, Gemini, 

Apollo, Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP), Space Shuttle, 

and Space Station programs. These files contain information on experiments, escape systems, the history of the 

space station concept, spacesuits, hardware, contractors, 

anomalies and aborts, costs, directives, mission patches, 

anniversaries of significant missions, schedules, pre- and 

postflight activities, and other topics. Additionally, there 

are materials documenting the activities of a variety of 

spaceflight committees and working groups. The series 

also includes files on disasters such as the Apollo 1 fire 

and the Challenger and Columbia accidents. These files 

are arranged by name of program; within each program, 

by topic; and therein chronologically. 

32 Research in NASA History 
Spaceflight—Satellites and Probes, 130 cubic feet 

(1945 to present) 

Within these files are materials documenting dozens of 

missions pertaining to lunar and interplanetary flight. 

There are files on the following missions, just to name 

a few: Cassini, Galileo, Lunar Orbiter, Magellan, Mars 

Observer, Mars Pathfinder, Mariner, Pioneer, Ranger, 

Surveyor, Viking, and Voyager. Additionally, there are files 

in this series on dozens of Earth-orbiting satellites such 

as these: the Applications Technology Satellite (ATS), 

Biosatellite, Comstar, Echo, the Earth Observing System 

(EOS), the Gamma Ray Observatory, the Hubble Space 

Telescope, Intelsat, Landsat, the Mission to Planet Earth, 

Nimbus, the Orbiting Astronomical Observatories (OAO), 

Pegasus, the Solar Powered Satellite, Tracking and Data 

Relay Satellite System, the Upper Atmosphere Research 

Satellite (UARS), Vanguard, and Westar. Satellites and 

probes have assisted with communications, weather forecasting, mapping, tracking and data relay, atmospheric 

observation, and planetary exploration. Within the files 

are materials on pre- and postlaunch activities, press kits, 

canceled missions, extended missions, and costs, among 

others. These materials are arranged alphabetically by 

name of satellite or probe and therein chronologically. 

Spaceflight—Launch Vehicles, 36 cubic feet (1945 

to present) 

This series includes information on launch successes as 

well as launch problems and failures, sounding rockets, 

costs, studies, technical reports, and histories and chronologies. Notable reports in this series include A National 

Space Vehicle Program Report: A Report to the President, 

1959; the NASA–Department of Defense Large Launch 

Vehicle Planning Group Report, 1962; and various longrange plans in the history of the Agency. Files exist for 

launch vehicles such as Atlas, Atlas-Centaur, Centaur, 

Delta, the Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle (HLLV), Iris, Little Joe, 

Nova, Pegasus, Saturn V, Scout, Single Stage to Orbit, Thor, 

Titan, and Vega. For information on the X-33 and X-34, see 

Aeronautics Files. This series is arranged alphabetically by 

name of launch vehicle and therein chronologically. 

Spaceflight—Tracking and Data Acquisition 

Files, 16 cubic feet (1957 to present) 

Included are files on the Deep Space Network, the Space 

Tracking and Data Acquisition Network (STADAN), tracking and telemetry, the use of Navy ships and Air Force 

aircraft, domestic and international tracking stations, and 

histories, among other materials. These files are arranged 

topically and therein chronologically. 

Other Notable Collections, 255 cubic feet (1958 to 

present) 

The collections listed below fall within the series previously described but are deserving of a separate mention due to their content. Most are available in hard-copy 

form in the Historical Reference Collection; a few are 

electronic. This is only a partial list. 

•	 Aeronautics and Space Report of the President 

•	 Historical slide collection 

•	 NASA Names Collection 

•	 NASA Policy and Long Range Planning Files 

•	 NASA Management Instructions 

•	 Papers of former Deputy Administrator George Low 

•	 Chronological correspondence files of former 

Associate Deputy Administrator Noel Hinners 

•	 Space history chronologies and bibliographies 

•	 Files on space-related awards (NASA and other 

agencies) 

•	 Files on a variety of space history museums 

•	 Early history of NASA, collected by former historian 

Eugene Emme 

•	 Satellite Situation Report prepared by Goddard Space 

Flight Center 

•	 Chronological reading files of the Office of the 

Administrator 

•	 Deliverables collected by authors who have contracted with the NASA History Division to write 

histories 

Series 13 

Electronic Files 

1958 to present 

Below are descriptions of some of the most prominent 

electronic series located in the History Division database. The documents are in PDF format and are fully 

searchable. They are available to those who come in person to do research at NASA Headquarters and are used 

Resources of the NASA History Division 33 
frequently by History Division staff to answer reference 

requests. 

•	 Cartoons—Thousands of space-related cartoons 

culled primarily from newspapers. 

•	 Current News—Daily compilation of newspaper 

and wire stories about NASA activities. 

•	 Dan Goldin Files—Selected items copied from the 

official records of former Administrator Dan Goldin 

and retained in the HRC. Items were copied from 

meeting files, trip files, subject files, and speech files 

within his collection. Included are nearly a thousand 

speeches that Goldin gave to a variety of audiences. 

•	 Headquarters Organization Chronological 

Correspondence Files—Copies of outgoing correspondence acquired from a variety of Headquarters 

program offices. 

•	 Mission Operation Reports (MORs)—Nearly 900 

MORs from robotic and piloted missions conducted 

over the life of the Agency. There are mission operation reports on satellites and probes, including those 

sponsored by other agencies such as the National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and 

the U.S. Navy. Also included are MORs on launch 

vehicles, Apollo, Skylab, the Space Shuttle, and the 

International Space Station. 

•	 Newsletters—850 internal newsletters produced by 

Headquarters and the Centers over the years. 

•	 Reports—Approximately 280 reports describing 

the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, ASTP, Shuttle-Mir, 

Space Station Freedom, and International Space 

Station programs. Also included are reports of 

working groups, boards, and other panels on topics 

such as Earth observation, lunar and planetary missions, program management, safety, mishap investigations, and project failures. 

•	 Telephone Directories—Nearly 500 internal telephone directories for Headquarters and the Centers. 

hisTorical reFerence 

collecTion online daTaBase 

Four series from the NASA Headquarters Historical 

Reference Collection have been digitized and made available for use by researchers at https://mira.hq.nasa.gov/history/. IncludedarePDFsofpresskits,pressreleases,mission 

transcripts, and Administrators’ speeches. Researchers may 

use either the Basic Search or the Advanced Search to 

access these. The Headquarters History Division staff has 

digitized all press kits, press releases, mission transcripts, 

and Administrators’ speeches that were available to them 

in the Historical Reference Collection. Links are provided 

to other sources where similar and/or additional information can be found. Below is a description of each series: 

•	 Press Kits are primarily from Shuttle missions, but 

also included are Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and 

Apollo-Soyuz Test Project press kits. Additionally, 

there are press kits from International Space Station 

Expeditions and from the deployment of a variety of 

satellites and probes. 

•	 Press Releases include those distributed by 

Headquarters and the Centers over the years; 

however, over half of this series is comprised of 

Headquarters releases. Included also is an index, 

dated 1960–95, to Headquarters and Center press 

releases and speeches by officials-in-charge. 

•	 Mission Transcripts are from Mercury, Gemini, 

Apollo, and Skylab missions, as well as Space Shuttle 

missions STS-1 through STS-5. Also included are 

Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission commentaries 

from U.S. and Soviet Mission Control facilities. There 

are air-to-ground transcripts, on-board transcripts, 

mission briefings, and mission commentaries. 

•	 Administrators’Speeches include remarks made by 

former NASA Administrators, Deputy Administrators, 

and Associate Deputy Administrators since 1958. The 

speeches were made to a variety of audiences including NASA staff as well as industry, educational, and 

general audiences. Also included is congressional testimony. There are draft copies of speeches as well as 

final versions displayed here. 

nasa records held aT The 

Federal records cenTer in 

suiTland, maryland 

A number of collections have been retired to the Federal 

Records Center in Suitland, Maryland. Below is an abbreviated list of some of these materials: 

•	 Files of John R. Dailey, former Acting Deputy 

Administrator, 27 cubic feet (1993–98) 

•	 History of the X-33 Project files, 32 cubic feet 

(1977–99) 

34 Research in NASA History 
•	 International Space Station collection, 76 cubic feet 

(1987–99) 

•	 Contract deliverables for a history of Space Station 

Freedom, 3 cubic feet (1985–93) 

•	 Various presentations by the Office of Space 

Exploration Initiatives on Future Human Spaceflight 

of NASA, 4 cubic feet (1989–91) 

•	 NASA Advisory Council records and NAC Task Force 

records, 10 cubic feet (1978–90) 

•	 Files of Thomas Moser, former Deputy Associate 

Administrator (AA) for Space Flight, Deputy AA for 

Space Station Freedom, and Acting AA for Space 

Station Freedom, 6 cubic feet (1986–89) 

•	 Files of Terrence Finn, former member of the Space 

Station Task Force and Deputy Director of the Policy 

Division, Office of the Space Station, 5 cubic feet 

(1983–88) 

•	 Records of the NASA Historical Advisory Committee, 

4 cubic feet (1962–83) 

•	 Office of University Affairs records, 12 cubic feet 

(1962–81) 

•	 Viking collection, 26 cubic feet (1953–78) 

•	 Contract deliverables for Apollo Management History, 

31 cubic feet (1959–70) 

•	 Apollo 8 Lunar Orbit Decision Documents and Apollo 

10 Decision Documents, 2 cubic feet (1968–69) 

•	 Life sciences files collected by NASA official and 

author Mae Mills Link, 6 cubic feet (1958–70) 

•	 Electronic Research Center (ERC) collection, including chronological reading files, newspaper clippings, photographs, and reports from the ERC Public 

Information Office, 19 cubic feet (1961–70) 

•	 Correspondence files of George Low, former Chief 

of Manned Space Flight within the Applications and 

Manned Flight Programs Office, and material pertaining to Project Mercury, 8 cubic feet (1958–63) 

nasa Files held aT The 

naTional archives 

The History Division has assisted in the past in the transfer of several historically significant Headquarters collections to the National Archives. Below is a partial list of 

these materials: 

•	 Records of former Administrator Daniel S. Goldin, 

220 cubic feet (1992–2001) 

•	 Files of former Associate Deputy Administrator 

(Technical) Michael Mott, 18 cubic feet (1994–98) 

•	 Files of former Chief Scientist France Cordova, 8 

cubic feet (1993–96) 

•	 Records of the Advisory Committee on the Future of 

the U.S. Space Program, 9 cubic feet (1990–91) 

•	 Papers of former Deputy Administrator James R. 

Thompson, 26 cubic feet (1988–92) 

•	 Papers of former Deputy Administrator Dale D. 

Myers, 32 cubic feet (1986–89) 

•	 Papers of former Administrator James C. Fletcher, 14 

cubic feet (1986–89) 

•	 Papers of former Associate Administrator for Space 

Sciences and Applications Homer E. Newell, 43 cubic 

feet (1962–74) 

•	 Vanguard Division Files, 8 cubic feet (1955–58) 

•	 Records of the National Advisory Committee for 

Aeronautics, 60 cubic feet (1914–58) 

Oral History Collection 

The NASA History Division at Headquarters has more 

than 3,000 oral history interviews in a variety of formats, 

including reel-to-reel, cassette, CD, and transcript. Many 

of the reel-to-reel tapes have been transferred to cassette for preservation purposes. The oral histories focus 

on individuals who have served in major administrative 

roles for NASA, detailing events that occurred during that 

person’s tenure and concentrating on organizational culture, methodology, program management, and decisionmaking rationales. They document significant aspects of 

NASA’s spaceflight and other major programs. Many of 

the oral histories are conducted by contract historians in 

the course of preparing manuscripts for the NASA History 

Series. Other oral histories are better categorized as exit 

Resources of the NASA History Division 35 
interviews. The collection also includes interviews with 

women whose contributions range from involvement 

with the inception of NASA to providing direction for the 

Agency. See http://history.nasa.gov/oralhistory/ohcatalog. 

htm for a consolidated list of oral histories maintained in 

history offices Agency-wide. 

36 Research in NASA History 
resources at related NASA Offices 5 

headquarTers liBrary, 

oFFice oF PuBlic aFFairs, 

and Program oFFices 

The NASA Headquarters Library carries a wide range 

of materials. It has a sampling of local and national 

newspapers and general news magazines, plus a larger 

collection of periodicals in the fields of science, technology, and management. Most periodical runs begin in the 

1970s or 1980s. The collection focuses on space policy, 

space history, project and program management, legislative reports, hearings and documents, and general science and technology materials. The Library’s collection 

of budgets, strategic plans, and NASA annual reports, 

including office and departmental reports, provides 

a unique resource for researchers. The collection also 

includes early publications from the National Advisory 

Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), NASA, and the British 

Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. Public access computers provide access to the Internet, NASA GALAXIE (the 

NASA Libraries’ online catalog), the NASA Aeronautics 

and Space Database, and other databases. Visitors are 

welcome, but many library services are restricted to 

NASA employees. The Web site can be viewed online at 

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/hqlibrary/index.html, and 

though not all features are available to non-NASA personnel, the site contains several useful links for interested 

parties. Foreign citizens should plan on scheduling their 

visits with library management in advance. 

NASA’s Office of Public Affairs regularly prepares press 

releases, press kits, and public information brochures. An 

archive of NASA news releases is available at http://www. 

nasa.gov/news/releases/archives/index.html online. The 

News and Multimedia Division also maintains files of still 

photographs, motion pictures, and tape recordings. 

Often, research on specific topics can best be pursued 

from the responsible Headquarters program office. Each 

office maintains inventories of its retired records; moreover, many offices keep files on a project until it is completed. This means that active files may go back for years 

and contain material one would expect to find among 

the retired records. Policy varies from office to office, and 

the only sure way to find relevant material is to check. 

Finally, the researcher may want to interview the program participants themselves. 

nasa cenTer For aerosPace 

inFormaTion 

Located in Hanover, Maryland, the NASA Center for 

AeroSpace Information (CASI) is the operational arm 

of the NASA Scientific and Technical Information 

(STI) Program (http://www.sti.nasa.gov). The NASA STI 

Program’s mission is to collect, archive, and disseminate 

NASA aerospace information and to locate domestic and 

international STI pertinent to NASA’s missions. The program offers current and historical aerospace-related information on aeronautics, astronautics, chemistry, materials, 

engineering, physics, geosciences, life sciences, mathematics and computer sciences, social sciences, and space 

sciences. Examples of NASA STI include research reports, 

journal articles, conference and meeting papers, technical videos, and mission-related operational documents. 

In addition, the collection contains reports issued by 

other government agencies, domestic and foreign institutions, universities, and private firms; translations in report 

form; and dissertations. 

This content is available through two user-friendly search 

engines. The NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) provides the public with open and free access to publicly 

available NASA STI under the Space Act of 1958. The 

NTRS also collects scientific and technical information 

from sites external to NASA through Open Archives 

Initiative (OAI) protocols to broaden the scope of information available to users. NTRS’s “Simple Search” finds 

NASA information only; its “Advanced Search” can search 

for NASA and non-NASA information. The NTRS can be 

found online at http://ntrs.nasa.gov/. 

The NASA Aeronautics and Space Database (NA&SD) 

is available to NASA employees, prime contractors, and 

grantees, as well as to other federal agency employees, 

Resources at Related NASA Offices 37 
prime contractors, and grantees. The database contains 

approximately 4 million metadata records of technical 

reports, conference proceedings, journal articles, and 

aerospace-related information collected from NASA 

and from sources around the world. Contents range 

from NACA publications dating from 1915 to today’s latest research. Innovative features include sophisticated 

search functionality; over 285,000 documents available 

in searchable PDF format; and over 650,000 electronic 

full-text materials available through the use of Digital 

Object Identifiers (DOIs), Handles (HDLs), and Uniform 

Resource Locators (URLs). 

Access to the NA&SD is available to anyone within the 

nasa.gov Internet domain. However, by registering, 

users can gain added benefits, which include viewing 

distribution-limited material, performing individualized 

stored searches, and gaining the ability to request scans 

of documents not already in electronic form. Users may 

access and register for the NA&SD at the NASA STI home 

page at http://www.sti.nasa.gov. 

Many of the NASA documents can be purchased by 

contacting NASA CASI. For these documents and additional information about the entire scope of products and 

services offered by the NASA STI Program or CASI, see 

the NASA STI home page at http://www.sti.nasa.gov or 

contact the NASA STI Help Desk at 301-621-0390, e-mail 

help@sti.nasa.gov, or fax 301-621-0134. 

38 Research in NASA History 
Guide to related Government History 

resources 

6 

naTional air and sPace 

museum archives 

The National Air and Space Archives supports the 

mission of the Smithsonian National Air and Space 

Museum (NASM) by acquiring and preserving for 

public and curatorial use a wide range of visual and 

textual materials that document the history of flight, 

both in air and in space. The collection comprises over 

10,000 cubic feet and contains around 1.7 million photographs; 700,000 feet of motion picture film, including nearly 20,000 titles; and some 2 million technical 

drawings. Archives staff collect, organize, and document these materials and assist the public and other 

NASM staff in their use. 

The NASM Archives holds approximately 1,200 collections of several types. They consist of personal and professional papers, corporate and organizational records, 

and artificial collections. The latter are collections compiled by someone other than the creator and consisting of official documents as well as published materials 

gathered from a number of sources to form reference 

files about one or more topics. In addition to a wide 

range of photographs, visual materials in these collections include aircraft and spacecraft technical drawings, from three-view drawings to detailed engineering 

plans, many of which are on microfilm. Also available 

are many technical manuals that document the design, 

construction, and performance of aircraft and spacecraft 

and their engines. 

Research on many topics can be accomplished in the main 

Reading Room at the National Air and Space Museum in 

downtown Washington, DC. For access to certain collections, researchers may be directed to the Garber Reading 

Room (Building 12) in Suitland, Maryland, just outside 

of Washington, DC. To gain access to the materials contained within the NASM Archives, researchers must make 

appointments for visits. Please call for an appointment as 

far in advance of your planned visit as possible because 

space is limited and the reading rooms sometimes close 

to accommodate Museum functions. 

To contact the NASM Archives via e-mail, researchers can 

use the following address: nasmrefdesk@si.edu. The Web 

site for the NASM Archives is at http://www.nasm.si.edu/ 

research/arch/. The main Archives telephone number is 

202-633-2320; its mailing address is as follows: 

Archives Division 

Smithsonian Institution 

P.O. Box 37012 

National Air and Space Museum, Room 3100, MRC 322 

Washington, DC 20013-7012 

secondary sources and 

BiBliograPhies 

The most useful secondary sources for NASA-related history are the traditional background literature that any 

scholar would normally consult in researching a historical topic. These include NASA’s own History Series, the 

New Series in NASA History, and other reference works 

available from a variety of sources. Other studies can be 

identified through bibliographic guides and will be found 

at any major public or university library. The following 

are a few specialized bibliographies available through 

the NASA History Division at NASA Headquarters: 

•	 Dickson, Katherine M. History of Aeronautics and 

Astronautics: A Preliminary Bibliography. NASA 

HHR-29, 1968. 

•	 Looney, John J. Bibliography of Space Books and 

Articles from Non-Aerospace Journals, 1957–1977. 

NASA HHR-51, 1979. 

•	 Launius, Roger D. Toward a History of the Space 

Shuttle: An Annotated Bibliography. Monograph in 

Aerospace History No. 1, 1992. 

•	 Launius, Roger D., and J. D. Hunley. An Annotated 

Bibliography of the Apollo Program. Monograph in 

Aerospace History No. 2, 1994. 

Guide to Related Government History Resources 39 
The U.S. government publishes a number of directories, 

reference works, and finding aids for research in subjects 

involving the legislative and executive branches; these 

are described below. The more specialized aerospace 

technical literature is best approached through a computerized retrieval system maintained by NASA’s Scientific 

and Technical Information Branch and by reviewing the 

following three sources: 

•	 Gull, Cloyd D., and Charles L. Smith, editors. A 

Directory of Sources for Air and Space History: 

Primary Historical Collections in United States 

Repositories. National Air and Space Museum, 

Smithsonian Institution, 1989. 

•	 Hallion, Richard P. The Literature of Aeronautics, 

Astronautics, and Air Power. Office of Air Force 

History, 1984. 

•	 Pisano, Dominick A., and Cathleen S. Lewis, editors. 

Air and Space History: An Annotated Bibliography. 

Garland Publishing, 1988. 

general guides 

The basic finding aid for all 20th-century U.S. government 

publications is the Monthly Catalogue of United States 

Government Publications, collected in an indexed, annual 

volume since 1895. This may now be supplemented by 

the Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalogue of 

United States Government Publications, 1900–1971. This 

multivolume set is as yet incomplete, but it already covers NASA and the NACA. The Monthly Catalogue contains 

numerous citations of congressional reports and documents. 

To find these in the serial file, use U.S. Superintendent of 

Documents, Numerical Lists and Schedule of Volumes, published annually since 1897 (title varies). 

A Directory of Information Resources in the United States 

Federal Government (Library of Congress, 1974 ed.) 

goes beyond official documents to include governmentsponsored information resources, museums, historical societies, and so forth. J. L. Andriot’s Guide to U.S. 

Government Serials and Periodicals (annual, 1959–72) 

and Guide to U.S. Government Publications (annual, 

1973–76; irregularly thereafter) are indexed by agency 

and subject. 

legislaTive documenTs 

Perhaps the most effective source of congressional 

material is available online through THOMAS. Named 

for Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United 

States, THOMAS is maintained by the Library of Congress 

and contains a wealth of information about various bills, 

treaties, and reports, as well as links to other government resources, including the Library of Congress and 

committees of both the House of Representatives and 

the Senate. For more information, visit THOMAS’s home 

page at http://thomas.loc.gov/.

The Congressional Record (1873 to present) is the basic 

and most comprehensive paper source on the activities 

of the U.S. Congress. Users are cautioned that the Record 

will contain not only an account of actual proceedings, 

but also material inserted by Senators and Representatives. 

It is published daily and bound at the end of each leg

islative session with a comprehensive index in the last 

volume. In addition to a subject index and a numerical 

list of bills and resolutions, this volume traces the his

tory of bills; it is an indispensable guide to the legislative 

process. Both houses of Congress also publish a journal 

that is the official record of their respective proceedings. 

Committee hearings can be located with F. M. Johnston, 

Cumulative Index of Congressional Committee Hearings 

(to 1959), with supplements (to 1966). 

­

­

Enacted federal legislation can be found in United States 

Code (U.S.C.), published every six years (with annual 

supplements), which lists the laws of the United States by 

subject. One should also consult the United States Code 

Annotated, which is published annually; its annotations 

provide judicial opinions bearing on sections of the code. 

Since 1964, the U.S.C. has been indexed as well. The 

United States Statutes at Large lists public laws and concurrent resolutions by date; the series is published annually in separate, indexed volumes. The Tables of Laws 

Affected are published as supplemental volumes to the 

Statutes at Large. These publications can be found in any 

university library, as well as in law libraries. For recently 

passed federal legislation, researchers should consult the 

Slip Laws, which reproduce the laws themselves, with 

notes; these can be found in any law library and can also 

be obtained from the U.S. Superintendent of Documents, 

Government Printing Office. 

execuTive Branch 

The National Archives has published the Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR) annually since 1938. This compilation of executive orders, proclamations, and rules and 

regulations for departments and agencies does for 

administrative law what the U.S.C. does for statute law. 

The material for the CFR is drawn from the calendaryear entries in the Federal Register, a daily publication 

of Executive Branch documents and notices of public 

applicability and legal effect. 

40 Research in NASA History 
Both the CFR and the U.S.C. are divided into 50 titles. 

Many, but not all, of the titles are identical in the two 

publications. For example, in the U.S.C., the “National 

Space Program” is chapter 26, Title 42, “The Public Health 

and Welfare.” In the CFR, “Aeronautics and Space” covers 

all of Title 14, which spans multiple chapters; chapter 5 

is devoted exclusively to NASA. 

The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, published each Monday, includes all public presidential statements and materials released before 5:00 p.m. on the 

previous Friday. Another source of Executive Branch 

documents is the Public Papers of the Presidents series, 

published by the Office of the Federal Register, National 

Archives and Records Administration. This project began 

in 1957 with the publication of two volumes per year 

(approximately six months’ worth of material each), containing the President’s papers and speeches issued by the 

Office of the Press Secretary during the specified time 

period. Not all Presidents are yet included in this publication series, and some Presidents, such as Franklin D. 

Roosevelt, were the subject of similar publications before 

the project began in 1957. Limited volumes (Presidents 

George H. W. Bush, William “Bill” Clinton, and George 

W. Bush) are available online through the Government 

Printing Office at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/pubpapers/ 

index.html, but hard copies can be purchased through 

that office or found at all Federal Depository Libraries. To 

find the nearest Federal Depository Library, go to http:// 

www.gpoaccess.gov/libraries.html. Another source for 

Public Papers of the Presidents is http://www.presidency. 

ucsb.edu/ws/ online. 

Other potential sources of useful information in this 

regard are the Presidential Libraries. There are 12 

Presidential Libraries at various locations throughout 

the United States, each containing a great deal of information, much of which may prove to be invaluable 

to the researcher. To learn more about these libraries, 

please visit the National Archives Web site at http://www. 

archives.gov/presidential-libraries/.

Federal Primary sources 

The archival or primary sources for research in NASA history are known by the rubric “records.” Mastering the procedures and terminology by which the U.S. government 

documents public business is a formidable challenge 

even to the most determined researcher. Fortunately, 

NASA Headquarters and all NASA Centers have on staff 

records managers willing to help researchers with questions not anticipated by the History Division. By federal 

law, government “records” are defined as 

...all books,papers,maps,photographs,machinereadable materials, or other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, 

made or received by an agency of the United 

States Government under Federal Law or in connection with the transaction of public business 

and preserved or appropriate for preservation by 

that agency or its legitimate successor as evidence 

of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, 

procedures, operations, or other activities of the 

Government or because of the informational 

value of the data in them. Library and museum 

material made or acquired and preserved solely 

for reference or exhibition purposes, extra copies 

of documents preserved only for convenience of 

reference, and stocks of publications and of processed documents are not included.1 

Historians will want to examine evidence found in both 

the official records and in the artificial reference collections maintained in Headquarters and Center history 

offices. As with all archival research, depending on each 

researcher’s interest, there will be either a shortage or an 

abundance of both categories of documents. Pursuing 

a line of inquiry through the thickets of documentary 

evidence is at the heart of historical investigation and 

constitutes its chief challenge and its own reward. 

When examining federal records, care must be taken 

to avoid disrupting file continuity and contributing to 

the loss of records. Records may be copied with permission and should be returned to their original location within a folder. 

By law, each federal agency is required to retain or dispose of certain records according to “records schedules” 

approved by the Archivist of the United States (National 

Archives and Records Administration). The NASA Records 

Retention Schedules (NASA Procedural Requirements 

[NPR] 1441.1D) list all categories of NASA records and 

indicate whether they may be destroyed or must be 

retained; if the latter, for how long; and whether particular categories of records will be transferred to the 

National Archives. Those transferred to the National 

Archives will be appraised for their historic value and 

retained or destroyed. Records no longer in frequent use 

by a given NASA office will normally be transferred to a 

regional Federal Records Center to await their eventual 

destruction or transfer to National Archives. 

1.	 36 CFR 1220.14, available online at http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/ 

text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=8727740b6a4262aee579af4f35022a67&rgn= 

div5&view=text&node=36:3.0.10.2.10&idno=36#36:3.0.10.2.10.1.17.1. 

Guide to Related Government History Resources 41 
use oF currenT records 

NASA’s current files may be examined by bona fide 

researchers, subject to restrictions imposed by law on 

the control of security-classified information, proprietary 

information, Privacy Act data, export-controlled information, and Freedom of Information Act exempted data. The 

most efficient way for researchers to see such information 

is to put in a FOIA request once they have determined 

specifically what they are seeking. The FOIA Guide may 

be found at http://www.hq.nasa.gov/pao/FOIA/guide.htm. 

Under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 

and Executive Order 12065, it is the responsibility of the 

government to make nonexempt documents available to 

all citizens expeditiously upon request. 

use oF reTired records 

Retired records fall into two categories: those that have 

been permanently accessioned by the National Archives 

and those still in the legal custody of the Agency but 

stored at a Federal Records Center (FRC). The former 

have been legally transferred to the National Archives, 

and, although NASA may assist the researcher in identifying the documents required for each research project, the researcher must make arrangements for access 

directly with the National Archives. Records still under 

NASA control but stored in an FRC may be accessed 

by submitting a FOIA request. A database or finding 

aid describing NASA collections at regional FRCs is 

available in the reading room at each FRC. Researchers 

should be as specific as possible, providing accession 

and box numbers, along with subjects, when submitting 

their FOIA requests. 

Records of the National Advisory Committee for 

Aeronautics (NASA’s predecessor organization), NASA 

Headquarters, and Goddard Space Flight Center are 

stored in Washington facilities. For purposes of administrative control, the records of each government agency are 

assigned a unique “record group” number; NASA records 

fall into Record Group 255. These materials now occupy 

more than 112,000 cubic feet. See http://www.history. 

nasa.gov/nara/nara1.html for a complete description 

of these records. Each office at NASA Headquarters and 

at the Centers retires its own records to a regional FRC 

along with a Standard Form 135, “Records Transmittal 

and Receipt.” Copies of all SF 135s are maintained by 

NASA records managers. A limited number of SF 135s 

are maintained in the Headquarters History Division and 

are open to researchers. One important factor must be 

kept in mind when examining SF 135s: they are imperfect documents that only provide as much detail as the 

person retiring the records was willing to supply. For 

instance, one SF 135 may provide detailed listings of box 

contents and another may not. 

oFFicials’ PaPers 

NASA Administrators and Deputy Administrators are 

presidential appointees. Their records are permanent and 

mandated by law to go to the National Archives or one of 

its Presidential Libraries. The official may elect a repository outside the National Archives system with permission 

from the Archives. Copies of many officials’ correspondence, speeches, and other documents have found their 

way into the Headquarters Historical Reference Collection. 

Below is a partial list of former officials and other persons 

of interest, their dates of service, and the name of the 

repository where their papers are housed. 

There are links to the finding aids describing many of 

these records and personal papers, as well as links to 

holdings in other libraries, at http://www.history.nasa. 

gov/nara/nara1.html.

• T. Keith Glennan, Administrator, 1958–61—Dwight 

D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Case Western 

Reserve University. 

•	 James E. Webb, Administrator, 1961–68—Harry S. 

Truman, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson 

Presidential Libraries. 

•	 Thomas O. Paine, Administrator, 1968–70—Library 

of Congress. 

•	 James C. Fletcher, Administrator, 1971–77, 

1986–89—University of Utah. 

•	 Robert A. Frosch, Administrator, 1977–81—Jimmy 

Carter Presidential Library. 

•	 James M. Beggs, Administrator, 1981–85—Ronald 

Reagan Presidential Library. 

•	 Richard H. Truly, Administrator, 1989–92—NARA, 

College Park, Maryland. 

•	 Daniel S. Goldin, Administrator, 1992–2001—NARA, 

College Park, Maryland. 

•	 Hugh L. Dryden, Deputy Administrator, 1958–65— 

The Johns Hopkins University. 

•	 George M. Low, Deputy Administrator, 

1970–76—Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Archives 

and Special Collections. 

42 Research in NASA History 
•	 Robert C. Seamans, Jr., NASA Associate and Deputy 

Administrator,1960–68,and Secretary of the Air Force, 

1969–73—Air Force Historical Research Agency. 

•	 Wernher von Braun, leader of the rocket team that 

developed the Saturn V and former Director of 

Marshall Space Flight Center, 1960–70—Library of 

Congress. 

•	 Christopher Kraft, flight director for NASA during 

the Mercury and Gemini programs and Director of 

the Manned Spacecraft Center (later Johnson Space 

Center), 1972–82—Virginia Polytechnic Institute and 

State University (Virginia Tech), Archives of American 

Aerospace Exploration. 

•	 John Glenn, astronaut (first American to orbit 

Earth, 1962) and U.S. Senator, 1975–98—Ohio State 

University Archives. 

•	 Michael Collins, Apollo 11 astronaut—Virginia 

Polytechnic Institute and State University, Archives 

of American Aerospace Exploration. 

Guide to Related Government History Resources 43 

PArT 3:


Sources of NASA 

History at the Centers 

Historical research at the NASA Centers 7 

Links to the various NASA history offices at the Field 

Centers are at http://history.nasa.gov/centers.html online. 

Records retirement at the NASA Centers follows the 

same procedure as at Headquarters. The major differ

ence is that the Federal Records Centers are seldom as 

close to the NASA Centers as Suitland, Maryland, is to 

Headquarters. While the NASA Centers can recall their 

records from the FRCs, it is often better for researchers 

to visit the FRCs themselves, especially if they need to 

examine a large amount of material. The records management officers at individual Centers can make the 

arrangements. 

­

hisTory rePresenTaTives 

All of NASA’s Field Centers have historical monitors who 

supervise the administration of historical resources and 

assist researchers. The names and addresses of these history representatives are as follows: 

Glenn E. Bugos, Historian 

MS-207-1 

Ames Research Center 

Moffett Field, CA 94035 

650-604-6436 

Christian Gelzer, Historian 

Dryden Flight Research Center 

Building 4839 

Edwards, CA 93523 

661-276-5290 

661-276-3566 (fax) 

Anne Power, History POC 

Mail Stop 60-3 

Glenn Research Center 

21000 Brookpark Road 

Cleveland, OH 44135 

216-433-8715 

216-433-5777 (fax) 

Historical Research at the NASA Centers 47 

Barbara J. Thompson, History POC 

Code 671 

Goddard Space Flight Center 

Greenbelt, MD 20771 

301-286-3405 

301-286-1617 (fax) 

Keith Koehler, History POC 

Code 130.4 

Wallops Flight Facility 

Goddard Space Flight Center 

Wallops Island, VA 23337 

757-824-1579 

757-824-1971 (fax) 

Erik Conway, Historian 

Jet Propulsion Laboratory 

Mail Stop 200-108 

4800 Oak Grove Drive 

Pasadena, CA 91109 

818-393-1089 

818-393-6024 (fax) 

Mark Scroggins, Archivist 

Johnson Space Center 

Mail Stop GC 

2101 NASA Road 1 

Houston, TX 77058-3696 

281-483-4975 

Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, Historian 

Johnson Space Center 

17047 El Camino Real, #217 

Houston, TX 77058 

281-486-3942 

281-218-6860 (fax) 

Elaine Liston, Archivist 

Kennedy Space Center 

Code Library-E 

Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899 

321-867-1515 

321-867-4534 (fax) 
Gail Langevin, History POC 

Langley Research Center 

Mail Stop 154 

Hampton, VA 23681-2199 

757-864-8554 

Mike Wright, Historian 

Marshall Space Flight Center 

Mail Stop CN22 

Huntsville, AL 35812 

256-544-6840 

205-544-0007 (fax) 

Daphne Alford, History POC 

Stennis Space Center 

SSC History Office 

Building 2105 

Stennis Space Center, MS 39529-6000 

228-688-2643 

cenTer collecTions 

The organization of historical resources varies from NASA 

Center to NASA Center. Some Centers have extensive 

archives set up for research, while others channel their history activities through the Center libraries or public affairs 

offices. It is best to review the synopses below or consult 

the following relevant chapters to find out what specific 

resources and procedures are in place at each Center. 

•	 Ames Research Center: Researchers interested in 

aeronautics and information systems should contact the Ames library for assistance in locating historical materials. 

•	 Dryden Flight Research Center: Researchers 

interested in aeronautics and especially experimental aircraft should contact the Dryden public affairs 

office for assistance in locating historical materials. 

•	 Glenn Research Center/Lewis Research Center: 

Founded in 1941, this Center in Cleveland performs 

work on both aeronautics and space, with a traditional focus on propulsion research. Materials are 

located either at the Center itself or at its Plum Brook 

Station, located on Lake Erie near Sandusky, Ohio. 

•	 Goddard Space Flight Center: Researchers interested in space and Earth science should contact the 

Goddard library for assistance in locating historical materials. Located just outside Washington, DC, 

Goddard has one of the best Center libraries throughout the federal government. It is an especially useful 

source of information for NASA historians. 

•	 Jet Propulsion Laboratory: Located in Pasadena, 

California, this facility is staffed and operated under 

contract to NASA by the California Institute of 

Technology (Caltech). JPL is known for its robotic 

space programs. 

•	 Johnson Space Center: This Center has an extensive and well-organized archive that is, understandably, strongest on the history of human spaceflight. A 

significant portion of this material is at the University 

of Houston–Clear Lake. 

•	 Kennedy Space Center: A well-defined set of materials, focusing on launch operations, is maintained 

by the archivist as an adjunct to the Center library. 

•	 Langley Research Center: First established in 

Hampton, Virginia, in 1917, this Center has unparalleled historical materials relating to early aeronautical research and development and more recent 

space efforts. 

•	 Marshall Space Flight Center: This collection has 

matured over the years into a well-organized set of 

materials specializing in Marshall institutional history 

and the development of rocketry. 

•	 Stennis Space Center: Established in southern 

Mississippi near New Orleans, this Center gradually 

evolved from a rocket engine test facility to an installation with an emphasis on practical applications technology. The Center’s history office possesses documents 

related to the Center’s history and testing activities. 

access Policies 

Each of the NASA Centers, as well as the NASA 

Headquarters History Division, has its own access policy. 

Those interested in visiting should contact the individual 

Center well in advance to allow time to make any necessary arrangements. 

48 Research in NASA History 
Historical Materials at Ames research Center 8 

Mail: NASA Ames History Office, MS 207-1 

Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000 

Hours of operation: Monday through Friday, 

8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Pacific time 

Contact: April Gage, Archivist 

Telephone: 650-604-1032 

E-mail: history@mail.arc.nasa.gov 

Web site: http://history.arc.nasa.gov/ 

The NASA Ames 5-degrees-of-freedom motion 

simulator in 1962. (NASA image A-29323) 

agency records 

Agency records are the collections of official records, 

as defined in the NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR) 

1441.1D, received by the History Office from NASA Ames 

divisions and codes. The History Office has retained the 

records in these collections in accordance with the retention schedules outlined in the NPR. Included in this collection are the Public Affairs Office collection of photo 

files, subject files, and news releases from 1940 through 

2001 and the Ames Astrogram collection, which contains 

two copies of every NASA Ames Astrogram from 1958 

through 2004. 

hisTories oF ames 

research Files 

The materials in this collection were gathered to support efforts at gathering narrative histories of NASA Ames 

Research Center, and its arrangement reflects three written 

works: the Edwin Hartman book Adventures in Research: 

A History of the Ames Research Center, 1940–1965; materials gathered by Edie Watson in 1977 and 1978 in preparation for an update to Hartman’s volume; Elizabeth 

Muenger’s research for Searching the Horizon: A History 

of Ames Research Center, 1940–1976; and draft copies of 

Glenn Bugos’s book Atmosphere of Freedom, written for 

the 60th anniversary of Ames. Other materials in this collection document the research efforts of historians who 

wrote articles about various aspects of Ames and its projects, such as the Cosmos/Bion program. 

archives reFerence collecTion 

This collection is used in answering specific requests 

for information by NASA officials and the general public 

and in researching and writing NASA Ames history. The 

Archives Reference Collection is housed in filing cabinets 

in the History Office and is organized by subject. 

arTiFacT collecTion 

This collection contains artifacts related to space exploration and aeronautics. Materials in this collection include 

items such as instruments, models, and equipment from 

fields such as aeronautics, information technology, space 

biology, biotechnology, nanotechnology, thermal protection systems, air traffic management, and human factors 

research. Other artifacts were used primarily for educational purposes, such as exhibits and displays at NASA 

Ames Research Center. 

Personal PaPers 

The materials in this collection contain the personal 

papers of several Ames engineers, administrators, and 

Historical Materials at Ames Research Center 49 
scientists. The collections include the papers of John W. 

Boyd (an administrator whose career spans six decades), 

Robert W. Jackson (administrator of the Pioneer project), 

Robert Hogan (Pioneer project), James Pollack (senior 

space research scientist), Carl W. Tusch (Air Force liaison to Ames), Larry A. Manning (mission analysis), and 

Elliott Levinthal (worked at Stanford University on Viking 

Lander imaging). 

PhoTo collecTion 

This collection consists primarily of reproductions of 

photographs taken by the NACA and NASA Ames, from 

the Center’s earliest days to the present. This collection 

does not generally have original photographs. The original copies of most of the photographs in this collection 

are maintained by the Ames Documentation Technology 

Branch (Code J). 

media collecTion 

This is a growing collection of materials related to Ames 

that are in a media format other than paper. It includes 

VHS videocassettes, magnetic reel tapes, DVDs, and CDs. 

nasa ames records aT 

nara-san Bruno 

The bulk of Ames’s historical archives are not maintained 

in the History Office, but rather in the NARA Sierra Pacific 

region. The most complete Ames records at NARA deal 

with Ames prior to the formation of NASA, and these 

are a treasure trove of material on aeronautical research 

and wind tunnel construction in the 1940s and 1950s. 

Researchers need to contact NARA directly, though they 

might find it helpful to use finding aids developed by the 

History Office. 

online access To nasa ames 

Finding aids 

NASA Ames Research Center was among the first of the 

federal agencies to mark up its finding aids in encoded 

archival description (EAD), which provides strong search 

capabilities. Finding aids for processed collections at 

the NASA Ames History Office are available through the 

Online Archive of California Web site: http://www.oac. 

cdlib.org/institutions/ark:/13030/tf6q2nc0cc. 

50 Research in NASA History 
Historical Materials at Dryden Flight 

research Center 

9 

Mail:	 History Office, Mail Stop 4839


NASA Dryden Flight Research Center


P.O. Box 273 

Edwards, CA 93523


Hours of operation: Monday through Friday,


8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Pacific time


Contact: Dr. Christian Gelzer, Chief Historian


Telephone/fax: 661-276-5290/661-276-3566


Web site:	 http://www.nasa.gov/centers/


dryden/history/index.html


The Space Shuttle Endeavour receives a high-flying salute 


from its sister Shuttle Columbia, atop NASA’s Shuttle Carrier 


Aircraft, shortly after Endeavour’s landing on 12 October 


1994 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, at the comple­


tion of mission STS-68. (NASA image EC94-42789-5)


NASA Dryden’s history dates back to late 1946, when 

engineers and technicians from the NACA’s Langley 

Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory came to Muroc Army 

Airfield (now Edwards Air Force Base) in southern 

California’s Mojave Desert to prepare for the first supersonic research flights by the X-1 rocket plane. This work 

began an era of pioneering research involving numerous 

experimental jet- and rocket-powered aircraft that were 

flown to explore the cutting edge of new technologies 

and flight regimes for the benefit of civil, commercial, 

and military aerospace efforts. 

Since the days of the X-1, Dryden has grown in size and 

significance and is associated with many important technological milestones in aviation and space access: supersonic and hypersonic flight, digital fly-by-wire control 

systems, supercritical and forward-swept wings, Apollo 

Lunar Landing Research Vehicles, wingless lifting bodies, 

the Space Shuttle, and the X-43A. 

Dryden continues to pioneer projects that support NASA’s 

Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate by contributing 

to revolutionary advances in aeronautics technologies, 

access to space at reduced cost, and improved safety and 

security for global civil aviation. 

The Dryden History Office has a collection of documents approximating 3,000 linear feet of correspondence, 

flight reports, technical papers, briefing documents, program logs, and project status reports. The Historical 

Reference Collection also includes a considerable number of biographical files on Dryden personnel and oral 

history interviews. The subjects of these include Center 

Directors, pilots, engineers, and technicians. There is also 

a complete collection of the X-Press, the Dryden internal newsletter. The Dryden History Office is also responsible for an audiovisual library containing over 2,000 

videotapes; much of the collection was transferred from 

original 16-millimeter film. Additionally, there is a large 

collection of historic photographs and digital images of 

various research projects, facilities, and personnel. Many 

images and some documents and publications are available on the Dryden Web site, and thousands of documents 

have been cataloged for easy access on a computerized 

database. Access to the collection is available to qualified 

researchers by appointment. 

The Dryden History Program was established in 1997 

to preserve historically relevant materials and to provide people with a means of access to those materials. 

The Dryden History staff has worked hard to build 

and maintain a collection of historical documents relevant to Dryden in order to preserve the Center’s “corporate memory.” 

The office serves authors, educators, students, and 

members of the news media who require historical 

background information on Dryden projects and achievements. It also provides information to Dryden administrators, project managers, engineers, legal department 

Historical Materials at Dryden Flight Research Center 51 
staff, security personnel, and others in support of current 

projects and operations. The staff participates in public 

outreach by writing and editing articles and books about 

the Center’s historical contributions to aerospace, as well 

as developing Dryden history exhibits at the Center and 

for special events. 

52 Research in NASA History 
Historical Materials at Glenn research Center 10


Mail: History Office 

MS 60-3 Glenn Research Center 

21000 Brookpark Road 

Cleveland, OH 44135 

Location: Historical Collection, 

Building 60, Room 6 

Hours of operation: Monday through Friday, 

8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. eastern time 

Contact: Anne Power, Center History Officer 

Telephone:	 216-433-8715 

Web site: http://grchistory.grc.nasa.gov/ 

A Mercury astronaut sits in the Multiple Axis Space Test 

Inertia Facility (MASTIF), developed for Project Mercury to 

train astronauts in gaining control over a spacecraft that 

could move in multiple directions at once—pitching, rolling, 

and yawing all at the same time. (NASA image C1959-52235) 

general inFormaTion 

TheNASAGlennResearchCenter(formerlyLewisResearch 

Center) was founded in 1941 as an NACA research laboratory focused on propulsion. Since that time, the Center has 

continued to grow and excel in the areas of aeronautics 

and aerospace propulsion, launch operations, microgravity science, aeronautical safety, environmental improvements, and power systems. As one of the original NACA 

sites, Glenn has built and continues to build a rich and 

dynamic history. The History Office at Glenn Research 

Center is dedicated to the preservation of and access to 

that history and is the fastest growing history organization in the Agency. In addition to boasting an impressive 

collection of archival material, the History Office works in 

conjunction with the Glenn Records Management Office 

and Imaging Technology Center to provide a complete 

historical record whenever possible. The historical collection housed at Glenn includes publications; oral histories; 

facility documentation; photographs; technical drawings 

and artwork; biographical files; and subject files on programs, projects, organizations, and events. Federal records 

are stored at Glenn’s subsidiary, Plum Brook Station, in 

Sandusky, Ohio. The Records Management Staff can assist 

researchers in locating records in storage through the use 

of their shelf and box lists. 

archival collecTion 

The Glenn Research Center History Office Archives 

contains material documenting the history of the 

Center, NASA in general, and aerospace history as it 

relates to the Center mission. Six hundred cubic feet of 

material consisting of records of Administrators, buildings and grounds in general and research facilities in 

particular, organizational development, scientific and 

technological research programs, events, and staff organizations are augmented by a small professional library 

and ready reference/biographical file. Record types 

include office files, publications, scientific and technical 

research, and audiovisual/multimedia resources, including 150 oral histories. 

Subjects of interest in the collection include the following: 

•	 Centaur rocket 

•	 Microgravity 

•	 Nuclear propulsion 

•	 Plum Brook Station 

•	 RL-10 engine 

•	 Rocket Engine Test Facility 

Historical Materials at Glenn Research Center 53 
•	 Tribology 

•	 Wind tunnels 

•	 Wind turbines 

•	 Center directories 

•	 Center newsletters 

PhoTograPhic, moTion PicTure, 

and video collecTion 

Glenn Research Center’s still photographic collection consists of approximately 315,000 images that document the 

history of the Center (1941 to present) and Plum Brook 

Station (1956 to present). These are cataloged chronologically with titles and other basic metadata in a searchable 

database. Twenty-six thousand of these images are available digitally and can be viewed at http://grcimagenet. 

grc.nasa.gov. The Center also maintains an official portrait collection that includes both a large number of negatives and over 1,100 portraits available digitally. 

The NASA Glenn video collection (1986 to present) contains approximately 300 productions [#GRC- . . .] and an 

equal number of institutional project videos [#WO- . . .]. 

A few of the topics include microgravity, icing, educational services, and special events. There are also a small, 

but rapidly expanding, number of multimedia productions and DVDs available. These range from pilot training 

pieces to documentaries. 

The NASA Glenn film collection (1946–89) includes 165 

productions [#C- . . .] and 2,200 institutional project films 

[#MPD- . . .]. It also contains extensive film documentation of the Crash Fire Test Program, as well as Atlas 

Centaur and Titan Centaur launches. 

Technical liBrary collecTion 

The Glenn Technical Library holds a bound collection 

of notebooks containing information about the NACA 

inspections held at Lewis (Glenn), Langley, and Ames 

from 1947 to 1966. The notebooks include photographs, 

correspondence, speeches, scheduling information, lists 

of invitees, and newspaper clippings. 

54 Research in NASA History 
Historical Materials at Goddard Space Flight 

Center (Including Wallops Flight Facility) 

11 

Mail: Code 272 

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center 

Greenbelt, MD 20771 

Location: Building 21 

Homer E. Newell Memorial Library 

Hours of operation: Monday through Friday, 

by appointment 

10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. eastern time


Telephone: 301-286-7218


A GSFC scientist examines the atmospheric satellite 


Explorer XVII prior to launch. (NASA image G-63-4001) 


The Goddard Space Flight Center has expertise in the 

areas of space science, Earth science, and space technology. It is NASA’s Center of Excellence for scientific 

research. The Homer E. Newell Library assists scholars in 

locating historical materials relevant to the Center’s missions. In the area of oral histories, the library also has 

a copy of Roads to Space: An Oral History of the Soviet 

Space Program. 

Wallops Flight Facility 

Mail: Code 1300 

Wallops Flight Facility 

[part of Goddard Space Flight Center] 

Wallops Island, VA 23337 

Location: Building 106 

Hours of operation: Monday through Friday, 

by appointment 

Contact: Keith Koehler 

Telephone: 757-824-1579 

The Wallops Flight Facility is organizationally a component of Goddard Space Flight Center but is located on 

Virginia’s Eastern Shore. The facility’s historical documents include information on projects and institutional 

activities since 1945. The materials consist of log books, 

flight documents, photographs, and correspondence. 

The collection is not formalized, and requests to view 

the documents should be made in advance. 

Historical Materials at Goddard Space Flight Center (Including Wallops Flight Facility) 55 

Historical Materials at the Jet Propulsion 

Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

12

Mail:	 JPL Archives, M/S: 111-113


Jet Propulsion Laboratory


4800 Oak Grove Dr.


Pasadena, CA 91109-8099


Location: Building 111


Hours of operation: Monday through Friday,


7:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Pacific time


Contact: Margo Young, 818-354-3007


Telephone/fax:	 818-354-4200/818-393-6752 for 


research assistance


E-mail: archives@jpl.nasa.gov


Web site: http://beacon.jpl.nasa.gov/


Scientists at JPL work on the 1998 Mars Climate Orbiter, part of 


NASA’s Mars Surveyor Program. (NASA image M98ORBITER)


The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded 

research and development facility managed by the 

California Institute of Technology (Caltech) for NASA. 

The archives 

The JPL Archives was established in 1989 to document 

the history of the Laboratory’s flight projects, research 

and development activities, and administrative operations. Archives staff and a portion of the holdings are 

located at the Lab, while the remaining archival materials 

are stored off-site. A courier service retrieves and delivers 

requested material to the Laboratory daily. 

holdings 

The primary holdings are the processed collections, the 

History Collection, oral history interviews and transcripts, 

and audiovisual materials. They are described on the 

Beacon Web site at http://beacon.jpl.nasa.gov. 

The processed collections focus primarily on the Office 

of the Director and flight projects. The collections are 

cataloged in the Archives online catalog. 

The History Collection is a reference collection first 

assembled in the 1970s; it contains materials pertaining to the development of the Laboratory from 1936 

to the present. Within this collection are materials on 

Army Ordnance projects such as Corporal and Sergeant; 

NASA flight projects, including Ranger, Surveyor, and 

Mariner; other JPL activities; and material generated by 

organizations other than JPL but relevant to JPL’s activities. Indices are available online at http://beacon.jpl. 

nasa.gov. In addition, a hard-copy index is available in 

the Archives. 

The oral history collection contains transcripts of interviews with both JPL retirees and long-time employees 

about their careers, their involvement with flight projects, their research and development activities, and the 

evolution of the Laboratory. A new focus of the collection will be to document the evolution of upcoming JPL 

projects in near-real time. Oral histories will be conducted with top managers of selected projects that are 

considered to be NASA and JPL’s top priorities annually, 

in order to capture their evolution. Those transcripts 

that have releases are included in the online catalog and 

may be viewed on-site. 

The audiovisual materials are included in the catalog. 

They include print negatives, print positives, motion picture film, and videotape. The materials document JPL’s 

projects and research activities, as well as people and 

events at the Laboratory. 

Historical Materials at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology 57 
PuBlic access 

The online catalog is available at http://beacon.jpl.nasa. 

gov and contains extensive descriptions of the collections. Researchers who wish to visit the Archives and use 

its holdings on-site are required to contact the Archives 

via e-mail or regular mail at the addresses given above. 

Researchers will be sent an Application for Access to 

Archival Material form, which is to be completed and 

returned for review. It is important to fill out the form 

fully and provide accurate information, as it will be used 

to determine access approval. If the visit to the Archives 

is approved, then the information from the application 

will be submitted to the JPL Protective Services Office 

for its approval to visit the Laboratory. Requests for visits from foreign nationals must be submitted at least 20 

working days in advance. 

Public researchers who wish to carry out their research 

via e-mail or land mail only must submit a Freedom of 

Information Act (FOIA) request with the NASA FOIA 

Officer. See http://cercla.jpl.nasa.gov/FOIA/. 

Fees For reProducTions 

Photocopy reproductions of paper records and reproductions of JPL images in a variety of photographic 

formats are available. Contact the Reference Desk at 

archives@jpl.nasa.gov or call 818-354-4200 for current 

reproduction fees and method of payment. Prepayment 

is required for all orders. 

58 Research in NASA History 
Historical Materials at Johnson Space Center 13 

Mail:	 NASA Johnson Space Center


Code IRD/Information Resources 


Directorate


Houston, TX 77058


Location:	 University of Houston–Clear Lake


Neumann Library


2700 Bay Area Blvd.


Houston, TX 77058


Hours of operation: Monday through Friday, 

8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. central time 

Contact:	 Dr. Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, JSC 


Historian; Mark Scroggins, JSC 


Archivist; or Shelly Kelly, UHCL 


Archivist


Telephone:	 281-486-3942 (JSC History Office)


281-483-4975 (JSC Archivist)


281-283-3933 (UHCL Archives)


Web sites:	 http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/ 

(Johnson Space Center History Portal) 

http://images.jsc.nasa.gov 

(JSC Digital Image Collection) 

Overall view of the Mission Operations Control Room in the Mission 


Control Center, Building 30, Manned Spacecraft Center, showing 


the flight controllers celebrating the successful conclusion of the 


Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. (NASA image S-69-40023)


A memorandum of understanding between Johnson 

Space Center (JSC) and the University of Houston–Clear 

Lake (UHCL) permits the transfer, on a 10-year renewable loan, of selected historical documents to the UHCL 

University Archives. UHCL currently administers approximately 2,800 linear feet of JSC historical documents from 

the early human spaceflight programs. 

The UHCL Archives are open to the public and can be 

contacted from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, at 281-283-3933. Mail should be addressed to 

University Archives, Neumann Library, University of 

Houston–Clear Lake, 2700 Bay Area Blvd., Houston, TX 

77058-1098. 

The Johnson Space Center Digital Image Collection 

contains 9,000 NASA press release photos spanning the 

American human space program from Project Mercury to 

the STS-79 Shuttle mission. The images are available at 

http://images.jsc.nasa.gov. 

The JSC Scientific and Technical Information Center 

(STIC) also maintains a collection of active historical 

documents open only to JSC personnel and contractors. 

Many of these documents are used on a daily basis and 

are not ready for retirement to the National Archives. 

They are not open to the public. 

Historical documents from the Mercury and Gemini 

programs have been retired to the National Archives 

Southwest Regional Facility in Fort Worth, Texas. 

sPeciFic holdings 

University of Houston–Clear Lake


Archives


The JSC History Collection contains materials covering 

more than 40 years of NASA’s human spaceflight activities. Its holdings include approximately 2,800 linear feet 

of documents from government, industry, and other 

sources. The collection is arranged in series by program: 

Apollo, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, Space Shuttle, 

and Space Station. In addition, a Center series contains 

Historical Materials at Johnson Space Center 59 
materials related to the organization, management, and 

functions of JSC and its line organizations and temporary 

program/project offices. Smaller groups of general reference materials were created for quick-reference purposes. 

The JSC Oral History Collection contains oral histories 

and interviews preserved on audio media with some 

transcripts. The collection contains interviews conducted 

during the early 1960s through the end of the Apollo era 

(1975), as well as oral history sessions conducted starting 

in 1997 by the ongoing JSC Oral History Project. 

The Mercury and Gemini series formerly housed in the 

JSC History Collection have been retired to the National 

Archives Southwest Regional Facility in Fort Worth, Texas. 

For contact information, please see http://www.archives. 

gov/southwest. 

Finding aids 

Two electronic databases provide searchable guides to the 

JSC History Collection at UHCL. The History Search Index 

allows users to search in the title, author, interviewer, program, date, originator, and comments fields for a document 

at the item level in the Apollo and Oral History Series. 

Some access to documents in the early chronological subseries of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, Skylab, and Shuttle 

series are also available. Management Instructions and 

the JSC newspaper, the Roundup, housed in the General 

Reference series, are also indexed to the item level. 

The Archive Search Index allows users to search in the 

title field for folder-level descriptions of the main subseries within the Skylab, ASTP, Shuttle, Station, General 

Reference, and Center Series. 

Both indices are available to the general public via the 

JSC History Portal Web site, located at http://www.jsc. 

nasa.gov/history under the link JSC History Collection. 

Traditional written guides to each of the series described 

below are also available for browsing in the UHCL 

Archives. 

The following is an abbreviated description of the materials available in the collection. 

availaBle maTerials 

Apollo Series 

(340 Feet) 

•	 Chronological files, including letters, memoranda, 

and meeting minutes describing the development 

of the Apollo spacecraft and Lunar Module, including their design, fabrication, test, and modification 

through the final Apollo mission (1945–78). 

•	 Memoranda of George M. Low, Manned Spacecraft 

Center (MSC), Apollo spacecraft program manager 

for the period after the AS-204 fire (1967–69). 

•	 Transcripts of 327 oral history interviews (1965–72). 

•	 Office of Manned Space Flight Management Council 

meetings, minutes, and related documents. 

•	 Apollo lunar science chronological files (1958–82). 

•	 Science documents for individual Apollo missions. 

•	 Manned Space Flight Experiments Board meeting 

minutes (1965–68, 1970–72). 

•	 Space Sciences Steering Committee subcommittee 

meeting minutes (1961–68). 

•	 Lunar Receiving Laboratory chronological files 

(1964–73). 

•	 Lunar surface operations planning meeting minutes 

(1967–72). 

•	 MSC Science and Applications Directorate staff meetings (1961–63, 1968–73). 

•	 MSC Apollo Spacecraft Program Office weekly 

reports (1962–66, 1970). 

•	 Apollo mission documents, filed sequentially beginning with AS-001 in December 1964 and ending with 

Apollo 17 in December 1972, including flight plans, 

mission requirements documents, public affairs 

materials, air-to-ground and on-board voice transcriptions, mission reports, anomaly reports, stowage 

lists, and press kits, among others. 

•	 Apollo crew training schedules, Apollo 7 through 

Apollo 17. 

•	 Command and Service Module documents, including operations and systems handbooks, manuals, 

and photographs, as well as a multivolume North 

American Rockwell study on the Module’s cost, 

schedule, and technical characteristics. 

•	 Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV), Lunar 

Landing Training Vehicle (LLTV), and lunar landing 

studies documents (1965–69). 

60 Research in NASA History 
•	 Lunar Module documents, including operations and 

systems handbooks, photographs, flight readiness 

reviews, and configuration control board minutes. 

•	 Apollo Mission Planning Task Force documents 

(1964–66). 

•	 Contractor studies on Apollo logistic support systems (1964–66). 

•	 Apollo program quarterly status reports, numbers 1 

through 25 (1962–68). 

•	 Weekly activity reports, Apollo Spacecraft Resident 

Program Office, Downey, California. 

•	 Apollo Experience Reports, authored by program 

participants on subjects such as docking systems, 

environmental control, Lunar Module descent and 

ascent engines, mission planning, testing, stress corrosion, attenuation systems, and others (116 total 

subjects). 

•	 Apollo Working Papers (1,000-plus series) on aspects 

of Apollo planning and operations (1960–68). 

•	 Apollo feasibility study proposals and contractor 

reports (1960–61). 

•	 Grumman reports, including the Lunar Module 

extension study for the Apollo Extension System 

Office (1963–66). 

•	 Apollo guidance, navigation, and control documents, 

including Massachusetts Institute of Technology 

(MIT), AC Delco, and Grumman materials. 

•	 Lunar Module and Command and Service Module 

weight and mass properties reports (1962–69). 

Skylab Series 

(201 Feet) 

•	 Correspondence files, including letters, memoranda, 

meeting minutes, and notes originating at NASA 

Headquarters, JSC, and other Field Centers, arranged 

chronologically by mail code (1966–73). 

•	 Contractor correspondence files,primarily from North 

American Rockwell, Martin Marietta, and McDonnell 

Douglas, arranged chronologically (1968–73). 

•	 Post-Apollo planning documents, including materials from the Apollo Extension System and Apollo 

Applications Program Offices (eventually redesignated Skylab in 1970), as well as some Manned 

Orbital Laboratory materials and files of the Space 

Station Study Office (1962–65). 

•	 Mission directives and management documents, 

including inter-Center agreements, program approval 

documents, program management guides, program plans, contingency plans, and baseline operations plans. 

•	 Mission requirements and baseline reference mission documents used to provide a basis for mission 

planning and to describe mission events in detail 

(1967–72). 

•	 Handbooks, data books, and checklists outlining 

operational procedures and experiment and subsystem data (1970–73). 

•	 North American Rockwell, Boeing, Martin Marietta, 

and Bellcomm documents, including a large group 

of North American Rockwell progress reports on the 

Command and Service Module (1962–74). 

•	 Office of Manned Space Flight Management 

Council meeting minutes and presentation materials 

(1968–73). 

•	 Skylab program review materials, including meeting 

minutes and charts from management reviews, midterm review and assessment, Command and Service 

Module major issue reviews, flight readiness reviews, 

and design certification reviews (1968–73). 

•	 Configuration Control Board meeting minutes 

(1970–73). 

•	 Program manager’s files from the office of Kenneth 

S. Kleinknecht (1970–72, 1974). 

•	 General subject files covering such diverse topics 

as the Crew Health Stabilization Program and the 

Skylab orbital debris problem (1967–74). 

•	 Experiment documents, including correspondence, 

meeting minutes, reviews, checklists, and acceptance data packages for the Apollo Telescope Mount 

(ATM), as well as biomedical, Earth resources, and 

Earth observations investigations (1965–74). 

•	 Skylab news briefings and public affairs publications, 

including transcripts and press kits (1971–77). 

Historical Materials at Johnson Space Center 61 
•	 Transcripts and tapes from 77 oral history 

interviews. 

•	 Flight director’s handover notes and Flight 

Management Team meeting minutes (1973–74). 

•	 Air-to-ground and on-board voice communications 

transcripts (1973–74). 

•	 Mission-related documents, including flight plans, 

mission reports, and mission rules (1972–74, 1979). 

•	 Skylab Experience Bulletins and “lessons learned” 

documents describing the performance of flight 

crews, flight equipment, and hardware (1973–75). 

Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) Series 

(98 Feet) 

•	 Correspondence files, including letters and memoranda filed chronologically (1973–77). 

•	 Files of clippings and articles from American and 

Russian newspapers and magazines, including some 

technical translations (1970–76). 

•	 Public Affairs Office documents, including press 

kits and releases (in Russian and English), fact 

sheets, and documents regarding cooperative 

press and television coverage of the ASTP mission 

(1974–76). 

•	 Working group documents, including materials generated by American and Soviet personnel as they 

negotiated the technical specifications for the ASTP 

mission (1971–75). 

•	 Transcripts of oral history interviews (1974–76). 

•	 Air-to-ground, on-board voice, and U.S. and USSR 

Mission Control communications transcripts (1975). 

•	 Photographs, including those taken at joint meetings 

held in Moscow and Houston (1971–75). 

•	 Experiment documents, including proposals, development materials, and program management files. 

•	 ASTP documents in the 10,000 through 50,000 series, 

including safety assessment reports, mission planning documents, interacting equipment documents, 

and scheduling documents. 

•	 Mission-related documents, including handbooks 

and data books, flight plans, mission requirements 

documents, and crew activities plans (1974–75). 

•	 North American Rockwell documents consisting 

largely of materials on the development of the ASTP 

docking module (1971–74). 

•	 Crew training and joint activities tapes, some in 

Russian (1973–76). 

•	 Joint meetings documents, including reports, drawings, articles, and audiotapes (1971–75). 

Space Shuttle Series 

(981 Feet) 

•	 Chronological files, including correspondence, memoranda, and early Space Shuttle development documents (1957–84). 

•	 MSC/JSC reports and presentation materials, filed 

chronologically (1968–89). 

•	 Marshall Space Flight Center reports and presentation 

materials focusing primarily on the development of 

the Solid Rocket Boosters, External Tank, and Space 

Shuttle Main Engines (1970–88). 

•	 Goddard Space Flight Center/Payload Planning 

Working Group documents (1972–73). 

•	 Rockwell documents, including proposals, study 

reports, contract reports, and related materials 

(1965–89). 

•	 Payload documents, including files generated by 

the Shuttle Payload Integration Office and Payloads 

Interface Engineering Office (1973–85). 

•	 Files of Thomas Hyle generated in the Contingency 

Abort Section of the Flight Analysis Branch, the 

Abort Analysis Section of the Engineering Analysis 

Section, and the Space Shuttle Systems Engineering 

Office (1970–86). 

•	 Engineering Systems Integration Group meeting 

minutes (1977–81). 

•	 Space Transportation System (STS) Operations Office, 

presentation files of Glynn Lunney (1977–81). 

62 Research in NASA History 
•	 Spacelab documents, including correspondence, preliminary and critical design reviews, and experiment 

planning documents (1971–83). 

•	 National STS Program Office and Orbiter and 

Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) Project 

Office weekly activity reports (1970–90). 

•	 Approach and landing test documents, including 

operations plans, final reports, and press releases 

(1973–78). 

•	 Mission-related documents, including flight plans, 

mission reports, press kits, and flight profiles. 

•	 Contractor documents, including Grumman, General 

Dynamics, Boeing, Lockheed, Martin Marietta, 

McDonnellDouglas,andThompsonRamoWooldridge 

(TRW) concept studies and Space Shuttle proposals. 

•	 Remote Manipulator System documents, including 

design reviews, interface control documents, final 

reports, meeting minutes, and presentation materials 

generated by NASA and SPAR Aerospace (1972–82). 

•	 Phase B and Phase C/D Requests for Proposal (RFP), 

Source Evaluation Board documents, viewgraphs, 

and contracts. 

•	 Aerodynamic Design Databooks (1972–81). 

•	 Correspondence and subject files of Rodney Rose 

generated in the Mission Support Office and during 

his term as assistant director for the Space Shuttle 

(1975–84). 

•	 Shuttle/Salyut talks, including agenda and meeting 

notes (1976–78). 

•	 Shuttle avionics study reports generated by various 

NASA contractors (1968–75). 

•	 Transcript and tapes of oral history interviews 

(1983–85). 

•	 Special Program Requirements Review Board for 

Systems Design, including agendas, meeting minutes, and directives (1986). 

•	 STS user charge documents, including background 

studies, correspondence, notes, and presentation 

materials (1974–80). 

•	 Abort and Separation Panel meeting minutes 

(1973–76). 

•	 Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG) documents, including safety analysis reports for the 

Galileo and Ulysses missions (1976–88). 

•	 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft documents, including Boeing 

materials related to the 747 modification contract 

(1974–76). 

•	 Space Shuttle Program Office presentation files, 

arranged chronologically (1969–88). 

•	 Orbiter technical status reviews, including correspondence, meeting minutes, and presentation materials 

(1981–86). 

•	 Shuttle Mass Properties and Weight Reports 

(1974–90). 

Space Station Series 

(195 Linear Feet) 

•	 Chronological files, including correspondence, meeting minutes, and reports from early space station 

concept studies (1952–82). 

•	 Space Station Program Office and Space Station 

Project Office correspondence and presentation files 

(1984–91). 

•	 McDonnell Douglas documents, including reports 

from the Manned Orbiting Laboratory Evaluation 

Study, the Space Station Phase B Definition Study 

(1969–72), and the Space Station Systems Analysis 

Study. 

•	 Rockwell documents, including reports from the 

Space Station Phase B Definition Study (1969–72), 

the Space Construction Analysis Study, and the Space 

Operations Center Study. 

•	 Boeing documents, including reports from the 

Saturn V Single Launch Space Station Study, the 

Space Operations Center Systems Analysis Study, 

and the Space Station Attributes and Architectural 

Options Study. 

•	 Miscellaneous contractor documents, including 

reports generated by General Dynamics, Grumman, 

Lockheed, Martin Marietta, and TRW. 

•	 Critical Evaluation Task Force meeting minutes, presentation materials, and final findings (1986). 

Historical Materials at Johnson Space Center 63 
•	 Rockwell and McDonnell Douglas Space Station 

Work Package 2 definition and preliminary design 

phase proposal documents for Phase B (1985–86). 

•	 European Space Agency (ESA) Columbus Phase B1 

definition and design reports (1985). 

•	 Space Station Phase C/D RFP and McDonnell Douglas 

technical proposal (1987). 

•	 Architectural control documents for various Space 

Station Freedom subsystems (1986–91). 

•	 NASA Space Station Program definition and requirements documents (1988–91). 

•	 Description and requirements documents governing 

Space Station technical and management activities at 

JSC (1989–91). 

•	 Preliminary Design Review Plans (1989–91). 

•	 Miscellaneous requirements documents for a wide 

range of items, including the in-flight health-care 

system, robotics accommodation, microgravity laboratories, radio frequency data, and so on. 

•	 Software specifications, development, and testrelated documents (1989–91). 

•	 Space Station Freedom External Maintenance Task 

Team report (1990). 

Center Series 

(603 Linear Feet) 

•	 Director’s reading files, including correspondence 

circulated among executives in the Center Director’s 

suite of offices (not containing any confidential or 

sensitive materials), filed chronologically by the circulation date (1978–91). 

•	 Headquarters correspondence, arranged chronologically by office of origin (1973–81). 

•	 Files of Joseph P. Loftus, including materials related 

to NASA budget and manpower issues, advanced 

program planning, research and technology operating plans, and Space Shuttle extended-duration mission studies. 

•	 Program Operating Plans (1965–79). 

•	 Files of Thomas K. Mattingly, including materials 

related to Shuttle flight crew issues (1972–78). 

•	 Materials related to advanced program planning, 

manned Mars mission studies, and proposed planetary missions (1953, 1959–89). 

•	 Docking and rendezvous documents, including 

materials related to hardware development and mission techniques (1960–88). 

•	 Spacesuit documents, including materials related to 

the development of the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, 

and Space Shuttle generations of suits (1959–81). 

•	 Earth Resources Program Office documents, including correspondence, meeting minutes, weekly activity reports, and project reports (1965–81). 

•	 Modular Integrated Urban Systems/Minus Integration 

and Subsystems Test (MIUS/MIST) Project files, 

including correspondence and reports related to the 

integrated utility systems study (1971–81). 

•	 Files of Clifford Charlesworth, including reading 

files and activity reports of the Space Operations 

Directorate (1982–87). 

•	 Human spaceflight schedules outlining program and 

hardware milestones for the Gemini and Apollo programs (1962–71). 

•	 Food systems files, including correspondence and 

reports related to nutrition standards, hardware, 

experiment management, and menu development 

for in-flight eating (1967–78). 

•	 Reading files of Dr. Maxime Faget (1958–81) and Dr. 

Christopher Kraft (1963–70). 

•	 Correspondence files and miscellaneous reports 

of the Administration, Center Operations, Space 

and Life Sciences, Mission Operations, Flight Crew 

Operations, and Engineering and Development 

Directorates. 

•	 Large space structures documents, including correspondence and reports related to the Power 

Extension Package (PEP) study (1971–81). 

•	 Paul Purser logs to Dr. Robert Gilruth outlining daily 

activities of the Space Task Group and Manned 

Spacecraft Center in its earliest years (1956–64). 

•	 MSC senior staff meeting minutes (1961–68, 1970–76). 

64 Research in NASA History 
•	 Organizational files, including organizational charts, 

studies, and functional statements for MSC/JSC 

(1958–86). 

•	 NASA, JSC, and STS management documents, including management study reports conducted internally 

and by various JSC contractors. 

•	 Files of Paul H. Vavra, including materials related to 

the development of the Mercury Control Network, 

Mission Control Center, and Apollo Unified S-Band 

and Acceptance Checkout Systems. 

•	 Mission Control Center and Real Time Computer 

Complex documents, including correspondence and 

reports from MIT and Philco Corporation. 

•	 Solar Power Satellite documents, including Boeing 

and Rockwell study reports examining questions of 

energy conversion in space, microwave transmission 

of power to Earth, and space construction of power 

satellites (1976–81). 

•	 Files of Dr. Robert Parker, including materials related to 

his position as backup crewmember for Apollo 15 and 

Apollo 17, program scientist for Skylab, and flight crew 

for Spacelab and Astro-1 Space Shuttle missions. 

•	 Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle project documents, 

including Requests for Proposal, study reports, and 

meeting minutes. 

•	 Files of Michael Reynolds, Chief Contamination 

Control Officer for the Apollo Lunar Receiving 

Laboratory (1969–74). Dr. Reynolds also worked on 

the Crew Health Care System (CHeCS) for the Space 

Shuttle and the Space Station (1986–96). 

General reference Series 

(200 Linear Feet) 

•	 NASA Special Publications, including the Aeronautics 

and Astronautics series and books in the History 

Series, Congressional authorizations and appropriations, testimony, and briefing materials (1950–83, 

1986–91); also, NASA semiannual reports to Congress 

(1959–70). 

•	 President’s Reports to Congress on U.S. Aeronautics 

and Space Activities (1959–70, 1972–87, 1989–90). 

•	 Current News clippings from major national newspapers (1964–91). 

•	 NASA and MSC/JSC Management Instructions and 

Announcements (1959–92). 

•	 Space News Roundup (JSC internal newspaper) 

(1961–92). 

•	 “Space Flight Justification and the Role of Man in 

Space,” including articles and publications arguing 

both the pros and the cons of the space program and 

the relative merits of human versus robotic exploration (1960–89). 

•	 JSC, NASA Headquarters, and NASA Field Center 

telephone directories (1959–92). 

•	 General history files, formerly a ready reference 

subject file, containing files about various programs, 

Field Centers, contractors, and administrative and 

astronaut biographies, as well as speeches, articles, 

and papers. 

oral hisTory holdings 

The JSC Oral History Collection consists of more than 

1,000 interviews covering all aspects of NASA human 

spaceflight. The collection is arranged in seven series: 

Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, 

Shuttle, Shuttle/Mir Phase I, and Center. Reel-to-reel 

tapes, cassette tapes, and videotapes were used to record 

the interviews. Compact discs were introduced in the late 

1990s for preservation. An inventory to the collection can 

be accessed by using the History Search Index. All of the 

audio media and transcripts are located at the University 

of Houston–Clear Lake archives. 

Jsc oral hisTory collecTion 

The Gemini Series consists of 83 interviews available on 

audio CD. They were originally recorded on audio reel 

and are considered “tape rescues,” meaning that they 

have been transferred to audio CD format for accessibility and preservation (1966–70). 

The Apollo Series consists of 480 interviews or other 

audio items available in a variety of media including 

audio reels, audiocassettes, audio CDs, and paper transcripts. The Apollo series can be further broken down 

into subseries: 

1.	 Apollo Miscellaneous: Forty-four cassettes or 

audio reels dating from 1963 to 1989. Many of 

the cassettes are not dated and appear to have 

been recorded from events or productions such 

Historical Materials at Johnson Space Center 65 
as radio interviews, television broadcasts, and 

awards ceremonies. 

2.	 Apollo History Interviews: Interviews conducted 

with Apollo engineers, contractors, and administrators dating from 1966 to 1976 (bulk 1966–72). 

These interviews consist of audio reels, paper transcripts, and audio CD “tape rescues.” Because some 

of the audiotapes were recycled, some interviews 

exist only in paper format. 

3.	 Apollo Spacecraft Interviews: Interviews conducted with Apollo engineers, contractors, and 

administrators dating from 1964 to 1986 (bulk 

1964–73). These audio reels, paper transcripts, and 

audio CD “tape rescues” sometimes overlap with 

the Apollo history interviews. Because some of the 

audiotapes were recycled, some interviews exist 

only in paper format. 

4.	 Before This Decade Is Out: Fifty-five transcripts 

from interviews recorded between 1969 and 1991 

that were used in the publication “Before This 

Decade Is Out . . .” Personal Reflections on the Apollo 

Program, edited by Glen Swanson, 1999. 

5.	 Stages to Saturn: Forty-nine audio CDs containing interviews conducted by Roger Bilstein in support of Marshall Space Flight Center’s Saturn history 

project under contract. The interviews pertain to 

the development of the Saturn rockets used in the 

Apollo lunar landing program. The recording quality 

reflects the informal nature of the interview series. 

The Skylab Series contains 52 interviews with astronauts 

and scientists about the Skylab program. These interviews are available primarily on audiocassette; however, 

there are also two audio reels, four audio CDs, and one 

transcript (1970–79, 1999). 

The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Series consists of 21 interviews about the ASTP, available on audiocassettes and 

audio reels. Two interviews have been transferred to 

audio CD (1974–76). 

The Shuttle Series holds 42 interviews about early Space 

Shuttle development. Interviews were recorded on cassettes, and most have been transcribed. Regarding interviews planned but never conducted, there are folders 

containing only notes about the potential interviewee 

(1981–86). 

The Shuttle/Mir Phase I Series contains 71 interviews 

with Americans and Russians. The interviews were conducted between 1998 and 1999 to develop the publication 

Shuttle-Mir: The United States and Russia Share History’s 

Highest Stage, by Clay Morgan; they are housed in both 

transcript and audio CD format. 

The Center Series consists of over 835 entries in the 

History database. Interviews and other audio items can 

be broken down into subseries: 

1.	 Aviatrix Pioneers: Six interviews conducted by 

the JSC Oral History Project team between 1999 

and 2000 with women who were pioneers in the 

field of aviation. 

2.	 Ballistic Missile Development Pioneers: Three 

interviews conducted by the JSC Oral History 

Project Team in 1999 with key personnel from 

the Department of Defense who worked on the 

Ballistic Missile project. 

3.	 Center Miscellaneous: Seventy-two items on 

audiocassettes, audio reels, or audio CD from 1962 

to 1997 (bulk 1962–71). 

4.	 Great Moments in Space: Thirty-six interviews 

conducted as research toward a potential publication. The interviews, recorded on microcassettes, 

are transcribed. The recordings are generally poor 

in quality and clarity. 

5.	 Herstory: Fifteen interviews funded by the NASA 

Headquarters History Division and conducted with 

women who contributed to the development and/ 

or influenced the history of NASA and human 

spaceflight. 

6.	 Johnson Space Center Oral History Project 

(1996 to present): Over 300 interviews conducted 

by the Oral History Project Office. Interviews are 

delivered on audio CDs and as transcripts. PDF versions of the transcripts are made available online 

via the JSC History Portal. 

7.	 Merrifield: One hundred nine interviews conducted by former JSC Historian Robert Merrifield 

from 1967 to 1971 as research toward a potential 

publication. The interviews were recorded on audio 

reel, and many were transcribed. Approximately 

one-third have been transferred to audio CD. 

8.	 Our Future in Space: Eleven interviews, not dated, 

recorded and available on VHS videocassette. 

9.	 PBS Nova Lone Wolf Productions: Fifty-five 

transcripts from a series of interviews conducted 

by Lone Wolf Productions in 1998 with NASA 

66 Research in NASA History 
astronauts, engineers, and scientists for the PBS 

Nova series To the Moon. These transcripts were 

donated by Lone Wolf Productions for reference 

material only. Special citation required for citing 

from this material. 

10.	 Southwest Texas State University (SWTSU): 

Sixty-one interviews conducted between 1999 and 

2001 by students at SWTSU, now known as Texas 

State University-San Marcos. Transcripts and audio 

CDs are available for all interviews. Audiocassettes 

exist for interviews conducted in 1999 and 2001. 

11.	 Texas Aerospace Scholars Speakers: Four VHS 

videocassettes of speakers recorded in 2001. 

12.	 Video: Thirty presentations and interviews (various subjects) are available on VHS videocassette 

dating from 1974 to 2001. 

Historical Materials at Johnson Space Center 67 

Historical Materials at Kennedy Space Center 14 

Mail:	 Kennedy Space Center


Library Archives, Library-E


Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899


Location: Kennedy Space Center Headquarters


Building, Room 1533


Hours of operation: Monday through Friday,


7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. eastern time 

Contact:	 Elaine E. Liston, Archivist


Gregg Buckingham, NASA History 


Representative


Telephone/fax:	 321-867-1515/321-867-4534


Web site: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/


kennedy/about/history/index.html


Image of the Space Shuttle Columbia in the hours prior 


to its 1981 launch on STS-1. (NASA image 81PC-0136)


general inFormaTion 

The historical documents collection of the Kennedy 

Space Center (KSC) Library Archives was created in 1976 

during the celebration of the American Bicentennial. 

Archival materials are received as donations through 

various KSC organizations. The Archives houses over 3 

million pages of documents and more than 55,000 photographs; these are historical evidence of KSC’s growth 

and development from 1958 to the present. The documents and photographs cover a wide array of subjects, 

from the construction of facilities, such as the Vehicle 

Assembly Building and Launch Complex 39, to launches 

of both robotic and crewed vehicles through the most 

current Space Shuttle flights. The holdings are accessed 

through more than 150 guides, lists, and, increasingly, 

an online database. 

The Archives prepares the annual publication Chronology 

of KSC and KSC-related Events. Chronologies have been 

published for the years 1976 to 2005 and are available from the following Web site: http://www-lib.ksc. 

nasa.gov/lib/public/archives/chronology.html. The Archives 

exhibits its holdings on a regular basis. A collection of 

reference books is available for researchers. Although 

research and reference service is available, written 

inquiries are preferred. 

access To The


ksc liBrary archives


Kennedy Space Center is a restricted government installation; access to all its facilities is granted by prior clearance, 

per KNPR 1600.1. Access to the KSC Archives by U.S. 

citizens is best achieved by contacting the KSC Library 

Archives by letter a minimum of two weeks prior to visiting the Center. Telephone requests will be accepted. KSC 

Archives will not accept responsibility for authorizing visits by foreign nationals. 

Available Materials 

Apollo Era, 1966–72 (31⁄2 Feet) 

The guide to Apollo-era documents comprises 10 series, 

an arrangement of 245 folders that contain more than 53 

pages of description. The bulk of the collection is made 

up of Daily Status Reports dating from 3 January 1966 

through 30 November 1972; these make up 83 folders. 

The remainder of the documents are test reports, summaries, letters, memoranda, operations plans, portions of 

the Review Board findings concerning the AS-204 accident, and launch documents from the beginning of the 

Apollo program through Apollo 12 and for Apollo 17. 

The collection does not include documentary materials 

for Apollo missions 13 through 16. 

Historical Materials at Kennedy Space Center 69 
Apollo 204 Accident, 1966–67 (21⁄2 Feet) 

The Apollo 204 Accident Guide is a description of documents relating to the accident that took place on 27 January 

1967 at Kennedy Space Center. The various evidentiary 

materials described in the 29 pages are arranged in 8 series 

and contained in 58 folders. The documents include published transcripts of congressional hearings; statements concerning the accident by then-NASA Administrator James E. 

Webb; the “Phillips Report”; regular press releases; a special 

series of“AS-204 Releases” running from 27 January through 

2 February 1967; NASA’s official accident report; newspaper 

articles; wire service reports; chronologies; biographies of 

Gus Grissom, Roger B. Chaffee, and Edward H. White II; 

memoranda and letters; and the four volumes of the AS-204 

Technical Information Handbook. 

Army Ordnance Missile Command Reports, 

1958–60 (1 Foot) 

These documents were published by the U.S. Army 

Ordnance Missile Command from 15 May 1958 through 

6 July 1960 and reflect work performed for the Advanced 

Research Projects Agency of the Department of Defense 

and for NASA. Most of the documents are monthly progress reports. The collection is housed in 33 folders in 

two archives boxes. 

Wernher von Braun, 1959–70 (2⁄3 Foot) 

This collection of documents covers the career of Dr. 

Wernher von Braun from 1945 through August 1970. 

Among other documents, the collection includes von 

Braun’s rocketry predictions made in 1945, a selection of 

his speeches, and several documents concerning his tenure 

as Director of the Development Operations Division. The 

collection consists of 21 folders in two archives boxes. 

Congressional Series, 1949–75 (6 Feet) 

The congressional material is arranged alphabetically 

by record type/agency and thereunder chronologically. 

The speeches are arranged alphabetically by speaker 

and thereunder chronologically. Miscellany is arranged 

similarly. In addition, the collection contains a number 

of congressional publications from 1962 to the present; 

most concern NASA appropriations. 

Crawler-Transporter, 1962–67 (11⁄2 Feet) 

This material consists of blueprints, drawings, technical reports, proposals, feasibility studies, modification 

reports, and design and production criteria. It is arranged 

chronologically in 30 folders. Two files, “Crawler 

Analysis from Design Analysis” and “Transporter Mode 

Comparison Evaluation Study,” are arranged chronologically within each file. Undated material can be found at 

the end of the guide. 

Kurt H. Debus (40 Feet) 

The guide to this material has been compiled for use as 

a general reference tool for researchers. The information 

found here is the result of a survey of 40 boxes of official 

records from the office of Dr. Kurt H. Debus, the Center’s 

Director from 1962 until 1974. The collection contains 

photographs, letters, notes (both handwritten and typewritten), memoranda, articles, and speeches. The records 

are dated from 1956 through 1974, but the bulk of the 

records date from approximately 1959 through 1969. The 

KSC Library Archives also has an audiotape of an interview done with Dr. Debus by Dick Young (KSC Public 

Affairs Office) in 1974. 

Department of Defense, 1958–70 (2 Feet) 

The Air Force subseries consists of chronologies, handbooks, histories, and technical reports.These are arranged 

chronologically under the following headings: Air Force 

Eastern Test Range, Air Force Missile Test Center, Office 

of Aerospace Research, and Western Test Range. The 

Army subseries consists of a circular, documents, histories, pamphlets, plans, proposals, regulations, reports, 

specifications, technical memoranda, technical reports, 

and a file of miscellany; it is arranged chronologically 

thereunder. The Navy subseries consists of histories and 

reports, arranged chronologically. 

Historical Events Cassette Tape Collection, 

1958–70 (2 Feet) 

This collection of audio recordings has been available in 

the Archives since 1976, but only recently has it been converted to cassette format to facilitate its use by researchers. The collection, to which other tapes may be added, 

currently consists of seven series and 63 AVX 90-minute 

cassettes. The tapes have been renumbered, beginning 

with the first Apollo History Workshop at A-1. Among the 

recordings are speeches by Dr. Kurt H. Debus (the first 

KSC Director), former President Lyndon B. Johnson, former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, and Lieutenant 

Colonel James P. Hamill. Hamill spoke of the recruitment 

by the U.S. Army of German scientists from Peenemünde 

at the close of World War II. Also included are recordings of the launch of Explorer 1 on 31 January 1958; 

the Explorer 1 10th anniversary celebration held on 31 

January 1968; and interviews with Dr. Rocco Petrone, Dr. 

Hans F. Gruene, Albert Zeiler, and Theodor A. Poppel. 

70 Research in NASA History 
Hovair, 1965 (1⁄3 Foot) 

This collection contains three documents concerned 

with the Hovair transporter as a load-carrying device as 

described in Martin Company reports of May 1965. 

Jetstar/Executive Transporter, 1962–65 (1 Foot) 

This material contains trip diaries, itineraries, manifests, 

operational data, and other information on the KSC 

Jetstar, a Lockheed executive aircraft used by the Center 

to transport visiting dignitaries and other personnel. The 

series is arranged chronologically, with undated documents at the end of the file. The undated file is arranged 

alphabetically by the title of the document. 

KSC Design Engineering Project Status Reports, 

1974–76 (1⁄2 Foot) 

These reports (TR-1033) are arranged chronologically. 

Launch Umbilical Tower (LUT), 1960–71 (1 Foot) 

This material consists of design proposals and configurations, drawings, review data, an engineering study, a 

technical report, and test and analysis documents. It is 

arranged chronologically, with undated material at the 

end, arranged alphabetically by title or topic. 

Marshall Space Flight Center Historical 

Monographs, 1960–67 (1 Foot) 

This material contains historical monographs and chronologies of Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). It 

includes 20 volumes, 11 of which—Marshall Historical 

Monographs (MHM) 1 through 11—contain supporting documents. Two chronologies appear as Marshall 

Historical Reports (MHR 6 and 7). The guide is arranged 

chronologically. 

Mercury Program, 1958–65 (3 Feet) 

The material is divided into suborbital and orbital missions 

and arranged chronologically thereunder. In addition to 

technical material, there are records from the Public Affairs 

Office. The records consist of the following: 

•	 Quarterly project status reports 

•	 A contractor siting team report 

•	 A report on range support 

•	 Monthly reports on Department of Defense support 

•	 Transcripts of press conferences 

•	 Documents relating to flight results 

•	 News releases 

•	 Illustrated commemorative brochures 

•	 Fact sheets 

•	 Illustrated brochures describing mission personnel 

and postlaunch ceremonies 

•	 Conference proceedings 

•	 Transcripts of communications from spacecraft 

•	 Transcript of a public address announcement from 

Mission Control Center 

•	 A document providing test philosophy and proceedings as applied to Mercury spacecraft and planned 

application to future projects 

News Releases, 1959–2005 (3 Feet) 

This material contains news releases and fact sheets from 

MSFC, MSC/JSC, KSC, and NASA Headquarters. No series 

is complete; each has a table of contents. The series covers the following years indicated: 

•	 Kennedy Space Center, 1962–75, 2002–05 

(electronic) 

•	 Manned Spacecraft Center, 1963–64 

•	 Marshall Space Flight Center, 1961–65 

•	 NASA Headquarters, 1959–76 

The subject matter varies from biographical announcements and photographs of those appointed or promoted to 

summaries of speeches, congressional hearings, announcements of contracts, mission activities, and visits by world 

leaders to the various Centers. The releases and fact sheets 

are arranged chronologically. All but those from MSFC 

are numbered sequentially. Fact sheets from KSC are not 

included here; they are filed with the guides to which they 

pertain (that is, by topic or in the speeches guide). 

Nova, 1961–64 (11⁄2 Feet) 

Nova was a large launch vehicle, later canceled in favor of 

the smaller Saturn vehicle. The documents are arranged 

chronologically in 188 folders. This collection includes 

Historical Materials at Kennedy Space Center 71 
the Hawaii Nova launch site study, the Nova vehicle 

systems study, the Nova launch facilities study, the lunar 

mission study, proposals, facilities estimates, land development plans, hazard criteria, transportation requirements, graphs, drawings, blueprints, and memoranda. 

Oral History Interviews 

The KSC Oral History Program (KOHP) was initiated to 

capture the history of individuals who served the nation’s 

space program at Kennedy Space Center. Categories 

include America’s human spaceflights and many of its 

payloads on expendable launch vehicles. Themed interviews include discussions with Center Directors and 

Launch Directors, as well as conversations about the anniversary of the first launch from Cape Canaveral, Bumper 

8. The subjects of a large portion of the completed interviews include former KSC senior management officials. 

This is an ongoing effort, and new interviews will be 

added as they are produced. A Web site has been established at the following address: http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/ 

kscoralhistory/. 

Photograph Collection 

The approximately 55,000 pictures that make up the photograph holdings of the KSC Library Archives are described 

by means of catalog cards, according to subject. The 

period covered by the collection is approximately 41 years. 

Photographs received since 1993 have been described and 

can be accessed through an online database. 

Press Kits, 1963–2003 (6 Feet) 

This material is divided into human and robotic launches. 

It is arranged alphabetically by the name of the mission 

and thereunder chronologically within these subdivisions: press kits created by NASA, those created by other 

government agencies, and those generated by industry. 

Space Shuttle materials are housed separately and cover 

the period from 1981 to 2003. 

Project Gemini, 1962–66 (3 Feet) 

This material is arranged sequentially by the number of 

the mission. In addition to technical material, there are 

records from the Public Affairs Office. The records for 

each mission include the following: 

•	 A launch facilities plan 

•	 Contractor reports 

•	 Fact sheets 

•	 Test summaries 

•	 Mission summaries 

•	 Program review documents 

•	 A press handbook 

•	 Project histories 

•	 Extravehicular activities 

•	 Mission reports 

•	 A mission commentary transcript 

•	 Data summaries 

•	 Illustrated mission summaries 

•	 Operations orders 

•	 Mission recovery requirements 

•	 Files pertaining to protocol for the invitees and 

attendees, their schedules, and accommodations 

involved with the launches 

Public Affairs (9 Feet) 

This collection of documents is especially strong on visits by prominent public figures and on the worldwide 

interest in the American space program. The collection 

is complemented by the Gordon Harris Public Affairs 

collection and accompanying papers donated to the 

Archives after his retirement. 

Saturn/Apollo Launches, 1961–72 (12 Feet) 

Documents in this category include mission histories, 

launch operations schedules, daily status reports, mission 

reports and evaluations, public affairs records, and miscellaneous correspondence. The material is divided into robotic 

flights grouped according to launch vehicles—for example, 

Saturn I tests. Piloted missions are listed chronologically. 

Service Structure, 1958–69 (1 Foot) 

This chronologically arranged guide consists of technical memoranda, architectural and engineering studies, 

charts, contractors’ reports, a design data manual, design 

criteria, siting and design recommendations, drawings 

and blueprints, and construction cost estimates. The 

Saturn Service Structure II Design Committee papers 

form a single file. 

72 Research in NASA History 
Space Shuttle (181⁄2 Feet) 

The development of the Space Shuttle as a reusable 

orbital vehicle is reflected in documentation continually 

being created, and the Space Shuttle holdings of the KSC 

Library Archives are increasing correspondingly. For this 

reason, Space Shuttle documents of historical value are 

being handled as though they constituted a single large 

records group. A number of documents relating to each 

flight are also available for research; these were primarily 

gathered at the time of the launch from materials available 

at the Press Site and the Joint Industry Press Center. 

Spacecraft Operations, 1967–68 (1 Foot) 

This series consists of Spacecraft Operations, a biweekly 

status report at KSC prepared by the Support Branch and 

Boeing. It is arranged chronologically. 

Spaceport News, 1962 to Present 

Spaceport News is the official newspaper for the civil service and contractor employees at KSC and is published 

by the Public Affairs Office, Public Information Branch. 

The first issue appeared on 12 December 1962, approximately six months after the formal establishment of the 

Launch Operations Center on 1 July 1962. Between 13 

December 1962 and July 1966, Spaceport News was issued 

weekly. Since then, it has been published on alternate 

Fridays. The Spaceport News Index is currently prepared 

by the KSC Library Archives and is included in this series. 

The index is prepared in cumulative five-year portions. 

Speeches, 1959–73 (3 Feet) 

This material comprises 274 folders of speeches delivered by persons ranging from Ira Abbott and Aldo H. 

Bagnulo to James E. Webb and Eugene M. Zuckert. The 

guide is arranged alphabetically by speaker and chronologically thereunder. 

Sweetsir Collection 

The Richard A. Sweetsir Collection is a major recent addition to the holdings of the KSC Library Archives. Sweetsir 

(1944–95) was the cofounder and past president of the 

Northeast Florida Astronomical Society (NEFAS); he was 

a high school science teacher and an adjunct professor at 

the Florida Community College in Jacksonville, Florida. 

Sweetsir’s collection contains artifacts as well as documents and photographs. 

The collection also includes scrapbooks on the Viking 

program, some mission patches, an ASTP first-day cover, 

and a large number of newspaper and newspaper 

clipping subcollections. The collection is organized with 

subject titles, including the following: 

•	 ASTP 

•	 JPL V-1 Lander and JPL V-2 Lander 

•	 Magellan 

•	 Galileo 

•	 Ulysses (from 1991) 

•	 History of the first Missile Division, Vandenberg 

•	 Air Force Base 

•	 Hyparcos 

•	 An extensive collection of Space Shuttle mission 

folders beginning with STS-1 in April 1981 

•	 SETI-1 (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) 

•	 CRAF (Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby) 

•	 NASA Writer’s Conference 1977 

•	 NASDA (National Space Development Agency of 

Japan) 

•	 ESA (European Space Agency) 

•	 USSR 

•	 Mars Sample Return 

•	 NASA Future Programs 

•	 Voyager 1 and 2 

•	 EOS (Earth Orbiting System) 

•	 SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared 

Astronomy) 

•	 SAMPEX (Solar, Anomalous, and Magnetospheric 

Particle Explorer) 

•	 NOAA-D (National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration satellite) 

•	 EUVE (Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer) 

•	 Materials processing 

Historical Materials at Kennedy Space Center 73 
•	 Skylab 

•	 NASA facts 

Taylor Photograph Collection (8 Feet) 

This collection of facility construction photographs is 

described in a guide; the collection originated in four large 

boxes from the office of Annie E. Taylor, Administrative 

Operations Branch of Project Management. A second 

photographic collection of roughly equivalent size has 

not yet been described but does have a usable index. 

The Taylor Photograph Collection consists of approximately 2,460 photographs arranged in 11 series categories. 

The 116 folders are housed in 9 archive boxes located on 

Ranges 8D through 8F. Descriptions of the photographs 

were derived from the wording found on the back of each 

photograph. The original order was maintained throughout. Duplicate photographs were sent to the Smithsonian 

Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, 

DC. In the relatively few instances where third copies of 

the photographs existed, these were sent to the Deutsches 

Museum in Munich, Germany. 

Telephone Directories, 1961 to Present (4 Feet) 

This material is arranged alphabetically by NASA Center 

and chronologically thereunder. The largest and most 

complete series of this collection are the KSC directories, 

which run from 1964 to the current year. The series for 

the Launch Operations Directorate includes 1961–62. 

Unmanned Launches, 1948–76 (91⁄2 Feet) 

This material consists of launch reports, field flight reports, 

operations summaries, flash flight analysis reports, postlaunch reports, illustrated fact sheets, technical reports, 

and blueprints. It is arranged alphabetically by mission 

and thereunder chronologically. 

Vanguard-Martin Collection, 1949–59 (3 Feet) 

The documents that comprise the Vanguard-Martin 

Collection include reports, studies, and analyses of prelaunch and launch activities of the Vanguard Satellite 

Launch Vehicle Program. The documents are arranged 

chronologically and cover the period from September 

1949 through December 1959. The researcher may find 

particularly useful an organization manual for Project 

Vanguard dated September 1958, which is found in 

folder 88 of box 5, and a NASA review dated January 

1959, which is found in folder 97 of box 6. The collection 

is in 105 folders contained in six boxes. 

Vehicle Assembly Building, 1962–73 (2 Feet) 

This material consists of engineering reports, technical 

studies, data manuals, design reviews, blueprints, and fact 

sheets pertaining to the Vehicle Assembly Building. It is 

arranged chronologically; miscellany consists of undated 

material arranged alphabetically. 

74 Research in NASA History 
Historical Materials at Langley 

research Center 


15

Mail: Langley Research Center 

Mail Stop 154 

Hampton, VA 23681-2199 

Contact: Gail Langevin 

Telephone: 757-864-8554 

Technical Library, 757-864-2356 

Fax, 757-864-2375 

E-mail: g.s.langevin@larc.nasa.gov 

Section of aircraft tested for drag in Langley 

wind tunnel. (NASA image 1974-L-02730) 

general inFormaTion 

Langley Research Center (LaRC), in Hampton, Virginia, 

oldest laboratory of the National Advisory Committee for 

Aeronautics (NACA) and its successor agency (NASA), 

possesses a historical documents collection that, with its 

technical library, constitutes a premier collection (with 

some documents dating from 1917) for historical aerospace research. Included are rare books and photographs, 

technical reports, office memoranda, flight and wind tunnel logs, programs and minutes of major technical conferences, personal papers, and transcripts of interviews 

with key personnel, as well as scale models of aircraft 

and spacecraft and other significant artifacts. Besides 

Langley Research Center’s own historical documents, 

the collection includes important files from the Wallops 

Island, Virginia, rocket test range, created in 1945 as an 

auxiliary base of Langley Laboratory and managed by 

Langley as part of the Pilotless Aircraft Research Division 

(PARD) until 1959, when Wallops became an independent NASA Field Installation. (It is now organizationally 

part of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.) 

Also included are special files on topics such as the 

XP-51 Mustang; “house organs,” 1942 to the present; limited photo collections; special events including annual 

inspections dating back to 1926; and the Apollo 11 25th 

anniversary celebration in July 1994. Please contact the 

Langley Historical Program Manager in advance for 

access to these files. 

The most important collections at Langley are NACA correspondence files; NACA research authorization files; the 

Milton Ames Collection; the personal papers of Floyd 

L. Thompson, John Stack, Fred Weick, and Charles F. 

Zimmerman; and the books of Max Munk. These collections are described briefly below. 

research auThorizaTion Files 

The most important source for research in aeronautical history at Langley consists of the NACA research 

authorization files. These files permit the historian to 

recreate the entire NACA research procedure for a 

given project from the raw research idea through the 

final polished report. 

What, exactly, was an NACA research authorization? Whenever a project for research at Langley was 

approved by NACA Headquarters, a research authorization (or RA) was signed by the chairman of the 

executive committee and forwarded to the laboratory 

for execution. Technically, Langley was supposed to 

have an RA for each one of its investigations, and 

each RA was expected to lead to the publication of 

an NACA report. Each RA had a title and number, and 

each included specific information on the how and 

why of the investigation. 

Historical Materials at Langley Research Center 75 
milTon ames collecTion 

In the early 1970s, Milton Ames, a former Langley engineer who had served as chief of aerodynamics at NACA 

Headquarters from 1949 to 1958, began research for what 

he hoped would be a complete and publishable history 

of the laboratory. Although he did not achieve his goal, 

Ames did pull together hundreds of significant documents. Organized into folders that he titled and deposited into seven oversized boxes, the Ames collection is 

now in lateral files in the Langley archive; the original 

filing order and folder titles have been preserved. 

The Ames collection is especially enlightening because 

it was created by an “old NACA hand,” a product of the 

institutional culture under investigation. The documents 

he found significant enough to include for research tell 

us something both about his identity as a member of 

the NACA “corporation” and about his approach, as an 

engineer, to historical understanding. Furthermore, since 

Ames was one of the NACA’s most talented and forwardlooking aerodynamicists, his choice of key technical 

papers for historical examination is helpful to the nonspecialist. The collection organization is outlined below. 

Contents of Box No. 1 

•	 Wright Brothers 

•	 Establishment of British Advisory Committee for 

Aeronautics 

•	 Need for an Aeronautical Laboratory in America 

•	 Smithsonian Advisory Committee on the Langley 

Aerodynamical Laboratory 

•	 Surveys of Aeronautical Laboratories in Europe, 

1913–1920 

•	 Aeronautical Research in Canada 

•	 Early History of Aeronautical Research in Germany 

•	 Miscellaneous Papers on Aviation up to Establishment 

of NACA 

•	 Legislation Pertaining to NACA, and April 1958 

Summary 

•	 Establishment of NACA 

•	 NACA Membership, Chairmen, Etc. 

•	 First Meeting of NACA 

•	 Langley Site Selection and Transfer of Land to 

NACA 

•	 NACA Statement of Policy, October, 1917; Executive 

Order Dated May 20, 1918 

•	 Memorandum of Understanding with the Army Re 

Use of Langley Field by NACA, 1919 

•	 Summary of Important Events in Early History of 

NACA, 1915–1917 

•	 NACA Paris Office (Established May 1919) 

•	 Miscellaneous Papers on Aeronautical Research in 

USA, 1921–1925 

•	 Early Reviews and Summaries: NACA and Langley 

•	 Miscellaneous Langley Background Information 

•	 Langley Field, Va.: History and Construction (Air 

Corps Views) 

•	 Langley Land Records and Deeds 

•	 Early Construction, Langley Research Station 

•	 Dedication of Langley (June 11, 1920) 

•	 Variable Density Wind Tunnel: Construction 

Contents of Box No. 2 

•	 Langley Organization Charts 

•	 Langley Personnel and Personnel Activities 

•	 Estimates of Langley Plant Costs 

•	 Economic Value of NACA Research (Summary, 

1937) 

•	 Preliminary (Langley) Data on NACA Budget 

(1915–1952) 

•	 Efforts To Transfer NACA from Independent Agency 

to Other Agencies 

•	 Langley Inspections (Originally Called Manufacturers’ 

Conferences) 

76 Research in NASA History 
Contents of Box No. 3 

•	 Photographic Files 

•	 Log Books of Early Exhibits 

•	 Visitors’ Register, Langley, 1926–1934 

Contents of Box No. 4 

•	 Wilbur Wright Memorial Lectures 

•	 Folders on Key Individuals Associated with Langley 

•	 History Clippings (1925–1930) 

•	 1933 Hurricane 

•	 Special Publications: Anniversaries, Histories 

•	 Conferences, Ceremonies, Inspections, Visitors 

•	 Economic Study of 1933 and “Notes on Aviation 

Progress Through Research” 

•	 Langley History (Collection of Papers and Talks on 

Langley History) 

•	 Miscellaneous Press Releases on Langley Research 

Activities 

•	 Miscellaneous Correspondence Regarding Early 

Headquarters/Langley Relationship 

•	 Langley Telephone Directories, January 1963–Current 

Contents of Box No. 5 

•	 Early Engine Competition (1920) 

•	 Fatal Aircraft Accident Report, JN-644946, August 20, 

1924; Ford Reliability Tour, 1926 

•	 Crash of the American Legion at Langley, April 26, 

1927 

•	 Research Activities During 1920s 

•	 NACA Preparation Prior to World War II 

•	 Langley Contributions to Ames and Lewis Laboratories 

•	 Langley Activities During World War II Era 

•	 Mead Committee Investigation: Correspondence 

•	 National Aeronautical Research Policy, March 21, 

1946 

•	 Post–World War II Research Activities 

•	 Government Accounting Office Survey of NACA, 

1953 

•	 25th Anniversary of Langley Towing Tank and FullScale Wind Tunnel, 1956 

•	 National Awards to Langley 

•	 Extra Copies of Air Scoop 

•	 Miscellaneous Airship Photographs from Melvin N. 

Gough 

Contents of Box No. 6 

•	 Area Rule and Richard Whitcomb 

•	 Langley Contributions to B-58 

•	 V/STOL Research 

•	 High-Speed Submarine (Albacore) Research for U.S. 

Navy 

•	 Research on Flexible Wings 

•	 Langley Special Group on Research for Guided 

Missiles 

•	 Langley Research Facilities 

•	 NACA Research into Space, 1957 

•	 ECHO 1 and William J. O’Sullivan 

•	 Early Manned Space Flight 

•	 Project Apollo 

Contents of Box No. 7 

•	 Papers and Talks Relating to History of Langley 

Note: The “box” scheme is retained through inserts, but 

the Ames collection is housed according to his scheme in 

five lateral file drawers. 

Historical Materials at Langley Research Center 77 
Personal PaPers 

Floyd L. Thompson Collection 

This collection holds more for the space historian than 

it does for the historian of aeronautics. Most of its contents postdate the NACA; they derive from Thompson’s 

term as Director of the NASA Langley Research Center, 

1960–68. Box C of this collection, though, contains some 

important documents on NACA research dating back to 

the 1930s. (Thompson began working for the NACA at 

Langley in July 1926). The following reproduces Floyd 

Thompson’s own inventory of the subjects of the collection, which is now housed in two lateral file drawers. 

Box A 

•	 MORL (Manned Orbital Research Laboratory) 

•	 Lunar Orbiter (Historical Notes) 

•	 Apollo 

•	 Mercury 

•	 Scout 

•	 X-15 

•	 SST (Supersonic Transport) 

•	 Passive Communications Satellite 

•	 Large Boosters 

•	 Miscellaneous Technical Proposals and Memos 

Box B 

•	 Early Space Program Planning: Memos and 

Organizations: Visits and Events 

•	 Newport News Cyclotron and VARC (Virginia 

Associated Research Center) 

•	 Special Assignments 

Box C 

•	 Old Langley Flight Research Programs 

•	 Historical Notes on Flying Qualities Work 

•	 Old Conference Memos and Historical Notes on 

Dynamic Loads and Structures Research 

•	 Transonic Research 

•	 Notes, Comments, Statements on Management 

Philosophy Aeronautics Policy, 1970 

•	 Langley’s 50th Anniversary 

•	 Rotary Club Talks 

•	 Local Affairs 

•	 University of Michigan Honorary Doctorate 

•	 William and Mary Honorary Doctorate 

•	 Retirement Party, October 17, 1968 

•	 Personal Matters, Including Correspondence 

Regarding Appointment as Center Director 

•	 Notes on Other Persons 

•	 Miscellaneous Technical Reports and Papers 

Box D 

•	 Copies of Public Talks, Publicity Statements, Photos 

•	 Letter to National Academy of Engineering 

•	 Numerous Technical Articles and Papers, Mostly 

Published 

John Stack Collection 

This collection of the papers of a famous Langley aerodynamicist of the 1920s through the 1950s is more valuable 

to the historian of aeronautics than the Thompson collection because it includes a greater number and wider 

chronological range of older business correspondence and 

research program files, many of which concern Stack’s pioneering work in transonic and supersonic technology. The 

papers, which are in folders labeled by Stack, are housed 

in three lateral file drawers according to categories. 

Section No. 1: Wind Tunnel Design, Operation, 

and Test Techniques 

•	 Crocco Curve 

•	 Kochel Ultra-Supersonic Wind Tunnel Development 

•	 New Types of Tunnels 

78 Research in NASA History 
•	 Uses of Gas Other Than Air in Wind Tunnels 

•	 Hodograph Report 

•	 8-Foot High-Speed Tunnel Operations 

• Supersonic Wind Tunnel at Wright Field 

•	 4-Foot Supersonic Tunnel 

•	 Miscellaneous Wind Tunnel Data 

•	 Special Type Tunnels: Slotted Test Sections 

•	 Repowering 16-Foot High-Speed Tunnel 

•	 Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel 

• Revised Unitary Program 

•	 Gas Dynamics Laboratory 

•	 Supersonic Compressor 

•	 Aberdeen Supersonic Wind Tunnel 

•	 Madelung High-Pressure Water Tunnel 

•	 Proposed Air Engineering Development Center 

•	 National Supersonic Research Center 

•	 Electric Power Supply 

•	 Refrigeration 

•	 Schlieren Photographs: British National Physical 

•

•	 Laboratory 

•	 Afterglow Photographs 

•	 Sphere Photos over a Range of Mach Numbers 

Section No. 2: Research Problems 

•	 Jet Analysis, Inducted 

•	 Interaction of Shock and Boundary Layer 

•	 Shrouded Propellers 

•	 Data on Various NACA Airfoil Sections 

Historical Materials at Langley Research Center 79 

•	 DraftsofStack’sWrightBrothersLecture,“Compressible 

Flows in Aeronautics,” December 17, 1944 

•	 Miscellaneous Technical Reports 

Section No. 3: Reports of Meetings, Conferences, 

and Study Groups 

•	 Gas Turbine Conference at General Electric, 1945 

•	 High-Speed Aerodynamics Conference, NACA-NavyArmy, July 13, 1945 

•	 Stack’s Report on Aberdeen Conference, January 17, 

1946 

•	 American Physical Society Meeting, April 25, 1946 

•	 NACA Conference on Supersonic Aerodynamics, 

Ames Laboratory, June 4, 1946 

•	 Langley Conference on High-Speed Aerodynamic 

Theory, February 3, 1947 

•	 Langley Conference on Supersonic Aerodynamics, 

June 19–20, 1947 

•	 Ames Conference on Supersonic Aerodynamics, 

August 31, 1948 

•	 American Physical Society Meeting, University of 

Virginia, December 1949 

•	 Miscellaneous Conference Reports 

•	 Conferences 

Minutes of Meetings 

•	 Subcommittee on High-Speed Aerodynamics 

•	 Committee on Advanced Study 

•	 Ad Hoc Panel on Long-Range Air-to-Air Guided 

Missiles 

•	 Draper Committee 

•	 DOD [Department of Defense] Technical Advisory 

Panel on Aerodynamics, Ad Hoc Group on WaterBased Aircraft 
Section No. 4: Memos and Correspondence 

•	 Henry J. E. Reid’s Trip to Europe, 1944 

•	 Developments in High-Speed Aeronautics During 

World War II 

•	 Riparbelli Report 

•	 Letters from Coleman Dupont Donaldson on German 

Scientists at Wright Field, 1946 

•	 Bell Telephone Lab 

•	 Personal Correspondence 

•	 Memos for Associate Director 

•	 Letters Between Professor Carlo Ferrari, University of 

Turin, and Antonio Ferri, NACA, 1947–1948 

•	 Memos on Airfoils 

•	 Memo from Hartley Soule, 1948 

•	 Memos for Files 

•	 Miscellaneous Correspondence 

Section No. 5: Aircraft Development Projects 

•	 North American P-51 

•	 High-Speed Bomber Program, 1945 

•	 Supersonic Airplane 

•	 Project 506 

•	 Water-Based Aircraft 

•	 Republic P-47B 

•	 B-35 Elevon 

•	 Propeller for Spitfire 21 

•	 XP-69 Horizontal Tail 

•	 Eagle 

•	 Republic Aviation Corporation 5-Year Plan 

•	 Supersonic Transport (SST) 

•	 Ground Effects Machines 

•	 V/STOL 

•	 Mutual Weapons Defense Program (MWDP) 

•	 TFX Development 

Section No. 6: Miscellaneous 

•	 Miscellaneous Photographs 

•	 Blueprint Drawings 

•	 “Stack’s Stuff”: Miscellaneous 

Fred Weick Papers 

The Fred Weick Papers, received by the Langley Archive 

in November 1993, represent a lifetime of work by a distinguished aeronautical engineer. During his 93 years, 

Fred Weick merged his life in the 20th century with the 

development of aviation in America. 

He began his career with the NACA in the early 1920s and 

helped design and construct the propeller research wind 

tunnel. He also led the team of engineers who developed 

the NACA cowling for radial air-cooled engines, a Collier 

Trophy–winning effort for 1929. He was widely recognized as an expert in propeller design. 

Later, Weick led design teams that developed a number 

of general aviation aircraft. He was vitally interested in 

pilot safety for the design, operation, and handling qualities of general aviation aircraft. 

The Fred Weick Papers, a large collection occupying 153 

linear feet, includes his book and journal collection and 

awards. He organized and indexed the collection himself. 

Examples of subjects include the following: 

•	 Old flight log books and navigation computers 

(including some homemade ones) 

•	 Piper Airplanes—photos and detailed design data 

•	 Aero Engineering—early propeller design, first NACA 

cowling tests, NACA low-drag cowling 

•	 Ercoupe Variations—photos and technical drawings 

80 Research in NASA History 
Charles F. Zimmerman Collection 

This eclectic collection of the papers of an aeronautical 

engineer with a long and varied career includes materials 

ranging from an early (1930s) “flying saucer” pancake aircraft and its fighter derivative, to the theory of relativity, 

to stand-on flying platforms. Zimmerman was a longtime 

employee of the NACA, a member of the Space Task 

Group (the Project Mercury management team), an aircraft industry designer, an Army Aviation chief engineer, 

and a manager at NACA Headquarters, among other 

accomplishments. 

The Zimmerman papers are aeronautics-oriented, emphasizing the areas of low-speed and Vertical Take-Off and 

Landing (VTOL) performance; they heavily document 

the development of his V-173 and XF5U-1 aircraft. The 

V-173, flown many times, was capable of very short takeoffs and landings, and was flown by Charles Lindbergh. 

Derivatives conceived by Zimmerman would have had 

true VTOL capability. The XF5U-1, a Navy Short Take-Off 

and Landing (STOL) fighter prototype, was completely 

developed but never flew. The collection is housed in 

three lateral file drawers. 

Floyd l. ThomPson 

Technical liBrary 

What also makes Langley Research Center an outstanding location for research in aeronautical history is the 

Floyd L. Thompson Technical Library. The library holds 

major collections (more than 3.8 million volumes) in 

the physical sciences and engineering, with emphasis on aerospace science and technology, aeronautics, 

structures, materials, acoustics, energy, electronics, and 

the environment, supported by additional collections 

in physics, chemistry, mathematics, and management. 

Furthermore, the library also preserves the complete 

NACA publications series of 16,263 reports in 1,057 

bound and 1,818 unbound volumes. These include the 

following: Technical Reports (TR), Technical Notes (TN), 

Technical Memorandums (TM), Wartime Reports (WR), 

Aircraft Circulars (AC), Research Memorandums (RM), 

Advance Confidential Reports (ACR), Advance Restricted 

Reports (ARR), Confidential Bulletins (CB), Restricted 

Bulletins (RB), and Memorandum Reports (MR). (For an 

analysis of the NACA publications series, see appendix 7 

of Alex Roland, Model Research: The National Advisory 

Committee for Aeronautics, 1915–1958 [Washington, DC: 

NASA SP-4103, 1985.]) 

What gives the library its unparalleled value as a place 

for historical research is the fact that its staff maintains the 

same index to aeronautical literature that was begun by 

the NACA in the 1920s. Cards reference tens of thousands 

of aeronautical papers from all over the world by subject, author, title, and, in the case of NACA reports and 

research authorizations, by number. Many of these papers 

are unpublished or classified. This makes the NACA card 

file one of this country’s most treasured guides to aeronautical literature. The library is open to members of the 

public who are able to gain access to the Center, which 

is closed to the general public. 

It is advisable to inquire about the availability of specific 

materials and services before visiting the library. Many of 

its databases are available for browsing online. 

PhoTograPhic collecTion 

Langley’s NACA collection of photographs (housed separately from the library) comprises roughly 100,000 negatives, all logged by date and by brief subject. The current 

NASA collection exceeds 500,000. Special photographic 

collections, compiled for a variety of events and books, 

are in the historical archives. 

oral hisTory collecTion 

Langley’s collection includes 56 transcribed interviews, 

spanning the timeframe 1960–90, with various key 

researchers and managers. 

Historical Materials at Langley Research Center 81 

Historical Materials at Marshall Space 

Flight Center 

16

Mail: History Office, CS20


Marshall Space Flight Center, AL 35812


Location: Building 4200, Room G30


Hours of operation: Monday through Friday,


8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. central time


Contact: Mike Wright, Historian


Telephone/fax: 256-544-6840/256-544-0007


E-mail: mike.wright@msfc.nasa.gov

Web site: http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/


Saturn V rockets being prepared for 


testing. (NASA image 6870792) 


Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) contains the follow

ing holdings: 

Folder collecTions 

Correspondence 225 Cubic Feet 

Photographs 38 Cubic Feet 

University of Alabama in 

Huntsville Historians’ File 23 Cubic Feet 

shelF collecTions 

Technical Documentation/Reports 92 Linear Feet 

Photo Notebooks 30 Linear Feet 

Library of Congress 17 Linear Feet 

Center Directors’ Scrapbooks 12 Linear Feet 

35-millimeter Slides 8 Linear Feet 

CD/DVDs 4 Linear Feet 

Phone Books 4 Linear Feet 

Historical Materials at Marshall Space Flight Center 83 

­ microFiche collecTion 

General Reference 4,608 

Shuttle Reference 4,000 

Space Station Reference 4,000 

audio/video collecTion 

VHS Tapes 1,000 

Audio Recordings 150 

elecTronic collecTion 

PDF Format 5,000 

oversize collecTion 

Oversize Drawers 15 
visiTs To The marshall cenTer 

archives 

MSFC provides an archive primarily to serve the needs 

of NASA managers and employees who need historical 

data to fulfill their work requirements. Due to resource 

limitations, decisions to allow researchers from outside 

the government to use the archives must be made on a 

case-by-case basis. Graduate, postgraduate, and professional researchers are requested to notify the archives 

by postal mail or e-mail 10 business days in advance of 

a planned visit. Foreign nationals and representatives of 

foreign governments must strictly follow all federal regulations regarding visits to U.S. government installations. 

They must also initiate their request to visit at least 20 

business days prior to their anticipated visit. All communications should contain the following information about 

the researcher and proposed research project: a) name of 

the researcher, b) current address, c) telephone number, 

d) description of research topic, e) purpose of research, 

f) date of visit, and g) citizenship or naturalization. All 

research visits must be concluded in two business days 

or less. All records in the archives are considered internal 

documents and must be reviewed and cleared for external release before they can be distributed to the public. 

Once the records have been cleared for external release, 

the archives will notify the researcher. 

84 Research in NASA History 
Historical Materials at Stennis Space Center 17 

Mail: IA10/History


Stennis Space Center, MS 39529-6000 


Location: Building 2105


Hours of operation: Monday through Friday,


8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. central time


Contact: Daphne Alford


Telephone: 228-688-2643


Web site:	 http://www.nasa.gov/centers/


stennis/about/history/history.html


The S-II stage of the Saturn V rocket is hoisted onto the 


A-2 test stand in 1967 at the Mississippi Test Facility, 


now Stennis Space Center. This was the second stage of 


the 364-foot-tall Moon rocket. (NASA image 67-701-C)


general inFormaTion 

The goals of the History Office are to present and properly document the rich history of Stennis Space Center. 

Documents are archived in a computerized, searchable 

database. Materials are arranged and described according 

to standard archival practice. 

As the “corporate memory” of Stennis Space Center, the 

History Office maintains working historical files for managers, engineers, scientists, and other researchers of history. Currently, the office accommodates more than 300 

shelf feet of historical documentation. The following is an 

abbreviated description of the materials available in the 

Stennis history collection. 

hisTorical archives collecTion 

This collection consists of alphabetized categories 

that include various types of records, such as the 

following: 

Director’s Office records 

This collection includes all the information originating 

in the Stennis Space Center Director’s Office, which may 

include speeches, memoranda, letters, reports, and presentations, as well as information on each of the Directors, 

such as biographies and photographs. 

Government records 

This collection consists of information pertaining to federal, state, and local government issues as they relate to 

Stennis Space Center. 

Public Affairs records 

This collection consists of any material generated by a 

public affairs office, whether at Stennis Space Center, 

NASA Headquarters, another Center, a university, or 

another organization. Press kits, fact sheets, public affairs 

plans, management materials, and agendas for visits 

are included in this section. Visitor’s Services, Teachers’ 

Resource Center, and Visitor Center activities will also be 

included in the collection. 

Press release archives 

This collection contains press releases generated by a 

public affairs office, whether at Stennis Space Center, 

NASA Headquarters, another Center, a university, or 

another organization. 

Historical Materials at Stennis Space Center 85 
Lagniappe/Oasis archives 

collecTion 

This collection contains issues of Stennis Space Center’s 

in-house newsletter, currently called the Lagniappe. 

From February 2004 until August 2005, the newsletter 

was called the Oasis. 

liBrary archives collecTion 

This collection consists of NASA publications, general 

publications, technical publications, references, newspaper articles, and commercial general publications. 

media archives collecTion 

This collection consists of several materials, including the 

Video History Files, the History Photographic Files, and 

the Oral History/Audio Files. In terms of Oral Histories, 

the History Office, in partnership with the University of 

Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, transcribes and binds oral history interviews—the stories 

of people who tell about their past and present, sharing their wisdom to enlighten the next generation. The 

interviews are transcribed, bound in a hardback cover, 

and filed with the audiocassette, CD, and/or videotape 

if available. 

86 Research in NASA History