National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration

Volume 36, Number 3 Third Quarter 2019

IN THIS ISSUE:

1 From the Chief Historian

1 Lessons in Design, Control, and

Teenagers: Revamping the NASA 

History Website

6 News from Headquarters and

the Centers

14 From Apollo to Africa: The 

Mobile Quarantine Facility’s 

Mission to Contain Lassa Fever

18 NASA White Sands Test Facility 

Apollo Command and Service 

Module Revitalization Project 

20 Weathering the Storms

22 Other Aerospace History News

24 Upcoming Meetings

25 Recent Publication from the

NASA History Division

25 Recent Publications

29 In Memoriam

FROM

THE CHIEF 

HISTORIAN

What a summer that was! There 

was such intense interest in the Apollo 11 

50th anniversary, and 

such a flood of publications, articles, websites, 

podcasts, and events, that I’m still trying to 

wrap my arms around it. I know that I’ll never 

be able to see it all, but I hope not to miss 

something new and significant. Once you 

have gotten over your Apollo 11 hangover, 

I encourage you to go back and take a look 

at what is available online. There are some 

incredible stories (including some coverage 

of people whose stories you have likely never 

heard), and there are some amazing new methods of “seeing” the Apollo 11 story. (Check out 

your favorite app store and video sites.) If you 

see something amazing, let us know, and we’ll 

share your recommendations in a future issue 

of News and Notes.

Why will we still be talking about the Apollo 

50th anniversary in a future issue? Because we 

have a lot more Apollo 50th anniversaries to 

celebrate between now and December 2022 

(the anniversary of our most recent human 

expedition to the Moon—so far). In fact, we’ve 

got the anniversary of the Apollo 12 mission 

coming up in mid-November. This is a mission 

that didn’t get the attention it deserved. It was 

a bit anticlimactic after Apollo 11 and, sadly, 

a mission that lost live TV coverage of its two 

Moonwalks when the camera was damaged. 

continued on next page

LESSONS IN DESIGN, CONTROL, 

AND TEENAGERS: REVAMPING THE 

NASA HISTORY WEBSITE

By Robyn Rodgers, Chief Archivist

I

t is 6:10 on a Wednesday night, and 

I am sitting on the Virginia Railway 

Express (VRE) heading home to 

Fredericksburg. The ride from DC is 

about an hour and 40 minutes, providing that everything is going well. Yeah, 

I know, but it could be worse; I could 

be sitting in traffic on 95. VRE is a 

commuter train whose Fredericksburg 

line runs from Spotsylvania, Virginia, to 

Union Station in DC. That 100-minute 

ride with other commuters leaves me a 

while to see what people are doing with 

their time. Some people knit, talk quietly 

with friends, or just watch the scenery go 

by. There are always a few oddities; I am 

quite certain that one woman is brewing 

beer in her bag, and another man keeps 

a stuffed armadillo in his briefcase. Not 

a toy armadillo—a taxidermy armadillo. 

There are just questions that are better not 

to ask. Those people aside, many of us 

work, read, play games, and watch movies, 

and it is very easy to see on their faces 

what they like and what frustrates them. 

As a world, our media consumption is 

continued on page 3

NASA HISTORY DIVISION

OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS
2

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

From the Chief Historian (continued)

Apollo 12 not only featured one of the most colorful 

crews in exploration history, but it also made history 

with the first pinpoint landing on the Moon. That 

precision landing allowed Pete Conrad and Alan Bean 

to be the first, and still only, humans to visit a robotic 

precursor (Surveyor 3) on an extraterrestrial body. You 

can expect more coverage from the History Program 

this fall on Apollo 12, and we’ll also be preparing 

to mark another famous Apollo mission anniversary 

next spring.

Pictured is the prime crew of the Apollo 12 lunar landing mission. Left 

to right are Charles Conrad, Jr.; Richard F. Gordon, Jr.; and Alan L. Bean. 

(Photo credit: NASA)

All of these 50-year anniversaries continue to remind 

me that the calendar moves with inexorable speed. This 

summer, we had the opportunity not only to celebrate 

space exploration achievements, but also to mark the 

passage of a number of important lives in our community. As the Apollo 11 anniversary was wrapping up, we 

lost one of the legends of that era, Christopher Kraft. 

A native of what is now Hampton, Virginia, Kraft 

started work at the National Advisory Committee for 

Aeronautics (NACA) Langley Memorial Aeronautical 

Laboratory in January 1945, and for the next 37 years, 

he applied his tremendous drive and plainspoken 

manner to an incredible number of challenges for the 

NACA and NASA. He invented Mission Control as we 

now know it, and his leadership throughout his life had 

a major impact on our future in space. I recommend 

that you read the tribute to him on the NASA site 

(https://www.nasa.gov/chris-kraft). Unfortunately, you 

won’t see major public accolades online for two other 

notable NASA people who passed away this summer. 

As we went to press for the last issue, we learned about 

the death of our former Chief Archivist, Jane Odom. 

Less than three weeks later, another member of the 

NASA history family, Gail Langevin, also succumbed 

to cancer. Gail had served as the history point of contact for Langley Research Center as an additional duty, 

but from our perspective, she carried the weight of 

historical and archival efforts at our oldest Center until 

her retirement in 2017. There is a tribute to both of 

these amazing contributors inside this edition. We will 

miss them both and mourn with their families for lives 

cut too short.

THIS SUMMER, WE HAD THE 

OPPORTUNITY NOT ONLY TO 

CELEBRATE SPACE EXPLORATION ACHIEVEMENTS, BUT ALSO 

TO MARK THE PASSAGE OF A 

NUMBER OF IMPORTANT LIVES 

IN OUR COMMUNITY.

Godspeed,

William P. Barry

Chief Historian
3

Volume 36, Number 3 Third Quarter 2019

Lessons in Design, Control, and Teenagers: Revamping the NASA History Website (continued)

enormous, and until the Rise of the Machines, that 

is not going to change. That is why it was vital that 

the NASA History website get revamped when it did. 

The Apollo 11 anniversary was bearing down on us, 

putting the NASA History Division in the world’s eye, 

and it was important that our web presence reflect our 

rich heritage. Part of good project management is not 

just to write a “Lessons Learned” document but also to 

share it. When Cat Baldwin, our editor extraordinaire, 

asked me to submit an article for the newsletter, it 

made that part easy. There were three things that the 

experience left me strongly believing that I should 

share with others: 1) it is going to take more time than 

you think; 2) your web project is not the development 

team’s only project, even if it is yours; and 3) find a 

teenager somewhere.

The NASA History website has been online for 15 years, but this summer it underwent a revitalization.

The histories of NASA’s Centers are organized alphabetically for easy access on https://history.nasa.gov/.

In yesteryear, it was very easy to get a website up. You 

learned to write code, bought a box of Pop Tarts and 

a half-rack of Mountain Dew, and, at about 4 a.m., 

wound up with some sort of web presence. If you 

were really good, you had a site with stable nested 

hyperlinks, some imagery, and a counter on the 

bottom that tracked page visits. There was not a lot 

of planning that had to go into it because websites 

were static information pushers. Dynamic content 

and analytics had not been born yet, and certainly 

no such thing as a user population study. Many of 

us in middle to senior leadership were around to see 

the very beginnings of the internet. Because we are 

NASA, some of us even helped to create it, which 

is why NASA was one of the very first government 

agencies to have a web presence at all. About 15 years 

ago, the NASA History Division got its very first site. 

It was filled to the gills with information and was certainly a great resource. However, the way that people 

use the web has changed, and Bill Barry was kind 

enough to let me take on the task of updating the 

site. In the past, planning a website was a task for the 

owning body; the developer, who wore multiple hats; 

and the budget office. Now, the team may consist of 

the owning body, development team, budget office, 

stakeholder units, user experience teams, server team, 

beta testers, and social media team, among others. 
4

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

A website visitor can browse through common research topics, such as the Hubble Space Telescope.

The larger the team, the more diverse the professional 

opinions that must be reconciled against the final 

product. That takes time, especially since the site in 

question is only one of several competing priorities 

for the teams. Normally, an overhaul like ours would 

take at least six months to plan and another two for 

testing and implementation. Because I have some 

web experience, we walked into the first meeting with 

most of the content mapped and a defined end goal 

in sight. The developer, Garrett Shea, a designer at 

the NASA Headquarters Communications Support 

Services Center (CSSC), and I clicked right away, 

which is important. I brought in enough for him to 

see my vision and gave him the latitude to bring his 

talent, experience, and education. Even with that great 

working synergy that we have, it still took three weeks 

longer than planned. Garrett and I had some long 

hours because we were doing things like server tracking and refreshes, which happen best when traffic is 

lowest. We ran into significant server issues, some 

of which we knew were going to happen and others 

that were a surprise. Also, we agreed immediately that 

there was going to be a History 2.0 push at the end of 

August because we had to make choices about time 

or content. It is okay to not be 100 percent complete 

as long as you have a defined and measurable plan to 

make up the gap.

Lessons learned: Do as much pre-work as possible. 

It is going to take longer than you think, and much 

of that is out of your control. Create your follow-on 

plan before your first push. This may be a good time 

to learn yogic breathing.

Because the development team and I spent many 

hours together, I learned a lot about how they work. 

If you are going to take on a web project, know what 

you are asking for. The more you know what your 

required end state is, the easier it is for them to help 

you get there. If you do not know, be honest about 

that and release some of the control to them. Bring 

examples of things you do like and things that you 

know you do not. It helps them find commonalities. 

There is nothing more frustrating than this conversation: “I don’t know what I want, but I know that’s not 

it. Go do something else.” “Okay. Tell me more about 

what you’re thinking?” “I don’t know, but not that.” 

Your web project is not their only project, and because 

many of them are contractors, they have a very different set of metrics and processes of which we are not 

aware. The better plan you have walking in the door, 

and the better you connect with the team, the better 

the entire process is going to be for everyone. Building 

a website in today’s environment is complicated. It 

is not a thing that can be built in a night, dumped 

THE BETTER PLAN YOU HAVE 

WALKING IN THE DOOR, AND 

THE BETTER YOU CONNECT 

WITH THE TEAM, THE BETTER 

THE ENTIRE PROCESS IS GOING 

TO BE FOR EVERYONE.
5

Volume 36, Number 3 Third Quarter 2019

on a server, and pushed 

out—despite what that 

nifty YouTube ad tells 

you. There are reasons 

that the profession has 

developed and split the 

way it has. User experience teams do not do the 

same thing as the server 

team, and so on. They’ve 

split into their own 

industries because technology and best practices 

have required them to do 

so. It is a complex process, blending art, science, and 

technology, and while the owning shop may be paying 

the bill, we are not the only entity on the team.

Lesson learned: Respect the team. The more professional respect we give and the better plan we walk 

in with, the better the entire process is going to be 

for everyone.

When you are deeply entrenched in a project, especially one you are spearheading, it all makes intrinsic 

sense to you. You know why this is here or how that 

decision came about. However, in looking from the 

outside in, those things may not be apparent. A website is the most “outside-in” thing a government office 

can have. It exists to do exactly that, to allow the public a window into what that office is doing with their 

taxpayer dollars. They want to be able to use that site. 

Part of the early planning process needs to be dedicated to figuring out how they are using it, as well as 

how you want people to use it; in this case, those were 

different things. There are both internal and external 

ways to do that. A user experience test usually happens 

with professionals, and beta test is usually an internal 

process. Feedback, however, is open. The best way to 

make sure that things make sense to someone who is 

not you is to ask someone else who does not have a 

stake in the product or the process. Once we went live, 

the most useful feedback came from my 20-year-old 

and a group of friends’ teenagers. They are all digital 

natives, born with phones in their hands. They have 

expectations and are very 

good at explaining why 

something did not work 

without delving into how 

they thought you should 

fix it (an issue with other 

testers). Because they 

were all high school 

seniors through middle 

college years, they are 

accustomed to doing 

research online. They also 

provided great feedback 

as they switched between 

Android, Apple, and Chromebook. Moreover, their 

lack of investment in the project gives them room to 

be open and honest without worrying about looking 

foolish or damaging relationships that may be needed 

down the road. I also found that they didn’t have 

an angle or an agenda; they simply tested and gave 

feedback, which is exactly what was needed.

A WEBSITE IS THE MOST 

‘OUTSIDE-IN’ THING A 

GOVERNMENT OFFICE CAN HAVE. 

IT EXISTS TO...ALLOW THE 

PUBLIC A WINDOW INTO WHAT 

THAT OFFICE IS DOING WITH 

THEIR TAXPAYER DOLLARS.

Lesson learned: Hire a teenager while they still know 

everything.

The process is not over and will remain ongoing. As 

part of the planning process, we created a predictable model of updating that would allow the team to 

know what and when updates would be coming. That 

update process has to be built and agreed upon in 

order to ensure that the website stays relevant, clean, 

and functional. That in itself could be a lesson learned, 

too, but I chose not to include it because we are still in 

the process of making sure that it works as intended. 

Not only was this an amazing learning experience, it 

was an excellent reminder that no matter how carefully 

we plan, we can’t always control a timeline, and that 

starting in a place of clearly stated professional respect 

for others helps ensure that the project moves far more 

smoothly. These are things that people know, but it 

never hurts to have a reminder. Making use of teenagers while they still know everything turned out to be 

not just a bumper sticker, but also a valid method of 

data collection that I will use again when it becomes 

appropriate, a lesson that I was grateful to learn.
6

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

NEWS FROM HEADQUARTERS AND THE CENTERS

NASA HEADQUARTERS

Washington, DC

By Bill Barry

Wow—what a summer that was! I am so incredibly proud of the work done by the History team 

here at NASA Headquarters for the Apollo 11 anniversary. Everyone pulled together to answer countless 

questions from the media and the public and to help 

with a variety of anniversary events, all while keeping 

the wheels on the bus rolling along. The archival team 

not only came up with amazing answers, but (in what 

I think is a first) they hosted a Washington Post reporter 

on about 30 minutes’ notice for an article that was 

being researched on deadline. Based on the level of 

media interest in talking with us, it is pretty clear that 

people now know that the NASA History Program is 

a place where you can get answers and insight that are 

hard to find elsewhere.

By the way, we not only kept the wheels on the 

bus this summer, but we were busy changing them 

without stopping. Before I get too wrapped up in 

this metaphor, let me explain. I’m talking about the 

public debut of the new http://history.nasa.gov site 

on 18 July. This project was the brainchild of our 

brilliant Chief Archivist, Robyn Rodgers. Robyn not 

only redesigned the site, but did the coding to create 

it. When we brought Robyn’s code to our printing and 

design folks in the Communications Support Services 

Center (CSSC) for cleanup and testing, you could 

almost see the eye-rolls as they anticipated a huge mess 

that they would be stuck cleaning up. But their tune 

changed immediately once they started working with 

Robyn’s draft site. Garrett Shea, graphic designer and 

website guru in CSSC, was able to get the site ready 

for prime time in about six weeks. After some intense 

testing in the first weeks of July, Robyn and Garrett 

said that the site was ready. Rolling out a new History 

website during the middle of the Apollo 11 anniversary week may not have seemed like a very prudent 

idea, but the huge improvements in the site (especially 

its new mobile friendliness) and its robustness showed 

immediately. Traffic on the site spiked after it went 

live on 18 July and continued to be heavy throughout 

the Moon landing anniversary weekend. We continue 

to add functionality and content to the site. So if you 

haven’t visited lately, go take a look.

With the Apollo 11 anniversary over, we’ve jumped 

into our deferred work on the Mission Support Future 

Architecture Program (MAP). As noted in our last 

newsletter, MAP is an Agency-wide effort to improve 

NASA support functions, and the Communications 

function of the Agency was moved up to this year’s 

MAP cycle on short notice this spring. This meant 

that the structure of history and archival efforts 

everywhere at NASA had to be sorted out during the 

busiest summer we’ve had in a decade (at least). The 

Communications MAP team agreed to deal with history in “phase 2,” and that gave us some breathing 

space. But phase 2 starts next fiscal year—i.e., on 

1 October. So we are now busy providing data to the 

MAP team so that they can understand the issues and 

the complexities that the program faces. Some sort of 

change will be coming for our history and archival 

programs in the next six months. All we can say at 

this point is, stand by and we’ll let you know as soon 

as we can.

SOME SORT OF CHANGE WILL 

BE COMING FOR OUR HISTORY 

AND ARCHIVAL PROGRAMS IN 

THE NEXT SIX MONTHS. ALL 

WE CAN SAY AT THIS POINT IS, 

STAND BY AND WE’LL LET YOU 

KNOW AS SOON AS WE CAN.
7

Volume 36, Number 3 Third Quarter 2019

I always used to look forward to the end of summer 

and the start of the school year (yes, I’m that kind of 

geek), but my enthusiasm for fall has been tempered 

since becoming Chief Historian. The main reason 

for my changing attitude? The need to say goodbye 

to our amazing summer interns every August. This 

year, Claire Smrt left in early August to return to her 

junior year as a journalism major at the University of 

Missouri. Later in the month, Gwendolyn Rak left 

to start her sophomore year as a history and physics 

double major at Swarthmore. Both of them showed 

tremendous creativity and incredible stamina during 

a very busy summer. Their enthusiasm and positive 

energy, even after a brutally hot day staffing the Apollo 

anniversary booth on the National Mall, was an inspiration to the rest of us. This fall, we’ll have a pair of 

no less enthusiastic interns. Andrew Parco, a senior at 

George Washington University, has already joined us, 

and David Skogerboe, a graduate student at Utrecht 

University, will start in early October. We are looking 

forward to another great fall semester.

Forthcoming NASA History Division 

Publications Update

By Steve Garber

Dick Hallion has done a terrific job editing the 

proceedings of the NACA centennial symposium 

jointly held by NASA and the National Air and Space 

Museum (NASM). This manuscript is almost ready to 

begin production and should be a major contribution 

to this often-overlooked aspect of aerospace history.

Erik Conway, Don Yeomans, and Meg Rosenburg’s 

history of NASA’s Near-Earth Object (NEO) research 

and policy, sponsored by NASA’s Planetary Defense 

Coordination Office, is through the initial draft, and 

the authors are busy revising the manuscript after peer 

review. The work of this team of excellent historians and a renowned technical subject matter expert 

should make a significant contribution to historical 

understanding of a contemporary topic.

Also in revisions after peer review is Chris Gainor’s 

operational history of the Hubble Space Telescope 

(HST). Look for this fine complement to Robert 

Smith’s development history of HST to be published 

next year.

Another NACA manuscript we’re very pleased to be 

moving forward toward publication is a collected work 

on World War II and aeronautical technology that 

is being edited by Alex Spencer, a NASM curator. 

This strong collection of essays is almost ready for 

peer review.

Another symposium proceedings manuscript that 

is well under way is one regarding the history of 

robotic exploration of our solar system. Edited by 

Linda Billings, this collected work contains a range 

of interesting, thoughtful essays and is almost ready 

for production.

Emily Cook recently completed a first draft of a history of NASA’s Stennis Space Center (SSC). This carefully researched and well-written manuscript should 

serve as an excellent follow-on to Mack Herring’s Way 

Station to Space, with a focus on both the technical 

details of rocket propulsion testing and the social and 

economic impact that SSC has had on the local area.

AMES RESEARCH CENTER (ARC)

Moffett Field, California

By James Anderson and April Gage

A week after our History Program Review and right 

in the middle of the Apollo 50th anniversary activities, 

the new Ames historian, James Anderson, arrived at 

the Center. James and archivist April Gage supported 

an Apollo meet-and-greet organized by the Ames 

Office of Communications and held in a conference 

room at Moffett Field. Through the Owl Feather 

Society and other contact lists, Apollo-era Ames veterans attended the event to reconnect with colleagues, 

share their stories with current staff, and take an active 

role in our Apollo retrospective.
8

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

On 16 May, nine of these Ames veterans sat for interviews and scheduled time to return individually to 

have portraits taken. James coordinated the portrait 

sessions and took advantage of the opportunity to 

talk at some length with the retired researchers. Those 

portraits were released as a series called Faces of Apollo

(found at https://www.nasa.gov/ames/faces-of-apollo). 

Some of the veterans brought related documents, 

photos, and artifacts that are going into the archives. 

Included was a Saturn V wind tunnel model that 

Henry A. “Hank” Cole, Jr., had kept in his garage over 

the years. The fiberglass-and-aluminum model was 

built in an Ames machine shop and tested in the 11- 

by 11-foot tunnel to determine how the addition of a 

ring to the base of the escape rocket would affect the 

buffeting experienced. The answer was adversely, so 

the addition of the ring was canceled. Another notable 

contribution was a small collection of some papers and 

photos from Caye Johnson, a biologist who worked in 

the Life Detection Branch and was part of the team at 

Ames that looked for microbial life in the Apollo 11 

samples in the Ames Lunar Biological Laboratory.

Caye Johnson works in a lab. (Photo credit: NASA/Zabower)

The Ames Lunar Biological Laboratory became a focal 

point of the Ames retrospective, as the timing was just 

right to highlight some recently rediscovered archival 

footage. A 16-millimeter film produced for NASA 

by the Lockheed Missiles and Space Company documented the work at the Lunar Biological Laboratory 

as the researchers looked for signs of life in the lunar 

samples. The 19-minute film from 1969 had been 

digitized in 2013, but the transfer quality was poor 

and did not capture the full resolution and color of 

the print. The Ames video group sent the footage to 

Johnson Space Center (JSC), which did an amazing 

job capturing the full color and high resolution in the 

transfer that we now have.

With the generous participation of Caye Johnson, 

James collaborated with Kimberly Ennico Smith, 

an Ames astrophysicist on detail in the Office of 

Communications, to produce an online piece about 

the lab (available at https://www.nasa.gov/ames/lunarbiology-lab). Caye described the lab and her role in 

its operation. Audio of her commentary provided the 

narration for a short video that James edited from the 

original 19-minute film, and Kimberly took the lead 

writing the accompanying text. The story was picked 

up by outlets including CNN (https://www.cnn.

com/2019/07/16/world/apollo-11-moon-samples-scntrnd/index.html) and Fox News (https://www.foxnews.

com/science/apollo-11-never-before-seen-video-signsof-life). The full 19-minute film is available online, 

linked at the bottom of the Lunar Biological Lab posting, along with a photo gallery of the lab.

Living in Los Angeles provided a fleeting moment 

of convenience for James, as he was able to deliver a 

talk and participate in a panel discussion at an Apollo 

event hosted by the American Institute of Aeronautics 

and Astronautics (AIAA) at the Santa Monica Public 

Library on 13 July. The talk highlighted some of the 

Ames contributions to Apollo in the context of NASA’s 

current work focused on a return to the Moon. Back 

up in the Bay Area, the traffic was not much better for 
9

Volume 36, Number 3 Third Quarter 2019

April, who traveled to San Francisco and spoke about 

the interplay of art and science over the centuries as 

part of a space art panel for an Apollo anniversary 

event, “To the Moon and Beyond,” which was a collaboration of the Consulate General of Switzerland’s 

Swiss Touch campaign in partnership with the San 

Francisco Exploratorium and Ames. Preceding the 

space art panel was a panel about the future of space 

research, featuring Kimberly Ennico Smith and ARC’s 

Center Director, Eugene Tu. Swiss astronaut Claude 

Nicollier delivered the keynote address at the event.

We would also like to give a shout-out to our researcher, 

Fred Scharmen, whose book Space Settlements was 

just published by Columbia University Press. The 

book examines the space settlement design studies 

conducted at Ames in the 1970s and considers them 

as serious architectural proposals for living in space. 

Works from the History Archives collections featured 

in the book are currently on exhibition at the San 

Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Space Settlements

cover. (Image credit: 

Fred Scharmen)

In the midst of Apollo-palooza, routine work still 

progressed. The archives supported a June 2019 

10th anniversary celebration of the Lunar Crater 

Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission 

with historical materials from the archives at an event 

on campus. And the Artifacts Working Group (AWG) 

benefited from a breakout session that April, James, 

and archivist Danielle Lopez held with the goal of 

simplifying the identification of potential artifacts 

for people (even other AWG members) who are not 

already familiar with the programmatic definitions 

and policies. Because so many folks at the Center 

handle potential artifacts and are involved with decisions about their use and disposition, a draft cheat 

sheet came out of the breakout session that was shared 

at the most recent meeting of the working group. It 

was positively received, and plans to raise awareness 

through info sessions for branch chiefs and a Centerwide announcement are on an upcoming agenda.

ARMSTRONG FLIGHT RESEARCH 

CENTER (AFRC) 

Edwards Air Force Base, California

By Christian Gelzer

In conjunction with Taschen Books’ release of NASA 

Archives: 60 Years in Space, Christian Gelzer was 

invited to participate in a discussion with author 

and photographer Lawrence Schiller. Taschen Books 

also recently re-released Norman Mailer’s Moonfire

with splendid imagery. Both speakers were hosted by 

Taschen managing editor Nina Wiener at a cultural 

center in Hollywood before an audience, with an 

after-talk gathering during which attendees could ask 

additional questions.

Christian gave two talks in conjunction with the 

Apollo 50th anniversary. The first, on the Lunar 

Landing Research/Training Vehicle, coincided with 

the Center’s celebration of the lunar landing itself. The 

second talk was to the Air Force and was a reevaluation 

of Neil Armstrong’s “long flight” that took him to the 

fringes of Pasadena before he managed to get the X-15 

headed back to Edwards Air Force Base (AFB). Over 

time, Armstrong has become the culprit in the story. 

However, Gelzer’s research suggests that “a victim 

of circumstances” is more apt description. The term 

“normalization of deviance” is modern by X-15 standards, but it certainly applied to some aspects of that 

program, one of which directly affected Armstrong’s 

situational awareness.
10

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

GLENN RESEARCH CENTER (GRC) 

Cleveland, Ohio

By Anne Mills and Bob Arrighi (ATS)

The Glenn History Office is pleased to share its newest 

online resource, an addition to our suite of historic 

facilities sites: the history of the Cyclotron Facility. 

The website can be found here: https://www1.grc.nasa.

gov/historic-facilities/cyclotron/.

The cyclotron was designed in the late 1940s to facilitate research on the impact of radiation on materials 

for a planned nuclear-powered aircraft. After persevering through numerous technical difficulties, the cyclotron became fully operational in 1957. Completion 

coincided with the transition of the NACA into 

NASA, and with the shift in Agency priorities came 

a new research focus. The facility, now used for space 

applications, investigated solar cell degradation and 

radiation’s effect on liquid hydrogen as a fuel. In the 

early 1970s, improvements to the facility expanded 

its capabilities, but the sudden cancellation of the 

Agency’s nuclear program resulted in the courting of 

external customers to keep the facility operational. 

Perhaps most notably was the Cleveland Clinic’s use 

of the cyclotron for its experimental neutron-therapy 

cancer treatments, a program that ran from the mid1970s until 1990. At that time, the cyclotron was 

permanently shut down and placed into a mothballed 

safe mode. In the early 2000s, steps were taken to 

begin the cleanup and decommissioning process. The 

demolition of the facility was completed in June 2019.

JOHNSON SPACE CENTER (JSC)

Houston, Texas

By John Uri

Much of the JSC History Office’s time and efforts over 

the past three months focused on the 50th anniversary 

of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, but we also continued 

1 See https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/07/19/apollo-11-moon-landing-what-you-cant-see-buzz-aldrin-flagphoto/1570334001/, https://www.pcusa.org/news/2019/7/22/fifty-years-after-apollo-11-texas-church-still-com/, and https://www.pcusa.

org/news/2019/7/29/god-and-science-there-room-both/.

our regular activities. Apollo 11 activities included 

addressing media requests, giving talks, and still 

responding to requests for historical data. The busy 

time is now behind us, and we look forward to a little 

quieter time until the next expected round of attention 

surrounding the 50th anniversary of Apollo 13.

JSC Historian Jennifer Ross-Nazzal gave a number 

of presentations in July about the Apollo anniversary. 

On the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch, she 

addressed a large crowd at Space Center Houston, 

talking about launch day from the perspective of the 

Apollo 11 wives, the media, launch control, flight control, VIPs, and the public. After participating in lunar 

communion at the Webster Presbyterian Church, she 

spoke about the legacy of Apollo from the pulpit. The 

Presbyterian Church of the United States of America 

(PC[USA]) posted three articles on their website 

about the church’s link to the space program and the 

historic mission.1 The included videos credit the JSC 

History Office.

This summer, Sandra Johnson and Jennifer RossNazzal traveled to Kerrville, Texas, to conduct oral 

history interviews with wives of former astronauts and 

flight controllers. They also had the opportunity to 

interview Ardis Shanks, the artist of the Skylab II wives’ 

patch. At the Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Tribute 

in the city’s Cailloux Theater, Jennifer and Sandra 

publicized the JSC Oral History Project. Presenters 

at the event included Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise; 

Skylab and Space Shuttle astronaut Jack Lousma; 

Flight Director and former JSC Center Director 

Gerry Griffin; Tom Moser and Norm Chaffee, both 

formerly of the Engineering Directorate; and flight 

controller and former Space Station Program Manager 

Tommy Holloway.

The JSC History Office responded to several media 

requests surrounding the 50th anniversary of the 

first Moon landing. JSC’s Houston We Have a Podcast 
11

Volume 36, Number 3 Third Quarter 2019

(https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/HWHAP/lesserknown-stories-of-apollo-11) invited Jennifer as a guest 

for a record-tying third time to talk about the historic 

Apollo 11 mission. Jennifer participated in interviews with the Washington Post and CNN. Jennifer 

and John Uri participated in interviews with the 

Austin-based Texas Public Radio program The Texas 

Standard (https://www.texasstandard.org/highway_

to_the_moon-apollo/) and USA Today (https://www.

usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/07/19/apollo11-moon-landing-what-you-cant-see-buzz-aldrinflag-photo/1570334001/).

Over the past year or more, Sandra responded to 

numerous requests for oral history audio and video 

clips from filmmakers, producers, and authors working on projects related to the Apollo anniversary. The 

projects have now been published and Sandra received 

well-deserved recognition for her efforts. Space does 

not permit listing them all, but two examples will illustrate the point. The British Broadcasting Corporation’s 

(BBC’s) 12-part podcast/radio series 13 Minutes to the 

Moon (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w13xttx2) 

is now online. The show’s producer thanked Sandra 

for “so kindly providing...JSC Oral History interview 

clips” and pointed out that the source of the audio 

clips is noted in the end credits, urging listeners to 

visit the oral history website (https://historycollection.

jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/

oral_histories.htm) for more detailed information. 

Nancy Atkinson, author of the book Eight Years to the 

Moon—The History of the Apollo Mission, published in 

July 2019, recognized Sandra’s “invaluable assistance” 

in the acknowledgments section.

Jennifer Ross-Nazzal speaks at Webster Presbyterian Church. (Photo credit: Clif Grim)

John and Jennifer are interviewed by Texas Standard editor David Brown (right). 

(Photo credit: Texas Standard) In recognition of significant space anniversaries leading up to the Moon landing, the JSC History Office 

continues to work with the JSC External Relations 

Office on a series of articles posted on https://www.

nasa.gov/topics/history/index.html and JSC’s Facebook 

and Twitter accounts. Abstracts of the articles appear 

online in JSC’s Roundup Today. The features often 

highlight the anniversaries of less-celebrated events 

and people that were nevertheless crucial to achieving the Moon landing within President Kennedy’s 

timetable. Select pieces have also appeared as feature 

articles on the JSC Home Page’s “Roundup Reads.” 

We would like to thank history and archive personnel 

at other NASA Centers for their valued help and contributions to many of these products.

We continue to expand our extensive oral history collection. JSC Deputy Director Vanessa Wyche sat with 
12

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

Sandra and Jennifer for her first interview in May, and 

JSC Center Director Mark Geyer sat for his annual 

interview in June. Sandra and Jennifer have made initial contacts with former Vice President Dan Quayle’s 

assistant to arrange for an oral history with him. A 

similar arrangement with former Vice President Al 

Gore is also under consideration.

In attendance at a going-away luncheon for UHCL archivist Lauren Meyers (seated) were (standing, left 

to right) Greg Blackburn (NAL), Mark Scroggins, John Uri, Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, Ken Young (NAL), and 

Hal Beck (NAL). (Photo credit: John Uri)

Unfortunately, we must report that Lauren Meyers has 

resigned as the archivist at the University of Houston–

Clear Lake (UHCL) as part of her move to Austin, 

Texas. We will miss her. Regina Grant (past UHCL 

archives assistant) has come out of retirement to work 

part-time while UHCL goes through the process 

of hiring another permanent archivist. On 14 June, 

several members of the JSC Chapter of the NASA 

Alumni League (NAL) joined JSC archivist Mark 

Scroggins and JSC History Office members Jennifer 

and John for a going-away lunch, presenting Lauren 

with a signed NASA photo collage.

To preserve a bit of Space Shuttle history, Sandra successfully secured and coordinated the transfer of 11 

boxes from former JSC engineer and thermodynamicist 

Dorothy “Dottie” Lee, who was instrumental in the

design of the Space Shuttle’s nose. Her daughters

were cleaning out her house and offered the boxes to

JSC. The boxes were received by JSC archivist Mark

Scroggins and are stored in his facility. Our summer

intern Sharyn Bristol has catalogued the boxes and

created a detailed spreadsheet of their contents.

The History Office continues its effort to publish

Jennifer’s book Making Space for Women, in collaboration with the JSC University Research, Collaboration

and Partnership Office. The manuscript is currently 

undergoing peer review at Texas A&M University Press.

As a reminder, the JSC History Portal recently migrated

to a new web address (https://historycollection.jsc.

nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/). It appears that 

issues encountered after the transition have now been 

corrected. We encourage everyone to update their 

bookmarks to the new URL and ask for your help in

advertising the new address. Also, please inform us if 

you run into any issues with the new site so that we 

may address them expeditiously. We are continuing 

efforts to upgrade the look and feel of the History 

Portal, which will provide the History Office with 

easier control over content updates and provide users 

with a more modern format.

MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER 

(MSFC)

Huntsville, Alabama

By Brian Odom

The recent Apollo 11 50th anniversary offered an 

excellent opportunity to explore the history of that 

monumental achievement while engaging the public. 

Working in conjunction with our visitor’s center, the 

U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Marshall History participated in a number of engaging events including a 

Guinness World Record rocket launch and a “Dancing 

in the Streets” celebration in downtown Huntsville, 

which included a number of Apollo-related exhibits 

and was attended by more than 10,000 spectators.
13

Volume 36, Number 3 Third Quarter 2019

One of the more interesting products developed for the 

anniversary was a series of interviews entitled Marshall 

Remembers Apollo. These interviews with 20 of the 

men and women who worked at Marshall during the 

Saturn program cover topics ranging from engine testing to the impact of the Apollo program on Huntsville. 

These interviews are available on the Marshall History 

YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list

=PLBEXDPatoWBmbilwH2r_mJh4de3Q6dSfJ.

In the archival world, Jordan Whetstone has been busy 

fielding reference questions and supporting Apollo 

anniversary products, all while continuing to process 

archival collections in the History Office. Considerable 

attention was given to developing projects to connect 

the public to the artwork produced during the Apollo 

era. One of these projects was an exhibit developed in 

conjunction with Arts Huntsville and the U.S. Space 

& Rocket Center. Similar to an exhibit hosted three 

years ago, this display of NASA artwork is centered on 

the 50th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11. Many 

of the pieces in the display were by former Los Angeles 

Times artist Russ Arasmith. A link to his Apollo art gallery can be found here: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/

marshall/history/arasmith.html.

Russ Arasmith Apollo artwork. (Image credit: NASA/Russ Arasmith)

In June, Brian Odom gave a talk at the Alabama 

Department of Archives and History (ADAH) entitled 

“Alabama and the Moon Landing.” This talk focused 

on the larger context of the space program in Alabama, 

including federal development in the Tennessee Valley, 

German immigration and training, the Cold War, and 

the civil rights movement—forces that have all left 

a dramatic imprint on the region’s economy, politics, and larger society. The talk is available on the 

ADAH YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/

user/AlabamaArchives.

Another notable project was the development of a 

radio documentary with WLRH Public Radio 

(Huntsville), One Giant Leap: Integration at NASA. 

This documentary surveyed the integration of Marshall 

Space Flight Center during the decade of Apollo. 

Included in this documentary were interviews with Dr. 

Margrit von Braun, Joyce Neighbors, Jeanette Scissum, 

Dr. Ravindra Lal, Arthur Hullett, Dr. Bill Barry, and 

Chasing the Moon filmmaker Robert Stone. The documentary can be downloaded from the WLRH website 

here: https://wlrh.org/WritersCorner/public-radiohour-one-giant-leap-integration-nasa-72519.

In November, the University Press of Florida will publish an anthology entitled NASA and the Long Civil 

Rights Movement. This collection of essays, edited by 

Brian Odom and Stephen Waring, emanated from a 

March 2017 symposium considering the intersection 

of NASA with the long civil rights movement—a 

framework developed by Jacquelyn Dowd Hall in 

her influential 2005 essay, “The Long Civil Rights 

Movement and the Political Uses of the Past.” There, 

Hall called on historians of the movement to place 

their histories within the broader context—a move she 

argued would make that history “harder to simplify, 

appropriate, and contain.” The essays in the volume 

explore the historical context surrounding issues such 

as the development of equal employment opportunity, 

the impact of NASA installations on the process of 

desegregation, and the creation of diversity in the 

astronaut corps. A few examples of the topics covered 

include the Poor People’s Campaign, the selection of 

Guion Bluford for the astronaut corps, and the closure of the satellite tracking station at Hartebeesthoek, 

South Africa.
14

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

FROM APOLLO TO AFRICA: THE MOBILE QUARANTINE 

FACILITY’S MISSION TO CONTAIN LASSA FEVER

By: Gwendolyn Rak, Summer 2019 Intern

After a long trip, the first thing most people want to do is go home and rest. But when the astronauts 

of Apollo 11, 12, and 14 each completed the 240,000-

mile return trip to Earth, they were not allowed to 

go home for three weeks. Instead, they spent that 

time stuck in quarantine. These were humanity’s first 

trips to the surface of the Moon, so no one could be 

certain what was hidden in the lunar material the 

astronauts were bringing back. From the moment 

their Command Modules splashed down, any potential back-contamination was contained in specially 

designed facilities in order to protect the public from 

any threats that may be hiding in the Moon dust. The 

Lunar Receiving Laboratory was set up in Houston to 

quarantine the crew and anyone who interacted with 

them after splashdown, but the crew needed another 

temporary home for the trip there.

Workers load the Mobile Quarantine Facility aboard a transport plane at Hickam Air Force Base. (Photo credit: NASA)
15

Volume 36, Number 3 Third Quarter 2019

That facility, known as the Mobile 

Quarantine Facility (MQF), was a 

converted 35-foot Airstream trailer 

specially designed to transport the 

astronauts across the Pacific and 

back to Texas. The trailer was made 

of an airtight, sealed aluminum 

body with a ventilation system 

that provided negative pressure in 

the cabin. All air vented out of the 

MQF went through a filter capable 

of 99 percent efficiency in removing particles 0.45 microns or larger, 

while all other waste was contained 

in holding tanks. To allow for the 

removal of samples and film without leaking potentially infected 

air out, it was also outfitted with 

a transfer lock system. Inside its 

airtight shell, the MQF was similar 

to any other mobile home; it had 

a lounge, galley, sleeping quarters, 

bathroom, and even a microwave. 

The design checked all the necessary 

boxes, so at the recommendation 

of an Interagency Committee on 

Back Contamination, four MQFs were commissioned 

from MelPar, Inc., for the Apollo program.1

After three missions on the lunar surface, the NASA 

scientists came to learn that this was—thankfully—

an unnecessary precaution. As many expected, the 

barren Moon did not harbor any contagions and the 

astronauts brought back no dangerous lunar microorganisms. After a three-week period of observation, the 

astronauts were released and went on with their lives. 

From that point, one might expect that the astronauts’ 

airtight ride was then put out of commission and 

directly into storage. It turns out that there was more 

to the story than that.

1 Michael Meltzer, When Biospheres Collide (Washington, DC: NASA SP-2011-4234, 2011), p. 208.

2 “Lassa Fever,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 31 January 2019, https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/lassa/index.html (accessed August 

19, 2019).

The Apollo 11 astronauts inside the Mobile Quarantine Facility aboard the USS Hornet speak with 

President Richard Nixon. (Photo credit: NASA)

While NASA’s scientists were concerned with the 

potential biological dangers of the Moon, doctors 

halfway across the globe were working to combat 

another mounting threat in West Africa. In the early 

1970s, a disease called Lassa fever spread through 

Sierra Leone and Nigeria. The animal-borne virus was 

first discovered in 1969 when two missionary nurses 

in Lassa, Nigeria, contracted it. Little was known 

about the disease except that it was highly contagious 

and often fatal.

Lassa fever still accounts for an estimated 10–16 percent of patients admitted to some Sierra Leonean hospitals today, but doctors can now effectively treat the 

disease.2 In the 1970s, however, there was no reliable 
16

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

cure available. Thus, the World Health Organization 

(WHO) reported in 1974 that “quarantine is at present the only effective means of reducing the risk of 

person-to-person transmission of Lassa fever virus.”3

The best solution to prevent further spreading of the 

disease was at that point the same method used to 

prevent the Apollo astronauts from spreading lunar 

contaminants. With the Apollo 14 quarantine over in 

February 1971, we had the means available to safely 

transport any infected patients—sitting idle, available 

for a new mission.

3 Thomas P. Monath, “Lassa Fever and Marburg Virus Disease,” WHO Chronicle 28 (1974): 212–219, https://apps.who.int/iris/

handle/10665/163802.

4 Milton Reim, “MQF Loaned to USAF,” NASA Release no. 72-221, 21 November 1972.

The MQF is shown installed in Chamber A of the Space Environment Simulation Laboratory (SESL). (Photo credit: NASA)

Accordingly, the four Apollo MQFs were loaned to 

the United States Air Force in 1972 when NASA was 

done with them. The intent was that, if an American 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 

volunteer contracted Lassa fever, the Air Force would 

use the MQF to transport them back to the United 

States.4 The facility was designed to prevent contamination and equipped with all the necessary support 

systems to safely transport patients, so it was the perfect solution.
17

Volume 36, Number 3 Third Quarter 2019

The three Apollo 11 astronauts are transferred from a U.S. Navy helicopter to an MQF 

aboard the prime recovery vessel. (Photo credit: NASA)

This plan was first implemented when CDC epidemiologist Dr. Kent Campbell developed a high fever in 

1972 while investigating the disease in Sierra Leone. 

He was flown back to New York in the MQF, although 

the illness was later found not to be Lassa fever, and 

he fully recovered.5 Two years later, in 1974, the MQF 

was put to use again, but not by the United States. The 

Air Force lent the facility to West Germany to transport a German doctor named Bernhard Mandrella 

home from Nigeria after he contracted Lassa fever.6

The doctor survived, and he greatly reduced the risk 

he posed of contaminating others by using the MQF.

There are no widely reported cases of the MQF being 

used beyond these instances, and history has shown 

that a Lassa fever epidemic did not spread outside of 

West Africa. However, the possibility of that became 

needlessly high at one point in 1976. When a Peace 

Corps volunteer in Sierra Leone contracted Lassa fever, 

she returned to the United States with no isolation procedures in place. During the trip, the woman exposed 

5 Lawrence K. Altman, “2 Die in Outbreak of Lassa Fever,” New York Times (22 March 1974), available at https://nyti.ms/1HjdK1I

(accessed 9 September 2019).

6 “Space Capsule on Emergency Mission,” Washington Post (21 March 1974).

7 Ronald M. Zweighaft, M.D., et al., “Lassa Fever: Response to an Imported Case,” New England Journal of Medicine 297, no. 15 (13 

October 1977): 803.

8 “History Spotlight: Airstream’s Place in Space,” Airstream, 15 July 2019, https://www.airstream.com/blog/history-spotlight-airstreamsplace-in-space/ (accessed 19 August 2019).

522 people to the virus before being placed into 

quarantine. Twenty-nine of those contacts were 

identified as high-risk.7 Fortunately, the patient 

was not highly contagious and the virus did not 

spread, but the incident was just that: fortunate.

In each of these cases, both when the MQF 

was used and when it was not, the patients and 

those surrounding them were lucky. Hindsight 

may make it tempting to view the MQF as 

unnecessary, but when facing the unknown, an 

abundance of caution is appropriate. Imagine if 

the Apollo astronauts had in fact brought back 

harmful microorganisms; letting them return 

home without a period of quarantine would 

have be seen as negligent. Using the MQF to 

transport Lassa fever patients was similarly appropriate given the lack of knowledge doctors had about 

the disease. Scientists have since solved many of the 

Moon’s mysteries and answered Lassa fever’s questions, 

but they will surely encounter new unknowns in the 

future. Whether they come from space or right here 

on Earth, those unknowns should be addressed with 

the same caution.

Currently, three of the MQFs are on display at the 

Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum 

Udvar-Hazy Center (Virginia), the Rocket Park at 

the U.S. Space & Rocket Center (Alabama), and the 

USS Hornet Sea, Air and Space Museum (California). 

The fourth MQF is still held by the United States 

Department of Agriculture (USDA).8
18

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

NASA WHITE SANDS TEST FACILITY APOLLO COMMAND 

AND SERVICE MODULE REVITALIZATION PROJECT 

By Antonette Doherty, Project Manager, and Kyleigh Cox, NASA Safety and Mission Assurance (S&MA) Intern

Four months prior to the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, the White Sands Test 

Facility’s (WSTF’s) Keystone Committee 

brought forward the idea to refurbish the 

Apollo Command and Service Module (CSM) 

replica as a morale campaign for WSTF personnel. 

The goal was to bring it back to its original state in 

honor of Project Apollo and all those who contributed 

from across Agency lines, including contributions 

from WSTF.

The CSM mockup is an important historical artifact 

that links WSTF to NASA’s Apollo program. This 

artifact is a large part of WSTF history. The Apollo 

program is the reason WSTF was built in the first 

place. The white, cylindrical section of the Service 

Module was an early prototype used at WSTF for 

extensive ground tests of the 20,500-pound-thrust 

Service Propulsion Engine (SPE) during 1966–68. At 

the time, the SPE was the largest rocket engine fired at 

WSTF. These tests, along with those completed nearby 

at the White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), played 

an important role in preparing the propulsion, power, 

and navigation systems for the mission to the Moon.

The CSM Steering Committee poses in front of the refurbished Apollo Command and Service 

Module Replica.

Following the completion of those tests, the real 

engines and propellant tanks were removed and 

the structural shell was mounted onto a wood and 

Styrofoam skeleton. It was fitted with nonfunctional 

mockups of the Command Module (CM), Reaction 

Control System (RCS) quads, SPE nozzle, microwave 

antennas, and external umbilical connector. The CSM 

replica was relocated to the 100 Area between buildings 100 and 101 and situated on a concrete cradle.

Years of weathering and a lack of maintenance left the 

CSM neglected and deteriorated. Then the Keystone 

Committee pitched the refurbishment idea to WSTF 

management. The Keystone Committee was then 

directed to steer a committee of WSTF employee 

volunteers to revitalize the CSM. Thus, the Command 

Service Module Steering Committee was established.

The Command Service Module Steering Committee 

consists of the following members:

• Antonette Doherty, Project Manager, Environmental

(NASA)

• Felicia Barela, HR (Jacobs)

• Tim Brooks, Facilities Engineering (Jacobs)

• Joe-Henry Armendariz, S&MA (NASA)

• Mike Hallock, S&MA (NASA)

• Nina Cardenas, S&MA (Science Applications

International Corporation [SAIC])

• Carlos Martinez, Propulsion (Jacobs)

• Janne Lady, Propulsion (AWD)

• Jim Dawson, Information Technology (IT) (MEIT)

• Jack Cervoni, Technical Services/Fabrication Shop

(Jacobs)

• Abbey Seward, Technical Services/Fabrication Shop

(Jacobs)

The revitalization of the CSM mockup included 

repainting each section of the exterior; restoring 

the small thrusters, crew access hatches, umbilical 
19

Volume 36, Number 3 Third Quarter 2019

connector, and rendezvous windows; creating a docking mechanism and deep space antenna; adding new 

decals; and patching up the tear in the thruster’s netting. The committee also installed the final touches: 

solar-powered spotlights and a new 4- by 4-foot sign 

honoring WSTF.

Before

After

In addition to the CSM Steering Committee members, this project could not have been accomplished 

without the hard work of the following:

• Sean Bender, Facilities Engineering (Jacobs)

• Danny De La Cruz, Facilities Engineering (Jacobs)

• Gary Sullivan, Facilities Engineering (Jacobs)

• Manny Saldivar, Technical Services/Fabrication 

Shop (GEO)

• Anthony Trejo, Technical Services/Fabrication 

Shop (Jacobs)

• Jamie Puentes, Technical Services/Publications 

(Jacobs)

The CSM Steering Committee and facility volunteers 

are very proud of the work we have done in refurbishing the CSM. As we look to the future, we want to 

continue to remember the CSM’s historical significance and the lasting legacy of Project Apollo.

Before After
20

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

WEATHERING THE STORMS

By Jessica B. Herr

Hurricane Katrina over the Gulf of Mexico. (Image credit: Jeff Schmaltz, 

MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC)

Hurricane season reaches its peak time in the months of August and September. During this 

time, the Gulf Coast is filled with reminders to be 

prepared. These warnings do not apply only to the residents of the Gulf Coast; Stennis Space Center (SSC) 

needs to be prepared as well. For years, Stennis has 

had a hurricane preparedness plan that has served the 

site well, helping it to survive hurricanes like Betsy 

in 1965, Camille in 1969, Elena in 1985, Georges in 

1998, and Katrina in 2005.

The first test to the preparedness plan came with 

Hurricane Betsy. Betsy formed on 17 August 1965. 

Stennis, then known as the Mississippi Test Facility 

(MTF), tracked the storm as it approached the Gulf 

Coast. The storm made landfall near Grand Isle, 

Louisiana, on Friday, 10 September 1965. The test 

facility sustained only minor damage when Betsy 

moved into the Mississippi coast area. MTF reopened 

the following Monday.

Hurricane Camille made landfall at Waveland, 

Mississippi, on 18 August 1969. At MTF, the days 

prior to Camille’s arrival were spent watching, waiting, 

securing hydrogen and oxygen barges, and tying down 

anything that might be blown away in the 160-mileper-hour winds. MTF and the surrounding area were 

ravaged by the storm, but the Gulf Coast, always resilient, quickly rebuilt.

Hurricane Elena was a tricky storm to prepare for; 

it had an unpredictable track, going east in the Gulf 

of Mexico, then doubling back to make landfall near 

Biloxi, Mississippi, on 2 September 1985. Hurricane 

warnings were issued, canceled, and issued again in 

the time leading up to the storm. The then–National 

Space Technology Laboratories (NSTL), formerly 

known as the Mississippi Test Facility and soon to 

be known as Stennis Space Center, remained ready 

throughout the uncertainty. Thanks to the efforts of 

“ride-out crews,” the people who remain at the Center 

during a hurricane to keep it operational, there was 

little damage to the facility.

Throughout its existence, SSC has been integral to 

hurricane damage assessments. In October 1995, 

Hurricane Opal hit the Florida Panhandle. NASA’s 

Gulf of Mexico Program, headquartered at SSC, 

helped to assess damage caused by the hurricane. The 

Gulf of Mexico Program was a multi-agency, multistate partnership in the Gulf region to develop 

and design a program to provide a comprehensive 

network for sharing Gulf of Mexico environmental 

information data. Flyovers of the hurricane-ravaged 

areas were done using remote sensing technology 

from NASA. Using a computer program developed at 

SSC—the Earth Resources Laboratory Applications 

Software (ELAS)—along with the remote sensing 
21

Volume 36, Number 3 Third Quarter 2019

data, scientists and technicians could process imagery 

data as well as topographic, 

soil, and rainfall data to 

produce resource management information.

THROUGHOUT ITS EXISTENCE, 

SSC HAS BEEN INTEGRAL 

TO HURRICANE DAMAGE 

ASSESSMENTS. 

Hurricane Georges was an 

unusual storm, making seven 

landfalls in all, with its seventh and final landfall on 28 September 1998, near 

Biloxi. Once again, Stennis Space Center was fully 

prepared and only had to rake up and haul off storm 

debris scattered across the site.

In 2005, Stennis again was as prepared as it could have 

been, but Hurricane Katrina was unlike anything else. 

It was the most brutal storm in decades, causing many 

fatalities and billions of 

dollars in property damage. 

Even veterans of Hurricane 

Camille had never seen 

anything quite like it. On 

29 August 2005, Katrina 

made landfall in southeast 

Louisiana. Like much of the 

Gulf Coast, Stennis and its 

surrounding communities 

experienced heavy damage. In fact, Stennis sheltered 

approximately 2,500 employees whose homes had 

been rendered uninhabitable or destroyed. However, 

due to the hard work of emergency and ride-out crews, 

Stennis quickly was able to get up and running after 

the storm. Help poured in from across the country 

and other NASA installations. The community, once 

again, pulled together to rebuild.

Stennis Space Center sustained damage from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. (Image credit: NASA)
22

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

OTHER AEROSPACE HISTORY NEWS

AMERICAN ASTRONAUTICAL SOCIETY 

(AAS) HISTORY COMMITTEE

By Michael Ciancone, Chair

2019 Ordway Award for Sustained 

Excellence in Spaceflight History

The Ordway Award is named in memory of Frederick 

I. Ordway III (1927–2014), human spaceflight

advocate and chronicler of the history of rocketry

and space travel. The award recognizes exceptional,

sustained efforts to inform and educate on spaceflight

and its history through one or more media, such as

1) writing, editing, or publishing; 2) preparation and/

or presentation of exhibits; or 3) production for distribution through film, television, art, or other nonprint

media. The award is managed by the Ordway Panel

of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) History

Committee. Members of the panel are Michael

Ciancone (chair), Robert Godwin, Valerie Neal, Ron 

Miller (2018 recipient), Miles O’Brien (2018 recipient), and Dennis Jenkins (2018 recipient).

Frederick I. Ordway III poses with an EVA pod on the set of the movie 2001: 

A Space Odyssey circa 1966–67. (Image credit: National Air and Space 

Museum, NASM-9A12923)

The recipients of the 2019 Ordway Award are as follows:

• Univelt is recognized for sustained excellence in

documenting space history through the production

of AAS publications.

• Dr. John M. Logsdon is recognized for sustained

excellence in space policy analysis.

• John Noble Wilford is recognized for sustained

excellence in print journalism through his coverage

of spaceflight activities.

CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS

55th Annual Walter Prescott Webb Lecture Series: 

“Flight Culture and the Human Experience”

16 and 17 April 2020

Hosted by the American Airlines CR Smith Museum 

and organized by the University of Texas at Arlington 

(UTA), the 55th Annual Webb Lecture Series, “Flight 

Culture and the Human Experience,” will feature 

new and emerging research into the myriad social, 

cultural, political, and other transformations that 

brought about the advent and expansion of aviation 

technologies. While many of the lectures will, necessarily, examine aspects of aeronautical history, the 

Department of History welcomes proposals from 

scholars and advanced “all but dissertation” (ABD) 

graduate students whose multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research may assist the broader public in 

understanding the vital role that aviation has played in 

shaping humanity’s past, present, and possible futures.

For consideration, please submit via e-mail a single 

PDF file containing 1) a working title and brief (1- 

to 2-page) description of the proposed lecture and 

2) a complete curriculum vitae to Karla Ramsey at

kcramsey@uta.edu.
23

Volume 36, Number 3 Third Quarter 2019

Submission deadline: 1 October 2019

For more information, please visit the Department’s 

website at http://www.uta.edu/history/research/webblecture-series/index.php or contact

Dr. Scott W. Palmer

Professor and Chair

Department of History

University of Texas at Arlington

scott.palmer@uta.edu

ESSAY COMPETITION: “FLIGHT CULTURE 

AND THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE”

In conjunction with the 55th Annual Walter Prescott 

Webb Lecture Series, the UTA Department of History 

invites advanced graduate students (ABD) and 

early-career (pre-tenure) scholars to submit original, 

unpublished article-length essays (maximum 10,000 

words, plus endnotes) on subjects relating to the myriad social, cultural, political, and other transformations that brought about the advent and expansion of 

aviation technologies.

Areas of investigation may include (but are not limited to) aviation and the built environment, literary 

and artistic representations of flight, milestones in 

aeronautical engineering, the development of civil and 

commercial aviation, military aviation and airpower 

doctrine, the influence of the airplane in popular culture, social identities and the aviation age, the origins 

and evolution of aerial technologies, “air-mindedness” 

and the nation state, and aviation in comparative 

international contexts (to name but a few).

A prize in the amount of $500 will be awarded to the 

author of the winning entry during the 55th Annual 

Webb Lecture Series hosted by the American Airlines 

CR Smith Museum in Fort Worth, Texas (16 and 17 

April 2020).

The winning entry will subsequently appear in an 

edited collection, to be published by Texas A&M 

University Press.

Deadline for submission: 15 January 2020

Essays should be submitted electronically to the 

Webb Lectures Coordinator, Julie Hazzard, at julie.

hazzard@uta.edu.

For more information, contact Professor Scott W. 

Palmer at scott.palmer@uta.edu.

CALL FOR PAPERS

2019 Sacknoff Prize for Space History

First awarded in 2011, the annual Sacknoff Prize for 

Space History is designed to encourage students to 

perform original research and submit papers with 

history-of-spaceflight themes. The contest is open 

to undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at 

an accredited college or university working toward a 

degree. The winner will receive

• a $500 cash prize;

• publication in the peer-reviewed journal Quest: The 

History of Spaceflight Quarterly; and

• an invitation to present at the annual meeting for 

the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), 

Albatross (Aerospace) Committee.

Submissions must be received by 26 November 2019; 

the winners will be announced in December.

The manuscript (in Word or PDF format) should not 

exceed 10,000 words, should be written in English, 

and should emphasize in-depth research, with adequate citations of the sources utilized. Originality of 

ideas is important. Diagrams, graphs, images, or photographs may be included. The prize committee will 

include the editor of Quest: The History of Spaceflight 

and members of the SHOT Aerospace Committee.
24

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

Although works must be historical in character, they 

can draw on other disciplines—such as cultural studies, literature, communications, economics, engineering, and science. Comparative or international studies 

of the history of spaceflight are encouraged. Possible 

subjects include, but are not limited to, historical 

aspects of space companies and their leaders; the social 

effects of spaceflight; space technology development; 

the space environment; space systems design, engineering, and safety; the regulation of space; and the 

financial and economic aspects of the space industry.

If you have any questions, please send us an e-mail at 

quest@spacehistory101.com.

The Sacknoff Prize for Space History

P.O. Box 5752

Bethesda, MD 20824-5752 USA

https://www.spacehistory101.com/prize

http://www.spacecommerce.org/prize.pdf

The Sacknoff Prize for Space History is sponsored by 

the Space 3.0 Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that aims to preserve space history, empower 

entrepreneurs, and secure the future.

This 1990 multiple-exposure image shows the Puma Robotic Sensor Arm in action. The robot 

was used in virtual-reality development and studies at NASA’s Ames Research Center. (Image 

credit: NASA)

UPCOMING MEETINGS

The annual meeting of the Oral History Association 

will be held 16–20 October 2019 in Salt Lake City, 

Utah. Visit https://www.oralhistory.org for more details.

The International Astronautical Congress will meet 

21–25 October 2019 in Washington, DC. Visit 

https://www.iac2019.org for more details.

The annual meeting of the Society for the History 

of Technology will be held 24–27 October 2019 in 

Milan, Italy. Visit https://www.historyoftechnology.org/

for more details.
25

Volume 36, Number 3 Third Quarter 2019

RECENT PUBLICATION FROM THE NASA HISTORY DIVISION

ORIGINS OF 21ST-CENTURY SPACE TRAVEL: A 

HISTORY OF NASA’S DECADAL PLANNING TEAM AND 

THE VISION FOR SPACE EXPLORATION, 1999–2004

BY GLEN R. ASNER AND STEPHEN J. GARBER

Less than one year after the Columbia Space Shuttle accident on 1 February 2003, President George W. Bush announced that the 

Agency would embark on a new Vision for Space Exploration as it resumed 

Shuttle flights and worked toward the completion of the International 

Space Station. The President’s ambitious agenda included lunar and 

Martian exploration with robotic precursors followed by human missions. 

The conceptual foundations of the President’s plan had their origins in 

1999, when NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin initiated a Decadal 

Planning Team to generate viable plans for humans and robots to explore 

space beyond low-Earth orbit. This book provides a detailed historical 

account of the ideas, debates, and decisions that opened the way for a new 

generation of spaceflight at the start of the 21st century.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

By Chris Gamble

Chris Gamble has compiled this publication list 

for the NASA History Division for many years. 

Now, after much work, he has decided that this 

will be his final list. The NASA History Division 

would like to take a moment to thank Chris for 

his contributions. We appreciate all the time and 

care Chris has put into this pursuit, especially as a 

volunteer. Thank you, Chris Gamble!

The Moon: NASA Images from Space, by Beth Alesse 

(Amherst Media, July 2019). Early images show the 

very first Apollo missions to the Moon using film in 

a Hasselblad camera. NASA illustrations explain the 

Moon’s tidal forces, phases, geography, and composition. This book shows detailed maps of the Moon’s 

surface: its incredible craters, ancient lava flows, plains, 

seas, and mountains.

Proposal for Man-in-Space (1957–1958), edited by 

Robert Godwin (CG Publishing, January 2019). After 

the launch of Sputnik, Air Force staff quickly put 

together a long-range plan for the exploration of space. 

This book includes the official Air Force history of 

these events, for many years classified as “SECRET.” 

This book explains how many of these ideas ended up 

being adopted by NASA and led to the space race of 

the 1960s.

The Human Factor in a Mission to Mars: An 

Interdisciplinary Approach, edited by Konrad Szocik 

(Springer, March 2019). A crewed mission to Mars 

is faced with challenges and topics that may not be 

obvious but are of great importance and challenging 

for such a mission. This book collects contributions 

from scholars in various fields, from astronomy and 

medicine to theology and philosophy, addressing such 
26

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

topics. The discussion goes beyond medical and technological challenges of such a deep space mission. The 

focus is on the human nature, human emotions, and 

biases in such a new environment.

Apollo 11 countdown demonstration test. (Image credit: NASA)

Apollo: A Graphic Guide to Mankind’s Greatest 

Mission, by Zack Scott (Abrams Image, May 2019). 

In his infographic-packed book, the author recounts 

the entire journey of the Apollo space program. Artful 

infographics throughout focus on a wide range of 

details that space-lovers will obsess over—astronaut weights, mission insignia, spacecraft call signs, 

fuel-consumption stats, splashdown sites around the 

world, and much, much more.

The Vinyl Frontier: The Story of the Voyager Golden 

Record, by Jonathan Scott (Bloomsbury Sigma, May 

2019). The story behind the mission, music, and 

message of NASA’s Voyager Golden Record—humanity’s message to the stars. The Vinyl Frontier tells the 

whole story of how the record was created, from when 

NASA first proposed the idea to Carl Sagan to when 

humankind was finally able watch the 

Golden Record rocket off into space 

on Voyager.

Apollo’s Legacy: The Space Race in 

Perspective, by Roger D. Launius 

(Smithsonian Books, May 2019).The 

author examines whether the dominant 

story of the Apollo missions—one of 

American triumph, exceptionality, and 

success—is an accurate portrayal. He 

explores the idea that it yielded extensive space technology advances; that 

the astronauts were heroes, celebrities, 

and even embodiments of American 

virtues; and that we gained an extensive 

knowledge of the Moon through the 

Apollo program.

Destined for the Stars: Faith, the 

Future, and America’s Final Frontier, 

by Catherine L. Newell (University of 

Pittsburgh Press, May 2019). Destined 

for the Stars argues that the success of the U.S. space 

program was not due to technological or economic 

superiority but was sustained by and shaped by the 

Manifest Destiny. Religious forces, Newell finds, 

were in no small way responsible for the crescendo of 

support for and interest in space exploration in the 

early 1950s.

Space Shuttle: A Photographic Journey 1981–2011, 

by Luke Wesley Price (Ammonite Press, May 2019). 

Commemorating 30 years of Space Shuttle exploration, this photography book curates NASA Space 

Shuttle images into one collection, arranged in thematic chapters ranging from launch pad through 

launch sequence, to the missions themselves and the 

dramatic conclusion of the return flight and landing.

The Apollo Chronicles: Engineering America’s First 

Moon Missions, by Brandon R. Brown (Oxford 

University Press, June 2019). In this book, 50 years 

after the Moon landing, the author, himself the son 

of an Apollo engineer, revisits the men and women 
27

Volume 36, Number 3 Third Quarter 2019

who toiled behind the lights. He relays the defining 

20th-century project from its roots, focusing on the 

engineers’ work and personalities.

From Cave Man to Cave Martian—Living in Caves 

on the Earth, Moon and Mars, by Manfred “Dutch” 

von Ehrenfried (Springer-Praxis, April 2019). This 

book explores the practicality of using the existing subsurface geology on the Moon and Mars for protection 

against radiation, thermal extremes, micrometeorites, 

and dust storms rather than building surface habitats 

at great expense at least for those first few missions.

Shattered Dreams: The Lost and Canceled Space 

Missions, by Colin Burgess (University of Nebraska 

Press, May 2019). Shattered Dreams delves into the 

personal stories and recollections of several men and 

women who were in line to fly a specific or future 

space mission but lost that opportunity due to personal reasons, mission cancellations, or tragedies.

Comet: Photographs from the Rosetta Space, by 

Jean-Pierre Bibring and Hanns Zischler (Thames & 

Hudson, Ltd., May 2019). Following a 10-year voyage and a journey spanning millions of kilometers 

through our solar system, Comet presents the story of 

the Rosetta space probe and its interstellar voyage to 

the comet Tchoury.

Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Edition, by Christopher 

Riley (J. H. Haynes & Co., Ltd., April 2019). This 

manual looks at the evolution and design of the mighty 

Saturn V rocket, the Command and Service Modules, 

and the Lunar Module. It describes the spacesuits 

worn by the crew and their special life-support and 

communications systems.

Space Dogs: The Story of the Celebrated Canine 

Cosmonauts, by Martin Parr (Laurence King 

Publishing, June 2019). This book tells the story of 

the space dogs, illustrated with photographer Martin 

Parr’s vintage space-dog memorabilia. In a regime that 

eschewed celebrating individual achievement, these 

dogs became Soviet superstars, with a vast array of 

merchandise, books, and films in their honor.

Reaching for the Moon: A Short History of the Space 

Race, by Roger D. Launius (Yale University Press, 

June 2019). Beginning with the launch of Sputnik in 

October 1957 and closing with the end of the Apollo 

program in 1972, Launius examines how early space 

exploration blurred the lines between military and 

civilian activities and how key actions led to space 

firsts as well as crushing failures.

Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut’s Journeys: 50th 

Anniversary Edition, by Michael Collins (Farrar, 

Straus and Giroux; anniversary edition, April 2019). 

In this book, Collins traces his development from his 

first flight experiences in the Air Force, through his 

days as a test pilot, to his Apollo 11 spacewalk, presenting an evocative picture of the joys of flight as well 

as a new perspective on time, light, and movement 

from someone who has seen the fragile Earth from the 

other side of the Moon.

Moondust: In Search of the Men Who Fell to Earth, 

by Andrew Smith (Harper Perennial; reprint edition, 

June 2019). Andrew Smith’s Moondust, a panoramic 

telling of the story of 12 astronauts who peered into 

the void at the edge of deep space, has been reprinted 

for the Apollo 11 50th anniversary. Smith tracks down 

the surviving members of this elite group to find their 

answers to the question, “Where do you go after 

you’ve been to the Moon?”

Moonbound: A Graphic History of Apollo 11, by 

Jonathan Fetter-Vorm (Hill and Wang, June 2019). 

This book tells the story of the Moon and the men who 

went there first through the long history of the visionaries, stargazers, builders, and adventurers who sent 

Apollo 11 on its legendary voyage. Moonbound aims 

to capture the arc of the Space Age in a graphic history.

Escape from Earth: The Secret History of How We 

Reached Space, by Fraser MacDonald (PublicAffairs, 

June 2019). Escape from Earth tells the true story of 

Frank Malina, the “father of modern rocketry,” and his 

achievements—such as his design the first American 

rocket to reach space and the establishment of the Jet 

Propulsion Laboratory.
28

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

A European Space Policy: Past Consolidation, Present 

Challenges and Future Perspectives, edited by Thomas 

Hoerber and Sarah Lieberman (Routledge, May 2019). 

This book builds a bridge between current research in 

space policy and contemporary European political 

studies. It focuses on answering questions central to 

European studies and applying them to the burgeoning field of European Union (EU) space policy. The 

authors take an interdisciplinary approach, examining 

space policy in a range of areas, including foreign 

security, technology, transport, and internal market.

The Moon: A Celebration of Our Celestial Neighbour, 

by Royal Observatory Greenwich (Collins, June 

2019). Edited by the exhibition’s curators, Melanie 

Vandenbrouck, Megan Barford, Louise Devoy, and 

Richard Dunn, this book illuminates how art and 

science meet in our profound connection with the 

Moon. It features authors from a variety of disciplines, 

including cultural historians, curators, a scientist, a 

poet, and a space law expert, among others.

Eight Years to the Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission, by 

Nancy Atkinson (Page Street Publishing, July 2019). 

In this book, personal stories of NASA engineers 

and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 

computer experts are interwoven with the author’s 

narrative to tell the story of Apollo 11. With firsthand 

accounts from Henry Pohl (director of engineering at 

Johnson Space Center), Glynn Lunney (Apollo flight 

director), and Frank Hughes (lead test engineer for 

the Apollo Command and Lunar Module simulators), 

this book is filled with stories from those involved and 

interviews with other Apollo experts.

Archaeology from Space: How the Future Shapes Our 

Past, by Sarah Parcak (Henry Holt and Co., July 2019). 

Dr. Sarah Parcak pioneers the young field of satellite 

archaeology, using futuristic tools to unlock secrets 

from the past and transform how discoveries are made. 

In Archaeology from Space, Sarah describes the field’s 

evolution, major discoveries, and future potential.

Apollo’s Muse: The Moon in the Age of Photography, 

by Mia Fineman and Beth Saunders (Metropolitan 

Museum of Art, July 2019). In celebration of the 50th 

anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, this volume surveys the role of photography in the scientific 

study and artistic interpretation of the Moon from 

the dawn of the medium to the present. This book 

also includes discussions of work created in response 

to the Moon landing by artists such as Nancy Graves, 

Aleksandra Mir, and Robert Rauschenberg.

Returning People to the Moon After Apollo—Will 

It Be Another Fifty Years?, by Pat Norris (SpringerPraxis, June 2019). This book assesses the technical 

legacy of the Apollo missions based on the 50 years 

of space developments since the program’s end. The 

question “Why haven’t there been more human missions to the Moon?” is explored through a multidisciplinary approach that weaves together technological 

and historical perspectives.

Where Once We Stood: Stories of the Apollo Astronauts 

Who Walked on the Moon, by Christopher Riley 

(Harbour Moon Publishing, July 2019). Combining a 

series of illustrations by artist Martin Impey with the 

words spoken by astronauts on the lunar surface, this 

book offers an insight into what it really felt like to live 

and work on another world.

Disclaimer: The History Division wishes to thank volunteer Chris Gamble, who compiled this section for us. 

Please note that the edited descriptions here have been 

derived by Chris from promotional material and do not 

represent an endorsement by NASA.
29

Volume 36, Number 3 Third Quarter 2019

IN MEMORIAM

In July, the NASA History Division lost two beloved 

members of our community, Gail Langevin and 

Jane Odom. These two women shaped the History 

Division with their kindness, knowledge, and passion. 

The NASA family feels this loss deeply and will always 

treasure the wonderful stories of their time with us.

Gail and Jane dip their toes in the Pacific Ocean at sunset near the Santa Monica Pier in 2007. (Photo 

credit: Elaine Liston)

GAIL LANGEVIN

Gail Langevin passed away on 29 July 2019 at the age 

of 64 after a battle with cancer. Gail spent most of her 

career at NASA’s Langley Research Center. She began 

as a technician in the Structures and Material Research 

Facility. Then she became a technical editor, and then 

finally she finished out her career as a historian and 

outreach and protocol coordinator. Gail is survived 

by loving family and friends and will be sorely missed.

Remembrance by Rob Wyman

Gail was one of the first people I met when I was 

hired by NASA Langley in 2011 to be the Center’s 

news chief. She worked alongside our news team with 

the protocol and outreach team, but she made it very 

clear that her true passion was serving as the Center’s 

history liaison.

She also made it very clear that she expected me to 

quickly get up to speed on our Center’s rich history. 

By the end of my first week at NASA, she had loaded 

me up with just about every publication ever written 

about Langley, and within a week, she was quizzing 

me on topics ranging from our aeronautical research 

impacts from the early days of the NACA, to our role 

in the human spaceflight program, to how we became 

involved in Earth science, and so much more.

And of course, Gail was right...what’s past is prologue. That knowledge not only added context to 

the work our Center was doing, but also helped me 

better understand the culture and behind-the-scenes 

thoughts and decisions that were being made about 

current-day projects and priorities.

Gail Langevin. (Photo credit: Rob Wyman)

Her knowledge was put to the test during Langley’s 

centennial in 2017. Originally planning to retire in 

early 2017, Gail postponed her retirement to ensure 

that she could play an active role in the final editing and fact-checking of all of our flagship products. 

And thank goodness she did. From our documentary 

film script to the beautiful coffee-table photo book, 

nothing went out the door without Gail’s approval. 
30

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

Gail Langevin receives her NASA’s History Program Award in 2017. (Photo 

credit: NASA Langley)

Her attention to detail and passion for accuracy were 

invaluable, and without her, we simply wouldn’t have 

been able to do what we did.

Langley hasn’t had a full-time historian or archivist 

since the 2000s, but Gail helped fill that void by 

serving as the Center’s historical expert. She was the 

go-to person who could almost always answer any 

question on the spot. Just as importantly, those few 

times she didn’t immediately know an answer, she’d 

know who would.

In 2017, just a few months before her retirement, Gail 

received NASA’s History Program Award in recognition of her exemplary service, joyous enthusiasm, and 

creativity in serving Langley and NASA history. It was 

perhaps the only time I’ve ever seen her speechless, 

and she couldn’t have been more humble and appreciative of the incredibly well-deserved honor.

Rest in peace, Gail.

JANE ODOM

Jane Odom passed peacefully away on 11 July 2019 at 

the age of 61 after a long battle with cancer. Jane was an 

archivist by trade and began her career in Washington, 

DC, with the National Museum of American History. 

She then spent 12 years as an archivist for nine 

different members of congress. After that, she came 

to NASA as the History Division’s Chief Archivist, a 

role in which she stayed for 17 years. Jane is survived 

by many loved ones, and her memory will live on in 

their hearts.

Remembrance by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal

Jane was my friend and colleague for many years. I 

remember the first time we met—at the University 

of Houston–Clear Lake open house in the summer 

of 2002. As the Chief Archivist, Jane was there to 

celebrate the relocation of the Johnson Space Center 

(JSC) History Collection. I was still an intern with the 

JSC Oral History Project then and had corresponded 

with Jane several times looking for information in the 

Headquarters History Division collection on individuals I was researching. She remembered me, and for an 

intern that was a big coup! We spoke for a while, and 

she insisted that I call on her whenever I needed help 

with a research request.

Jane Odom shares ribbon-cutting duties with Associate Administrator for 

the Office of Communications David Weaver. Chief Historian Bill Barry is 

on the left. (Photo credit: NASA)

Once I became a permanent part of the JSC history 

team, I continued to rely on Jane’s expertise when it 

came to locating documents. She and her staff were 

always happy to help, no matter the size or deadline, 

and we quickly became friends. Jane knew my interests 

and often shared articles with me from the Washington 

Post and other publications. She invited me to DC 

events and mailed me NASA items she knew I would 
31

Volume 36, Number 3 Third Quarter 2019

enjoy. When I adopted my dog, Clara Barton, Jane fell 

in love with her and placed photographs of her on her 

desktop. She was one of the first people I told when 

I learned I had a book contract from the University 

of Washington Press, and we regularly chatted in the 

afternoons at least once a month to talk shop during 

her famous fruit breaks. We made a point of having 

dinner or coffee when I came to town to conduct 

interviews, do research, or attend conferences. I miss 

those calls and dinners.

On the day Jane passed away, I was on travel and sent 

her a text and photo of two women in a convertible 

laughing. The image reminded me of Jane’s smile and 

laugh. I’ll always remember her kindness, generosity, 

and laughter.

Remembrance by Steve Garber

I had the honor and privilege of working with Jane 

Odom for about 17 years here at NASA Headquarters. 

While it’s obviously difficult to distill her well-lived life, 

we might simply note that she was the consummate 

professional and always personable. She brought order 

to a previously large, but ad hoc, Historical Reference 

Collection here at Headquarters and fostered training 

and collaboration with other archivists at the Centers 

and beyond NASA. She 

enjoyed her work, and it 

showed. She was friendly 

and liked working with 

all different kinds of people. Jane taught me many 

things about archival best 

practices, but more importantly, I learned a great deal 

about treating others with 

kindness, respect, and professionalism just by observing Jane.

Jane Odom. (Photo credit: 

Advent Funeral)

To my mind, she exhibited truly incredible resolve 

and was startlingly upbeat about her serious illness 

without being a Pollyanna. I won’t forget a great visit 

I had with her during her illness when I planned to 

stay only a short time, but we ended up driving to 

the library, then going out for coffee, and chatting 

for several hours. Throughout, she retained her sense 

of humor. Shortly after she passed away, a renowned 

author wrote an insightful article about life lessons 

to pull from Snoopy—I immediately thought of her 

and was sad that I couldn’t share such things with her 

any longer.

NASA HEADQUARTERS HISTORY DIVISION 

STAFF CONTACT INFORMATION

William Barry bill.barry@nasa.gov

Chief Historian 202-358-0383

Nadine Andreassen nadine.j.andreassen@nasa.gov

Program Support Specialist 202-358-0087

Catherine Baldwin catherine.e.baldwin@nasa.gov

Editor 202-358-4397

Colin Fries colin.a.fries@nasa.gov

Archivist 202-358-0388

Stephen Garber stephen.j.garber@nasa.gov

Historian 202-358-0385

Craig Haibon craig.p.haibon@nasa.gov

Archivist 202-358-1033

Robyn Rodgers robyn.k.rodgers@nasa.gov

Chief Archivist 202-358-2798

Elizabeth Suckow elizabeth.suckow-1@nasa.gov

Archivist 202-358-0375

Andrew Parco andrew.t.parco@nasa.gov

Intern 202-358-0478

David Skogerboe david.s.skogerboe@nasa.gov

Intern 202-358-1738
CREATED AND PRODUCED BY:

Catherine Baldwin, Newsletter Editor

Lisa Jirousek, Editor

Michele Ostovar, Graphic Designer

Trenita Williams, Mail Coordinator

Carl Paul, Distribution

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