National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration

National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration

NASA HISTORY DIVISION

OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

NASA HISTORY DIVISION

OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

Volume 33, Number 3 Third Quarter 2016

FROM

THE CHIEF 

HISTORIAN

I

n last quarter’s issue, 

I made some fairly 

pointed comments on 

decisions being made 

regarding the history 

office at Johnson Space Center (JSC). As I 

write this, the situation is still in flux, but I am 

considerably more inclined to expect a positive 

outcome. This is in part due to my impressions 

from some very frank discussions between 

senior officials at JSC and Headquarters. It is 

clear from those discussions that JSC leadership has a strong commitment to an effective 

history program. However, it was equally clear 

that JSC is feeling the squeeze in their Center 

Management and Operations (CMO) budget. 

We’ve felt the same bite of CMO cuts here at 

Headquarters this year, when the history operating budget took a 30 percent hit. JSC faces 

stark choices between making critical repairs to 

essential infrastructure (like air-conditioning 

systems) and keeping contracts for key support functions (like the history office) funded. 

It is a very difficult situation that has called 

for creative thinking while under tremendous 

pressure. While we aren’t out of the woods yet, 

I am greatly encouraged by the dedication and 

continued on next page

IF YOU GIVE A NASA HISTORY INTERN 

SOME APPLE JUICE

By Cat Baldwin and Chris Rudeen

As the NASA History summer interns, there’s a special place in our hearts for 

the Smithsonian National Air and Space 

Museum (NASM). We have dragged many 

people into the Apollo exhibit, stopping 

them at every artifact along the way and 

telling stories over their loud complaints. 

“That’s the lunar ranging retroreflector! 

It’s a mirror on the Moon and they shoot 

lasers at it. How cool is that?” “Yes, that’s 

duct tape on that bumper. Gene Cernan 

literally had to duct-tape the bumper back 

on the LRV [lunar roving vehicle]. Gene 

Cernan is an artist.” Our friends don’t 

want to go anywhere with us anymore. So 

imagine our delight when we found out 

we would be in town for the museum’s 

40th birthday.

The Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall reopened to the public for the museum’s 

40th birthday on 1 July 2016. Three days prior, we (as official NASA History 

interns, we proudly told the security guards) attended the press preview with 

the intention of live-tweeting the event (with the dashing Andres Almeida from 

the History Division to keep us in line). It was a good thing he was there; our 

first tweet was almost about the apple juice they served with the complimentary 

breakfast. Though, to be honest, it was really good apple juice. It was pink! Can 

IN THIS ISSUE:

1 From the Chief Historian

1 If You Give a NASA History Intern 

Some Apple Juice

5 News from Headquarters and the 

Centers 

11 Other Aerospace History News

14 Recent Publications and Online 

Resources

21 Upcoming Meetings

22 Obituary

23 Sketches in NASA History

continued on page 3
2

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

From the Chief Historian (continued)

sincere commitment of our colleagues in Houston. 

We are equally committed to working with them to 

make sure that JSC maintains the award-winning professional history office that has served us all so well.

Another development that gives me great hope—both 

for a positive outcome at JSC and for history programs across NASA—is the outpouring of support 

for history that has followed the news of the situation 

at JSC. Supporters of history from outside NASA 

have flooded my inbox with questions about the situation and offers of support. From giants in the field of 

aerospace history and policy, to professional societies, 

to citizens from across the country (I was particularly touched by an actual letter from a supporter in 

Oregon), the alarm and concern have been a potent 

reminder to me of the value of the work of the history 

program. My thanks to all of you for your support 

and encouragement. Also, you will be pleased (and 

hopefully not surprised) to discover that enthusiasm 

for history is also strong within NASA itself. This 

starts at the top. I have had numerous conversations 

with Administrator Bolden and Deputy Administrator 

Newman about the state of the history program in the 

last few months. In fact, the Administrator tasked me 

with a summer project to provide him with suggestions for an integrated NASA history program. The 

mandate was remarkably wide-ranging and included 

a requirement that the suggestions come with projected costs. This has been a remarkable opportunity 

to rethink history efforts at NASA. While I’ve been 

a bureaucrat long enough to know that this is not a 

magic wand that will make hard budget realities go 

away, it is a very clear sign of leadership vision for the 

history program. That is a wonderful thing!

One of the other highlights of this summer was celebrating the 40th anniversary of the landing of Viking 1 

on Mars (20 July 1976). The NASA events marking 

the anniversary were centered at Langley Research 

Center and kicked off with a historical panel discussion on 19 July featuring a stellar lineup of NASA 

historians. Former Chief Historian Roger Launius, Jet 

Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) historian Erik Conway, 

and Ames Research Center historian Glenn Bugos 

did a great job of setting the historical stage for the 

celebration and discussion of past and present Mars 

exploration efforts. (I was fortunate to serve as moderator for the panel.) NASA has posted video of the 

hour-and-a-half-long presentation on YouTube here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYjoiMq6UuM. 

The symposium on the next day was entitled “From 

NASA’s First Soft Landing to Humans on Mars” and 

featured not only leaders of our current Mars efforts, 

but also a number of “Vikings” (as those involved in 

that program refer to themselves). It was a spectacular 

daylong event. I was particularly moved by the juxtaposition of having the day kick off with a talk by our 

Chief Scientist Ellen Stofan, followed later in the day 

by a talk by her father, Andy Stofan. Andy, who would 

eventually serve as Center Director at Lewis (now 

Glenn) Research Center (among other key duties), 

had served in the 1970s as the Viking Titan Centaur 

Project Manager. To me, their talks encapsulated the 

generational enterprise that is Mars exploration—and 

that was evident in so many other ways during the 

symposium. You can view an archived Web stream of 

the event at http://livestream.com/viewnow/Viking40. 

I’m certain that you will learn things from this that 

you never knew before—I did. On another note, the 

visit to Langley also provided an opportunity for some 

chats about plans for the Langley Research Center centennial next year. They have some great things in store, 

so keep your eyes peeled for further announcements.

Until next time...

Godspeed,

William P. Barry

Chief Historian
3

Volume 33, Number 3 Third Quarter 2016

If You Give a NASA History Intern Some Apple Juice (continued)

you even imagine? Pink! We will be searching the rest 

of our lives for apple juice like that. (If you have any 

information on where we can get some pink apple 

juice, please contact us. Looking at you, NASM.) For 

our first tweet, we instead settled on “Having fun 

exploring #airandspace. Waiting to hear remarks from 

directors and curators.”

For those of you who haven’t been to the museum 17 

times in the past seven weeks like we have, entering 

the main gallery is nothing short of breathtaking. The 

2-year renovation was the first in the gallery’s 40-year 

history. Many of the artifacts are the same but have 

found a new place in the updated hall. The biggest 

change is the museum’s new exploration of interactive 

technology. “The Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall 

will serve as the model for our new approach to more 

interactive, dynamic exhibitions and enable us to share 

the story of flight like never before,” General J. R. 

“Jack” Dailey, the museum’s director, told the crowd of 

reporters. “We are transforming this museum from the 

icon it has been for the past 40 years by preparing it 

for the future.” The future of the museum goes by the 

name of GO FLIGHT, NASM’s new official mobile 

app. It lets you read stories, discover artifacts, navigate 

the museum, and share your memories. But it doesn’t 

stop there. A new 16- by 12-foot touch screen has 

appeared in the gallery, giving visitors an opportunity 

to plan their visit and interact with other aerospace 

enthusiasts. You can pick your favorite artifacts and 

send their locations to your phone. The touch screen 

will show your Instagram pics of you with the Wright 

Flyer (#ThrowbackThursday #NoFilter). It also cycles 
4

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

through iconic images: we were greeted by Sally Ride, 

telling us that “All adventures, especially into new 

territory, are scary.”

After enjoying the apple juice and other food provided 

(like omelet muffins and chocolate croissants—we’re 

currently in talks to have NASM cater our weddings), 

we began to explore.

It’s hard to miss the Apollo Lunar Module when you 

walk through the doors. The gold-foil-covered spacecraft, which used to stand guard in front of the food 

court, has now been honored with a place in the main 

hall below Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis. 

This Lunar Module was used for ground testing and 

never actually went to space, making it one of the few 

artifacts in the hall that didn’t actually fly. Despite 

the fact that it never left the ground, we echo the 

Smithsonian’s words: “This lunar module represents 

one of humanity’s greatest achievements: landing people on another heavenly body.”

We were excited to see the U.S.S. Enterprise studio 

model from Star Trek: The Original Series on display 

again after almost two years of conservation work. We 

were truly starstruck (though we will be more starstruck if William Shatner ever responds to our tweet 

inviting him to come visit). With the 50th anniversary 

of Star Trek and the release of a new movie, we are sure 

the starship will have lots of visitors, even if William 

Shatner never comes.

Last year, NASM acquired the Sally Ride collection, 

which consists of papers and photographs created and 

collected by the late astronaut herself. The collection 

highlights not only her career with NASA, but her 

achievements scientifically, academically, socially, and 

athletically. The papers are now open for research, and 

a small display honors Ride in the new Milestones of 

Flight Hall. “A woman’s place,” a sign reads, “is now 

in space.”

Walking around the museum, we found an answer 

to a common question we see on the NASA History 

Twitter and Facebook feeds: “What does this have to 

do with NASA?” This question usually pops up whenever we highlight the achievements of other nations. 

In this instance, we noted that hanging alongside 

Explorer 1 is a model of Sputnik. Standing proudly 

across from the Apollo Lunar Module is the Soviet 

SS-20 Pioneer rocket. NASM recognizes that there 

are many sides to history. History is not solely an 

American phenomenon.

Need another reason to visit? NASM has a Moon rock 

that you can touch. Go touch it!

As you can tell, we are both very enthusiastic when 

it comes to space. Going to this press preview was 

the highlight of an incredible summer studying the 

history of space exploration. Suffice it to say, we’ll be 

back again soon.

Happy 40th birthday, NASM. You don’t look a day 

over 30! And no, we aren’t trying to get the name of 

your apple juice supplier. But that would be nice.

All our love,

Cat Baldwin and Chris Rudeen,

The NASA History Interns, Summer 2016
5

Volume 33, Number 3 Third Quarter 2016

NEWS FROM HEADQUARTERS AND THE CENTERS

NASA HEADQUARTERS

Washington, DC

History Division

By Bill Barry

Summer 2016 has been a continuing whirlwind of activity and change for the history program. 

From an organizational perspective, our “home” in the 

Office of Communications rolled out a long-planned 

reorganization over the summer. For the last seven 

years, the History Program Office has been a part of the 

Outreach Division of the Office of Communications. 

But with this reorganization, the history effort 

becomes one of the six Divisions reporting directly 

to our Associate Administrator for Communications, 

David Weaver. For most purposes, there will be little practical impact, since we functioned largely as 

a self-sufficient part of the old Outreach Division. 

The good news/bad news aspect of the change is that 

I’ll have a formal “seat at the table” in management 

discussions for the Office of Communications and...

will also have a seat at the table in more meetings. 

On the whole, the change recognizes that the history 

function is not just an outreach operation and that we 

bring many support capabilities to both the Office of 

Communications and the Agency more widely. This 

change is also consistent with the increased attention that the situation at Johnson Space Center has 

brought on the NASA History Division. As noted in 

the “From the Chief Historian” article, NASA’s senior 

leadership is deeply interested in the History Division 

and is strongly supportive of our work. In a time of 

numerous challenges, such support has been critical.

On the subject of challenges, personnel issues have 

been particularly attention-grabbing this summer. As 

you know from our last newsletter, Chief Archivist 

Jane Odom retired at the end of May. While we 

continue to push for hiring a backfill, the constraints 

of a Headquarters freeze on hiring staff from outside 

the Agency mean that we are unlikely to have a Chief 

Archivist for several months. In the interim, Steve 

Garber has picked up most of Jane’s duties. (So if 

you have a question for our Chief Archivist, Steve 

will help you out.) This July, we also lost our resident editor, Yvette Smith. She is still in the Office 

of Communications, but she applied for and won a 

position on the expanding Social Media Team. While 

she will be a tremendous asset to them, we are left with 

a second big gap in our team. Fortunately, Andres 

Almeida, a former intern who had been working for 

us part-time on special projects, was able to step up to 

full-time contract status. In addition to managing our 

work on the newsletter and the annual Aeronautics and 

Space Report of the President, Andres has also absorbed 

the “intern wrangler” role and our Web/social media 

work from Yvette. We are also working to bring on an 

editor who can fill the big shoes Yvette left in that area.

While we were short-handed on archivists and editors 

this summer, we did have the pleasure of two great 

interns. Christopher Rudeen, now a senior at Yale, 

and Cat Baldwin, now a junior at St. John’s College in 

Annapolis, Maryland, were an incredible team. They 

churned out a number of Web stories, wrote our social 

media posts (including for several weeks after their 

departures at the start of August), made contributions 

to a number of Office of Communications activities, 

and had a great time while working so hard. Their 

enthusiasm and joy were a tremendous boost in the 

midst of all of the other challenges this summer. Early 

this summer, we selected another pair of interns for 

the fall. When you contact us now, you may wind 

up talking with Bob Collom, a graduate student at 

American University, or Nick Russo, a senior at the 

University of Rhode Island. Bob joined us in late 

August, and Nick started in early September.
6

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

Historical Reference Collection (HRC)

By Bill Barry

The archival team (Colin Fries and Liz Suckow) continues to keep our reference operation on an even 

keel. I continue to be impressed by the number and 

variety of unusual questions that they answer on a 

daily basis. From biographical details, to documents 

on the Arecibo radio telescope, to the music carried 

on tape recorders by the Apollo crews, their skills at 

finding the most obscure details continue to amaze 

me. They also continue to amaze the researchers who 

come to Headquarters to use our Historical Reference 

Collection (65 in July alone). All the while, Colin and 

Liz continue to preserve our large paper collection, 

process new donations to the collection, and do a 

phenomenal amount of scanning (which allows our 

collection to be more accessible electronically and not 

overflow the shelves). This summer, they have also 

rearranged some of our storage area to incorporate 

more of our book stock that had been stored in a 

warehouse at Goddard Space Flight Center but was 

shifted to a commercial warehouse. Bringing those 

items back to Headquarters will cut those storage 

charges from our budget. Creativity and attention to 

detail by Nadine Andreassen over the last couple of 

years has not only put our back stock of books in the 

hands of happy readers but also headed off a major crisis over the warehouse closure. I should also note our 

huge debt of gratitude to Headquarters librarian Rick 

Spencer and his team for their continuing work in 

promoting History publications at the Headquarters 

Information Center.

Another budget challenge has arisen from cuts to the 

Headquarters central printing budget. History book 

printing has always come out of this central pot of 

money, and printing costs were not a significant concern to our operations. But that is no longer the case, 

and we are looking at ways to continue to produce 

printed copies at reduced prices. Fortunately, the 

advent of electronic books has dramatically increased 

the circulation of our publications with no added burden to our printing operations. At virtually no added 

cost, we’ve increased the distribution of our titles by 

a factor of over 10, and e-books are now our primary 

way of reaching readers. But there is still a need for 

printed reference copies and a medium-sized “market” for books you can hold in your hand. We have 

been successful, so far, in keeping that balance. By 

the time you read this, our latest publication, Walking 

to Olympus, an update to our 1997 chronology of 

spacewalks, should be in distribution. We expect 

that Making the Invisible Visible, a monograph on the 

Spitzer Space Telescope project, will be published later 

this fall. We’ve got many more interesting works in the 

pipeline, and we expect to continue to put those on 

your screens and in your hands in the months to come.

AT VIRTUALLY NO ADDED 

COST, WE’VE INCREASED 

THE DISTRIBUTION OF OUR 

TITLES BY A FACTOR OF 

OVER 10, AND E-BOOKS ARE 

NOW OUR PRIMARY WAY OF 

REACHING READERS. 

AMES RESEARCH CENTER (ARC)

Moffett Field, California

By Glenn Bugos and Jack Boyd

The Ames History Office is preparing to mark, through 

papers and presentations, the 40th anniversary of the 

landing of Viking on Mars. Ames scientists led the 

design of the Viking biological experiment package, 

which returned a null result that dramatically shifted 

how NASA would look for life in our solar system.

The New Museum Los Gatos (NUMU), with much 

help from Dennis Wingo, is preparing a display on 
7

Volume 33, Number 3 Third Quarter 2016

the work of the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project, 

focusing on their historical work in preserving and 

migrating digital images more than 50 years old. It will 

open alongside a display of artwork from the Search 

for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute’s SETI 

Artist in Residence program.

We note the passing of legendary Ames test pilot 

George Cooper on 8 April 2016, one month before 

his 100th birthday. Cooper joined Ames in June 1945 

following service as a fighter pilot over Europe, for 

which he later earned the French Legion of Honor, 

the highest order of distinction in France. He became 

Ames’s chief test pilot in 1953 and, at the request of 

the U.S. Air Force, flew every aircraft in the Century 

series of supersonic fighters. Later in the 1950s, the 

U.S. Navy asked for his help in understanding how 

sleek supersonic aircraft could fly slowly enough to 

land on carriers. That experience led him to write 

the Cooper-Harper Handling Quality Rating Scale, 

which standardized pilot opinions of aircraft in flight 

and is still widely used today. He was later the primary 

NASA spokesman on the piloting requirements for 

the supersonic transport and for vertical takeoff and 

landing (VTOL) aircraft. He helped Ames develop 

a major research program in human factors, focusing on the use of new generations of general-purpose 

flight simulators. He cofounded the Aviation Safety 

Reporting System, and other pilots sent in their incident reports out of respect for him.

Cooper is a member of the Ames Hall of Fame, was a 

supporter of the Saratoga Historical Foundation, and 

was always a big help in telling the history of NASA 

Ames. The tasting room at the winery he founded in 

retirement, Cooper-Garrod Estate Vineyards, is rich 

with photographs and memorabilia from his career 

with NASA. His son Bill recently released a “Test Pilot” 

series of wines, each matched to the characteristics of a 

few of the hundreds of aircraft George flew. Speaking 

at a Final Flight celebration at the vineyard on 21 May, 

Jack Boyd presented some memories of his good 

friend. Among the many other ceremonies, Nili Gold, 

with the Army laboratory at Ames, presented some 

J. P. Harrison, husband of Columbia mission specialist and robotic arm operator Kalpana Chawla, lent 

to the Ames public affairs office mementos from her astronaut training. They are on display in the Ames 

Café, so the many hundreds of Ames interns here for the summer can reflect on her life as a NASA 

astronaut. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi later honored Chawla at the beginning of his state visit 

to the United States. (Photo credit: Glenn Bugos)

“George Cooper was the walking embodiment of the importance of safety,” said 

Ames historian Jack Boyd. “Ames aerodynamicists knew it was George’s life 

on the line when they asked him and his superb team of test pilots to flight-test 

some innovation or collect some data that would enable them to solve a 

flight problem. George had a gravitas about him and earned respect.” (Photo 

credit: NASA)
8

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

remarks on Cooper’s involvement with rotorcraft to 

the local chapter of the American Helicopter Society. 

George was also a mentor to many generations of 

test pilots, and the Society of Experimental Test 

Pilots is preparing a program to honor him at their 

upcoming meeting.

Reference Collection

By April Gage and Danielle Lopez

Artists’ conceptions of space settlement 

designs from the 1970s by Rick Guidice 

and Don Davis continue to draw interest from scholars and the media. Born 

from joint Ames–Stanford University 

investigations nearly half a century ago, 

these striking paintings depict three 

basic architectures for housing human 

populations in space: spherical, toroidal, 

and cylindrical. A variation of this last 

and perhaps most ambitious space colony design, the O’Neil Cylinder (named 

for Princeton’s Gerard O’Neil), was 

envisioned as extending 20 miles long 

and supporting a bustling community of 

up to several million settlers. Habitation 

areas in the different architectures range 

from rustic homes dotting a bucolic 

countryside to high-density housing 

in a suburban cityscape, and they are 

illustrated in cunning detail. Flora-filled 

green living spaces, artificial gravity, and 

sophisticated mechanisms for screening 

out radiation and creating light and dark 

cycles all contribute to an “Earth-normal” 

habitat designed to both protect settlers 

from the harsh environment of space 

and provide physical and psychological 

comfort. Supportive operations such 

as farm crop and livestock cultivation, 

power generation, propulsion technologies, and nearby asteroid mining efforts 

suggest how populations might sustain 

food and energy production for survival 

and develop non-terrestrial resources for 

mobility and expansion. In addition to being of scholarly interest to students of architecture, philosophy, 

psychology, sociology, and the history of science and 

technology, these works were featured recently in the 

New York Times and CNN Style and are the focus of an 

upcoming television documentary.

Artist and architect Rick Guidice is in the spotlight during documentary filming in the archives. (Photo 

credit: Danielle K. Lopez)

Lois Rosson (far right) presents her research to faculty and students from the UC Berkeley Center for 

New Media. (Photo credit: April Gage)
9

Volume 33, Number 3 Third Quarter 2016

Highlights of our support for the ongoing interest 

in the space settlement studies this quarter included 

hosting artist Rick Guidice and a television crew, as 

well as leading a group tour of students and faculty 

from the University of California (UC) Berkeley 

Center for New Media.

Rick Guidice and a crew from Steve Rotfeld 

Productions spent the day in the archive filming 

Guidice and his settlement paintings for an upcoming 

episode of Xploration Outer Space, a series designed 

to provide science, technology, engineering, art, and 

mathematics (STEAM) instruction and inspiration 

to middle and high school students. In addition to 

providing what promises to be stimulating STEAM 

educational content for younger generations, the 

series presents new information about Guidice’s 

creative process and the techniques used in specific 

paintings, as well as biographical data about the artist’s 

life and work.

The archivists developed exhibits for a cohort of 17 

students and faculty from the UC Berkeley Center for 

New Media. During the visit, graduate student and 

former Ames intern Lois Rosson delivered an oral presentation about research she conducted in our archives 

that explores imagery in science and art.

GLENN RESEARCH CENTER (GRC)

Cleveland, Ohio

By Anne Mills

Our yearlong 75th anniversary celebration has 

included a number of special events and activities, 

including the publishing of an updated Center history. Bringing the Future Within Reach: Celebrating 

75 Years of the NASA John H. Glenn Research Center, 

authored by Center archivist Robert Arrighi (ATS), is 

now available as a .pdf through the NASA Technical 

Reports Server at http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.

ntrs.nasa.gov/20160004991.pdf. Hard copies are available for purchase through the Government Publishing 

Office’s U.S. Government Bookstore.

The book heavily utilizes our 

image collection to tell the story 

of the Center and includes many 

previously unpublished photos. 

Coming in at over 400 pages, the 

book starts with our beginnings as 

the National Advisory Committee 

for Aeronautics (NACA) Aircraft 

Engine Research Laboratory, 

whose work involved troubleshooting engine issues in support 

of the war effort during World 

War II, and explores our continued evolution as a NASA research 

center with a diverse portfolio of 

competencies. Highlights include 

our management of the Centaur 

program, the icing research program, and developments in electric propulsion.

GRC archivist Bob Arrighi (ATS) signs a copy of 

his book for a visitor at the GRC open house. 

(Photo credit: Anne Mills)

During 21–22 May, Glenn opened its doors to the 

public for our first open house since 2008. Over 

25,000 people poured in to tour our facilities and 

learn more about the research we do. The History 

Office spent the weekend educating our visitors on 

our 75 years of history—answering questions like 

“Who was Lewis?”, “Why are you in Cleveland?”, 

and “Did John Glenn work here?” We were able to 

showcase our Historic Images iPad app and enlighten 

visitors with GRC trivia, including the origins of the 

NASA “meatball” logo and Neil Armstrong’s first job 

with the NACA.

MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER 

(MSFC)

Huntsville, Alabama

By Brian Odom

The History Office at Marshall Space Flight Center 

has been particularly busy over this past quarter. In 

May, Jordan Whetstone joined the Marshall History 

Office as archivist. Jordan is a recent graduate of the 

University of Alabama’s Library and Information 
10

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

Science program, where she worked closely in the 

management of digital archives in that university’s 

W. S. Hoole Special Collections. Jordan is originally 

from Anniston, Alabama, and holds an undergraduate 

degree from Birmingham-Southern College, located 

in Birmingham, Alabama. Jordan has already made 

tremendous strides in the office, organizing several 

noteworthy archival collections and performing significant primary research at the National Archives in 

Atlanta, Georgia.

At the 10th Annual Southern History of Science and 

Technology Conference in Auburn, Alabama, in April, 

Brian Odom gave a talk entitled “Alternate Paths of 

Paperclip: Fritz Pauli and Transnational Technology 

Transfer.” The talk explored the life of Fritz Pauli 

(1913–69), a German engineer who worked with 

Dr. Wernher von Braun at Peenemünde and spent 

the post–World War II years working in the French 

rocket program before coming to Huntsville with his 

family in February 1953. At Redstone and later at 

Marshall, Pauli worked as an engine designer with a 

focus on combustion-chamber development and as 

deputy in the Test Division alongside director Karl 

Heimburg. During the Saturn program, Pauli worked 

on the problems associated with the design of the H-1 

and F-1 engines, developing small-scale versions of 

these engines for testing.

Pauli had a reputation as an ingenious inventor with 

a keen mind whose innovative nature continued 

to befuddle his supervisors throughout his career. 

In October 1967, Pauli prepared a proposal for a 

“Possible Solution of a Protective Shroud for a Pitot 

Tube Cone” to be located on top of the escape rocket 

of the Saturn V launch vehicle. The response from 

Dr. von Braun was not what Pauli had expected. Von 

Braun’s comments were, “Fritz—In all of your proposals one could say either: Why so darned simple 

if it could be complicated—or: why so cheap when 

it could be more expensive!” Pauli’s career was significant in that it demonstrated both the multiple 

channels of postwar international technology transfer 

and the “cross-pollinating” nature of early Cold War 

rocket development.

Fritz Pauli (right) is interviewed by a German reporter at Marshall Space Flight 

Center in Huntsville, Alabama. (Photo credit: NASA)

The office will continue to be busy over the next 

months: conducting oral histories, answering reference 

queries, and developing an exhibit in support of the 

“NASA in the ‘Long’ Civil Rights Movement” conference, scheduled for 16–17 March 2017. The exhibit 

will explore the history of the Equal Employment 

Opportunity Program at Marshall and the relationship of these efforts to the larger civil rights movement in Huntsville. The deadline for paper proposals 

was 31 July 2016. For more information, contact the 

Marshall History Office or check online at https://

www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/history/call-for-papersnasa-in-the-long-civil-rights-movement-symposiumuniversity-of-alabama.html.

If you are interested in researching historical topics related to Marshall Space Flight Center or have 

questions about the symposium, please contact Brian 

Odom at 256-544-5670 or by e-mail at brian.c.odom@

nasa.gov.

Archives Update

By Jordan Whetstone

In May, Jordan Whetstone assumed the position of 

archivist at Marshall Space Flight Center. She has been 

learning a lot about the position over the last couple 

of months, familiarizing herself with the collections, 
11

Volume 33, Number 3 Third Quarter 2016

processing oral history interviews, and assessing areas 

of priority for the program. In just her second week, 

she traveled to the NASA History Program Review 

in Washington—a great way to jump into the history 

program! It has been a whirlwind, no doubt.

Beginning in May, the archive staff has processed several collections, the first of which was the Jesco von 

Puttkamer Papers, donated to the Marshall History 

Archive by now-retired NASA Chief Archivist Jane 

Odom. Von Puttkamer came to Marshall from 

Germany in 1962 and worked there until 1974, 

when he was called up to Headquarters to serve as 

Program Manager for human space project activities. Von Puttkamer passed away in December 2012. 

This collection most notably includes weekly notes 

from 1965–74 and correspondence about bringing 

von Puttkamer to Marshall to work as part of Center 

Director Dr. Wernher von Braun’s rocket team.

Particularly noteworthy is a memo dated March 1965, 

early in Puttkamer’s career at Marshall, that discusses 

the possibility of S-1C Booster Recovery. In a note 

to Dr. Geissler and then another to Dr. von Braun in 

March 1965, von Puttkamer lists some facts about the 

recovery plan, such as missing elements, aspects that 

will work/not work as conceptualized, and monetary 

concerns. Von Puttkamer argued that hypersonic stabilization of the booster was a major problem and that 

the booster itself would require “more modifications 

than just a modest heat-shield.” While both letters 

denote concern, the letter to von Braun also states 

von Puttkamer’s lack of attraction to the recovery concept. Portions of this collection are being scanned and 

arranged for use on the Marshall History Web page.

OTHER AEROSPACE HISTORY NEWS

NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM

By Hunter Hollins

Public Outreach

On 31 March, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the Space Telescope Science Institute 

(STScI) sponsored the annual John N. Bahcall Lecture, 

hosted by David DeVorkin at the National Air and 

Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center. The program 

featured Professor Ewine van Dischoek, a leading 

molecular astrophysicist from Leiden, Netherlands, 

and president-elect of the International Astronomical 

Union (IAU), who lectured on how far-infrared studies of the spaces between the stars in star-forming 

regions have led to more sophisticated models of how 

stars and planets form. 

From 1 through 4 April, Jennifer Levasseur, Cathleen 

Lewis, and Valerie Neal presented at the “Mutual 

Concerns of Air and Space Museums Conference” in 

New York. Sessions were held at the conference hotel; 

the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum; and the Cradle 

of Aviation Museum. Jennifer Levasseur chaired 

two programs: “Curating the Present: Challenges 

and Opportunities” and “Digital Trajectories: 

Transforming the Exhibition Process and the Digital/

Physical Connection.” 

On 5 April, NASM awarded the annual National Air 

and Space Museum Trophies for 2016. Tom Lassman 

oversaw the process for determining the winners. 

The Lifetime Achievement Trophy, which recognizes 

achievements that have had lasting impact on the 

history of space exploration, went to Captain James 

A. Lovell; the Current Achievement Trophy went to 

NASA’s New Horizons Team, which is responsible 

for the New Horizons spacecraft that accomplished 

the first direct investigation of Kuiper Belt objects at 

the outer margins of the solar system. “The winners of 

the 2016 Trophy Awards have significantly advanced 
12

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

space exploration in major ways,” 

said Gen. J. R. “Jack” Dailey, 

the director of NASM. “They 

have demonstrated the courage, 

tenacity, and innovative spirit 

that defines leaders in America’s 

space program from its early 

years through today.” Unrelated 

to the trophy, Physics Today

published as its 2016 April 

cover story an edited version of 

Michael Neufeld’s article on the 

development of New Horizons 

titled “The Difficult Birth of NASA’s Pluto Mission.”

Pictured is the National Air and Space Museum Trophy. (Photo 

credit: NASM)

In May, Matt Shindell represented NASM at the 

Humans to Mars (H2M) three-day summit at George 

Washington University in Washington, DC, and Paul 

Ceruzzi attended the conference on “International 

Communities of Invention and Innovation” at New 

York University, where he presented “The Apollo 

Guidance Computer and the Seeding of Technological 

Knowledge: NASA’s Role in the Development of the 

Silicon Chip.”

The search for life in the universe was an important 

topic this quarter. Chris McKay of the Space Science 

Division of NASA’s Ames Research Center presented 

“Searching for Life in Our Solar System” in NASM’s 

Exploring Space Lecture Series, followed by stargazing at the Haas Public Observatory. Also, David 

DeVorkin, the Chemical Heritage Foundation’s 2016 

Gordon Cain Fellow, organized a two-day conference 

titled “The Evolving Search for Life in the Universe.” 

The conference gathered about 30 astronomers, geologists, and biologists, including Michael Meyer and 

Mitchell Schulte from NASA’s Mars Exploration 

Program, Robert Pappalardo from the Planetary 

Science Section at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 

and Melissa Trainer from the Planetary Environments 

Laboratory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. 

Attendees formed panels that were moderated by historians, including Matt Shindell, to explore how the 

search for life has changed over time. The discussions 

highlighted the interdisciplinary nature of astrobiology and NASA’s role in creating it.

On 9 June, Jennifer Levasseur 

hosted a What’s New in 

Aerospace public program titled 

“Appropriate Attire” (about 

spacesuits) with NASM curator 

of spacesuits Cathleen Lewis and 

NASA Deputy Administrator 

Dava Newman. On 14 June, 

the Boeing Company sponsored 

the 13th annual John H. Glenn 

Lecture, “Spaceflight: Then, 

Now, and Next,” at which David 

Rubenstein moderated a discussion between Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins 

and Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin, the privately 

funded aerospace and spaceflight company. 

Comings and Goings

In April, the Space History Department said goodbye 

to the 2015–16 Lindbergh Chair in Aerospace History, 

Patrick McCray, a professor in the Department of 

History at the University of California, Santa Barbara. 

McCray presented his research project Frank Malina...

Dreamer of Space, Engineer of Art at the monthly 

History Seminar on Science and Technology. In June, 

NASM welcomed 62 interns from 49 different universities and colleges. The 43 women and 19 men 

represent 20 states and 4 countries. Project highlights 

include exploring the history of modern solar physics 

and creating a virtual tour of the Apollo Command 

Module for the Space History Department, as well 

as exploring double ridge formation on Jupiter’s 

moon Europa and mapping tectonic landforms on 

Mercury and the Moon for the Center for Earth and 

Planetary Studies.

Milestones

This quarter, NASM completed two “Milestones”-

related projects. Bob van der Linden, Alex Spencer, 

and Tom Paone of the Aeronautics Department 

published a new book, Milestones of Flight: the Epic 

of Aviation with the National Air and Space Museum
13

Volume 33, Number 3 Third Quarter 2016

(Zenith Press, 2016), that coincided nicely with the 

reopening of the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall on 

the National Mall on 1 July.

The Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall reopening is in 

conjunction with the museum’s 40th anniversary, and 

the two-year renovation was made possible by a gift 

from Boeing. In addition to displaying the museum’s 

most iconic artifacts, the installation introduces GO 

FLIGHT, a digital experience designed to allow visitors to make connections with and between artifacts 

and to share the national collection beyond the walls 

of the museum. 

Since the building opened on the National Mall in 

1976, the Milestones of Flight Hall has welcomed 327 

million visitors. Positioned between the museum’s two 

entrances, the 19,000-square-foot exhibition space 

had remained largely unaltered since the building’s 

opening. The new installation features a streamlined, 

modern look with visitor-friendly amenities, such as a 

large welcome center. It is designed to introduce visitors to key artifacts that, in turn, enable them to learn 

more about the museum’s renowned collection and 

ongoing research. The in-depth interpretation of the 

artifacts and the addition of new digital elements will 

serve as a model for future exhibitions as the museum 

prepares to launch into a period of revitalization.

All artifacts in the Milestones of Flight Hall have had 

a significant cultural, historic, scientific, or technological impact. The stunning Apollo Lunar Module, 

previously displayed in another gallery, serves as 

the centerpiece of the exhibition. Other spacecraft, 

such as John Glenn’s Friendship 7 Mercury capsule, 

return to the space, along with the Viking Lander, the 

Gemini IV capsule, SpaceShipOne, and Mariner 2. A 

new addition is the Discoverer XIII satellite reentry 

capsule, the first humanmade object to be recovered 

from orbit. Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis and 

Chuck Yeager’s Bell X-1 return to the hall, exhibited 

near the massive wind tunnel fan formerly used by 

the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. 

Nearby are 18th- and 19th-century ballooning artifacts. The exhibition’s emphasis on technology is 

represented by objects such as a turbojet engine developed by Sir Frank Whittle between 1939 and 1941 

and the backup craft to Telstar 1, the world’s first 

active communications satellite. After undergoing a 

nearly two-year restoration, the studio model of the 

Starship Enterprise from the original Star Trek series is 

a new addition to the hall.

AMERICAN ASTRONAUTICAL SOCIETY 

HISTORY COMMITTEE

By Michael Ciancone, Chair

Ordway Award

The American Astronautical Society (AAS) is reviewing nominations for the Ordway Award for Sustained 

Excellence in Spaceflight History and expects to identify recipients by September 2016.

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 History Committee of 

the AAS.

History Series Publications

Univelt has published the following titles in the 

AAS History Series under the editorial leadership of 

Rick Sturdevant:

• Proceedings of the 47th IAA History Symposium (volume 45), edited by Andrew S. Erickson 

• Proceedings of the 48th IAA History Symposium (volume 46), edited by Marsha Freeman
14

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

RECENT PUBLICATIONS AND ONLINE RESOURCES

COMMERCIALLY PUBLISHED WORKS

By Chris Gamble

Leaving Orbit: Notes from the Last Days of American 

Spaceflight, by Margaret Lazarus Dean (Graywolf 

Press, May 2015). In the 1960s, humans took their 

first steps away from Earth, and for a time our possibilities in space seemed endless. But in a period of 

austerity and in the wake of high-profile disasters 

like the destruction of Space Shuttle Challenger, that 

dream has ended. In early 2011, the author traveled 

to Cape Canaveral for NASA’s last three Space Shuttle 

launches in order to bear witness to the end of an 

era. With Dean as our guide to Florida’s Space Coast 

and to the history of NASA, Leaving Orbit takes the 

measure of what American spaceflight has achieved 

while reckoning with its earlier witnesses like Norman 

Mailer, Tom Wolfe, and Oriana Fallaci. Along the way, 

Dean meets NASA workers, astronauts, and space 

fans, gathering possible answers to the question, what 

does it mean that a spacefaring nation won’t be going 

to space anymore?

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic 

Future, by Ashlee Vance (Ecco, May 2015). This book 

spotlights the technology and vision of Elon Musk, 

the renowned entrepreneur and innovator behind 

SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity. The author captures 

the full spectacle and arc of the genius’s life and work, 

from his tumultuous upbringing in South Africa and 

flight to the United States to his dramatic technical 

innovations and entrepreneurial pursuits.

Shooting the Moon, by Brian Willems (Zero Books, 

May 2015). Films about the Moon show that even 

after the lunar landing of 1969, our celestial neighbor has lost none of its aptitude for appearing to be 

made of green cheese. In fact, as soon as you put the 

Moon on screen, it is lost. This is equally true for a 

wide range of Moon films, including the theatricality 

of Méliès, the incredulity of camp, the illegibility of 

footage shot by Apollo astronauts, and the revisionary 

history of Transformers 3. Yet as paradoxical as it might 

seem at first, it is only when we “lose sight” of the 

Moon that lunar truths begin to come forth. This is 

because fantastic elements of the Moon—by their 

mere absurdity—can indicate nonfantastic elements. 

However, what is of interest here is not realistic or 

fantastic lunar truths, but rather that the Moon is an 

object that invites, or even demands, more than one 

truth at once.

Earth and Space: Photographs from the Archives of NASA, 

by Nirmala Nataraj (author) and NASA (photographer), (Chronicle Books, October 2015). Take a tour 

of the universe with this collection of photographs 

from the archives of NASA. Astonishing images of 

Earth from above, the phenomena of our solar system, 

and the celestial bodies of deep space will captivate 

readers and photography lovers with an interest in science, astronomy, and the great beyond. Each extraordinary photograph from the legendary space agency 

is paired with explanatory text that contextualizes its 

place in the cosmic ballet of planets, stars, dust, and 

matter—from Earth’s limb to solar flares, from the 

Jellyfish Nebula to Pandora’s Cluster.

Cosmos: The Infographic Book of Space, by Stuart Lowe 

and Chris North (Aurum Press Ltd., October 2015). 

The human race has always revealed an insatiable hunger to search for knowledge. In this book, partners in 

science Stuart Lowe and Chris North use cutting-edge 

infographics to illuminate—in a new and unique 

way—the most amazing places and objects that modern science has laid bare. Featuring innovative, inspirational, and original designs by leading authors in 

their field, this book delves into a truly international 

subject and will appeal to stargazers and space enthusiasts of all ages.
15

Volume 33, Number 3 Third Quarter 2016

The International Space Station: Management and 

Utilization Issues for NASA, edited by Evelyn Clemens 

(Nova Science Publishers, Inc., December 2015). The 

NASA Authorization Act of 2010 required NASA to 

enter into a cooperative agreement with a not-forprofit entity to manage the International Space Station 

(ISS) National Laboratory. In 2011, the Agency did 

so with the Center for the Advancement of Science 

in Space (CASIS). CASIS is charged with maximizing use of the ISS for scientific research by executing 

several required activities. Recently, questions have 

arisen about the progress being made to implement 

the required activities and the impact it has had on the 

ISS’s return on the investment. This book assesses the 

extent to which CASIS has implemented the required 

management activities; both NASA and CASIS measure and assess CASIS’s performance. Furthermore, 

this book assesses the extent to which NASA has 

ensured that essential spare parts are available and ISS 

structures and hardware are sound for continued ISS 

utilization through 2020.

NASA’s Management of Commercial Crew and Cargo 

Operations: Assessments, edited by Eileen Purcell (Nova 

Science Publishers, Inc., December 2015). Since the 

retirement of the Space Shuttle Program in July 2011, 

the United States has lacked a domestic capability to 

transport crew and—until recently—cargo to and 

from the ISS. Consequently, NASA has been relying 

on the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) for 

crew transportation. In anticipation of the Shuttle’s 

retirement, Congress and the President directed 

NASA to foster the commercial spaceflight industry as 

a means of developing domestic cargo and crew transportation capabilities to the Station. In November 

2005, NASA created the Commercial Crew and Cargo 

Program Office, and in 2011, the Agency activated a 

separate Commercial Crew Program Office to reflect 

the increased funding and priority for commercial 

crew. In June 2013, the Office of Inspector General 

(OIG) issued a report examining NASA’s efforts to 

foster a commercial market for cargo resupply missions to the ISS. The report discusses NASA’s funding 

over the past seven years of SpaceX and Orbital ATK 

(formerly Orbital Sciences Corporation) to further 

development of spaceflight capabilities and, on a separate track, the Agency’s contracts with the companies 

for a combined 20 cargo resupply missions to the ISS. 

As a complement to that report, this book examines 

NASA’s efforts to pursue commercial crew capabilities.

Spacecraft Egress and Rescue Operations: Planning for 

and Managing Post-Landing Contingencies in Manned 

Space Missions, by Jason David Reimuller (Integrated 

Spaceflight Services, LLC, December 2015). This 

book is intended to provide spacecraft operators and 

designers with an understanding of the risks associated with pad, ascent, landing, and post-landing 

phases of space missions as well as a background of 

the methods that have evolved throughout the history 

of U.S., Russian, and commercial space programs 

to best mitigate these risks. This book also presents 

the evolution of the planning associated with crew 

emergency egress and rescue operations and then 

presents an overview of the types of egress systems 

and procedures that have historically been used on 

crewed spacecraft. The book presents a methodology 

of how spaceflight architecture developers might best 

optimize vehicle design and mission profiles to best 

mitigate the most credible landing and post-landing 

risks and how they might develop mission profiles that 

reduce risk by minimizing exposure to hazardous or 

constrained environments, increase overall operability 

of the system, and minimize cost.

Exobiologists, Rocketeers and Engineers—Inside NASA’s 

Quest for Life in Space, by Rick Eyerdam (Tate 

Publishing, March 2016). This book details the challenges faced by NASA engineers with the rise of the 

exobiologists, who had no laboratory and no way to 

conduct scientific research unless they could get a ride 

on a spaceship. NASA’s legacy institutions—Langley 

Research Center, Ames Research Center, JPL, and 

Goddard Space Flight Center—were designed to 

devise new aeronautic feats, not space-based experiments. After the Moon missions, rockets heading into 

space with life-seeking equipment on board raised the 

horizon to infinity. This is the story of how it all began.
16

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

Planetary Rovers—Robotic Exploration of the Solar 

System, by Alex Ellery (Springer-Praxis, December 

2015). The increasing adoption of terrain mobility—

planetary rovers—for the investigation of planetary 

surfaces emphasizes their central importance in space 

exploration. This imposes a completely new set of 

technologies and methodologies to the design of such 

spacecraft—and planetary rovers are indeed, first and 

foremost, spacecraft. The use of rovers introduces 

vehicle engineering, mechatronics, robotics, artificial 

intelligence, and associated technologies to the spacecraft engineer’s repertoire of skills. Planetary Rovers

is the only book that comprehensively covers these 

aspects of planetary rover engineering and more.

Breaking the Chains of Gravity: The Story of Spaceflight 

Before NASA, by Amy Shira Teitel (Bloomsbury Sigma, 

January 2016). NASA’s prehistory is a rarely told tale, 

one that is largely absent from the popular Space Age 

literature but that gives the context behind the incredible lunar program. America’s space agency wasn’t created in a vacuum; it was assembled from preexisting 

parts, drawing together some of the best minds the 

non-Soviet world had to offer. With a central narrative 

woven from the stories of key historical figures, this 

book tells the story of NASA’s roots in an engaging 

and accessible way.

Extending Operations and Maximizing Research on the 

International Space Station, edited by Jocelyn Lawrence 

(Nova Science Publishers, Inc., December 2015). This 

book examines the challenges facing NASA in extending ISS operations until 2024. Specifically, it assesses 

NASA’s progress in certifying the Station’s structure 

and hardware for a longer lifespan, cost and schedule 

estimates associated with the extension, and efforts 

to increase utilization of the Station for exploration 

and other scientific research. Furthermore, this book 

examines the current level of Station research, CASIS’s 

efforts to facilitate non-NASA research aboard the ISS, 

and transportation challenges that could hinder full 

research utilization of the ISS.

Our Space Environment—Opportunities, Stakes and 

Dangers, by Claude Nicollier and Volker Gass (EPFL 

Press, December 2015). By tackling a wide range of 

topics, this book aims to give a comprehensive overview of the opportunities and hazards in our immediate space environment. It also exposes the challenges 

that governments, space agencies, private companies, 

and human communities have to face in order to 

manage space together to create long-term and safe 

access to it while protecting life on Earth.

International Space Station: Architecture Beyond Earth, 

by David Nixon (Circa Press, March 2016). In 1984, 

President Ronald Reagan gave NASA the go-ahead 

to build a space station. A generation later, the 

International Space Station is an established and highly 

successful research center in Earth orbit. The history 

of this extraordinary project is a complex weave of 

powerful threads—political, diplomatic, financial, and 

technological among them—but none is more fascinating than the story of its design. This book provides 

the first comprehensive account of the International 

Space Station’s conception, development, and assembly in space.

History of Rocketry and Astronautics, vol. 46, edited 

by Marsha Freeman, AAS History Series, vol. 46, 

International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) History 

Symposia, vol. 34 (AAS/Univelt, Inc., May 2016). This 

book is a compendium of the proceedings of the 48th 

History Symposium of the International Academy of 

Astronautics held in Toronto, Canada, 2014.

Skylab 3: The NASA Mission Reports, by Dwight 

Steven Boniecki (CGP Publishing, May 2016). With 

the successful repair of the Skylab workshop by the 

Skylab 2 crew, the stage was set for Apollo 12 Moon 

walker Alan Bean to lead a full scientific mission to 

the giant space station. Bean was to be accompanied 

by two of the next generation of astronauts, Owen 

Garriott and Jack Lousma. The crew was launched on a 

Saturn IB on 28 July 1973 for a mission that would last 

for just short of two months. This would be by far the 

longest-duration mission ever attempted by the United 
17

Volume 33, Number 3 Third Quarter 2016

States. Just as the previous mission had required spacewalks, Skylab 3 would also see the crew venture outside 

on three separate occasions. The experience gained 

from these early repair missions would be of incalculable value to the future of human space exploration. The 

Skylab 3 crew conducted an intensive series of experiments on themselves and on behalf of students back on 

Earth. They also began the serious study of our home 

planet through the Skylab Earth Resources Experiment 

Package and undertook meaningful studies of the Sun 

using the Apollo Telescope Mount. DVD included.

Reflections of the Moon: Retrospections on Earth, Mankind, 

and War, by Edgar Mitchell (Pen-L Publishing, May 

2016). On 31 January 1971, Navy Captain Dr. Edgar 

Mitchell embarked on a journey into outer space, the 

Apollo 14 mission, resulting in his becoming the sixth 

man to walk on the Moon. For Mitchell, however, 

the most extraordinary journey was yet to come. As 

he hurtled Earthward through the abyss between the 

two worlds, Mitchell became engulfed by a profound 

sensation—a sense of universal connectedness. He 

intuitively sensed that his presence, that of his fellow 

astronauts, and that of the planet in the window were 

all part of a deliberate universal process—and that the 

glittering cosmos itself was in some sense conscious. 

The experience was so overwhelming that Mitchell 

knew his life would never be the same: “You don’t 

look at our little planet from that perspective without 

its having a profound impact on your thinking.” And 

while Mitchell regarded his experience, his education, 

and his lunar endeavors as invaluable milestones, they 

would become mere stepping-stones to what would 

eventually become his true life passion—exploring the 

power of the conscious mind.

Flying Higher and Faster, by Vance Brand (Mira Digital 

Publishing, February 2016). The book is a collection 

of stories on Vance Brand’s life from his boyhood days, 

through his military flying, civilian test piloting, and 

space travel, to his departure from Johnson Space 

Center. Brand looks to the future in the fields of aeronautics and human spaceflight.

Picture This! Using Space Art To Grasp Size and Scale in 

the Solar System, by Michael Carroll (Springer, April 

2016). Astronomical concepts can be truly hard to 

comprehend, especially those of planetary sizes and 

distances from Earth and from each other. These concepts are made more comprehensible by the group of 

illustrations in this book, which place, in scale, extraterrestrial objects side by side with objects on Earth 

to which we can more easily relate. For example, the 

reader can study the pictures of Earth floating above 

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot and the asteroid Itokawa resting beside Toronto’s CN Tower. These mind-bending 

images bring things into better perspective and will 

help the reader understand the size and scale of our 

solar system. But the real benefit of this work is in 

helping the reader better grasp the nature of our universe—how big it is and how we fit into it.

XCOR, Developing the Next Generation Spaceplane, 

by Erik Seedhouse (Springer-Praxis, April 2016). 

Employing the same informational approach Erik 

Seedhouse used in SpaceX and Bigelow Aerospace, this 

new book familiarizes space enthusiasts with the company XCOR Aerospace and examines the design of 

the two-seater Lynx. The book is a thorough chronicle 

of the development of rocket propulsion, avionics, 

simulators, and ground support operations being put 

into play by XCOR with the Lynx.

X-Planes of Europe II: X-Planes of Europe II: More 

Secret Research Aircraft from the Golden Age 1945–

1971, by Tony Butler (Hikoki Publications, March 

2016). Complemented by previously unseen archive 

photography, detailed specifications, manufacturer’s 

drawings, and color artwork, this book is the logical 

and complete companion to the acclaimed X-Planes 

of Europe and offers a new and exciting perspective on 

Europe’s military aircraft innovation throughout the 

Cold War years.

Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, 

from Missiles to the Moon to Mars, by Nathalia Holt 

(Little, Brown and Company, April 2016). In the 

1940s and ’50s, when the newly minted Jet Propulsion 
18

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

Laboratory needed quick-thinking mathematicians to 

calculate velocities and plot trajectories, they didn’t 

turn to male graduates. Rather, they recruited an elite 

group of young women who, with only pencil, paper, 

and mathematical prowess, transformed rocket design, 

helped bring about the first American satellites, and 

made the exploration of the solar system possible. For 

the first time, Rise of the Rocket Girls tells the stories of 

these women—known as “human computers”—who 

broke the boundaries of both gender and science.

The Value of the Moon: How To Explore, Live, and 

Prosper in Space Using the Moon’s Resources, by Paul D. 

Spudis (Smithsonian Books, April 2016). Although 

the Moon was once thought to hold the key to space 

exploration, in recent decades the United States has 

largely turned its sights toward Mars and other celestial bodies instead. In this book, lunar scientist Paul 

Spudis argues that the United States can and should 

return to the Moon in order to remain a world leader 

in space utilization and development and a participant 

in and beneficiary of a new lunar economy.

No Dream Is Too High: Life Lessons from a Man 

Who Walked on the Moon, by Buzz Aldrin (National 

Geographic, April 2016). Buzz Aldrin reflects on the 

wisdom, guiding principles, and irreverent anecdotes 

he’s gathered through his event-filled life—both in 

outer space and on Earth—in this inspiring guide to 

life for the next generation.

Moon Manual, by David M. Harland (Haynes 

Publishing, April 2016). This manual explains, in simple and straightforward terms and with a wealth of 

illustrations and photographs, what we have discovered 

about the Moon over the centuries, along with a general 

overview of the vehicles involved in the exploration.

Eyeing the Red Storm: Eisenhower and the First Attempt 

To Build a Spy Satellite, by Robert M. Dienesch 

(University of Nebraska Press, April 2016). This book 

examines the birth of space-based reconnaissance not 

from the perspective of CORONA (the first photoreconnaissance satellite to fly), but rather from that of 

the WS-117L. In 1954, the U.S. Air Force launched 

an ambitious program known as WS-117L to develop 

the world’s first reconnaissance satellite. The goal was 

to take photographic images from space and relay 

them back to Earth via radio. Because of technical 

issues and bureaucratic resistance, however, WS-117L 

was seriously behind schedule by the time Sputnik 

orbited Earth in 1957 and was eventually canceled. 

The Air Force began concentrating instead on new 

programs that eventually launched the first successful 

U.S. spy satellites.

The Step: One Woman’s Journey to Finding Her Own 

Happiness and Success During the Apollo Space Program, 

by Martha Lemasters (Morgan James Publishing, April 

2016). The names of the Apollo astronauts will forever 

be inscribed in our history books, but the names of the 

entire Apollo launch support team at Kennedy Space 

Center and the thousands who supported Apollo elsewhere will be known only to a few—including those 

who read this book. It is the technical team—the 

engineers, analysts, programmers, and, yes, even the 

secretaries and typists who kept the administrative 

side moving—who are portrayed in this book. Some 

believe they were the greatest technological team ever 

assembled, achieving the most difficult challenge of all 

humankind to date.

Exploring the Planets: A Memoir, by Fred Taylor 

(Oxford University Press, April 2016). This book 

offers a personal account of how the space program 

evolved. It begins in the era of the first blurry views 

of our Earth as seen from space and ends with current plans for sophisticated robots to arrive at places 

as near as our neighbors Venus and Mars and as far 

away as the rainy lakelands of Saturn’s planet-sized 

moon, Titan. The book examines the scientific goals 

of these complex voyages of discovery and the joys 

and hardships of working to achieve them. Most of 

the narrative is based on the author’s experiences at the 

world’s space agencies, research labs, and conferences, 

as well as at other places as diverse as Cape Canaveral 

and No. 10 Downing Street, the residence and office 

of the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister.
19

Volume 33, Number 3 Third Quarter 2016

Into the Black, by Rowland White (Bantam Press, 

April 2016). On 12 April 1981, a revolutionary new 

spacecraft blasted off from Florida on her maiden 

flight. NASA’s Space Shuttle Columbia was the most 

advanced flying machine ever built—the high-water 

mark of postwar aviation development. Drawing on 

brand-new interviews with astronauts and engineers, 

archive material, and newly declassified documents, 

Rowland White has pieced together the dramatic 

untold story of the mission for the first time. Into 

the Black is a thrilling race against time; a gripping, 

high-stakes Cold War story; and a celebration of a 

beyond-the-state-of-the-art machine that, hailed as 

one of the seven new wonders of the world, rekindled 

our passion for spaceflight.

Fallen Astronauts: Heroes Who Died Reaching for the 

Moon, by Colin Burgess and Kate Doolan (University 

of Nebraska Press, revised edition, May 2016). Near 

the end of the Apollo 15 mission, David Scott and 

fellow Moon walker James Irwin conducted a secret 

ceremony unsanctioned by NASA: they placed on 

the lunar soil a small tin figurine called “The Fallen 

Astronaut,” along with a plaque bearing a list of names. 

By telling the stories of those 16 astronauts and cosmonauts who died in the quest to reach the Moon 

between 1962 and 1972, this book enriches the saga 

of humankind’s greatest scientific undertaking, Project 

Apollo, and conveys the human cost of the space race.

American Secret Projects: Fighters, Bombers and Attack 

Aircraft | 1937–1945, by Tony Buttler and Alan 

Griffith (Crecy Publishing, April 2016). This volume 

looks at concepts developed by the U.S. aircraft industry in the years immediately prior to and during World 

War II. This book includes and describes the major 

fighter and bomber proposals from the American 

aircraft industry, which embrace various fighter and 

interceptor concepts; medium, heavy, and intercontinental bombers; attack aircraft; and anti-submarine 

aircraft, for both the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy. 

Particular emphasis is placed on “Circular Proposals,” 

a system of submitting designs against requirements 

circulated around the industry by the Army Air Forces 

in the 1930s and early 1940s.

The Chang’E-1 Topographic Atlas of the Moon, by C. Li, 

J. Liu, L. Mu, X. Ren, and W. Zuo (Springer, 2nd 

edition, February 2016). This atlas is based on the 

lunar global Digital Elevation Models (DEM) of 

Chang’E-1 (CE-1) and presents charge coupled device 

(CCD) stereo image data with digital photogrammetry. The spatial resolution of the DEM in this atlas is 

500 meters, with horizontal accuracy of 192 meters 

and vertical accuracy of 120 meters. Color-shaded 

relief maps with contour lines are used to show the 

lunar topographical characteristics. The topographical data gathered by CE-1 can provide fundamental 

information for the study of lunar topographical, 

morphological, and geological structures, as well as for 

lunar evolution research.

Eccentric Orbits: The Iridium Story, by John Bloom 

(Atlantic Monthly Press, June 2016). In the early 

1990s, Motorola, the legendary American technology 

company, developed a revolutionary satellite system 

called Iridium. Iridium’s constellation of 66 satellites 

in polar orbit meant that no matter where you were 

on Earth, at least one satellite was always overhead, 

and you could call Tibet from Fiji without a delay 

and without your call ever touching a wire. Iridium 

the satellite system was a mind-boggling technical 

accomplishment, surely the future of communication. 

The only problem was that Iridium the company was a 

commercial disaster. Bankruptcy was inevitable—the 

largest to that point in American history. That is, until 

Dan Colussy heard about Motorola’s plans to deorbit 

the system and decided he would buy Iridium and 

somehow turn around one of the biggest blunders in 

the history of business. In Eccentric Orbits, the author 

masterfully traces the conception, development, and 

launching of Iridium and Colussy’s tireless efforts to 

stop it from being destroyed.

The Birth of NASA—The Work of the Space Task Group, 

America’s First True Space Pioneers, by Manfred “Dutch” 

von Ehrenfried (Springer-Praxis, April 2016). This is 
20

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

the story of the work of the original NASA space pioneers: men and women who were suddenly organized 

in 1958 from part of the then–National Advisory 

Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) into the Space 

Task Group. A relatively small group, they developed 

the initial mission concept plans and procedures 

for the U.S. space program. Then they boldly built 

hardware and facilities to accomplish those missions. 

The group existed for only three years before it was 

transferred to the Manned Spacecraft Center (later to 

become Johnson Space Center) in Houston, Texas, in 

1962, but the organization left a large mark on what 

would follow.

We Report Space: A Visual Reminiscence of Florida Rocket 

Launches from CRS-3 to Eutelsat-117 by Members of the 

SpaceX-3 #NASASocial, edited by Jared Haworth (Holy 

Macro! Books, June 2016). This book is a yearlong 

pictorial look at today’s space program at Kennedy 

Space Center. This book traces the group of 37 people 

invited to watch the SpaceX CRS-3 mission via the 

NASA Social program, as well as their future exploits. 

In addition to displaying stunning launch photography, the book recounts the participants’ experiences 

with SpaceX, Boeing, and United Launch Alliance. 

Take a ride on the Crawler and a trip to the roof of the 

Vehicle Assembly Building. We Report Space includes 

essays on the experiences of these normal, everyday 

people as they gain access to Kennedy Space Center.

Calculated Risk: The Supersonic Life and Times of Gus 

Grissom, by George Leopold (Purdue University Press, 

June 2016). Unlike other American astronauts, Virgil 

I. “Gus” Grissom never had the chance to publish 

his memoirs (save for an account of his role in the 

Gemini program) before the tragic launch pad fire 

on 27 January 1967, which took his life and those 

of Edward White and Roger Chaffee. Drawing on 

extensive interviews with fellow astronauts, NASA 

engineers, family members, and friends of Gus 

Grissom, the author delivers a comprehensive survey 

of Grissom’s life that places his career in the context 

of the Cold War and the history of human spaceflight.

Earth Science Satellite Applications: Current and Future 

Prospects, edited by Faisal Hossain (Springer, June 

2016). The combined observational power of the 

multiple Earth-observing satellites is currently not 

being harnessed holistically to produce more durable 

societal benefits. We are not able to take complete 

advantage of the prolific amount of scientific output 

and remote sensing data that are emerging rapidly 

from satellite missions and convert them quickly into 

decision-making products for users. The current application framework we have appears to be an analog one 

lacking the absorption bandwidth required to handle 

scientific research and the voluminous (petabyte-scale) 

satellite data. This book will tackle this question: How 

do we change this course and take full advantage of 

satellite observational capability for a more sustainable, happier, and safer future in the coming decades?

The Greatest Space Generation As Inspired by Wernher 

von Braun, edited by Ed Buckbee (Acclaim Press, June 

2016). This book is the story of the scientists, engineers, managers, and skilled workers who created the 

Saturn rocket—a magnificent space machine—to take 

American astronauts to the Moon. It’s about those 

who came to Huntsville, Alabama, because of the work 

underway at Redstone Arsenal and, later, Marshall 

Space Flight Center. They were the trailblazers for 

both missile defense and the peaceful exploration of 

outer space.

A Complete History of U.S. Combat Aircraft Fly-Off 

Competitions: Winners, Losers, and What Might Have 

Been, by Erik Simonsen (Specialty Press, June 2016). 

This book not only explains in detail how fly-off competitions are conducted, but it also shows the reader what 

both competing aircraft designs looked like during 

their trials and how the losing aircraft would have 

actually looked in operational markings had it won. 

Described in vivid detail are the specific aircraft and 

how they fared, as well as the inside political maneuvering and subterfuge involved in often-controversial 

aircraft contract awards. This book covers every era of 

post–World War II aviation.
21

Volume 33, Number 3 Third Quarter 2016

Flying Wings & Radical Things: Northrop’s Secret 

Aerospace Projects & Concepts 1939–1994, by Tony 

Chong (Specialty Press, June 2016). Since 1939, 

Northrop designed and built the world’s most advanced 

aircraft, from the first primitive flying-wing designs 

to today’s digital B-2 stealth bomber. Between these 

two eras, hundreds of design concepts were generated, 

many of which advanced to the mockup stage and 

still more of which advanced to construction, flight 

test, and series production. This book reveals recently 

declassified Northrop designs that revolutionized the 

aviation industry.

Design for Space: Soviet and Russian Mission Patches, by 

Alexander Glushko (DOM Publishers, June 2016). 

Covering the period from the beginning of the Cold 

War to the construction of the International Space 

Station, this book documents a rare collection: almost 

250 mission patches worn by Soviet and Russian cosmonauts since 1963. Alexander Glushko, one of the 

leading specialists in the history of human spaceflight 

and rocket technology in Russia, presents numerous 

emblems with individual explanations in their applied 

context: as patches worn on spacesuits. The collection 

comprises not only partially forgotten mission patches, 

but also rare photographs of spacecraft crews and 

space stations. As well as providing additional historical information, the collection retraces the formation 

and development of Soviet and Russian symbolism in 

terms of space travel and brings the history of cosmic 

heraldry to life.

Workshop Practice for Building and Repairing Wooden 

Gliders and Sailplanes, by Hans Jacobs and Herbert 

Lück; edited by Neal Pfeiffer and Simine Short; 

translated from the original German by the Vintage 

Sailplane Association (Vintage Sailplane Association, 

July, 2016). This new English translation makes this 

long-established guide to building and repairing 

wooden gliders and sailplanes available to a wider 

audience. This guide contains 338 line drawings and 

photos. The new addendum, prepared by Neal Pfeiffer, 

includes up-to-date information.

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

every quarter. Please note that the descriptions have been 

derived by Chris from promotional material and do not 

represent an endorsement by NASA.

UPCOMING MEETINGS

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics 

(AIAA) Forum and Exposition (SPACE 2016) will be 

held 13–16 September in Long Beach, California. 

Visit http://www.aiaa-space.org for details.

The 67th International Astronautical Congress will be 

held 26–30 September in Guadalajara, Mexico. Visit 

http://www.iafastro.org/events/iac/iac2016 for details.

The Oral History Association Annual Meeting will be 

held 12–16 October in Long Beach, California. Visit 

http://www.oralhistory.org/annual-meeting for details.

The 32nd Annual Meeting of the American Society 

for Gravitational and Space Research will be held 

26–29 October in Cleveland, Ohio. Visit https://www.

asgsr.org for details.

The AIAA Science and Technology Forum and 

Exposition (AIAA SciTech 2017) will be held 

9–13 January in Grapevine, Texas. Visit https://www.

aiaa-scitech.org for details.

The “NASA in the ‘Long’ Civil Rights Movement 

Symposium” will be held 16–17 March 2017 at the 

University of Alabama in Huntsville. Visit https://

www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/history/call-for-papersnasa-in-the-long-civil-rights-movement-symposiumuniversity-of-alabama.html for details.
22

NASA HISTORY DIVISION — News & Notes

OBITUARY

REMEMBERING SPACE POLICY 

RESEARCHER AND ECONOMIST 

DR. MOLLY K. MACAULEY

Molly K. Macauley

The space community 

suffered a tragic loss 

on 8 July 2016 when 

respected space policy 

researcher and economist Dr. Molly K. 

Macauley was killed 

while walking her two 

dogs in her Roland 

Park neighborhood of 

Baltimore, Maryland. 

She was 59.

Dr. Macauley, born in Richmond, Virginia, and raised 

in Youngstown, Ohio, graduated from high school in 

Falls Church, Virginia. In 1979, she earned a bachelor’s degree in economics at the College of William 

and Mary in Virginia; in 1981, she earned a master’s 

degree in economics from Johns Hopkins University, 

followed by a doctorate in 1983.

A supporter of women’s success in aerospace, 

Dr. Macauley chaired the Women in Aerospace 

Scholarship. She also served on several prestigious 

boards and committees, including the National 

Academy of Sciences and the Space Studies Board. She 

often testified before Congress on the environmental 

and economic implications of space exploration. She 

authored more than 80 articles, reports, and books on 

space policy.

She was vice president and a senior fellow at Resources 

for the Future, a Washington, DC–based think tank 

that focuses on helping decision-makers craft policies 

related to natural resources, energy, and the environment. The organization’s Web site recently posted on 

its blog an internal e-mail in memory of Dr. Macauley:

Anyone who worked with her over the years can 

no doubt recall many moments of remarkable 

personal kindness and support. She deeply loved 

coming into RFF and giving her all to make 

it a better place, all the while working and 

laughing with her colleagues. She admired you 

all immensely.

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

Colin Fries colin.a.fries@nasa.gov

Archivist 202-358-0388

Stephen Garber stephen.j.garber@nasa.gov

Historian 202-358-0385

Chief Archivist (Vacant)

Andres Almeida andres.almeida@nasa.gov

Editor 202-358-0044

Elizabeth Suckow elizabeth.suckow-1@nasa.gov

Archivist 202-358-0375

Robert Collom robert.b.collom@nasa.gov

Intern 202-358-0680

Nicholas Russo nicholas.p.russo@nasa.gov

Intern 202-358-2577
23

Volume 33, Number 3 Third Quarter 2016

SKETCHES IN NASA HISTORY 

By Christine Rueter

Pictured is a sketch by Christine Rueter of Voyager 1 in chalk and charcoal on paper.

What inspired you about Voyager for this piece?

The Voyager mission is tinged with nostalgia and 

melancholy for me. I think that’s why I keep coming back to it in my art. I’ve rendered the Voyager 

probes in watery Japanese ink, in cut paper rolled over 

with thick printing ink, and in chalk and charcoal. 

Of all these media, I prefer the smudgy borders of 

chalk and charcoal, which give the impression the 

image is breaking apart or dissolving. It may seem 

counterintuitive to render something as resilient as 

Voyager using imprecise media, but the reality is that 

even Voyager is dissolving, disappearing in a sense. 

Fewer and fewer people are learning FORTRAN and 

assembly language, the languages used to program the 

Voyager computers; that knowledge is disappearing. 

And the snapshot of human experience captured on 

the Golden Record onboard Voyagers 1 and 2? Some 

of the images and songs became dated even before the 

spacecraft launched. And at some point soon, communication between the Voyagers and Earth will be 

lost, too.

What inspires you about NASA history to sketch?

As a child of the ’70s, I grew up in the “golden age 

of space exploration.” A love of NASA and all things 

space was in the water. I was in utero in July 1969; my 

parents still have a still photo of their TV from the 

Moon landing broadcast. Growing up close to DC, I 

spent a lot of time at the newly opened Smithsonian 

Air and Space Museum. I’ve seen the movie To Fly 

(which has been running continuously at Air and 

Space since the museum opened in 1976) more times 

than I care to admit. Even now, when I walk through 

the Apollo exhibit at Air and Space, I get goosebumps 

thinking we can accomplish something so tremendous 

and daring.

What current or future mission would you like to 

sketch into history and why?

I’ve sketched the Moon bootprint in charcoal and 

chalk; I would love to create a diptych (a two-paneled 

piece) of the Moon bootprint alongside the first bootprint on Mars. Diptychs and triptychs are used to 

create visual narratives, and I think putting people 

on Mars will really be the completion of a story that 

started with the Moon landing. I’m also following 

New Horizons’ extended mission very closely; I can’t 

wait to sketch another KBO [Kuiper Belt object].

Christine Rueter has an M.A. in creative writing (poetry) and works 

as a project manager, writer, and editor in the DC/Baltimore area. A 

self-taught artist, she sketches and paints in her spare time. She 

tweets as @TychoGirl and posts her space poetry and art to her 

blog, https://tychogirl.wordpress.com.
CREATED AND PRODUCED BY:

Andres Almeida, Newsletter Editor

Lisa Jirousek, Editor

Michele Ostovar, Graphic Designer

Chris Duncan, Printing Specialist

Trenita Williams, Mail Coordinator

Carl Paul, Distribution

DOWNLOAD THIS AND OTHER RECENT 

EDITIONS OF NEWS & NOTES AT 

http://history.nasa.gov/histnews.htm.

JOIN THE 

NASA HISTORY 

DIVISION 

ONLINE ON 

OUR SOCIAL 

NETWORKS! 

Get short, timely messages and stay updated on a wide

variety of topics by following @NASAhistory on Twitter.

Learn the history of NASA’s exploration of the universe 

and its many discoveries about our home planet by 

liking the Facebook page at 

https://www.facebook.com/NASAHistoryOffice.

Find our collection of great images from NASA 

history at NASA on the Commons on Flickr: 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasacommons.

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