National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE

OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

Volume 37, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2020

IN THIS ISSUE:

1 From the Acting Chief Historian

1 Music for Mars: The Sojourner 

Wake-Up List and the 

Importance of a Collective 

Dream

5 News from Headquarters and 

the Centers

14 Stennis Space Center Test 

Complex Facilities Provide 

Critical Green Run Support

19 Other Aerospace History News

22 Upcoming Meetings

23 Moment in NASA History

FROM THE ACTING 

CHIEF HISTORIAN

I

n many ways, 2020 has proven to be one 

of the most challenging years on record. 

The onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic 

resulted in most NASA Centers moving to 

telework status as the number of cases in our 

surrounding communities rose dramatically. 

Across the NASA History Program, our capable historians and archivists worked diligently 

to sustain ongoing projects, respond to reference requests, and communicate our Agency’s 

incredible history to an interested public. The 

immense adversity presented by the crisis has 

not stopped the program’s activities, nor has 

it stopped the Agency from pressing forward 

in its twin missions of scientific discovery and 

space exploration.

On 30 July, the aptly named Mars Perseverance 

Rover launched from Kennedy Space Center 

en route to an 18 February 2021 landing on 

Mars’s Jezero Crater for a mission to look for 

signs of ancient life and collect samples for 

possible return to Earth. A remarkable first 

associated with the mission is the included 

experimental Mars Helicopter, Ingenuity—

the first-ever test of powered flight in the thin 

Martian atmosphere. On 22 October, the 

Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource 

Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer 

(OSIRIS-REx) mission team confirmed that 

the spacecraft had collected at least two ounces 

of material from the asteroid Bennu—material that would be returned to Earth with the 

goal of helping us investigate how planets 

formed and how life began. Just four days 

continued on next page

MUSIC FOR MARS: THE SOJOURNER 

WAKE-UP LIST AND THE IMPORTANCE 

OF A COLLECTIVE DREAM

By Alejandro Pérez, Summer 2020 Intern

The first NASA wake-up song ever, or at least, the first one we know of, is 

“Hello Dolly,” sung by Jack Jones, sent 

to space during the Gemini VI mission 

in 1965. Since then, we have continued sending songs to space throughout 

the Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, and Space 

Shuttle missions. Wake-up songs were 

present on the Apollo 12, 15, and 17 missions to the Moon. They were also present 

on STS-7, in which Sally Ride became 

the first American woman in space, and 

on STS-31, in which the Hubble Space 

Telescope was sent on its way to explore 

our universe. Overall, these songs have 

been a part of almost every discovery, 

record, accomplishment, and “first” in 

our history. And they have not been 

reserved solely for crewed missions, as 

they have also become an essential component of the rover journeys to Mars. At 

first, if we look through a logical lens, we 

might believe that this makes no sense whatsoever. Clearly a rover—unlike an 

astronaut—is programmed to wake up on its own and has no need or desire to 

be woken up by music. Despite this, Mission Control made the decision to send 

wake-up songs to Mars as a joke, but also as a way to continue the long-standing 

tradition ingrained into the NASA identity.

continued on page 4
2

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

From the Acting Chief Historian (continued)

later, on 26 October, scientists working with NASA’s 

Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy 

(SOFIA) confirmed, for the first time, the presence of 

water on the sunlit surface of the Moon. These three 

missions are just a few examples of the incredible body 

of work accomplished by the men and women who 

continue to persevere in the face of incredible adversity.

Captured on 20 October 2020 during the OSIRIS-REx mission’s TouchAnd-Go (TAG) sample collection event, this image shows the SamCam 

imager’s field of view at the moment before the NASA spacecraft touched 

down on asteroid Bennu’s surface. (Photo credits: NASA/Goddard/

University of Arizona)

In the area of human spaceflight, NASA’s Commercial 

Crew Program has achieved two historic flights to the 

International Space Station with the SpaceX Demo-2 

mission launch of NASA astronauts Robert Behnken 

and Douglas Hurley on 30 May and, most recently, 

the 15 November launch of Crew-1 aboard SpaceX’s 

Crew Dragon spacecraft. Demo-2 marked the first 

launch of American astronauts from American soil 

since the close of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011, 

while the Expedition 64 mission aboard Crew-1 saw 

pilot Victor Glover become the first African American 

astronaut selected for a long-duration stay aboard the 

International Space Station.

1 James Bridenstine, “Message from the Administrator,” 23 July 2020.

Glover’s historic milestone comes in a year of social 

conflict and racial protest taking place in the aftermath 

of the death of George Floyd on 25 May 2020. Earlier 

in the year, the NASA family was saddened by the 

24 February passing of Katherine Johnson, whose trailblazing work in Langley Research Center’s West Area 

Computing Section was portrayed in the film Hidden 

Figures. In June, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine 

announced that the Agency’s Headquarters building 

in Washington, DC, would be named after Mary W. 

Jackson, the first African American female engineer 

at NASA. As part of that announcement, Bridenstine 

remarked that “NASA facilities across the country are 

named after people who dedicated their lives to push 

the frontiers of the aerospace industry. The nation 

is beginning to awaken to the greater need to honor 

the full diversity of people who helped pioneer our 

great nation.” The following month, Bridenstine went 

a step further with the addition of “Inclusion” as 

a fifth NASA core value alongside Safety, Integrity, 

Teamwork, and Excellence.

THESE THREE MISSIONS ARE 

JUST A FEW EXAMPLES OF THE 

INCREDIBLE BODY OF WORK 

ACCOMPLISHED BY THE MEN 

AND WOMEN WHO CONTINUE 

TO PERSEVERE IN THE FACE OF 

INCREDIBLE ADVERSITY.

With the Agency firmly committed to ensuring that 

inclusion “remains a long-term focus...and becomes 

ingrained in the NASA family DNA,”1 the History 

Program Office is dedicated to applying this principle 

to our own activities and encouraging historians working in the field of space history to redouble our efforts 

to eliminate the historical silences surrounding the 
3

Volume 37, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2020

efforts of African Americans, women, 

and other previously marginalized 

groups and their substantial contributions to NASA’s critical missions. 

Our efforts in this endeavor should 

include a wider reexamination of 

past accomplishments, from the 

early crucible of the Cold War to 

the International Space Station, 

through expanded archival collections and oral history projects. In 

doing so, we stand in solidarity with 

the Administrator’s hope that we can 

“continue to accomplish great things 

for all of humanity.” It is easy to forget that the epic achievements of the 

Apollo program took place during 

one of the most tumultuous periods 

of American history that included 

the civil rights revolution and the 

Vietnam War. Today, as then, NASA 

holds the potential to inspire the 

country and the world with its 

achievements in science, exploration, 

and humanitarianism.

SpaceX Crew-1 pilot and Expedition 64 flight engineer Victor Glover of NASA sips on a water bag 

while familiarizing himself with systems and procedures during his first week aboard the International 

Space Station. (Photo credit: NASA)

Stay safe,

Brian C. Odom

Acting Chief Historian
4

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

Music for Mars: The Sojourner Wake-Up List and the Importance of a Collective Dream (continued)

Eight-image mosaic of the Sojourner rover acquired during day 2 of the Pathfinder mission. (Photo credit: NASA)

The first Martian wake-up songs were played for the 

Sojourner Rover as part of the Pathfinder mission that 

landed on Mars in 1997, which provided scientists 

with groundbreaking insights about the Red Planet, 

as well as substantial evidence that it was once warm, 

wet, and possibly habitable. When we first take a look 

at the list of songs played for the rover, it may seem 

as if they were chosen at random. After all, it is filled 

with reggae, samba, opera, jazz, rock, and every genre 

imaginable. However, when we take a closer look at 

the list as a whole, we realize that two themes prevail: the importance of teamwork and the importance 

of dreams.

Some songs that celebrate teamwork are “You’ve Got a 

Friend” by Randy Newman and “I’ll Be There for You” 

by The Rembrandts—the latter perhaps more commonly known as the theme song from the television 

sitcom Friends. In “You’ve Got a Friend,” Newman 

sings, “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you / We 

stick together and can see it through.” The entire song 

feels like an ode to self-sacrifice and to the notion that 

any hurdle can be surpassed with a little bit of support. 

The Rembrandts provide us with a similar message 

in “I’ll Be There for You,” singing, “I’ll be there for 

you / when the rain starts to pour.” These lyrics suggest 

that there is some kind of joy, or at least some kind 

of comfort, to be found in the 

fact that we can hold another 

person’s world together when 

they feel like it is falling apart. 

Ultimately, the songs on the 

Sojourner wake-up list remind 

us that there is beauty in helping and being able to count on 

others for help.

The list also provides us with 

encouragement to dream with 

songs such as “Obscured by 

Clouds” by Pink Floyd and 

“Dreams” by Van Halen. Pink 

Floyd tells us, “Ancient bonds 

are breaking...dreaming of a new day,” and with these 

words, he suggests that we should always have something to look forward to and that we can create the 

future we desire. Meanwhile, Van Halen sings, “[I]n 

the end on dreams we will depend,” and with these 

words, he tells us that dreams are like food or water 

or any form of sustenance—that without them, it is 

impossible to face any obstacle or reach any height.

If we look at the list of songs played for the Sojourner 

rover—and more broadly, at all the songs ever played 

in space—they clearly tell us to work as a team and 

to dream, but they also tell us more than that. They 

remind us of the importance of being a part of a 

collective dream that goes beyond the individual 

struggle. They tell us that if we dream together and 

work together, we can accomplish things that nobody 

would ever think possible. Ultimately, the songs that 

have been played in space may have been played for 

fun, but they also represent the ideology and spirit of 

an entire institution.

A chronological list of wake-up calls compiled by 

former NASA archivist Colin Fries can be found at 

https://history.nasa.gov/wakeup%20calls.pdf.
5

Volume 37, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2020

NEWS FROM HEADQUARTERS AND THE CENTERS

NASA HEADQUARTERS

Washington, DC

By Brian Odom

To say the History Program has experienced a lot of changes lately is quite the understatement. 

Bill Barry’s retirement from the position of Chief 

Historian in July was followed by Chief Archivist 

Robyn Rodgers’s move from NASA to Veterans Affairs. 

Luckily, we were able to bring in Holly McIntyre from 

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center archives to continue the excellent work started by Robyn during her 

tenure with the program. No one is better equipped to 

step up to the challenge than Holly, who, beyond her 

years of service with the National Archives, has built 

the Goddard archives from the ground up since 2016. 

Her efforts in the realm of digital archives will prove 

critical to the History Program Office’s goal of putting 

more of our archival collections into the hands of our 

researchers and space historians. For myself, I look 

forward to hearing from as many of you as possible 

during my term as acting Chief Historian.

Goddard archivist Holly McIntyre becomes the Chief Archivist for NASA 

Headquarters.

For those of you familiar with the Mission Support 

Future Architecture Program (MAP) activities at 

NASA (see “From the Chief Historian,” News & Notes, 

vol. 37, no. 2), the History Program Office continues 

its efforts to overcome shrinking budgets, inconsistent 

staffing, and fragmented structure and implement 

a new approach that realigns historical and archival 

resources into a thematic-based model capable of providing a baseline function to researchers and internal 

stakeholders. Our expectation is that this redistribution of resources will lead to better coordination 

across the Agency to fill gaps in our history and place 

ourselves in a better position to capture new history 

moving forward. The goal is to begin implementing 

this approach during the early part of next year.

As many of you have experienced by now, the COVID19 environment has caused much shifting of planned 

in-person events to online platforms. This has been 

the case with our own upcoming symposium scheduled for 18–19 March 2021, “NASA and the Rise of 

Commercial Space.” While originally scheduled to 

take place at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, 

the event will now take place via virtual platform. The 

deadline for the call for papers has been extended to 

1 January 2021. If you are interested in submitting a 

proposal for the event or are interested in “attending,” 

more information is located on the website https://

www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/history/nasa-and-therise-of-commercial-space-symposium.html.

Speaking of online resources, it was recently announced 

that the web page for To Boldly Preserve is now up 

and running here: http://www.toboldlypreserve.space/. 

This effort stems from an initial National Science 

Foundation–sponsored March 2018 conference 

developed with the goal of “encouraging domestic 

and international space actors to collect and preserve 

aerospace history by formulating pragmatic historical and policy justifications as well as archiving best 

practices, models, and support networks aimed at 

the preservation of this unique experience.” Anyone 
6

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

interested in understanding the challenges historians 

and archivists face documenting contemporary history 

and eliminating profound silences in the archival and 

historical records is encouraged to visit the site.

The History Program Office’s monthly “brown bag” 

talks continued to bring new space history research to 

a growing audience over the past three months. The 

program for this past quarter included several stimulating talks from across the discipline. On 16 August, 

historian Bill Causey gave a presentation on his recent 

book, John Houbolt: The Unsung Hero of the Apollo 

Moon Landings, tracing how NASA’s Langley Research 

Center’s John C. Houbolt developed “lunar orbit rendezvous,” or LOR—a plan Houbolt viewed as being a 

safer, cheaper, more reliable, and faster alternative to 

previous ideas. Despite being ignored, then criticized, 

and finally dismissed by many senior NASA managers, 

Houbolt persisted, risking his career in the face of overwhelming opposition.

DESPITE BEING IGNORED, THEN 

CRITICIZED, AND FINALLY 

DISMISSED BY MANY SENIOR 

NASA MANAGERS, HOUBOLT 

PERSISTED, RISKING HIS 

CAREER IN THE FACE OF OVERWHELMING OPPOSITION.

Lisa Ruth Rand, a Haas Postdoctoral Fellow at the 

Science History Institute in Philadelphia, followed 

in September with her talk, “A Limited Natural 

Resource: Environmental Sovereignty in GEO.” Rand 

explored how the first satellite to reach geostationary 

orbit (GEO) shrank the planet in space and time, 

facilitating instantaneous, uninterrupted broadcasts 

across unprecedented distances. Twelve years later, a 

coalition of equatorial nations claimed sovereignty 

over GEO. The Bogotá Declaration of 1976 aimed to 

redefine the spatial boundaries of Earthliness and, in 

doing so, formalized ongoing criticism among representatives of developing nations that characterized the 

Outer Space Treaty as a tool of hegemony drafted by 

and for the benefit of wealthy, industrialized nations.

In her talk on 16 September, “Through Astronaut 

Eyes: Photography from Early Human Spaceflight,” 

National Air and Space Museum curator Jennifer 

Levasseur presented the story of how human daring, 

along with technological ingenuity, allowed people to 

see Earth and the stars as they never had before. She 

noted how photographs from the Mercury, Gemini, 

and Apollo programs tell powerful and compelling 

stories that continue to have cultural resonance to this 

day, not just for what they revealed about the spaceflight experience, but also as products of a larger visual 

rhetoric of exploration. The photographs tell us as 

much about space and the astronauts who took them 

as their reception to an American culture undergoing 

radical change throughout the turbulent 1960s.

On 14 October, retired astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan 

recounted her experience as part of the team that 

launched, rescued, repaired, and maintained the 

Hubble Space Telescope, detailed in her recent book 

Handprints on Hubble: An Astronaut’s Story of Invention. 

Sullivan explored how the Hubble Space Telescope has 

revolutionized our understanding of the universe by 

revealing thousands of galaxies in what seemed to be 

empty patches of sky, transforming our knowledge of 

black holes, locating dwarf planets with moons orbiting other stars, and measuring precisely how fast the 

universe is expanding. Sullivan described her work on 

the NASA team that made all this possible. Sullivan, 

the first American woman to walk in space, recounted 

how she and other astronauts, engineers, and scientists 

launched, rescued, repaired, and maintained Hubble, 

the most productive observatory ever built.

Bill Ayrey, a historian and former employee of ILC 

Dover, spoke to our virtual audience on 28 October. 

In his talk, “Lunar Outfitters: Making the Apollo 
7

Volume 37, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2020

Space Suit,” Ayrey remembered how President John. 

F. Kennedy’s proposal that this county land a man on 

the Moon and return him safely challenged NASA 

and industry since many of the advanced technologies had yet to be invented. This challenge included 

developing the space suits we would need to operate 

in the vacuum of space and walk on the Moon. Two 

well-respected aerospace organizations had experience 

making high-altitude pressure suits, but only a couple 

of engineers from a relatively unknown company had 

set their sights on developing a true spacesuit with 

high mobility. This situation constantly challenged 

NASA and the team at ILC Industries who were developing the new suit.

Finally, Roland Miller presented his and International 

Space Station (ISS) astronaut Paolo Nespoli’s photography that forms the core of their work Interior Space: 

Preserving the History and Culture of the International 

Space Station Through Photographic Interpretation. 

Miller noted that while there are countless photographs of Earth from the ISS, there is a dearth of 

images that intentionally document and interpret the 

interior of the ISS itself. As in any environment, life 

aboard the ISS affects astronauts socially, physically, 

and mentally. There is a need to examine the cultural, 

social, historical, and even aesthetic aspects of the ISS 

environment. Investigating this environment through 

photography and from artistic and sociological perspectives is critical to this goal.

A view of clouds and ocean through the windows of the Cupola on the International Space Station in 2017. (Photo credit: Paolo Nespoli and Roland Miller; 

image courtesy of NASA)

Last, but certainly not least, lots of projects are at 

various stages of development at the moment. One 

example of work just getting started is a history of 

the Explorers Program, NASA’s long-running program designed to “provide frequent flight opportunities for world-class scientific investigations from 

space utilizing innovative, streamlined and efficient 

management approaches within the heliophysics and 

astrophysics science areas.” Opportunities have ranged 
8

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

from the first launch of Explorer 1 on 1 January 

1958 to the upcoming launch of the Imaging X-ray 

Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) scheduled to launch on 

21 October 2021.

In more forthcoming news, Chris Gainor’s Not Yet 

Imagined: A Study of Hubble Space Telescope Operations

is scheduled to arrive at the printer any day now! 

Not Yet Imagined documents the history of Hubble 

from its launch through its first 30 years of operation 

in space. It focuses on the interactions among the 

general public, astronomers, engineers, government 

officials, and members of Congress during that time. 

The decision-making behind the changes in Hubble’s 

instrument packages on servicing missions that made 

it a model of supranational cooperation amongst scientists is chronicled, along with Hubble’s contributions to our knowledge about our solar system, our 

galaxy, and our universe. The book also covers the 

impact of Hubble and the images it produces on the 

public’s appreciation of the universe, as well as how 

Hubble has changed the ways astronomy is done. 

Congratulations to Chris and the editorial staff for 

bringing this excellent book to the finish line.

Headquarters Intern Update

The NASA History Headquarters interns this fall have 

had a slightly different internship than their predecessors. Since their internship is funded through the 

Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS), each intern is 

responsible for a specific historical research project 

that is supervised by OCS. Here is a description of 

each of their projects in their own words:

Jade Fischer—Massachusetts 

Institute of Technology (MIT)

I’m researching historical mission costs and the mission proposal evaluation process for the Discovery 

and New Frontiers programs. Each mission has a 

stated cost cap in its Announcement of Opportunity 

(AO), but this cap includes different aspects across 

missions. For example, in some missions, the stated 

cost cap covers the expendable launch vehicle (ELV) 

while in others it does not. Therefore, to reach cost 

caps that can be compared across missions, I’m 

accounting for these differences and for inflation. I’m 

further researching how the mission proposal evaluation process has changed over time. This involves 

tracking the quantity and topics of the strengths and 

weaknesses noted in proposal evaluation documents 

for each mission. My research will inform future 

budget decisions and the proposal evaluation process 

moving forward.

THE NASA HISTORY 

HEADQUARTERS INTERNS THIS 

FALL HAVE HAD A SLIGHTLY 

DIFFERENT INTERNSHIP THAN 

THEIR PREDECESSORS. SINCE 

THEIR INTERNSHIP IS FUNDED 

THROUGH THE OFFICE OF 

THE CHIEF SCIENTIST (OCS), 

EACH INTERN IS RESPONSIBLE 

FOR A SPECIFIC HISTORICAL 

RESEARCH PROJECT THAT IS 

SUPERVISED BY OCS.

Felicia Ragucci—Dartmouth College

My research topic is a NASA facility with a rich history 

and role in the American space program. The Neutral 

Buoyancy Simulator (NBS), located at Marshall Space 

Flight Center, was in operation from 1968 to 1997 

and is a National Historic Landmark. This 75-foot[-]

wide, 40-foot[-]deep pool once held 1.3 million gallons of water, where neutrally buoyant pressure-suited 

subjects found themselves in conditions mimicking 

those of low-gravity space. Among its many contributions, the NBS was used to develop procedures to 

save Skylab and evaluate on-orbit maintenance of the 

Hubble Space Telescope. From a historical perspective, my research aims to understand, document, and 

analyze the NBS as a NASA facility. Why are facilities important? How are they utilized? What lessons 
9

Volume 37, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2020

can they teach us? I am working with Chief Scientist 

Dr. Jim Green—who dove in the tank as a safety diver 

in the 1980s—on an eBook that will explore these 

questions. During the first part of my internship, I 

immersed myself in the history of the NBS by tracking its activities for the nearly three decades it was in 

operation. Using the Marshall Star archive and other 

sources, I created a 50-page timeline of events. More 

recently, I transcribed a couple [of ] existing interviews about the NBS and have been working on an 

interview strategy to capture the varied perspectives of 

engineers, astronauts, technicians, and divers. Going 

forward, I am excited to conduct interviews and also 

explore the online archive of visual material associated 

with the NBS.

Loren Stephens—Smith College

I’m a senior at Smith College studying astronomy 

and museum studies (and taking a semester off while 

working with the History Office). This fall, along with 

posting to History Office social media, I’m working 

on a new research project with the Office of the Chief 

Scientist. The project covers the telescopes known as 

the Great Observatories—Hubble, Chandra X-Ray 

[Observatory], Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory, 

and Spitzer Infrared Telescope—and focuses on the 

sociopolitical dimensions of how they came to be. 

These four telescopes have contributed an immense 

amount of data and knowledge to our image of the 

universe, and have [ ] much to teach us about how 

science happens on a political and interpersonal level 

and maybe also about how we want to make it happen 

in the future.

Because there’s just an incredible amount of information to cover and I’m the first intern on the project, 

my main job this fall is collecting information, including interviewing some of the many people who had a 

hand in creating the observatories. Even though I’m 

only with the project for a relatively short time, I’m 

excited about what the project (which likely will end 

up as a book, but even that is up in the air) can say, the 

foundation I can build for it, and all the stories I can 

hear along the way.

AMES RESEARCH CENTER (ARC)

Moffett Field, California

By April Gage and James Anderson

As NASA celebrates two decades of continuous 

human presence on the International Space Station 

(ISS) this year, it seems fitting to highlight the Ames 

Life Sciences Data Archive (ALSDA). The repository 

is primarily used by the science community but also 

offers a treasure trove of information for the adventurous historical researcher willing to think outside the 

proverbial box. ALSDA holds numerous collections 

relating to more than 900 life-science experiments, 

starting with the Gemini program and extending 

to work conducted aboard the ISS over the past 

20 years. It also holds the world’s largest repository 

of non-human space biology samples from NASAsupported research studies dating back to 1979. Most 

samples originated from experiments carried out on 

the Space Shuttle and the ISS, but ALSDA also contains samples from cooperative United States–Soviet 

Union (now Russian) investigations aboard Russian 

biosatellites. While the actual nuts and bolts of the 

hard science data may not be of primary significance 

to the typical historical researcher, the documentation 

contextualizing these data is of broader interest in 

providing authoritative information about missions, 

personnel, hardware, science objectives, and results. 

On the public-facing platform (https://lsda.jsc.nasa.

gov/), one can perform a broad keyword search for 

information in the database or a complex query across 

multiple search criteria within any of eight modules. 

In addition, there is a mechanism for users to request 

assistance with their research inquiries from the repository team. NASA encourages the use of this vast accumulation of information, which has supported research 

efforts worldwide that advance efforts toward enabling 

long-duration spaceflight while solving biomedical 

problems on Earth. For example, the investigative 

gains toward mitigating bone loss in microgravity can 

also translate into treating conditions such as osteoporosis. Beyond science applications, the wealth of 

information has been mined and used in historical 

research and, believe it or not, even science-themed 

art projects.
10

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

ALSDA is but one node of NASA’s Life Sciences Data 

Archive (LSDA), which is headquartered at Johnson 

Space Center. As a whole, LSDA repositories hold 

nearly 60 years of research data and information for 

spaceflight and associated ground-control investigations involving human, microbial, cellular, plant, 

and animal subjects. These data are collected from 

investigations funded by the Agency’s Space Biology 

and Human Research Programs. The LSDA archives 

are allied with related repositories, such as NASA’s 

GeneLab at Ames, which collects genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic data from a variety of model organisms.

In addition to managing the Ames History Archives, 

archivists Danielle K. Lopez and April Gage are on the 

team of archivists, scientists, and engineers supporting 

the ALSDA.

In other news, Center Historian James Anderson 

designed an oral history project called Voices of Ames, 

which was proposed at the Ames Innovation Fair at the 

end of August and named one of the seven awardees. 

The Ames Innovation Fair is held through the Ames 

Office of the Chief Scientist and aims to identify and 

provide resources to innovative projects that advance 

NASA’s goals. The theme of the project is to capture 

the present ongoing historic moment from the point 

of view of the Ames workforce, documenting in their 

voices how their work and lives have adapted and 

changed in 2020 since the onset of the COVID-19 

pandemic. This effort also intends to expand the representation of the Ames workforce in our archives and, 

by extension, our Center’s future histories.

NASA astronaut Jessica Meir installs bone densitometer hardware on the International Space Station to support a Rodent Research 19 experiment 

designed to investigate two proteins that may prevent muscle and bone loss in space. (Photo credit: NASA)
11

Volume 37, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2020

ARMSTRONG FLIGHT RESEARCH 

CENTER (AFRC)

Edwards Air Force Base, California

By Christian Gelzer

Christian Gelzer published “Steam to the Rescue: 

The NACA, NASA, and RCS” in Quest, vol.  27, 

no. 4, 2020. The article looks at the development 

of reaction control systems (RCS) by the National 

Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) starting 

in 1954. The system was developed for the X-15’s 

exo-atmospheric flights, relying on 80–90 percent 

hydrogen peroxide by solution. So successful was 

the RCS that NASA employed it in its entirety on 

Mercury capsules. Later RCS on Gemini and Apollo 

was a propellant with a higher specific impulse (Isp).

Christian taught five different classes (one per day) 

at a grade school in Lancaster (remotely, of course), 

focusing on the life, work, and conditions of NACA 

and NASA research pilots and astronauts.

JOHNSON SPACE CENTER (JSC)

Houston, Texas

By John Uri

The Johnson Space Center History Office continues to 

operate largely in a teleworking mode. At the outset of 

the pandemic, on 14 March 2020, JSC entered Stage 2 

of NASA’s response framework, highly encouraging 

those employees whose job responsibilities allowed 

them to telework to do so. Three days later, as cases in 

the JSC area surged, the Center transitioned to Stage 3, 

mandating telework except for mission-critical and 

mission-essential personnel. The Center remained at 

Stage 3 through the spring and summer, but as the 

number of COVID-19 cases in the area declined in 

the early fall, JSC met the criteria to return to Stage 2 

on 19 October 2020. An additional 900 employees 

were eligible to return to the Center, if they were comfortable doing so. John Uri was included in that group 

and divides his time between on-site and remote work. 

A transition to Stage 1, a fully open Center, is not 

expected in the foreseeable future. Because of the 

continuing high number of COVID-19 cases in their 

area, JSC’s White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, 

New Mexico, remains at Stage 3. Impacts to the JSC 

History Office from the COVID-19 pandemic and 

the continued remote work environment preclude 

our ability to sponsor interns, as the Center is hiring interns only for virtual projects and our activities 

require an on-site presence.

Former NASA astronaut Robert L. “Hoot” Gibson recently participated in 

JSC’s Oral History Project . (Photo credit: NASA)

Following the temporary suspension of face-to-face 

interviews for the Oral History Project due to the 

pandemic, Jennifer Ross-Nazzal and Sandra Johnson 

have resumed conducting interviews both in person, with appropriate safety protocols in place, and 

in the Microsoft (MS) Teams environment. Recent 

interviewees included former astronaut Robert L. 

“Hoot” Gibson and Kent Slayton, son of Mercury 7 

and Apollo-Soyuz Test Project astronaut Donald K. 

“Deke” Slayton. Jennifer and Sandra continue to process transcripts from already-completed interviews 

to be able to add them to the JSC History Portal as 

soon as the interviewees approve them for release. 

During this time, the team is also taking advantage of 
12

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

opportunities to attend virtual conferences, webinars, 

and other training and enrichment events.

The JSC History Office continues to work to prepare 

Jennifer’s book Making Space for Women for publication by the Texas A&M University Press. Using the 

oral history narratives of 21 women, this pathbreaking 

work looks at women’s challenges and opportunities 

at JSC over the past 50 years. We eagerly anticipate 

the publication of this unique and important volume 

that will make a significant contribution to the field of 

women and spaceflight.

The JSC History Office continues to respond to 

numerous research requests from a variety of sources 

as the need for historical research appears unaffected 

by the pandemic. The team responded to requests 

from within NASA, such as the NASA Headquarters 

History Office, NASA’s Freedom of Information Act 

(FOIA) Office, and JSC’s Safety and Mission Assurance 

Directorate and External Relations Office (ERO), as 

well as those from outside the Agency, such as universities, academies, and museums. Sandra provided audio 

clips from oral histories to several requestors.

We are nearing the rollout of the JSC COVID Oral 

History Project website. Sandra continues to spearhead this effort to gather information in real time 

from the JSC community about the impacts from the 

coronavirus pandemic. The web-based system will 

capture personal experiences, stories, and multimedia 

submissions provided by employees on the internal JSC Knowledge Management website. The JSC 

History Office will archive the information for future 

research and use it as the first step for a follow-up oral 

history project to capture how this unprecedented 

event affected people, processes, and procedures across 

the Center.

Sandra and John met on MS Teams with the National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) 

oral historian and her manager at their request to 

discuss possible collaboration. In her original e-mail 

to us, the NOAA oral historian stated, “I recently 

came across the JSC oral history project and was so 

impressed with the collection’s breadth and scope.... 

Your interviews would be a valuable and important 

addition to the collection. Most of the database comes 

from outside institutions looking to expand the access 

and use of their oral history interviews to scholars, 

students, and the general public.” They provided an 

overview of the NOAA’s Voices Oral History Archives 

project (https://voices.nmfs.noaa.gov/); we described 

the JSC Oral History Project; and we jointly discussed 

the challenges of conducting oral histories in the 

federal government. We directed them to the four 

interviews with former NASA astronaut and NOAA 

Administrator Kathryn D. Sullivan, as well as the 

Earth System Science interviews. The sharing of the 

two agencies’ oral history projects’ contents will be of 

mutual benefit to both organizations.

The JSC History Office actively participated in an effort 

led by JSC’s ERO to commemorate key moments 

culminating with the 20th anniversary of permanent 

occupancy of the International Space Station (ISS) 

on 2 November 2020. Recent articles contributed 

features about food on the ISS and assembly missions to prepare the ISS for crew occupancy, and they 

described the preparations of the first ISS expedition 

crew for its historic launch to the ISS.

We continue to work with the JSC ERO to publish 

a series of articles commemorating other significant 

historical milestones, such as the 50th anniversaries 

of Apollo 14 and follow-on Moon landing missions, 

as well as the 40th anniversary of STS-1 in April 

2021. The content appears on the www.nasa.gov 

website and JSC’s Facebook and Twitter accounts. 

Select articles appear as features on JSC’s Roundup 

Reads, and abstracts of the articles appear in Roundup 

Today, JSC’s online daily newsletter. The features often 

highlight the anniversaries of less heralded events and 

people that were nevertheless important in the various 

spaceflight endeavors. We would like to thank history and archive personnel at other NASA Centers for 

their valued help and contributions to many of these 

products. In early August, we reached a significant 

milestone with the publication of the 300th article 

since the series began in August 2017.
13

Volume 37, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2020

MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER 

(MSFC)

Huntsville, Alabama

By Brian Odom

While the History Office continues to perform our operations off-site due to the continuation of the COVID19 pandemic, lots of important work continues. One 

important project is a collaborative attempt to develop 

a comprehensive list of all the employees, civil servant 

and contractor, who have contributed to the incredible 

work accomplished at the Center. As part of this project, 

the Marshall Space Flight Center Retirees Association 

is seeking biographical information of past and present 

Center employees for a memorial it is planning that will 

honor those who made more than six decades of U.S. 

space exploration possible.

The memorial will contain engraved names of all 

Marshall civil servants since the Center opened in 

1960. The names of Marshall-associated companies 

and representations of some of the Center’s bestknown rockets and spacecraft will also be engraved on 

the memorial.

Retiree association members, along with representatives from Marshall and the University of Alabama 

in Huntsville, have created an online database that 

contains the names of 22,000 current and former 

employees. Memorial organizers request that past and 

present Marshall civil servants verify their names and 

add biographical information to the database by visiting https://www.marshallretirees.org.

Accessible beside the memorial, the online database 

will display the names of the civil servants and the 

companies, along with the location of the names on 

the memorial. Additionally, the names of all known 

employees from Marshall-associated companies will 

also be listed in the online database. Memorial organizers are working with the contractor community to 

identify their relevant employees. Later phases of the 

memorial will add dynamic water fountains showing 

1 Adapted from a 22 April 2020 Marshall Star story: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/about/star/star200422.html.

the power of rockets conceived in Huntsville—including the Redstone, Saturn I, Saturn V, Space Shuttle 

rockets, and Space Launch System (SLS).

An illustration of the proposed Space Exploration Memorial at the U.S. 

Space & Rocket Center. The memorial would honor past and present 

Marshall employees and companies. (Image credit: Fuqua & Partners 

Architects)

Former Marshall Acting Director Gene Goldman is 

among the retiree association members leading this 

memorial project. He noted the Center’s role in 

vital programs, missions, and technology for NASA, 

including Apollo, the Lunar Roving Vehicle, Skylab, 

the Space Shuttle, Spacelab, the International Space 

Station, and the world’s most powerful space telescopes. “Marshall and the Huntsville community 

have made an invaluable contribution to our nation’s 

leadership in space exploration,” Goldman said. “A 

lasting memorial will be a most appropriate way to 

honor that legacy, as well as to teach and inspire future 

generations of explorers.”1
14

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

STENNIS SPACE CENTER TEST COMPLEX FACILITIES 

PROVIDE CRITICAL GREEN RUN SUPPORT

By C. Lacy Thompson

PART I

I

t is tempting to say that it takes a village to conduct 

a large propulsion test. However, “it takes a city” 

would be closer to the truth. When the core stage 

of NASA’s new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket—

with its four RS-25 engines—is test-fired at Stennis 

Space Center, test complex 

support facilities will be 

called on to supply city-level 

supplies of electricity, water, 

high-pressure gases, and 

propellants. All must work in 

careful concert.

IT IS TEMPTING TO SAY 

THAT IT TAKES A VILLAGE 

TO CONDUCT A LARGE PROPULSION TEST. HOWEVER, 

‘IT TAKES A CITY’ WOULD BE 

CLOSER TO THE TRUTH.

The four-engine hot fire will 

conclude a series of Green 

Run core stage tests and mark 

the biggest milestone yet in 

the march to the next great 

era of human space exploration. NASA will use the SLS to launch Artemis 

program missions to return humans, including the 

first woman, to the Moon and to prepare for eventual 

missions to Mars.

Two Stennis support facilities will play essential roles: 

the High-Pressure Industrial Water (HPIW) Facility 

and the High Pressure Gas Facility (HPGF).

The Stennis HPIW facility fills two critical propulsion test needs, most notably water. Rocket engines 

and stages are tested in the same way they are fired 

during a launch. During a test, the engine or stage 

is anchored into place on a large stand, with exhaust 

directed outward by an L-shaped steel flame deflector. 

The exhaust can reach 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit, hot 

enough to melt the steel. NASA uses water to keep 

that from happening.

A single rocket engine test requires more than 200,000 

gallons of water per minute, piped to the stand and 

sprayed through thousands of small holes into the 

flame deflector to protect it. When the pressurized 

water hits the exhaust, it turns to a cloud of steam. 

Some water also is held in reserve in case of a fire 

or mishap.

For the Green Run hot fire, 

more than 300,000 gallons 

of water per minute will be 

needed. In addition to protecting the flame deflector 

and providing fire protection, 

some water will be sprayed 

around the core stage to 

dampen the noise and vibrations that accompany a test. 

The noise and vibrations are 

loud and intense enough to 

damage a stage. A curtain of 

water will help prevent that.

The water will be drawn from a 66-million-gallon 

reservoir and piped through 96-inch pipes from the 

HPIW facility, using 10 large diesel pumps from the 

1960s and 1 new electric pump. Each diesel pump 

provides more than 10 times the horsepower of a 

typical pickup truck. The water is pumped at about 

300 psi, compared to the 60 psi most city water pipes 

use. That pressure has to be constant—and monitored 

carefully. Otherwise, serious piping and stand damage 

can occur.

In addition to water, the HPIW facility will provide 

the electricity needed to conduct the core stage hot 

fire. A propulsion test is a precise operation; any deviation in process can be costly. This is very true when 

it comes to power. Relying on the commercial power 
15

Volume 37, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2020

grid puts a test at the risk of a blackout, brownout, or 

power glitch when a bird perhaps hits a transformer. 

Even a small interruption in power supply—a mere 

second or less—can disrupt or scuttle a test and prove 

very costly.

Stennis avoids the risk by shifting test complex power 

from the commercial grid to four generators housed 

in the HPIW facility. Each of the four generators 

can produce up to 1.5 kilowatts of power. They are 

original equipment from the 1960s, but their control 

systems and switches have been upgraded through 

the years. Facility teams also have incorporated procedures to ensure that they are operating efficiently. 

The generators are connected to the test complexes 

through underground cables, offering another level of 

protection from disruption.

The HPGF is responsible for providing the gaseous 

nitrogen, helium, and hydrogen, as well as the 

missile-grade air, needed for pressurizing test complexes, purging lines and systems, operating valves, 

and pushing propellant to barges and test stands. Its 

network includes miles of piping needed to maintain 

systems and support test activity.

The HPGF has not ceased operations since the 1960s. 

Propulsion test systems cannot be turned on and 

off like a piece of lawn equipment but must maintain constant pressures and ongoing flows to ensure 

system integrity.

System depressurization could contaminate countless 

pipes and components. Recovery could cost millions.

The massive core stage for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is in the B-2 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, 

Mississippi, for the core stage Green Run test series. NASA and Boeing, the core stage lead contractor, installed the stage into the test stand in January 

2020. The core stage Green Run test series is an important step toward safely launching SLS and NASA’s Orion spacecraft beyond Earth’s orbit to the 

Moon for the Agency’s Artemis program. The 212-foot-tall rocket stage—the largest stage the Agency has ever produced—contains the cryogenic liquid 

hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks that will feed four RS-25 rocket engines, along with the vehicle’s avionics and flight computers. The comprehensive 

test campaign will validate the core stage design and ensure that it is ready for the first and future Artemis missions to the Moon. (Photo credit: NASA)
16

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

The HPGF ensures that the gases needed to maintain 

the systems are available. The facility receives helium 

in gaseous form, but hydrogen and nitrogen arrive in 

liquid form, are pumped to high pressure, then are 

vaporized and distributed through the piping network. 

Air is collected from the atmosphere, then scrubbed 

and cleaned through compressors to the missile-grade 

purity needed.

Core stage testing poses a particular challenge for the 

HPGF, which underwent several modifications to 

provide the high volume of high-pressure nitrogen 

needed. The modifications have been completed and 

tested to ensure that they are ready to support core 

stage operations. For core stage hot fire, the HPGF 

will provide the following:

Gaseous nitrogen. Core stage testing will use considerably more gaseous nitrogen than during a typical 

large engine test—about 12 and a half times more on 

test day and 4 to 5 times more for post-test activities. 

Some gas will be used to pressurize propellant tanks, 

maintain a clean system before and after testing, and 

actuate valves. For core stage testing, the bulk of the 

gaseous nitrogen will travel from the HPGF to the 

B-2 Test Stand through a 1.5-mile-long pipeline, then 

through five heaters, with heating capacity equivalent 

to the energy needed to light 6,000 New Orleans 

streetlights. The heated gas will be piped into core 

stage sections to help keep the compartments and 

their sensitive electronics warm and dry from the chill 

and moisture of the super-cold propellants used for 

testing. Following testing, gaseous nitrogen also will 

be used to dry the core stage’s four RS-25 engines.

Gaseous helium. Core stage testing will use about 

25 times more gaseous helium than usual, primarily 

because the core stage and its propellant tanks use 

helium, instead of gaseous hydrogen or nitrogen, for 

pressurization. Helium is also used to make the hydrogen tank inert post-test.

High-pressure air. Core stage testing will require more 

high-pressure air than usual, primarily to purge electrical boxes and the 100 or so cameras on the stand. Air 

also is used by B-2 stand systems and can be used as 

part of the engine-drying sequence in lieu of nitrogen.

Gaseous hydrogen. A small amount of gaseous hydrogen will be needed to warm vent lines and push fluid 

in propellant transfer lines back to the barges.

PART II

When it comes to rocket propulsion testing, a variety 

of test complex facilities and personnel are involved. 

For instance, the on-site High Pressure Gas Facility 

and High Pressure Industrial Water Facility supply 

megaloads of gases and water that are critical for any 

propulsion test.

For the Green Run hot fire of the first flight core stage 

of NASA’s new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, 

two other Stennis facilities also will deliver key support—the E Test Complex and the Cryogenic Storage 

Facility. The E Test Complex will help deliver gaseous 

nitrogen for the test. The cryogenic area will supply 

liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen to fuel the test.

The four-engine hot fire will conclude a series of Green 

Run core stage tests and mark the biggest milestone 

yet in the march to the next great era of human space 

exploration. NASA will use SLS to launch Artemis 

program missions to return humans, including the 

first woman, to the Moon and to prepare for eventual 

missions to Mars.

E Test Complex

The E Test Complex at Stennis was constructed to 

support propulsion development programs in the 

late 1980s and early 1990s. The versatile, three-stand 

complex includes seven test cells capable of testing 

that involves ultra-high-pressure gases and cryogenic 

fluids. While the High Pressure Gas Facility supplies 

the bulk of gases needed for propulsion system testing 

at Stennis, some E-1 Test Stand projects require gaseous nitrogen at higher pressures than the facility can 

provide. For that reason, the E complex has a built-in 

capability that allows it to pump and store gaseous 

nitrogen at the higher pressures.
17

Volume 37, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2020

The Green Run hot fire will require copious amounts 

of gaseous nitrogen throughout a 24-hour period. To 

help meet that demand, the E complex will use its 

built-in capability to provide additional nitrogen to 

the site system to keep up with the pressure and flow 

rate demands from the core stage. The nitrogen will be 

stored in bottles at the E-1 stand prior to test day. On 

test day, a team of E complex personnel will configure 

the system to allow the stored gas to flow through 

pressure-reducing stations and back into the site system as needed.

In addition to the nitrogen, the E complex will provide supplemental gaseous helium to the sitewide system for hot-fire support. A pair of helium compressors 

mounted on mobile trailers are being installed and 

activated at the E-3 Test Stand to provide this capability. The equipment is expected to be installed by the 

end of the month and will be activated prior to the 

wet dress rehearsal test that precedes the actual Green 

Run hot fire.

E complex personnel have participated in several dryrun stress-test scenarios to make sure that teams and 

equipment are all set. The tests helped identify equipment that needed to be replaced or improved, as well 

as critical spare equipment needed on hand for test 

day. On test day, about 16 to 20 people will provide 

the 24-hour support needed prior to, during, and after 

the hot-fire test.

“The team has done a great job identifying and correcting any issues found during the stress tests to ensure 

the E complex systems are ready to support,” said 

Stephen Rawls, NASA E-3 Test Stand director. “It’s 

hard to put into words the feelings I have to be part 

of such an amazing team at Stennis and to be part 

of making history. The Green Run test will be the 

culmination of countless hours of hard work put in by 

a diverse group of Stennis team members to make it a 

success. No challenge is too big for us when we work 

as a team.”

At Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, liquid hydrogen tanks that supported Space Shuttle launches for 30 years have been sandblasted, 

repaired, and repainted. Along with the liquid oxygen storage vessel, the two tanks are designed to store super-cold propellants. They were refurbished to 

support NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and other launch vehicles. (Photo credit: NASA)

Cryogenic Storage Facility

Four RS-25 engines will power the SLS rocket at 

launch. While these RS-25 engines will help power the 

Space Launch System, the Cryogenic Storage Facility 

at Stennis helps power the engines during Green Run 
18

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

hot fire. The area is responsible for storing, handling, 

transporting, and delivering the liquid oxygen and 

liquid hydrogen used as the RS-25 engine propellant.

Liquid hydrogen is the actual fuel. The element with 

the lowest molecular weight, it burns with extreme 

intensity. Combined with an oxidizer (liquid oxygen), 

liquid hydrogen is the 

most efficient propellant 

available, providing more 

thrust per pound of fuel 

than any other option.

Testing a single RS-25 

engine requires more than 

100,000 gallons of combined propellant. That 

demand is multiplied 

for the Green Run hot 

fire, which will consume 

610,000 gallons of liquid 

hydrogen and 270,000 

gallons of liquid oxygen. 

The wet dress rehearsal 

test prior to hot fire will 

require even more—about 900,000 combined gallons—as operators simulate at least a 2-hour hold, 

which will require extended propellant flow.

TESTING A SINGLE RS-25 

ENGINE REQUIRES MORE 

THAN 100,000 GALLONS OF 

COMBINED PROPELLANT. THAT 

DEMAND IS MULTIPLIED FOR 

THE GREEN RUN HOT FIRE, 

WHICH WILL CONSUME 610,000 

GALLONS OF LIQUID HYDROGEN 

AND 270,000 GALLONS OF 

LIQUID OXYGEN.

On test day, the Cryogenic Storage Facility will use 

three liquid hydrogen barges, each loaded to 115 percent capacity (260,000 gallons each) and five liquid 

oxygen barges, each loaded with 98,000 gallons. The 

volumes differ due to the respective atomic weights of 

the propellants. However, each barge essentially holds 

about 24 tractor-trailer loads of its particular cryogenic.

Handling the cryogenics is a careful process. Both are 

stored at extremely low temperatures: –297 degrees 

Fahrenheit for liquid oxygen and –423 degrees 

Fahrenheit for liquid hydrogen. Each step of loading 

and unloading a barge with cryogenics must be performed with great care.

It normally takes three to four days to load each barge 

to capacity; that process will be completed prior to 

test day. All maintenance and checkouts also will be 

completed. The barges 

will be moved from the 

storage area to the B-2 

Test Stand prior to test day, 

transported by a single tug 

boat on the Stennis canal 

waterway. It takes 2 or 3 

hours to disconnect and 

move a single barge.

Once in place, the barges 

will be connected to stand 

piping and used to help fill 

the large core stage propellant tanks and replenish the 28,000-gallon 

ground-based storage tank 

at the stand. There will be 

little propellant to spare, less than 10 percent. Teams 

must address any issues quickly to avoid running out 

of propellant. The transfer procedure must be precisely timed and carefully controlled to provide the 

specific flow rate needed during different phases of the 

loading process.

“The biggest challenge in supporting the Green Run 

hot fire is making sure our barges are ready to support the test without any problems,” said Billy Davis, 

assistant operation manager at the Cryogenic Storage 

Facility and High Pressure Gas Facility. “We only have 

three liquid hydrogen barges so we can’t afford to have 

one go down.”
19

Volume 37, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2020

OTHER AEROSPACE HISTORY NEWS

AMERICAN ASTRONAUTICAL SOCIETY 

(AAS) HISTORY COMMITTEE

By Michael Ciancone

2019 Emme Award for Astronautical Literature

The Emme Award, named for NASA’s first Chief 

Historian, recognizes outstanding books that advance 

public understanding of astronautics based on originality, scholarship, and readability. The Emme Award 

Panel, chaired by Dr. Don Elder, is in the process 

of reviewing submitted titles. Other members of the 

Panel are Dr. Rick Sturdevant, Dr. Jennifer Levasseur, 

and Dr. De Witt Kilgore.

AAS has announced the 2019 winners of the Emme 

Award as follows:

Brian C. Odom and Stephen R. 

Waring have been selected as recipients of the Emme Award for editing 

NASA and the Long Civil Rights 

Movement (University Press of 

Florida, 2019).

Jonathan Fetter-Vorm has been 

selected as the recipient of the 

Eugene E. Emme Junior Award for 

Astronautical Literature for writing 

and illustrating Moonbound: Apollo 

11 and the Dream of Spaceflight (Hill 

and Wang, 2019).

International Academy of Astronautics (IAA)

History Series

The series editor, Dr. Rick Sturdevant, reports the following status:

• Univelt has published the history proceedings for 

International Astronautical Congress (IAC) 2017 

(Adelaide, volume editor: Michael Ciancone).

• The edited papers from IAC 2018 (Bremen, volume 

editor: Hannes Mayer) are en route to the series 

and copy editors.

• The series editor has completed work on the papers 

from IAC 2019 (DC, volume editor: Otfrid 

Liepack) and will forward them to Univelt. Univelt 

will await publication of IAC 2019 until after they 

publish IAC 2018.

• The papers that were virtually presented at IAC 

2020 will be combined with the papers from IAC 

2021 into a new volume, which will likely fall to 

the new publisher selected by AAS.

2020 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 AAS History Committee. Members of the 

Panel are Michael Ciancone (Chair), Robert Godwin, 

Dr. Valerie Neal, Ron Miller, Dr. John Logsdon (2019 

recipient) and John Noble Wolford (2019 recipient).

AAS has announced the 2020 recipients of the Ordway 

Award, as follows:

• Roger Launius—for sustained excellence as a prolific scholar, author, and advocate of space history.

• Bill Ingalls—for sustained excellence in memorializing milestones in U.S. space programs and policy 

through his artistically crafted photographic images.

• University of Nebraska Press: Outward Odyssey 

Series—for its Odyssey Series (A Personal History 

of Spaceflight) documenting key topics in the history of spaceflight.
20

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

• Viking Mars Missions Education and Preservation 

Project (VMMEPP)—for the preservation of 

archives and artifacts associated with the Viking 

missions to Mars and educational outreach using 

the Viking missions as a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) catalyst.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft launched from Launch Complex 39A on NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission to 

the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley aboard on Saturday, 30 May 2020, at NASA’s Kennedy Space 

Center in Florida. (Photo credit: NASA)

CALL FOR PAPERS: NASA AND THE RISE 

OF COMMERCIAL SPACE SYMPOSIUM, 

18–19 MARCH 2021

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center History Office 

and the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) 

History Department are pleased to invite paper proposals for a two-day symposium exploring the history 

of commercial space to the present day. Today, the 

commercial space industry is taking on an increased 

leadership role and position of innovator in both space 

access and exploration. This growth of commercial 

space over the past decades offers the potential for a 

new paradigm for space exploration—one in which 

industry transitions from supplier to partner. Still, 

many questions remain. These questions span from 

the most seemingly consequential “How will humanity explore the Moon and Mars?” to the most basic, 

“What is commercial space?”

To develop further the historical context of commercial 

space—and thereby better inform decision-making at 

NASA going forward—the organizers of this symposium invite proposals on a broad range of topics 

related to the history of commercial space operations, 

including but not limited to the following:

Contextualizing “commercial space”: How has the 

concept of “commercial space” evolved in different 

fields and disciplines? Submissions can address topics 

of interest in the fields of policy, law, environment, 

political science, economics, or organizational studies.

• Evolution of United States and international commercial space policy
21

Volume 37, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2020

• Pre-NASA conceptions of commercial space 

activities

• Environmental impacts of commercial space

• Social history of commercial space

• Historical impact of innovative technologies

Exploring the history of nongovernmental activities: 

What have been the major events and milestones in 

the emergence and evolution of commercial space 

activities in the U.S. and internationally?

• Commercial space in United States and international law/property rights/space mining

• Commercial analogs for space exploration and 

exploitation

• Development of commercial efforts in space tourism, colonization, and exploration

• Commercial activities in low-Earth/geosynchronous orbit

• Public perception of space tourism (suborbital vs. 

orbital, lunar, Mars)

• Advancement of the philosophy, economics, and 

politics of commercial space

Examining relevant government activities past and 

present: How has the U.S. government assisted or 

impeded the emergence and evolution of commercial 

space activities?

• Origins of programs such as Commercial Crew

• Comparison of commercial space industry to 

Apollo/Space Shuttle procurement models

• Comparative experiences in commercialization 

from governmental and private industries

• Applicable experiences of national security and civil 

space programs

• Development of public-private partnerships at 

NASA

The format of the symposium will be a combination of 

panel discussions, keynote talks, and group discussions. 

The intended outcome is a deeper understanding of 

the relationship between NASA and commercial space 

as well as an improved definition of commercial space. 

As part of this goal, each presenter must also propose 

a definition of “commercial space” and develop that 

definition as it relates to their chosen topic. The intention is to publish an anthology of selected papers.

AS PART OF THE EFFORT TO 

OFFER INSIGHT TO BROAD 

CONSTITUENCIES, THE ORGANIZERS ENVISION A RANGE OF 

PRODUCTS EMERGING FROM 

THIS SYMPOSIUM.

As part of the effort to offer insight to broad constituencies, the organizers envision a range of products 

emerging from this symposium. The possibility of 

online blogs and other means of communication are 

being considered. So is a fully referenced edited collection of essays on the origins and development of 

commercial space activities. Participants are invited to 

make their presentations available in written form for 

dissemination.

Submission Procedures

If you wish to present a paper, please send an abstract 

of no more than 400 words and a short biography or 

curriculum vitae, including affiliation, by 1 January 

2021 to Dr. Brian C. Odom at brian.c.odom@nasa.

gov or Dr. Stephen P. Waring at warings@uah.edu.

Decisions about acceptance will be made by 15 January 

2021.For more information, contact Brian Odom at 

brian.c.odom@nasa.gov.
22

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

UPCOMING MEETINGS

The 2021 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) SciTech Forum will be held 

virtually 11–15 and 19–21 January 2021. Visit 

https://scitech.aiaa.org for details.

The annual meeting of the National Council on Public 

History will be held virtually 8–27 March 2021. Visit 

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

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center History 

Office and the University of Alabama in Huntsville 

(UAH) History Department’s “NASA and the Rise 

of Commercial Space Symposium” will be held virtually 18–19 March 2021. Visit https://www.nasa.

gov/centers/marshall/history/nasa-and-the-rise-ofcommercial-space-symposium.html for details.

The annual Spring Meetings of the International 

Astronautical Federation will be held virtually 23–25 

March 2021. Visit http://www.iafastro.org for 

more details.

The annual meeting of the Organization of American 

Historians will be held virtually 15–28 April 2021. 

Visit https://www.oah.org for more details.

The American Astronautical Society’s annual Goddard 

Memorial Symposium will be held virtually 4–6 May 

2021. Visit https://astronautical.org/events/goddard

for more details. 

A look back at the IAA History Committee Meeting on 11 October 1972 

in Vienna. Front row (left to right): Lise Blosset, A. Mikhailov, E. Cambi, 

Å. Ingemar Skoog, Frank J. Malina, and Rudolf Pesek. Back row (left 

to right): Frederick C. Durant III and Eugene M. Emme. (Photo credit: 

Å. Ingemar Skoog Archives)

NASA HEADQUARTERS HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE 

STAFF CONTACT INFORMATION

Brian Odom brian.c.odom@nasa.gov

Acting Chief Historian 256-541-8974

Nadine Andreassen nadine.j.andreassen@nasa.gov

Program Support Specialist 202-358-0087

Catherine Baldwin catherine.e.baldwin@nasa.gov

Editor 202-358-4397

Stephen Garber stephen.j.garber@nasa.gov

Historian (on detail) 202-358-0385

Sarah LeClaire sarah.k.leclaire@nasa.gov

Archivist 202-358-1380

Holly McIntyre holly.a.mcintyre@nasa.gov

Acting Chief Archivist 301-286-6126

Jade Fischer jade.n.fischer@nasa.gov

Intern 

Felicia Ragucci felicia.ragucci@nasa.gov

Intern

Loren Stephens loren.stephens@nasa.gov

Intern
23

Volume 37, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2020

MOMENT IN NASA HISTORY

Originally, LM-3 was intended for flight on Apollo 8, but after two months of testing, NASA determined that it was not ready for the projected launch in 

December 1968. The Lunar Module (LM) got its time to shine on Apollo 9 in March 1969. The crew of Apollo 9 used LM-3, nicknamed “Spider,” to 

perform the first crewed test of the “lunar ferry” that would eventually put astronauts on the Moon. Here LM-3 is photographed in the Manned Spacecraft 

Operations Building (MSOB) at Kennedy Space Center. (Photo credit: NASA)
CREATED AND PRODUCED BY:

Catherine Baldwin, Newsletter Editor

Lisa Jirousek, Editor

Michele Ostovar, Graphic Designer

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