FROM

THE CHIEF

HISTORIAN

One of the great success

stories of the NASA

History Division over the last 50 years has been our

publishing program. Since the SP-4000 series was

inaugurated in 1963 with James Grimwood’s book

on Project Mercury, almost 100 books and 40

monographs have been published, as well as products in electronic media in more recent years. You

can browse through a list of this half of a century of

labor at http://history.nasa.gov/series95.html; many

of the books themselves are online at http://history.

nasa.gov/on-line.html.Taken together, they constitute

of wealth of information on NASA’s multifaceted

program, management, and institutional history.

I am sometimes asked why we need even more

books and studies. My answer is that, aside from the

fact that each age reinterprets history in light of subsequent events, many areas of space history have

never been adequately treated. This was one of the

conclusions of our “Critical Issues in the History of

Spaceflight” workshop, the proceedings of which

have just been published in our conference series as

NASA SP-4702, and should be available online

soon. Our History Division Strategic Plan calls for

us to publish books that fill large gaps in the historical literature. For example, while the drama of

human spaceflight has been well represented in the

NASA History Series, space science, Earth science,

and applications satellites have received very little

attention. We are trying to remedy those large gaps if

funding can be found. Meanwhile, we also are

addressing other discrete areas. By the time this

newsletter appears, we hope to have released a

request for proposal for a history of the development

of deep space navigation. It is striking that although

deep space navigation techniques are required for

every mission beyond Earth, the history of how these

techniques have developed since the first Ranger 

NASA History DIVISION

OFFICE OF EXTERNAL RELATIONS

Volume 23, Number 3 AUGUST 2006

continued on page 4

IN THIS ISSUE:

From the Chief Historian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Preview of the “Societal Impact of Spaceflight Conference” . . . . . . . . . . .1

News from Headquarters and the Centers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Archival Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Other History News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Calls for Papers and Announcements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Contracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Aerospace History in the News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Upcoming Meetings/Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Images in Space History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

PREVIEW OF THE “SOCIETAL IMPACT OF

SPACEFLIGHT CONFERENCE”

—Caitlin E. Gallogly

The NASA History Division and the National Air and Space Museum (NASM)

Department of Space History will host a conference on the “Societal Impact of

Spaceflight” at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC,

19–21 September 2006. The conference will provide a forum for considering

the impact of human and robotic spaceflight on society in all its dimensions. In

six separate sessions over three days, leading scholars of the Space Age will

explore the economic, political, scientific, technological, social, and cultural

ramifications of spaceflight. 

The conference will begin with a welcome from NASA Chief Historian Steven

Dick and NASM Department of Space History Chairman Roger Launius. The

keynote speaker, American University Public Affairs Professor Howard E.

McCurdy, will present an interpretive framework for categorizing how expectations about spaceflight match up against actual events. His talk will include an

assessment of the ideas spaceflight proponents in different countries espouse

and how such ideas shape public expectations about spaceflight. 

The first session, on “Turning Point Impacts,” will feature an analysis from

Roger Launius on the concept of turning points in the history of spaceflight.

James T. Andrews of Iowa State University will follow with an examination of

continued on next page
NASA History DIVISION

2

the increasing role of the state in shaping public opinion about spaceflight in the Soviet

Union in the 1930s and 1950s. Independent writer Andrew Chaikin will analyze the impact

of the Apollo Program upon American culture, while NASM Space History Curator Valerie

Neal will discuss changing perceptions of human spaceflight as a result of the Shuttle accidents. Auburn University Professor James Hansen will return to the international theme with

an exploration of the verbal messages and iconography of spaceflight in contemporary

China. George Washington University Professor John Logsdon will conclude the session by

considering whether public support for human spaceflight declined with the end of the Cold

War or if the shift in public attitudes occurred much earlier. 

Rutgers University Professor Philip Scranton will open the second session, on

“Commercial and Economic Impact,” by presenting a framework for understanding the

influence of the space program on the broader U.S. economy and spheres of scientific and

technical knowledge. Stephen B. Johnson of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and

the University of Colorado will present an economic history of space activities using quantitative data to elaborate the factors behind the growth of distinct space market sectors,

including telecommunications, launch, education, navigation, science, media, and insurance. James Vedda of the Aerospace Corporation will examine the role of space technology

in enabling globalization, while John Krige of the Georgia Institute of Technology will

explore the use of space technology as an instrument of U.S.

foreign policy in the 1960s. Jennifer Ross-Nazzal of NASA

Johnson Space Center will explain how innovations in food

safety within the space program influenced food regulations

both in the United States and abroad. Finally, George

Washington University’s Space Policy Institute’s Ray

Williamson and Henry Hertzfeld will discuss the social, environmental, and economic impact of Earth-observing satellites.

The third session will focus on “Applications Satellites, the

Environment, and National Security.” JPL’s Erik M. Conway

will begin the session with a presentation on the immense

societal benefits of unmanned satellites and spacecraft.

Conway also will comment upon the lack of historical writing

on this subject compared to the vast body of work on the more

glamorous topic of human spaceflight. David Whalen of IOT

Systems will follow Conway with a discussion about the

extensive use of applications satellites in today’s world and the

many industries and aspects of daily human life that they

affect. Henry Lambright of Syracuse University will then discuss the environmental impact of NASA satellites and

spacecraft, focusing upon changes in knowledge, public opinion, and government policy. Air Force Historian Rick

Sturdevant will give a presentation on the impact and implications of the Global Positioning System in the military, civilian,

and commercial realms, while Roger Handberg of the

University of Central Florida will examine the dual system of

space technology for civilian and military uses. Glenn Hastedt

of James Madison University will conclude the session with a presentation on the role of

reconnaissance satellites in American national security.

Preview of the “Societal Impact of Spaceflight Conference” (continued)

Workers putting the finishing touches on the nation’s first

weather satellite, the Television Infrared Observation Satellite

(TIROS), which launched from Cape Canaveral on 1 April

1960. The satellite weighed 270 pounds and carried two television cameras, a magnetic tape recorder, timer systems,

transmitters, and a power supply. Early photographs provided

new information on cloud systems, including spiral formations

associated with large storms.

(Center: GSFC; Center number: G-65-5216; GRIN database number: GPN-2002-000116)
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Volume 23, NUMBER 3 AUGUST 2006

The fourth session, on the “Social Impact” of spaceflight, includes an overview from Glen

Asner of the NASA History Division that will consider the possibilities of understanding the

history of spaceflight through the lens of social history, focusing on the topics of education,

social networks, ritual, race, and gender. Andrew Franknoi, of Foothill College and the

Astronomical Society of the Pacific, will examine the challenges and opportunities of presenting space education in the various settings in which it occurs. He also will discuss the

professionalization of space science education and public outreach. Kim McQuaid, a professor at Lake Erie College, will then explore the role of African American women in the

struggle to integrate the human spaceflight program. Looking at the communities NASA

Centers inhabit, Kevin Brady of Texas Christian University will discuss the impact NASA has

had on the state of Texas, politically, socially, and economically, while Peter Westwick of Yale

University will explain the influence of the Jet

Propulsion Laboratory on California. NASM Curator

Margaret Weitekamp will round out the session with

a discussion of how space memorabilia provides a

window into understanding the impact of the space

program on cultural institutions, the general public,

and the space workforce.

Professor De Witt Douglas Kilgore of Indiana University

will then discuss the depiction of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) in a subgenre of novels

connected to science writing and mainstream fiction.

Such novels, according to Kilgore, honor “the rationale

and spirit of ” the SETI research agenda by depicting

contact with extraterrestrial intelligence as central to

resolving social and political conflicts and ensuring the

survival of the human species. Independent scholar Ron

Miller will then speak broadly about the relationship

between spaceflight and the arts and literature over the

centuries, while Mark Livio and James Manning of the

Space Telescope Science Institute will explore the influence of the Hubble Space Telescope

on culture. Alexander Geppert of the Freie Universität Berlin will conclude the fifth session

by considering the extent to which myth and metaphor have pervaded the European perspective on space and whether, in fact, Europeans have held a set of common assumptions about

space and the role of Europe in the history of spaceflight. 

Linda Billings of the SETI Institute will begin the final session of the conference by raising

a broad range of questions concerning the relationship between ideology and the U.S. space

program. JSC’s Wendell Mendell will explore the epiphanic roots of interest in space exploration and how improved understanding of the epiphanic nature of space interest might shape

NASA outreach strategies. California State University Professor Taylor Dark will assess the

relationship between the American space program and changing conceptions of progress in

the Apollo and post-Apollo eras. Chris Gainor of the University of Alberta will end the session with an analysis of the conflicting perceptions and goals of different space advocacy

groups and what such disagreements mean for the ability of the space movement to influence

national priorities.

Astronaut Sam Durrance and Kennedy Center Director Jim

Kennedy (center right) with students of the Oscar Patterson

Elementary Magnet School in Panama City, Florida. Kennedy

and Durrance visited the school as part of a tour of NASA

Explorer Schools to talk with students about our destiny as

explorers, NASA’s Vision for Space Exploration, and how

space impacts our lives.

(From NIX database; Center: NASA Kennedy Space Center; number: KSC-04PD-0712)

continued on next page
NASA History DIVISION

4

probes managed to hit the Moon has never been written. Deep space navigation begins with

accurate lunar and planetary ephemerides so mission planners know the location of the

target and includes trajectory design using techniques like Hohmann transfer and gravityassist, as well as maneuver design for midcourse corrections and landing techniques.

Another gap in the literature is NASA’s international relations. Interaction with other

countries has been an important part of the Agency’s work from the beginning, culminating with the complex 16-country partnership of the International Space Station. But the

history of this interaction never has been written, aside from a few case studies. We therefore hope to issue a request for proposals for a book-length study on this subject, including

factors shaping NASA’s international relations, the evolution of the principles governing

those relations, and the balance between the sometimes competing interests of national

security and foreign policy. RFPs and other news are announced on our mailing list;

instructions for signing up are online at http://history.nasa.gov/listserv.html.

Another of our strategies is to complete or update our flagship series of publications by

NASA’s 50th anniversary in 2008. Over the next two years, volumes 7 and 8 (covering

human spaceflight) of John Logsdon’s Exploring the Unknown will be published, completing this documentary history of the U.S. civil space program. James Hansen is completing

four volumes of the aeronautical counterpart, The Wind and Beyond. Judy Rumerman is

From the Chief Historian (continued)

M. G. Lord, cultural historian and investigative journalist, will close the conference with an address that

explores the topic of human fragility as it relates to

potential long-term human space travel, exploration,

and colonization. She will discuss the American

perception that man will one day explore space, as

demonstrated through the commercial media and

through scientific plans, and will focus upon the

possible problems with that idea from a physiological and logistic perspective. Finally, she will

comment upon the need for humans to accept,

rather than dismiss, these potential problems arising from human frailty and propose using the

recognition of such issues as jumping-off points

for finding solutions in order to help make the

goal of humans in space a reality.

A central goal of the conference is to raise questions

and inspire further scholarship on the societal impact

of spaceflight. Chief Historian Steven Dick and the rest of the History Division staff expect

the conference to generate innovative ideas and spark lively debate, to the benefit of scholars

and the general public alike. For detailed information about the conference, including paper

abstracts and the biographical information of presenters, please see our Web site at http://

history.nasa.gov/socimpactconf/index.html.

Preview of the “Societal Impact of Spaceflight Conference” (continued)

Astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr., and

Michael Collins, wearing sombreros and ponchos, are swarmed by

onlookers during their visit to Mexico City in September 1969 as part

of the “Giant Step–Apollo 11” Presidential Goodwill Tour.

(Center: HQ; Center number: 70-H-1553; GRIN database number: GPN-2002-000016)
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Volume 23, NUMBER 3 AUGUST 2006

completing volumes 7 and 8 of the NASA Historical Data Book, covering the years 1989

to 1998, an essential reference for NASA history. The NASA Pocket Statistics, last issued

in 1997, will reappear later this year. And the Origins of NASA Names, last published in

1976, is being totally revised by Paul Dixon as an Aerospace Dictionary in the tradition

of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Among other projects in process are four volumes of the memoirs of Boris Chertok, involving a team of translators under the able editorship of Asif Siddiqi; Siddiqi and Peter Gorin’s

translation and commentary on the Mishin and Feokstikov diaries; Michael Meltzer’s histories of the Galileo spacecraft and the planetary protection program; Maura Mackowski’s

history of life sciences at NASA since 1980 (another large gap in the literature); Thor

Hogan’s history of the Space Exploration Initiative; Tom Heppenheimer’s book on the history of hypersonics; Erik Conway’s history of atmospheric sciences at NASA; Rob

Ferguson’s history of aeronautics at NASA since 1958 (a huge gap); Andrew Butrica’s

study of lessons learned in the Space Shuttle’s return to flight following the Columbia disaster in 2003; Sunny Tsiao’s history of the Spacecraft Tracking and Data Network (STDN);

a history of wind tunnels at NASA; and a classified history of NASA–National

Reconnaissance Office (NRO) relations.

These books are published thanks not only to the authors’ hard work in doing research, but

also to the sometimes heroic efforts of the History Division staff. Nadine Andreassen deals

with the myriads of budget, procurement, and accounting issues necessary to inaugurate a

book project and see it through the press. Steve Garber, Glen Asner, and I decide subjects,

write statements of work, arrange and participate in the selection review panels, monitor

the peer-review process, serve as Contracting Officer’s Technical Representatives

(COTRs) throughout the projects to ensure accurate and scholarly products, and see the

books through editing and production with the NASA Headquarters Printing and Design

Office. Not to forget the archival side of our operations, Chief Archivist Jane Odom and

her staff (John Hargenrader and Colin Fries) apply their expert knowledge to help

researchers use the NASA Historical Reference Collection, the National Archives, and

other archival sources for original research. We are usually lucky enough to have several

student interns lending their enthusiastic help.

Finally, I am announcing the inauguration of a new line in the NASA History series, SP4900, Societal Impact of Spaceflight. As many of you know, this is a particular interest of

mine, and the History Division has taken up this important subject as part of its portfolio

at a time when it is clear that a sustained multigenerational space exploration vision

requires society to understand the importance of space exploration and its impact on the

daily lives of individuals and on the long-term future of the nation. The first book in this

series will be the proceedings of our “Societal Impact of Spaceflight Conference,” to be

held 19–21 September at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC. The

agenda was printed in the previous issue of News & Notes, and the abstracts, logistics, and

registration information now are available at http://history.nasa.gov/socimpactconf/

index.html. Subsequent volumes in the series will include a variety of special studies that

have been commissioned on the topic. We are still commissioning these studies; if you have

an idea, please contact me directly.

Steve Dick
NASA History DIVISION

6

NEWS FROM HEADQUARTERS AND

THE CENTERS

Headquarters

Nadine Andreassen continued to work on personnel, budgeting, grants, and contracts, and

she is beginning to plan in earnest for the “Societal Impact of Spaceflight Conference,”

which will be held in September in Washington, DC. She also continued to work on

improving the History Division’s marketing and outreach efforts and attended the Agency

Records Management Meeting held at GSFC.

Glen Asner continued to work

with Steve Garber toward the

completion of their manuscript

on the history of NASA’s

Decadal Planning Team and the

development of the Vision for

Space Exploration. Glen also

successfully defended his doctoral dissertation at Carnegie

Mellon University in June and

continued to make progress on

his other History Division projects, including compiling the

Aeronautics and Space Report

of the President and NASA

News & Notes, overseeing the production of contract histories, and preparing for the

upcoming conference on the “Societal Impact of Spaceflight.”

Colin Fries continued the ongoing task of scanning our Current News collection and

adding it to the electronic database; he is working on the 1972–74 news articles at present. He completed the arrangement and description of two small collections—Space

Station Freedom congressional files (1989–94) and Office of Exploration files (1989–93).

Colin also finished compiling and scanning Headquarters organizational charts from the

History Division archive and from other sources. These organizational charts, along with

The Evolution of NASA Organization publication, are now posted on the NASA History

Division Web site at http://history.nasa.gov/orgcharts/orgcharts.html. Colin also compiled a list of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor recipients, which is posted at

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

Caitlin Gallogly joined the History Division as a summer intern. A Los Angeles native,

Caitlin is a junior at Lawrence University in Wisconsin, where she studies history, English

literature, and political science. In addition to assisting with the cataloging of several

Administrator archival files for Jane Odom, Caitlin is editing and compiling the Research

in NASA History monograph, to be released shortly, and is assisting the History Division

staff with a number of other projects, such as editing oral interview transcripts for Glen

Asner and Steve Garber and aiding in the layout and publication of the upcoming Science

in Flux by Mark Bowles. Additionally, Caitlin is helping to organize and publicize the

upcoming conference on the “Societal Impact of Spaceflight.”

NASA History Division staff on the roof of NASA Headquarters, March 2006. From left to right:

Steve Garber, Nadine Andreassen, Colin Fries, Jane Odom, Glen Asner, John Hargenrader, Gabriel

Okolski, Julia Sawyer, and Steven Dick.
7

Volume 23, NUMBER 3 AUGUST 2006

continued on next page

Steve Garber continued to work with Glen Asner on their history of the Decadal Planning

Team and the development of the Vision for Space Exploration. Steve looks forward to

attending a course on statistics at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Graduate

School in September. He also welcomes our newest intern, Caitlin Gallogly, to the

History Division. 

John Hargenrader continued to scan NASA Current News articles and add them to our

electronic database; he is working on 1983–86 articles at this time. He also continued with

the preservation and photocopying of old newspaper clippings in the Apollo human spaceflight files; these news articles are badly deteriorated and in need of rescue. John also

worked on processing a small collection of our own NASA History Division files.

Jane Odom continued to acquire and appraise new material for the Historical Reference

Collection. The latest additions to the collection include source files for the NASA

Historical Data Book and Exploring the Unknown, as well as space commercialization

material and chronological correspondence files of former Deputy Administrator Fred

Gregory. Recently, Jane appraised several large collections being offered to the History

Division—one in the Science Mission Directorate, the other in the Office of Legislative

Affairs. Additionally, she appraised 2 cubic feet of International Space Station PAO

Working Group Briefing Books and PAO Mission Briefing Books. Jane continued to answer

reference requests in her spare time and supervised an intern who is assisting her by

describing former Administrator James Webb’s chronological correspondence files from

the 1960s.

Ames Research Center

Nicholas Veronico just published a beautiful pictorial history, simply titled Moffett

Field (Arcadia Publishing, 2006). Veronico, until recently with the NASA Ames Public

Affairs Office, selected images to reflect the entire history of the airfield, including the

work of NASA Ames. With all the recent controversy surrounding Hangar One, it has

been selling briskly.

For the meetings of the Society of California Archivists (SCA, in San Francisco on

27–29 April), Leilani Marshall organized a well-attended session on “Documenting

California’s Aerospace History.” She presented an overview of the NASA Ames

History Office, as well as a list she compiled of “California’s Aerospace Repositories.”

Other presenters were Bonita Smith, formerly of the GRC History Office and now

archivist with Aerospace Corporation, and John Hill representing the Louis A. Turpen

Aviation Museum at the San Francisco International Airport. Leilani also served on the

SCA local arrangements committee, with special responsibility for liaison with

archival supply vendors. She had several good conversations with vendors about establishing a NASA purchasing consortium.

April Gage rolled out a major revision of the internal History Office Web site

(http://archives.arc.nasa.gov). In addition to a completely new look and feel, every

part of the site now helps facilitate the collaborative relationship between the History

Office and Ames employees. The purpose of the new site is to improve local awareness

of the Center’s legacy, attract donations of historical assets, highlight all the historical

work being done on the Center, and promote the sharing of resources and knowledge.

For example, the “Contribute” section gives detailed guidance on how the Ames community can donate materials to the archives. It also asks all readers to peer-review
NASA History DIVISION

8

drafts of history works in progress and suggests how their own work can benefit from

using the archives. The site provides the community with history-oriented resources,

such as slides about Ames history, that they can download and use in their own presentations, and it also invites individuals to post their own historical slides for others to

incorporate into their own presentations.

The internal site is linked to the Ames History Office public Web site (http://history.

arc.nasa.gov) for materials meant to help researchers and the general public dig deeper

into NASA Ames history. This includes links to online versions of Ames history books,

finding aids to archival materials available at Ames and at the National Archives, and other

background material on the history of the Center. To view the internal site, please contact

April at agage@arc.nasa.gov for connection advice or for a copy of the site on CD.

Dryden Flight Research Center

Mike Gorn continued to supervise the editing of the second edition of Lane Wallace’s

Flights of Discovery: The History of the Dryden Flight Research Center, which is due

for publication in late 2006, in time for the Center’s 60th anniversary. Mike will be leaving the position of Chief, Office of Public Affairs, Commercialization, and Public

Outreach at Dryden (Code T) in August, at which time he will succeed Dill Hunley as

Dryden Ombudsman on a part-time basis while remaining in the civil service. Mike will

continue—on his own initiative—to publish books and articles related to aeronautics

and spaceflight.

The History Office’s archives are on the move, relocating from cramped quarters in the

Center’s main building to a large structure that will house the archives’ Lektrievers, artifacts, NASA publications, and newly accessed material. The facility will actually have

space for visiting researchers and volunteers who, we hope, can spend time sorting and

identifying material in new collections. As you read this, the move will be complete. 

Christian Gelzer wishes to announce that Unconventional, Contrary, and Ugly: The Story

of the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle has come back from the publisher and will be distributed to other Centers soon. Those outside of NASA Centers can send a self-addressed

and stamped envelope (Priority Mail postage) to him at NASA Dryden FRC, Building

4839, Edwards, CA 93523, and Christian will mail a copy of the book in return. Christian

currently is working to set up a symposium and book signing at Dryden with the three

authors of the book and the last two surviving pilots who flew the lunar landing research

vehicle (LLRV). He also has been incorporating the comments and suggestions of outside readers into Lane Wallace’s second edition of Flights of Discovery.

Curtis Peebles continued to work on his history of the X-43. This involves continued

work on the two-part Quest article, an American Institute of Aeronautics and

Astronautics (AIAA) paper on the difficulties with the fin actuation system, and a “lessons learned” book, also in connection with the AIAA.

News from Headquarters and the Centers (continued)
9

Volume 23, NUMBER 3 AUGUST 2006

continued on next page

In the wake of budget cuts, Peter Merlin has conducted public tours (as have the other

historians on occasion), sat for an interview with a local newspaper regarding the significance of Dryden, supplied material for a brochure on the Center’s capabilities, and

overseen much of the move from the old archives site to the new one. He also has spent

time on a pictorial book titled A Place Like No Other.

Glenn Research Center

Work continued on the Altitude Wind Tunnel and Propulsion Systems Lab 1 & 2 documentation project in order to prepare for the demolition of these historically significant

facilities. A community awareness meeting was held on 27 April 2006 to inform the community and allow public comment on the demolition projects. Anne Power described the

history of the facilities and the historical mitigation work currently under way, Les Main

(Facilities Office) discussed the demolition process, and Trudy Kortes (Environmental

Office) talked about the Environmental Assessment and Section 106 process. Archivist Bob

Arrighi continued to document for historical purposes the Altitude Wind Tunnel, Space

Power Chamber, and Propulsion Systems Lab 1 & 2, all of which are slated for demolition.

He viewed 51,000 feet of film footage and selected 18,500 feet of the most interesting

footage to be digitized as part of the preservation project.

Archivist Nora Blackman (RSIS) has been working hard to complete the Center Director’s

Office files processing project (approximately 36 cubic feet of material) and the rest of the

Record Group 1 processing projects before the scheduled move of the archives to their new

location in the spring of 2007. While no major accessions have arrived in the last few

months, a steady stream of boxes continued to come in from retirees and records management initiatives.

Research and reference requests were many and varied, including such topics as Glenn

Research Center (GRC) contributions to STS-1, the J-2X engine, Project Ranger and

Surveyor, aviation history, and the Apollo Program. We welcomed Dr. Janet Bednarek to

the Center as she worked with our materials relating to the Cleveland Jet Port project of the

1960s and 1970s.

The History Office, along with the GRC Visitor’s Center, was pleased to host Dr. Jim

Hansen, author of First Man: The Life of Neil Armstrong, in conjunction with the Second

Annual Space Memorabilia Show. Dr. Hansen spoke to employees and the public about

his experiences writing the biography of such an influential person about whom we knew

so little.

The Air Race Historian’s Conference was held in Cleveland on 5–6 May 2006. The History

Office staff put their traveling exhibit on display and enjoyed an evening chatting with air

race enthusiasts, experts, and even former pilots. Additionally, the archives exhibit created

for the Center’s Earth Day events was posted as a Web page by the Public Affairs Office at

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/history/70s_energy.html.
NASA HISTORY DIVISION

10

News from Headquarters and the Centers (continued)

Goddard Space Flight Center

The Goddard Library is aligning with the Center’s Knowledge Management Architect’s

objectives by planning and implementing the following projects and activities: identifying

and archiving Goddard’s past projects in the Goddard Projects Directory and the Digital

Asset System; assisting in the development of the NASA Engineering Network, which

was created to consolidate and centralize NASA’s engineering resources; holding a

“Lessons Learned Made Easy” series each Wednesday in the library lounge; offering periodic stories at Goddard sessions; and conducting a formal “Lessons Learned” forum after

each project to incorporate comments in the project files.

Goddard also is involved in the Landsat Legacy project. The project is a joint collaboration with the NASA Landsat Project Science Office (LPSO), the U.S. Geological Survey

(USGS), and the Goddard Library to create a public archive of essential Landsat documentation. So far this year, the Landsat Legacy Team has orchestrated and video-recorded

four group oral histories with veterans of the Landsat project, including scientists, engineers, and project managers. Transcription of the first oral history conducted in November

2005 has been completed by two independent transcription services. The transcripts were

received in June and are currently under review by the Landsat Legacy Team. Additionally,

the poster and paper—“Landsat Legacy: Tracking down three decades of knowledge”—

were presented last fall at the Pecora 16 Conference: “Global Priorities in Land Remote

Sensing” in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. This year, USGS has continued Landsat Legacy

outreach efforts with a poster at the Association for American Geographers meeting in

March 2006; they also have plans to disseminate Landsat Legacy literature at other professional meetings throughout the year.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

This 20 July marks the 30th anniversary of the first landing on Mars, and JPL’s Mars outreach organization has been working hard on a Web site commemorating the event. It will

contain images, documents, and video interviews with many JPL people who were

involved with the mission. The video interviews are being edited down to 3- to 5-minute

Flash-based movies, but the full-length videos will be archived for future use.

JPL history and archival staff are currently planning on

organizing a celebration this fall for the 70th anniversary

of the first rocket tests conducted by Frank Malina and

his colleagues in the Arroyo Seco. Erik Conway has

relocated drawings of their early November 1936 test

setup, and a reproduction may be built in order to reenact their tests (without the explosions). A date for the

event has not been chosen yet.

The year 2006 marks the 10th anniversary of the

Historical Photo of the Month (HPoM) at JPL. A historical image is posted each month on the JPL Archives

Web site and is directly accessible at http://beacon.jpl.

nasa.gov/Histphotos/hpom/HistPhoto.htm. JPL Archivist

April 2006 Historical Photo of the Month from the JPL

Archives Web site. This artist’s rendering of a Sergeant

missile on a mobile launcher originally appeared on the

cover of a 1960 Sergeant brochure.

(Sergeant Brochure Cover, photograph number M-2638,

http://beacon.jpl.nasa.gov/Histphotos/hpom/m-2638.html)
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Julie Cooper is still selecting photos, finding supporting documents, and writing captions

that tell the story behind the images (134 so far) to educate JPL staff and the public about

the history of JPL in a fun way. 

There is a wide variety of subject matter among the historical photos—site photos, preNASA missile work, portraits, group photos, social events, spacecraft assembly and

testing, lunar and planetary images, VIP visitors, and so on. Since there are many other

good sources of planetary images that can be found online, the historical photos now concentrate on images and stories about the people and projects of JPL from the 1940s to the

1990s. You may not find the popular images that everyone has seen in books, Web sites,

and documentaries, such as Pickering, von Braun, and Van Allen holding up Explorer, or

the lounging rocketeers in 1936. You will find images that have not been seen for decades

but help to tell an interesting story.

Each month when a new photo is posted, an e-mail announcement goes out to JPL. They

usually get one or two comments or questions about the photo, such as, “Oh, so cool! You

did it again! Thanks”; “We discussed it in our . . . meeting yesterday”; “These are great

photos! . . . I know that lots of us enjoy it as much as I do . . . keep up the good work”; “Is

it ok to send these photos to friends off-Lab?” and “That’s me back in 1960, when I had

hair!” People are encouraged to contact Julie if they have more information about the

photos, and corrections are welcome.

Each photo will soon be added to the online archives catalog, and the full text of captions

will be searchable. A thumbnail will be displayed with the catalog record. Various sizes of

JPG files will be available for download from the digital media archive, a module of the

catalog used for online display of PDF and image files.

For his Mars book project, Conway is currently researching the Mars Rover/Sample

Return (MRSR) mission definition studies of the late 1980s. The MRSR studies were one

of two efforts that contributed technologies and ideas to the Mars Pathfinder mission. The

other was the Mars Environmental Survey (MESUR) planning, which began at Ames

Research Center in the late 1980s. MESUR envisioned sending 20 identical small landers

to Mars to collect atmospheric and seismic data before being de-scoped to the single Mars

Pathfinder flight.

Finally, Conway’s atmospheric science history manuscript is complete. He is currently

waiting for some images requested from various NASA Centers to arrive before making the

final deliverable. He wishes to thank everyone who has supported this work over the years.

Johnson Space Center

A collaborative effort between the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) History Office and

the Center’s video production area resulted in the capture of firsthand experiences, lessons

learned, and related information from STS-1 pilot Robert L. Crippen. The JSC teams

worked together to collect more than 3 hours of recorded information that will prove useful for future Space Flight Awareness productions and Public Affairs Office–related

videos. The information from Crippen provides in-depth, historical insight into his pioneering accomplishments as an Apollo-era astronaut, a Shuttle commander, a program
NASA History DIVISION

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News from Headquarters and the Centers (continued)

manager, a leader at NASA Headquarters, and Director of the Kennedy Space Center. The

availability of Crippen’s broadcast-quality video has been noted as a major enhancement

to the NASA History Collection. 

The History Office recently delivered another set of oral history interviews and materials

to the NASA History Collection, housed at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. These

interviews, as well as the oral history interviews obtained during the recent National

Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) reunion, are now available online at

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history.

In July, the JSC History Office team shared information on NASA history resources during a daylong workshop at Lee College in Baytown, Texas. This community college

sponsored a program on “National History Day: In Pursuit of Excellence,” which

included historians, librarians, educators, and area residents. The team hosted two sessions, providing details of numerous NASA history resources accessible to students of all

ages and interest levels. The team is preparing for an upcoming workshop on conducting

oral history at the October meeting of the national Oral History Association in Little

Rock, Arkansas.

Kennedy Space Center

The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Archives Office continued to support personnel

researching historic documents related to Launch Complex 39 facilities. A variety of these

facilities are being studied for possible Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) and Crew

Launch Vehicle (CLV) modification. In addition, work has been done on the Engineering

Development Studies and History file collection. Just over 2 linear feet of Mobile Launch

Platform documents have been described thus far. The office also regularly exhibits its historical photographic collection for KSC employees. Current exhibits highlight Apollo 15,

Gemini 10, and Mercury Redstone 4 missions. New on the archives Web page

(http://www-lib.ksc.nasa.gov/lib/archives_electronic.html) is the document “Apollo/

Saturn V MILA Facilities Descriptions.”

Marshall Space Flight Center

One project in which the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) History Office has been

engaged during the last few months involves locating some specific photographs from the

Saturn era at Marshall. Of course, it is not hard to find photographs that depict the huge

Saturn V stages or entire vehicles either being worked on at Marshall or ready for launch

at Cape Canaveral. In fact, the Saturn story has been told many times using photographs

that show the stages being transported, tested, or manufactured. The Saturn story also has

been presented many times using relatively easy-to-find photographs of high-level

Saturn/Apollo officials, like Wernher von Braun, standing by a Saturn stage. 

More difficult to locate are photographs depicting everyday people working on the

stages either at Marshall or at the Saturn contractor sites. We should not, however, blame

the Saturn-era photographers. Quite naturally, a welder or engineer standing next to a

huge Saturn stage or component looks minuscule in comparison. Photographs of engineers at their drawing boards or dealing with some relatively small Saturn components
13

Volume 23, NUMBER 3 AUGUST 2006

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are also sometimes difficult to find. There are, of course, unlimited numbers of gripand-grins or of people mugging for the camera. But there are fewer photographs of

people actually at work.

The Marshall history archive was reestablished nearly 20 years ago after a 14-year lapse

in operation. Over the years, photographs of everyday people doing their jobs during the

1960s have been added to the archive one, two, or three at a time. Ironically, it is only

within the last month or so that the historian has had the good fortune to acquire three

small collections, totaling about 100 photographs, that really show the faces of Marshall

Center employees working on the Saturn and other early vehicles. One collection was

found in an un-indexed file drawer. Another was donated to the archives by a nowretired Marshall engineer. Another once belonged to a now-deceased technician. There

are no doubt hundreds more photographs like these somewhere, either in shoeboxes in

the closet or in trunks in the attic. Some are probably still in file cabinets that have not

been opened for years in a lab or office area at Marshall. They are faces of the men and

women who built the Saturn. They are the unique kind of find that a historian or

archivist loves to discover.

Stennis Space Center

Following the 40th anniversary celebration of the first rocket engine test at Stennis Space

Center (SSC), the History Office received numerous photographs that were donated by

individuals who worked at SSC during the construction of the site. These photographs are

now being archived and preserved. The staff also obtained and planned to archive historical records from one of the test stands at SSC dating back to the early 1960s.

ARCHIVAL UPDATE

Overview of International Relations Files in the NASA

Headquarters Historical Reference Collection

—Jane H. Odom, Chief Archivist

In the Historical Reference Collection at Headquarters, researchers will find nearly 70

cubic feet of International Cooperation and Foreign Country files (from 1915 to the present). This series contains archival materials documenting U.S. cooperation and

competition with foreign countries in space endeavors. Among the dozens of countries

represented in the files are Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia,

Israel, Japan, Portugal, Russia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The general arrangement

of this series is alphabetical by name of country and then chronological.

The files contain correspondence, memoranda, press releases, reports, photographs,

news clippings and magazine articles, brochures, foreign-language materials, and a limited number of translations of foreign materials. The following descriptions of files on

our International Space Station (ISS) partners provide a sense of the range of materials

available in the series.
The USSR files contain historical materials on spacecraft, launch vehicles, and satellites,

including spy satellites, as well as materials on Soviet aircraft, missile development,

launch facilities, the activities of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, U.S. and USSR cooperation in space, the Soviet response to the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), launch

successes and failures, launch vehicle design, and use of animals in space. Of particular

interest is a memo from President John F. Kennedy in early November 1963 tasking the

NASA Administrator with developing a substantive program of cooperation with the

Soviet Union in the field of outer space. The files also contain analyses of the space race,

including a statement from President Lyndon Johnson in June 1965 asserting that the gap

in manned spaceflight had closed with the success of the Gemini 4 flight and the progress

of the Apollo Program. Other highlights of the series include summaries of papers presented at the United Nations Conference on Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer

Space in 1968; materials on the Soviet space year in review and on the reusable shuttle

Buran; and a speech by former NASA Administrator Thomas Paine marking the 30th

anniversary of the Sputnik launch.

In the Japan files, researchers will find information on communication, scientific, and

meteorological satellites; development of an ISS module; activities of the Institute of

Space and Astronautical Science; and activities of the National Space Development

Agency of Japan. The files on satellites and probes include material on several probes

sent to study Halley’s comet. Also documented in these files is a July 1978 trip by Deputy

Administrator Alan Lovelace to Japan to discuss international cooperation. These meetings resulted in the formation of the Joint NASA/Space Activities Commission of Japan

Study Group. In their final report a year later, the group recommended over 30 possible

experimental and space science areas for cooperation.

The European Space Agency (ESA) files contain documents detailing the organization’s

formation, history, programs, and projects; satellites and spacecraft; participation in the

ISS program; ESA cooperation with Japan and Germany; European Community space

policy; the European military satellite program; and the Strategic Defense Initiative.

Among the notable items in the ESA files is a speech in early 1971 by Theo Lefevre,

president of European Space Conference, regarding U.S. and European cooperation in

the post-Apollo era. Lefevre presented this paper at the second meeting of the conference, which was held in Washington, DC, and included European Space Conference and

senior U.S. agency officials. 

In the Canada files is information on the activities of the Canadian Space Agency, including the development of their space program, Canada’s cooperation with the Soviet Union,

the development of the remote manipulator arm for the ISS, and the Quebec aerospace

industry. The files include an interview from April 1994 with Mac Evans discussing

Canada’s space plans. Evans was Canada’s Special Advisor on Space at the time and, later

that same year, was named President of the CSA.

Indeed, the History Division holds a treasure trove of historically valuable information

on NASA’s efforts at international cooperation and, more broadly, on international space

activities. We urge interested researchers to schedule an appointment to come in and

examine this material.

NASA HISTORY DIVISION

14

Archival Update (continued)
15

Volume 23, NUMBER 3 AUGUST 2006

continued on next page

OTHER HISTORY NEWS

National Air and Space Museum (NASM), Division of

Space History (DSH)

NASM’s Division of Space History curators and fellows continue to publish and present

papers at a rapid pace. Recent publications, papers, and related activities by DSH staff

include the following. 

Dominick A. Pisano, F. Robert van der Linden, and Frank H. Winter have published Chuck

Yeager and the Bell X-1: Breaking the Sound Barrier (New York: Abrams, 2006). It deals

with one of NASM’s prize artifacts in the Milestones of Flight gallery, in which Chuck

Yeager was the first person to exceed the speed of sound.

An important book by Paul Ceruzzi (DSH), A History of Modern Computing (MIT Press), has

just appeared in a Greek edition. The book has now appeared in Greek, German, and Italian

translations; we are still waiting for a Japanese edition, which was promised many years ago.

James R. Fleming, NASM’s Lindbergh Chair holder, lectured on “The Pathological

History of Weather and Climate Control” at Johns Hopkins University on 30 March. He

has studied the history of the public and scientific view of climate change from the last

century to the current period and is continuing that research at NASM.

David DeVorkin (DSH) gave an invited talk at Yale University on Friday, 28 April 2006. His

topic was “Harvard Astronomy in the Wake of Harlow Shapley, and Dorrit’s Fate.” He spoke

about how Harvard’s astronomy program was deemed to be broken by a visiting committee

headed by Robert Oppenheimer and what had to be done to fix it, restoring it to world-class

status. This is part of a much larger study of how succession rites at major observatories

became a referendum on the profession itself between the years 1920 and 1966.

Martin Collins (DSH) presented a paper, “Innovation, the Military, and Corporations:

Research Issues after World War II,” at the Tensions of Europe Conference in Lappeenranta,

Finland, 24–28 May 2006. The conference, subtitled “Technology and Rethinking

European Borders,” was the culmination of a multiyear collaborative research project by

scholars in Europe, the United States, and other countries, and was meant to stimulate further investigations into the role of technology in the shaping of modern Europe.

Several DSH curators and a Guggenheim fellow have published in Quest: The History of

Spaceflight Quarterly 13, no. 2 (2006), including Roger D. Launius, “The Space Shuttle 25

Years On: What Does It Mean To Have Reusable Access to Space?” pp. 4–20; Allan A.

Needell, “Saving a Saturn V: A Case Study in Artifact Preservation,” pp. 36–66; Valerie Neal,

review of “Sky Walking: An Astronaut’s Memoir,” p. 62; and Nicholas de Moncheaux (NASM

Guggenheim postdoctoral fellow), review of “Testing the Limits: Aviation Medicine and the

Origins of Manned Spaceflight,” p. 63. The journal has approximately 1,400 subscribers.

Mandy Young and Toni Thomas (DSH) have distributed a spacesuit survey to every borrower

(and about 12 potential borrowers) of spacesuits and/or components to examine exhibit and

environmental conditions, establish who is monitoring the safety of the exhibits, determine
Other History News (continued)

NASA HISTORY DIVISION

16

estimated visitorship over the next five years, and ask about visitor constituencies served by

these fragile, valuable spacesuits. NASM will use the results to establish a long-term plan to

optimize public access while preserving them for the future.

The 2006 joint meeting of the Organization of American Historians (OAH)/National Council

on Public History (NCPH) took place at the Washington Hilton on 16–19 April. A session on

“From Earth to the Moon: Interpreting the Material Culture of the American Lunar Landing

and its Legacy” involved Roger D. Launius (DSH), who presented “Abandoned in Place:

Interpreting the Material Culture of the Space Race,” concerning the fates of historical sites

associated with Apollo; Margaret Weitekamp (DSH), who presented “‘La Mayor Conquista

de Todos Los Tiempos’: International Medals Commemorating the American Moon

Landing”; and Anne C. Goodyear (National Portrait Gallery) who presented “Art and the

‘Stuff’ of Space Exploration.” Howard E. McCurdy (American University) chaired the session, and Jannelle Warren Findley (Arizona State University) offered the comment.

Numerous DSH staff participated in the Space Day activities at the Udvar-Hazy Center on

Friday, 5 May 2006. They offered various artifact presentations, served as hosts for dignitaries, and participated in book signings and other special activities. More than 15,500

people attended this annual event.

The Division of Space History has had two full sessions and two separate papers

accepted for the Society for the History of Technology annual meeting in November

2006. No fewer than six members of the department will be presenting at this significant

national history conference.

Passing of Bill Leary

University of Georgia History Professor William M. Leary passed away on 24 February

2006. His funeral service was held 11 March 2006 at the University of Georgia Chapel in

Athens, Georgia. Dr. Leary was born in 1934 in Newark, New Jersey, and served in operations in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. He received his doctorate in American

history from Princeton University and taught at a variety of universities, including

Princeton, San Diego State University, and the University of Victoria in Canada. He spent

32 years of his career at the University of Georgia, retiring in 2005 as the E. Merton

Coulter Professor of History.

A prolific and insightful writer, Dr. Leary won numerous awards and honors over the

course of his career, including the AIAA History Manuscript Award in 1973 and the

Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA’s) Studies in Intelligence Award in 1995. He held the

Charles A. Lindbergh chair at the National Air and Space Museum from 1996 to 1997. Dr.

Leary authored and edited books on a broad range of topics, including covert CIA operations in Asia, commercial aviation in China, U.S. military and commercial aviation, and

U.S. diplomacy and military history during World War II and the Cold War. For the NASA

History Division, he published We Freeze to Please: A History of NASA’s Icing Research

Tunnel and the Quest for Safety (NASA SP-2002-4226). Dr. Leary’s last publication with

NASA was an article, “Sharing a Vision: Juan Trippe, Charles Lindbergh, and the

Development of International Air Transport,” in Realizing the Dream of Flight:
17

Volume 23, NUMBER 3 AUGUST 2006

continued on next page

Biographical Essays in Honor of the Centennial of Flight, 1903–2003, ed. Virginia

Dawson and Mark Bowles (NASA SP-2005-4112). Readers wishing to see one of Dr.

Leary’s last recorded public presentations may wish to consult this volume as it includes

a DVD of the Realizing the Dream of Flight symposium in which Dr. Leary participated.

CALLS FOR PAPERS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Center for the History of Business, Technology, and Society invites papers for a symposium on “Technological Innovation and the Cold War” on 9–10 March 2007 at the

Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington, Delaware. The conference’s principal question

is the impact of Cold War–era military innovations on postwar American economic growth.

Papers could consider the transition from military to commercial applications of technological initiatives in, for example, aerospace, communications, material science, propulsion,

instrumentation, or computing. Failure or long delays in transferring technologies are of

special interest. Given the state’s central role in military procurement, papers must consider

the relationships between corporations or research institutes and state agencies in the

design and development of new technologies. An opening plenary with Philip Scranton

(Rutgers University and Hagley Library) and John Krige (Georgia Institute of Technology)

will establish the theoretical and conceptual foundations for understanding this important

subject in the United States, Great Britain, and continental Europe. Proposals should be no

more than 500 words and accompanied by a short CV. To be considered, proposals must be

received via mail, fax, or e-mail by Monday, 30 October 2006. Travel support is available

for those presenting papers at the conference. To submit a proposal or to obtain more information, contact Carol Lockman, Hagley Museum and Library, P.O. Box 3630, Wilmington,

DE 19807, 302-658-2400, ext. 243; 302-655-3188 (fax); clockman@Hagley.org.

The 2007 annual meeting of the Business History Conference (BHC) will take place

Friday and Saturday, 1–2 June, in Cleveland, Ohio, at the Weatherhead School of

Management of Case Western Reserve University. The theme for the conference is

“Entrepreneurial Communities,” defined broadly in scope and scale. The entrepreneur is

often thought of as a lone innovator, but how often does an entrepreneur really act alone?

How and when does entrepreneurial activity rely on the input of inventors, venture capitalists, lawyers, accountants, marketing specialists, government actors, laborers, and

others? We are interested in papers that explore the roles of these actors and the broader

social context in which entrepreneurial activity takes place. These include, but are not limited to, geographic (local, regional, national, or international), political, economic, social,

and cultural (including the roles of race, class, ethnicity, religion, and gender) aspects of

entrepreneurial communities. We are interested in papers that consider how firms and

other groups (within, between, or outside particular firms) and society as a whole have

organized themselves to foster or inhibit entrepreneurial activity. Finally, in keeping with

longstanding BHC policy, the committee also will entertain submissions not directly

related to the conference theme. The deadline for receipt of all proposals is 15 October

2006. Notification of acceptances will be sent by January 2007. For more information on

the conference and proposal submission procedures, see http://www.h-net.org/~

business/bhcweb/annmeet/call07.html.
NASA HISTORY DIVISION

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The American Association for the History of Medicine (AAHM) invites abstracts for

papers in any area of medical history for its 80th annual meeting, to be held in Montreal,

3–6 May 2007. The association welcomes submissions on the history of health and healing; medical ideas, practices, and institutions; and illness, disease, and public health. The

AAHM uses an online abstract submissions system. It is located at http://histmed.org. The

deadline is 15 September 2006. For more information, contact Philip M. Teigen, Program

Committee Chair, pteigen@nih.gov.

The Catoctin Center for Regional Studies located at Frederick Community College will

host the 74th meeting of the Society for Military History. The conference will take place

19–22 April 2007 in historic Frederick, Maryland, which is located 45 miles west of

Washington, DC. The theme for the conference will be “Crossroads of War.” The Program

Committee seeks papers and panels that address those intersections during the wartime

experience between the military and other sectors of society, including, but not limited to,

the home front, the economy, politics, and constitutionalism, as well as culture. This topic

includes both the impact of the military on society and the influence of societal factors in

shaping and defining the military experience during war. The Program Committee also

desires papers and panels dealing with any facet of military history. The deadline for this

call for papers is 15 October 2006. For further information, visit the Web site at

http://catoctincenter.frederick.edu/.

The 100th annual meeting of the Organization of American Historians will be held in

Minneapolis, 29 March–1 April 2007. In addition to commemorating the centenary of the

organization, the meeting is dedicated to the theme of “American Values.” The United

States, from its beginnings, has justified its existence and its role in the world in terms of

universal values but has, at the same time, laid claim to a particular set of American values. These values, however, have been contested; different social groups have offered

different versions, they have changed over time, and they have been used to justify exclusion from as well as inclusion in civic life for those living within American boundaries.

Many values presented as national derive from, or lay claim to, sets of values that transcend American boundaries. To deepen the puzzle further, it is often unclear how these

values—universal or national—actually shape national or private practice or behavior. The

program committee invites the submission of panels and presentations that explore this

theme as well as other issues and themes in American history. We prefer to receive proposals for complete sessions but will consider individual paper proposals as well.

Proposals should be submitted electronically beginning 1 October 2005. For proposal submission procedures and requirements and additional information on the conference, see

http://www.oah.org/meetings/2007/.

Calls for Papers and Announcements (continued)
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Volume 23, NUMBER 3 AUGUST 2006

continued on next page

PUBLICATIONS

NASA Publications

Science in Flux: NASA’s Nuclear Program at Plum Brook Station, 1955–2000 (NASA SP2006-4317), by Mark D. Bowles. This book explores the broad history of the nuclear

research program at NASA’s Plum Brook Station. It is a tale of nuclear research, political

change, and the professional culture of the scientists and engineers who devoted their lives

to the facility for over 15 years. In the attempt to develop nuclear rockets, and the challenge to clean up the radioactive ruins from the site that housed the search, lies the story

of one of the most powerful test reactors of its day. Its history reveals the perils, potentials,

and challenges of that nuclear quest and science in flux.

Rockets and People: Volume II (NASA SP-2006-4110), by Boris Chertok, edited by Asif

Siddiqi. The second volume of the four-part series of memoirs provides insight into the

post–World War II Soviet missile and space program. Chertok discusses his return to the

Soviet Union in 1947, the reproduction of the German V-2, and the development of a

domestic Soviet rocket industry at the famed NII-88 institute in the Moscow suburb

Podlipki (now called Korolev). The memoir covers numerous Soviet technological feats,

including the development of the world’s first intercontinental ballistic missile, the launch

of Sputnik, and the first generation of probes sent to the Moon. 

Unconventional, Contrary, and Ugly: The Story of the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle

(NASA SP-2006-4535), by Gene Matranga, Wayne Ottinger, and Cal Jarvis. This monograph recounts the history of the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) from its inception

through its service as a training tool at the Manned Spaceflight Center (now Johnson Space

Center). Copies are available from the Dryden Flight Research Center History Office.

Forthcoming NASA Publications

Flights of Discovery: The History of the Dryden Flight Research Center, by Lane E.

Wallace. This history of the first 50 years at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center

captures the spirit of the role flight research has played in aeronautical research and development and provides insightful accounts of most of the major flight research projects from

1946 to 1996. The second edition is on schedule for publication in late 2006, in time for

the Center’s 60th anniversary.

The Wind and Beyond: A Documentary Journey into the History of Aerodynamics in

America, Volume II: Reinventing the Airplane, edited by James R. Hansen, with Jeremy

Kinney, D. Bryan Taylor, and J. Lawrence Lee. The second volume in The Wind and

Beyond series discusses the airplane design revolution of the 1920s and 1930s and the

quest for improved airfoils. The volume is slated for publication in 2006. 

Mission to Jupiter: A History of the Galileo Project, by Michael Meltzer. This informative

manuscript discusses the Galileo spacecraft project from its inception to its conclusion. It

should be published in 2006.
NASA HISTORY DIVISION

20

Dictionary of the Space Age, by Paul Dickson. This new book will augment and update

The Origins of NASA Names (NASA SP-4402, 1975) by including terms not in common

usage approximately 30 years ago, as well as etymological information. This book should

be published in early 2007.

Facing the Heat Barrier: A History of Hypersonics, by T. A. Heppenheimer. This book documents the history of hypersonics research in great detail. It should be published by late 2006.

Mars Wars: A Policy History of the Space Exploration Initiative, by Thor N. Hogan. This

provocative book argues that the failure of President George H. W. Bush’s Space

Exploration Initiative (SEI) was the result of a flawed policy process. The book should be

published in 2007.

Nose Up: High-Angle-of-Attack and Thrust Vectoring Research at NASA Dryden,

1979–2001 (NASA SP-2006-4534), by Lane Wallace. This monograph examines three

different programs that explored high-angle-of-attack flight with the F-18 High Alpha

Research Vehicle (HARV), the X-31, and the F-15 Advanced Controls Technology for

Integrated Vehicles (ACTIVE). This publication should be published in 2006.

New Non-NASA Publications

Saturn V, the Complete Manufacturing and Test Records, by Alan Lawrie with Robert

Godwin (Ontario: Apogee Books, 2005).

Return to Flight: Space Shuttle Discovery Photo Scrapbook, by Dennis R. Jenkins and

Jorge R. Frank, compilers (Cape Canaveral, FL: Specialty Press, 2006). This brief pictorial book on STS-114 provides some stunning photography that shows the Space Shuttle

in ways that have never before been seen. 

Quest: The History of Spaceflight, the quarterly journal dedicated to preserving the history of our industry, will soon release its third issue in volume 13. Articles include “Road

to Mach 10: A History of the X-43A Test Program,” “‘Magical Thinking’ in Human

Spaceflight,” “The Space Station: A Laboratory for Policy Sustainment,” “The Changing

Purpose of the Space Station,” an interview with Shannon Lucid, a book review of Riding

Rockets—The Mike Mullane Story, and short reviews of six new space books. Ordering

information, along with a complete bibliography of all articles that have appeared in Quest

since 1992, can be found at http://www.spacebusiness.com/quest.

New NASA Web Sites and Electronic Resources

A new page covering the Congressional Space Medal of Honor is available at

http://history.nasa.gov/spacemedal.htm on the Web.

An extensive set of NASA and even NACA organizational charts is available at

http://history.nasa.gov/orgcharts/orgcharts.html.

Publications (continued)
21

Volume 23, NUMBER 3 AUGUST 2006

Wingless Flight: The Lifting Body Story, by R. Dale Reed with Darlene Lister (SP-4220,

1997), is now online at http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4220/sp4220.htm.

Wind and Beyond: A Documentary Journey into the History of Aerodynamics in America,

Volume 1: The Ascent of the Airplane (SP-2003-4409), edited by James R. Hansen, is now

available at http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4409/SP-4409_1.pdf on the Web.

Listings of oral history collections at NASA Headquarters and the Field Center history

offices are available at http://history.nasa.gov/oralhistory/ohcatalog.htm.

Dreams, Hopes, and Realities: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, the First Forty Years

(NASA SP-4312, 1999), by Lane E. Wallace. This richly illustrated book is a good overview

of NASA Goddard’s history. Special thanks to volunteer Chris Gamble, who formatted this

publication for the Web. It is located at http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4312/sp4312.htm.

The Birth of NASA: The Diary of T. Keith Glennan (NASA SP-4105, 1993) is available at

http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4105/sp4105.htm.

Innovation in Flight: Research of the NASA Langley Research Center on Revolutionary

Advanced Concepts for Aeronautics (NASA SP-2005-4539), by Joseph R. Chambers. This

monograph is available online only and may be accessed at http://history.nasa.gov/

monograph39/mon39_a.pdf.

Critical Issues in the History of Spaceflight

Edited by Dr. Steven J. Dick and Dr. Roger D. Launius

(Washington, DC: NASA SP-2006-4702, 2006, pp. 659 + xi, hardcover)

An engrossing read, Critical Issues in the History of Spaceflight is a volume consisting of scholarship on the current state of the discipline of space history presented in

a joint NASA and NASM conference in 2005. The essays presented in the book examine such issues as the motivations for spaceflight and the necessity, if any, of human

space exploration. Though a highly informative and scholarly volume, Critical Issues

in the History of Spaceflight is thoroughly enjoyable for readers off all different backgrounds who share an interest in human spaceflight.

How to order: Please contact the NASA Center for AeroSpace Information, 7121

Standard Drive, Hanover, MD 21076, 301-621-0390, help@sti.nasa.gov. Online

Order Form: https://www.sti.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/ordersti.pl. Document ID #

20060022843. Title: Critical Issues in the History of Spaceflight. The price code is

EA4 (within the U.S., $25.00 plus $2.00 shipping and handling; outside the U.S.,

$40.00 plus $17.00 S&H).

This book also may be purchased from the NASA Information Center, NASA

Headquarters, 300 E Street SW, Room 1H23, Washington, DC 20546-0001, 202-358-

0000. Order NASA SP-2006-4702.
CONTRACTS

New NASA History Projects in Progress

The History Division has awarded a contract to the National Park Service (NPS) to revise,

augment, and update the Wind Tunnels of NASA (NASA SP-440, 1981), written by Donald

D. Baals and William R. Corliss and published in 1981 by the NASA Scientific and

Technical Information Branch, Washington, DC. Dr. Larry Lee of the NPS is expected to

complete the research and writing on this project. The revised manuscript shall cover all of

the wind tunnels that have been designed, built, and operated by or for the National Advisory

Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and NASA. This includes wind tunnels that have been

modified, relocated, demolished, or are no longer being utilized, as well as wind tunnels still

in use today. The publication shall serve as a technical resource for future researchers to

determine the eligibility of existing wind tunnels for listing on the National Register of

Historic Places. The NASA Historic Preservation Office is sponsoring the project.

Upcoming Contracts

The History Division recently solicited proposals for the preparation of a book on A

History of NASA’s Deep Space Navigation. The book shall focus on the history of deep

space navigation since NASA’s inception with some background discussion of antecedent

thoughts and efforts. The goal of this research project is to produce a roughly 400-page

manuscript history on the views of scientists, engineers, policy-makers, enthusiasts, and

the general public regarding deep space navigation. The history should include the latest

developments in deep space navigation, such as very long baseline interferometry using

both Deep Space Network techniques and those developed at the National Radio

Astronomy Observatory. The NASA History Division shall administer this project jointly

with the Science Mission Directorate. 

The History Division plans to release a solicitation for the preparation of a scholarly booklength manuscript on A History of NASA’s International Relations. The book shall focus

on the time period since NASA’s inception but also shall include historical detail on previous scientific endeavors, such as the International Geophysical Year (IGY). The

publication shall include consideration of the cultural, political, social, and personal factors that have shaped NASA’s approach to international themes. The manuscript shall

document the history of international cooperation on specific projects, including the Deep

Space Network and other tracking stations; human spaceflight missions such as the

Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, Space Shuttle, and the International Space Station; and space

science missions ranging from the French FR1 and EOLE projects in the 1960s to Earth

resources satellites, Cassini-Huygens, and other missions today. The NASA History

Division, part of the Office of External Relations, shall administer this project.

NASA HISTORY DIVISION

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Volume 23, NUMBER 3 AUGUST 2006

AEROSPACE HISTORY IN THE NEWS

NASA recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Viking program, which featured

the first successful robotic operations on the surface of Mars. The Viking 1 and 2 missions collected thousands of images of the planet and completed the first measurements

of the Martian atmosphere and surface. The missions began with the launch of Viking 1

on 20 August 1975; the spacecraft reached Mars’s orbit 10 months later. The Viking 1

lander separated from its orbiter and touched down on Mars at Chryse Planitia on 20 July

1976. The Viking 2 lander followed approximately six weeks later, touching down at

Utopia Planitia on 3 September 1976. Originally intended to operate for only 90 days, the

Viking 1 and 2 landers continued to transmit data about the Martian surface, atmosphere,

and chemical content of the soil for six years, ending transmissions in the early 1980s.

The Viking Project involved several NASA Centers. Langley Research Center managed

the overall project, while the Jet Propulsion Laboratory built the orbiters and managed

the science mission. The mission took off from Kennedy Space Center using

Titan/Centaur launch vehicles designed at Lewis Research Center (now Glenn Research

Center). Lockheed Martin served as the prime contractor, and several university scientists helped to analyze the data returned from the mission.

Langley Research Center kicked off NASA’s anniversary celebration of this important

mission with a conference on 22 June titled “Mars: Past, Present, and Future.” The symposium featured several members of the original Viking team and included segments that

focused on the legacy of the Viking mission, current robotic Mars missions, and future

plans for robotic and human exploration of the Red Planet. For more information on

Viking and the anniversary, including links to photographs of Mars and transcripts and

videos of interviews with the key individuals involved in the mission, please visit

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/events/viking30.html. JPL also developed an

informative Web site to commemorate the event and provide further information on the

Viking program; see http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/spotlights/200607-viking.cfm.

Taken by Viking 1 on 3 August 1966, this image provides a panoramic view of rocks and wind-blown sand dunes on the Martian landscape.

(Image number PIA00393; from JPL Planetary Photojournal)
NASA History Office

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UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS

15–20 August 2006: The International Committee for the History of Technology

(ICOHTEC) will hold its 33rd symposium, “Transforming Economies and Civilizations:

The Role of Technology,” in Leicester, United Kingdom. For more information on the

symposium, see http://www.icohtec.org/.

14–16 September 2006: University College London’s School of Slavonic and East European

Studies will host a conference on “The Relaunch of the Soviet Project, 1945–1964.” This

conference will examine the political, social, and cultural history of the late Stalinist and

Khrushchev periods. For more information, visit http://www.homepages.ucl.ac.uk/~tjmsbch.

19–21 September 2006: The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics will hold

its Space 2006 Conference, titled “The Value Proposition for Space Security, Discovery,

Prosperity,” at the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose, California. The conference

will address a wide array of topics, including technical, economic, and policy themes, to

provide a forum to discuss “the value proposition for space.” Information about the meeting is available at http://www.aiaa.org/content.cfm?pageid=1.

12–16 October 2006: The Society for the History of Technology annual meeting will be

held at the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. Information about the meeting is available at http://shot.press.jhu.edu/.

25–29 October 2006: The Oral History Association will hold its annual meeting at the

Peabody in Little Rock, Arkansas. For more information, see http://www.dickinson.

edu/oha/org_am.html.

1–3 November 2006: The U.S. Air Force Academy’s Department of History will hold

its 21st Military History Symposium on the academy grounds in Colorado Springs.

This year’s theme is “Harnessing the Heavens: National Defense through Space.” For

more information, visit the Web site at http://www.usafa.af.mil/df/dfh/.

2–5 November 2006: The History of Science Society will hold its annual meeting in

Vancouver, British Columbia. For more information about the meeting, see

http://www.hssonline.org/society/index.html.

8–12 November 2006: The Film and History League Conference, titled “The

Documentary Tradition,” will be held at the Dolce Conference Center in Dallas, Texas.

The conference will focus on the use of documentary films to win hearts and minds

during the Cold War. For more information, see http://www.filmandhistory.org.

4–7 January 2007: The American Historical Association will hold its 121st Annual

Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information about the meeting, see http://www.

historians.org/annual/2007/index.cfm.

20–21 March 2007: The American Astronautical Society will holds its 45th Robert H.

Goddard Memorial Symposium at the University of Maryland University College, Inn

and Conference Center, in Adelphi, Maryland. For information, call 703-866-0020. 
1–4 April 2007: The 2007 Mutual Concerns of Air and Space Museums Seminar will

be held in at the San Diego Air and Space Museum in San Diego, California. The

National Air and Space Museum Web site will feature information about the 2007 seminar in the near future.

19–22 April 2007: The Catoctin Center for Regional Studies located at Frederick

Community College will host the 74th meeting of the Society for Military History. The

theme for the conference will be “Crossroads of War.” For more information about the

conference, see http://catoctincenter.frederick.edu/conferences.html.

19–22 April 2007: The fourth annual Cultural Studies Association Conference will be held

at George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia. The conference this year will feature

plenaries on the culture of science and technology, cultural studies and the social sciences,

and global cities and citizenship. For more information, see http://www.csaus.pitt.

edu/frame_home.htm.

3–6 May 2007: The American Association for the History of Medicine will hold its 80th

annual meeting in Montreal, Quebec. For more information, see http://histmed.org.

1–2 June 2007: The Business History Conference will hold its annual conference at

Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. The theme of the conference is

“Entrepreneurial Communities.” For more information, see http://www.hnet.org/~

business/bhcweb/annmeet/call07.html.

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Volume 23, NUMBER 3 AUGUST 2006
NASA History DIVISION

26

IMAGES IN SPACE HISTORY

Pictured above are three women cosmonauts at Tyura-Tam on 16 June 1963 prior to the

launch of Vostok 6. Chosen from 400 women candidates competing for five spots in the

Soviet space program, these particular women were noted for their significant aviation and

parachuting skills. Left to right, they are Valentina Ponomareva, backup Irina Solovyeva,

and prime crewmember Valentina Tereshkova. State Commission Chairman Georgiy

Tyulin (left) and Strategic Missile Forces Commander-in-Chief Sergey Biryuzov are

standing behind the women in the picture above.

The Vostok program, which paralleled NASA’s Mercury space project, was designed to

demonstrate Soviet mastery in spaceflight, especially over the Americans. The Soviets had

already bested the Americans with Sputnik and the sending of Yuri Gagarin into orbit. With

the sixth Vostok mission, the goal once again was to stress Soviet and socialist dominance. 

Tereshkova, who became the first woman in space on 16 June 1963, was selected for her

Vostok 6 flight not only for her aviation skills, but for her good moral standing and her

devotion to the Communist cause. Serious contention over who would best serve as

Russia’s first woman in space emerged in the months prior to the crew selection. Born in

the Yaroslav region of the upper Volga on 6 March 1937, Tereshkova was an active member of her local Young Communist League and reflected the Soviet ideal of womanhood.

Tereshkova’s primary competition was her fellow cosmonaut Valentina Ponomareva, an

excellent pilot and highly skilled technically. Many in the government, however, thought

that Ponomareva was too headstrong and did not best represent the ideal Communist

woman; also, she was a mother, and Soviet leaders found the idea of putting a mother’s

life at risk unacceptable. On 21 May 1963, Soviet officials announced the decision to send

Tereshkova into space. 

(Center: HQ; Center number: womencosmonauts; GRIN database number: GPN-2002 000173)
27

Volume 23, NUMBER 3 AUGUST 2006

The NASA History Division, under the Office of External Relations, NASA

Headquarters, Washington, DC 20546, publishes News and Notes quarterly.

To receive News and Notes via e-mail, send a message to domo@hq.nasa.gov. Leave the

subject line blank. In the text portion, simply type “subscribe history” without the quotation marks. You will receive confirmation that your account has been added to the list for

the newsletter and for receiving other announcements. We also post the latest issue of this

newsletter at http://history.nasa.gov/nltrc.html on the Web.

Do you have more questions about NASA history in general? Please check out our NASA

History Division Home Page at http://history.nasa.gov on the Web. For information 

about doing research in the NASA History Division, please e-mail us at

histinfo@hq.nasa.gov or call 202-358-0384. 

We also welcome comments about the content and format of this newsletter. Please send

comments to Glen Asner, newsletter editor, at glen.asner@nasa.gov.

NASA Headquarters History Division Staff Contact Information:

Steven J. Dick, Chief Historian steven.j.dick@nasa.gov

202-358-0383

Nadine Andreassen, Program Support Specialist nadine.j.andreassen@nasa.gov

202-358-0087

Glen Asner, Historian glen.asner@nasa.gov

202-358-0903

Colin Fries, Archivist cfries@mail.hq.nasa.gov

202-358-0388

Caitlin E. Gallogly, Intern caitlin.e.gallogly@nasa.gov

202-358-0375

Stephen Garber, Historian stephen.j.garber@nasa.gov

202-358-0385

John Hargenrader, Archivist jhargenr@mail.hq.nasa.gov

202-358-0387

Jane Odom, Chief Archivist jane.h.odom@nasa.gov

202-358-0386

Created and produced by the following:

Glen Asner, NASA Headquarters History Division

Michelle Cheston and Lisa Jirousek, Editors, NASA Headquarters Printing and Design Office

Steve Bradley, Designer, NASA Headquarters Printing and Design Office

CONTACT INFORMATION AND CREDITS
NASA History Office

National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration

NASA HISTORY DIVISION

Office of External Relations

Washington, DC 20546

http://www.nasa.gov

http://history.nasa.gov