National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration

Volume 32, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2015

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE

OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

IN THIS ISSUE:

1 From the Chief Historian

1 A Recollection of Gemini from

40 Feet and 20 Knots

8 James A. Chamberlin and the

Birth of Gemini

12 Francis Rogallo and the 

Development of Parawing Landing 

Craft for Project Gemini

14 News from Headquarters and

the Centers

24 Other Aerospace History News

27 Recent Publications and

Online Resources

34 Upcoming Meetings

34 Obituaries

39 Image in NASA History

FROM

THE CHIEF 

HISTORIAN

We are in the middle of the 

50th anniversary year 

of Project Gemini. 

From the spring of 

1965 through the end of 1966, 10 crewed 

Gemini missions successfully propelled the 

United States from apparent perpetual alsoran to clear leader of the space race. But ask 

most people about the space program in the 

1960s and you’ll hear about Apollo and, sometimes, the Mercury 7 astronauts. Gemini? 

Hardly anybody remembers it, and fewer still 

appreciate how it served as the critical testing ground between our initial baby steps in 

Mercury to footsteps on the Moon. So we are 

devoting our annual theme issue this year to 

Gemini. This seems particularly appropriate 

for our December issue, since the two-person 

spacecraft project was announced to the public in December 1961. That’s right, Gemini 

appeared after President John F. Kennedy 

committed us to landing on the Moon and 

long after work on Apollo had begun. While 

there had been discussions about developing 

an advanced Mercury capsule for a couple 

of years, the President’s end-of-the-decade 

continued on next page

A RECOLLECTION OF GEMINI FROM 

40 FEET AND 20 KNOTS

By William R. Carpentier, M.D., with John B. Charles, Ph.D.

I

n January 1965, through a combination of preparation and luck, I joined 

NASA’s Manned Spacecraft Center 

(now Johnson Space Center) as a flight 

surgeon trainee and was privileged to 

participate in a truly great adventure. In 

July, I became a staff flight surgeon in the 

Medical Operations Office. I was soon 

assigned the job of flying in the recovery 

helicopter for the Gemini 5, 6, 7, and 9 

missions, as well as working with the Navy 

Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) 

swimmers in order to provide medical 

support for astronaut rescue operations. 

This gave me a unique perspective on this 

ambitious crewed program.

Project Gemini was initiated in 1961 to 

bridge the knowledge gap between the 

successful but rudimentary one-person 

Project Mercury flights then under way 

and the ambitious three-person Apollo 

Moon missions still a few years in the 

future. Gemini was intermediate in the 

number of astronauts it would carry, 

the durations of most of its flights, the 

continued on page 3
2

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

From the Chief Historian (continued)

deadline refocused attentions in the summer and fall 

of 1961. It was clear that Apollo was not going to be 

ready to fly for several years, and there was much to 

learn that could not be done with the existing Mercury 

design. Known as Mercury 

Mark II at first, the program 

was publicly assigned the 

name Project Gemini only 

in January 1963. The three 

remarkable years that followed laid the foundation 

for success in Apollo. Even 

if you are a long-standing 

Gemini fan, like me, I think 

you will find that our three 

feature articles in this issue 

will provide some perspectives that you may not have 

heard before. Enjoy!

One thing that we won’t be 

enjoying in 2016 is a healthy History Program Office 

budget. After a 10 percent cut in the messiness of 

sequestration two years ago, we suffered only a 5 percent cut in fiscal year 2015. This year, though, the cut 

was 32 percent. I’m told that this is temporary and 

that things should improve next fiscal year. We will be 

able to sustain critical programs that need funds this 

year, but we won’t be initiating any major new publication projects. That approach is not sustainable in the 

long run. However, we have enough in the publication 

pipeline to tide us over, and this also conveniently 

gives us some breathing space to implement our new 

publication management software system. But you 

can be sure that I’m very focused on the need for longterm sustainability of the history program.

Actually, while budget prospects this year seem grim, I 

think that the overall trend for the history program is 

on the upswing. Good news about the NASA history 

program this past year has been abundant. Our work 

on the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics 

(NACA) centennial in 2015 was highly successful 

and brought a lot of positive attention to the history program. Goddard Space Flight Center, which 

had been the one Center 

without an archival or 

history program, initiated 

an archival program and 

hired a civil service archivist 

to run it in October. At 

Glenn Research Center, the 

upcoming 75th anniversary 

is driving a surge in activity 

and publications (both in 

print and online). Langley 

Research Center’s upcoming centennial in 2017 not 

only has generated serious 

planning but appears to 

be leading to a rebirth of 

their history and archival 

programs. We’ve seen two new Center-level Halls 

of Fame open this year at Langley and Glenn. In 

all, I think these events indicate an upward trend in 

the perceived value of history and archival programs 

across the Agency. So, as we begin the new calendar 

year, I see a brilliant future for our history.

Have a great holiday season and Godspeed to you 

in 2016,

William P. Barry

Chief Historian

...WHILE BUDGET PROSPECTS 

THIS YEAR SEEM GRIM, I 

THINK THAT THE OVERALL 

TREND FOR THE HISTORY 

PROGRAM IS ON THE 

UPSWING. GOOD NEWS 

ABOUT THE NASA HISTORY 

PROGRAM THIS PAST YEAR 

HAS BEEN ABUNDANT.
3

Volume 32, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2015

A Recollection of Gemini from 40 Feet and 20 Knots (continued)

altitudes of its orbits, and the 

scope of its extravehicular activities. But there was nothing intermediate about its unprecedented 

challenge to its pilots. Gemini was 

intended to define the operational 

limits of astronauts in upcoming 

lunar missions, including the 

most unique feature of spaceflight, 

weightlessness, for up to 14 days—

the duration of the longest foreseen lunar mission—compounded 

by extended confinement in 

a small cockpit inside a bulky, 

restricting spacesuit.

The first 2-hour orbital flight of 

Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in 

April 1961, followed by six more 

flights lasting up to five days each, 

had not revealed any unexpected 

life-threatening difficulties, but 

the Soviets did not disclose many 

medical details. American Mercury 

astronauts flew two suborbital and 

four orbital missions with excellent performance and 

no significant deleterious effects of weightlessness.

However, Gordon Cooper had a very high heart 

rate and was light-headed when he stood up for the 

first time on the deck of the recovery ship after the 

final Mercury flight, the 22-orbit, 34-hour mission 

in May 1963. This “orthostatic intolerance” was not 

entirely unexpected because Walter Schirra had had 

an increased heart rate and decreased systolic blood 

pressure when standing compared to lying down after 

his six-orbit, 9-hour flight the previous October.

Immediately after exiting his Mercury capsule, Cooper 

stands quietly on the aircraft carrier deck while his heart 

rate and blood pressure are measured. (Credit: NASA)

Orthostatic intolerance means “intolerant of the 

upright posture while standing,” and its symptoms 

include trembling, weakness, fatigue, poor concentration, light-headedness, accelerated heart rate, and 

even fainting on standing because 

the cardiovascular system has trouble maintaining blood pressure 

and blood flow to the brain. These 

symptoms were believed to result 

from a decrease in blood volume 

during spaceflight, exacerbated 

by the fact that veins in the lower 

body may become more distensible 

postflight, allowing more blood to 

pool in the legs.

All of the Mercury astronauts had 

weight loss and increased heart rates, 

and five out of six had decreased 

systolic pressure after landing. No 

one knew how much to be concerned about these findings, but 

they influenced planning for the 

upcoming Gemini flights, which 

were to gradually increase the time 

astronauts stayed in weightlessness: 

from just 5 hours on Gemini 3 

(as short as the Mercury flights of 

John Glenn and Scott Carpenter) 

to 4 days on Gemini 4, 8 days (matching early 

Apollo missions) on Gemini 5, and finally 14 days on 

Gemini 7.

A defining feature of Gemini was its nearly horizontal 

attitude during landing, as required for its initial plan 

for a land landing at an air base under pilot control 

instead of an undignified parachute splashdown in 

the ocean. The paraglider, an inflatable triangular 

wing developed by Francis Rogallo of NASA’s Langley 

Research Center, was to replace the parachute used 

by Mercury, and a successful—and safe—landing 

required the pilot to initiate a “flare” maneuver just 

before landing, bleeding off speed by slightly lifting 

the nose of the capsule.
4

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

The Gemini capsule was to be tilted horizontally under 

the inflated Rogallo wing, permitting the astronauts 

to see the landing strip through their forward-facing 

windows. This meant that they were sitting upright 

under normal Earth gravity, as in an aircraft, only a 

few minutes after leaving the weightlessness of orbital 

flight. Orthostatic intolerance may be merely annoying on the deck of a recovery ship, but if it occurred 

while landing the Gemini capsule, then it could result 

in a crash, astronaut injury, or worse.

If the Rogallo inflatable wing had been used for Gemini landings, it would have looked like this test 

except with skids instead of wheels. (Photograph credit: North American Aviation and NASA)

Engineering problems eliminated the paraglider from 

the Gemini program in late 1964. The Mercurystyle parachute was restored, with the capsule still 

suspended horizontally under the parachute, but at a 

slight nose-up angle to permit it to splash down on the 

edge of its blunt heat shield instead of flat on its widest 

face, in order to slice into the water to minimize the 

shock of impact. The critical piloting task was no longer a problem, but the astronauts would still be sitting 

nearly upright during parachute descent after two 

weeks of weightlessness, and then again while floating 

in the ocean for as long as it took to be rescued.

We routinely conducted pre- and postflight tests on 

the astronauts during the Gemini program to measure 

their orthostatic intolerance by putting them on a “tilt 

table” that tipped them from horizontal to 70 degrees 

upright for 15 minutes while we recorded their heart 

rates and blood pressures every minute. This was 

among the earliest provocative testing done on astronauts returning from space, but not the first. In 1963, 

Gordon Cooper had 11 preflight tilt tests—including 

5 prior to spacecraft checkout procedures and 6 following those procedures—and 4 postflight tilt tests 

out to 19 hours after splashdown.

NASA had assembled a large recovery team to go out 

on the aircraft carrier to pick up the Gemini astronauts. The recovery team included the Navy UDT 

swimmers, predecessors of today’s U.S. Navy Seals. 

They jumped from the recovery helicopter to assist the 

crew out of the capsule and into a life raft so that they 

could be hoisted into the helicopter using a “horse 

collar” rescue sling. If the astronauts were injured 

or required medical attention, they would instead 

be hoisted horizontally in a Stokes Litter Basket up 

into the helicopter and be attended to by a recovery 

physician en route back to the carrier. A group of 

medical specialists was stationed on board the carrier 

to conduct the postflight medical evaluations.

After Gemini 3 in March 1965, it was decided that, 

on future splashdowns, the physician in the helicopter 

should be able to jump with the frogmen in order 

to provide medical help immediately, if required. 

However, the physician assigned to Gemini 4 indicated that he was not a very good swimmer and did 

not relish the idea of jumping into the ocean. The lead 

NASA recovery flight surgeon had to stay on the carrier. I, on the other hand, being a new, gung-ho flight 

surgeon with a background in competitive swimming 

and scuba diving, thought jumping out of helicopters 

with the UDT would be a great job.
5

Volume 32, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2015

Even though it was likely I would never actually have 

to jump, I was required to have some practice training. 

A colleague in the medical office told me the frogmen 

went out of the helicopter 40 feet above the water at 

a speed of over 20 knots—something that definitely 

required being in good shape. I was able to do some 

training jumps from a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter 

into the Gulf of Mexico near NASA. The pilot wanted 

to try 20 feet and 10 knots, but I insisted on 40 feet 

and 20 knots (and then talked him into increasing 

the speed to close to 40 knots). It gave me quite a jolt, 

but I kept telling myself I could do whatever the UDT 

divers did.

When I went out to the carrier for the Gemini 5 recovery, I met the UDT team, men much larger than I 

and much younger than my 29 years. I was asked, 

“Have you ever jumped out of a helicopter?” When I 

responded, “Yes, I went out at 40 feet at 20 knots,” they 

were somewhat stunned: “You did what?” I learned 

that they usually went out much lower and slower.

Back on the carrier after the recovery, our testing 

showed that the Gemini 5 crewmembers were both 

significantly affected by eight days in space. During 

tilting, their heart rates soared and their blood pressure dropped. When we added these results to those 

from Gemini 3 and Gemini 4, we were concerned to 

see the astronauts’ orthostatic heart rates increasing 

and blood pressures decreasing as flights got longer. 

When extrapolated out to 14 days in weightlessness, a 

hand-drawn graph predicted tilt heart rate increases of 

more than 100 beats per minute above supine resting 

rates, which averaged over 85 beats per minute. There 

was no way an astronaut could maintain that kind of 

heart rate during a tilt test, or, by extension, any other 

orthostatic stress, perhaps not even sitting upright for 

a long period in the floating capsule.

Earth-based studies suggested that orthostatic intolerance resulted from an actual decrease in measured 

blood volume. This was borne out by tests on the 

Gemini 4 and Gemini 5 astronauts. We measured 

reductions in both their volume of plasma (the liquid 

Dr. Charles Berry, director of space medicine, demonstrates the routine preand postflight tilt-test procedure for measuring heart rate and blood pressure 

during 70-degree tilt. (Photograph credit: NASA)

Astronaut Conrad is hoisted up into the recovery helicopter after Gemini 5 using 

the “horse collar” rescue sling. (Photograph credit: NASA)
6

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

part of blood) and their number of red blood cells. 

Based on our measurements of the astronauts’ calf 

circumference, we also determined that increased 

pooling of blood in the legs was at least part of the 

reason for the Gemini 5 results.

Gemini 7, which was scheduled to last 14 days in 

December, was my major concern. Although the 

Gemini 5 astronauts had returned to normal within 

two to three days, I was most concerned about the 

data from their first few minutes and hours back on 

Earth, especially because previous Gemini spacecraft 

had landed a considerable distance from the carrier; 

Gemini 5 had been about 90 nautical miles away—

about an hour by helicopter.

As the physician member of the team that was going 

to have to rescue this crew if they should be incapacitated, I was incredibly concerned about how we 

were going to get them out of the spacecraft, into the 

helicopter, back to the carrier, and into the sick bay. I 

had a vision of me, a newly qualified flight surgeon, 

with three frogmen and two unconscious astronauts 

an hour away from the aircraft carrier and additional 

medical help.

So I did a lot of practicing with the UDT, trying to 

work out the best method of getting the crew out of 

the spacecraft and onto the life raft and to come up 

with some way to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation 

on a pliable raft in 6-foot seas.

Navy UDT divers with whom I helped recover the Gemini 5 astronauts. (Photograph credit: personal 

collection of William Carpentier)

I also told the Gemini 7 commander, Frank Borman, 

“When you land, don’t just sit there and let the blood 

pool in your legs. You’ve got to keep your feet moving, 

keep your legs moving, and keep your blood pumping 

upward until we can get you out of there.” In a later 

television interview, Borman commented, with some 

astonishment, that some people were afraid the crew 

was going to faint. I was certainly one of them.

My hand-drawn graph (seen here) of the increasing trend in heart rate with 

increasing Gemini flight durations predicted a heart rate that was 105 beats 

per minute higher after a 14-day flight than during preflight—an unsustainable 

increase. (Photograph credit: personal collection of William Carpentier)

Although neither astronaut fainted during the recovery, one did faint during a tilt table test about an hour 

after splashdown, but the other, tested about 2 hours 

after recovery, did not. In fact, his tilt test showed him 

to have a lower heart rate than either one of the pilots 

who were in space for only eight days. I was greatly 

relieved because this finding demonstrated that orthostatic intolerance didn’t inevitably continue to get 

worse over time—in fact, it appeared to level off as the 

missions got longer and was also very variable among 

individual astronauts. With this new information, 
7

Volume 32, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2015

we concluded 1965 with confidence that astronauts 

could complete the longest planned Apollo mission.

Although I did numerous jumps during training and 

practice exercises, medical assistance was never necessary for any crewmember during actual recovery operations. They remained conscious, not only throughout 

the whole parachute and floating periods, but also 

while being hoisted up to the recovery helicopter 

using the rescue sling that supported them under the 

arms and left their legs dangling free—an ideal way to 

cause fainting. (The crews of Gemini 6 and Gemini 9 

elected to stay in the spacecraft and be hoisted aboard 

the carrier using a crane. The Gemini 8 crew climbed 

up a cargo net to board their recovery vessel.)

This photograph from a training session illustrates the challenges involved 

in providing medical care to incapacitated astronauts on a raft in the ocean. 

(Photograph credit: personal collection of William Carpentier)

These photographs show me jumping from the recovery helicopter in a practice 

session, lower than 40 feet and slower than 20 knots. (Photograph credit: 

personal collection of William Carpentier)

The Gemini data showed that the decreased blood 

volume was highly related to weight loss, as were 

the increased heart rate and decreased pulse pressure. There was considerable weight-loss variability 

among crewmembers, and factors other than duration 

of weightlessness must be considered. These would 

include caloric intake versus energy expended. They 

would also include fluid and electrolyte intake versus 

fluid and electrolytes lost in the urine plus sweating, 
8

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

as well as insensible loss, which may vary secondarily 

with the dryness and warmth of the environment, 

especially while the astronaut is suited. The Gemini 7 

astronauts were the only ones who were issued lightweight spacesuits that could be doffed in-flight, a 

capability that greatly enhanced their comfort and 

that they recommended for future missions.

I went out to the carrier for Gemini 5, Gemini 6, 

and Gemini 7 as an assistant recovery physician, and 

then as the lead for Gemini 9, before transitioning to 

Apollo medical operations and planning. At the end 

of the Gemini program, I believed that there was still 

much to learn and that further comprehensive, quantitative biomedical measurements should be made on 

Apollo to gain a better understanding of the effects of 

spaceflight on human physiology prior to landing on 

the Moon. As for the astronauts, they believed that 

they could take anything that was thrown at them. 

And, almost always, it was true.

I took this photograph of James Lovell being hoisted to the recovery helicopter after Gemini 7 using 

the horse-collar rescue sling, still wearing his lightweight spacesuit. (Photograph credit: NASA and 

personal collection of William Carpentier)

JAMES A. CHAMBERLIN AND THE BIRTH OF GEMINI

By Chris Gainor

At first glance, the Gemini spacecraft appears to be just a larger version of the Mercury spacecraft 

that carried the first American astronauts into space. 

Both were built by McDonnell Aircraft in St. Louis, 

Missouri, and both were covered with black corrugated 

shingles to manage the heat of launch and reentry.

But inside, the two spacecraft were very different from 

each other, and those differences made Gemini a 

much more durable and capable vehicle than Mercury. 

Much of the credit for those improvements goes to 

a lanky Canadian engineer who was responsible for 

the design of the two-person spacecraft and served as 

Gemini’s first program manager.

James Arthur Chamberlin was the most prominent member of a group of 32 British and Canadian 

engineers who joined the NASA Space Task Group 

(STG), the forerunner to Johnson Space Center, in 

1959, after the Canadian government canceled a major 

aircraft program.1

After joining NASA in April 1959, Chamberlin soon 

became head of engineering for Project Mercury, the 

first U.S. crewed spacecraft. Unlike many of his fellow 

engineers at STG in those early days, Chamberlin had 

production experience, and as head of engineering, 

he saw the spacecraft through their manufacturing 

processes at McDonnell Aircraft in St. Louis, Missouri. 

1 Chamberlin’s life story and the stories of the engineers who 

came to NASA from Avro Canada are told in Chris Gainor, 

Arrows to the Moon: Avro’s Engineers and the Space Race

(Burlington, Canada: Apogee Books, 2001).
9

Volume 32, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2015

He was also responsible for troubleshooting problems 

that cropped up during the early Mercury flights.2

Early in 1961, Chamberlin was charged with designing 

an advanced Mercury spacecraft that could carry an 

astronaut on longer missions than the three-orbit flights 

for which Mercury was designed. In those early days, 

the new spacecraft was known as Mercury Mark II.

Chamberlin disliked Mercury’s internal design, where 

systems were “stacked like a layer cake” inside the 

pressurized cabin, which complicated checkout on the 

launch pad.3

Working with others, notably James T. Rose of NASA 

and William J. Blatz of McDonnell, Chamberlin 

placed Gemini systems outside the cabin in a modularized fashion that facilitated checkout. Many of the 

systems were placed inside the adapter section behind 

the main body of Gemini that remained attached until 

reentry into the atmosphere.

Gemini used ejection seats rather than an escape tower 

for launch aborts, and the large hatches that came 

with the seats facilitated extravehicular activity in 

orbit when that was added to the Gemini program. 

Based on a suggestion from Maxime A. Faget, who 

had designed Mercury, the new spacecraft would carry 

two astronauts.

During the summer of 1961, Chamberlin and his 

growing design team proposed six objectives for 

Mark II, including long-duration flights with astronauts and animals, a robotic flight through the Van 

Allen radiation belts, controlled landings using a 

2 See Loyd S. Swenson, James M. Grimwood, and Charles 

C. Alexander, This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury

(Washington, DC: NASA SP-4201, 1966).

3 James A. Chamberlin, letter to James M. Grimwood, NASA 

historian, 26 March 1974. See also James A. Chamberlin, 

interview by James M. Grimwood, Manned Spacecraft Center, 

Houston, TX, 9 June 1966, transcript available in RG 255.4.7, 

Records of the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston,

TX, National Archives at Fort Worth, TX, National Archives 

and Records Administration (NARA).

paraglider on crewed flights, rendezvous and docking with an Agena rocket in Earth orbit, astronaut 

training, and flights around the Moon with a Mark II 

docked to a Centaur rocket.

A few weeks later, Chamberlin beefed up his last objective with a proposal that a Mark II vehicle launched 

atop a Saturn rocket head to lunar orbit, where one 

astronaut would descend to the surface in a small 

“bug” and then return to the Mark II spacecraft for the 

journey home to Earth.

Although Chamberlin was ordered to stop work on 

the idea of lunar flights, his advocacy of Lunar Orbit 

Rendezvous (LOR) helped cause people like Faget and 

Robert R. Gilruth, the head of NASA’s human space 

program, to see the virtue of LOR and choose it as the 

method by which Apollo would reach the Moon and 

meet the goal set by President John F. Kennedy. Before 

that time, LOR had been championed only by a 

Langley Research Center engineer, John C. Houbolt.4

4 James R. Hansen, Enchanted Rendezvous: John C. Houbolt 

and the Genesis of the Lunar-Orbit Rendezvous Concept, 

Monographs in Aerospace History, no. 4 (Washington, DC: 

NASA, 1995), pp. 17, 21–22.

ALTHOUGH CHAMBERLIN WAS ORDERED 

TO STOP WORK ON THE IDEA OF LUNAR 

FLIGHTS, HIS ADVOCACY OF LUNAR ORBIT 

RENDEZVOUS (LOR) HELPED CAUSE PEOPLE 

LIKE FAGET AND ROBERT R. GILRUTH, THE 

HEAD OF NASA’S HUMAN SPACE PROGRAM, 

TO SEE THE VIRTUE OF LOR AND CHOOSE IT 

AS THE METHOD BY WHICH APOLLO WOULD 

REACH THE MOON AND MEET THE GOAL SET 

BY PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY. 
10

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

On 7 December 1961, Gilruth announced the new 

program in a speech to the Houston Chamber of 

Commerce, and in January, the program was named 

Gemini and Chamberlin became program manager. 

The animal flights and lunar flights were gone; greater 

emphasis was put on rendezvous and docking; and 

soon, extravehicular activity would be added to the 

program goals.

Because of Gemini’s many advances beyond Mercury, 

Chamberlin and his team faced many problems in 

the early months of the program. The environmental 

control system was a bigger challenge than expected, 

and Gemini’s thrusters and heat shield experienced 

many development problems. Fuel cells, which were 

to fly on long-duration Gemini flights, proved to be 

troublesome. The paraglider landing system experienced many failures in tests.

The U.S. Air Force Titan II missile, which was designated to launch Gemini into orbit, suffered from 

pogo oscillation, the bouncing that would be highly 

dangerous to human passengers if not nuclear warheads. Devising a solution to this problem took longer 

than hoped.

Both photos feature Jim Chamberlin in his office at the Manned Spacecraft 

Center (later renamed Johnson Space Center) in Houston, Texas, in 1962. 

In one photo, Chamberlin is shown with Andre J. Meyer, Jr., and Paul M. 

Sturtevant. (Photo credit: NASA S62-2898 and S62-2899)

As 1962 turned into 1963, Gemini’s costs began 

to rise precipitously at the same time as Congress 

trimmed NASA’s budget; NASA decided that Gemini 

would have to absorb many of the cuts. While many 

of Gemini’s growing problems were not his fault, 

more fingers began to point at Chamberlin, and on 

19 March 1963, Gilruth replaced Chamberlin as program manager with Charles W. Mathews.

Mathews canceled the paraglider in 1964, leaving 

Gemini to splash down in the ocean using a parachute. Over 1963 and 1964, Mathews and his team 

were able to overcome Gemini’s other problems. In 10 

crewed flights in 1965 and 1966, Gemini met its goals, 

and U.S. astronauts captured the lead in the space race 

with the Soviet Union and laid down the foundation 

for the success of the Apollo program.5

5 The most detailed account of Gemini, including Chamberlin’s 

role in it, remains Barton C. Hacker and James M. 

Grimwood, On the Shoulders of Titans: A History of Project 

Gemini (Washington, DC: NASA SP-4203, 1977).
11

Volume 32, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2015

“There were a tremendous amount of development 

problems that had occurred, most of them not Jim’s 

fault,” Mathews recalled. “There were a couple of 

things where his futuristic look at things got things 

into the spacecraft that were too R&Dish that produced some of the schedule problems. But in general, 

you have to say that he left the program in pretty 

good shape.”6

Chamberlin, for his part, wrote that Gemini’s problems were smaller than the problems Mercury and 

Apollo faced during their development and praised 

Mathews’s “excellent leadership” for solving Gemini’s 

problems.7 Others observed that Mathews made sense 

as manager for Gemini at that point because of his 

operations experience.

When Gemini concluded successfully in 1966, 

Chamberlin was awarded the NASA Exceptional 

Scientific Achievement Medal for “his outstanding 

scientific contributions and conceptual design of the 

Gemini spacecraft and program; for his leadership and 

technical guidance in the engineering of the basic and 

underlying design principles of the Gemini spacecraft 

and for his development of many operational concepts 

for the Gemini Program.”

Chamberlin was born in Kamloops, British Columbia, 

on 23 May 1915 and was raised by his mother in 

Toronto, Ontario, after his father was killed in World 

War I. He was educated at the University of Toronto 

and in London at the Imperial College of Science 

and Technology.

During World War II, Chamberlin worked briefly for 

Martin-Baker, the British ejection seat manufacturers, 

and a number of Canadian aircraft companies, including Noorduyn Aviation in Montreal, Quebec, builders 

of the Noorduyn Norseman bush plane, which was 

used widely in military operations during the war.

6 Charles W. Mathews, telephone interview by author, 3 March 

1996, transcript in author’s personal collection.

7 Chamberlin letter to Grimwood.

In February 1946, Chamberlin joined the engineering 

staff at Avro Aircraft Ltd., of Toronto, where he rose 

through the ranks quickly, working as chief aerodynamicist on the Avro C-102 Jetliner and the CF-100 

jet interceptor.

Chamberlin was Avro’s chief of technical design in the 

mid-1950s, when Avro Canada moved into design 

and construction of the CF-105 Avro Arrow. The 

twin-engine delta-winged supersonic jet interceptor was 

considered one of the most advanced aircraft of its time. 

But only five Arrows flew before the Canadian government controversially canceled it on 20 February 1959, 

due to its cost and the shift from defense to deterrence 

with intercontinental ballistic missiles.

In April 1959, NASA recruited Chamberlin and 

two dozen other engineers from Avro Canada. The 

Avro group, which eventually included 32 engineers, 

joined NASA’s Space Task Group at Langley Research 

Center in Hampton, Virginia. The group later 

moved to Houston, Texas, to what today is Johnson 

Space Center.

After he left the Gemini program in 1963, Chamberlin 

became one of NASA’s top troubleshooters in the 

Apollo program. He helped solve problems with the 

Apollo Command and Service Modules, the Lunar 

AFTER HE LEFT THE GEMINI PROGRAM 

IN 1963, CHAMBERLIN BECAME ONE 

OF NASA’S TOP TROUBLESHOOTERS IN 

APOLLO. HE HELPED SOLVE PROBLEMS 

WITH THE APOLLO COMMAND AND 

SERVICE MODULES, THE LUNAR 

MODULE, THE MOBILITY UNIT USED BY 

ASTRONAUTS TO WALK ON THE MOON, 

AND THE SATURN V ROCKET.
12

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

Module, the mobility unit used by astronauts to 

walk on the Moon, and the Saturn V rocket. Jim 

Chamberlin became a U.S. citizen in 1964. Before 

he left NASA in 1970, Chamberlin was involved in 

drawing up early design concepts for the Space Shuttle.

In the 1970s, Chamberlin worked for McDonnell 

Douglas Astronautics, first participating in its 

unsuccessful bid for the Space Shuttle contract and 

later working as technical director for advanced 

space programs.

Chamberlin won a NASA Exceptional Service Medal 

for his work on Apollo and posthumously won a 

NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal 

for his work on the Space Shuttle. Chamberlin died in 

Houston, Texas, on 8 March 1981.

A 1996 Canadian television miniseries on the Avro 

Arrow featured a character based on Chamberlin, 

and that year Chamberlin and the Avro Arrow also 

appeared on a $20 Canadian coin. In 2001, he was 

inducted into Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame.

Gilruth’s deputy, James C. Elms, called Chamberlin 

Canada’s biggest contribution to NASA. Rose, who 

helped Chamberlin design Gemini, told an interviewer, “There wouldn’t have been a Gemini if it wasn’t 

for Jim Chamberlin.”8

8 James C. Elms, interview by Martin Collins, 16 September 

1988, National Air and Space Museum, box 2, GlennanWebb-Seamans Project for Research in Space History; James 

T. Rose, interview by James M. Grimwood, St. Louis, MO, 

13 April 1966, transcript available at the National Archives at 

Fort Worth, NARA.

FRANCIS ROGALLO AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF 

PARAWING LANDING CRAFT FOR PROJECT GEMINI

By Gail Langevin

With the goal, set by President Kennedy, of putting astronauts on the Moon and returning 

them safely to Earth before the end of the 1960s, 

NASA began researching procedures, vehicles, and 

propulsion systems for a lunar mission. After many 

discussions, analyses, and presentations, the Agency 

chose a modular spacecraft design and a Lunar 

Orbit Rendezvous (LOR) flight plan. For many in 

the nascent space agency, rendezvous and docking 

seemed difficult and dangerous. The popular press 

presented scenarios of a spacecraft drifting forever in 

space because the rendezvous maneuver had not gone 

as planned. Now routine, the rendezvous and docking 

of two spacecraft in orbit had never been tried when 

the Apollo mission was being planned.

The Gemini program bridged the technology gap 

between Mercury and Apollo. The longest Mercury 

mission, Gordon Cooper’s, lasted 34 hours. Apollo 

missions would last for weeks. The goals of Project 

Gemini were to increase the time astronauts spent in 

space, develop rendezvous and docking maneuvers, 

and perfect reentry and landing techniques for a larger 

and heavier spacecraft.

To understand and perfect the delicate and precise 

maneuvers for successful rendezvous and docking, 

a team led by Arthur Vogeley and Max Kurbjun 

of Langley’s Space Mechanics Division designed a 

simulator, which was suspended from the ceiling of 

Langley’s aircraft hangar. A full-scale model of the 
13

Volume 32, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2015

Gemini capsule was suspended in a circular gimbaled 

system that was then suspended on a 210-foot track. 

Astronauts “flew” the simulator from the Gemini capsule to practice docking techniques. An analog computer provided 6 degrees of motion for the cockpit in 

the gimbal system.

This time-lapse photo shows Gemini docking with the Agena docking vehicle. (Photo credit: NASA)

The Apollo program later adapted the Rendezvous and 

Docking Simulator so that astronauts could use it to practice the technique. In 1985, the Rendezvous and Docking 

Simulator was named a National Historic Landmark.

A flexible-wing technology under development by 

Langley’s Francis Rogallo since the late 1940s was 

once considered for application on the Gemini spacecraft. Rogallo’s hobby of building and flying kites 

evolved into ideas for a flexible-winged vehicle. In 

1951, he and his wife Gertrude received a U.S. patent 

for a V-shaped flexible wing. The couple envisioned 

that the flexible wing would be used by sport gliders 

and powered sport aircraft, but at the time no one 

was interested in developing the technology further. 

Several years later, while looking at an issue of Collier’s 

magazine that featured artist’s concepts of spaceflight, 

Rogallo saw a concept for a rigid wing with a shape 

similar to that of his flexible wing. The artist’s concept 

inspired him to advocate a flexible parawing concept 

to use in Gemini and Apollo spacecraft landings.
14

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

Parawing models were tested and modified in several Langley tunnels at gradually increasing speeds 

until the parawing successfully operated at Mach 2. A 

model was launched from Wallops Flight Facility and 

successfully deployed at 150,000 feet at Mach 3. After 

Rogallo presented his findings at conferences, NASA’s 

Marshall Space Flight Center expressed interest in 

developing the parawing for Saturn rocket recovery 

and Ryan Aircraft was interested in developing a 

parawing that could fly a person. Rogallo and his wife 

granted NASA royalty-free use of the parawing and 

received a one-time payment for the development of 

the technology.

A Gemini model with a flexible wing attached is shown during a drop model test at Plum Tree Island, 

Virginia. (Photo credit: NASA)

As planning for the Gemini and Apollo programs 

progressed, a different method of slowing the Gemini 

and Apollo capsules as they returned to Earth was 

eventually adopted. Companies, however, did pick 

up the parawing technology into hang gliding and 

powered sport aircraft.

NEWS FROM HEADQUARTERS AND THE CENTERS

NASA HEADQUARTERS

Washington, DC

History Program Office

By Bill Barry

As noted in my “From the Chief” article, there are a lot of positive trends for the history program. 

While historians and archivists across the Agency continue to face increasing budget pressures, the growing interest in leveraging the lessons of history for a 

wide variety of purposes provides valuable protection 

from the budgetary axe. Over the summer, the NASA 

Communications Coordinating Council (CCC), the 

Agency’s senior decision-making body for strategic 

direction, planning, and implementation of Agency 

communications programs, events, and activities, 

completed work on a set of prioritized communication events for 2016. In the past, Agency communicators (including the NASA History Program Office) 

tended to respond to events. The goal of the work this 

summer was to allow all of us to better plan, prioritize, 

and coordinate work across NASA. The CCC created 

a three-tiered system with just five items (like the end 

of Scott Kelly’s one-year mission on the International 

Space Station [ISS]) getting a Priority 1 effort this 

fiscal year. These will be events that involve a full-scale 

planning effort using resources from across NASA 

to promote all of the major NASA communication 

themes. Priority 2 and 3 efforts will be significant but 

may be more focused on a couple of communication themes (Priority 2) or a single theme (Priority 3). 

The CCC was very open to historical input, and 

the History Program was able to inject some useful 
15

Volume 32, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2015

historical consciousness into the prioritization effort. 

Five anniversaries were designated as Priority 3 events: 

the 75th anniversary of Glenn Research Center, the 

40th anniversary of the Voyager 2 Uranus flyby, the 

50th anniversary of Project Gemini, the 40th anniversary of the Viking probes’ landing on Mars, and 

the 10th anniversary of the Commercial Orbital 

Transportation Services (COTS) program. The really 

great news is that there is now an agreed-upon process 

for strategic planning for communications—and that 

this process is open to History Program inputs. This is 

a huge step forward that will make planning for future 

major anniversaries (for example, the Apollo 11 50th 

anniversary) much more effective.

This fall, I had the pleasure of participating in the 

Glenn Research Center Hall of Fame inaugural inductions. My congratulations to Anne Mills and the communications team at Glenn for such a well-organized 

and meaningful event. With this event, we now have 

Halls of Fame at three Centers: Ames, Langley, and 

Glenn. This is a great trend. The march of time makes 

it all too easy for all of us to forget that our predecessors faced challenges similar to our own. A well-run 

hall of fame effort not only can inspire us with an 

appreciation for our heritage and the exploits of those 

who have gone before, but it can also give us insights 

into how problems were analyzed and solved in the 

past. This knowledge has real practical application to 

our current challenges. Frankly, I hope that the great 

work done so far (especially the leadership on this 

shown by our colleagues at Ames) encourages a spread 

of this great idea.

THE MARCH OF TIME MAKES IT ALL TOO 

EASY FOR ALL OF US TO FORGET THAT 

OUR PREDECESSORS FACED CHALLENGES 

SIMILAR TO OUR OWN. A WELL-RUN HALL 

OF FAME EFFORT NOT ONLY CAN INSPIRE US 

WITH AN APPRECIATION FOR OUR HERITAGE 

AND THE EXPLOITS OF THOSE WHO HAVE 

GONE BEFORE, BUT IT CAN ALSO GIVE US 

INSIGHTS INTO HOW PROBLEMS WERE 

ANALYZED AND SOLVED IN THE PAST.

It wouldn’t be a “News from Headquarters” article 

without saying something about interns. That is 

because so much of our Web and social media face 

relies on our interns. This fall, the usual workload we 

spread across two interns fell to just one: Betsy Reimer. 

Betsy is a senior at the Nebraska Wesleyan University, 

majoring in business (with a history minor). She hit 

the ground running right after Labor Day and found 

herself writing Web stories, cranking out social media 

posts, and assisting in our efforts relating to the release 

of the movie The Martian. As you read this, the semester will be wrapping up for Betsy and she’ll be heading 

back to Nebraska for her final undergraduate semester. 

Her quiet focus and dedication will leave some very 

big shoes for our spring interns to fill.

Historical Reference Collection (HRC)

By Jane H. Odom

In the Headquarters Archives, the staff continues to stay 

busy with reference requests and with the processing 

(arrangement and description) of collections. During 

the last quarter, we hosted Headquarters and Goddard 

Space Flight Center (GSFC) staff as well as researchers from the National Air and Space Museum, the 

Naval Research Laboratory, Georgetown University, 

Johns Hopkins University, Princeton University, Texas 

A&M University, Duquesne University, the Advisory 

Council on Historic Preservation, the Society for 

Aviation History, and the University of Flensburg 

in Germany.

A recently completed archive project that researchers will find of interest is a 4.5-cubic-foot collection 

on the Keck Observatory in Hawaii. The collection 

consists of files on the proposed addition of the 
16

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

Outrigger array to the existing facility, including 

draft Memoranda of Understanding, draft and final 

Environmental Impact Statements, public comments, 

court testimony regarding permits, scientific instrument proposals, reports, and site surveys and proposals. The inclusive dates are 1997–2004.

A number of projects are ongoing. Liz Suckow is 

reviewing a 42-cubic-foot collection, dated 2001–

05, of former Administrator Sean O’Keefe’s official 

records before its transfer to the Federal Records 

Center. She has completed about one-third of the 

collection, making appraisal decisions on what documents have historical value and therefore should be 

copied and added to existing subject files in the HRC. 

Colin Fries and Liz recently began preservation projects to re-folder and re-box deteriorating materials 

in the HRC. Liz is working on the files of former 

Administrators, and Colin is handling the Robert 

Sherrod Apollo History Collection.

If you are interested in visiting the Headquarters 

History Office to conduct research, please contact us 

at 202-358-0384 or at http://history.nasa.gov/contact.

html to schedule an appointment. To search our electronic documents collection, see https://historydms.

hq.nasa.gov/.

Jane is continuing to work closely with Goddard and 

Langley Research Center (LaRC) officials, with the 

former to establish a new archival program at the 

Center and with the latter in preparation for their 

upcoming building (and archive) renovation. At 

GSFC, where she is on part-time detail, she is busy 

examining archive policies and procedures at History 

Offices across the Agency to discern “best practices” 

that may be considered for implementation at the 

new GSFC archives. Jane is focusing specifically on 

access and collection development policies at this time. 

Additionally, she is meeting with officials who are supportive of NASA history to garner continuing support 

and to introduce the new archive program to them.

AMES RESEARCH CENTER (ARC)

Moffett Field, California

Reference Collection 

By April Gage and Danielle Lopez

The archives team is pleased to report that after months 

of preparation, an exhibition featuring a selection of 

Rick Guidice’s space settlement paintings from the 

Artifacts Collection opened this September at New 

Museum Los Gatos (NUMU). In a stunning visual 

display, 11 paintings showing detailed exterior and 

cutaway views of the Bernal Sphere, O’Neil Cylinder, 

and Stanford Torus designs are suspended inside a 

room designed to evoke the darkness of outer space. 

Museumgoers entering the gallery encounter Guidice’s 

large, brilliantly colored depictions of orbital colonies 

set against black walls and hear space sounds emanating from hidden speakers. The exhibit, produced by 

NUMU curator Marianne McGrath and Executive 

Director Lisa Coscino, has attracted the attention of 

national media, including National Public Radio’s 

Science Friday program, which is featuring a piece 

about it.

Cutaway of Bernal Sphere Habitat, by Rick Guidice, shows the inside of the 

sphere as viewed from the sunlight “portal.” (Image credit: NASA Ames 

Research Center AC76-1089)
17

Volume 32, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2015

In addition to meeting increased demand for reference services, archivists April Gage and Danielle 

K. Lopez have been busy with acquisitions, processing projects, and preservation management efforts. 

For fiscal year 2015, the archives acquired 16 lots 

of documents, audiovisual material, artwork, and 

artifacts that totaled over 65 cubic feet and 15 gigabytes. Among the material acquired this quarter is a 

collection of nearly 5,000 digital photographs from 

former biological satellite project manager Michael 

Skidmore, related to his work on joint U.S.-Russian 

Cosmos-Bion and Foton missions; a small collection 

from Dr. Meyya Meyyappan documenting his contributions to nanotechnology program efforts, including 

the formation of state and national initiatives as well 

as the NASA Ames Center for Nanotechnology; and 

a cache of Astrogram (the Center’s newsletter) issues 

from a recent retiree. This last group presented an 

opportunity for Danielle Lopez to bring the Ames 

Astrogram Collection up to date. Danielle incorporated 

an accrual of eight years of issues in printed and digital 

form into the collection and updated the finding aid 

to reflect the new contents and administrative history. 

Conforming to the Encoded Archival Description 

(EAD), the updated finding aid can now be found 

on the Online Archive of California (http://www.oac.

cdlib.org) and the NASA Ames History Office Web 

site (http://history.arc.nasa.gov).

Also this quarter, the archivists improved conditions in collection storage areas by having reflective, 

ultraviolet-light-blocking film installed on all the 

windows in the main storage bay and implemented 

preventive pest-monitoring measures.

Gage and Lopez are continuing their cross-training 

experiment, with Danielle working one day in the 

History Office archives and April working one day 

in the science directorate each week. April also continues to support Historic Preservation Officer Keith 

Venter one day a week. Recently, she updated the look 

and feel of the Historic Preservation Office’s Web site 

and compiled reports for the NASA Environmental 

Tracking System, in conformance with Executive 

Order 13287, “Preserve America.” Of special note 

is the discovery of a Jean McComas painting commissioned by the Works Progress Administration at 

Moffett Field that Venter and Gage returned to the 

General Services Administration. The painting, which 

features the California Mission San Juan Bautista, will 

be restored, cataloged, and loaned to the Monterey 

Museum of Art in 2016. Their article about the 

painting can be found on the office’s Web site (http://

historicproperties.arc.nasa.gov/announcements.html ).

Finally, April Gage met with archivists Bob Arrighi 

from Glenn Research Center (GRC) and Brian Odom 

from Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) during the 

annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists 

in Cleveland, Ohio, this summer. Special thanks go to 

Bob Arrighi, who pulled out all the stops and provided 

fascinating in-depth tours of GRC.

GLENN RESEARCH CENTER (GRC)

Cleveland, Ohio

By Anne Mills

Glenn Research Center capped off its celebration of 

the NACA centennial with a special day to honor 

our NACA heritage. On 25 September, an NACA 

retiree reunion and the first-ever GRC Hall of Fame 

induction ceremony took place.

Fifty retirees who began their careers with the NACA 

gathered to reconnect and share memories. They heard 

several speakers, including NASA Chief Historian Bill 

Barry. Retirees and their guests learned more about our 

current aeronautics work and Center campus master 

plan. To keep with the NACA historical theme of 

the reunion, Bill Barry presented some lesser-known 

NACA history and guests enjoyed NACA exhibits 

displayed in the auditorium. Many stories were 

swapped, and we in the History Office were reminded 

of how grateful we are for the tremendous resource of 

our retirees.
18

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

This photo shows the NACA retiree reunion.

In the afternoon, current Center employees joined 

retirees to witness the inaugural induction ceremony 

of the Glenn Research Center Hall of Fame. This 

year’s class was focused on those whose careers were 

rooted in the NACA. (Some of the inductions were 

posthumous.) Six individuals and a group of three 

were part of the 2015 Class of Inductees. They were 

as follows:

• Annie Easley, computer programmer and equal 

opportunity pioneer

• Bruce T. Lundin, former Center Director and advocate for the NACA’s evolution as a space agency

• James J. Modarelli, designer of the NASA insignia 

and outreach program

• I. Irving Pinkel, leader in aerospace safety research

• Edward “Ray” Sharp, first Center Director and 

champion of early Center advocacy and growth

• Dr. Abraham “Abe” Silverstein, former Center 

Director and architect of the early space program

• Dr. Robert Deissler, Dr. Simon Ostrach, and 

Dr. Robert Siegel—“The Giants of Heat Transfer”—

world-renowned researchers whose theories transformed the body of knowledge of heat transfer

Full profiles of each inductee can be found online 

at http://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-glenn-inaugurateshall-of-fame-to-honor-exemplary-employees.

The GRC Hall of Fame was established to recognize 

individuals who had far-reaching influence on the 

direction and mission of the Center, made fundamental advancements in their field, or served as an 
19

Volume 32, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2015

inspiration to employees through their character and 

embodiment of the NASA spirit.

Glenn will now transition from the NACA centennial 

observance to the celebration of our own 75th anniversary in 2016. Plenty of history-focused events and 

messages are planned throughout the year, including 

an updated Center history book, public open houses, 

social media content, and the induction of the second 

class of Hall of Fame inductees.

LANGLEY RESEARCH CENTER (LARC)

Hampton, Virginia

Reference Collection 

By Mary Gainer Hurst

As part of NASA Langley’s efforts to document the 

Center’s history, the archives collection is being inventoried and converted to electronic format available 

over the Internet. Several interesting collections have 

recently been added to the Web site.

Langley has been awarded several Collier Trophies 

over the years. The Robert J. Collier Trophy is administered by the National Aeronautic Association and 

is awarded annually for the greatest achievement in 

aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect 

to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety 

of air or space vehicles, the value of which has been 

thoroughly demonstrated by actual use during the 

preceding year. Photos of the Collier Trophies held 

at Langley as well as photo documentation on the 

associated work is now online.

The personal collection of John “Jack” Reeder (1916–

99) has been scanned and is now available to the public. Mr. Reeder’s extensive career with NASA and the 

Agency’s predecessor, the NACA, began in 1938 and 

ended in 1980. Along the way, he captained more than 

235 airplanes, 61 helicopters, and 8 vertical takeoff 

and landing aircraft. Reeder was NASA’s first helicopter test pilot and was best known for his pioneering 

work in helicopter and vertical takeoff and landing 

aerodynamics and handling. He was a member of the 

team that drafted the original military specifications 

for the flying qualities of helicopters and was a founding member of the Twirly Birds, an international 

organization for helicopter pilots. Reeder was highly 

respected both by his fellow researchers and by the 

international aerospace community. Neil Armstrong 

called him “the best pilot I ever knew.” Reeder was the 

recipient of numerous awards, including the Agency 

medal in 1978 for outstanding leadership, presented 

for demonstrating the U.S. Micro-wave Landing 

System (MLS) to the International Civilian Aviation 

Organization (ICAO). He was inducted into Langley’s 

Hall of Honor in 2015.

Pictured is Jack Reeder’s first flight, completed in 1930.

Another Hall of Honor inductee, Ira H. Abbott 

(1906–88), came to Langley Aeronautical Laboratory 

in 1929 as a junior engineer in the Variable Density 

Tunnel. His first decade of work focused on airfoil 

research, and in 1945, he coauthored the NACA report 

titled “Summary of Airfoil Data,” which is still used 
20

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

by airplane designers today. He 

was instrumental in establishing programs in high-speed 

research and, with Eastman 

Jacobs, designed the Langley 

Ice Tunnel, which was quickly 

modified to become the TwoDimensional Turbulence 

Tunnel. He also worked with 

John Stack in the design of the 

24-Inch High-Speed Tunnel. 

In 1948, he transferred to 

Headquarters, where he served 

as assistant director of research 

(aerodynamics), director of 

advanced research, and finally 

director of advanced research 

and technology. Programs 

he supervised included the 

X-15, the supersonic transport, 

the nuclear rocket, and the 

advanced reentry programs. In 

an environment very different 

from today’s, Abbott was given 

a gun at his retirement in 1962. 

The collection includes a couple of interviews, photos, and numerous documents 

from his 32 years of service to the NACA and NASA.

Ira Abbott is shown here at his 1962 retirement party.

NASA’s Viking Project found a place in history when 

it became the first U.S. mission to land a spacecraft 

safely on the surface of Mars and return images of the 

surface. Two identical spacecraft, each consisting of a 

lander and an orbiter, were built. Each orbiter-lander 

pair flew together and entered Mars orbit; the landers 

then separated and descended to the planet’s surface. 

The Viking collection is extensive and is composed of 

photographs, reports and other NASA publications, 

newspaper and magazine clippings, documents and 

photos from reunions, and videos. To date, the numerous boxes and shelved items have been inventoried 

and combined to form a single collection. The photos 

have been scanned and organized on the Web page 

by content. A few interesting discoveries were made when Langley 

personnel were unpacking boxes. 

Information on the prototype 

camera used to photograph the 

Mars surface was found. The 

camera had a movable mirror 

that scanned a segment of the 

landscape, completing a scan 

by rotating 360 degrees. Nearly 

6,600 images were returned to 

Earth. The most surprising discovery, though, was finding a 

Lander Surface Sampler manufactured by Martin Marietta in 

1974 and never used. Prior to the 

scoop’s transfer to the exhibits 

office, it was measured and photographed, and 3D renderings 

are also now available. This large 

collection mainly consists of 

photographs issued through the 

Office of Public Affairs.

Although the general public tends 

to associate human spaceflight 

with Johnson Space Center in Houston, it actually 

began at Langley. The Joint Manned Satellite Panel, 

chaired by Robert Gilruth, was formed in September 

1958. Six days after the NACA was absorbed into 

NASA, plans for the piloted program were approved. 

Within days, the Space Task Group was established 

with Gilruth as the director and Charles Donlan as the 

assistant director. Of the original 45 team members, 

35 were from Langley. The 37 engineers were supported by 8 secretaries and computers (female mathematicians). The group quickly grew after President 

Kennedy’s announcement of plans to put men on 

the Moon, and it eventually transferred to the new 

Manned Spacecraft Center (now Johnson). This collection includes photos of some of the original members and other early personnel, early documents from 

the Langley period, oral histories, and the buildings 
21

Volume 32, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2015

at Langley that played major roles in the program. 

The Lunar Orbiter Project was critical to landing on 

the Moon. Managed from Langley, all five of the 

launches were successful—an impressive record both 

then and now. Pictures obtained from the program 

assisted researchers in selecting a landing site. The 

photos were also used to create a 3D landscape of the 

landing site and were installed at the Lunar Lander 

Research Facility, now a National Historic Landmark, 

for astronaut training.

Alan Shepard is shown with Boy Scouts from Franklin, Virginia, in front of the STG Offices at Langley (now building 580).

The first Earthrise photograph is recognized by all, and 

the photograph signed by Langley personnel involved 

in the project is part of the archives collection. Another 

piece of artwork in the collection is not widely known. 

Perth, Australia, became known as the “City of Light” 

in 1962, when residents joined the city in lighting 

up the town as John Glenn passed overhead, an act 

repeated in 1998 when he again passed over in the 

Space Shuttle. Glenn’s 1962 mission report indicates, 

“The lights of the city of Perth, in Western Australia[,] 

were on and I could see them well.” Australian artist 

Owen Garde (1919–2008), known for his paintings of 

the aborigines, captured the view from the water in a 

painting titled Spirit of Glenn, Light of Perth. Although 

there is no documentation on how Langley obtained 

the painting, it also has been stored in the archives 

room. It was recently located, and its background 

came to light after some research.

The Langley Archives collection is a treasure trove, and 

there is much more to see. For more on the history of 

the Center, see http://crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/historic/larc.
22

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

STENNIS SPACE CENTER (SSC)

Stennis Space Center, Mississippi

By Daphne Alford

The year 1961 saw goals set and advancements made in 

NASA’s programs. On 25 May 1961, President John 

F. Kennedy set a goal to send humans to the Moon 

and return them safely to Earth before the decade’s 

end. Five months later, on 25 October 1961, NASA 

announced a decision to establish a national rocket 

engine test site in Hancock County, Mississippi. Then, 

about six weeks later, on 7 December 1961, NASA 

announced a plan to extend the existing human 

spaceflight program by development of a two-person 

spacecraft. Eleven days later, NASA’s national rocket 

engine test site was officially named Mississippi Test 

Operations (MTO—later to become Stennis Space 

Center) on 18 December 1961. NASA officially 

designated its second generation of crewed spacecraft 

as Gemini on 3 January 1962. Gemini would become 

a precursor to Apollo as Mercury was to Gemini; it 

would be known as the bridge between Mercury and 

Apollo. While the Gemini program was in progress, 

advances were made in the Saturn V/Apollo threeman Moon exploration program at the then-MTO 

and the later-renamed Mississippi Test Facility (MTF).

MTF’s Deputy Manager Henry Auter, right, briefs astronauts John Young (left) and Charles Duke atop the S-1C test stand on

16 September 1969.

The mission of MTO—a division of NASA’s Marshall 

Space Flight Center—was solely to static-test rocket 

engines and stages (the S-IC and S-II stages of the 

Saturn V space vehicle in the 

Apollo program) used in America’s 

crewed space exploration program.

MTO was still under construction 

during Gemini’s first flight on 

8 April 1964. Gemini’s next 

six missions—2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 

and 7—took place in 1965, the 

same year MTF entered into its 

final phase of construction and 

began making preparations for 

the arrival of the first test model 

of Saturn V’s second stage, the 

“T-Bird.” Dr. Wernher von Braun 

had appointed his technical 

assistant, Jackson Balch, to take 

over the installation as its second 

manager in May 1965, when 

construction and activation of the 

$300 million test facility were at 

their peak.

During the last five Gemini 

missions in 1966, a historic test 

at MTF introduced southern 

Mississippi to the Space Age 

about five weeks after Gemini 8 
23

Volume 32, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2015

and about three weeks before Gemini 9. It was early 

morning—just after 7:30—on 23 April 1966. A heavy 

mist clung to the ground. A voice was heard counting 

down: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...ignition! Suddenly, a loud 

sound—described by some as a “crack”—broke the 

morning silence. A bright blast of color overpowered 

the mist—an explosion of flame that lit up the early 

morning. “We have fire in the bucket!” someone 

shouted. It was the first test of Saturn V’s rocket 

booster, S-II-T.

Astronauts John Young and Charles Duke boost the morale of MTF’s employees on 16 September 1969.

In 1966, astronaut John W. Young made his second 

Gemini flight, along with crewmember Michael 

Collins. Young’s distinguished flight experience would 

eventually span three NASA programs—two Gemini 

flights; two Apollo missions; and two Space Shuttle 

missions, including the maiden voyage of STS-1. 

Young made several visits to Stennis Space Center, 

the first in September 1969, when he and astronaut 

Charles Duke toured the site after Hurricane Camille 

ravaged the Gulf Coast area. His site visits to Stennis 

would take place over more than two decades, with 

his last official visit in July 1990. Young retired from 

NASA in 2004.
24

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

OTHER AEROSPACE HISTORY NEWS

NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM 

(NASM)

By Michael Neufeld

Preparations for the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall, opening in July 2016, passed a major milestone when Lunar Module 2 (LM-2) was unstacked 

for the first time in 40 years and brought to Milestones. 

LM-2 was the second production Lunar Module built 

by Grumman. Slated for flight testing, LM-2 became a 

ground-testing and drop-test vehicle after the successful flight of LM-1 in January 1968. In 1970, LM-2 

traveled to Japan for “Expo ’70” in Osaka before going 

on permanent display at the Smithsonian Institution’s 

Arts and Industries Building and then in the National 

Air and Space Museum’s new building on the Mall, 

which opened in July 1976. In full view of the public 

on the floor of the museum, conservators removed 

the shiny gold Kapton covering and documented all 

of the structures inside and out, for both the ascent 

and descent stages, before replacing the Kapton 

with new coverings. The museum also installed in 

the cabin of the ascent stage a display keyboard, the 

input device that would have been connected to the 

Apollo Guidance Computer (still missing from LM-2, 

which as a test and display vehicle did not need one). 

LM-2’s Modularized Equipment Stowage Assembly 

(MESA) was recently opened for the first time in 

decades. Although the MESA was empty, save for the 

support structures, brackets, and labels, it offered a 

fascinating glimpse into what would have been the 

storage compartment and work space provided to the 

Apollo astronauts while they were on the Moon. The 

MESA essentially served as the “trunk” for the lunar 

landing vehicle: holding tools, sample return containers, and extra batteries, amongst other items. When 

folded down from the LM’s side, the MESA served 

double duty as a work surface for the astronauts, with 

brackets to hold sample return containers while they 

were being filled. In addition, the MESA carried the 

Apollo television camera, the lens for which poked 

out through a specially designed gap in the Kapton 

blankets. From the ascent stage’s “porch,” an Apollo 

astronaut could pull a cord that activated the camera, 

transmitting the astronaut’s descent onto the lunar 

surface. Once the MESA was opened by the astronauts, 

they could remove the television camera, unspooling 

the cords connecting it to the LM, and mount it on 

the lunar surface using a tripod carried in the MESA.

Consultants Paul Fjeld and Dave Gianakos shake hands after the successful opening and inspection of 

LM-2’s MESA in the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall. (Photo credit: Vicki Portway, NASM/SI)

NASM undertook an experiment to crowdfund a conservation project using Kickstarter. The Kickstarter 

campaign, “Reboot the Suit,” concluded successfully 

on 19 August when 9,477 backers pledged $719,779 

to spacesuit conservation for the Neil Armstrong and 

Alan Shepard spacesuits. Cathy Lewis (Space History) 

and Lisa Young (Conservation), charged with the care 

of these suits, contributed considerable content and 

media interviews for this campaign. The entire team 

successfully chaperoned the first-ever Smithsonian 

online crowdfunding campaign and deserves credit for 

an outstanding entrance into this arena.
25

Volume 32, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2015

Carolyn Russo (Aeronautics) received the first copies 

of her book Art of the Airport Tower. The book explores 

the forms and functions of contemporary and historic air traffic control towers in the United States 

and around the world with original photography and 

text captions. Published by Smithsonian Books, the 

book features 176 pages and over 100 photographs, 

and it includes a foreword by the National Air Traffic 

Control Association and introduction by Bob van der 

Linden. The book will be on sale 28 October 2015, in 

time for a companion exhibition.

Roger Launius (NASM Associate Director for 

Collections and Curatorial Affairs) participated in a 

plenary panel, “Pioneering Space,” at the American 

Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) 

Space 2015 conference in Pasadena, California, on 

2 September 2015. His speech covered terrestrial analogs relative to exploration and settlement and their 

applicability to space exploration.

David DeVorkin (Space History) and Robert Smith 

(University of Alberta) have published Hubble Cosmos: 

25 Years of New Vistas in Space (National Geographic). 

It provides historical context for 25 of the greatest 

moments in the operational lifetime of the Hubble 

Space Telescope; these moments include discoveries, 

critical servicing missions, and operational milestones.

David DeVorkin participated in the International 

Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly in 

Honolulu, Hawaii, from 3 to 14 August 2015. He 

organized a session with founders of modern Western 

astronomy on Mauna Kea. He also conducted, in conjunction with Teasel Muir-Harmony of the American 

Institute of Physics (AIP), over 20 hours of oral history interviews with astronomers and observatory staff 

who built and have led the major Mauna Kea observatories since the late 1960s. He inspected archival 

holdings at the Institute for Astronomy at University 

of Hawaii and will make recommendations for preservation. Finally, he made many contacts regarding 

artifacts, publishing, and possible future research 

projects. More recently, he gave an invited talk for the 

Virginia Association of Astronomical Societies (VAAS) 

statewide annual conference held at the National 

Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville. His 

speech was called “The History of Astronomy on the 

Nation’s Mall.”

Michael Neufeld (Space History) presented papers at 

the International Congress of the Historical Sciences 

in Jinan, China, in August and at the International 

Astronautical Congress in Jerusalem, Israel, in 

October. His talk at the former was titled “The 

Global Proliferation of German Rocket Technology 

after World War II”; at the latter, “The Invention and 

Diffusion of Neutral Buoyancy Training.” The latter 

paper was in part based on a longer article, coauthored with John B. Charles of the NASA Human 

Research Program (based at Johnson Space Center), 

entitled “Practicing for Space Underwater: Inventing 

Neutral Buoyancy Training 1963–1968,” published in 

Endeavour Magazine (September 2015), which significantly revises the origin story of adopting underwater 

training for extravehicular activities (EVAs) at NASA.

Several Aeronautics and Space History curators 

and fellows presented or otherwise participated in 

the Society for History of Technology conference in 

Albuquerque, New Mexico, from 7 to 11 October 

2015. Among them were Martin Collins, Evelyn 

Crellin, Hunter Hollins, Brian Jirout, Roger Launius, 

Russell Lee, Jennifer Levasseur, Patrick McCray, 

Matthew Shindell, and Margaret Weitekamp. Many 

former fellows also participated.

NASM recently hired two new curators. Layne 

Karafantis, who is completing her dissertation at 

Johns Hopkins University on the history of Cold War 

control centers, has become the curator for modern 

military aviation in Aeronautics Division. Matthew 

Shindell, who has his doctorate in the history of science from the University of California, San Diego, and 

was a fellow at Harvard, is revising his dissertation on 

Harold Urey. He has become the curator of lunar and 

planetary robotic spacecraft in Space History Division.
26

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

National Air and Space Museum Fellowship Program

The application site for the NASM Fellowships 

Program in aerospace history is now open. See http://

airandspace.si.edu/research/fellowships/applicationinstructions.cfm. The application deadline for the 

Guggenheim Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowships 

and the Verville Fellowship for midcareer academics, journalists, and professional writers is 15 January 

2016 for the 2016–17 academic year. Applications 

for the Lindbergh Chair in Aerospace History are 

for the 2017–18 academic year because senior scholars usually require more time to arrange sabbatical 

leave. Prospective applicants are encouraged to work 

with curators in the Aeronautics and Space History 

Departments to refine their applications beforehand. 

See http://airandspace.si.edu/research/staff.cfm for staff 

biographies and e-mail addresses. Projects that are 

only partially aerospace-related will also be considered.

Applicants are encouraged to file a parallel application with the Smithsonian Institution Fellowships 

Program. See http://www.smithsonianofi.com/

fellowship-opportunities/smithsonian-institutionfellowship-program/ and http://www.smithsonianofi.

com/fellowship-opportunities/ for other opportunities. 

Note that their deadline is 15 December.

AMERICAN ASTRONAUTICAL SOCIETY 

(AAS) HISTORY COMMITTEE

Michael Ciancone, Chair

Ordway Award

The AAS announced the following recipients of the 

inaugural Ordway Award for Sustained Excellence 

in Spaceflight History on 29 October 2015 during 

the von Braun Memorial Symposium in Huntsville, 

Alabama: Leonard David won for journalism; David 

Hardy won for art; Mark Wade won the Web site 

category; and Quest: The History of Spaceflight won the 

publications category.

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 

writing, editing, or publishing; preparation and/or 

presentation of exhibits; or production for distribution 

through film, television, art, or other nonprint media. 

The award is managed by the History Committee of 

the AAS.

Emme Award

Marc Kaufman is the recipient of the 2014 Emme 

Award for Mars Up Close: Inside the Curiosity Mission

(National Geographic). The AAS would also like 

to recognize the other finalists, listed alphabetically 

as follows:

• Michael Neufeld, Milestones of Space: Eleven Iconic 

Objects from the Smithsonian National Air and Space 

Museum (Zenith Press)

• Lynn Sherr, Sally Ride: America’s First Woman in 

Space (Simon & Schuster)

• Michael Smith, Rockets and Revolution: A 

Cultural History of Early Spaceflight (University of 

Nebraska Press)

This award will be presented in March 2016 during 

the Goddard Memorial Symposium. Additional information on the Emme award and a list of past recipients is located on the AAS Web site at http://www.

astronautical.org/awards/emme.

History Series Publications

Univelt has announced the publication of volume 44 in 

the AAS History Series, Pioneering American Rocketry: 

The Reaction Motors, Inc. (RMI) Story, 1941–1972, by 

Frank H. Winter and Frederick I. Ordway III.
27

Volume 32, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2015

RECENT PUBLICATIONS AND ONLINE RESOURCES

COMMERCIALLY PUBLISHED WORKS

By Chris Gamble

German Rocketeers in the Heart of Dixie: Making 

Sense of the Nazi Past During the Civil Rights Era, by 

Monique Laney (Yale University Press, June 2015). 

This thought-provoking study by historian Monique 

Laney focuses on the government-assisted integration of German rocket specialists and their families 

into a small southern community soon after World 

War II. Based on oral histories provided by members 

of the African American and Jewish communities, as 

well as by the rocketeers’ families, coworkers, friends, 

and neighbors, Laney’s book demonstrates how the 

histories of German Nazism and Jim Crow in the 

American South intertwine in narratives about the 

past. This is a critical reassessment of a singular time 

that links the Cold War, the space race, and the Civil 

Rights era while addressing important issues of transnational science and technology and asking Americans 

to consider their country’s own history of racism when 

reflecting on the Nazi past.

The Hubble Space Telescope: A Universe of New Discovery, 

by the Associated Press (AP Editions, February 2015). 

On 24 April 1990, after years of planning and delays, 

the Space Shuttle Discovery lifted the Hubble Space 

Telescope into an orbit 350 miles above Earth. Over 

the last 25 years, Hubble has opened a new and 

unimaginably beautiful universe for humankind.

Seeing Like a Rover: How Robots, Teams, and Images 

Craft Knowledge of Mars, by Janet Vertesi (University 

of Chicago Press, April 2015). In this book, the 

author takes us behind the scenes to reveal the work 

that goes into building our knowledge of Mars. Janet 

Vertesi’s account of the inspiringly successful Rover 

project reveals science in action in a world where 

digital processing uncovers scientific truths, where 

images are used to craft consensus, and where team 

members develop an uncanny intimacy with the sensory apparatus of a robot that is millions of miles away. 

Ultimately, Vertesi shows that every image taken by 

the Mars Rovers is not merely a picture of Mars—it’s a 

portrait of the whole Rover team as well.

The Drake Equation: Estimating the Prevalence of 

Extraterrestrial Life Through the Ages, edited by Douglas 

A. Vakoch and Matthew F. Dowd (Cambridge 

University Press, July 2015). In this book, leading 

scientists and historians explore the Drake Equation, 

which guides modern astrobiology’s search for life 

beyond Earth. First used in 1961 as the organizing 

framework for a conference in Green Bank, West 

Virginia, it uses seven factors to estimate the number 

of extraterrestrial civilizations in our galaxy. Using the 

equation primarily as a heuristic device, this engaging 

text examines the astronomical, biological, and cultural factors that determine the abundance or rarity 

of life beyond Earth and provides a thematic history 

of the search for extraterrestrial life. Each factor is 

explored over two chapters, discussing the preconference thinking and a modern analysis.

Asteroids: Relics of Ancient Time, by Michael K. 

Shepard (Cambridge University Press, April 2015). 

Where do asteroids come from, and what are they 

made of? What clues do they hold about the evolution 

of the solar system? Scientists have cataloged hundreds 

of thousands of asteroids, and many are thought to 

contain water and amino acids, the building blocks of 

life. Michael Shepard tells the fascinating story of their 

discovery and what they can tell us about the history 

of our own planet.

Expanding Universe: Photographs from the Hubble Space 

Telescope, with contributions from Owen Edwards, 

Zoltan Levay, Charles F. Bolden, Jr., and John Mace 

Grunsfeld (Taschen, May 2015). With investigations 

into everything from black holes to exoplanets, the 
28

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

Hubble Telescope has changed not only the face of 

astronomy, but also our very sense of being in the 

universe. On the 25th anniversary of the telescope’s 

launch into low-Earth orbit, Taschen celebrates 

Hubble’s most breathtaking deep space images both 

as scientific feats and as photographic masterpieces. 

Ultra-high-resolution and taken with almost no background light, these pictures have answered some of the 

most compelling questions of time and space while 

also revealing new mysteries, like the strange “dark 

energy” that permeates the expanding universe.

New Solutions for the Space Debris Problem, by Joseph 

N. Pelton (Springer, May 2015). Addressing a pressing 

issue in space policy, Pelton explores the new forms 

of technology that are being developed to actively 

remove defunct space objects from orbit and analyzes 

their implications in the existing regime of international space law and public international law.

Global Navigation Satellite Systems and Their 

Applications, by Scott Madry (Springer, May 2015). 

This book concisely addresses the latest technology, 

the applications, the regulatory issues, and the strategic implications of satellite navigation systems. 

Scott Madry assesses the strengths and weaknesses 

of satellite navigation networks and reviews all the 

various national systems now being deployed and the 

motivation behind the proliferation of these systems.

Moonwatch Only: The Ultimate Omega Speedmaster 

Guide, by Grégoire Rossier and Anthony Marquié 

(Watchprint.com SARL, May 2015). Initially 

designed for automobile racing teams and engineers, 

the Omega Speedmaster embarked on a very different 

trajectory when NASA chose it in 1965 to accompany 

astronauts heading for the Moon. Its involvement in 

the space adventure has propelled the Moonwatch to 

the top of the list of celebrated timepieces.

Tupolev Tu-144: The Soviet Supersonic Airliner, by 

Yefim Gordon, Dmitriy Komissarov, and Vladimir 

Rigmant (Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., May 2015). 

Developed in the 1960s and ’70s, the Tu-144 was the 

Soviet Union’s only practical venture into supersonic 

commercial aviation. Though its career was brief, it 

was a major technological achievement for the Soviet 

aircraft industry. The book provides in-depth coverage 

of the “Concordski,” including projected versions, the 

Tu-144’s production and service history, and a comparison with the Concorde. The book describes the 

Tu-144’s versions (including the Tu-144LL research 

aircraft developed under a Russian-U.S. program) and 

touches on the projected military derivatives.

The Wright Brothers, by David McCullough (Simon & 

Schuster, May 2015). Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner 

David McCullough tells the dramatic story-behindthe-story of Wilbur and Orville Wright. In this book, 

the author draws on the immense riches of the Wright 

Papers, including private diaries, notebooks, scrapbooks, and more than one thousand letters, to tell the 

human side of the Wright brothers’ story, including the 

little-known contributions of their sister, Katharine, 

without whom things might well have gone differently 

for them.

We Could Not Fail: The First African Americans in the 

Space Program, by Richard Paul and Steven Moss 

(University of Texas Press, May 2015). Profiling 10 

pioneer African American space workers, including 

technicians, mathematicians, engineers, and an astronaut candidate, this book tells an inspiring, largely 

unknown story of how the space program served as a 

launching pad for a more integrated America.

The Ordinary Spaceman: From Boyhood Dreams to 

Astronaut, by Clayton C. Anderson (University of 

Nebraska Press, June 2015). This book puts you in 

the flight suit of astronaut Clayton Anderson and 

takes you on the journey of this small-town boy from 

Nebraska who spent 167 days living and working on 

the International Space Station, including more than 

40 hours of spacewalks. Having applied to NASA 15 

times over 15 years to become an astronaut before 

his ultimate selection, Anderson offers a unique 
29

Volume 32, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2015

perspective on his life as a veteran space flier, one 

characterized by humility and perseverance.

Space Safety Is No Accident—The 7th IAASS Conference, 

edited by Tommaso Sgobba and Isabelle Rongier 

(Springer, June 2015). The 7th International 

Association for the Advancement of Space Safety 

(IAASS) conference was an invitation to reflect and 

exchange information on a number of topics in space 

safety and sustainability of national and international 

interest. The once exclusive “club” of nations with 

autonomous suborbital and orbital space access capabilities is becoming crowded with fresh and ambitious 

new entrants. New commercial spaceports are starting 

operations, and others are being built.

Sacramento’s Moon Rocket, by Alan Lawrie (Arcadia 

Publishing, August 2015). On 16 July 1969, a 

Saturn V rocket launched American astronauts aboard 

Apollo 11 toward the surface of the Moon, where Neil 

Armstrong would take his famous first steps and fulfill 

President John F. Kennedy’s goal of a successful lunar 

landing by the end of the decade. This event marks 

one of the greatest achievements in human history 

and is in large part due to the years of rocket testing 

that took place at the Douglas Aircraft Company’s 

Sacramento testing facility (SACTO). The SACTO 

facility played one of the most important roles in the 

success of the Apollo 11 lunar mission and is where 

the Saturn rocket’s S-IVB stage was developed and 

tested—making this historic accomplishment possible.

Spaceshots and Snapshots of Projects Mercury and 

Gemini: A Rare Photographic History, by John Bisney 

and J. L. Pickering (University of New Mexico Press, 

June 2015). This book tells the story of the people 

and events of Projects Mercury and Gemini with hundreds of unpublished and rare photographs—both 

color and black-and-white. Unlike other publications, 

which illustrate the space race with well-known and 

easily accessible images, this history draws from the 

authors’ private library of over 100,000 (and growing) high-quality photos of the early space program. 

Collected over a lifetime from public and private 

sources—including NASA archives, fellow collectors, 

retired NASA and news photographers, and auction 

houses—the images document American space missions of the Cold War era. Devoting a chapter to each 

flight, the authors also include detailed descriptions.

Moonshots and Snapshots of Project Apollo: A Rare 

Photographic History, by John Bisney and J. L. Pickering 

(University of New Mexico Press, September 2015). 

In this companion volume to John Bisney and J. L. 

Pickering’s extraordinary book of rare photographs 

from the Mercury and Gemini missions, the authors 

now present the rest of the golden age of U.S. piloted 

spaceflight with a photographic history of Project 

Apollo. Beginning in 1967, Moonshots and Snapshots 

of Project Apollo chronicles the program’s 12 missions 

and its 2 follow-ons, Skylab and the Apollo-Soyuz 

Test Project. The authors draw from rarely seen NASA, 

industry, and news media images, taking readers to 

the Moon, on months-long odysseys above Earth, and 

finally on the first international crewed spaceflight 

in 1975.

Soviet Space Mythologies: Public Images, Private 

Memories, and the Making of a Cultural Identity, by 

Slava Gerovitch (University of Pittsburgh Press, May 

2015). The book explores the history of the Soviet 

human space program within a political and cultural 

context, giving particular attention to the two professional groups—space engineers and cosmonauts—

who secretly built and publicly represented the 

program. Drawing on recent scholarship on memory 

and identity formation, this book shows how both 

the myths of Soviet official history and privately circulating countermyths have served as instruments of 

collective memory and professional identity. These 

practices shaped the evolving cultural image of the 

Space Age in the popular Soviet imagination.

Celebrating Half a Century in Space—Recollections of 

the 2014 Anniversary Events, by Mélanie Legru, Piero 

Messina, Kai-Uwe Schrogl, and Nathalie Tinjod 
30

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

(Beauchesne Editeur, June 2015). The European Space 

Agency (ESA) convened a series of events whose purpose was to celebrate, with the whole European space 

sector, 50 years of successful cooperation. Industrial 

success and scientific achievements are two key indicators of the benefits of European space cooperation 

and of the ESA model that embodies it. Specific international, high-level events were organized to focus on 

each of these two domains. Events at ESA sites, with 

high-level national political representatives and local 

partners, national space days, and exhibitions were 

also planned.

U.S. Weather Satellites: Background, Program Challenges 

and Potential Data Gaps, edited by Louise O. Berkan 

(Nova Science Publishers, June 2015). The National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

with the aid of NASA, is procuring the next generation 

of geostationary weather satellites. This book assesses 

progress on program schedule, cost, and functionality; 

assesses efforts to identify and address issues discovered during integration and testing; and evaluates the 

likelihood of a gap in satellite coverage and actions to 

prevent or mitigate such a gap. This book also evaluates 

NOAA’s progress on the Joint Polar Satellite System 

(JPSS) satellite program with respect to cost, schedule, 

and mitigation of key risks; identifies the benefits 

and challenges of alternatives for polar satellite gap 

mitigation; and assesses NOAA’s efforts to establish 

and implement a comprehensive contingency plan for 

potential gaps in polar satellite data.

Go for Orbit: One of America’s First Female Astronauts 

Finds Her Space, by Rhea Seddon (Your Space Press, 

June 2015). This book is the autobiography of a NASA 

astronaut who flew aboard three Space Shuttle missions (STS-51D, STS-40, and STS-58).

Humans in Space: The Psychological Hurdles, by Nick 

Kanas (Springer-Praxis, June 2015). Using anecdotal 

reports from astronauts and cosmonauts, as well 

as the results from studies conducted in space analog environments on Earth and in the actual space 

environment, this book broadly reviews the various 

psychosocial issues that affect space travelers. Unlike 

other books that are more technical in format, this 

text is targeted for the general public. With the advent 

of space tourism and the increasing involvement of 

private enterprise in space, there is now a need to 

explore the impact of space missions on the human 

psyche and on the interpersonal relationships of 

the crewmembers.

Pioneering American Rocketry: The Reaction Motors, Inc. 

(RMI) Story, 1941–1972, by Frank H. Winter and 

Frederick I. Ordway III (Univelt, September 2015). 

This book is volume 44 of the AAS History Series.

Skylab 1 & 2: The NASA Mission Reports, edited by 

Dwight Steven Boniecki (Collector’s Guide Publishing, 

Inc., September 2015). Taking full advantage of the 

massive lifting power of the Saturn V launch vehicle, 

the engineers in Huntsville and Houston turned the 

shell of a Saturn IVB into the largest pressurized and 

habitable vehicle ever to fly into space. The first crew 

to board Skylab, veteran Moonwalker Pete Conrad 

and his companions Joe Kerwin and Paul Weitz, 

suddenly found themselves having to unlearn their 

mission plans and hastily put together an audacious 

rescue to save the multimillion-dollar project. The 

mission of Skylab 2 was the forerunner of all of NASA’s 

subsequent orbital repair missions. Conrad, Kerwin, 

and Weitz proved to the world that astronauts could 

conduct long and ambitious repairs in space and go 

on to fulfill many of their original scientific objectives. 

They also established a new record for the longest time 

in space for a U.S. space mission, remaining in orbit 

for almost a month. This is the story of the beginning 

of the colonization of space.

Nutrition Physiology and Metabolism in Spaceflight and 

Analog Studies, by Martina Heer, Jens Titze, Scott M. 

Smith, and Natalie Bäcker, Springer Briefs in Space 

Life Sciences (Springer, July 2015). This book provides an overview of microgravity-induced changes 

in human metabolism, muscle, and bone, as well 
31

Volume 32, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2015

as the cardiovascular system, and discusses in detail 

the nutrient uptake required during spaceflight to 

counteract these adaptive mechanisms and ensure 

an improved physical constitution upon returning 

to Earth.

Harnessing the Sky: Frederick “Trap” Trapnell, the U.S. 

Navy’s Aviation Pioneer, 1923–1952, by Frederick 

M. Trapnell, Jr., and Dana Trapnell Tibbits (Naval 

Institute Press, July 2015). This biography fills an 

important void in the history of flight testing and 

explores the legacy of the man who has been called the 

godfather of current naval aviation. Over the course 

of two decades (1930–50), Frederick Trapnell tested 

virtually every naval aircraft prototype and became 

the first U.S. Navy pilot to fly a jet. He pioneered the 

philosophy and perfected many of the methods of the 

engineering test pilot, demanding aircraft that pushed 

the performance envelope up to the limits of safety 

in all flight regimes. He insisted on comprehensive 

testing of each airplane with all of its equipment in all 

missions, conditions, and maneuvers it would face in 

wartime fleet operations. These innovations advanced 

the tactical capability of naval air power, have kept it 

at the forefront of modern aviation, and stand as an 

enduring legacy to the man who is regarded as the 

foremost test pilot in a century of naval aviation.

The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer 

Mission (LADEE), edited by Richard C. Elphic and 

Christopher Russell (Springer, August 2015). This 

book presents a comprehensive overview of the Lunar 

Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer Mission 

(LADEE), the first mission devoted to the study of the 

lunar exosphere and its dust phenomena. This volume 

contains five articles describing the mission and its 

instruments that were originally published in Space 

Science Reviews, volume 185, nos. 1–4, 2014.

NASA Voyager 1 & 2 Owners’ Workshop Manual: 1977 

Onwards, by Christopher Riley (Haynes Publishing, 

August 2015). In 1977, NASA sent two probes—

Voyager 1 and Voyager 2—to study the planets in the 

outer solar system, including Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, 

and Neptune, and dwarf planet Pluto. This manual 

provides a fascinating insight into the Voyager program—illustrated with a wealth of photographs and 

technical illustrations—and presents a guide to the 

golden discs attached to each probe, explaining how 

these time capsules of human culture were created and 

how an alien race might one day decode them to read 

these messages from Earth.

Planetary Vistas—The Landscapes of Other Worlds, by 

Paul Murdin (Springer, June 2015). Planetary Vistas is 

part science text and part travel book; it takes armchair 

explorers across the planets and moons of the solar 

system. Recent advances in space exploration imaging 

have allowed us to view landscapes that we could never 

see before, and this book collects some of the greatest 

vistas of Mars, Titan, Io, and more in their full glory, 

with background information to put into context the 

foreign landforms of our solar system.

Defining the Limits of Outer Space for Regulatory 

Purposes, by Olavo de Oliviera Bittencourt Neto 

(Springer, May 2015). With different countries ascribing to different theories of airspace and outer space 

law, Dr. Olavo de Oliviera Bittencourt Neto proposes 

in this reassessment of the international law related to 

the extension of state territories vertically. Taking into 

consideration the vast number of proposals offered by 

scholars and diplomatic delegations on this subject 

matter, as well as the principles of comparative law, 

the author proposes a compromise to allow for peaceful development as the only way forward.

China’s Space Programs: Progress and Military 

Implications, edited by Larry Rogers (Nova Science 

Publishers, Inc., August 2015). As China evolves, its 

rise as a world power is echoed in its rise as a space 

power. This book examines China’s space programs 

and how they advance China’s national security, 

economic, and diplomatic interests. The book also 

discusses China’s progress in space technologies and 

examines the implications it has for the United States. 
32

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

Included is a review of the evolution of China’s military thinking and the changed role of space within that 

context. The book examines China’s space capabilities 

and development before discussing its concepts for 

military space operations and concludes with future 

Chinese space operations.

Space-Based Solar Power: Feasible Idea or Folly?, edited 

by Carl P. Thompson (Nova Science Publishers, Inc., 

August 2015). Space-based solar power (SBSP) is a 

concept for a revolutionary energy system. It involves 

placing into orbit stupendously large orbital power 

plants—kilometers across—that collect the Sun’s raw 

energy. In theory, SBSP could scale to meet all of 

humanity’s energy needs, providing virtually unlimited green, renewable power to an energy-hungry 

world. With growing international awareness of 

energy security challenges, the promise of space-based 

solar power for clean and unlimited energy for all 

humankind is certainly appealing. While significant 

progress continues in the enabling technologies of 

such systems, is there compelling evidence that spacebased solar power systems will provide the best energy 

solution? The practical application of this method of 

power generation requires economical and operational 

considerations. This book examines the current progress of space-based power in the areas of technology, 

economics, and operations.

Galina Balashova: Architect of the Soviet Space 

Programme, by Philipp Meuser (DOM Publishers, 

September 2015). This monograph on the work of the 

Russian architect Galina Balashova presents a unique 

collection of designs for Soviet cosmonautics. These 

include plans and engineering drawings for Soyuz capsules and the space stations Salyut and Mir. Balashova 

acted as a consultant to the Buran program, the Soviet 

counterpart to the American Space Shuttle. Striving 

for harmony and beauty, the architect strikes an emotional chord in the high-tech world of carrier rockets, 

laboratories, and survival equipment. It is therefore 

due to Balashova’s talent that a unique chapter has been 

added to Soviet architectural history: Architecture for 

Cosmonautics. Her exceptional achievements, including designs for medals and emblems, are still scarcely 

known today—even in Russia.

Rocket Ranch: The Nuts and Bolts of the Apollo Moon 

Program at Kennedy Space Center, by Jonathan H. 

Ward (Springer-Praxis, June 2015). The author takes 

the reader deep into the facilities at Kennedy Space 

Center to describe NASA’s first computer systems 

used for spacecraft and rocket checkout and explain 

how tests and launches proceeded. Descriptions of 

early operations include a harrowing account of the 

heroic efforts of pad workers during the Apollo 1 fire. 

A companion to the author’s book Countdown to a 

Moon Launch: Preparing Apollo for Its Historic Journey, 

Rocket Ranch explores every facet of the facilities that 

served as the base for the Apollo/Saturn missions. 

Hundreds of illustrations complement the firsthand 

accounts of more than 70 Apollo program managers 

and engineers.

Countdown to a Moon Launch: Preparing Apollo for 

Its Historic Journey, by Jonathan H. Ward (SpringerPraxis, July 2015). This book provides an in-depth 

look at the carefully choreographed workflow for an 

Apollo mission at Kennedy Space Center. Using the 

Apollo 11 mission as an example, readers will learn 

what went on day by day to transform partially completed stages and crates of parts into a ready-to-fly 

Saturn V. Firsthand accounts of launch pad accidents, 

near misses, suspected sabotage, and last-minute 

changes to hardware are told by more than 70 NASA 

employees and contractors. A companion to Rocket 

Ranch, this book includes many diagrams and photographs, some never before published, to illustrate 

all aspects of the process. NASA’s groundbreaking use 

of computers for testing and advanced management 

techniques are also covered in detail.

The Making of Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space 

Odyssey,” by Piers Bizony (Taschen, September 2015). 

Get closer than ever to the movie that changed the 

movies. This behind-the-scenes spectacular of 2001: 
33

Volume 32, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2015

A Space Odyssey sheds light on the lead actors, senior 

production designers, and special-effects experts, who, 

together with Kubrick himself, revolutionized science 

fiction and the art of cinema. This exhaustive visual 

record includes on- and off-set photographs, preproduction paintings, conceptual designs, and publicity 

materials from the Kubrick archives. With numerous 

foldouts, these dazzling images offer insight both into 

Kubrick’s meticulous directorial methods and into 

the mysteries and magnetism of a film at once vast in 

scope and intricate in its human interest.

Friendship 7: The Epic Orbital Flight of John H. 

Glenn, Jr., by Colin Burgess (Springer-Praxis, April 

2015). In this spellbinding account of a historic 

but troubled orbital mission, noted space historian 

Colin Burgess takes us back to an electrifying time 

in American history, when intrepid pioneers were 

launched atop notoriously unreliable rockets at the 

very dawn of human space exploration. The book’s 

tension-filled narrative faithfully unfolds through 

contemporary reports and the personal recollections 

of astronaut John Glenn, along with those closest to 

the Friendship 7 story. This book reveals previously 

unknown facts behind one of America’s most ambitious and memorable pioneering space missions.

When China Goes to the Moon, by Marco Aliberti 

(Springer, July 2015). This book is about China’s 

ambitions in its most complex and internationally 

visible space endeavor and provides a comprehensive 

reflection on China’s strategic direction and objectives 

in space, particularly including those set forth in its 

human spaceflight program. Marco Aliberti analyzes 

the key domestic and external factors affecting the 

country’s presumed crewed lunar ambitions.

Human Space Exploration: Early Assessments of NASA’s 

Next Steps, edited by Darrel Gibbs (Nova Science 

Publishers, Inc., April 2015). NASA is undertaking a trio of closely related programs to continue 

human space exploration beyond low-Earth orbit: 

the Space Launch System (SLS) vehicle; the Orion 

capsule, which will launch atop the SLS and carry 

astronauts; and the supporting ground systems. As a 

whole, the efforts represent NASA’s largest exploration 

investment over the next decade to demonstrate initial 

capabilities. This book examines the scope of NASA’s 

preliminary cost estimates for the three programs. It 

also examines the SLS program’s progress toward and 

risks for its first test flight in 2017.

The History Program Office wishes to thank volunteer 

Chris Gamble, who compiles this section for us every 

quarter. Please note that the descriptions have been 

derived by Chris from promotional material and do not 

represent an endorsement by NASA.
34

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

UPCOMING MEETINGS

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics 

will hold SciTech 2016 4–8 January 2016 in San 

Diego, California. Visit https://www.aiaa-scitech.org/

for details.

The American Astronautical Society will hold its 54th 

Robert H. Goddard Memorial Symposium 8–10 

March 2016 in Greenbelt, Maryland. Visit http://

www.astronautical.org/goddard for details.

The National Council on Public History and the Society 

for History in the Federal Government will host a 

joint conference 16–19 March 2016 in Baltimore, 

Maryland. Visit http://ncph.org/cms/conferences/2016-

annual-meeting/ for details.

The International Astronautical Federation will hold 

its annual Spring Meetings 22–24 March 2016 in 

Paris. Visit http://www.iafastro.org/events/iaf-springmeetings/spring-meetings-2016/ for details.

The Organization of American Historians will host 

its annual meeting 7–10 April 2016 in Providence, 

Rhode Island. Visit http://www.oah.org/meetingsevents/2016/ for details.

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics 

will host the 2016 Aviation and Aeronautics Forum 

and Exposition 13–17 June 2016 in Washington, 

DC. Visit http://www.aiaa-aviation.org/FutureEvents/

for details.

The Society for the History of Technology will host 

its annual meeting in Singapore 22–26 June 2016. 

Visit http://www.historyoftechnology.org/call_for_papers/

index.html for more information on the call for papers 

and details on the conference.

The Society for Historians of American Foreign 

Relations will hold its 2016 annual meeting 

23–25 June 2016. Visit https://shafr.org/conferences/

annual/2016-annual-meeting for more information on 

the call for papers and the conference.

OBITUARIES

GEORGE MUELLER, LEADER OF EARLY 

HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT

Dr. George E. Mueller, the leader of NASA’s human spaceflight programs in the tumultuous 

1960s, died on Monday, 12 October 2015, after a 

short illness. Mueller effectively created the Office of 

Manned Space Flight at NASA Headquarters (now 

the Human Operations and Exploration Mission 

Directorate) and headed it from 1963 to 1969. He 

was responsible for overseeing the completion of 

Project Apollo and beginning the development of the 

Skylab and Space Shuttle projects. Mueller introduced 

a remarkable series of management changes within the 

Agency during his six years of service at NASA, a time 

when strong leadership and direction were critical to 

achieving success on a set of extraordinary goals.

Originally sworn in as the Deputy Associate 

Administrator for Manned Space Flight on 

1 September 1963, he quickly pushed through a 

reorganization that changed his title to Associate 

Administrator for Manned Space Flight, a position 

he held until leaving the Agency in 1969. In this new 

management structure, Mueller was not only in charge 

of the Gemini, Apollo, and future human spaceflight 

programs, but he directly supervised the three NASA 

Centers devoted to human spaceflight: Marshall Space 
35

Volume 32, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2015

Flight Center, the Manned Spacecraft Center (now 

Johnson Space Center), and Kennedy Space Center. 

At the time, all three of these Centers were undergoing a massive growth in facilities and staff. Mueller, 

a no-nonsense, forward-thinking leader, introduced 

management concepts and practices that not only 

ensured the achievement of landing on the Moon 

by the end of the decade but also had a long-lasting 

impact on NASA.

In his six years at NASA, Mueller’s impacts were 

far-reaching, from accelerating Project Gemini to 

pushing forward initial designs for Skylab and laying 

the groundwork for the Space Shuttle. However, he is 

probably best known for his daring solutions to the 

schedule problems in the Apollo program. Knowing 

that the plans he had inherited in 1963 would never 

succeed in achieving the presidential goal of a Moon 

mission by the end of the decade, Mueller overhauled 

the management system to facilitate concurrent development of the many needed systems. Most importantly, and most controversially, Mueller instituted 

the “all-up” testing approach. This approach was a 

radical change to the building-block approach then in 

use, which was vigorously defended by Wernher von 

Braun and his team developing the Saturn V rocket. 

But Mueller insisted that testing each stage of the 

Saturn rocket before adding the next was not necessary 

and would be impossible to complete by the end of 

the decade. Mueller’s logic carried the day, and his 

calculated risk proved critical in achieving President 

Kennedy’s goal of landing on the Moon before the end 

of the decade.

George E. Mueller is sworn in as Associate Administrator for the Office of 

Manned Space Flight for NASA by Hugh Dryden, NASA’s Deputy Administrator. 

The ceremony took place at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. Mueller 

served as Associate Administrator from 1963 to 1969; he was responsible for 

overseeing the completion of Project Apollo and for beginning the development 

of the Space Shuttle. (Photo credit: NASA)

Mueller was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on 16 July 

1918. Trained as an electrical engineer, with a B.S. 

from the Missouri School of Mines (1939) and an M.S. 

from Purdue (1940), Mueller served as a researcher 

at Bell Telephone Laboratories during World War II. 

After the war, he taught at Ohio State University while 

completing his Ph.D. in physics (1951). By the mid1950s, he was consulting with major aerospace companies and quickly rose to management positions of 

space programs at the Space Technology Laboratories 

(STL), a division of TRW, Inc. He was serving as vice 

president of research and development for STL when 

NASA hired him in 1963. In 1969, after the success 

of Apollo 11, Mueller returned to industry, where he 

had a long and distinguished career. He was also active 

in, and served as a leader in, a number of professional 

societies. His many awards and honors include three 

NASA Distinguished Service Medals and the National 

Medal of Science.

Mueller is survived by his wife, Darla; his son, Bill 

Schwartzman; and his three daughters, Karen Hyvonen, 

Jean Porter, and Wendy Schwartzman, and also by his 

13 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
36

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

ROBERT FARQUHAR, PLANETARY 

SCIENCE PIONEER

Robert Farquhar, a visionary and expert in planetary 

exploration, spacecraft design, and celestial navigation at NASA; the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics 

Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland; and KinetX, 

Inc., in Tempe, Arizona, died from complications 

following a respiratory illness at his home in Burke, 

Virginia, on Sunday, 18 October. He was 83.

A 50-year veteran of deep space missions and often 

referred to as a genius in his field, Farquhar made pivotal contributions to deep space missions to asteroids 

and comets.

In 1960, he joined NASA’s Marshall Space Flight 

Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where he participated 

in the design of the Saturn V launch vehicle. From 

1961 to 1964, he worked at the Lockheed Missiles 

and Space Company in California, perfecting orbital 

dynamics and control of satellites while also assisting 

in the preparation of an interplanetary flight handbook for NASA.

From 1969 to 1990, he was employed at NASA’s 

Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, 

and NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. He 

held a number of positions that involved studying 

post-Apollo lunar exploration concepts and the lunar 

shuttle transportation system; he also held key management positions for numerous satellite projects.

Dr. James L. Green, Director of Planetary Science at NASA, right, speaks with Dr. Robert Farquhar, 

an executive for space exploration at KinetX, Inc., during a symposium commemorating a quarter 

century of comet discoveries on Friday, 10 September 2010, in the Knight Studio at the Newseum 

in Washington, DC. The International Sun-Earth Explorer-3 (ISEE-3) spacecraft flew past the comet 

21P/Giacobini-Zinner on 11 September 1985, an accomplishment that established a foundation of 

discoveries that continue today. (Photo credit: NASA/Paul E. Alers)

At APL from 1990 to 2007, he conceived and was the 

flight director for the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous 

(NEAR) mission to the asteroid named Eros. Launched 

in 1996, NEAR (later called NEAR-Shoemaker) was 

the first spacecraft to orbit and perform an in-depth 

investigation of an asteroid and then safely land on it, 

which it did in February 2001. Thanks to Farquhar’s 

efforts, the mission answered many fundamental questions about the nature and origin of asteroids.

Also while at APL, he helped lead the Comet Nucleus 

Tour (CONTOUR) mission; the MErcury Surface, 

Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging 

(MESSENGER) mission to the planet Mercury; and 

the New Horizons mission to the dwarf planet Pluto 

and its moon, Charon.

Also among Farquhar’s career highlights was the 

International Sun-Earth Explorer-3/International 

Cometary Explorer (ISEE-3/ICE) mission. As the 

mission’s flight director, Farquhar led the crew that 

placed ISEE-3 in a “halo orbit” (a term that he had 

coined in his 1969 dissertation at Stanford University) 

around the gravitational balancing or libration point 

between the Sun and Earth. He designed the quintuple 

lunar flyby trajectory that sent the spacecraft through 

the tail of 21P/Giacobini-Zinner in September 1985. 

Farquhar invented this trajectory, which allowed the 

United States to become the first nation to encounter 
37

Volume 32, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2015

a comet. Farquhar’s knowledge of halo orbits was critical 

in calculating the trajectory 

for the successful mission.

Born in September 1932, 

Farquhar attended elementary 

and high school in Chicago. 

As a child, he became interested in aviation, often reading 

about it and building model 

airplanes of his own design.

Farquhar attended college 

briefly before joining the 

Army in April 1951. He completed basic training at Fort Knox and jump training 

at Fort Benning before being deployed to Fort Bragg 

as part of the 82nd Airborne Division.

In late 1952, Farquhar requested to be transferred 

to a division that was taking part in the Korean War. 

He was deployed to the 187th Infantry Regiment 

stationed in Japan. After some training in Japan, 

Farquhar was invited to attend clerk typist school and 

for some time served as the company clerk, writing 

reports. One day, after some North Korean prisoners were released, Farquhar’s division was moved to 

Kimpo Airfield for one month. There, he was on the 

front lines until the ceasefire.

Returning to the United States, Farquhar attended the 

University of Illinois Navy Pier campus before moving 

to the main campus at Champaign in 1957. There, he 

decided on a career in spaceflight, finishing his bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering in 1959. He 

stayed at the University of Illinois for graduate school 

before applying and being accepted for a position at 

the University of California, Los Angeles.

A 50-YEAR VETERAN OF 

DEEP SPACE MISSIONS 

AND OFTEN REFERRED TO 

AS A GENIUS IN HIS FIELD, 

FARQUHAR MADE PIVOTAL 

CONTRIBUTIONS TO DEEP 

SPACE MISSIONS TO 

ASTEROIDS AND COMETS.

During the summer after he graduated, Farquhar 

worked at the RAND Corporation in California. 

He completed his engineering master’s degree at 

the University of California and attended Stanford 

University for his doctorate 

in astronautics, which he 

obtained in 1968. He worked 

with John Breakwell to 

develop halo orbit and other 

libration point trajectory concepts and applications.

Farquhar received numerous 

honors and awards from the 

military, NASA, and a variety 

of space organizations and 

associations. Farquhar wrote 

the book Fifty Years on the 

Space Frontier: Halo Orbits, 

Comets, Asteroids, and More, 

voted the best book of the year by the International 

Academy of Astronautics. He also wrote, cowrote, or 

contributed to over 200 other publications.

He is survived by his wife, Irina; his stepdaughter, 

Anya; and a host of other relatives.

FREDERICK C. DURANT III, 

SPACEFLIGHT PIONEER

“I consider myself lucky to have lived during the countdown to space flight, to have seen the realization of the 

dreams of industry pioneers.” 1

Aviation pioneer Fred Durant passed away on 

21 October, two months shy of his 99th birthday. 

Durant had a long and industrious career serving the 

country in the fields of aeronautics and astronautics. Durant was part of the group that put the first 

American satellite into orbit. Led by Wernher von 

Braun, the team developed a concept called Project 

Orbiter, which later served as the foundation of the 

1 Frederick C. Durant III, quoted on the Haverford School’s 

Web site, http://www.haverford.org/alumni/spotlights/Fred_

Durant/index.aspx (accessed 6 November 2015).
38

NASA HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE — News & Notes

successful Explorer 1 mission that 

launched on 31 January 1958. 

A 1939 engineering graduate of 

Lehigh University, Durant served 

as a naval aviator during World 

War II and emerged as one of the 

nation’s leading postwar authorities on rocketry and spaceflight. 

He was a fellow of the AIAA and 

served as president of both the 

American Rocket Society (1953) 

and the International Astronautical 

Federation (1953–56). Durant 

began his tenure at the Smithsonian 

Institution’s National Air Museum 

(now the Air and Space Museum) in 

1964 and was charged with bringing 

the museum into the Space Age, a 

task that he undertook with great 

delight. He was named assistant to 

the Director for Astronautics the 

next year and remained with the 

museum until his retirement in 

1980. While at the Smithsonian, he 

also served as the aerospace historian 

for the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

This still photograph was taken during a 1958 television broadcast lecture on rockets by Frederick C. Durant III 

(right). (Photo credit: NASM)

NASA HEADQUARTERS HISTORY PROGRAM OFFICE 

STAFF CONTACT INFORMATION:

William Barry bill.barry@nasa.gov

Chief Historian 202-358-0383

Nadine Andreassen nadine.j.andreassen@nasa.gov

Program Support Specialist 202-358-0087

Colin Fries cfries@mail.hq.nasa.gov

Archivist 202-358-0388

Stephen Garber stephen.j.garber@nasa.gov

Historian 202-358-0385

Jane Odom jane.h.odom@nasa.gov

Chief Archivist 202-358-0386

Yvette Smith yvette.smith-1@nasa.gov

Editor 202-358-5196

Elizabeth Suckow elizabeth.suckow-1@nasa.gov

Archivist 202-358-0375

Elizabeth Reimer elizabeth.d.reimer@nasa.gov

Intern
39

Volume 32, Number 4 Fourth Quarter 2015

IMAGE IN NASA HISTORY

This time-exposure photograph shows the Gemini 10 spacecraft, which launched from Complex 19 on 18 July 

1966 with astronauts John Young and Michael Collins on board. (Photo credit: NASA)
CREATED AND PRODUCED BY:

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Lisa Jirousek, Editor

Michele Ostovar, Graphic Designer

Chris Duncan, Printing Specialist

Trenita Williams, Mail Coordinator

Carl Paul, Distribution

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