NASA HISTORY DIVISION

Office of External Relations

volume 25, number 4 December 2008

FROM

THE CHIEF

HISTORIAN

Even as the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA) ramps down activities 

relating to the 50th anniversary of the Agency, 

plans are gearing up to recognize a series of 40th 

anniversaries relating to Apollo. It was in October 

1968 that Apollo 7, the first piloted launch in 

the series, went into Earth orbit to test Apollo 

hardware. By December, the famous Apollo 8 

had circumnavigated the Moon, entering orbit on 

Christmas Eve; during the mission, its astronauts 

gave the famous reading from Genesis and took 

the iconic “Earthrise” photograph that had an 

impact around the world. The first lunar landing 

took place on 20 July 1969, with five more to 

follow, ending in December 1972.

As time passes, those events seem all the more 

remarkable in human history. During those five 

action-packed years, 24 men went to the Moon, 

3 of them (Jim Lovell, Eugene Cernan, and John 

Young) twice. Twelve of them orbited silently 

above the bleak lunar landscape, and three others were whipped around the Moon in a “freereturn trajectory” in a desperate attempt to 

return to Earth after an explosion aboard the 

Apollo 13 spacecraft. Twelve of the 24 lunar voyagers actually landed on the Moon, spending 

in total some 300 hours on the lunar surface, of 

which 80 hours were outside the Lunar Module, 

either with “boots on the ground” or with the 

astronauts actually driving around the spacecraft environs. These events seem incredible to 

us even now, as NASA makes plans to return 

humans to the Moon almost a half century later.

continued on page 4

Society of American 

Archivists Convenes in San 

Francisco

By Jane H. Odom, Colin Fries, April Gage, and Leilani Marshall

The Society of American Archivists (SAA) held its annual meeting on 26–30 

August in San Francisco with more than 1,700 attendees. It was SAA’s 

largest-ever West Coast gathering. The conference theme—to explore our 

professional identities in three strategic priority areas as identified by SAA 

(technology, diversity, and public awareness)—was especially meaningful. 

Participants attended sessions and section meetings, heard Mark Greene’s 

presidential address on defining the profession’s core values, talked with 

dozens of exhibitors in the Expo Hall, and visited with colleagues at a 

reception held at the San Francisco Public Library. Early in the week, 

more than a dozen local repositories opened their doors to visitors, and 

a small, enthusiastic group of archivists attended a San Francisco Giants 

baseball game. John Dean, former White House counsel, 1970–73, and a 

prolific author, served as keynote speaker. He had interesting observations 

about archives and archivists, as well as history and politics. Dean opened 

the session up for questions about halfway through his appointed time 

and seemed to enjoy the give and take with the audience. Representing 

NASA at this year’s annual meeting were Jane Odom and Colin Fries from 

Headquarters; April Gage and Leilani Marshall from Ames Research 

continued on next page

IN THIS ISSUE:

From the Chief Historian.. 

Society of American Archivists Convenes in San Francisco. 

News from Headquarters and the Centers. 

New NASA History Publications  .

Other New Aerospace History Publications. .

Employment Opportunity. .

NASA’s National Historic Landmarks  .

Other Aerospace History News. .

Calls for Papers. .

Upcoming Meetings. .

Obituary. .

Conference on NASA’s First 50 Years  .

NASA’s 50th Anniversary Gala Images. .
NASA HISTORY DIVISION 

Society of American Archivists Convenes in San Francisco (continued) 

Center; Barbara Amago from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory; and Shelly Kelly from 

the University of Houston–Clear Lake, where the JSC Space History Collection is 

housed. 

Jane attended a session on archival meaning and values; a presentation of case 

studies by individuals from several academic institutions on archiving digital manuscripts; a session on legal and ethical perspectives of returning displaced archives; 

and section meetings on government records and on reference, access, and outreach. 

A session she found especially meaningful dealt with confronting the challenges of 

digital preservation. In this session, representatives from three federal agencies (the 

National Archives and Records Administration [NARA], the Library of Congress 

[LOC], and the Government Printing Office [GPO]) discussed their experiences in 

this area. They described what is in electronic form and what is still hard copy, as 

well as new initiatives to handle digital information, including dissemination. The 

NARA speaker discussed the work of the Electronic Records Archives within the 

National Archives, while the LOC panelist commented that he felt that copyright 

law had not kept pace with digital technology. And, comforting to those of us who 

prefer hard-copy sources, the GPO representative opined that hard-copy printing 

will never go away but lamented that dealing with digital information has now 

been added to GPO’s workload. Jane and April took the opportunity midweek to 

visit the Charles Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa (http://www. 

schulzmuseum.org). They spent several hours visiting with archivist Lisa Monhoff 

and Museum Director Karen Johnson, touring the archives and museum, and even 

going behind the scenes. Lisa had pulled a number of items, several with NASA 

themes, from the archives collections to show our group. 

Colin reports that one of the more intriguing 

sessions he attended described an Archival 

Web Capture Project. Dean Weber, archivist 

for the Ford Motor Company, described how 

his repository, along with the Ford Historical 

Resources Collaborative, has cooperated 

with the San Diego Supercomputing Center 

at the University of California San Diego 

to crawl and capture the Ford.com Web 

site on a quarterly basis, preserve the data, 

and provide access through http://www. 

thehenryford.org. The goal is to collect a 

long-term historical series of Web snapshots 

to document the Internet as one of the 

important methods car buyers use to make 

their choices. There are limitations with 

current Web crawler technology since it 

cannot capture dynamic graphics or Flash 

multimedia. The project is eliminating duplicate links and will eventually provide 

the user with a prompt when he or she clicks on an outside link and leaves the site. 

The group entered the project thinking of it as a purely technological challenge, 

but one of the lessons learned was that it turned out to be about managing people 

and relationships. Despite the technological focus, it also involved using the 

traditional archival techniques of appraisal, accessioning, description, arrangement, 

preservation, and access. 

Ames Research Center Archivist April Gage (left) and 

NASA Chief Archivist Jane Odom outside the Charles 

Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California. 

2

VOLUME 25, NUMBER 4 December 2008 

April writes that among the business discussed at the Government Records Section 

meeting was the announcement of an improved National Association of Government 

Archives and Records Administrators Web site (http://www.NAGARAresources.org) 

through which archivists and records managers can share a wide variety of resources, 

as well as a new records certification program for administrators and archivists of 

local government archives. Attendees were encouraged to ask their congressional 

representatives to sponsor H.R. 6056, entitled “Preserving the American Historical 

Record,” which would authorize the Archivist of the United States to provide 

grants to states for preserving and disseminating historical records (see http:// 

www.archivists.org/pahr/index.asp). A representative from the Information Security 

Oversight Office (ISOO) within the National Archives discussed the activities of that 

office, including its ongoing review of federal agencies and recent recommendations 

to prioritize records of historical significance and establish a declassification center 

(see http://www.archives.gov/isoo/). There was also an announcement of a new Council 

of State Archivists project—the Intergovernmental Preparedness for Essential 

Records—to provide state and local governments with records-related emergency 

training materials (see http://www.statearchivists.org/iper/index.htm). Sarah Demb, 

the Hub Records Management Advisor to the Museum of London, delivered the 

feature presentation, in which she discussed her role helping museums comply with 

two new legislative acts in the United Kingdom (U.K.) involving the freedom of 

information and data protection. Also of interest in this talk was Demb’s discussion 

of a Web site designed to disseminate information to museums in the U.K. about 

best practices in collections management (see http://www.collectionslink.org.uk).

Commentary on Sarah’s paper was provided by Courtney Yevich from the Virginia 

Museum of Fine Arts. 

Leilani recounts that in almost all of the sessions she attended that dealt with 

description, the phrase “Web 2.0” kept popping up. Archivists were talking about 

this concept particularly in relation to online finding aids and digital photograph 

collections. “Web 2.0” refers to Web site design and construction that applies different concepts of information-sharing techniques, such as bookmarking, tagging, 

commenting, blogging, podcasting, Really Simple Syndication (RSS), and editable 

sites like Wikipedia. Archivists leading the sessions asserted that using Web 2.0 

concepts with online finding aids and digital collections is the next step in online 

description. They argued that as researchers and Internet users become more 

sophisticated in their interaction with information in the online environment, they 

expect repositories to be on the leading edge of this technological progression. One 

of the ways to meet the changing needs of users is through the application of Web 

2.0 concepts. 

Several repositories are already applying these concepts, such as allowing users 

to comment on photographs, provide information in a designated field, and apply 

descriptive “tags” to them. The most prominent use of this model is the Library of 

Congress’s photograph pilot project on Flickr, an online photo management and 

sharing application. Other uses of Web 2.0 applications allow users to leave reviews 

of finding aids and Web sites, to refer other users of a guide to similar or related 

sources, to allow users to create their own personalized “libraries” of digital images 

and guides to meet their own research needs, and to allow users to comment on 

information contained in finding aids and other parts of a repository’s Web site. 

Using Web 2.0 concepts in this environment will demand a shift in values from 

archivists, who are not used to allowing users to edit content or allowing them to 

continued on next page 

3

NASA HISTORY DIVISION 

Society of American Archivists Convenes in San Francisco (continued) 

take apart collections and present them in other ways. Whether or not to use these 

concepts, and in what manner, are decisions that each repository will need to make 

on its own, but there is no doubt that the changing needs of researchers are definitely 

causing archivists to reevaluate the current way their collections are being used and 

accessed, particularly in the online environment. 

Mark your calendar now—next year’s annual meeting of the Society of American 

Archivists will be held 11–16 August 2009 in Austin, Texas. Y’all come! 

From the Chief Historian (continued) 

When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Sea of Tranquility on 20 July 1969, 

they stayed a little less than a day, and they traveled less than half a mile on foot. During 

the last Apollo mission, Apollo 17, members of the crew landed on the Taurus-Littrow 

highlands on 11 December 1972 and stayed for three days, during which Harrison 

Schmitt and Eugene Cernan traveled some 19 miles in the lunar roving vehicle. Though 

human footprints are well preserved at the six landing sites and rover tracks surround 

three of them, not a step has been taken on the lunar surface since that time. 

Although the importance of the Apollo missions is still debated, the difficulty and the 

expense are widely recognized. At the peak of the Apollo era, during one of the most 

tumultuous decades in American history, NASA expenditures constituted almost 4 

percent of the federal budget. Since that time, NASA’s budget has remained relatively 

steady at less than 1 percent. 

Eight years after President Kennedy’s challenge, the goal was met, but only after gargantuan efforts and funding resources unlikely ever to be seen again in the space program 

over such a short timespan. Among those efforts was the construction of the Saturn V 

launch vehicle, led by the legendary Wernher von Braun at Marshall Space Flight Center, 

with Boeing, North American Aviation, and Douglas Aircraft Company as prime contractors for each of the Saturn stages. The Apollo spacecraft themselves—the “chariots 

for Apollo” known more technically as the Command and Service Modules—were also 

the responsibility of North American Aviation. Hundreds of subcontractors, thousands 

of engineers, tens of thousands of workers, and many unsung heroes played their roles 

in sending Americans to the Moon. The Saturn V was composed of 3 million parts, the 

Command and Service Modules 2 million, and the Lunar Module 1 million. As Apollo 11 

astronaut Michael Collins put it, “All 6 million worked, nearly all the time.” 

Was it all worth it? The Apollo program has been criticized for being driven by politics, 

dominated by engineers, and deaf to science; after all, the only scientist who traveled 

to the Moon was Harrison Schmitt on Apollo 17, the last voyage. What, in the end, did 

Apollo achieve? Aside from its geopolitical goals, and despite the clear backseat status 

of science, a considerable amount of science was in fact returned from the Moon. As 

Donald Beattie has described in his book Taking Science to the Moon, almost 5,000 

pounds of experimental equipment was landed on the Moon, including the Apollo Lunar 

Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) on each of the last five Apollo missions. Eight 

4

VOLUME 25, NUMBER 4 December 2008 

hundred forty pounds of lunar material was returned and analyzed. Astronauts traversed 

65 miles either on foot or in the lunar rover in support of field geology and geophysical 

studies. And during the last three missions, detailed data were collected from the orbiting 

Command and Service Modules. The overall result is a much better understanding of the 

nature and origin of the Moon and its relation to Earth. The top 10 scientific discoveries 

from the Apollo missions, as ranked by the office of the curator for planetary materials 

at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, are found at http://www.lpi.usra.edu/expmoon/science/ 

lunar10.html. 

No one would have guessed in 1972 that almost a half century would pass before 

even the possibility that humans would return to the Moon was seriously broached. 

Though the Russians would manage several more robotic lunar missions, including 

a lunar sample return in 1976, it would be more than 20 years before Americans 

returned to the Moon with even a robotic emissary, the Clementine spacecraft, in 

1995. Lunar Prospector followed in 1998, and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is 

on schedule to launch in March 2009, intended as a precursor to human missions 

now being planned by 2020. 

How will history judge the voyages of Apollo? Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Arthur 

M. Schlesinger, Jr., a special assistant to President Kennedy, ventured one opinion when 

he wrote in 2004: “It has been almost a third of a century since human beings took a 

step on the Moon—rather as if no intrepid mariner had bothered after 1492 to follow up 

on Christopher Columbus. Yet 500 years from now (if humans have not blown up the 

planet), the 20th century will be remembered, if at all, as the century in which man began 

the exploration of space.” Although a historian of politics and world affairs, Schlesinger 

did not rank war in the century’s top 10 events. Wars come and go and affect many 

people, but the first venture into space happens only once and holds infinite promise— 

and peril. 

On the other hand, there are some, historians among them, who think the Apollo program was time and money misspent and that analogies to Columbus are misplaced. In 

reviewing Andrew Chaikin’s book A Man on the Moon in the New York Times Review of 

Books, historian of technology Alex Roland called Chaikin’s retelling of the Apollo story 

“the great American legend of the late 20th century,” replete with heroic astronauts and 

epic tales. Eschewing Apollo’s role in exploration and pointing to the lack of science on 

the missions, he downplayed the significance of the voyages of Apollo. 

Critics are entitled to their opinions, but in my view, the Apollo voyages were indeed an 

accomplishment of mythic proportions, justifying mythic retellings. History may well 

side with Mr. Schlesinger, but what happens over the next few decades will determine 

whether the expeditions of Apollo are more akin to the Vikings’ brief forays to North 

America under Leif Eriksson or to the more sustained effort heralded by Columbus (in 

this case, without the exploitation of natives). In the long view of history, the success or 

failure of NASA’s current attempt to return humans to the Moon, proceed to Mars, and 

spread throughout the solar system will also be judged accordingly. We are now in a test 

to see whether humans can be motivated by a journey of exploration rather than a race, 

by international cooperation rather than competition. History will be watching. 

Steve Dick 

continued on next page 

5

NASA HISTORY DIVISION 

From the Chief Historian (continued) 

Further Reading 

Selected Readings for the Apollo 40th Anniversaries 

Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, available at http://history.nasa.gov/alsj/. This source 

contains a tremendous amount of information on astronauts’ lunar surface activities. 

Donald A. Beattie, Taking Science to the Moon: Lunar Experiments and the Apollo 

Program (Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001). 

Roger Bilstein, Stages to Saturn: A Technological History of the Apollo/Saturn Launch 

Vehicles (Washington, DC: NASA SP-4206, 1980 and 1996), available online at http:// 

history.nasa.gov/SP-4206/sp4206.htm. 

Courtney Brooks, James Grimwood, and Loyd S. Swenson, Jr., Chariots for Apollo: A 

History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft (Washington, DC: NASA SP-4205, 1979), available 

online at http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4205/cover.html.

Andrew Chaikin, A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts (New York: 

Penguin Books, 1994). This book was the basis for the HBO miniseries From the Earth 

to the Moon. 

Michael Collins, Liftoff: The Story of America’s Adventure in Space (New York: Grove 

Press, 1988). 

W. David Compton, Where No Man Has Gone Before: A History of Apollo Lunar 

Exploration Missions (Washington, DC: NASA SP-4214, 1989), available online at http:// 

history.nasa.gov/SP-4214/cover.html. 

Edgar M. Cortright, ed., Apollo Expeditions to the Moon (Washington, DC: NASA 

SP-350, 1975), available online at http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-350/cover. 

html. 

Michael Gray, Angle of Attack: Harrison Storms and the Race to the Moon (New York: 

Penguin, 1994). 

James R. Hansen, First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong (New York and London: 

Simon and Schuster, 1975). 

Stephen B. Johnson, The Secret of Apollo: Systems Management in American and European 

Space Programs (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002). 

W. Henry Lambright, Powering Apollo: James E. Webb of NASA (Baltimore: Johns 

Hopkins University Press, 1995). 

Lunar and Planetary Science Institute. An extensive source of information on past and 

future missions to the Moon is available at http://www.lpi.usra.edu/expmoon/. 

Charles Murray and Catherine Bly Cox, Apollo: The Race to the Moon (New York: Simon 

and Schuster, 1989). 

Richard W. Orloff, Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference (Washington, DC: 

NASA SP-2000-4029, 2000), available online at http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/SP-4029. 

htm. 

Robert C. Seamans, Jr., Project Apollo: The Tough Decisions (Washington, DC: NASA 

SP-2005-4537), available online at http://history.nasa.gov/monograph37.pdf. 

Asif Siddiqi, Challenge to Apollo: The Soviet Union and the Space Race, 1945–1974 

(Washington, DC: NASA SP-2000-4408, 2000). 

Billy Watkins, Apollo Moon Missions: The Unsung Heroes (Bison Books, 2007). 

More publications related to Apollo may be found at http://history.nasa.gov/series95.html. 

6

VOLUME 25, NUMBER 4 December 2008 

News from Headquarters and 

the Centers 

Headquarters 

Jane Odom continues to evaluate and acquire new material for the Historical 

Reference Collection (HRC). One notable collection she acquired recently was a large 

amount of Participant in Space (teacher, journalist, educator) material, 1977–2003, 

from the Office of Education. Jane appraises material for historical value and directs 

the subsequent processing of collections, answers reference requests, and facilitates 

the entry of our international visitors into the building. She is pleased to report that 

after several months of work, all of the Administrators’ and Deputy Administrators’ 

speeches have been published on the Headquarters Historical Reference Collection 

Web site. These speeches and other useful historical documents may be found at 

https://mira.hq.nasa.gov/history/ online. 

Collectively, Colin Fries, John Hargenrader, and Liz Suckow all share reference 

duties, answering inquiries received by e-mail, assisting walk-in researchers, and 

helping Jane with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. They also recently 

assisted Jane in reviewing more than a dozen speeches in the Administrators series 

before they were published to the new HRC Web site described above. 

Liz has completed a preservation project on the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo 

astronaut biographical files. She appraised a collection of Spaceflight Advanced 

Projects reading files from the 1990s, adding the items she retained to the HRC, and 

processed a collection of source materials on NASA’s Spaceflight Tracking and Data 

Network from the author of a new history book on that subject. Liz began appraising two collections recalled from the Federal Records Center: one containing a small 

amount of George Low correspondence on the Mercury Program and the other a 

large collection of Apollo Program and Office of Policy files. She is making copies 

of historically significant items from these collections and adding them to the HRC. 

Also, Liz began entering descriptive information about our oral history collection 

into the database, scanned and uploaded to the database the George Mueller speech 

collection, and scanned and uploaded the Fred Gregory chronological correspondence files, 2002–05. Finally, she is doing historical background research for an 

Apollo 40th-anniversary working group. 

Colin finished scanning 9 cubic feet of Office of External Relations chronological correspondence files, 2000–03, and checked the portable document format 

(PDF) files into the database. Currently, he is scanning a collection of life sciences 

chronological files, 1993–2003. He completed processing the collection of engineer 

John Sloop and assisted in proofreading various publications and 50th-anniversary 

materials. Additionally, Colin is reprocessing the Headquarters organization files 

and continues to maintain the History Division Web pages, where he is currently 

focusing on updating the Forecast of Upcoming Anniversaries pages. 

John is continuing to scan the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance chronological 

correspondence files, 1986–2001. He is happy to report that the recent purchase of 

new scanners has helped to speed up the process significantly. John continues his 

preservation work, removing and reformatting deteriorating newspaper clippings in 

continued on next page 

7

NASA HISTORY DIVISION 

News from Headquarters and the Centers (continued) 

various collections as he finds them. He is nearing completion of a project to add a 

collection of over 100 Plum Brook Reactor Facility images for the GReat Images in 

NASA (GRIN) photo database online at http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/. Look for these new 

images to appear soon on GRIN. 

Ames Research Center (ARC) 

April Gage and Leilani Marshall earned an Ames safety award (ASAP II) recognizing their outstanding efforts in developing the NASA Ames History Office Disaster 

Preparedness Plan. 

Center Director Pete Worden hosted a Directors’ Round Table on 16 September. 

Four of his predecessors—Hans Mark, Sy Syvertson, Dale Compton, and Scott 

Hubbard—returned to offer their insights on what makes Ames successful. Ames 

has begun planning a series of special events to mark its upcoming 70th anniversary 

on 20 December 2009. These will have an “evolution” theme aligned with local 

history-of-science events to mark the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s publication On the Origin of Species. 

Jack Boyd and Glenn Bugos presented a paper entitled “Why Space Research and 

Space Exploration?: NASA Ames Research Center Contributions to NASA’s 50 

Years” to the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Space 

2008 meeting in San Diego. Jack also made a major presentation to the National 

Hispanic University. 

April Gage completed in-house scanning and preservation measures to 102 reports 

and engineering design documents in the Pioneer Project Records, 1952–96 collection (AFS8100.15A). In addition, she continues to acquire historical records and 

artifacts from around the Center. Notable accessions include a new batch of papers 

from late planetary scientist James Pollack, a full-scale model of the Galileo descent 

probe and deceleration module aeroshell, and a functioning copy of the Viking gas 

exchange experiment module. April organized an open house for the Ames Family 

Day, and history fans flocked to our door. April, along with Jane Odom, also got an 

extensive advanced viewing of the upcoming space-themed exhibit, entitled “To The 

Moon: Snoopy Soars with NASA,” at the Charles Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, 

California. 

The NASA Ames History Office welcomed two new interns. James D. Anderson will 

be doing special writing projects on the later history of NASA Ames. He recently 

completed two bachelor’s degrees, one in astrophysics and one in the history of 

science, both from the University of California at Berkeley. Shoshana Shwartz is 

an undergraduate in the public history program at San Jose State University and 

will be helping to process archival collections. And we were delighted to host Ray 

Macauley, a historian at the University of Manchester, who is undertaking a detailed 

study of the Pioneer plaque for a project on representation strategies in interstellar 

communication. 

We bid adieu to intern Allison Tara Sundaram, who is now at the University of 

Leeds pursuing a master’s degree in museum studies. In addition to being of great 

help in the archives, Allison surveyed, inventoried, and performed extensive preservation measures on nearly 10 cubic feet of materials in the Pioneer Project Records, 

8

VOLUME 25, NUMBER 4 December 2008 

1952–96. Furthermore, Allison preserved and described 2.5 cubic feet of artifacts 

and records, including exhibits on tektites and memorial condolences compiled following the Columbia accident. 

The NASA Ames Historic Preservation Office won a 2008 Preservation Design 

Award from the California Preservation Foundation for its report entitled 

“Evaluation of Historic Resources Associated with the Space Shuttle Program at 

Ames Research Center.” In October 2008, a new dirigible returned to Moffett Field 

with Airship Ventures, Inc.—though stationed in Hangar 2 rather than Hangar 1. 

It darkened our skies 75 years to the month after the USS Macon first arrived at 

Moffett Field. 

Glenn Research Center (GRC) 

Kevin Coleman, GRC History Officer, has retired after 38 years of federal service. 

Kevin started the Glenn history program in the mid-1990s. Since that time, it has 

grown tremendously and has been one of the most active and prolific history programs in the Agency. In 2005, Kevin was awarded the first NASA History Award 

for his achievements. Under Kevin’s direction, six books and two documentaries 

were produced on the history of various Glenn programs and facilities. He also 

spearheaded the effort to host the “Realizing the Dream of Flight” symposium 

in celebration of the centennial of flight. Best wishes, Kevin! Anne Power will be 

assuming the role of GRC History Officer. 

Of Ashes and Atoms, NASA’s first feature-length history documentary, tells the history of the NASA Plum Brook Reactor Facility. After it aired on WGTE, Toledo’s 

public television station, last December, Of Ashes and Atoms received a nomination 

in the historical documentary category for the Lower Great Lakes Regional Emmy 

awards. Awards were held 13 September. Unfortunately, Glenn did not walk away a 

winner, but as they say in the business, it’s an honor to be nominated! 

The Altitude Wind Tunnel interactive CD-ROM is now available. The disk includes 

an overall chronicle of the historic facility’s involvement with propulsion research, 

Project Mercury, and the Centaur program; an interactive timeline and facility map; 

photos and film footage; and technical reports. Copies of the CD-ROM are available 

by contacting the NASA Headquarters History Division or the Glenn Research 

Center history office. A monograph on the topic of the Altitude Wind Tunnel should 

be available in 2009. 

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) 

After the Explorer anniversary celebrations in January, Erik Conway continued 

work on his Mars exploration book. Erik has written up through the crash of the 

Mars Polar Lander in 1999. Erik has carried out 16 oral histories with participants 

this spring and summer in support of the project’s next phase: the completion of the 

Mars 2001 Odyssey mission and the decision to embark on the Mars Exploration 

Rover mission. Erik plans to complete the manuscript (though the Mars Exploration 

Rover mission) next year. 

continued on next page 

9

NASA HISTORY DIVISION 

News from Headquarters and the Centers (continued) 

Erik has also been contributing to the new JPL climate science Web site, which is 

online at http://climate.jpl.nasa.gov. Erik has written an essay on JPL and NASA’s 

role in climate science that is “live” and has essays on terminology and on temperature measurement controversies in the pipeline. Additionally, Erik has an essay on 

historical carbon dioxide measurement forthcoming on a related Web site for the 

Atmospheric Infrared Sounder on the Aqua satellite. This effort should taper off as 

the climate site gets its new science writer up to speed. 

Finally, Erik is working on three articles for scholarly publication. Erik has completed the second draft of last year’s International Geophysical Year paper, “The 

International Geophysical Year and Planetary Science,” and submitted it to the 

second round of review. Erik is contributing a paper to the NASA 50th-anniversary 

conference at the end of October on the intersection of Earth and planetary science, 

and he is also working on a paper for a volume on planetary exploration that was 

funded via the Science Mission Directorate’s recent call for historical proposals. 

Erik’s atmospheric science history is due out from Johns Hopkins University Press 

in November. It can be ordered from the fall 2008 catalog, from the usual online 

bookstores, or from http://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title_pages/9567.html. Many 

thanks to Steve Sanford, Donna Lawson, and Mike Finneran at Langley Research 

Center for their patience during this long, drawn-out publication process. 

Johnson Space Center (JSC) 

The arrival of Hurricane Ike in the Houston 

area the weekend of 12–13 September 2008 

affected the Center and its surrounding vicinities. Fortunately, the History Office and the 

history collection and archives were not damaged. As the area recovers, work has resumed, 

and on 1 October, as planned, the Center’s 

employees enjoyed a picnic on the grounds of 

JSC to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 

Agency. 

The JSC History Office produced the fall 

issue of the Houston History magazine for 

the University of Houston Center for Public 

History in recognition of the Agency’s 50th 

anniversary. JSC History Coordinator 

Rebecca Wright served as the guest editor, 

and contributing the articles were Mike Coats, 

JSC Center Director; Sandra Johnson and Dr. 

Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, from the JSC History 

Office; student researcher Jessica Cannon; 

and Shelly Henley Kelly, archivist from the 

University of Houston–Clear Lake and for the 

JSC History Collection. Articles focus on the 

years 1958 to 1978 and on JSC. Included is an 

edited transcript from an interview conducted 

10


Flight controllers in the Mission Operations Control Room 

celebrate the successful conclusion of the Apollo 11 lunar 

landing mission. The photo, taken on 24 July 1969 in the 

Mission Control Center at the Manned Spacecraft Center, 

Houston, Texas, serves as the cover for the current Houston 

History magazine honoring NASA’s 50th anniversary. (Source: 

JSC S69-40022) 
VOLUME 25, NUMBER 4 December 2008 

with pioneer flight director Chris Kraft discussing the historical importance of 

Apollo 8. Also featured are imagery from the JSC repository, thoughts from those 

working in Mission Control for the Apollo 11 lunar landing, details about the first 

flag on the Moon, the connection between JSC and area universities, and an article 

about the 35 new individuals who in 1978 helped to change the face of human 

spaceflight. 

Also, this past summer marked the 11th consecutive year the JSC history team 

has enjoyed working with student interns. These graduate students spent 10 weeks 

researching and writing biographical profiles on people who will be interviewed in 

the future as part of the ongoing JSC Oral History Project. 

Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) 

The History Office at Marshall Space Flight Center is utilizing new forms of lowcost digital technology to improve the speed and quality of services that the History 

Office offers its patrons. 

More than five years ago, the office began converting paper typescript documents 

into portable document format (PDF). Now, the office can search through almost 

50 years of the Marshall Star newspaper in a matter of minutes instead of randomly 

flipping through bound volumes. 

More recently, the Marshall historian has also created a trial process for scanning 

documents off-site using a laptop computer and a portable scanner like the one he 

took to the National Archives Southeastern Regional Office in Morrow, Georgia. 

There, he scanned 2,000 pages of the Marshall Space Flight Center weekly notes 

that Dr. Wernher von Braun collected as Director from 1960 until 1970. “Scanning 

is not a new thing,” said Marshall historian Mike Wright. However, there are lessons 

to learn about using it in places like the National Archives. One involves selecting 

the right scanner. The scanner must have a flat glass bed without an automatic document feeder that might jam and physically damage the documents. This means that 

the person doing the scanning must lay each sheet on the scanner bed individually. 

Using a scanner with a push-button panel to approve each scan saves more time 

than manipulating a mouse. The results from Georgia demonstrated the capability 

to scan 125 sheets in 36 minutes. 

The History Office has also acquired a relatively new low-cost tool especially 

designed to scan bound publications without breaking the bindings. This new device 

is called a book scanner and looks very much like a regular flatbed scanner except 

that the outer edge of the scanner glass is almost flush with the outside edge of the 

scanner unit. This design makes it easy to get clean scans of full-book pages instead 

of using a standard paper copier that sometimes cuts off the inside left page and the 

inside right page. The scanner costs under $400. One test-run resulted in scanning 

more than 100 book pages in color or in black and white in less than an hour. 

The History Office is also using an inexpensive new tool to convert 35-millimeter 

digital slides into full-size computer images. Tabletop slide scanners have been 

around for a few years, but they involve scanning slides or film negatives at an 

extremely high resolution, which drains the computer’s memory and delays the 

transfer. One solution involves using a small digital scanner costing around $100. 

continued on next page 

11

NASA HISTORY DIVISION 

News from Headquarters and the Centers (continued) 

The entire unit is about the size of a soap dispenser in a public restroom. The scanner 

allows the user to insert a tray of about six slides that appear relatively fast on the 

computer screen in preview mode. The operator simply hits a button on the scanner 

and quickly sees the results. One cautionary note is that the quality of the images 

from the scanner will not match the quality expected from high-end equipment. 

However, the speed at which the slides can be transferred to digital format makes it 

practical to use the collected images as an index for selecting particular slides that 

can be transferred using more expensive processes involving high-end equipment. In 

a matter of a few days, Roena Love and Janie Crawford, from the Marshall History 

Office, scanned more than 400 35-millimeter slides into digital images. 

Stennis Space Center (SSC) 

In October 2007, Stennis Space Center launched a yearlong celebration of NASA’s 

50th anniversary with events and exhibits showcasing the past five decades of space 

exploration. 

StenniSphere, the visitor center at Stennis Space Center, introduced a 50th-anniversary exhibit that traveled across Mississippi and southern Louisiana. The highlight 

of the exhibit was a Moon rock brought to Earth by astronauts on the Apollo 15 

mission in August 1971. The exhibit also featured models depicting launch vehicles 

from each era in the evolution of NASA’s space program—the Goddard rocket, the 

Mercury Redstone, the Saturn V, and the Space Shuttle. Models of the Ares I and 

Ares V offered a preview of NASA’s upcoming Constellation Program. A 40-foot 

timeline provided a look back at key events in NASA’s history, which included events 

such as the earliest days of rocketry, Neil Armstrong’s historic first steps on the 

Moon, and the initial construction of the International Space Station. The exhibit 

also featured life-sized cutouts depicting how technology created for NASA affects 

everyday life. 

In January, representatives from Stennis traveled to Jackson, Mississippi, for NASA 

Stennis Space Center Day at the Capitol. During the event, lawmakers passed a 

resolution declaring 30 January 2008 NASA Space Day in Mississippi. The resolution commemorated NASA’s 50th anniversary and encouraged Mississippians to 

recognize the significant accomplishments that NASA’s Stennis Space Center has 

contributed to the state as well as the nation. 

Stennis also hosted a ceremony to mark the Center’s designation as an American 

Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Historic Aerospace Site. The 10 April event 

coincided with a sitewide employee picnic. Attendees received 50th-anniversary pins 

and mouse pads featuring a picture of Stennis employees forming the number 50. 

The History Office at Stennis has also taken part in the anniversary celebrations. 

Stennis released a series of articles to area newspapers detailing the history of the 

Center—from the selection of southern Mississippi as the site of a rocket engine 

testing complex through Stennis’s current role in the Space Shuttle Program. Also, 

Lagniappe, Stennis Space Center’s monthly newsletter, features recurring articles 

highlighting significant events in Stennis history. A new “This Week in History” 

section has been added to Stennis’s online weekly publication, Orbiter. The piece 

includes a historic photograph with a caption. 

12

VOLUME 25, NUMBER 4 December 2008 

New NASA History Publications 

Altitude Wind Tunnel at NASA Glenn Research Center CD-ROM (SP-2008-4608). 

Bob Arrighi at NASA Glenn has put together a wealth of documents, still and moving images, and other information about this historic wind tunnel. Members of the 

public may request a copy of this disk by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope 

to the NASA History Division, Room CO72, NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street SW, 

Washington, DC 20546. 

Other New Aerospace History 

Publications 

Compiled by Chris Gamble 

Forgotten Aviator Hubert Latham: A High-Flying Gentleman, by Barbara Walsh 

(U.K.: The History Press LT, September 2007). This book is the authentic biography 

of pioneer aviator Hubert Latham, who was Louis Blériot’s rival for the Daily Mail’s 

prize for the first airplane flight across the English Channel in July 1909. 

The Space Environment and Its Effects on Space Systems, by Vincent L. Pisacane 

(American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, May 2008). This full-color 

textbook will help students and professionals understand the space environment and 

its influence on spacecraft design, engineering, and performance. 

Managing Space Radiation Risk in the New Era of Space Exploration, by the National 

Research Council (National Academies Press, May 2008). As part of the Vision for 

Space Exploration (VSE), NASA is planning for humans to revisit the Moon and 

someday go to Mars. An important consideration in this effort is protection against 

exposure to space radiation. This book presents an assessment of current knowledge 

about radiation in the space environment, an examination of the effects of radiation on biological systems and mission equipment, an analysis of current plans for 

radiation protection, and a strategy for mitigating the risks to current and future 

astronauts. 

Smithsonian Atlas of World Aviation, by Dana Bell (Collins, June 2008). Featuring 

100 newly commissioned and historic maps as well as 200 related photographs, navigation charts, and historic artifacts, the Smithsonian Atlas of World Aviation charts 

the awe-inspiring history of flight around the world. Dana Bell, a leading expert on 

aviation history, explains the fascinating stories behind aviation’s great technological advances and provides historic and social context that highlights the many ways 

in which these advances have changed the course of human history. 

Blast Off: An Innocent’s Adventures at the Dawn of the Space Age, by Ken McCracken 

(Tuttle Publishing, July 2008). With the escalation of the Soviet-American “space 

race,” Ken McCracken, pioneer researcher into cosmic radiation, soon found financial support to send his cosmic-radiation detectors aloft aboard NASA satellites. 

His discoveries are credited with having saved astronauts’ lives, particularly on the 

lunar landing missions. In Blast Off, using his subtle humor, McCracken reveals the 

continued on next page 

13

NASA HISTORY DIVISION 

Other New Aerospace History Publications (continued) 

buzz of working at the heart of the space program with the best and brightest minds 

of the era. He brings the reader an often lighthearted glimpse at the inner workings 

of NASA and reveals some little-known glitches. 

Solar Sails: A Novel Approach to Interplanetary Travel, by Giovanni Vulpetti, Les 

Johnson, and Gregory Matloff (Springer, July 2008). This book describes solar 

sails, how they work, and how they will be used in the exploration of space. The 

book is written in an easily readable manner that does not necessitate any prior 

knowledge of physics or solar sailing. It discusses current plans for solar sails and 

also describes how advanced technology, such as nanotechnology, might enhance 

solar-sail performance. 

Space Shuttle Program: How NASA Lost Its Way, by R. Michael Gordon (McFarland, 

July 2008). This critical study of NASA’s Space Shuttle program provides an in-depth 

examination of the events, decisions, and policies that may have contributed to the 

horrific destruction of the Shuttles Challenger and Columbia. It first traces the early 

development of NASA’s Shuttle program, specifically examining the problems 

associated with the designs of Shuttles OV-099 (which was to become Challenger) 

and OV-102 (which was to become Columbia). (OV stands for “orbiter vehicle.”) A 

detailed look at the first successful flights made by Challenger and Columbia and the 

cancellation of top-secret Shuttle flight STS-51C (which would have launched under 

nearly identical weather conditions to those of the ill-fated Challenger mission STS51L) is provided. An in-depth assessment of the Shuttles’ disastrous final launches 

follows, including detailed accounts of the postflight search and rescue operations, 

the official investigations into each accident, and the impact of each disaster on the 

future of NASA’s human space program. 

Dependable Engines: The Story of Pratt & Whitney, by Mark Sullivan, Sullivan & 

Lashane Public Relations (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, July 

2008). Pratt & Whitney engines helped to win World War II by powering much of 

the U.S. fighter fleet as well as many British planes. Since then, they have powered 

record-breaking aircraft such as the Boeing B-50, the F-100 Super Sabre, and the 

SR-71 spy plane. These dependable engines are also responsible for powering the 

first generation of commercial jet transports that brought the world to our front 

doors—the Boeing 707, the Douglas DC-8, the Boeing 727 and 737, and the Douglas 

DC-9. Today, Pratt & Whitney engines provide power for everything from landbased power stations, business jets, and helicopters to large commercial aircraft, 

fifth-generation fighters, and piloted and robotic space vehicles. 

The International Space Station: Building for the Future, by John E. Catchpole 

(Springer-Praxis, July 2008). This book covers, in great detail, the newest construction and uses of the International Space Station (ISS) from 2002 to 2008, including 

the recent delivery and installation of the final piece of U.S. hardware, Node 2, 

and all European and Japanese hardware. The book also explains the impact of 

the tragic loss of Columbia on the ISS and the American space program in general. 

Furthermore, it introduces the Ares 1 launch vehicle and the Orion spacecraft, 

designed to return humans to the Moon, and discusses them as they are involved in 

the ISS program. 

Landscapes of Mars: A Visual Tour, by Gregory L. Vogt (Springer, September 2008). 

This is essentially a picture book with beautiful and exciting images that provide a 

14

VOLUME 25, NUMBER 4 December 2008 

visual tour of Mars. All the major regions and topographical features are shown and 

supplemented with chapter introductions and extended captions. 

Space Enterprise: Living and Working Offworld in the 21st Century, by Philip Harris 

(Springer-Praxis, September 2008). Dr. Philip Harris provides the vision and rationale as to why humanity is leaving its cradle, Earth, to use space resources, as well 

as pursuing lunar industrialization and establishing offworld settlements. As a management/space psychologist, Dr. Harris presents a behavioral science perspective on 

space exploration and enterprise. He not only provides a critical review of what is 

happening in the global space community, but he also offers specific strategies for 

lunar economic development. Harris analyzes the human factors in contemporary 

and future space developments, especially relative to the deployment of people in 

space. This user-friendly volume offers numerous photographs, diagrams, exhibits, 

and case studies. 

The Search for Life Continued: Planets Around Other Stars, by Barrie Jones (SpringerPraxis, July 2008). Barrie Jones addresses the question, Are we alone?—one of the 

most frequently asked questions by scientists and nonscientists alike. The author 

concentrates on planetary systems beyond our own but starts with life on Earth, 

which is the only life we know to exist and which provides guidance on how best to 

search for life elsewhere. Planets are the most likely abode of life, and so we start the 

quest with the search for planets beyond the solar system—exoplanets. The methods 

of searching are outlined and the nature of hundreds of exoplanetary systems so far 

discovered described. In the near future, we expect to discover habitable Earth-like 

planets. But are they actually inhabited? How could we tell? All will be revealed. 

The Yearbook on Space Policy 2006/2007: New Impetus for Europe, edited by the 

European Space Policy Institute, Kai-Uwe Schrogl, Charlotte Mathieu, and Nicolas 

Peter (Springer, August 2008). The Yearbook on Space Policy aims to be the reference publication analyzing space policy developments. Each year, it presents issues 

and trends in space policy and the space sector as a whole. Its scope is global, and 

its perspective is European. The Yearbook also links space policy with other policy 

areas. It highlights specific events and issues and provides useful insights, data, and 

information on space activities. 

Unmasking Europa: The Search for Life on Jupiter’s Ocean Moon, by Richard 

Greenberg (Springer-Praxis, August 2008). In Unmasking Europa, Richard Greenberg 

tells the story of how he and his team of researchers came to believe that the surface of 

Europa is in fact a crust so thin that it can barely hide an ocean of liquid water below. 

The author describes, in clear but technically accurate terms—and with extensive 

illustrations (including more than 100 NASA mission images)—the remarkable 

history of research on Europa over the last four decades. The book also provides 

unique insights into how “big science” gets done today, and it is not always a pretty 

picture. From his perspective as a professor of planetary sciences at the University 

of Arizona and a quarter-century-long member of the Imaging Team for the Galileo 

space mission, Greenberg describes how personal agendas (including his own) and 

political maneuvering (in which he received an education by fire) determined a lot 

about the funding, staffing, and even the direction of research about Europa. 

Neuroscience in Space, by Gilles Clément and Millard F. Reschke (Springer, August 

2008). This book offers an overview of neuroscience research performed in space, 

from the observations made during the first piloted spaceflights to the detailed 

continued on next page 

15

NASA HISTORY DIVISION 

Other New Aerospace History Publications (continued) 

scientific investigations currently being carried out aboard the International Space 

Station. This book is for the general scientific reader. Each project and the reason why 

it was done is described and accompanied by illustrations, rationale and hypothesis, 

and a summary of results. Also, reference lists guide readers to the published papers 

resulting from the various experiments. This book is a legacy of what we have 

learned on brain mechanisms and functions through research done in space, as well 

as a guide for what could be investigated in the future. 

Surviving 1000 Centuries: Can We Do It? by Roger-Maurice Bonnet and Lodewyk 

Woltjer (Springer-Praxis, August 2008). The long-term future of our planet will be 

shaped by what is physically possible and what is not. This full-color book provides 

a quantitative view of our civilization over the next 100,000 years, in comparison 

to the 40,000–60,000 years it took for modern humans to emerge from Africa, on 

the basis of contemporary scientific and technological knowledge. The evolution of 

Earth’s atmosphere and the origin of water are highlighted as the most important 

factors for the emergence and development of life. The authors consider both cosmic 

and natural hazards and point out that scientific information provided by satellites 

and communication systems on the ground could prevent many unnecessary casualties if used in forward planning and the installation of elementary precautions. 

Earth’s evolving climate is considered; the authors show how greenhouse gases have 

played an important role in the climate of the past, whereas human industrial and 

agricultural emissions will greatly impact the climate of our future. 

The Martian Surface: Composition, Mineralogy and Physical Properties, edited by 

Jim Bell (Cambridge University Press, July 2008). Phenomenal new observations 

from Earth-based telescopes and Mars-based orbiters, landers, and rovers have 

dramatically advanced our understanding of the past environments on Mars. This 

is an important new overview of the compositional and mineralogical properties of 

Mars; the last major study was published in 1992. 

Historical Dictionary of Aviation: From Earliest Times to the Present Day, by David 

Wragg (U.K.: The History Press, August 2008). International in scope, this dictionary has over 4,000 entries covering all aspects of aviation terminology, past and 

present. It defines terms specific to both military and civil aviation and includes 

proper names of civil and military aircraft, airlines, air forces, manufacturers, and 

periodicals. 

Super Structures in Space: From Satellites to Space Stations: A Guide to What’s Out 

There, by Michael H. Gorn (Merrell Publishers, September 2008). Since the launch 

of Sputnik I in 1957, hundreds of spacecraft—from satellites and probes to space 

stations—have ventured beyond Earth’s atmosphere to orbit the globe, fly to other 

planets, peer into the depths of the universe, or encounter comets and asteroids. 

Many have become household names, their missions the focus of popular attention, 

while others undertake their equally important tasks in relative anonymity. Super 

Structures in Space is the first book to present pictorially the most important of these 

humanmade objects. Featuring a wealth of breathtaking illustrations, this remarkable volume reveals the exciting story behind each selected spacecraft: its origins 

and development, its designers and manufacturers, and its launch and objectives. 

NASA Art: 50 Years of Exploration, by James Dean and Bertram Ulrich (Abrams, 

October 2008). Artists, like astronauts, are constantly probing into the unknown. 

It is fitting that, shortly after the establishment of NASA in 1958, the NASA Art 

16

VOLUME 25, NUMBER 4 December 2008 

Program was created on the principle that artists are uniquely equipped to interpret 

and document the experience of space exploration. NASA Art celebrates the 50th 

anniversary of NASA in October 2008 with an expanded selection of the best work 

created for the NASA Art Program, and it stands as a lasting record of the impact of 

space exploration on the artistic imagination. 

The Saturn V F-1 Engine: Powering Apollo into History, by Anthony Young (SpringerPraxis, September 2008). The book focuses on the design, testing, and manufacture 

of the F-1 engine but also covers its incorporation into the first stage of the Saturn V 

and its in-flight record. It concludes with an examination of what might have been if 

the F-1 had not been discarded, together with the Saturn V, at the conclusion of the 

Apollo program. 

Images of America: Consolidated Aircraft Corporation, by Katrina Pescador and 

Mark Aldrich, San Diego Air and Space Museum (Arcadia Publishing, September 

2008). Founded by Reuben H. Fleet in 1923, Consolidated Aircraft Corporation 

(later Convair) became one of the most significant aircraft manufacturers in 

American history. For roughly 60 years, this prolific company was synonymous 

with San Diego. In fact, whole sections of the city were designed to provide homes 

for the Convair workers and their families. These men and women were responsible 

for building some of the most significant aircraft in aviation history, including the 

PBY Catalina, B-24 Liberator, and F-102 Delta Dagger, as well as the reliable Atlas 

missile, which was vital in launching America into space. 

Interplanetary—A History of the British Interplanetary Society, edited by Bob 

Parkinson (London: British Interplanetary Society, September 2008). This volume 

combines a number of accounts, written from the perspectives of their various 

authors and influenced by their involvement with the British Interplanetary Society, 

into a single history of the Society. Other histories could have been written from 

different perspectives, perhaps by commentators who have no intimate links with 

the Society at all. What distinguishes the accounts contained in this book is the 

proximity of their authors to the events in question. In this respect, the book bears 

unique witness to the Society, its evolution, and its achievements over 75 years. 

A Passion for Mars: Intrepid Explorers of the Red Planet, by Andrew Chaikin 

(Abrams, October 2008). The quest for Mars is chronicled by bestselling author 

Andrew Chaikin in this story of a passionate band of Earthbound explorers caught 

in the irresistible pull of the Red Planet. Based on extensive interviews, illustrated 

with compelling images, and animated by the author’s own passion, Chaikin’s 

account will resonate with anyone who has ever dreamed of a journey to Mars. 

The Extraterrestrial Life Debate, Antiquity to 1915: A Source Book, edited by Michael 

J. Crowe (University of Notre Dame Press, October 2008). This book presents key 

documents from the pre-1915 history of the extraterrestrial life debate. Introductions 

and commentaries accompany each source document, some of which are published 

here for the first time or in a new translation. Authors included are Aristotle, 

Lucretius, Aquinas, Nicholas of Cusa, Galileo, Kepler, Pascal, Fontenelle, Huygens, 

Newton, Pope, Voltaire, Kant, Paine, Chalmers, Darwin, Wallace, Dostoevski, 

Lowell, and Antoniadi, among others. Michael J. Crowe has compiled an extensive 

bibliography not available in other sources. These materials reveal that the extrater

restrial life debate, rather than being a relatively modern phenomenon, has extended 

throughout nearly all of Western history and has involved many of its leading intel

continued on next page 

17


-

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NASA HISTORY DIVISION 

Other New Aerospace History Publications (continued) 

lectuals. The readings also demonstrate that belief in extraterrestrial life has had 

major effects on science and society and that metaphysical and religious views have 

permeated the debate throughout much of its history. 

Spying from Space: Constructing America’s Satellite Command and Control Systems, 

Centennial of Flight Series, by David Christopher Arnold (Texas A&M University 

Press, April 2008). On 14 August 1960, a revolution quietly occurred in the reconnaissance capabilities of America when the Air Force C-119 Flying Boxcar Pelican 

9 caught a bucket returning from space with film from a satellite. This revolution 

in military intelligence could not have occurred without the development of the 

command and control systems that made the space race possible. In Spying from 

Space, David Christopher Arnold tells the story of how military officers and civilian 

contractors built the Air Force Satellite Control Facility (AFSCF) to support the 

National Reconnaissance Program. Spying from Space fills a gap in space history 

by telling the story of the command and control systems that make rockets and 

satellites useful. 

Hubble: Imaging Space and Time, by David Devorkin and Robert Smith (National 

Geographic, September 2008). In the spirit of National Geographic’s top-selling 

Orbit, this large-format, full-color volume stands alone in revealing more than 200 

of the most spectacular images from the Hubble Space Telescope during its lifetime, 

up to the very eve of the final Shuttle mission to the telescope in 2008. Written by 

two of the world’s foremost authorities on space history, Hubble: Imaging Space 

and Time illuminates the solar system’s workings, the expansion of the universe, the 

birth and death of stars, the formation of planetary nebulae, the dynamics of galaxies, and the mysterious force known as “dark energy.” 

Atmospheric Science at NASA: A History, New Series in NASA History, by Erik M. 

Conway (The Johns Hopkins University Press, November 2008). This book offers an 

informed and revealing account of NASA’s involvement in the scientific understanding of Earth’s atmosphere. Erik M. Conway chronicles the history of atmospheric 

science at NASA, tracing the story from its beginnings in 1958, the International 

Geophysical Year, through to the present, focusing on NASA’s programs and 

research in meteorology, stratospheric ozone depletion, and planetary climates 

and global warming. But the story is not only a scientific one. NASA’s researchers 

operated within an often politically contentious environment. Atmospheric Science 

at NASA critically examines this politically controversial science, dissecting the 

often convoluted roles, motives, and relationships of the various institutional actors 

involved—among them NASA, congressional appropriation committees, government weather and climate bureaus, and the military. 

Employment Opportunity 

Publisher needs freelance and volunteer abstracters for online historical databases. 

Degree in history or closely related field preferred. Fluent reading ability in foreign 

language a plus. Join historians around the world abstracting journal articles for 

America: History and Life (AHL) and Historical Abstracts (HA). Our list of periodicals includes over 1,700 journals in over 40 languages. We rely upon the scholarly 

contributions of volunteer abstracters, who are allowed to select journals from a 

18 
VOLUME 25, NUMBER 4 December 2008 

list of available periodicals and may keep each issue they abstract. Volunteers are 

also eligible to receive a year’s complimentary subscription to either AHL or HA. 

Abstracting for these bibliographies includes you in the largest history database in 

the world. It is good for your mind—and for the history profession. Paid freelance 

abstracters are paid per article, with a higher rate for foreign languages. Please e-mail 

MMaxwell@abc-clio.com to become a volunteer abstracter; e-mail VSchultheis@ 

abc-clio.com for information about paid abstracter positions. 

NASA’s National Historic 

Landmarks 

The National Park Service (NPS) manages the National Register of Historic Places 

(NRHP): over 80,000 buildings, districts, structures, and objects with historic 

significance. Of these, approximately 2,900 are National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) 

with historic significance to all Americans. Although NASA’s accomplishments in 

aeronautical research, science, and space exploration are well documented, less 

is known about the historic buildings and structures that support and enable these 

accomplishments. This series provides an overview of NASA’s 20 NHLs. This issue 

features NASA’s Spacecraft Propulsion Research Facility, managed by Glenn Research 

Center (GRC), Ohio. 

From Centaur to Constellation: The Spacecraft 

Propulsion Research Facility (B-2 Site) 

NASA’s Plum Brook Station, Sandusky, Ohio 

On 2 January 1970, the front-page headline of Lewis News, the newsletter of Lewis 

Research Center (later renamed Glenn Research Center), Cleveland, Ohio, read, 

“First Test for New Facility, Centaur ‘Hot Fires’ in B-2.” The article celebrates the 

successful hot firing of Centaur’s twin rocket engines (RL-10s) on 18 December 

1969 in the Spacecraft Propulsion Research Facility, commonly known by its site 

designation of B-2. Preparation for the firing began on 17 December with the 

“spin-up” testing of facility instrumentation. This testing involved the loading 

of liquid hydrogen and nitrogen in the propellant tanks, beginning automatic 

sequencing events. The propellant system was then reconfigured, and liquid oxygen 

replaced the liquid nitrogen in the rockets. Glen Hennings was chief of the Rocket 

Systems Division at Plum Brook Station at the time. Although he reported that 

a timing circuit failed, resulting in the shortening of the planned test period, the 

test and facility operations were successful. The test was the first of a series used 

to improve the rocket’s pressurization and propellant feed systems and provided 

performance information for hydrogen-oxygen propellant systems in general. 

Construction of the $11.5 million facility, designed by NASA, began with the contract awarded to Bechtel Corporation on 30 June 1964. Within a year, the enormous 

180-foot-deep hole for the vacuum chamber was excavated. Construction of the B-2 

site was completed in 1969; the first checkout test was conducted on 21 October 1969. 

To support future tests, the central control room has been upgraded with modern 

computer control systems. 

continued on next page 

19

NASA HISTORY DIVISION 

NASA’s National Historic Landmarks (continued) 

Construction of the B-2 site required the excavation of 

a 180-foot-deep hole, pictured here in 1965. (Source: 

Glenn Research Center, file photo number 01264) 

Although GRC had already expanded its original 

aeronautics capabilities and was directly supporting NASA’s space missions, construction of the B-2 

site and the Space Power Facility (constructed at 

the same time) expanded GRC’s contribution to 

space exploration. The B-2 site directly contributed 

to the success of the U.S. space program, earning it 

the designation of a National Historic Landmark 

in 1985. The B-2 test facility was nominated to the 

National Register of Historic Places as part of the 

Man-in-Space NHL Theme Study conducted by 

the National Park Service. It was one of three sites 

grouped as Rocket Engine Development Facilities. 

Along with the Rocket Engine Test Facility and the 

Zero-Gravity Research Facility, the nomination 

states that these sites represent the “important role 

of the Lewis Research Center in developing hydrogen as a fuel for Centaur and Saturn V rockets.” 

Managed by the Glenn Research Center in 

Cleveland, Ohio, the B-2 site is located at Plum Brook 

Station in Sandusky, Ohio. The major elements that 

support this facility are a test building, the remote 

control room, an equipment building, a three-stage 

exhaust system, a waste treatment retention pond, 

a propellant oxidizer and fuel storage area, an 

electrical substation, a refrigeration system, and a 

service building. Although the successful operation 

of the B-2 site is dependent on these support structures, the boundary of the Spacecraft 

Propulsion Test Building officially marks the NHL. The Spacecraft Propulsion Test 

Building is more than 70 feet high and extends 176 feet below grade. The vacuum 

chamber is a stainless steel cylinder that can accommodate space vehicles up to 

22 feet in diameter and 50 feet high. It is 

capable of providing research, development, 

and validation testing of rocket engines. It 

was originally designed to handle engines 

capable of producing up to 100,000 pounds 

of thrust fired for either single- or multipleburn missions, utilizing either cryogenic or 

stored fuels or oxidizers. 

The NHL nomination lists the B-2 vacuum 

chamber as a structure contributing to space 

exploration, transportation, and education; 

the nomination states, “The successful 

development and use of the Centaur was 

due in large measure to data that was collected from successful test firings of Centaur 

engines in the facility.” Designed to launch 

satellite payloads into orbital altitudes and 

give interplanetary space probes escape 

Visitors receive a rare glimpse inside the B-2 vacuum chamber 

in May 2008, the first time the facility had been opened to the 

public since 1999. (Source: Glenn Research Center, file photo 

number 01245) 

20

VOLUME 25, NUMBER 4 December 2008 

An unidentified man stands beside the open B-2 

vacuum chamber in 1987. (Source: Glenn Research 

Center, file photo number 02667) 

velocity, the Centaur served as the upper stage for successful launches of Atlas and 

Titan rockets carrying the Pioneer, Viking, and Voyager spacecraft to their rich scientific discoveries. The Centaur was also used in the 

Mariner, Surveyor, and Apollo programs. After contributing to Centaur testing, the B-2 site was placed 

on standby from 1974 to 1987. Thus, when the B-2 test 

building was designated as an NHL in 1985, it was 

only 16 years old and inactive. However, it was reactivated in October 1987 and supported flight hardware 

tests for the Defense Nuclear Agency’s Spear and 

Exceed Programs up until 1992. In 1998, the Boeing 

Delta 3, which is a more powerful second stage than 

the original Centaur rocket, went through a full suite 

of tests. 

The B-2 is currently the fourth largest vacuum 

chamber in the world. It is the only facility in the 

world capable of testing full-scale upper stage launch 

vehicles and rocket engines under simulated conditions at an orbital altitude of 100 miles. It simulates 

the conditions of the upper atmosphere by allowing 

rocket engines to be fired in a vacuum. The chamber 

simulates the extremely low temperatures (-320°F) of 

space with its liquid-nitrogen cold wall and the solar 

heat loads of space with quartz infrared lamps (130 

watts per square foot). The B-2 site is used to verify 

start-at-altitude capabilities while subjecting test subjects to these conditions. 

The uniqueness of the B-2 site is the capability to “hot 

fire” an engine after exposing it to the cold temperatures of space while maintaining 

a vacuum. The exhaust gas from the engine burn causes pressure to build up during 

a test. To vent this exhaust, an 11-foot-diameter valve opens in 0.4 second to connect 

the chamber to a steam ejector system, thus enabling the chamber to maintain its 

vacuum. Two parallel steam ejectors remove the engine exhaust products from the 

chamber while maintaining a moderate vacuum level. The rocket exhaust must also 

be cooled. The exhaust system includes a 250,000-gallon-per-minute water spray 

system for cooling the rocket exhaust. The below-grade spray chamber is 67 feet in 

diameter by 119 feet high. The spray system water is recirculated through the 1.75-

million-gallon catch basin under the chamber. A 2.5-million-gallon retention pond 

is also located on-site. 

Though the station’s steam supply needs to be refurbished, the B-2’s vacuum tank 

could be available for tests conducted in 2009. GRC is hopeful that the B-2 site will 

be used to support the upcoming Constellation Program. Pending the results of an 

ongoing trade study, the B-2 site may be selected to provide verification of startat-altitude testing for launch vehicles supporting the lunar program, e.g., Ares V, 

and possibly to support testing associated with the Lunar Lander. If Constellation 

does use the B-2 site, consultation with the Ohio State Historic Preservation 

Officer (SHPO), National Park Service, and Advisory Council of Historic Places 

(ACHP) would be triggered if major modifications to the test building would be 

continued on next page 

21

NASA HISTORY DIVISION 

NASA’s National Historic Landmarks (continued) 

Aerial view of the Spacecraft Propulsion Research Facility, 

October 1999. (Source: Glenn Research Center, file photo 

number 02306b) 

required. As explained by Les Main, GRC 

Historic Preservation Officer, these agencies 

understand and support NASA’s reuse of 

our specialized facilities. The consultation 

process is required under the National 

Historic Preservation Act and is governed by 

an Agency-wide Programmatic Agreement 

executed in 1989. The consultation provides a 

means to ensure that unique engineering and 

architectural features of the B-2 test building 

are documented before they are altered or 

removed. It is a valuable exercise for a resource 

with limited public visibility. Documentation 

also provides a means of maintaining records 

of historic systems for future study by space 

system engineers and architects. 

Information for this article was provided by Robert Arrighi, archivist, and Daryl 

Edwards, aerospace engineer at Glenn Research Center, as well as the National Park 

Service NHL Web site, http://www.nps.gov. For additional information, contact 

Les Main, GRC Historic Preservation Officer, at Leslie.A.Main@nasa.gov or Tina 

Norwood, NASA’s Federal Preservation Officer, at tnorwood@hq.nasa.gov. 

Other Aerospace History News 

News from the National Air and Space 

Museum (NASM) 

David DeVorkin (Space History Division) has published Hubble: Imaging Space and 

Time (Washington, DC: National Geographic Society [NGS], 2008), coauthored with 

Robert Smith and Elizabeth Kessler. It is an enlarged and expanded version of The 

Hubble Space Telescope: New Views of the Universe (NGS, 2004). On 29 September, 

he presented “In the Grip of the Big Telescope Age” at the conference “400 Years of 

the Telescope” at the European Space Agency center in Noordwijk, Holland. On 8 

October, he was the Smithsonian Secretary’s Distinguished Research Lecturer and 

spoke on “Death and Transfiguration: The Smithsonian and Institutional Change in 

American Astronomy” at the National Museum of Natural History. 

Martin Collins (Space History) was co-organizer of the “Artefacts Conference,” 

which was held from 5 to 7 October at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, 

DC. Artefacts is an international consortium of museums and professionals whose 

purpose is to promote the use of objects in studies of the history of science and 

technology. This year’s annual meeting focused on the theme of relations among 

science, technology, and art. 

22

VOLUME 25, NUMBER 4 December 2008 

Roger Launius (Space History) may have set a new record in presenting six papers at 

one conference, the “59th International Astronautical Congress,” held in Glasgow, 

Scotland, 29 September–3 October 2008: “An Historical Overview of Robots Versus 

Humans in Spaceflight: Technology, Human Evolution, and Interplanetary Travel,” 

“An Unintended Consequence of the IGY: Eisenhower, Sputnik, and the Founding 

of NASA,” “Powering Space Exploration in the United States: A History of RTGs, 

Nuclear Reactors, and Outer Planetary Probes,” “Managing the Unmanageable: 

Apollo, Space Age Management, and American Social Problems,” “Why Go to 

the Moon? The Many Faces of Lunar Policy,” and “Vicarious Exploration, Apollo 

Imagery, and the Communication of American Culture.” 

Paul Ceruzzi (Space History) chaired and moderated a discussion panel on “The 

Museum of the Future, a Roundtable Discussion” at the Society for History of 

Technology Annual Meeting in Lisbon, Portugal, which was held 11–14 October 

2008. At the same meeting, Martin Collins was the organizer and presenter in 

the session “History of Technology and Journals: What’s Needed?” and chair of 

the session “Politics of Broadcasting.” Michael Neufeld (Chair, Space History) 

chaired the sessions “Touching Space: Images and Artifacts in the History of Space 

Exploration” and “Aviation Myth Reconsidered.” Jeremy Kinney (Aeronautics) 

acted as commentator in the latter session and was co-organizer of and presenter in 

the session “Beyond ‘Aviation History in the Wider View’—New Approaches of the 

History of Flight.” 

Valerie Neal (Space History) presented a paper on “Dollars, Sense, and Human 

Spaceflight” at a conference on “The Almighty Dollar” held by the Austrian 

American Studies Association, 24–26 October 2008. 

Allan Needell (Space History) has taken over the longstanding “Historical Seminar 

on Contemporary Science and Technology” (better known as the “Thursday 

Seminar” or the “NASM CHS”) from Michael Neufeld. Beginning in October 2008, 

it will reconvene under a new name, “The Smithsonian Contemporary History 

Colloquium,” with a slightly altered focus and, we hope, with an expanded audience 

of Smithsonian and neighboring scholars. Each quarter, we intend to focus on a 

specific theme pertaining to historical and cultural change. By change, we mean 

to include not only changes in science and technology, along with their social 

and political ramifications, but also—more broadly—related social, economic, 

and cultural changes in American society and its relations with the rest of the 

world. The first quarter (23 October, 20 November, and 18 December) will feature 

presentations on the changing nature of American proposals for ballistic missile 

defense, economic expertise in the Eisenhower administration, and the rise and fall 

of American Russian experts. Announcements with speakers, titles, and abstracts 

will be available in October. To be placed on the mailing list, send a request and brief 

biographical statement to needella@si.edu. 

News from the American Astronautical Society (AAS) 

The AAS History Committee will host its annual meeting on 19 November in conjunction with the “AAS National Conference” at the Pasadena Hilton in Pasadena, 

California. The meeting is scheduled for 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Pacific time. Visitors are 

welcome to attend. 

continued on next page 

23

NASA HISTORY DIVISION 

Other Aerospace History News (continued) 

The AAS History Committee is pleased to announce the selection of Michael J. 

Neufeld as the recipient of the 2007 Emme Award for Astronautical Literature for 

Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War. 

After many years of service as series editor for the International Academy of 

Astronautics (IAA) History Symposia, Dr. Don Elder has decided to step down. We 

thank Dr. Elder for his efforts—along with those of volume editors, authors, and the 

publisher, Univelt—to bring each set of proceedings to publication, and we wish him 

well on his future endeavors. We would also like to take this opportunity to welcome 

his successor, Dr. Rick Sturdevant, as the new series editor. 

Calls for Papers 

SHFG 2009 Annual Conference 

The Society for History in the Federal Government (SHFG) is now accepting 

proposals for individual papers or panels for our 30th-anniversary annual meeting, 

which will take place on Thursday, 19 March 2009, at the National Archives 

and Records Administration (Archives II), 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, 

Maryland. Proposals on any aspect of federal government history and history 

practice will be considered and are encouraged, and we also invite proposals relating 

to the theme of “Thirty Years Young: Meeting New and Future Challenges and 

Opportunities in Federal History.” SHFG welcomes submissions from historians, 

archivists, librarians, curators, graduate students, and others engaged in the study 

of federal government history, regardless of whether they are federal employees. The 

deadline for proposals is 1 December 2008. Please mail proposals to 2009 Program 

Committee, Society for History in the Federal Government, Box 14139, Benjamin 

Franklin Station, Washington, DC 20044, or contact the program committee by 

e-mail at mreis@historyassociates.com. You can also check the SHFG Web site for 

information on the conference at http://www.shfg.org/. 

SHFG Online Journal 

The Society seeks papers for its new online, peer-reviewed history journal to be 

published in fall 2008. The journal will promote scholarship on all aspects of 

the history and workings of the federal government and of the developmental 

relationships between American society and the U.S. military or U.S. government, 

1776 to the present. In addition, the journal will feature research articles on 

methodological developments in federal historical work, including the fields of 

history, archival science, historic preservation, public history, museum studies, 

Web-based history, memory studies, and other related areas. Manuscripts must be 

fully documented and follow the submission standards posted at our Publications 

link at http://www.shfg.org/. Send your manuscript, an abstract, brief biographical 

information, and information on available images to editor-shfg-journal@shfg.org

or by mail to Society for History in the Federal Government, Box 14139, Benjamin 

Franklin Station, Washington, DC 20044. More information is available at http:// 

www.shfg.org/. 

24

VOLUME 25, NUMBER 4 December 2008 

Upcoming Meetings


2–5 January 2009, the annual meeting of the American Historical Association will 

be held in New York City with events scheduled in the Hilton New York (headquarters) and Sheraton New York (coheadquarters). The theme of the meeting will be 

“Globalizing Historiography.” Please see http://www.historians.org/annual/2009/ 

index.cfm for more details. 

4–8 January 2009, the first 2009 semiannual meeting of the American 

Astronomical Society will be held in Long Beach, California. Please see 

http://aas.org/meetings/meetings_ future.php for more details. 

10–12 March 2009, the American Astronautical Society’s 2009 “Robert H. 

Goddard Memorial Symposium” will be held in Greenbelt, Maryland. Please see 

http://www.astronautical.org/goddard/ for more details. 

26–29 March 2009, the annual meeting of the Organization of American 

Historians will be held in Seattle, Washington, at the Seattle Sheraton 

Hotel and the Wash i ng ton St ate Convention C enter. Ple as e s e e 

http://www.oah.org/meetings/2009/ for more details. 

7–11 June 2009, the second 2009 semiannual meeting of the American 

Astronomical Society will be held in Pasadena, California. Please see 

http://aas.org/meetings/meetings_ future.php for more details. 

11–16 August 2009, the annual meeting of the Society of American 

Archivists will be held in Austin, Texas, at the Austin Hilton. Please see 

http://www.archivists.org/conference/index.asp for more details. 

15–19 October 2009, the annual meeting of the Society for the History 

of Technology will be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Please see 

http://www.historyoftechnology.org/annual_meeting.html#future_mtgs for more 

details. 

18–22 November 2009, the annual meeting of the History of Science Society will be 

held in Phoenix, Arizona. Please see http://www.hssonline.org/ for more details. 

19 November 2009, the American Astronautical Society History Committee 

will host its annual meeting in conjunction with the AAS National 

Conference at the Pasadena Hilton in Pasadena, California. Please see 

http://www.astronautical.org/events/ for more details. 

Obituary 

Israel Taback, 88, passed away on Saturday, 30 August 2008. In 1942, Taback joined 

the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory of the National Advisory Committee for 

Aeronautics (NACA), which became the Langley Research Center of NASA. During 

his 35 years there, he designed instrumentation for the X-15 aircraft and directed 

the design of a Navigational and Guidance Research Laboratory. He was also 

Spacecraft Systems Manager of the Lunar Orbiter Project and was Deputy Program 

continued on next page 

25

NASA HISTORY DIVISION 

Obituary (continued) 

Manager for the Viking Program. After retiring from NASA, he joined Bionetics 

Corporation and continued to work for many years as an aerospace consultant. He 

received a number of special awards and honors, including the NASA Exceptional 

Scientific Achievement Medal, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, and the NASA 

Outstanding Leadership Medal. He also was awarded an honorary science Ph.D. 

from Old Dominion University. Mr. Taback is survived by his son, Max Taback; 

his daughter and son-in-law, Ann and Bernard Pasquier; his granddaughter, Wendy 

A. Fairman; and his siblings, Leonard Taback, Sara Gantwarg, and Vivian Shlisky 

Taback, along with their families. 

NASA’s First 50 Years: 

A Historical Perspective 

Conference Images 

Photos from the Conference Held at NASA Headquarters, 

28–29 October 2008 

NASA Chief Historian Steven Dick launches 

the 50th-anniversary conference as he intro

duces Administrator Michael Griffin to deliver 

opening remarks. (Source: NASA/Paul Alers) 

-

NASA’s 11th Administrator, Michael Griffin, 

opens the conference with his thoughts on 

NASA at 50. (Source: NASA/Paul Alers) 

26

VOLUME 25, NUMBER 4 December 2008 

Howard McCurdy, a professor at American 

University in Washington, DC, offers a look 

inside NASA at 50. (Source: NASA/Paul Alers) 

Professor John Logsdon of George Washington 

University chronicles the problems and achievements of 50 years of human spaceflight. (Source: 

NASA/Paul Alers) 

Mike Neufeld, Chair of the Space History Division at the National Air 

and Space Museum, discusses the “Von Braun Paradigm” at the 50thanniversary conference. (Source: NASA/Paul Alers) 

continued on next page 

27

NASA HISTORY DIVISION 

Conference on NASA’s First 50 Years (continued) 

Award-winning biographer and historian 

Laurence Bergreen discusses voyages to Mars 

on the second day of the 50th-anniversary 

conference. (Source: NASA/Paul Alers) 

A group photograph of the conference speakers, who addressed a wide range of topics from international relations in space to planetary science and aeronautics. From left to right are John Krige, 

Maura Mackowski, Michael Neufeld, Edward Goldstein, Michael Meltzer, Joseph Tatarewicz, 

Stephen Johnson, Andrew Butrica, Steven Dick, Linda Billings, Richard Hallion, J. D. Hunley, 

Anthony Springer, Robert Ferguson, Erik Conway, David DeVorkin, Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, and James 

Fleming. (Source: NASA/Paul Alers) 

28

VOLUME 25, NUMBER 4 December 2008 

NASA’s 5oth Anniversary Gala 

Images 

Photos from the Gala Held at the NASM’s Udvar-Hazy Center, 

24 September 2008 

Neil Armstrong—astronaut, professor, United States naval aviator, 

and first human on the Moon— 

addresses guests at the celebration. 

(Source: NASA/Bill Ingalls) 

Grammy Award–winning 

producer Quincy Jones (center) presents a platinum copy 

of “Fly Me to the Moon” to 

Senator John Glenn (left) and 

Apollo 11 commander Neil 

Armstrong (right) during 

NASA’s 50th-anniversary 

gala. The plaques thank 

the astronauts for helping 

to boost sales of the song’s 

album, It Might As Well Be 

Swing. (Source: NASA/Bill 

Ingalls) 

continued on next page 

29

NASA HISTORY DIVISION 

NASA’s 50th Anniversary Gala Images (continued) 

Astronauts John Glenn (left) and Neil Armstrong (center) chat with Frank Sinatra, 

Jr. (right), before NASA’s 50th-anniversary gala. (Source: NASA/Bill Ingalls) 

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin (left) with Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong 

(right) and Dr. June Scobee Rogers, the founding chair of the Challenger Center for 

Space Science Education. (Source: NASA/Bill Ingalls) 

30

VOLUME 25, NUMBER 4 December 2008 

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

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

To receive News and Notes via e-mail, send a message to history-request@hq.nasa.gov.

In the text portion, simply type “subscribe” without the quotation marks. You will 

receive confirmation that your account has been added to the list for the newsletter 

and for receiving other announcements. For more information about our listserv, 

please see http://history.nasa.gov/listserv.html on the Web. We also post the latest issue 

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

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

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

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

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

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

send comments to Steve Garber, newsletter editor, at stephen.j.garber@nasa.gov. 

NASA Headquarters History Division Staff Contact Information: 

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

202-358-0383 

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

202-358-0087 

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

202-358-0388 

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

202-358-0385 

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

202-358-0387 

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

202-358-0386 

Elizabeth Suckow, Archivist elizabeth.suckow-1@nasa.gov 

202-358-0375 

Created and produced by the following: 

Steve Garber, NASA Headquarters History Division 

Lisa Jirousek, Editor, NASA Headquarters Communications Support Services Center 

Garrett Shea, Designer, NASA Headquarters Communications Support Services Center 

Hanta Ralay, Printing Specialist, NASA Headquarters Communications Support Services Center 

Trenita Williams, Mail Coordinator, NASA Headquarters Mail Room 

Carl Paul, Distribution, NASA Headquarters Communications Support Services Center 

31

32

National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration 

NASA HISTORY DIVISION 

Office of External Relations 

Washington, DC 20546 

http://www.nasa.gov

http://history.nasa.gov