This collection is a compilation of various reports, journals, letters, and books on three main subjects: early artillery, rockets, and space technology. The early artillery history is covered by manuscripts and reports from the Middle Ages to the mid-19th century. The collection then covers rocket development in Russia, Germany, England, the Unite...

The Technical Reference Files comprise an artificial collection that currently contains 1,900 cubic feet of aviation and space related materials, organized in 22 subject series. File materials include photographs, press releases, clippings, correspondence, reports, and brochures, on individuals, organizations, events, and objects.

Series I of this collection consists of the following: seven folders containing almost 200 photographs and negatives on display in the exhibit, four series of slides (two detailing the U.S.S. Midway used for background research, one detailing documents and photos of the Philippine Sea battle, and of the finished museum exhibit) and the exhibit scri...

This collection consists of the oral history transcripts and related research documentation for the Space Telescope History Project (STHP), which examined the space sciences, predominantly astronomy, viewed through the lens of a particular undertaking, the Hubble Space Telescope, 1970s-1980s.

In the 1980s, the National Air and Space Museum created an exhibit, with a correlating text called Black Wings: The American Black in Aviation. The exhibit and book were dedicated to the American Black Aviator, who has anonymously played a historic role in shaping the growth of modern aviation. Black Wings encompasses the men and women who had to o...

This collection consists of reel to reel audio tapes relating to the United States space program. The material includes recordings of events, missions, press conferences, and other happenings from the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs.

This collection consists of the cd and tape copies of this project. Please note that the original recordings are NOT part of this collection; the originals were returned to their original tape series and accession. The collection also contains the background documentation on this project, including grant information, and tape summaries.

This collection consists of aeronautical charts of United States territory (ca. 1944-1963), a few specific states (ca. 1965), the Middle East as charted by the U.S. Army during World War II (ca. 1944), and some international flight areas (c. 1947 and 1968). These charts were complied by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Coast and Geodetic Survey, U....

This collection deals chiefly with Durant's tenure as Assistant Director for Astronautics at the National Air and Space Museum (NASM). Perhaps the single topic of greatest interest is the effort to obtain a building for NASM, which was accomplished on July 1, 1976, when the new museum opened. A parallel theme concerns the drive to plan and com...

The collection consists of the transcripts for the Space Astronomy Oral History Project (SAOHP), which examined the early use of rockets and satellites to study the upper atmosphere and space for the period 1946 through the early 1960s. This project constitutes one of several oral history projects conducted within the Department of Space History, NASM. The principal investigator for the SAOHP was David H. DeVorkin, and the interview set contains 225 hours of interviews with 56 individuals. The central thread of this collection is how the availability of new technologies for research, first the rocket and later satellites, helped to create a new social matrix for research. The following were interviewed: Jules Aaron; Ball Brothers; William Baum, William Behring; Jay Bergstrahl; Richard Bleach; William Brunk; Arthur Code; Jerry Conner; Frank Drake; William Fastie; Lorence Fraser; Herbert Friedman; Phyllis Frier; Robert Frosch; George Gianoplis; Thomas Gold; Leo Goldberg; Martin Harwit; Ralph Havens; Albert Hibbs; Noel Hinners; Hans Hinteregger; Charles Johnson; Francis Johnson; Adolph Jursa; Henry Kondracki; Ernst Krause; Alfred Nier; Gerry Neugebauer; Werner Neupert; Ray Newburn; Gordon Newkirk; Edward Ney; Charles O'Dell; William Pickering; Richard Porter; James Purcell; William Rense;Walter Roberts; Nancy Roman; Milton Rosen; Dan Scheiderman; Ronald Schorn; Martin Schwarzschild; Richard Silberstein; John Simpson; Lyman Spitzer; Kaj Strand; Nelson Spencer; John Strong; Gerald Tape; Clyde Tombaugh; Richard Tousey; Mona Tycz; James Van Allen; Gerald Wasserburg; James Webb; James Westphal; Charles Whitsett; Fred Wilshusen; and George Withbroe.