Peenemunde Research and Development Station Search this
Names:
Peenemunde Research and Development Station Search this
Extent:
2.2 Cubic feet (5 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Reports
Date:
1938-1945
bulk 1942-1944
Summary:
The German Army and Navy experimental station at Peenemünde, on the North Sea coast of Germany, was established in the mid-1930s to continue the rocketry work begun at Kummersdorf in 1930.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of copies of reports from the Peenemünde Archiv 66 series covering aerodynamic work on the V-2 (A4), A5, and Wasserfall missiles.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into two series: first are blueprint copies, which include photographs as illustrations, followed by autopositive copies, which include copy negatives used to produce illustrative photographs. There is significant overlap between these two series. In each series the documents are in order by Archiv Number.
Biographical/Historical note:
The German Army and Navy experimental station at Peenemünde, on the North Sea coast of Germany, was established in the mid-1930s to continue the rocketry work begun at Kummersdorf in 1930. By the end of World War II (1939-1945) the research station produced a number of successful weapons, including the first surface-to-surface guided missile (V-1), the first ballistic missile (V-2), and the first operational air-to-surface missile (He 293), as well as other designs. The equipment developed at Peenemünde formed the basis for postwar research and designs by both the United States and the Soviet Union.
A collection of items attributed to rocket pioneer James Hart Wyld dating from the 1930s and 1940s. The collection consists of two boxes, with one containing notes and prints attributed to Wyld and the other containing original negatives.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of approximately 140 black-and-white negatives (28 35mm strips of 8 frames each, seven 35mm strips of 2 frames each, and six 3.5 x 6 inch sheets), predominantly taken by James H. Wyld, of American Rocket Society meets and rocket tests and an Elmira, New York, glider meet, and images taken by Wyld on various trips around the New York City area and elsewhere. Buildings, engineering projects, and landscapes pictured include the Lincoln Tunnel and the Triborough Bridge (under construction), the Empire State Building, Central Park, Gilgo Beach and Long Beach (Long Island), Port Washington, Fire Island, the 1939 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, the Vanderbilt Cup races in Mineola, New Rochelle, Cornwall, and the Catskills, all in New York. Also included are images taken in Princeton, New Jersey; Connecticut; Mount Washington, New Hampshire; and Massillon, Ohio. Individuals pictured include Frank Harrison, Albert Rice, and Bill Baum. The collection also consists of Wyld's personal papers including a diary covering the period of February 1931 to May 1936; a 1932 scientific notebook; two photographs of rocket test activities; a post card addressed to Wyld from "John" (possibly John Shesta) referencing a postponement; a portraint of James Wyld; handwritten report, "An Automatic Thrust and Mixture Control for Rocket Motors," 1946.an envelope full of information relating to a court case involving the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; a Princeton University Alumni Lectures pamphlet entitled America's Problem of National Defense by Professor Harold Sprout; five newspaper clippings related to rockets; an undated letter, missing the first page, to Wyld from Bernard E. "Ben" Smith regarding rocket testing; two letters, dating from 1938-1939, from Wyld to "John" (possibly John Shesta) regarding rocket testing; a report entitled Long Range Rocket, Section II (Propellant Systems) by Dr. Paul F. Winternitz, Director of Laboratories, Reaction Motors, Inc.; "Proposal for Unguided Liquid-Propellant Rocket Projectile" by an unknown author, possibly Wyld; two drawings of rockets; three pages of notes handwritten by Wyld, and a letter from Albert M. Paquin to the American Rocket Society, with handwritten comment attached, regarding financial assistance from the Society for rocket research. In addition, the collection contains a memo to Wyld regarding Reaction Motors, Inc. stock prices; and Wyld's handwritten notes and drawings entitled, "The Design of Streamline Hulls and Fins for Rockets," "The Nature of Rocket Flight" (noted as draft of Chapter IV of Introduction to Rocketry), "Pumping Mechanism" (appears to be missing pages), "Superchargine Airplane with Oxygen," and six additional pages of miscellaneous notes and drawings. Some pages of the notes have been initialled and noted by Shesta and Lawrence.
Biographical / Historical:
Rocket pioneer James Hart Wyld was born in 1913 and received a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Princeton University in 1935. He joined the American Interplanetary Society (later the American Rocket Society) in 1931. In the late nineteen thirties, Wyld developed and tested the first modern liquid-propellant rocket motors. In 1941 he, along with John Shesta, Lovell Lawrence, Jr., and Hugh Franklin Pierce, formed Reaction Motors, Inc. (RMI), the first US rocket propulsion company.
Related Materials:
The American Rocket Society's Rocket Test Stand No. 2 is featured in negatives present in this collection. More information concerning this artifact can be found at American Rocket Society's Rocket Test Stand No. 2.
Provenance:
Anne W. Blizard, Gift, 2005, NASM.2005.0051
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
This collection consists of a great variety of material relating to experiments performed at NRL. Included are reports, photographs, transparencies, rolled data and 167 glass slides.
Biographical / Historical:
Charles Yothers Johnson (1920-) began his service with the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), Washington, DC in 1942. He was to remain with NRL for many years, a physicist first with the Rocket Sonde Branch and later with the Upper Air Physics Branch, where he became Head of the Aeronomy Section. At NRL Johnson participated in space and upper air research relating to such subjects as cosmic ray physics and rocket instrumentation and such experiments as the Aerobee and Lagopedo projects.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
Charles Y. Johnson, gift, 1998, 1997-0060, Public Domain
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Search this
Extent:
13.08 Cubic feet ((12 records center boxes))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Manuals
Press releases
Publications
Photographs
Place:
Outer space -- Exploration
Date:
1950-1974
bulk 1959-1974
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of material gathered by the Space Science and Exploration Department, National Air and Space Museum, relating to the United States space program through the Skylab missions. The material consists of photos and reference material covering a wide variety of subjects, including space suits, food, lifting bodies, and other support and auxiliary functions, as well as material directly relating to the missions. The bulk of the material consists of photos and NASA press materials.
Biographical / Historical:
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was inaugurated on 1 October 1958 with the intent of conducting a manned space program. NASA took over the rocketry and propulsion work previously performed by the United States Air Force, Navy, and National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. Unmanned launches began during the International Geophysical Year (1957-58) under Air Force auspices and have continued to the present with a wide variety of payloads, including space science, weather, communications, and earth observation satellites. The manned program progressed through Projects Mercury (1959-63; launches 1961-63), Gemini (1962-67; launches 1965-66), Apollo (1960-72; launches 1968-72), and Skylab (1969-74; launches 1973-74). The manned program was supported by a number of unmanned exploration vehicles in the Ranger, Lunar Orbiter, and Surveyor series throughout the 1960s, as well as research into a number of related areas.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
NASA SS&E, Transfer, 1983, XXXX-0154, unknown
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
