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.
Scope and Contents:
Audio cassettes and transcipts.
Arrangement:
The Space Astronomy Oral History Project interviews are arranged alphabetically by interviewee.
Historical Note:
This collection contains the interviews for the Space Astronomy Oral History Project. These interviews explore the early use of rockets and satellites over the period 1946 through the early 1960s to investigate the upper atmosphere and space. This project constitutes one of several oral history projects conducted within the National Air and Space Museum's (NASM) Department of Space History. The principal interviewer for this project was David H. DeVorkin and the interview set consists of 225 hours of interviews with 67 individuals. Please note that there are a few instances where audio cassette tapes of the
interview subjects exist but without written transcripts while there are also a few cases of existing transcripts of the interviews without any audio cassette tapes. The following were interviewed for this project: Jules Aaron; Frank Bateson; William Alvin Baum; William Behring; Jay Thor Bergstrahl; Richard Bleach; William E. Brunk; Arthur Dodd Code; Jerry Conner; Fred Dolder; Frank Donald Drake; William G. Fastie; Lorence Fraser; Phyllis Freier; Herbert Friedman; Robert Frosch; Reuben H. Gablehouse; R.A.Gaiser; George Gianopolis; Thomas Gold; Leo Goldberg; Martin Otto Harwit; Ralph Havens; Albert Roach Hibbs; Noel Hinners; Hans Erich Hinteregger; Charles Yothers Johnson; Francis S. Johnson; Adolph Simon Jursa; Jerome Kohl; Henry Kondracki; Ernst Henry Krause; R.C. Mercure; Alfred O. Neir; Gerry Neugebauer; Werner Neupert; Ray Leon Newburn; Gordon Allen Newkirk; Edward P. Ney; Charles Robert O'Dell; William Hayward Pickering; Richard W. Porter; James D. Purcell; William A. Rense; Walter Orr Roberts; Nancy Grace Roman; Milton W. Rosen; Dan Schneiderman; Ronald A. Schorn; Martin Schwarzschild; Richard Silberstein; John Simpson; Nelson W. Spencer; Lyman Spitzer, Jr.; Kaj Strand; John Strong; Gerald Tape; Clyde William Tombaugh; Richard Tousey; Mona Tycz; James Van Allen; Gerald Joseph Wasserburg; James Edwin Webb; James A. Westphal; Charles Edward Whitsett; Fred Wilshusen and George Withbroe.
Provenance:
Space History, NASM, Transfer, 1999, 1999-0034, Varies
Restrictions:
The audio cassette tapes of these interviews have yet to be remastered and, due to their fragility, are unavailable to researchers. Transcripts are available to researchers though, there are restrictions placed on a number of them. A NASM staff member will advice the patron which transcripts are available for copying or viewing and how to order copies of transcripts and/or CDs.
14.13 Cubic feet ((7 records center boxes) (17 other boxes) (1 flatboxes))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Glass negatives
Lantern slides
Transcripts
Photographs
Minutes
Speeches
Correspondence
Date:
[ca. 1940s-1980s]
bulk [ca. 1960s]
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of Tousey's professional papers, including the following types of material: notebooks, correspondence, speeches, minutes and proceedings, photographs and prints, coronagraphs, film, oral interview transcripts, lantern slides and glass plates.
Biographical / Historical:
Richard Tousey (1908 - 1997) was a prominent Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) space scientist whose career spans the V-2, Aerobee, OSO, Solrad, and Skylab eras. Tousey graduated from Tufts College in 1928, and received his Ph.D. in physics from Harvard in 1933. After teaching physics and conducting research at Harvard and Tufts, Tousey began his long association with the NRL -- starting first in the Optics Division (1941) and then working in the Atmosphere and Astrophysics Division (1959). Under Tousey's direction, a series of high-altitude probes, beginning in 1946 with the use of captured German V-2 rockets, produced the first detailed record of the sun's radiation in the far ultraviolet region of the spectrum. In addition to his important work relating to the solar spectrum, Tousey also contributed to the fields of vision and atmospheric optics. Later in his career, Tousey guided the NRL's program of research on the visibility of earth satellites and was the head of the Rocket Spectroscopy Branch of the NRL. Tousey was a prolific writer and a frequent contributor to the 'Journal of the Optical Society of America.' He was the recipient of many awards, including: the Progress Medal of the Photographic Society of America; the Frederick Ives Medal of the Optical Society of American; the Prix Ancel of the Societe Francasie de Photographie; and the Draper Medal.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
David van Keuren/Dean Bundy -- NRL, Transfer, 1996, 1997-004, 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
Orbital Transport : technical, meteorological and chemical aspects ; third aerospace symposium, Braunschweig 26.-28. August 1991 / H. Oertel Jr., H. Körner (Eds.)
Author:
Aerospace Symposium (3rd : 1991 : Braunschweig) Search this
This collection is comprised mostly of administrative memoranda of the portion of the V-2 Panel which represented the Rocket-Sonde Research Section of NAR. The thirty-four files from Rocket-Sonde members are roughly chronological and are followed by files from other entities such as the Ad Hoc Committee on Rocket, Satellite and Space Research. The material in this collection was gathered by David DeVorkin while he conducted research for his book, _Science with a Vengeance_.
Biographical / Historical:
The Rocket-Sonde Research Section of the Naval Research Laboratory (NAR) participated in the V-2 Panel (ACA V-2 Upper Atmosphere Research Panel), which, with the use of captured German V-2 rockets, conducted in the 1940s and 1950s a long series of experiments which sought to to further our understanding of the upper atmosphere and the nature of solar radiation, as well as the technology utilized in the V-2 itself.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
David DeVorkin, Transfer, 1998, 1998-0025, 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
Upper Atmosphere Rocket Research Panel (V-2 Panel) Reports
Creator:
Upper Atmosphere Rocket Research Panel (V-2 Panel) Search this
Names:
Upper Atmosphere Rocket Research Panel (V-2 Panel) Search this
Extent:
1.35 Cubic feet ((3 legal document boxes))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Minutes
Reports
Date:
1946-[ca. 1960s]
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists primarily of what are referred to as V-2 Reports, being the minutes of meetings held by the Upper Atmosphere Rocket Research Panel and others. These contain meeting agenda, reports of completed firings of V-2 rockets, statements of results and suggestions for future tests.
Biographical / Historical:
The Upper Atmosphere Rocket Research Panel (V-2 Panel) oversaw aspects of a long series of experiments conducted after World War II utilizing captured German V-2 rockets. These experiments were designed to further our understanding of the upper atmosphere and the nature of solar radiation, as well as the technology of the V-2 itself.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
David DeVorkin, Transfer, 1998, 1998-0035, 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
This collection consists primarily of reports, both original and photocopied, from the NRL and other entities. Some correspondence, scientific abstracts and articles are also included.
Biographical / Historical:
The Naval Research Laboratory, with the use of captured German V-2 rockets, conducted in the 1940s and 1950s a long series of experiments which sought to further our understanding of the upper atmosphere and the nature of solar radiation. The technology utilized in the V-2 itself was also a focus of research.
General:
These reports were gathered by David DeVorkin from a variety of sources in research for his book, Science with a Vengeance, which documents rocket research from the 1940s onward.
NASMrev
Provenance:
David DeVorkin, DSH (NASM) and others, Transfer, 1998, 1998-0024, 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
15.26 Cubic feet ((14 records center boxes) (2 flatboxes))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Articles
Reports
Correspondence
Notes
Photographs
Date:
[ca. 1950s-1970s]
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of a large amount of material without arrangement, including such material as photographs, handwritten notes, correspondence, medical flight records, reports and articles. The Stratolab program is perhaps the most well-represented of Ross' projects documented in the collection.
Biographical / Historical:
Commander Malcolm D. Ross (1919-1985), USN, was commissioned an ensign in 1943. He attended Purdue University and the University of Chicago, studying physics and meteorology. In 1951, Ross was assigned to the Navy's plastic balloon research program. Subsequently, he was involved with Project Skyhook, Project Charity and was responsible for initiating the Stratolab program for upper atmosphere research. Ross' accomplishments as a physicist and aeronaut, a pioneer in modern scientific ballooning, are amply documented here.
General:
Additional materials housed with the National Air and Space Museum Aeronautics Department.
NASMrev
Provenance:
Marjorie Ross, Gift, 1998, 1998-0048, 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
This collection consists of the photographs used in the book.
Biographical / Historical:
David DeVorkin, a Space History Curator at the National Air and Space Museum, completed Science With A Vengeance in 1992. This book traces the exploration of the upper atmosphere with ballistic missiles systems, particularly the V-2. The first part of the book deals with the military context of upper atmospheric research: the military interest in seeing that such work was being done, the formation of appropriate groups in military labs capable of doing the work, and the development of the technical and managerial infrastructure required to get the work done. The later half of the book examines the specific problems each scientific group addressed, including the technical, professional and managerial obstacles they faced as they explored the use of rockets for studying the sun, cosmic rays, the upper atmosphere, and the ionosphere.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
David H. DeVorkin, Transfer, 1994, 1994-0054, NASM/David DeVorkin
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
Status of passive inflatable falling-sphere technology for atmospheric sensing to 100 km; [papers] a symposium held at Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, September 23-24, 1969
