This collection consists of material documenting the space science career of Dr. George Carruthers.
This collection is in English.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of the following items: National Technical Association Life Fellow Certificate; NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement Certificate; 1987 Black Engineer of the Year Award documentation; E.O. Hulbert Award for Science Award Certificate; University of Illinois Merit Award Certificate; scrapbook; two photograph albums; "Final Moon Mission" booklet; and congratulatory letter from President Jimmy Carter on receiving the NRL Commanding Officer's Award for Achievement in the Non-Disciplinary Field of Equal Employment Opportunity for 1985.
Arrangement:
Arrangement by type.
Biographical / Historical:
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on October 1, 1939, George Carruthers arrived at US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in 1964 with a Ph.D. in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the University of Illinois. Carruthers was assigned to Talbot Chubb's upper air physics branch and joined an experimental rocket astronomy team to search for molecular hydrogen in space. This required sensitive detectors for the ultraviolet portion of the spectrum and Carruthers developed an electronographic camera that amplified images electronically for recording on photographic film. Guided by Chubb and mentored by Julian Holmes at NRL, Carruthers devised especially efficient and reliable electronographic cameras and flew them on rockets in the late 1960s. In 1969, Carruthers responded to an open National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) "announcement of opportunity" to create experiments for follow-on Apollo flights. By the time NASA gave them approval, Carruthers and his NRL team had less than two years to design and build the first astronomical telescope that observed the universe from the Moon. Compact, highly sensitive, lightweight, and usable by Apollo 16 astronauts on the lunar surface, his highly sophisticated and versatile telescope could take direct images of the universe, as well as analyze its constituents. Carruthers remained at NRL for the rest of his career, continuing to develop and perfect a wide range of electronographic ultraviolet detectors for use both in astronomy and by the Department of Defense. After sounding rockets and Apollo, his devices flew on Skylab, and later on the Space Shuttle. In his later years, Carruthers became an avid mentor, inspiring local Washington DC school children to get practical experience in science and engineering.
Provenance:
George and Deborah Carruthers, Gift, 2020, NASM.2020.0024
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.
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 Search this
Extent:
0.7 Cubic feet ((1 containers))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Motion pictures (visual works)
Photographs
Date:
bulk 1960s
Scope and Contents:
This .7 cubic foot collection of photography and film was gathered by Wilfred Deac during his stint as an information service officer with the Naval Research Laboratory and then with the Air Force at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), specifically with the Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex (CCMTA). The photographs consists of color slides and mostly 8 by 10 inch prints, both black and white and color. The prints include images of satellites and launch vehicles at CCMTA, including: Solar Radiation Satellites (SOLARD) such as GREB III; V-2 Bumper Project; Thor-Able Launch Vehicles; Saturn 5 Launch Vehicles; Snark Missiles; Aero Spacelines Guppies; as well as a few images of President John F. Kennedy's November 1963 visit to Cape Canaveral. There are also images relating to the Naval Research Laboratory's Galactic Radiation and Background (GRAB) Intelligence Satellites Program. The two 16 mm color films are as follows: Gen. Hustons Briefing Film; and Briefing Film (Deac) ETR, April 1967; the films have accompanying scripts. There is also an article by Deac, entitled: "The Navy's Spy Missions in Space."
Biographical / Historical:
Wilfred Deac worked as an information services officer with the Naval Research Laboratory during the Galactic Radiation and Background (GRAB) Intelligence Satellites Program and Sugar Grove projects, serving as a bridge between the scientists and engineers who conducted the projects and the media. He then worked as a public affairs officer with the US Air Force at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) which was the primary launch site for the Air Force Eastern Test Range. Deac went on to hold various other government, as well as private-sector, positions in the United States, Europe, and Asia. He was a civilian government official attached to the US Embassy in Cambodia in 1971, and he has written Road to the Killing Fields published by the Texas A&M University Press, 1997. He currently works as a freelance writer.
Provenance:
Wilfred Deac, Gift, 2015
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
Naval Research Laboratory and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Vehicles and Satellites Photography and Film, Accession 2015-0044, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
This collection consists of four cubic feet of material documenting the aerospace career of Milton Rosen, especially his work on the Viking Rocket and Vanguard Projects. The collection includes the following types of material: a Viking scrapbook; publications written by Rosen, including articles, papers, journals, and books; Viking photographs; Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Viking reports; NRL reports on V-2 and development of remote control for the JB-2 Flying Bomb; Rosen's professional correspondence; Viking design summary; 1955 Vanguard proposal; and several 1961 papers on planning for the manned lunar landing.
Biographical / Historical:
Milton Rosen (b. 1915) was a key figure in the development of the Viking Rocket and Vanguard programs. Rosen earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania in 1937. He joined the staff of the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in 1940 and he worked on guidance systems for missiles during World War II. From 1947 until 1955, Rosen was in charge of Viking Rocket development, and he then became the technical director of Project Vanguard. Rosen joined NASA in 1958 as Director of Launch Vehicles and Propulsion in the Office of Manned Space Flight. In 1963, he became Senior Scientist in NASA's Office of the Deputy Associate Administrator for Defense Affairs and was later appointed Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Science (Engineering). Rosen retired from NASA in 1974 to become Executive Secretary of the National Academy of Science's Space Science Board. Rosen wrote numerous articles on rockets and space flight, and is the author of The Viking Rocket Story, published in 1954. He is a fellow and former director of the American Rocket Society.
Provenance:
Milton Rosen, Gift, 2005
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
This collection includes Stewart's accumulated files covering the Committee's activities from Fall 1955 until its termination in May 1958, after the launch of the first US satellite. These papers give useful insights into the secret deliberations on the progress of selecting the Vanguard proposal and highlights the considerable problems of that satellite project.
Biographical / Historical:
This collection is a complete set of copies of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Archives microfilm reel 10-3, which represents Dr. Homer Stewart's file on the so-called 'Stewart Committee.' This Committee was established during the summer of 1955 by Donald Quarles, Assistant Secretary of Defense, as the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Special Capabilities with the specific task of picking between three contending proposals for the first US satellite. The committee chose the Naval Research Laboratory's Vanguard proposal to be the first American satellite project and after their decision, they continued in an advisory capacity regarding the project.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, transfer, 1997, 1998-0010, 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
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
The collection is comprised primarily of photographs showing the manufacture and test launching of V-2 missiles, both in Germany and in the United States (White Sands Proving Ground, New Mexico) during and after World War II. There are also images of the facilities at Peenemunde and American confiscation of the technology. American projects documented include: Aerobee rockets, Project Blossom, and Viking rockets. There are also photographs of various instruments and technical graphs and charts. The photographs are black and white, except for approximately 40 color images (prints and 35mm color slides). A number of 4 x 5 inch copy negatives, 8 x 10 inch negatives, one glass lantern slide, some recent correspondence and several newspaper/magazine clippings are also included in the collection. Some of the sources from which the photographs were obtained include: the Applied Physics Laboratory; William Baum; the Deutsches Museum; William Dow and Nelson Spencer of the University of Michigan; Charles Johnson, Frances Johnson, Ernst Krause, and Richard Tousey of the Naval Research Laboratory; U.S. Air Force Air Materiel Command; and the University of Colorado.
Biographical / Historical:
David H. DeVorkin (1944- ) is a curator in the National Air and Space Museum's Space History Department. This collection of photographs was compiled by DeVorkin while researching for his 1992 book, 'Science with a Vengeance', which documents early rocket technology from the 1940s onwards. 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 requred 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, 1994-0056, 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
Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company Search this
Extent:
2 Cubic feet (6 boxes
)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Technical drawings
Professional papers
Photographs
Blueprints
Date:
circa 1920-1964
Scope and Contents:
These papers document the career and interests of Roess, especially radio rebroadcasting stations, radio navigation, radar, antennas, Naval Research Laboratory projects, and radio broadcasting. Includes blueprints, schematics, technical literature, reprints, manuals, photographs, correspondence, and notes.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into three series.
Series 1: Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Materials
Series 2: Photographs
Series 3: Radio Materials
Biographical / Historical:
Radio engineer for Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company; later worked for the Naval Research Laboratory.
Provenance:
The Harold R.D. Roess Papers were originally donated to the Division of Electricity by Harold R.D. Roess' daughter, Ms. O'Mara, circa 1972.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Technical literature -- Electric equipment Search this
This image shows the Naval Research Laboratory premises, it depicts a fence, signage, and the exterior of several buildings, the image was used to inform a planning survey of the Anacostia area.
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for unrestricted research. Use requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
The Dorn C. McGrath, Jr. slides and other material are the physical property of the Anacostia Community Museum. Literary and copyright belong to the author/creator or their legal heirs and assigns. Rights to work produced during the normal course of Museum business resides with the Anacostia Community Museum. For further information, and to obtain permission to publish or reproduce, contact the Museum Archives.
This video history consists of original, master and reference videos documenting a children's lecture program by George R. Carruthers, a physicist and inventor. Carruthers invented the Far Ultra-Violet Camera (FUVCAM).
Scope and Contents note:
This collection contains original, master, and reference videos documenting Dr. George Carruthers. Dr. Carruthers discusses his invention, the Far Ultra-Violet Camera (FUVCAM), as well his background, and experience working with the space program.
Arrangement:
Divided into 3 series: 1) Original Videos; 2) Master Videos; 3) Reference Videos.
Biographical / Historical:
Dr. George Carruthers was born in 1939 and grew up in Milford, Ohio and Chicago's South Side. Carruthers received his B.S. in Physics from the University of Illinois in 1961, M.S. Physics in 1962, and his Ph.D in aeronautical and astronomical engineering in 1964. After receiving his Ph.D in 1964, Carruthers joined the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), Space Science Division where he is now Senior Astrophysicist. Along with William Conway, another scientist, Carruthers developed the lunar surface ultraviolet camera and spectrograph used on the moon by Apollo 16 in 1972. The camera was used to take ultraviolet pictures of the Earth during the Apollo 16 space mission. It was the first camera to take pictures of the upper levels of the earth's atmosphere and to show that hydrogen exists in outer space.
Provenance:
This videohistory was created by the Innovative Lives Program of The Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation on February 22, 1996. The Innovative Lives series brings young people and American inventors together to discuss inventions and the creative process and to experiment and play with hands-on activities related to each inventor's product.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but the original videos are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu
No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu
No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu
No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu
No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu
No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu
No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu
No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu
No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu
