Physical Access: Researchers must use microfilm copy. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audiovisual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Technical Access: Viewing the film portion of the collection without reference copies requires special appointment, please inquire; listening to audio discs requires special arrangement. Do not use original materials when available on reference video or audio tapes.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Reproduction permission from Archives Center: reproduction fees may apply. Publication and production quality duplication is restricted due to complex copyright, publicity rights, and right to privacy issues. All duplication requests must be reviewed and approved by Archives Center staff. Potential users must receive written permission from appropriate rights holders prior to obtaining high quality copies.
This collection consists of Willey Ley's personal files, including his business correspondence, book contracts, and galley proofs, as well as publicity concerning Dr. Ley and his activities, and inquiries and comments from Ley's readership during his tenure as columnist for Galaxy Magazine (1952-1969). The material also includes articles gathered by Ley on topics ranging from astronomy and space travel to biology and natural parks to mythology, psychic phenomena, and UFOs.
Scope and Contents note:
The Willy Ley Collection reflects Ley's broad, restless curiosity about the world around him. However, the main thrust of this material emphasizes his intense interest in the aerospace field. Ley's significant contributions as a great proponent, theorist and historian of rocketry and space travel are quite evident in this collection.
For the most part, the collection encompasses the years Ley spent in the U.S., roughly, from the mid 1930s to his death in 1969. Accordingly, very little pertaining to Ley's time in the VfR is found here. This wide array of materials was sold to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum (NASM) by Ley's widow, Olga, in 1970.(1) Later that year, NASM personnel traveled to Ley's home in New York to transfer this collection to the museum. They were careful to maintain the overall order of the collection which reflects its original organizational structure, as well as the research techniques and thinking processes of Ley himself.
The collection of materials listed in the finding aid is arranged into four series. The first series is composed of personal materials that include correspondence, book and article contract materials, galley proofs, manuscript and article drafts, notes, articles, lecture invitations and brochures, photographs, drawings, travel and war-time memorabilia, newspaper and press clippings, book reviews, personal bills and receipts, business cards, children's' report cards and Christmas cards. The materials of this series range in date from the early 1930s to 1969. Except for moving this series to the beginning of the collection, original order was maintained. Additionally, original folder titles were retained (as they were for the rest of the collection). Correspondence, book/article contracts materials, research notes, articles, newspaper and press clippings and miscellaneous personal materials are arranged chronologically while the manuscript drafts, galley proofs and book reviews are organized alphabetically by title.
The second series comprises the bulk --about two-thirds, of the Willy Ley Collection. This series, the aerospace subject files, ranges in date from the late 1800s to 1969, and covers the following topics: biography (Ley and others), aviation, inventions, astronomy, space travel, rockets, artificial satellites, manned space flight, ground support and rocket test centers. The folders include correspondence, photographs, notes, reports, brochures, pamphlets, magazines, articles and newspaper clippings. Original order was maintained for this series. The materials are organized by subject.
The third series consists of printed materials. This series ranges in date from the early 1950s to 1970 and includes various publications (newsletters, pamphlets, journals, reports, directories, magazines and books). Also included are article and newspaper clippings. Ley organized the newsletters by title and then chronologically.
The fourth and final series of this collection contains non-aerospace subject files. Ley's certificates, citations and a scrapbook are found in this series. The certificates and citations are for Ley's civic and professional achievements. The scrapbook contains miscellaneous newspaper clippings regarding rocketry and space travel (in English and German) from the 1930s and 1940s. However, this series, ranging in date from the early 1900s to 1969, mainly encompasses materials not directly related to aviation, rocketry or space travel. Original order was maintained for this series. The materials are organized by subject.
The researcher should note that all the folders (except for those of Series 4) are numbered. This numbering system reflects an effort by NASM's Department of Space History in 1970 to create a rough catalog of the Willy Ley Collection as it was being moved to the museum. Though now obsolete as an index, these penciled numbers were retained and are written in the upper right corner of the folders.
Endnotes: 1. That same year, Mrs. Ley also sold her husband's collection of books and journals to the University of Alabama at Huntsville. Currently, it is known as the Willy Ley Memorial Collection and resides at the University's library. Wernher von Braun and NASA Saturn launch vehicle program manager Arthur Rudolph participated in the dedication ceremony in 1971.
Arrangement note:
Series 1: Personal Materials
Series 2: Aerospace Subject Files
Series 3: Printed Materials
Series 4: Non-Aerospace Subject Files
Biographical/Historical note:
Willy Ley was a world-renown expert in and proponent of rocketry and space travel. Born in Berlin, Germany on October 2, 1906, Ley attended the Universities of Berlin and Konigsberg and studied astronomy, paleontology, zoology and physics. Beyond these studies however, he developed a passionate interest in rocketry and its potential applications for space travel. Accordingly, he wrote and published his first book, Die Fahrt in den Weltraum (Travel in Outer Space) in 1926 and helped found Germany's early rocketry and spaceflight club, Verein fur Raumschiffahrt or VfR (Society for Space Travel) the following year. In 1929, Ley, along with well-known rocketry theorist Hermann Oberth, acted as a technical consultant on Fritz Lang's film, Frau im Mond (Woman in the Moon). Throughout the late 1920s and early 1930s, he continued to write books, as well as numerous articles in German and foreign publications, on the subject of rockets and spaceflight. Once Adolf Hitler took power in 1933, the Nazis pressured Ley to cease publishing his articles in foreign journals and magazines due to rocketry's potential as a weapon in Germany's arsenal. Also, the VfR disbanded during the Nazis' first year in power amid concerns among the membership regarding the interest the German military was taking in their activities. These factors compelled Ley to leave Germany for Britain briefly and then to the U.S. in 1935. He became an American citizen in 1944.
Until World War II, Ley focused his writing career on topics unrelated to rocketry and space travel. He discovered little interest in these fields among the U.S. public. He was successful though, with a number of non-space publications such as Salamanders and Other Wonders and The Lungfish, the Dodo and the Unicorn. From 1940-44, Ley was science editor of the New York newspaper, PM and later lectured as a professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey. He was also a regular contributor to a myriad of magazines, encyclopedias and digests such as Popular Mechanics, Cowles Encyclopedia and Galaxy. However, once World War II began and especially after Germany launched V-2 missile attacks on Britain in 1944, Ley found himself in great demand as an expert in rocketry. Following the end of the war, his writings, lectures and newspaper, radio and television interviews helped to spur even greater public interest in rockets and their potential for space flight. Additionally, his books on this subject were widely read in the U.S. and around the world. First published in 1944, Ley's Rockets, Missiles, & Space Travel enjoyed a great deal of popularity and justified numerous printings of revised editions. Other highly successful titles that Ley produced during the 1950s and 1960s included The Conquest of Space, The Conquest of the Moon (written with Wernher von Braun and astronomer Fred Whipple) and Beyond the Solar System. Ley, along with von Braun, artist Chesley Bonestell and others, collaborated on a series of space-themed issues of Collier's (1952-54) that helped to foster popular support for future U.S. missions to earth orbit, the moon and the planets.
Aside from his busy career as a prolific author and populizer of rockets and space travel, Ley was also a husband and father of two children. His wife, Olga, was an accomplished ballet dancer, model and author in her own right. The couple had to two daughters, Sandra and Xenia. Ley had hoped to attend the Apollo 11 launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida but died of a heart attack at his home in Jackson Heights, New York, on June 24, 1969. His death came only four weeks before the launch of mankind's first landing on the moon's surface.
1906 October 2 -- Ley born in Berlin, Germany
1920 January 11 -- Smithsonian Institution publishes A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes, a pamphlet written by U.S. rocket scientist Dr. Robert H. Goddard
1923 -- Romanian rocket scientist Hermann Oberth publishes short book, Die Rakate zu den Planetenraumen (The Rocket into Planetary Space)
1926 -- Ley writes and publishes first book, Die Fahrt in den Weltraum(Travel in Outer Space)
1926 March 16 -- Goddard successfully launches first liquid-fueled rocket in Auburn, Massachusetts
1927 July 5 -- Ley helps found Germany's early rocketry and space travel club, Verein fur Raumschiffahrt or VfR (Society for Space Travel)
1929 -- Ley (along with Oberth) acts as a technical consultant for Fritz Lang film, Frau im Mond (Woman in the Moon)
1933 January 30 -- Adolf Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany
1935 -- Russian rocket scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky dies
1935 -- Ley leaves Germany for Britain and then to the U.S.
1939 September 1 -- Germany invades Poland – World War II begins
1940 -- Ley begins stint as science editor of New York newspaper, PM
1942 October 3 -- First successful launch of Nazi V-2 (A-4) rocket, Peenemunde, Germany
1944 -- Ley becomes a U.S. citizen
1944 -- Ley publishes first edition of book, Rockets (book would eventually see many revised editions and renamed Rockets, Missiles, & Space Travel)
1944 September 7-8 -- First V-2 rocket attacks on London and Paris
1945 May 8 -- Germany surrenders to Allies
1945 August 10 -- Goddard dies
1945 September 2 -- Japan surrenders to Allies
1945 September 29 -- Wernher von Braun and other captured German rocket scientists are taken to the U.S.
1945 October -- Arthur C. Clarke first proposes concept of communication satellites in Wireless World magazine
1946 April 16 -- First successful launch by the U.S. of a captured V-2
1950 -- Ley publishes book, The Conquest of Space
1952 -- Ley collaborates with von Braun, artist Chesley Bonestell and others on a series of space-themed issues of Collier's
1953 -- Ley collaborates with von Braun and Fred Whipple and publishes book, The Conquest of the Moon
1957 October 4 -- Russia's successful launch of first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1
1958 January 31 -- Successful launch of first U.S. artificial satellite, Explorer 1
1961 April 12 -- Russia's successful launch of first human into space, Yuri Gagarin aboard Vostok 1
1961 May 5 -- Successful launch of first U.S. astronaut into space, Alan Shepard aboard Mercury-Redstone 3 (Freedom 7)
1964 -- Ley collaborates with Bonestell and publishes book, Beyond the Solar System
1969 June 24 -- Ley dies at his home in Jackson Heights, New York
1969 July 16-24 -- Flight of Apollo 11 succeeds in landing U.S. astronauts on the moon
List of Acronyms:
AFB -- Air Force Base
ARCAS -- All-Purpose Rocket for the Collection of Atmospheric Soundings
AS -- Apollo-Saturn [spacecraft-launch vehicle stack]
ELDO -- European Launcher Development Organization
GALCIT -- Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology
The collection consists of 109 cubic feet of material, primarily photographs with some additional documentation, covering aerospace topics. The bulk of the material relates to US space exploration, including extensive photo files on US manned missions through the Space Shuttle, and satellite and sounding rocket work. The first series consists of unmanned spacecraft material, the second series consists of manned spacecraft material, and the third series consists of aircraft material.
Scope and Contents:
The Herbert Stephen Desind Collection (acc. 1997-0014) contains approximately 109 cubic feet of material relating to aviation and space flight. The material is primarily photographic in nature and focuses on manned and unmanned space flight activities.
Arrangement:
Series 1: Unmanned Space Programs
Series 2: Manned Space Programs
Series 3: Aviation subjects
Series 4: Country files
Series 5: Miscellaneous files
Series 6: Press Kits
Biographical / Historical:
Herbert Stephen Desind was a Washington, D.C. area native born on January 15, 1945, raised in Silver Spring, Maryland and educated at the University of Maryland. He obtained his BA degree in Communications at Maryland in 1967, and began working in the local public schools as a science teacher. At the time of his death, in October 1992, he was a high school teacher and a freelance writer/lecturer on spaceflight. Desind also was an avid model rocketeer, specializing in using the Estes Cineroc, a model rocket with an 8mm movie camera mounted in the nose. To many members of the National Association of Rocketry (NAR), he was known as "Mr. Cineroc." His extensive requests worldwide for information and photographs of rocketry programs even led to a visit from FBI agents who asked him about the nature of his activities.
Mr. Desind used the collection to support his writings in NAR publications, and his building scale model rockets for NAR competitions. Desind also used the material in the classroom, and in promoting model rocket clubs to foster an interest in spaceflight among his students.
Desind entered the NASA Teacher in Space program in 1985, but it is not clear how far along his submission rose in the selection process. He was not a semi-finalist, although he had a strong application.
In 1991, Desind was named Science Teacher of the Year by Prince George's County and the Potomac Electric Power Company.
Desind died October 16, 1992, having succumbed to colon cancer.
On November 17, 1994, the Herbert Desind Memorial Space Awareness Center, a state-of-the-art facility, was created and dedicated at Laurel High School. Today that Center houses the Cooperative Satellite Learning Project (CSLP) class as well as other science classes. The CSLP is a business, government, and educational partnership, focusing on space sciences and engineering. One of the sponsors of CSLP is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
In 1997, Desind's father and sister donated his collection to the National Air and Space Museum.
This collection consists of the oral history recordings and transcripts for the Peenemünde Interviews Project, which examined the development of the German Peenemünde complex from the early 1930s through World War II.
Scope and Contents:
The collection consists of 39 hours of interviews with 13 individuals (in both audio cassette and transcript formats).
Arrangement:
The Peenemünde Interviews Project is arranged alphabetically by interviewee. Boxes 1, 2 and 3 contain the interviews on cassette tapes; box 4 contains the edited transcripts of the audio.
Historical note:
The collection consists of the oral history recordings and transcripts for the Peenemünde Interviews Project, which examined the development of the German Peenemünde complex from the early 1930s through World War II. This project constitutes one of several oral history projects conducted within the Department of Space History, NASM. The principal investigator for this project was Michael Neufeld and the following individuals were interviewed: Werner Dahm; Konrad Danneberg; Walter Haeussermann; Karl Heimberg; Helmut Hoelzer; Fritz Mueller; Herman Oberth; Eberhard Rees (with Mrs. Rees); Gerhard Reisig; Arthur Rudolph; Bernhard Tessman (with Karl Heimburg); Georg von Tiesenhausen; and Walter Wiesman.
Provenance:
Space History, NASM, Transfer, 1999, 1999-0038, Varies
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 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.
A pamphlet containing a lecture by Professor Harold Scott entitled 'America's Problem of National Defense' The lecture was published by Princeton University in 1939. Also included in the folder is a document by Dr. Paul F. Winternitz entitled 'Long Range Rocket, Section II. (Propellant Systems).
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Collection 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
A diary of Wyld's that is dated from the 10th of February, 1931 to May 1936.
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Collection 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
A colleciton of three prints. The first is a portrait of Wyld and is held with tape to a cardboard frame, the joining of which is fragile. The second depicts the launching of a V-2 rocket. The third is labled as depicting the flight of a mail rocket at Greenwood Lake, New York in 1935.
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Collection 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
A collection of newspaper clippings covering the development of rocket propulsion systems in aviation.
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Collection 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
A collection of handwritten and typed notes by Wyld. The the folder is made up of loose sheets of note paper and a single notebook.
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Collection 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
A collection of Wylds written correspondence to various individuals. Also included in the folder is an envelope containing pamphlets regarding the A.S.M.E petition to the Supreme Court in 1939.
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Collection 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
A notebook containing notes taken by Wyld. The binding of the pages to the spine is fragile. Notebook states it begins on the 20th of March, 1943 but provides no end date.
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Collection 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 folder contains a collection of negatives described as depicting various rocket meets during the 1930s. Also included are Princeton University Store photo envelopes which include Kodak advertisements.
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Collection 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
Contains negatives depicting rocket test stands used by the American Rocket Society. The negatives are contained within labled envelopes inside the folder. Included also are two paper scans of the negatives.
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Collection 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
National Air and Space Museum (U.S.). Division of Space History Search this
Names:
National Air and Space Museum (U.S.). Division of Space History Search this
Extent:
15.26 Cubic feet ((14 records center boxes))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Charts
Photographs
Reports
Manuscripts
Publications
Correspondence
Date:
[ca. 1000-1960]
bulk [ca. 1940-1960]
Scope and Contents:
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 United States, and Austria from the mid-19th century to the 1960s.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
Space History, NASM, transfer, 1986, XXXX-0007, 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
Salon International de l'Aeronautique et de l'Espace Search this
Extent:
0.05 Cubic Feet ((1 folder))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Date:
bulk 1975
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of 16 black and white 8 x 10 inch photographs. Six photographs are from the 1975 Salon International de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace and are captioned on the reverse and include various views of the Salyut spacecraft and its telescopes, the Soyuz spacecraft and its propulsion system. Ten photographs are undated (probably circa 1975) and show exhibits from the GDL Museum in Leningrad. The GDL Museum photographs are captioned on the reverse in black ink and depict various views of the RD-119, RD-219, and RD-108 liquid fuel rocket motors, a model of the Vostok launch vehicle, a bust of Konstantin Edwardovitch Tsiolkovsky and plaque relating to him, and a plaque on the outside of the GDL Museum.
Biographical / Historical:
The first Salon International de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (Paris Air Show) was held from September 25-October 17, 1909 at the Grand Palais. There were 380 exhibitors and contemporary published reports indicate that more than 100,000 persons passed through the gates in the first four days alone. Since then, the Salon International de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace has grown and retained its place as one of the major events of the aerospace world. The 1975 Salon International de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace was held from May 30 to June 8 at Le Bourget Aeroport. Spacecraft development was more heavily emphasized and there were both United States and Soviet created manned space laboratories on display, as well as displays related to the planned Apollo/Soyuz orbital linkup.
Gas Dynamics Laboratory (GDL), founded in 1921, was the first Russian national research and development organization dedicated to the study of space technology. In 1973, a museum opened in Leningrad to commemorate the institution's history and displayed items such as documents, pictures, and full scale model rockets.
Provenance:
Unknown, Unknown, 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
Salon International de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace and Gas Dynamics Laboratory Museum Photographs, Accession XXXX-0843, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
This collection consists of part of a 9.25 by 5.5 inch photo album containing black and white photography (including several stereo photographs) of the rocket bomb shell experiments by Reactive Shell Company in 1918. The title on the photo album is as follows: "Photographs taken of the Rocket Bomb Shell Experiments, said work was in progress from May 1918 to February 1919; These experiments were carried out through the International Commercial Co., 1 Madison Ave,. New York City on behalf of the Syndicate which worked at Spencerport NY under the name Reactive Shell Co." The photos show the following: the Reactive Shell Company Plant, a series of images from company's rocket trials at the United States War College in July of 1918; and the various individuals involved in the experiments -- Captain Dibovsky, R. W. Tully, Lieutenant Colonel Prokopief Seversky; E. M. de Shebinin, Lieutenant Commander Timofieff, Lieutenant Commander V. V. Utgoff, E. Finkbaine, and Colonel A. I. Sidorkin.
Biographical / Historical:
In 1917, a group of Russian Naval officers and one Russian Artillery officer were ordered by the Russian Imperial Navy to undertake a study of flying boats which were being built for the Russians at the Curtiss Buffalo, New York, plant. After the outbreak of the Russian Revolution, these men were stranded in the United States and were then associated with the Reactive Shell Company and its rocket bomb shell experiments. According to one source, the Curtiss Company was involved in setting the Russians up in this venture.
Provenance:
C. Roy Keys, Gift, transferred from Space History Department, NASM, in 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 of the following materials: 1) Dr. Goddard's handwritten university note book, entitled 'Partial Differential Equations'; 2) Seven publications by Dr. Goddard related to railway and rocket topics from 1909 to 1938.
Biographical / Historical:
Born in Worcester, Mass., Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882-1945) received his B.A. from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1908 and received his M.A. in 1910 and Ph.D. in 1911 from Clark University. Dr. Goddard, trained as a physicist and engineer, is recognized as a space pioneer due to his concepts of rocket propulsion systems.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
Mrs. Robert Goddard, transfer from NASM Division of Space History, 1997, 1997-0061, 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
Dr. Harold F. Stimson, described as a long-time friend of Goddard's, corresponded with Esther Goddard and collected a number of press clippings and other mentions of Dr. Goddard in various publications. This collection consists of the materials he gathered including a copy of the article "The Early History of Rocket Research" by Joseph W. Siry (reprinted from the November/December 1950 issue of The Scientific Monthly) signed by Esther Goddard; a program from the dedication of the Goddard Power Plant in Indian Head, Maryland dated June 25, 1957; eight issues of Report from Clark University (ranging in date from October 1965 to May 1969) with articles about the Robert Hutchings Goddard Library or the University's collection of Goddard's papers; correspondence relating to the establishment of a memorial to Goddard on Clark University's campus; a program for the groundbreaking ceremony for the Robert Hutchings Goddard Library dated June 4, 1966; a brochure for the library and a bookslip from one of their publications; three issues of the library's newsletters (ranging in date from March 1966 to spring 1971); Clark University's Report of the President 1964-1965 which includes an update on the Goddard Library program; the program from Clark University's Robert Hutchings Goddard Commemorative Convocation on October 12, 1966; a Clark University fundraising report from 1971-1972 listing Mrs. Robert H. Goddard as a donor; a typewritten report on the Goddard Rocket Research Exhibit at Clark's Department of Physics; the winter 1971 issue of Clark Now: The Magazine of Clark University which contains mentions of the Goddard Library; five typewritten pages of biographical data on Dr. Goddard; a Christmas card and signed photo of Esther Goddard inscribed to the Stimsons; and 17 clippings from various newspapers that mention either Robert or Esther Goddard (ranging in date from 1959-1982).
Biographical / Historical:
Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882-1945), rocket propulsion pioneer, graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1908 and received his doctorate while a professor of physics at Clark University. He served a research fellowship with Princeton University from 1912 to 1914 and there began to develop his theories of rocket action. Returning to Clark, he conducted experiments that culminated in a 1916 report to the Smithsonian Institution, published as A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes. With the advent of World War I, Goddard began work at the Mount Wilson Observatory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, developing various innovations such as reloading mechanisms for artillery and a forerunner of the bazooka. By 1920, Goddard had turned his attention to liquid fueled rockets and by 1926 had accomplished the world's first flight of a liquid fuel rocket. In 1930, Goddard moved to Mescalero Ranch near Roswell, New Mexico, continuing with his rocket experiments until 1932. After a return to Clark and laboratory testing, Goddard came back to Roswell and in 1936 published Liquid Propellant Rocket Development. In 1940 he was made Chief of Navy Research on jet-propelled planes.
Provenance:
Julia Appel, Gift, 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
